Lightning Over Japan
Kurume City, in the southern reaches of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan.
Shuuuuu—!
KUUUNG!
"Mmph—!"
A massive lycanthrope crashed down onto a car, and the young child hiding in the alley clamped both hands over their mouth. Terror clawed at them — they wanted nothing more than to scream — but screaming would mean certain death.
"Grrrrr."
"Mmph…"
Tears spilled from the trembling child's eyes. Hands could muffle a scream. Nothing could stop the tears sliding down their cheeks.
Thump.
DRRRRRRK!
Drool hanging in thick strands from its jaws, the lycanthrope ripped away the vending machine blocking the alley.
"Eek—!"
"Grrrr!"
The child's eyes met the lycanthrope's — and pure terror seized them. Moments earlier, they had watched adults die in utter brutality.
Dad… Mom…
Shaking violently, the child clenched both hands together as if in prayer.
Then — a voice spoke inside their mind.
Hey, kid. Can you close your eyes for me?
For a fleeting second they wondered if it was a hallucination. But the voice was so reassuring that the child shut their eyes at once. A monster stood right in front of them, yet they trusted that voice completely.
Squeeze.
"Get away from the kid."
PAAANG!
SWAAAAASH—!
BOOM!
From a distance, Selenia frowned and loosed an arrow. The lycanthrope's head exploded.
Thud-thud-thud.
"You can open your eyes now."
Do-ha gently stroked the child's head in the alley. The little one had heard his telepathic message and acted without a moment's hesitation.
"See that skeleton in the fluorescent safety vest?"
"…Yes."
"That guy standing over there summoned it. Follow the skeleton — it'll take you somewhere safe."
"Hey! I'm not a 'guy' — call me big bro!"
Canteas pouted. He was currently using illusion magic to appear as he had in his human days — so where did "guy" even come from?!
"Are you… A… by any chance?"
"That's right."
Do-ha, still wearing his mask, nodded. Cheon-oe-cheon A's fame stretched across Japan and the entire world. Thanks to that, the child recognized the hunter standing before them immediately.
"You're a smart kid. You can follow along just fine, right?"
"Yes!"
"Good. Go on, then."
"Th-thank you for saving me."
The child bowed deeply at the waist, then hurried toward the skeleton in the fluorescent safety vest.
"Hey, that's an enhanced skeleton, right?"
"Yeah."
"It's strong, right?"
"Ugh, I already said yes! That one alone can take down five orcs."
Canteas would have loved to summon a Dullahan unit to evacuate the citizens, but his current realm wasn't high enough for that. He could draw on his main body's power, of course — but he'd already exhausted himself fighting monsters in North Korea earlier that day.
"But why come to Japan instead of China?"
Selenia tilted her head. Their wager with the angel had taken place in Chinese territory. They could have helped China right then and there — yet they'd crossed over to Japan instead.
"China has a massive population, and just as many Awakened. They've got two Cheon-oe-cheon and thirty-three members of the Divine 200."
As if to prove his point, China's waves were already nearly suppressed. Japan, however, was not so fortunate. The land was large and the population considerable, but manpower was lacking. More precisely, the number of Awakened relative to population was decent enough — but only about ten of them ranked among the Divine 200. And Japan had only a single Cheon-oe-cheon. That was why they had come to help.
"Ah, I understand."
"Let's clear out the monsters around here quickly, then move on to the next city."
"Got it."
"Understood."
"Where are we going after Japan?"
"Mongolia."
Mongolia also had only one Cheon-oe-cheon — and far fewer Awakened overall. The abundance of open plains would keep casualties relatively low, but they still needed help.
"Won't China help them?"
"China and Mongolia don't get along. They probably won't refuse outright, but they'll keep stalling for time."
Do-ha explained for Selenia's benefit — she still lacked information about Earth. The tangled relationships between nations were bound to confuse her.
"Canteas. Let's go."
"Got it!"
Do-ha, Selenia, and Canteas each shot off in a different direction.
Thump.
SHHHRANG!
CHAJAJAJAJAJAK!
A single draw of the blade cut down hundreds of monsters in the sky at once.
Haa… Why won't the monsters stop coming?
Hayato — Japan's sole Cheon-oe-cheon and the thirteenth-ranked hunter in the world — bit down hard on his lip as he drew a deep breath. He had already killed thousands of monsters, yet he still couldn't leave for another city. The wave hadn't struck Osaka alone; it had erupted simultaneously across the entire nation. He needed to reach the other cities — but the endless tide of monsters had pinned him here.
"Kyaaaah!"
"Kieeeeek!"
"Not a chance!"
SHHHRACK!
Hayato sent a blade of sword-qi screaming toward a goblin unit chasing civilians and carved them apart in a single stroke.
Dududududu!
KRAANG. KRAANG. KRAANG. KRAANG.
"Damn it."
Cars flipped in the distance, and Hayato exhaled a heavy sigh. Countless monsters were advancing at speed from far down the street. They had come like this more than ten times already.
But this time there are even more…
And then —
Dududududu!
— hundreds more came pouring in from the west.
Hayato clenched his jaw and gripped his sword. If he abandoned the civilians and fought for himself alone, he would survive easily enough. If he kept protecting them… he would take a serious wound, or, if luck turned against him, die.
"Haa… So this is where I die. If I'd known, I would have played with my son more often."
In the end, Hayato chose to protect the people. He drew his power up from the depths.
KUUUUUUUUU—!
"Come on, then."
"Why not take a short break?"
"?!"
Someone stepped up beside him. Hayato spun and drew his blade in a flash of pure reflex —
Thump.
"Easy."
— only for Do-ha to catch his wrist and still him.
"Wh… A?"
The moment Hayato saw the face behind the mask, he knew. A was already a global star — and they had stood in the same room at the dinner party.
"Selenia. Restore Hayato's stamina."
"Yes."
Selenia stepped forward and wove spirit magic; light bloomed around Hayato as his exhaustion melted away.
"Canteas."
"Hm?"
"Someone's feeding monsters this way. Find them."
"Got it."
Canteas vanished.
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong
First Step — Cheon-roe
FLASH!
KWA-RUUUUUNG!
CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!
Do-ha soared into the sky and unleashed Cheon-roe. Hundreds of monsters advancing from the west burned to ash in the same instant. Remarkably, the civilians scattered among them were left completely untouched — only the enemy was consumed.
"They come running like moths to a flame. So I might as well burn them."
Inferno
KIIIIING—!
KWAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!
Do-ha stretched out his hand. A single surge of fire — hot enough to melt a car on contact — roared forward in a tidal wave of flame.
"Do-ha, found them."
"Where?"
"Sending coordinates."
Canteas transmitted the location straight into Do-ha's mind.
"I'll be right back. Evacuate the civilians in this area."
"Got it."
Do-ha unfolded Noeryeongsinbo — and vanished.
"…"
Hayato stood with his mouth hanging open. On paper, Cheon-oe-cheon A ranked below him. After Wei Liang — formerly fifteenth — had died, everyone beneath him had climbed a single place. Even so, A had only risen from eighteenth to seventeenth.
But that's wrong…
The rankings were wrong. A was nowhere near beneath him.
Dududududu.
"More — send more! Kill that bastard Hayato!"
Above the monsters pouring from the Gate, Assistant Bishop Ryunosuke barked rapid orders at his cultists. Hayato — a Cheon-oe-cheon — had to die here.
Why is that damn bastard still alive?! Relentless piece of shit.
How many monsters had they thrown at him, and he was still standing? But even he had to be reaching his limit. He had been fighting monster hordes for hours without a single rest.
"Are we sending the monsters under our control as well?!"
"Yes, sir — already sending them!"
"Order those ones to chase the civilians, not Hayato. That's how we force him to open a gap."
Hayato was the type who would die protecting civilians. Always playing the saint — an insufferable man.
Kill the Cheon-oe-cheon, and we can sweep the rest. Then the whole of Japan is ours. The first nation to fall entirely under the cult.
"Move faster!"
"Yes, sir!"
The cultists answered in a roar and began weaving their hands through incantations. They hadn't merely triggered a wave — they were controlling the lower-grade monsters, driving them to slaughter civilians.
"Keh-heh-heh… This is fun."
"I don't see what's so fun about it."
"Hiiik—?!"
Ryunosuke's laughter died in his throat as he spun toward the figure suddenly standing beside him. No one had been there a second ago — where the hell had this person come from?!
It's A!
The instant he recognized his opponent, Ryunosuke's hand shot to the sword at his hip. In a situation like this, asking who are you or why are you here was the work of fools. Anyone in the area who wasn't a cultist was an enemy — pure and simple.
"Haaap!"
He seized the hilt and whipped his arm through a draw —
"Hm?"
What?
He had grabbed the hilt. He had moved his arm. So why wasn't the blade appearing in front of his eyes?
He looked down at a wrist with no hand attached — and screamed as blood erupted from the stump. The hand that had been whole a heartbeat ago was still clenched around the sword hilt.
"Your judgment's decent. Your skill, not so much."
Do-ha shook his head at the assistant bishop. The man had reacted fast and thought clearly — Do-ha had expected real strength. Instead, he was roughly Peak-rank at best.
"I have no idea how you made assistant bishop, but enough of this garbage. Go join that Demon God you love so much."
Tanji Gong — Jinwon
BOOM!
Ryunosuke was still clutching his wrist, trying to stem the bleeding, when a hole the size of a fist punched through his forehead. His eyes rolled back.
Thud.
"Th-the Assistant Bishop is dead!"
"Don't worry. I'll send the rest of you along shortly."
Tanji Gong — Gunrim Pok-u
Sovereign's Explosive Rain
Expressionless, Do-ha raised his hand. Tiny fragments of stone lifted from the ground and began to whirl.
KWAGWAGWAGWAGWAGWA!
CHAJAJAJAK!
The cultists caught in Gunrim Pok-u — spinning like a tornado of pure destruction — never even managed a scream before they were shredded to pieces. Drop a human into an industrial blender, and the result would look much the same.
As Do-ha traveled the world, eliminating the cultists who had been intensifying the waves, the monster tides began to collapse with startling speed.
In nations short on Awakened, Do-ha, Selenia, and Canteas went in person. Everywhere else, local hunters banded together and reclaimed their cities. Countless people still died — but nowhere did the damage rise high enough to bring a nation to its knees.