From her vantage point on the grand clocktower, Alpha's mind, a machine of flawless logic and strategic calculus, was running into a wall. This new being—this "Ashen Monarch," as Beta had so aptly dubbed him—was an enigma wrapped in an aura of absolute finality.
His arrival was not random, she reasoned, her gloved fingers gripping the cold stone ledge. The Fracture appeared, Lord Shadow vanquished it with a new, sublime technique, and then this entity appeared through the residual scar. It is cause and effect.
Her conclusion was swift and, in her mind, unshakable. This was not an invasion. It was a test.
Lord Shadow has summoned a challenger, she surmised, her golden eyes gleaming with intellectual fervor. He has drawn a powerful being from another reality to serve as a whetstone for us, his Shadow Garden. A new 'Cult of Diablos' to be dismantled, but one whose power is on a scale we have never faced. He is testing our growth, our resolve. The thought filled her with a terrifying sense of purpose. They could not fail him.
She relayed her assessment through their covert magical comms network. "All Shades, maintain observation. Do not engage. This is Lord Shadow's new trial. We must first understand the opponent's capabilities."
A low, guttural growl answered her on a private channel. "Hunt... Strong prey..."
Alpha sighed, a sound of profound exasperation. "Delta. Stand down. That is an order."
"But... strong," the voice whined, laced with an almost unbearable primal impatience. "Smells... like a king. The strongest king. I want... to break him!"
"Delta, if you engage recklessly, you will disrupt the Master's grand design!" Alpha's voice was sharp, a commander's reprimand.
The line went silent. Not a silence of compliance, but the silence of a predator that has stopped listening and started stalking.
"Delta?" Alpha repeated, a knot of dread tightening in her stomach. "Delta, report!"
No answer. Alpha cursed under her breath.
Sung Jin-woo stood motionless on the rooftop, a statue carved from shadow and death. His senses were a perfect, three-dimensional map of the city. He cataloged the seven "flames" of power. One was analytical and cautious (Alpha). One was excited and observational (Beta). The others were a mix of caution and readiness.
But one... one was different. It was a raging, uncontrolled inferno of pure, physical power and bloodlust. And it was moving. Fast.
Inexperienced, Jin-woo noted with detached clarity. All power, no control. Like a low-grade magic beast driven by instinct.
He didn't have to wait long.
A blur of motion erupted from an alleyway three blocks away. It was not just fast; it was impossibly fast, breaking the sound barrier with a sharp crack that shattered windows along its path. To a normal human, it would have been an invisible wind. To Jin-woo, it was a lumbering charge.
A figure, small but dense with muscle, launched into the air, soaring over the rooftops in a perfect arc. It was a young woman with wild, black hair, sharp canine teeth, and the feral eyes of a wolf. Two furry ears twitched atop her head, and a bushy tail wagged with savage glee. This was Delta, the most destructive physical force in Shadow Garden.
Her hands had already transformed. Her slime bodysuit had morphed into massive, jet-black claws, each talon as long as a short sword and vibrating with condensed magical energy.
"GRAAAAAAAH! I'LL TEAR YOU APART!" she roared, her voice a sonic boom. She descended upon Jin-woo like a meteor, aiming to rip him in half from head to toe.
From Alpha's perspective, it was a flawless ambush. Delta's speed was absolute, her power overwhelming. No knight or mage in the world could survive that initial strike. She braced herself, ready to witness the first clash in their new war.
Jin-woo didn't move. He didn't even seem to tense.
A single, glitched-out system window appeared, visible only to him.
[New Target Detected]
[Race: Therianthrope (Beastkin)]
[Title: The Tyrant's Fang]
[Threat Level Assessment... Physical Parameters: S-Rank. Energy Source: Unidentifiable. Analysis Failed.]
S-Rank physicals, he thought. Impressive for someone her age. But that's all.
As Delta's claws, capable of shredding solid steel like paper, were a mere inch from his face, Jin-woo's left hand rose. His movement was not fast. It was economical. Precise. Inescapable.
He simply caught her wrist.
CLANG!
A sound like two mountains colliding echoed through the district. It wasn't the sound of flesh meeting flesh, but of an unstoppable force meeting a truly immovable object.
Delta's eyes widened in disbelief. Her full-power, all-in attack had been stopped. Casually. By one hand. She was frozen in mid-air, her wrist locked in a grip that felt like it was forged from the core of a dead star. It didn't just hold her; it negated her momentum, her power, her entire being. She couldn't move a single muscle.
"You are strong," Jin-woo's voice was a low, chillingly calm murmur from within his hood of shadow. "But you are loud."
He squeezed.
A sickening CRUNCH echoed, and Delta let out a yelp of pure, unadulterated pain. The bones in her nigh-indestructible wrist had been effortlessly crushed. He released her, and she dropped to the rooftop, landing in a heap and cradling her mangled hand, her face a mask of shock and agony. The Tyrant's Fang had been declawed.
On the clocktower, Alpha's jaw went slack. The blood drained from her face.
It wasn't the victory that shocked her. It was the ease. He hadn't used a spell. He hadn't dodged. He hadn't even counter-attacked. He had simply... nullified her. He had treated Delta, their apex predator, like an unruly child.
This isn't a test subject... The thought hit her with the force of a physical blow. This is... this is a MONARCH. A being on the same level as Lord Shadow himself! Did Master know? Is this his true, hidden rival?!
Miles away, at the counter of a bustling, steamy ramen shop run by the Mitsugoshi conglomerate, Cid Kagenou slurped his noodles.
"Ahhh, perfect," he sighed in bliss, savoring the rich tonkotsu broth. "Gamma really outdid herself with this franchise model. The perfect cover for information gathering, and the ramen is genuinely top-tier."
He felt the sudden, violent spike of magical energy from Delta's attack, followed by its immediate, baffling extinguishment. He paused, his chopsticks halfway to his mouth.
He took a slow, deliberate sip of his broth, a knowing smirk playing on his lips.
*"Hoho... so they've started the 'welcoming party'," *he thought, his chuunibyou imagination running wild. "Alpha, ever the cautious one, must have sent Delta to probe the newcomer's strength. And it seems the mysterious guest is quite capable, to be able to handle Delta's greeting. How interesting! This new player makes my grand stage so much more dramatic! Keep up the good work, my loyal shadows. Test him. Understand him. So that when the time comes for me to face him in a climactic battle under a blood moon, the audience will be on the very edge of their seats!"
He happily returned to his ramen, completely misinterpreting the life-or-death struggle and the dawning horror his subordinates were experiencing.
Back on the rooftop, Jin-woo looked down at the whimpering beast-girl. A pest, but a distraction nonetheless. He needed to find the Eminence. He had no more time to waste on his lackeys.
He decided to end it.
He didn't move, but he released a fraction—less than one percent—of his true aura. It was not the explosive pressure of a warrior. It was the silent, absolute, and all-encompassing pressure of the grave.
Sovereign's Territory.
The world went silent. The air became thick, cold, and heavy, like being submerged in an arctic ocean. The very concept of sound and light seemed to dim. For Delta, the feeling was indescribable. It was the primal, instinctual terror of a lone wolf finding itself in a graveyard the size of a planet, with every single occupant staring at it. It was the feeling of being utterly, completely, and hopelessly outmatched. Her will to fight, her primal rage, her very identity as a hunter, was extinguished. She collapsed, unconscious, her mind unable to process the sheer, oppressive scale of his authority.
For Alpha, watching from afar, it was even worse. The aura washed over her, and for the first time since she was a cursed, dying child, she felt true, helpless fear. Every cell in her body screamed at her to run, to hide, to cease to exist. Her knees buckled, and she had to grip the ledge to keep from falling.
This was not the power of a man. This was the power of a fundamental concept. The concept of The End.
Jin-woo gave the unconscious girl a final, indifferent glance. He had wasted enough time.
He lifted his head, and his glowing purple eyes, burning with cold purpose, seemed to pierce through the miles of city separating them. He looked past the shocked Alpha, past the other hidden Shades, and focused directly on the one source of power that had called him here. The one that was currently enjoying a bowl of noodles.
He took a step, melting into the shadows, his destination now crystal clear.
Alpha, shaking, finally regained enough composure to send a single, frantic message on the emergency channel, a channel reserved only for their master.
:: OBSIDIAN. I REPEAT. OBSIDIAN. HE IS NOT A TEST. HE IS A KING. AND HE IS COMING FOR YOU. ::