13 THE GATHERING STORM Date: May 28, 2027 Time: 5:41 AM Location: Earth The pause after Varkhul’s retreat lasted less than ten minutes.
For humanity, it felt impossible.
Not because the fighting had stopped.
Across the planet, cities still burned, evacuation convoys still moved through ruined highways, and dimensional storms still scarred the skies.
But something fundamental had changed during those brief minutes of silence.
The invaders had withdrawn in formation.
They had protected their wounded.
They had abandoned unfavorable terrain.
And worst of all— they had observed Earth before retreating.
That realization spread across the globe faster than panic.
The enemy was not a horde.
It was a civilization.
Location: Nigeria Battlefield The battlefield in Adamawa no longer resembled any natural environment.
Glaciers floated in the air like broken continents.
Fragments of frozen earth rotated slowly within distorted gravitational fields created by Purple energy.
Rivers had crystallized into towering spirals of blue ice, while abyssal corruption spread beneath them like black veins infecting the land itself.
The aftermath of AETERNUS and Varkhul’s battle stretched for hundreds of kilometers.
Nothing living remained nearby.
At the center of the devastation, AETERNUS stood motionless beneath the fractured heavens.
His dragon form looked battered now.
Several crimson scales along his torso were cracked completely.
One wing remained partially torn near the joint, forcing occasional tremors through the membrane whenever he moved.
Frost-colored blood dripped slowly onto the frozen wasteland beneath him.
Yet even injured, he radiated enough pressure to make the surrounding atmosphere vibrate.
Blue frost flames drifted quietly around his body.
Not violently anymore.
Almost thoughtfully.
AETERNUS stared upward toward the dimensional fractures hanging across the sky.
The crimson eye from earlier still lingered in his instincts.
Not memory.
Recognition.
Something buried deep inside his bloodline had reacted to that gaze instinctively, and the sensation continued disturbing him more than the battle itself.
Then his system appeared again.
NEW SKILL EVOLUTION DETECTED RED HAS EVOLVED CURRENT STATE: COMPLETE FORCE MANIPULATION AETERNUS narrowed his glowing sapphire eyes.
Slowly, he raised one claw.
Red energy formed around it instantly, but this time the power behaved differently.
Instead of erupting outward explosively, it curved smoothly around his arm like flowing gravity itself.
Controlled.
Condensed.
Precise.
He compressed the energy slightly.
Far in the distance, an entire frozen mountain imploded inward without physical contact.
The collapse sent ice and debris spiraling into the sky.
AETERNUS observed the result silently.
His abilities were no longer merely destructive.
They were evolving into concepts.
And somewhere deep within him, the dragon instincts stirred with quiet satisfaction.
Location: Shelter Zone, Nigeria Inside the underground shelter complex, exhaustion hung heavier than fear.
Emergency lights flickered constantly due to mana interference.
Portable generators hummed through the corridors while wounded civilians filled every available room.
The smell of antiseptic mixed with smoke, sweat, and damp concrete.
The Olaniyi family sat together near a reinforced command room where global emergency broadcasts continued looping across multiple screens.
Nobody looked untouched anymore.
Tomi quietly cleaned dried blood from a deep cut along her shoulder while reviewing tactical maps from Tokyo’s coastline battle.
Temitope paced restlessly near the wall, flames occasionally flickering unconsciously around her fingertips whenever distant explosions shook the shelter.
Mayowa remained near the window.
Silent.
Watching frozen storms far beyond the city.
Julie held Damilola close without realizing how tightly she was gripping her daughter’s hand.
David noticed everything.
The pacing.
The silence.
The fear nobody wanted to say aloud.
Tomi finally spoke first.
“The invaders changed tactics.” Everyone looked toward her.
“At first they attacked population centers directly,” she continued quietly.
“Now they’re targeting evacuation routes, medical zones, transport systems… anything that slows recovery.” David nodded slowly.
“They’re measuring humanity’s response patterns.” Temitope stopped pacing.
“You mean they’re studying us?” “Yes.” The answer settled heavily over the room.
Because predators attacked instinctively.
Armies learned.
From another room nearby, muffled crying echoed faintly through the shelter walls.
Nobody spoke for several seconds afterward.
Location: London, United Kingdom Rain covered the city in silver haze.
Much of central London had already lost power, leaving entire districts illuminated only by emergency flares, burning vehicles, and glowing system projections suspended above ruined streets.
Inside a collapsed subway terminal, survivors huddled together behind overturned train cars while distant screams echoed through the tunnels.
Then the monsters stopped moving.
Every abyssal creature within the station froze mid-motion simultaneously.
A pale young woman stepped forward quietly from the darkness.
NAME: ELYSIA NOCTURNE RACE: FIRST NEW GENERATION DREAM EATER RANK: C-RANK MID LEVEL: 163 Glowing violet markings stretched across her arms and neck like living constellations.
The monsters twitched violently.
Then collapsed one after another.
No wounds.
No visible attacks.
Their consciousness had simply been consumed.
The survivors stared at Elysia with the same fear they had shown the monsters moments earlier.
She noticed immediately.
And looked away first.
Because despite saving them— she understood why they were afraid.
Location: Atlantic Rift Zone The dimensional fracture above the Atlantic Ocean had expanded into something horrifying.
It no longer resembled a portal.
It looked like reality itself had been torn open.
Storms of unstable mana spiraled around the rupture while fragments of distorted space drifted through orbit like shattered mirrors.
Military satellites malfunctioned continuously near the region.
KAEL VANTHARION floated silently nearby.
LUNARIA VEIL remained beside him, moonlight flowing gently around her translucent form.
More members of the hidden 200 had begun gathering naturally around the Rift Zone.
Not as allies.
Not yet.
Predatory instincts made many of them wary of each other automatically.
Some remained hidden within dimensional folds or storm clouds.
Others observed openly from a distance while carefully measuring the strength of everyone present.
A crack of lightning split the atmosphere.
Then a man emerged from it laughing softly.
NAME: RAIZEN VOLTARIS RACE: FIRST NEW GENERATION STORM BERSERKER RANK: B-RANK LOW LEVEL: 259 Electricity crawled continuously across his skin.
He stared toward the gigantic armored figure still partially emerging beyond the dimensional tear.
“…That thing’s ridiculous.” Kael ignored the comment.
His spatial senses remained focused deeper within the fracture itself.
Something was forcing the portals open externally.
Not brute force alone.
Coordination.
Infrastructure.
Civilizations beyond Earth were constructing pathways into the planet in real time.
And the pressure behind those pathways continued increasing.
For the first time since awakening— Kael felt genuinely uneasy.
Location: Egypt The deserts no longer felt empty.
Mana storms rolled endlessly across the dunes, turning entire regions into shifting oceans of gold and black.
Ancient ruins buried for centuries had begun resurfacing beneath the changing environment.
Within one massive sandstorm, monsters died silently.
One after another.
Invisible attacks severed tendons, crushed throats, and pierced skulls before the creatures even understood they were under attack.
Golden eyes flickered briefly within the storm.
NAME: RAZIEL ANUBIS RACE: FIRST NEW GENERATION DESERT JACKAL RANK: B-RANK LOW LEVEL: 249 Raziel moved like part of the desert itself.
Silent.
Efficient.
Merciless.
A wounded abyssal creature reached weakly toward him from the sand.
Raziel ended its suffering immediately.
But afterward, he remained standing there longer than necessary.
Watching the corpse.
Watching his own hands.
The battle no longer disturbed him the way it once had.
That realization unsettled him far more than the bloodshed.
Location: Nigeria Battlefield The frozen wasteland trembled again.
This time— from underground.
AETERNUS reacted instantly.
CRAAAAAAACK!!
Necrotic fractures burst through the glaciers beneath him.
Black-green energy spread through the battlefield like infected roots as skeletal hands emerged from the earth in endless numbers.
Not shambling corpses.
Soldiers.
Some wore rusted armor from ancient civilizations.
Others carried abyssal weapons fused directly into bone.
Several resembled creatures that had died during the earlier invasion waves.
The battlefield atmosphere changed completely.
The Abyss brought pressure.
Predation.
Conquest.
But this— this felt cold.
Patient.
Inevitable.
A throne slowly rose from beneath the earth.
Bone and black metal twisted together into towering architecture while emerald necrotic flames illuminated the surrounding wasteland.
Seated upon the throne was a pale skeletal figure crowned with fragmented skulls.
The moment it appeared, system warnings erupted worldwide.
WARNING HIGH-TIER NECROTIC ENTITY DETECTED REALM CORRUPTION INCREASING Unlike Varkhul, the being radiated no rage.
No domination.
Only stillness.
The calm certainty of something that had witnessed civilizations die countless times before.
Emerald fire burned within its hollow eyes as it studied AETERNUS with open curiosity.
“…A living Primordial Dragon.” Its voice echoed softly across the battlefield.
Not loud.
But impossibly clear.
Behind the throne, undead armies continued rising endlessly from beneath the frozen land.
Then the king smiled faintly.
“Fascinating.” AETERNUS’s frost flames intensified immediately.
The Necrotic King noticed.
And slowly stood.
Deep underground— something ancient shifted in its sleep.
Location: Lagos, Nigeria The live broadcasts spread panic faster than the invasion itself.
People crowded around damaged phones and emergency screens inside shelters, restaurants, churches, and abandoned gas stations.
Then the dead began rising on camera.
A silence spread through the shelter networks afterward that frightened many survivors more than the screaming had.
Because some of the undead still wore recognizable uniforms.
Military personnel.
Hunters.
Emergency responders.
One woman near the Lagos shelter collapsed immediately after recognizing her husband among the resurrected soldiers.
Nobody knew how to comfort her.
Nearby, a little boy quietly asked his older brother: “If we die… will we come back like that too?” The older brother didn’t answer.
He couldn’t.
Location: France SERAPHIEL LUXORIA watched the Nigerian battlefield through fragmented emergency projections while continuing to heal wounded civilians inside a ruined cathedral.
Her wings glowed dimmer than before.
Exhaustion had begun catching up to her.
But it wasn’t physical fatigue that disturbed her most.
It was understanding the enemy’s intention.
“…He’s weaponizing grief,” she whispered softly.
The Necrotic King wasn’t merely trying to destroy humanity.
He was trying to collapse humanity emotionally.
Fear spread faster when people could no longer trust death itself.
Location: Nigeria Battlefield The undead surged forward.
Not mindlessly.
The Necrotic King commanded warfare differently from Varkhul.
The Abyssal General favored overwhelming adaptation and pressure.
The Necrotic King favored attrition.
Psychological erosion.
Infinite exhaustion.
The undead attacked in rotating formations.
Frontline skeletal beasts absorbed damage while smaller corpses climbed across frozen terrain from blind spots and collapsed trenches.
Some deliberately detonated themselves into clouds of necrotic corruption to weaken the environment before stronger undead advanced.
AETERNUS moved.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
Blue frost flames erupted across the battlefield, freezing entire waves of undead instantly before shattering them apart.
But moments later— the fragments twitched.
Reforming.
Necrotic mana recycled destruction itself.
Multiple skeletal dragons burst upward simultaneously.
One lunged for AETERNUS’s throat while another coiled around his damaged wing.
A third exploded into corrosive mist the moment it approached.
Fluid tactics.
Sacrificial warfare.
The dragon twisted violently midair.
His tail shattered one skeletal dragon instantly.
Purple distortion erased another from existence entirely.
Then VOID FROST STEP activated.
AETERNUS vanished through fractured frozen space and reappeared directly before the Necrotic King’s throne.
Purple energy condensed around his claws.
The king reacted immediately.
Towering bone walls erupted upward.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Half the throne vanished under the impact.
But the king itself had already moved.
A gigantic necrotic blade materialized behind AETERNUS.
CRAAAAASH!!
The dragon slammed across the battlefield violently.
Before he fully recovered, chains erupted from beneath the frozen earth and wrapped around his limbs and wings.
The Necrotic King raised one hand calmly.
Every undead creature charged simultaneously.
Location: Seoul, South Korea JIN WOOHYUN sat atop a collapsed overpass surrounded by shadow-corrupted monster corpses.
For once— he wasn’t smiling.
He watched the Nigerian battle through an unstable livestream projected above a hunter command vehicle.
“…That dragon’s insane.” Then his shadows trembled beneath him.
Jin’s expression slowly faded.
Because something else had entered Seoul.
Something powerful enough to make even his instincts react cautiously.
He slowly stood.
The playful mood disappeared from his face completely.
Location: Atlantic Rift Zone More evolved beings continued arriving near the dimensional fracture.
Tension filled the region constantly.
No unified command existed among the hidden 200.
Some bloodlines instinctively opposed others.
Dragon-types distrusted void-types.
Spirit races reacted uneasily around death-affinity beings.
Then crimson butterflies drifted across the battlefield atmosphere.
A woman descended slowly from the sky.
NAME: VELRYA MORRIGAN RACE: FIRST NEW GENERATION BLOOD REVENANT RANK: B-RANK MID LEVEL: 291 Several evolved immediately became cautious.
Blood-affinity races already possessed terrifying reputations after multiple battlefield incidents worldwide.
Velrya noticed the reactions.
And smiled slightly.
“How lively.” Behind the dimensional tear— the gigantic armored entity moved again.
This time, part of its face became visible.
Even the hidden 200 felt instinctive fear.
Not because of raw power alone.
But because the being’s presence felt ancient in a way Earth itself did not.
Location: Nigeria Battlefield AETERNUS erupted from the undead horde like a living catastrophe.
Red force manipulation crushed entire waves of skeletal soldiers without physical contact.
Blue frost flames froze necrotic storms midair.
Purple distortions shattered reality itself across the battlefield.
Yet no matter how many undead fell— more continued rising.
The Necrotic King simply observed.
Studying.
Calculating.
Waiting.
Then slowly— the king rose completely from the remains of its shattered throne.
The battlefield pressure multiplied instantly.
Millions of undead across the battlefield stopped moving simultaneously.
Silence spread unnaturally across the frozen wasteland.
Then every undead creature knelt.
Emerald fire illuminated the battlefield as the king raised its gigantic black blade.
“…Join death.” Its hollow gaze locked directly onto AETERNUS.
“…or become part of it.” Blue frost flames intensified around the dragon immediately.
Purple distortions spread through the shattered heavens.
And deep within AETERNUS’s bloodline— something ancient awakened faster.
Far above Earth, larger dimensional portals slowly began opening once more.
Humanity had survived the first invasion wave.
But the war itself was only beginning.