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!"

deeply into Hemlock's eyes, which shook with what appeared

able to get a

you doing

wasn't asking why he was trying to kill him. He already understood

was the reason why Kevin would attempt to conceal

benefit would such action

about such a trivial

on his neck. Once again staring deeply into his eyes,

Had it been another time, maybe you would've been able to accomplish what you set out to

Crack—!

as the sound of

directly conflicts against my interests, and for that, you have to

of the Monolith, and an

Thump—!

the side, and as he did so, his limp trembled, and he quickly brought his

"Pffff."

hand as his face began to turn pale, and he fell

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

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

"Ugh…a

single second seemed like an eternity to him, and the pain in his chest increased with

as though he was being

his shirt tightly, he rolled around and

"Pffff."

and his arm was nearly rendered completely limp. It took everything that he had

couldn't allow himself to pass

Not yet.

don't have

***

Human Domain.

all along the derelict streets and buildings that

Clank—! Clank—!

of the alliance and the members of

and blood, and one could faintly hear

above in

Boom—!

already, you old witch

It belonged to a girl with orange hair who was covered in orange armor. The armor complimented her body perfectly and covered all areas of her body. Not

at the elderly woman who was standing in the opposite direction from her, and as she did so,

"Y-ou…"

white hair was all over her face, and her clothes were in pretty

How did

supposed to be

order to eliminate their forces. How was it possible for someone of Monica's stature to show up? She wasn't supposed to

It didn't make sense!

they take such a

'Did…did he betray us?'

what happened a

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

"Don't tell me…"

Beeep—! Beeep—! Beeep—!

dramatically as an alarming beeping

Damn it!

was saying before her body began to rapidly expand,

Booooooom—!

illuminated by a blinding light, which was accompanied by a deafening boom that seemed to travel in waves

force of the explosion was so strong that it lifted the ground from underneath it, resulting in a mushroom cloud of ash, rubble, and smoke

outward from the explosion site, igniting everything in its path and destroying it. A desolate landscape was left behind after the explosion as a result of the shockwave that

followed by an eerie silence, followed by what was comparable to the cracking sound