The Author's POV

Booom—!

Large portions of the hall collapsed inwardly, crashing against the ground beneath them as the sound of a significant explosion reverberated through the air.

Boom—! Boom—!

The hall continued to shake, and dust continued to fly into the air, creating a veil that obscured what was taking place behind it.

In the midst of the veil, bright white lights flashed while muffled explosions accompanied them. 

Each impact was felt throughout the entire headquarters, as buildings collapsed and the dome protecting the facility continuously flickered. Cracks soon started to form, and alarms started to ring. 

This didn’t last for long, however. 

Silence soon returned to the headquarters in the aftermath of the short conflict. 

A great number of figures were seen lying on the ground as they took their final breaths, and those that were still alive did not even dare to move an inch.

They were helpless in the face of the overwhelming power that radiated from the hall, and they dared not even consider the events that had transpired there. Whatever had taken place was beyond their comprehension.

Within the destroyed hall.

“Uakh…h-how is this possible?”

Hemlock had a difficult time catching his breath. He looked up at two crimson red eyes that shone menacingly against the dark backdrop of the hall as a hand clenched tightly around his throat. 

“How are… you this s-strong?”

It made no sense. It was impossible!

‘This can’t be real. How is this possible!?’

He, who had just broken through <SSS-> rank was supposed to be the strongest human in existence. 

Apart from Octavious, there shouldn’t be anyone else that could pose a threat against him, so…

How? 

How was this possible? 

“I-t makes no sense!”

“Of course, it doesn’t.” 

The mute sound of Kevin’s voice gradually made its way to him. Shivers ran down Hemlock’s spine as he noticed his calm gaze pause on him.

He continued. 

“The sacrifice and pain I underwent to get to where I am isn’t something that the likes of you can ever hope to understand.” 

Far from it. 

It was a skill he had acquired through a million distinct regressions. Throughout the centuries, he died over and over again. Endlessly. 

To the point where death was merely a number to him. 

All of it was for this one moment. 

“Be glad you got to live as long as you did. If not because I allowed it, you wouldn’t have lived as long as you did.”

Had he not recovered his memories and power this late, he would have long since killed him. What he was doing now was something he should’ve done a while back but didn’t.

…It was the last thing that he needed to do. 

“Ukh!”

Kevin tightened his grip on his neck, staring deeply into Hemlock’s eyes, which shook with what appeared to be… fear. 

He still seemed to be able to get a few words out. 

“W-why are you doing this?”

He wasn’t asking why he was trying to kill him. He already understood why.

What he wanted to comprehend was the reason why Kevin would attempt to conceal their strength and only act now.

What benefit would such action bring him? 

“Don’t worry about such a trivial matter.”

Kevin replied in a soft manner, further tightening his grip on his neck. Once again staring deeply into his eyes, his gaze softened for a moment.

“You know, your approach wasn’t crazy… Had it been another time, maybe you would’ve been able to accomplish what you set out to do. Perhaps humanity wouldn’t really go into extinction like you wanted, but—”

Crack—!

Hemlock’s body limped over Kevin’s hand as the sound of bones breaking reverberated throughout the space.

“…it directly conflicts against my interests, and for that, you have to die.” 

Just like that, the leader of the Monolith, and an <SSS-> ranked entity, died. 

Thump—!

Kevin threw his body to the side, and as he did so, his limp trembled, and he quickly brought his hand up to cover his mouth.

“Pffff.”

Immediately, blood began to spurt over his hand as his face began to turn pale, and he fell to the ground on both knees. 

Bu..thump! Bu..thump! Bu..thump!

As he struggled to breathe and move, he was almost able to feel his heart thumping against the back of his throat. He felt a sense of powerlessness wash over his body, and he fell to the ground while in excruciating pain.

“Ugh…a

He moaned out in agony, unable to overcome the pain that he was experiencing. Every single second seemed like an eternity to him, and the pain in his chest increased with every breath he took.

It felt as though he was being burned alive. 

Clutching his shirt tightly, he rolled around and supported his body up.

“Pffff.”

Even more blood came up in his vomit, and his arm was nearly rendered completely limp. It took everything that he had in him to prevent himself from passing out at that precise moment. 

He couldn’t allow himself to pass out.

Not yet.

“I…I don’t have much time left.”

***

Human Domain. 

The ominous clattering of metal could be heard all along the derelict streets and buildings that were falling apart.

Clank—! Clank—!

There was a fierce battle going on between the members of the alliance and the members of the Monolith. There was blood everywhere on the ground, and significant casualties were sustained by both sides. 

The ground was covered in severed limbs and blood, and one could faintly hear the screams of desperation coming from those who had managed to survive.

Elsewhere, up above in the sky. 

Boom—!

“Just die already, you old witch number two!”

A high-pitched voice echoed through the air. It belonged to a girl with orange hair who was covered in orange armor. The armor complimented her body perfectly and covered all areas of her body. Not leaving a single spot exposed. 

She glared at the elderly woman who was standing in the opposite direction from her, and as she did so, a soft hue floated out of the corner of her eyes.

“Y-ou…”

The elderly woman shot Monica an angry look. Her white hair was all over her face, and her clothes were in pretty bad shape. 

“How? How did you know?” 

She wasn’t supposed to be here… 

This was meant to be a trap set up for them in order to eliminate their forces. How was it possible for someone of Monica’s stature to show up? She wasn’t supposed to be here! She was supposed to be guarding Ashton City! 

It didn’t make sense!

Why would they take such a risk?

‘Did…did he betray us?’

A faint memory of what happened a little while back resurfaced in her mind. 

The woman’s body came to a halt in midair after she had an abrupt realization about something. It was the only explanation she could come up with at the moment, and her eyes grew startlingly large as she uttered it.

“Don’t tell me…”

Beeep—! Beeep—! Beeep—!

The woman’s expression morphed dramatically as an alarming beeping sound suddenly reverberated throughout the space.

“Damn it! Damn it! Noo—!”

She barely had time to finish what she was saying before her body began to rapidly expand, and…

Booooooom—!

The sky was suddenly illuminated by a blinding light, which was accompanied by a deafening boom that seemed to travel in waves and shook the entire landscape. 

The force of the explosion was so strong that it lifted the ground from underneath it, resulting in a mushroom cloud of ash, rubble, and smoke filling the sky, which in turn made the day appear darker.

Wind and heat rushed outward from the explosion site, igniting everything in its path and destroying it. A desolate landscape was left behind after the explosion as a result of the shockwave that traveled for miles after that. 

The explosion was followed by an eerie silence, followed by what was comparable to the cracking sound of a shell. 

Craa Crak–! 

With her forward hand, the shield that surrounded Monica shattered into pieces. Scattering in the air into millions of particles. 

“Haaa…haaa…”

Her complexion was extremely pale, and her orange hair was in a tangled mess all over her head. The once orange armor that she had been wearing was now riddled with cracks, and her body swayed as it swayed through the air.

“T-his is much more than I expected…”

Never in her life did she believe that the blast would be this powerful. She lucked out in that she had been given prior warning and was consequently somewhat ready. Regardless, she had a much more limited understanding of the situation than she had originally thought. 

“Cough… cough…”

She coughed several times before looking down. Her eyes soon calmed down.

Cra Crack—!

A cracking sound reverberated from below, and the energy shield that had been protecting a group of people broke apart at the same time as she looked over. 

Monica gently landed beside them, and moved to the somewhat pale Donna.

“I’m glad you guys are alright.”

“Y,yeah…”

Donna gave a small nod, and her gaze shifted toward the town that had been completely leveled.

Lowering her head to look at the device in her hand, she felt secretly relieved. 

Never before had she felt death so close…

“I’m glad we came prepared.”

“Tell me about it…”

Amber stammered her way over to join in on the conversation. Her complexion was almost as white as paper, and her hair was a complete mess.

“You think the other squads are also safe?”

“I don’t know.”

Monica shook her head. She raised her wrist and looked at her watch. 

“You’ve seen just how powerful the explosion was… had we not been ready…”

She didn’t finish her sentence, but both Donna and Amber understood the meaning of her words.

They came really close to death.

Ding—!

Exactly at that moment, a clear sound came out of nowhere, and everyone’s attention immediately went to the watch.

“It’s from Kev—no, I mean the Alliance leader. It looks like an image.

Monica corrected herself and swiped up.

As soon as the image appeared, everyone stopped moving and stared at it in silence. The atmosphere froze completely. 

“I,is this a joke?”

Monica stuttered as she looked at the picture in front of her, appearing to be in a state of complete disbelief. It wasn’t just her; Donna and Amber also struggled to keep their composure as their eyes shook in disbelief.

“H,how?”

“This isn’t possible…” 

Contained within the image was a familiar figure laying on the ground, lifeless.

A single message could be found underneath it. However, the very moment that they read the message, their hearts stopped. 

[Done.]