The Pacific Ocean no longer looked like an ocean.
Its surface had shattered beneath towering waves. The sky was split by the light of the Void. The air crackled with fire, ice, sand, roots, and bolts of raw energy.
The world was at war.
And in the middle of the chaos—
The Eclipse Devourer hovered above the battlefield like a living eclipse.
Its cosmic wings blotted out the stars. Four violet eyes watched the destruction below with unsettling calm.
It wasn't angry.
It wasn't nervous.
It was enjoying the show.
Below it, the Guardians of the world stood together.
Aethernox.
Thalorion.
Leviathan Thalassa.
Ignivar Draco.
Ursus Glacialis.
Ursus Vitalis.
Leo Solaris.
Aurelion Siroth.
Himal Yaksha.
And towering above them all—
Gaia Primordia.
The Guardian of the World.
For the first time since ancient times, the Guardians of Earth had gathered on a single battlefield.
Yet even with all their power united, the sky still felt like enemy territory.
The Assault Begins
The Void Beasts plunged from the clouds like a rain of black meteors.
"Here they come!" Sinta shouted.
Her face was pale, but her voice remained firm.
"Farhan, keep an eye on the radar! Lila, track their attack patterns! Bimo, cover the left flank! Dika, protect the ship's machinery!"
Everyone moved.
No questions.
No hesitation.
They had come too far to turn back now.
Ignivar Draco beat its molten wings.
BOOOOOOM!
A torrent of magma tore through the sky, obliterating three Void Beasts in a single blast.
Ursus Glacialis roared.
Freezing winds swept across the ocean. Waves crystallized in midair, trapping two cosmic creatures inside solid ice before the Guardian shattered them with its massive claws.
Ursus Vitalis slammed its paws into the sea.
Colossal roots erupted from the depths, snaring the invaders and dragging them beneath the waves.
Leo Solaris leaped into the sky like a living sun.
Golden light blazed from its mane, piercing through one cosmic creature after another.
Aurelion Siroth spiraled through the air, transforming into a colossal sandstorm that ground entire swarms of Void Beasts into dust.
Bimo stared at the sky, his mouth hanging open.
"...This is insane."
Dika managed a faint grin.
"This is just the warm-up."
The Ship Begins to Fall Apart
But there were too many enemies.
One Void Beast slipped past the Guardians' attacks and slammed into the side of the research vessel.
CRAAAAASH!
The hull tore open.
Seawater burst through the breach.
Alarms screamed throughout the ship.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"The hull's breached!" Farhan shouted.
Without thinking twice, Bimo took off running.
He plunged into a corridor that was already beginning to flood.
"Bimo!" Rani screamed.
Inside, a crew member was trapped beneath a broken steel door.
The water had already reached his chest.
Bimo gritted his teeth and heaved the door upward with both hands.
"Okay... that's heavier than it looks!"
He shoved the crew member toward safety first.
Then a massive surge of water slammed through the corridor.
WHOOOOM!
Bimo was hurled against the wall.
But somehow, he managed to get back to his feet.
"Still alive!" he shouted, coughing up seawater.
In the engine room, chunks of metal rained from the ceiling.
Dika braced a massive steel beam against his shoulder, his neck muscles straining under the weight.
"Fix it! Now!" he barked.
Farhan sat in front of a control panel flashing with error messages, his fingers flying across the keyboard.
"I'm trying to bypass the ship's systems and switch to manual control!"
Lila stared at the energy readings, trembling.
"If the Ocean Core falls... the entire Pacific tectonic plate could fracture!"
Sinta stood amid the chaos, breathing hard. Her hands shook, but her eyes remained sharp.
"Everyone, listen to me!"
The shouting stopped.
"We haven't lost yet."
For some reason, those simple words were enough to get everyone moving again.
The Eclipse Devourer Makes Its Move
Outside the ship, the Guardians continued fighting.
Then, at last, the Eclipse Devourer grew tired of watching.
It spread its wings.
The entire sky darkened.
"No..." Kai whispered.
Void energy gathered inside the creature, swelling like a black hole drawing breath.
Then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A colossal wave of Void energy exploded in every direction.
Ignivar Draco was blasted backward and plunged into the sea.
Ursus Glacialis skidded hundreds of meters across the ice.
Leo Solaris was hurled out of the sky.
Thalorion crashed into the waves like a collapsing mountain.
Even Aethernox was forced back.
Gaia Primordia raised a golden barrier to shield the others from the remaining shockwave.
But cracks began spreading across its ancient stone body.
Bimo stared from the deck of the crippled ship.
"...It hit all of them at once."
Kai clenched his fists.
"It wasn't even fighting seriously before."
Arga Becomes the Target
The Eclipse Devourer slowly turned its head.
All four eyes fixed on a single point.
Arga.
The MBG Lunchbox in his hands began to shake violently.
All twenty-eight glowing grains of rice spun faster and faster.
Farhan stared at the readings on his screen.
"All the world's Cores... they're locked onto Arga!"
Lila went pale.
"If Arga dies, the resonance connecting all the Cores could collapse!"
Sinta spun toward him.
"Arga, get back!"
But Arga didn't move.
He stared up at the sky, his entire body trembling.
Blood trickled from his nose. Golden light pulsed beneath his skin, spreading cracks of radiance along his arms.
Kai stepped beside him.
"Your body can't withstand this."
Arga managed a faint smile.
"If I step back... who's going to step forward?"
Kai fell silent.
For a moment, his expression changed.
He no longer looked like a mentor.
He looked like someone who had once lost everything.
"I failed to protect a world once," he said quietly.
His eyes darkened.
"I won't stand by and watch it happen again."
The Final Light
The Eclipse Devourer opened its jaws.
A black sun began forming in its throat.
The sky screamed.
The ocean pulled away from the ship, exposing the water beneath it as the sea withdrew in every direction.
Everyone understood.
If that attack landed, it would all be over.
Arga stepped forward.
One step.
His knees nearly gave out.
A second step.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
A third.
He almost collapsed—
but Kai caught him before he hit the ground.
Behind them stood Sinta, Bimo, Dika, Rani, Farhan, and Lila.
Not one of them backed away.
Arga raised the MBG Lunchbox toward the sky.
"If this is the end..."
The twenty-eight grains of rice blazed like a cluster of stars.
"...then we'll face it together."
The energy of the Earth's Guardians surged toward him.
Fire.
Ice.
Forest.
Sand.
Sunlight.
Ocean.
Earth.
Golden light flooded the Pacific.
The Eclipse Devourer unleashed its attack.
Arga screamed as he released every last ounce of energy his body could bear.
The two forces collided.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The sky shattered with light.
The ocean split apart.
The research vessel was ripped from the water, lifted into the air, and torn cleanly in half.
Everyone was thrown in different directions.
Arga screamed—
then his body was hurled skyward like a dry leaf caught in a storm.
The True King Descends
When the light finally faded—
everyone lay scattered among the wreckage of the ship.
Small fires flickered across the ocean's surface.
The Guardians were wounded.
The Eclipse Devourer was still standing.
But this time—
it wasn't looking at Arga.
It was staring upward.
And trembling.
The cosmic rift in the sky widened, stretching far beyond anything they had seen before.
It no longer looked like a wound.
It looked like a gateway.
Something stirred on the other side.
A shadow vast enough to swallow the moon.
Gaia Primordia took a step back.
Aethernox lowered its head.
Leviathan Thalassa released a low, frightened rumble.
Bimo stared upward, his whole body shaking.
"...What the hell is that...?"
Kai went pale.
For the first time since they had met him—
he looked genuinely terrified.
His lips trembled as he whispered a name.
"...Nihilath."
Lying among the wreckage, Arga slowly opened his eyes.
And the first thing he saw—
was a colossal eye opening in the sky, staring down at Earth.
It was larger than a storm.
Older than mountains.
Colder than the Void itself.
Then—
the eye blinked.
And the entire Pacific Ocean fell utterly still.