United States, White House residence. Important figures gathered in the white building constructed for the president's living quarters and official duties.
"......"
The powerhouses who had taken their seats one by one around the conference table all wore tense expressions. Among them, one person's face was noticeably darker than the rest. The U.S. President kept rubbing his face, agonizing over and over whether his judgment was correct.
'The sky, which had been perfectly clear, cracked open, and something started coming through.'
An unprecedented crisis. Was it acceptable to handle this extraordinary event without saying a single word to the citizens? No—before that, was it even possible to deal with "the something that came from there"? The president, anxiously awaiting the person in charge, leapt to his feet and greeted him the moment the conference room door opened and Chester Harrison, the field commander, stepped inside.
"Harrison, what on earth happened?"
The last report relayed from the field.
—The situation has ended. I'll say it again. The situation has ended.
It didn't contain the sequence in which things were resolved—there was no "causality." That was precisely why the president and so many others in the conference room had been waiting with grim faces. Chester first gave a brief greeting to the president, glanced around the room, then stepped to the front.
"I think it would be far faster for you to watch one video contained on this, rather than hear a hundred words from me."
In his hand was a small USB drive. Curious about what was inside, the president quickly nodded. Not just the president—every gaze in the conference room was fixed on the general's hands, his expression resolute. When the general plugged the USB into the port, video began playing on the enormous screen mounted on the conference room wall.
"This is footage captured by drones and robots at the scene."
Having added that brief explanation, Chester Harrison stood beside the screen and swallowed hard. He couldn't begin to guess how the people gathered here would receive this footage. Even after watching it multiple times himself, he didn't know how to process it. But the important thing was that this had undeniably happened. The proof was right here, and as the person responsible for this incident, he had a duty to present this video. It started with a rift.
*Cough...* "Hah!"
When giants made of rock walked out of a rift that looked as though space itself had been shattered, groans rippled across the room. If advance reports on the monstrous life-forms hadn't already been provided, the conference room would have descended into chaos. But the more astonishing scene came right after. Standing alone in front of those terrifying giants whose very appearance could stop your breathing—was that not a single person?
'Judging by the build... a boy?' 'Is he Asian?'
The excited Secretary of Defense couldn't hold back and pointed at the screen.
"That man! What is he? Where are the soldiers, and why is some civilian standing right in the middle of them, Harrison?"
That was right. This footage wasn't what the people gathered here had expected—a record of America's elite forces routing creatures from another world. It was a video about a man whose name and face nobody knew. Just as black soldiers rose to their feet in unison behind the man, General Chester Harrison spoke as if groaning.
"...I'd like to know that myself."
* * *
"Do I look like I'm alone?"
With those words, nearly ten million shadow soldiers lined up in formation behind Jin-Woo's back. The number of colossi that had walked out of the rift was in the hundreds. Ten million versus hundreds. Normally, the disparity in forces should have overwhelmingly favored the ten million. The problem was that each of those hundreds of colossi possessed the power of a supreme being. Thoom-thoom. Jin-Woo's heart pounded fiercely in anticipation of the long-awaited battle. Jin-Woo sent a signal to Fangs, who was commanding the mages.
—How's the preparation? [No issues, my Lord.]
Fangs and all the other mages had been assigned to maintain spells that would minimize the shock this battle would generate. It was an unavoidable choice—a world without mana was far too fragile. The uninvited guests had their own objective to devour this land, so they wouldn't cast unnecessarily powerful magic either. Inevitably, the battle that was about to begin would devolve into hand-to-hand combat between enemies and allies. A contest of brute strength versus brute strength.
—Good.
Fortunately, he didn't hate that kind of fight. Jin-Woo's lips curled into a grin. One of the colossi, misinterpreting the meaning behind that smile, hurled a rage-filled fist downward in an instant. Bam—! But Jin-Woo, the intended target, had already launched into the air. Rising lightly as though performing a pole vault, Jin-Woo landed gently atop the giant's fist like a falling feather.
'...?'
The expression on the face of the human standing on the back of his hand—a smile—sent an uncontrollable sense of foreboding through the colossus, and its face stiffened. Sure enough, the human began sprinting up the arm. Swish-swish-swish-swish-swish! His legs moved so fast that before the colossus, a supreme being, could even react, Jin-Woo was already past the giant's shoulder and heading for the back of his neck. The moment after, the short sword in Jin-Woo's hand pierced into the giant's throat.
[GRAAAAH!]
Much like dragging a coin across the surface of a car. Gripping the short sword buried in the giant's neck, Jin-Woo sprinted toward the opposite shoulder, leaving a long line across it. Cr-r-r-r-rack! The black aura concentrated at the blade's tip cleanly separated the giant's head from its neck. Thud! Standing atop the shoulder of the falling giant, Jin-Woo gazed at the other colossi standing behind. He could feel the anger, the bewilderment, the fear rising on their faces. One by one. Memories and feelings from the time he hunted legions through the gaps between dimensions flooded Jin-Woo's mind. He had succeeded in breaking their morale. His objective was the annihilation of the colossi. Only then did Jin-Woo move the shadow army he had been holding in reserve.
—All forces, advance!
He felt the momentum of the massive army beginning to move below. Waaaaaaah!
—I can't stay put while my subordinates do the fighting.
At the very least, that wasn't the style of the Shadow Monarch, himself. Jin-Woo's sharp eyes sought his next prey. One of the colossi, whose gaze met Jin-Woo's, flinched slightly. A prey consumed by fear is the first to die. Jin-Woo leapt toward it, swinging his short sword brimming with aura. The short sword in his hand wasn't 'Kamish's Wrath,' but Jin-Woo's aura control, honed over twenty-seven years on the battlefield, had long since transcended the level of his weapon. The black aura scattered from the tip of the short sword shot forward and split open the frozen face of the colossus. Cr-rack! The giant, terrified after witnessing the overwhelming power of the small life-form, lost its life that senselessly. But not all colossi were cowards. Jin-Woo's eyes widened. Behind the giant whose face was splitting open as it toppled backward, other colossi charging at him in an all-out assault came into view. After dodging a colossal fist hurtling straight at him by diving downward, Jin-Woo flew up to evade sharp fingertips stabbing at him from behind. The skill 'Ruler's Authority,' already ingrained in his body, enabled free movement even in midair. But the enemies' power far exceeded expectations. After kicking upward to deflect a colossus's fist hammering down, the back of a hand flew at him from the side. He quickly pulled his arms in to reduce his body's surface area and brace for impact. Bam—! To keep from being blown away, he used mana to pull back toward himself the enormous hand that had struck him and was retreating. The massive hand was drawn close in an instant, and the short sword in Jin-Woo's grip severed the colossus's wrist. Sshk! The colossus clutched its severed wrist and threw its head back.
[GRAAAH!]
Jin-Woo quickly repositioned near the neck and plunged his short sword into the area around the Adam's apple. Cr-unch! With one sharp strike, that enormous body toppled backward once more. Jin-Woo kicked off the chest of the falling giant to launch himself higher, slashing through the colossi's hands that reached for him ceaselessly. The side! Jin-Woo soared upward to dodge a colossus's palm strike swung with full force, and in that brief moment, he found the breathing room to take in his surroundings. In that split second, the shoulders of the closing colossi collided on either side.
"......!"
Sandwiched between two enormous shoulders, bracing with both hands, Jin-Woo shoved the colossi away with all his strength. The massive figures slid backward as if by magic.
[Grah!] [How can that tiny body—!]
While one colossus was shocked to have been overpowered, another, as though it had been waiting, calmly brought its palm crashing down. Like swatting an insect. From above.
"GRAAAAH—!"
Jin-Woo let out a terrifying roar, erupting mana to blast it away. The giant, its hand pushed back by an invisible force and flailing in confusion, belatedly noticed.
'...?'
The enormous, pitch-black fist hurtling toward him. Boom! The black aura concentrated in Jin-Woo's right arm transformed as though it were a giant's arm itself, blowing the colossus's head clean off. Moments later, aura-wreathed and now gigantic, Jin-Woo began crushing the colossi without mercy. The enormous shadows and rock-made giants had been fighting as though they were famished beasts tearing into one another. The result came quickly. From the center of the kneeling, falling colossi, a massive shadow was using brute force to crush the arm it had just ripped from one of them. Crrrr-unch! Seemingly cowed by that ferocity, the colossi surrounding Jin-Woo retreated one step at a time.
'...?'
While Jin-Woo looked around at the colossi with a puzzled expression, one that appeared far larger and sturdier than the rest stepped out from among them. But.
[Hoh.]
The voice actually came from a small life-form perched on one of the colossus's shoulders.
[I didn't expect to find talent worth anything on such a backwater little planet.]
The rock humanoid, looking like a scaled-down version of a colossus, flashed Jin-Woo a sinister smile.
[However, the fact that you must swell your body to maximize your own power is proof of how primitive your species is. In contrast, when we colossi reveal our true strength, we actually shrink in size.]
He curled the tips of both outstretched arms toward himself, pointed at his own body, and laughed.
[Fufu, of course, that's only possible for the very best warriors among the colossi, myself included...]
The moment that happened, Jin-Woo, who had been listening with a look of disdain, tilted his head sharply to the side. Flash! At that precise instant, a streak of red light burst from behind Jin-Woo and erased the colossus's champion warrior in the blink of an eye. Bellion, who had been riding atop the ancient dragon that unleashed the flash, asked in surprise.
[My Lord, were you perhaps conversing with that one?]
Jin-Woo waved his hand, indicating it was fine, then turned his gaze to Bellion.
"They're awfully cocky, so I'm going to need you to deal with them especially." [Leave it to me, my Lord.]
Bellion bowed his head politely and flew off somewhere. Jin-Woo looked back at the colossi. Already stripped of a significant portion of their forces by Jin-Woo, the colossi were being engulfed by the black waves generated by the shadow soldiers.
[GRAAAAAAAH!] [GRAH!]
The desert was filled with nothing but the screams of rock-made giants.
* * *
"......" "......"
Silence. Was there any word that could describe the atmosphere of this place better than that? The conference room was as quiet as though someone had doused it with cold water. After staring at the footage in stunned silence for a long while, the president finally forced himself to speak.
"That man... has his identity been identified?"
The general shook his head. A real monster who could swat terrifying creatures like toys. That monster had saved America without anyone knowing.
'No—perhaps the entire world...'
But power that could save the world could, conversely, destroy it. At the very least, the president concluded that identifying his identity was the best course of action and addressed the people in the conference room.
"Is there any way to identify the man who appeared in that footage just now?"
A few comments came and went, but the prevailing opinion was that it was practically impossible. However.
"It would be impractical, yes. Im. Pra. Cal."
Those were the words of David Brennan, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The president turned his head toward him.
"...Is there something you want to say?"
The director spoke carefully.
"If a practical method is impossible, why not try looking for an impractical one?"
Looking around at the people tilting their heads in confusion, the director smiled.
"There is someone. Someone who, by impractical means, has given us truths that nobody else knew."
No way! That she, a woman no one on American soil didn't know, maintained a special relationship with the CIA was an openly known secret in political circles. The president, her name having just come to mind, widened his eyes and asked.
"Does that mean...?"
The director said with confidence.
"Yes. Ms. Norma Selner. As always, she will be the one to give us the answer this time, too."