Alt title: Not All Monsters Wait for the Gate
The sky had sealed back over — the tear vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.
But the pressure hadn't left.
It lingered in the air like radiation, soaked into the bones of every awakened being with power.
Inside Ahjin Guild HQ, the silence was thick.
Deadpool's Nexus screen flashed again.
[SYSTEM STATUS UPDATE]
Event Classification: Pre-Break Distortion
Alert: A high-density dimensional rift is forming. Estimated break in 72–96 hours.
Monarch Response Detected.
Danger Level: Catastrophic
Deadpool squinted at the last part.
"Okay, see, this is what happens when world bosses don't RSVP. Suddenly we're all in the prologue of a bad ending."
Jinho, pale and stunned, sat in one of the meeting chairs. His hands trembled as he scrolled his tablet. "No… no dungeon in the records has ever caused this much instability. This isn't… this isn't normal."
Lennart nodded once, jaw tight.
"This is a signal. Something's coming through that gate."
Wolverine stood near the window, still staring at the sky.
"No," he said. "Something's already here."
Scene Shift: Monarch Realm – Between Dimensions
Across the void between worlds, they felt it too.
The Beast Monarch awoke from his slumber with a low growl, claws carving into the stone beneath him.
"The time is ahead of schedule," he muttered. "The Shadow Monarch's rise disturbs the flow."
The Frost Monarch, regal and cruel, opened his eyes in the cold void of his domain.
"No... not his rise. The interference."
He saw them.
The ones who didn't belong.
The ones who couldn't be tracked.
The red one.The clawed one.
In the shadows of ruin, the Plague Monarch began to stir — insects crawling across his skin.
"The Dragon does not move yet," he hissed. "But we will."
They did not need permission.
Not anymore.
The balance was broken.
Scene Shift: Rooftop of Ahjin Guild – Later That Night
Jinwoo stood alone at the edge, Kamish's daggers resting on his hips.
He looked up into the stars. They looked back — wrong, twisted.
Behind him, a faint voice from the Nexus echoed — Deadpool's system, broadcasting across nearby connected frameworks:
"Monarch Response Detected…"
Jinwoo's eyes narrowed.
"They're not waiting for the Gate."