The street froze.
Not metaphorically.
Reality itself stalled—as if the world was waiting to see who would move first.
Five figures stood between the small convenience store and the road, their presence so wrong it bent the air around them. Assassins. Not hunters. Not soldiers. Killers who specialized in ending Inner World users—the kind people whispered about when even S-ranks went missing.
Squad Zero.
Drax Magna stood behind them, hands still in his pockets, gaze flat and cold.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then the first figure turned.
He was tall, armored in a dark helm that concealed his face completely. Around him, the air subtly warped, like gravity itself hadn't decided how much it wanted to obey.
Kim Sakai.
Leader of Squad Zero.
"So," Kim said calmly, voice echoing unnaturally from beneath the helm,
"you're the one who followed us."
Drax tilted his head slightly, eyes drifting past them—toward the shop.
"My mother is in there," he said.
Then his gaze snapped back to Kim.
"Were you just going to attack her?"
Ren Balask shifted beside Kim.
His aura hummed—sharp, vibrating, like a blade halfway drawn from its sheath. His presence alone made the air sting.
"So what if we did?" Kim replied.
The world snapped.
Abyssal essence erupted from Drax.
The pressure was immediate and catastrophic—windows rattled, streetlights bent, and the pavement groaned as if it were about to cave in. The air thickened, turning heavy, suffocating, ancient.
People screamed.
Cars stalled.
Drax felt it—and immediately restrained it.
Tch.
He exhaled slowly.
Too many innocents.
He stepped forward once and spoke a single word.
"Switch."
The shadows beneath Squad Zero collapsed inward.
The city vanished.
They reappeared in silence.
A forest greeted them—vast, blackened, steeped in ancient power.
Ebonreach Forest.
Velgrid's domain.
Far above, atop the largest mountain—a volcano whose peak bled crimson light—two draconic eyes opened briefly.
Velgrid noticed.
He did not interfere.
He watched.
Drax stood in the center of a clearing, hands now out of his pockets.
"You wanted to find me," he said calmly.
"Here I am."
Kaiyan Bushen was already gone.
Or rather—she felt gone.
Her presence folded into the shadows so completely it felt wrong, like a missing sound.
Yamamoto Brighton's eyes glowed faintly.
Twenty seconds into the future unfolded in his mind.
His expression darkened.
"…This isn't good," he muttered.
Buddhistava stepped forward.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Layered armor etched with kill counts instead of names. A spear rested in his grip—ancient, heavy, radiating transcendental strength.
"Insolence," he rumbled.
"You deserve death."
Drax didn't flinch.
"No need to come one by one," he said casually.
"Just attack me all at once. Saves me the trouble of running you down."
Silence.
Then—
Rage.
Ren's aura exploded outward, becoming a spectral blade extending from his body—his Inner World: Edgebound, a realm where everything sharpened toward a singular point of death.
Yamamoto moved, perception fracturing time itself as he adjusted movements based on futures yet to occur—Inner World: Chrono Lens.
Kaiyan struck from nowhere—Inner World: Umbral Silence, a realm without sound, presence, or warning.
Buddhistava's spear descended, his Inner World manifesting as overwhelming physical force—Inner World: Thousand Burdens, a domain where weight, mass, and momentum obeyed his will.
And Kim—
Kim didn't move.
Gravity twisted around him.
Inner World: Event Horizon.
The fight erupted.
Drax moved.
Not fast.
Not slow.
Perfect.
Every strike that came near him dissolved—essence pulled apart, devoured mid-motion. Blades thinned into mist. Gravity bent, then collapsed into nothing.
They couldn't touch him.
"Is that it?" Drax asked, voice flat.
Their eyes widened.
Ren growled. "We can't overpower him individually."
Kim raised a hand.
"…Stage Two," he said.
The world shuddered.
All five released it.
Partial Embodiment.
Their inner worlds bled into their bodies.
Ren became living steel.
Yamamoto's pupils fractured into clockwork spirals.
Kaiyan ceased casting shadows—she became one.
Buddhistava's frame expanded, veins glowing like molten stone.
Kim's helm cracked as gravity crushed inward, orbiting him like a dying star.
They attacked again.
This time—
A hit landed.
Drax's shoulder split open.
Blood spilled.
Silence followed.
Drax looked down at the wound.
Then smiled.
"…Good."
The Abyss answered.
The forest darkened.
Essence vanished from the air—not dispersed, not burned—absorbed.
Drax stepped forward.
Now serious.
Every attack after that failed.
Long-range techniques dissolved before touching him. Close-range blows were swallowed mid-impact. Their essence was no longer theirs.
It was feeding him.
One by one, they fell.
Kaiyan never screamed.
Ren shattered.
Yamamoto collapsed, futures burning away.
Buddhistava fought until his spear snapped—and then until his body did.
Kim was last.
Drax placed a hand on his helm.
"End."
The Abyss devoured him whole.
Silence returned.
The forest breathed.
Drax stood alone.
Power surged.
Stage Two — Abyssal World.
Unlocked.
Partial Embodiment
Monarch's Domain
Death Subordination
Advanced Abyssal Combat
"Yes," Drax said softly, looking up at the clouds.
"I've finally reached Stage Two."
Then—
He turned his head slightly.
"You've been watching from the city," he said calmly.
"You're lucky you didn't make a move. If you did—"
His eyes ignited.
"—you'd die."
Far away, Serius froze.
The Abyssal Eyes locked onto her.
Her mind fractured—
—and she fled.
Later that day, she collapsed into Lex's chambers.
"That ability…" she gasped. "It nearly destroyed me."
Lex handed her a pill.
"Take it," he said calmly.
"And next time—listen to me."
Far away, Drax walked home.
The Abyss followed.
And the world had just crossed a line it could never uncross.