Prologue

The silvery light of the moon made what seemed like a quiet night on Earth seem like something only people who now sleep peacefully in their homes, where only civilization reigns, would think.

In the depths of the "Gate" known as the [Valley of the Cursed Ashes], however, the moonlight was not silver, but blood red, and the geography itself seemed to have been designed for desolation and death; not at all wrong considering its master.

Thousands of kilometers away from the floating island of Sakura, this "Singularity" in the fabric of the world was nothing more than a land of volcanic rock and ash rubbing in the air.

Here, the atmosphere was saturated with Ether at very high concentrations compared to the outside; so uneven that breathing felt unnatural for those of low level, as if an invisible pressure wanted to tear you apart.

This place was the Domain—commonly known as a dungeon—of a Demon Lord.

In this world, Dungeons (also Gates or Singularities) were one of the greatest threats to humanity, both the new and ancient races. They were created by beings who roamed the other plane known as "Kyōkai" (鏡界).

They were home to monstrosities from Hell or mischievous creations of amoral Fae, which only a talented group of individuals could dare to challenge. From H to A, the level of danger escalated so much that not even a nation's army could challenge a Rank B Dungeon without heavy losses.

Only those considered Great Heroes would dare to attempt such a feat.

Obviously, it was not a place for the weak; it was a hunting ground for entities that had transcended common biology through the evil influence of demons from the underworld.

—And it was currently filled with monstrous corpses of those same entities; blood saturating the area and a metallic, burnt aroma assaulting the senses.

In the center of this red-lit wasteland, two beings faced each other. The air between them vibrated with a violent static, and the stones on the ground disintegrated into dust before colliding from sheer atmospheric pressure.

The first of these was a ten-meter-tall nightmare: a being known as the Ebon Scale Abyssal Monarch , lord of this Gate; a legendary-class entity (Level 80 or higher) from this Rank B Dungeon that was infamous among Expert-Level Explorers who ventured into Higher Rank Singularities/Dungeons.

He stood like a monument to terror itself, a Lord of his kind.

His body, covered in plates of polished obsidian natural armor, already showed signs of a prolonged battle.

Several of its scales were chipped and a trail of thick, black blood dripped from its left flank, steaming as it touched the ground.

From its back sprouted six membranous wings that extended like scythes, and its six crimson eyes shone with a wounded but lethal fury.

The Monarch made no sound beyond brief breaths; his mere presence emitted a spiritual pressure so suffocating that the ground beneath his claws sank into a perfect crater.

It was a force that almost seemed capable of subduing or even crushing anyone who did not have the same level of magical power.

Facing this titan of flesh, bone, and scales, a deceptively mundane-looking young human (if you ignored the bloodstains that did not belong to him) stood.

Her dark brown hair was whipped by the soot-laden wind, and her eyes, a deep gold like gold, held a playful gleam that seemed insulting given the circumstances.

He wore a gray t-shirt and black combat pants, both torn to shreds, revealing skin that showed no cuts, but a slight redness where the beast's previous impacts had struck.

Every muscle in his body was taut like a steel cable. There was no fear in him; only the absolute calm of one who knows his own weight.

Despite having fought against an army of crazed demonic beasts and facing their King, he was unusually unharmed.

"Is that all you've got, big guy?" the young man asked, his clear voice cutting through the throbbing of the pressure. "I expected a boss this high-level to make me sweat a little more before lunch. Your Superior and Elite mobs were... more challenging. Hell, even legions of Mortal Class would do more damage than you, and they're the weakest on the scale!"

The Abyssal Monarch, furious at his constant challenge, responded with a move that defied his mass.

It moved at a speed that broke the sound barrier, leaving behind a shockwave that pulverized the nearby rocks. Its right claw, charged with violet energy, descended like a hammer toward the human's head.

The young man did not back down at all.

Instead, he took a step forward, sinking his feet into the solid rock, while by his will, magical energy flowed from his lower spiritual core (Shimo Tanden) through his spiritual circuits and out through his etheric pores, unleashing an Aura—a spiritual pressure of magical energy being released in the form of a flame—that burst outwards.

The space around them became denser, hotter, and more solid... And the collision was cataclysmic, shaking the very earth violently.

The young man's bare fist intercepted the five-meter claw.

There was no metallic sound, but a dry thunderclap that displaced the ash clouds for three kilometers around by its sheer inhuman power.

The ground gave way, chunks of rock flew, but the boy didn't budge an inch. His knuckles, protected by the saturation of his own magical energy flowing through his veins, were pressed against the bone of the demonic dragon.

"My turn," he said, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

With a hip twist that channeled a massive amount of magical energy from every fiber of his being, the young man unleashed a second blow. It was a whiplash of pure power. His fist sank into the Monarch's chest, piercing the seemingly impenetrable scales.

The shock wave pierced through flesh and bone, exiting through the beast's back and projecting a column of black blood toward the horizon.

The ten-meter monster shot out, bouncing off the mountainsides like a broken toy, passing over the corpses of those it once controlled, and even sending them flying with it.

In the distance, observing the epic battle amidst the carnage by the red moon, from a high cliff, two figures remained impassive.

The first was a man with a thick beard, broad shoulders, and calloused hands; whose posture resembled a pillar that has supported the sky for millennia, and strange eyes that seemed to lack pupils.

His unique aura was reminiscent of both a martial master who is not afraid to face legions of warriors and a storm about to break over the earth; the air around him charged with static and filled with an almost suffocating pressure.

He wore what appeared to be a white tattsuke-hakama that did nothing to conceal his intimidating musculature. From any angle, he seemed to be the very embodiment of "Martial."

Beside him, quite naturally, stood a beautiful woman with blonde hair and icy elegance who observed every detail of the battle with her erotic fox-like eyes and yellow pupils.

Her figure, covered by a silk kimono with gold and silver embroidery, was extremely seductive with her enormous breasts and wide hips; her bearing, as dignified as that of a fertility goddess.

She exuded the aura of a high-class lady from the Edo period, full of noble grace with that white silk fan that concealed her tender lips.

"Emma's been getting careless since his ascension," the Master grumbled, crossing his muscular arms in a gesture of annoyance that revealed his gums. "He fought hundreds of demonic beasts as weak as Inugami scum, but he let that huge, pathetic lizard rip his shirt? He's going to have to sew it himself."

"Ara~? You're being unnecessarily strict this time, Goro-chan~" the woman replied with a subtle smile that faintly revealed itself behind her fan. "You yourself are seeing how he's toying with a Level 83 Ascended like some street tengu without even needing to use Ars Ego; right after killing his small army of servants. His raw physical power is already superior to yours, and his control of Dou and Sei is almost perfect...though he lacks the technical skill you demand."

"If his control isn't perfect, he'll die off our island," Futsu Goro retorted, his voice thundering like a blow against steel. "Emma is only just entering the true big leagues of the world, Aoi, you know that... He needs to understand that strength without precision is just inefficiency that wears you down, even for Great Heroes and Sages. He can't expect to rely on his Ars Ego to defend himself against the true powers of this Era!"

—Certainly....— The woman, named Aoi, nodded with a serious expression while narrowing her cunning and seductive eyes, thinking to herself.

'Yes, her Ars Ego is an impressive technique,' Aoi thought as she snapped her fan shut. 'But its use against ascended beings of the highest rank is questionable at best, especially considering its shortcomings... Emma, ​​that's something you'll have to work on improving yourself.'

In the center of the valley, the Abyssal Monarch, enraged by the mortal damage caused to him by the young man named Emma, ​​gathered all his magical energy in his throat.

The air around his mouth collapsed, forming a sphere of magical power and concentrated energy. It was an attack capable of disintegrating matter.

Emma saw the projectile coming. She didn't brace herself. She simply exhaled, relaxing every muscle. Just as the sphere was fired, the young man extended his right hand.

He didn't strike; he simply caught the attack.

The impact created an absolute silence that lasted three seconds. Then, the world exploded with overwhelming force; a trail of light launched itself into the sky like a pillar, striking the blood moon in the sky and shattering it in one fell swoop.

One more perplexing phenomenon occurred; at one point cracks began to appear in the dark sky through which the mass of magical energy passed, which quickly spread like a spider web before, finally, the sky "broke" to reveal the true night sky.

It was a scene as mystical as the "pieces of sky" that fell slowly like petals before vanishing into white light; quite beautiful and magical in the middle of that full moon night.

The valley slowly began to regain its true form; the volcanic aspects fading into nothingness alongside the corpses of the monsters that began to burn into ash, giving way to a verdant valley illuminated by the moonlight.

The only exceptions, however, were the most magically powerful parts of the demonic beasts.

"Wow, this fool broke the Dungeon Master's Domain using his own attack, destroying the Anchor of Singularity in the sky... I don't even think he thought that far ahead..." Goro muttered through gritted teeth, and Aoi just remained silent as she waved her fan.

This dungeon was notorious for its high difficulty, not only because of the monsters inside, but also because its anchor was somehow in the sky. It was typical for high-ranking dungeons to have hard-to-reach anchors, but this one was particularly infuriating.

And yet, perhaps by a stroke of luck, it was destroyed by the power of the very creator of the dungeon...The irony was astonishing.

When the dust finally settled, Emma stood with her hand still outstretched. The sphere of energy had been deflected completely into the sky, leaving a circular hole in the dark clouds.

The Abyssal Monarch lay on the ground, his six eyes frozen in a look of pure indignation, his body collapsing under the weight of final defeat.

His body also began to disappear like the others into pure ash; a sign that the post-mortem cellular stability of a dead demonic beast that generated the singularity disappeared.

However, a large portion of its tail was left behind, and, curiously, a wing.

"It's over," Emma sighed, running a hand through her hair with a proud smile as she turned to face the two old men. "Grandpa, Aoi! Did you see that?! I deflected an A-Rank Boss's attack with excellent control of the Flesh and Bone Reinforcement using Sei Chi! I even destroyed the entire Dungeon in one fell swoop! And look how many Drops were left behind!"

The two individuals descended from the cliff as if they were flying....if someone from the United Chinese Empire saw them, they would believe they were Xians from some of the most powerful families in their country....Especially because of their almost divine aura.

"You took too long!" Goro's hand slammed into the back of the boy's neck with the force of a war mace, so heavy it bent his upper torso forward. "You got distracted! If that fake demon had had a second heart... you'd be missing an arm now! Ascension or not, overconfidence leads to death!"

"Ow! But grandpa, I just killed a Demon Beast Lord, didn't I?!" the boy complained, rubbing the impact zone after nearly falling.

—You didn't even kill him! The idiot just panicked and used up all his power to try and eliminate you! He died of exhaustion and even indirectly destroyed his own anchor to our world, the moron!

Goro exclaimed with a disdainful expression.

"I could have killed him soon enough anyway, you could admit that..." Emma grumbled, rubbing her aching back and looking away. "It's not like the wings of some pseudo-dragon like that would have helped him escape me."

"The world will recognize you once you survive your first week in Academy City, Emma-chan," the woman interjected, wiping some ash from her forehead. "You have seven days before you leave for Atlantis with Keiko-chan and Hanako-chan. Especially with that poor child... No, it's a girl now..."

Aoi gently shook her head, her sadness barely concealed. "Anyway... Hanako-chan sent a classic programmer message that said something like, 'The outside world is like a programming error'... She's still the same, even after her awakening as a Therian changed her life forever."

Emma smiled bitterly to himself, remembering the conceited face of his young friend whom he would never see again...at least not as before.

"With changes in race or gender, Hanako will always be the same, no doubt about it. But Atlantis... I know it won't be easy to build a renowned student guild there with just my strength, and Hanako will be part of it."

"That's right," Goro declared, gazing at the horizon. "But even if you can't achieve everything in one fell swoop, Atlantis is also the only place where an idiot like you can learn that strength is useless if you have no way to protect what you care about. Now move. We have to leave before our Island and the Solomon Union detect that you destroyed the Singularity they controlled... And take a bath; Hanako would die from the stench of blood if she ever smelled you."

The boy, Futsu Emma, ​​nodded with a grimace, starting to walk alongside his grandparents.

The Empire she lived in was one thing, but it was best not to attract the attention of the Solomon Union of the 72 Pillars, the "kind admirers of King Solomon," if possible. Those people from that nation were complete idiots, or at least that's what she remembered from the Game, Emma thought.

Despite having fought a ten-meter creature he liked to call Boss as if it were a game for half an hour, his step was light as he helped collect the "Drops" as only he called them, and his mind was already flying towards Sakura Island, where his loved ones were.

♦♦♦♦

[War of Atlantis Community Forum - Server: Central Sector 01]

Thread: 【URGENT】 Sudden Dungeon Collapse [Valley of Cursed Ashes]. Glitch or Illegal Guild Intervention?

[1] Admin_Saito (Moderator) Posted: 14 minutes ago.

Message: The Academic City Notice Board has just been updated. The Rank B Singularity [Valley of the Cursed Ashes] has disappeared from the world map. It wasn't a timeout; the Anchor was destroyed. The Solomon Union, the Empire of Nippon, and Westphalia have issued a joint "High Alert" statement. An unauthorized incursion is suspected. Open the discussion!

[2] Gacha_Whale_99 What the heck!? My guild had the contract to exploit the dungeon under Sakura Island's jurisdiction for next Monday. We invested 50,000 Faction Reputation points to secure the first farming turn of the season. Who was the joker who "ate" a level 80+ boss without leaving a trace?

[3] Sakura_Miko_RP This is an insult to the Shogunate. The Valley is Sakura Island's territory of influence. If any Academy student has entered without faction permission, their Faction Reputation should immediately drop to "Pariah." I expect the Knights of Westphalia to raid the dormitories in Delta District!

[4] Kuro_Neko_Tactics Pauses for a second. Anchor destruction in a Rank B? To do that, you need to destroy the Blood Moon in the artificial sky. There isn't a single Student Guild currently with the necessary "Magic Gear" level or enough DPS to do it "secretly." Did the developers release a Story Event without warning?

[5] Westphalia_Justice The monopoly of nations is what maintains order. If this was the work of an independent guild, it is an act of anarchy. The Solomon Union is already tracing the signatures of Ether. If they used illegal "Drivers" or illegal technology from the Latin Confederation, we will find them.

[6] Salt_Merchant_v3 ｗｗｗｗｗ I'm dying of laughter! The big shots are crying because someone stole their loot. That's how the sandbox system is; if you don't take care of it, you lose it. It was probably some "Architects of the Age" guild that wanted to test out their new Thunder/Light setup.

[7] Driver_Optimization_Expert Impossible. The Abyssal Monarch has 85% Light Damage resistance. To take it down, you need a three-player team with perfect Flow Synergy. We're talking about switching every 2 seconds without missing a single parry. There's no record of it in the Student Ranking. If it's not in the Ranking, it didn't happen... but the dungeon is gone. That's the bizarre part.

[8] Ghost_In_The_Shell_User Who's the bastard? Once destroyed, he doesn't come back...You need to know! Now it will become more expensive to buy drops from this dungeon because they will literally be without a source available!

[9] Lone_Wolf_Exploration If it was an Illegal Guild, they must have an incredibly high "Commander" reputation for their Temporary Explorers not to become "Unstable" under such pressure. Either that, or they're NPCs from a hidden faction that the system just spawned.

[10] Ramen_Buff_Lover I just wanted my Rank A materials to reinforce my Magi Gear... (´;ω;｀) With the Valley closing, the price of Optimization Discs on the black market is going to increase by 40%. Thanks, "Unknown Heroes," you've ruined the Neon District's economy.

[11] Solomon_Priestess The Solomon Union will not tolerate this blasphemy. An investigation has been requested of all Vanguard Guilds in the Academy. Anyone with fresh materials such as "Ebony Scales" in their inventory will be expelled from the faction.

[12] Theory_Crafter_X What if it wasn't a guild? The Procedural Origin Stories system sometimes generates "Anomalous NPCs." Could it be a new legendary NPC with a "Unique Quest" of destruction? That would be the only way to explain why there are no player records according to the Nippon Empire.

[13] Neo_Tokyo_Runner @Theory_Crafter_X If it's an NPC, we're screwed. It means the AI ​​has decided that area is no longer "necessary" for the Permanent Timeline. But the factions' reaction seems too real... The Westphalian AIs are genuinely furious in their dialogue today.

[14] Hokkaido Logistics Guild We are sending reconnaissance drones to the site. There is only a green valley. Disappearance confirmed. Requesting a manhunt for the criminals.

[15] Beta_Tester_Veteran This reminds me of last year's "Fairy Plague" event, but on a much more aggressive scale. If the Solomon and Nippon Union lose their monopoly on Rank B dungeons, the Academy hierarchy is going to collapse. It's the perfect time for the Logistics Guilds to seize power!

[16] Kawaii_Destroyer Is no one going to mention that Westfalia is blocking access to Delta District? They say they're looking for "Thaumaturges, Summoners, and Alchemists with illegal magic items" as if only magic professionals are capable of doing something like that. They won't let me go to the arcade! Damn administrators!

[17] Data_Miner_Rei I've checked the server logs. There are no new patch files. This means the event was either triggered by the world's AI or by an extremely rare player interaction that triggered a dormant script. The "Social Scar" system is going to be massive after this.

[18] Shogun_Fanboy The Japanese Empire won't stand idly by. Sakura Island has the best samurai in the game. If they discover who entered their exclusion zone, their reputation will drop to "Hunted" faster than it takes for the gacha to load.

[19] Final_Boss_Hunter Whoever it is, destroying a Rank B dungeon and disappearing without claiming the Ranking points... that's not what players do. It's someone playing at another level or the beginning of a game update that will change the game forever. Start gathering your merit points, guys, because a faction war might be coming; a war to hoard as many high-rank materials as possible after this dungeon falls.

Emma had no way of knowing, but her actions and those of her grandparents were somehow affecting the popular mobile game from the other reality she once belonged to...