The Author's POV

Booom—!

Large portions of the hall collapsed inwardly, crashing against the ground beneath them as the sound of a significant explosion reverberated through the air.

Boom—! Boom—!

The hall continued to shake, and dust continued to fly into the air, creating a veil that obscured what was taking place behind it.

In the midst of the veil, bright white lights flashed while muffled explosions accompanied them.

Each impact was felt throughout the entire headquarters, as buildings collapsed and the dome protecting the facility continuously flickered. Cracks soon started to form, and alarms started to ring.

This didn't last for long, however.

Silence soon returned to the headquarters in the aftermath of the short conflict.

A great number of figures were seen lying on the ground as they took their final breaths, and those that were still alive did not even dare to move an inch.

They were helpless in the face of the overwhelming power that radiated from the hall, and they dared not even consider the events that had transpired there. Whatever had taken place was beyond their comprehension.

Within the destroyed hall.

"Uakh…h-how is this possible?"

Hemlock had a difficult time catching his breath. He looked up at two crimson red eyes that shone menacingly against the dark backdrop of the hall as a hand clenched tightly around his throat.

"How are… you this s-strong?"

It made no sense. It was impossible!

'This can't be real. How is this possible!?'

He, who had just broken through rank was supposed to be the strongest human in existence.

Apart from Octavious, there shouldn't be anyone else that could pose a threat against him, so…

How?

How was this possible?

"I-t makes no sense!"

"Of course, it doesn't."

The mute sound of Kevin's voice gradually made its way to him. Shivers ran down Hemlock's spine as he noticed his calm gaze pause on him.

He continued.

"The sacrifice and pain I underwent to get to where I am isn't something that the likes of you can ever hope to understand."

His power wasn't something he had acquired over the course of a couple of decades.

Far from it.

It was a skill he had acquired through a million distinct regressions. Throughout the centuries, he died over and over again. Endlessly.

To the point where death was merely a number to him.

All of it was for this one moment.

"Be glad you got to live as long as you did. If not because I allowed it, you wouldn't have lived as long as you did."

Had he not recovered his memories and power this late, he would have long since killed him. What he was doing now was something he should've done a while back but didn't.

...It was the last thing that he needed to do.

"Ukh!"

his neck, staring deeply into Hemlock's eyes,

to be able to get a few

you

trying

he wanted to comprehend was the reason why Kevin

would such action bring

worry about such a

tightening his grip on his neck.

accomplish what you set out to do. Perhaps humanity wouldn't really go into

Crack—!

body limped over Kevin's hand as the sound of bones breaking

conflicts against my interests, and for

of the Monolith, and an ranked

Thump—!

threw his body to the side, and as he did so, his

"Pffff."

as his face began to turn pale,

Bu..thump! Bu..thump! Bu..thump!

feel his heart thumping against the back of his throat. He felt

"Ugh…a

pain that he was experiencing. Every single second seemed like

as though he was being burned

shirt tightly, he rolled around

"Pffff."

rendered completely limp. It took everything that he had

couldn't allow himself to pass

Not yet.

have

***

Human Domain.

clattering of metal could be heard all along the derelict

Clank—! Clank—!

going on between the members of the alliance and the members of the Monolith. There was blood

ground was covered in severed limbs and blood, and one could faintly hear the screams of desperation

above in

Boom—!

die already, you old witch

hair who was covered in orange armor. The

standing in the opposite direction from her, and as she did so,

"Y-ou…"

an angry look. Her white hair was all over her face, and her clothes were in

did you

supposed

for them in order to eliminate their forces. How was it possible for someone of Monica's stature to show up? She wasn't supposed to be here! She was supposed to be guarding Ashton

It didn't make sense!

would they take such

'Did…did he betray us?'

faint memory of what happened a little while back

halt in midair after she had an abrupt realization about something. It was the only explanation she could come up with at the moment,

"Don't tell me…"

Beeep—! Beeep—! Beeep—!

an alarming beeping sound suddenly reverberated throughout the

Damn it!

had time to finish what she was saying before her body began to

Booooooom—!

blinding light, which was accompanied by a deafening boom that seemed to

strong that it lifted the ground from underneath it, resulting in a mushroom cloud of

heat rushed outward from the explosion site, igniting everything in its path and destroying it. A desolate

was followed by an eerie silence, followed by