Chapter 1154

Everything in my field of vision was dark and murky.

The magical power that had erased even the radioactive fallout drifted as a blackish fog, and the walls, arranged in the shape of a pentagram, towered like mountains.

And—

Goooooong.

At the center of it all stood that bastard.

Black Dragon Duke Morgoth.

KWAaaaaa!

In an instant split into ever smaller fractions, the gigantic black dragon opened its jaws, and an explosion of magical power burst forth.

A pitch-black pillar shot up from the highest spire and stretched endlessly onward.

It pierced the clouds and cleaved the sky in two, as if it meant to reach the distant moon.

No—maybe it really could.

It was the breath of the most powerful living creature in the world, and a roar filled with rage.

Dragon Breath…!

I barely managed to suppress the groan rising in my throat.

It was only a video, but the tremor and the atmosphere it conveyed were enough to awaken my instincts.

This was different.

I could say with certainty that it was on an entirely different level from any Breath I’d ever seen or experienced.

My heart was suddenly pounding wildly. The fine hairs all over my body stood on end, and the blood in my veins felt cold as ice. Together, they bore witness and passed judgment.

The One-Eyed Black Wyvern that had left me with an indelible trauma years ago.

The Water God Dragon of Dongting Lake, corrupted and driven mad by magical power.

Even Michael Silbert, who had made a Dragon Heart his own.

None of them had ever unleashed a Breath that powerful.

Perhaps it was the difference in their species itself, combined with the weight of power amassed over countless years.

So this is a Dragon.

Its terrifying power felt more real than a mere hologram. I couldn’t help but shudder—and neither could anyone else in the conference room.

We even forgot to ask the obvious question: Why had Morgoth fired a Dragon Breath into empty space?

But the next moment—

Fwaaaash.

As I watched the sky turn pitch-black, I suddenly understood Morgoth’s true purpose.

Rrrrrumble.

With a deafening roar, countless dark clouds surged in, covering the moon and stars. Then, like ink spreading through water, they took over the skies above Moscow for thousands of kilometers.¹

Like a single line dividing the world.

And the place where the abyss had settled resembled another world beyond our dimension, one humanity had only ever imagined.

The source and beginning of this entire calamity.

The Demon Realm.

“……”

“……”

Was this what it felt like to be struck by lightning right on the crown of the head?

The air had frozen. Those who grasped the meaning of the static-riddled holographic footage could only stare, eyes wide, unable to speak.

They clenched their fists as if they might crush them, gritted their teeth, and watched with bloodshot eyes.

At the same time, we heard it.

The cry of the black dragon standing atop the highest spire, calling out to the pitch-black sky.

“ᚨᚾᛊᚹᛖᚱ ᚦᛖ ᚲᚨᛚᛚ!”

The roar seemed to ring out not in my ears, but inside my head.

It was more than a sound; it reached the level of will. No one here—or anywhere in the world—could understand the mysterious language.

Except me.

“…Answer the call.”

The words escaped me in a groan.

Shaaah.

The clouds, swirling like the eye of a typhoon, parted.

The roar that had shaken heaven and earth vanished, along with the wind that had been raging like mad.

All noise disappeared in an instant. With even the air seemingly still, the world looked impossibly peaceful.

Until a dreadful wave of disaster poured through the gap in the clouds.

Krrrk—KWAaaaaa!

The empty space rippled.

No—it tore open.

Hundreds, thousands of Wyverns and Drakes poured toward the ground, their bright yellow eyes flashing. Countless monsters clung to their enormous bodies and wings.

When the Liches cast their spells in unison, the giant monsters plunging from high above like meteors drifted gently to the ground like feathers. Death Knights raced through the air on ghostly horses and led their legions across the vast ruins.

They roared with joy and bloodlust.

—GRAAAAAH!

Clang! Clang!

Countless weapons swayed like a field of reeds in the wind.

Thud. Thud. Rrrrrumble!

The giant monsters, each one like a small mountain, stamped their feet. Hundreds of Liches and Death Knights went down on one knee, while ten times as many dragonkin cut through the sky with savage beats of their wings.

All in reverence for the one being who had brought them into this world.

But the black dragon’s eyes were fixed on the camera, not on the Gate in the clouds slowly closing above, nor on the hundreds of thousands of monsters gathered beneath it.

“On my soul and in my name, I, Morgoth, master of the Silver Mountains and Archduke of the Demon Realm, swear this to you humans:”

The moment my eyes met the monster’s through the hologram, I realized something.

This video was Morgoth’s declaration of war—and his demand for humanity’s surrender.

“If you resist, I promise you an end more horrific than any you have ever seen. If you surrender, I promise complete peace and survival.”

But—

“If you wish to survive, come to this land, reborn under my rule, and swear your loyalty.”

Even so—

“But everything has its price.”

I hadn’t seen everything coming.

“Three days from now, I will sit upon the throne here and gladly accept the tribute you offer as a token of our eternal pact.”

Just how cunning Morgoth was.

“Just two humans—a paltry price next to the lives of billions of your kind.”

What his true purpose was.

“Make them kneel before me.”

The dragon’s eyes flashed, black as obsidian and swirling like the abyss.

“Cheon Taemin and Jin Taekyung.”

At that moment—

Ding.

A System notification pierced my ears with a chill, and a holographic window only I could see appeared, blocking my view.

Humanity was already recovering its stability faster than the various international organizations had predicted—or perhaps even faster than that.

The footage of Moscow’s destruction was enough to plunge everyone into an abyss of shock and fear. Yet a single fact announced less than a few hours later was like a ladder of salvation to them.

└ He’s back. └ Oh my God. Please tell me this isn’t a joke. └ It’s true. Official UN announcement. Turn on the TV right now. It’s on every channel. └ Holy shit, that’s incredible. I thought we were all done for. └ What the hell happened? I’m glad he’s back, but why did he only show up after things got this bad? └ Because while you were becoming Pornhub’s best customer, he was traveling the world and saving people. He already came close to dying in the Middle East. └ I’m genuinely worried about you, so delete that stupid comment before the FBI shows up in about thirty minutes, breaks down your door, and kicks your fat ass. └ What did I do wrong? I didn’t do anything wrong. └ He’s got a point, actually. The poor guy’s only guilty of having a lower IQ than a dolphin. └ Yeah, don’t be too hard on him. If you happen to run into him on the street, just put a shotgun round in him. └ You motherfukcer, you wanna die? └ Oh, our Korean friend is here. He’s so worked up he even made a typo. That guy won’t be able to play games properly anymore. Koreans never miss a target once they’ve locked on. └ And the Korean who gives him a headshot will probably be a kid around twelve. └ Anyway, the important thing is that we’re alive. └ Right. He’s back.

People quickly found hope again.

Ever since Morgoth appeared, the internet message boards had been frozen, without so much as an ordinary joke. Now they were lively again.

Everyone knew who he was, even without anyone saying his name.

That was what Jin Taekyung meant to humanity now.

Stronger than anyone, impossibly devoted, and able to overcome whatever hardship came his way and prove himself in the end.

Some still called him a second Cheon Taemin, but most disagreed.

Jin Taekyung had become the savior of a new age, one who needed no grand description.

He had done more than fill the place left by the unconscious Cheon Taemin. He had made it his own, dealt with disasters across the world, and saved countless lives. Who could take his place?

That was why people felt relieved.

Jin Taekyung was back. Surely everything that had fallen into disarray would return to its proper place.

Just as he always had, he would step in and set things right.

But less than a day later, a warning reached the Pentagon and the rest of the world. Humanity understood all too well:

“ᚨᚾᛊᚹᛖᚱ ᚦᛖ ᚲᚨᛚᛚ!”

How futile their brief hope was before the vast army that had invaded Earth through a Gate unlike any before it.

“But everything has its price.”

And how they were already listening to the monster’s sweet offer.

“Make them kneel before me.”

How cowardly the desire to survive could make them.

“Cheon Taemin and Jin Taekyung.”

Once again, the whole world was thrown into turmoil.

Some were enraged, while others kept their mouths firmly shut.

The former called for a fight to the death; the latter hid their opinions to avoid criticism.

But another half day passed.

Rrrrrumble!

At last, people saw footage of the monster army that had seized all of Russia and was advancing in every direction. They had no choice but to fall silent.

All thinking the same thing, though they couldn’t bring themselves to say it to anyone.