I sensed something was off right around the time the towering walls of the Ark came into view beyond the horizon.
["Master!"]
Esther's urgent voice rang out, accompanied by a sudden, violent surge of ether across the region.
[Ugh, ugh…]
[It's coming. It's coming. It's coming. It's coming. It's coming. It's coming. It's coming. It's coming…]
[They… are coming.]
Then, from far off in the distance, massive storm clouds began to gather.
A sure sign of a Wave.
'This isn't a normal Wave.'
From the sheer scale of the black clouds rolling in, I could tell—this wasn't your everyday event. This was a Multi-Wave.
That much was expected.
But what wasn't… was the timing.
'Even for a Multi-Wave, the interval between waves is far too long. This isn't your average kind.'
Ordinarily, a Multi-Wave would involve two surges at most.
But this was clearly something else.
'If I'm right… then this is—'
And then, I saw them.
Countless black dots, beginning to rise from beyond the horizon.
Not just in one direction, but from every direction.
Every visible line across the horizon was now dotted with these forms.
If they were all legions of beasts and monsters, this was a threat of unimaginable scale.
'A Triple-Wave…'
It seemed the chance to test my new powers had come sooner than expected.
* * *
In The Defense, the game mechanics dictated that the better the Ark fared in previous Waves, the more difficult the following ones became.
So, the fact that this wasn't just a standard Multi-Wave, but a Triple-Wave, was undeniable proof—I had been doing a good job defending the Ark.
'Not that it's any comfort right now.'
I'd barely made it into the Orange Line stage, and already, a Triple-Wave?
Even if I had expected something of this scale, facing it head-on now didn't feel particularly reassuring.
'Still… it is what it is.'
All I could do was what needed to be done.
["M-Master! What do we do now?!"]
"What else? Same as always."
["Same as always… don't tell me you're actually going to charge in?! This is nothing like before—it's massive!"]
"I'm not the same as before either."
Neither was I, and more importantly—Janus had grown immensely stronger through our recent journey.
Even if I had to face both the Immortal and the Turncoat King again, I felt confident I could hold my own, at least for a time.
'We'd still lose, sure—but it wouldn't be like before.'
I stopped walking toward the Ark.
Now that I was close enough to see it, I figured it'd be better to confront the Wave from here.
'No need to return inside.'
Fighting within the Ark would only limit me.
I wouldn't be able to use Janus or Horus to their full extent, and even using infinite bullets freely would draw too much attention.
'I'll fight outside.'
Of course, battling outside the Ark wasn't all advantages.
With every light comes a shadow—there were plenty of trade-offs I had to accept.
Chief among them: safety.
It went without saying—the world outside the Ark was dangerous.
Even if I'd roamed it like it was my own backyard, that truth didn't change.
And now, I was entering the Orange Line stage—not the Red Line anymore.
'From here on, monsters start getting serious.'
One of the key differences? The appearance of monsters with ranged attacks.
In the Red Line stage, such enemies were rare. Aside from exceptions like the rock-throwing Moog, ranged attackers were almost nonexistent.
But starting with the Orange Line, they became a regular threat.
'This is also when the Ark starts taking real damage.'
Until the Red Line, flying monsters were the biggest threats, but from the Orange Line onward, ranged attackers joined the fray.
It was going to be a lot more troublesome.
'Still… it has to be done.'
As I stared at the gathering storm clouds, I gave Janus the command.
"Call Horus."
[Keek!]
With that, Janus's chest split open and unleashed a powerful roar.
Screeeeeee—!
The sonic wave stretched out toward Spirit Mountain Noah, and not long after, something began flying from that direction.
It meant Horus—who'd been waiting for me near Mount Noah—was on the move.
["Bone-buddy!"]
Esther waved her arms excitedly, welcoming Horus as it approached.
[Kihet!]
It hadn't even been that long since Janus called him, but maybe because we were so close to the Ark, Horus had arrived in the blink of an eye.
["How have you been?"]
[Kiheheh!]
Horus rubbed his head against me happily.
Esther started spinning around him like a child, clearly finding the scene adorable.
What could I say… It was one bizarre sight.
[Keek!]
Janus and Horus exchanged glances, then extended their bone tendrils in mutual recognition.
And just like that, Janus's tendrils connected with Horus's—beginning what looked like a nutrient exchange.
'Makes sense. The abilities I gained from the Immortal and the Turncoat King are definitely worth sharing.'
Squirm, squirm, squirm—
The nutrient transfer began, flowing through the bone tendrils between Janus and Horus.
As the exchange progressed, Horus's tendrils gradually began to take on the same gray hue as Janus's.
Meaning—Horus, too, was now being affected by the power of the Turncoat King.
'Hmm…'
I could feel it.
The presence Horus gave off now was nothing like before.
He'd finally surpassed the level of a typical Grade-1 Named Monster—reaching the level of an Beyond-Grade monster.
[Kiheet!]
Strengthened by Janus's energy, Horus let out a triumphant cry.
Even to the eye, his body had grown noticeably larger, and his exposed bone tendrils were now entirely gray—he looked different.
'Stronger. Harder. More formidable.'
With this, we were mostly prepared for battle.
Still—I felt the need to make one more preparation.
'The Orange Line's Triple-Wave is nothing like previous Waves. I need to use everything I've got.'
I gave Janus another command.
"Call it."
[Keek!]
Janus's bone tendrils rose like antennae, signaling into the air.
Since I wasn't exactly sure where the monster I wanted to summon was located, this method was more efficient than using sonic pulses.
[Keek!]
Time passed.
Then gradually, through Janus, I began to feel its presence.
'Closer than I thought.'
Or maybe it had been nearby all along.
Either way, that didn't matter.
What mattered was calling it forth.
[Keeeeeek—!]
Janus extended a signal through his tendrils, directed at the being.
["What did you just do?"]
"There's someone I need to summon."
["Who?"]
"You'll see."
I turned my gaze to the horizon.
The presence I sensed was close.
It would appear soon.
"It's here."
["Huh? Where?"]
And then—just as expected—a familiar silhouette rose over the horizon.
["That's…"]
The Turncoat Knight.
A monster that had once been my enemy—now my loyal subordinate—emerged to join me.
* * *
"Kin…"
As the Turncoat Knight approached with what barely passed for a greeting, Janus responded with a jubilant screech.
[Keek!]
After their awkward exchange of pleasantries, I spoke.
"It's been a while."
Not that it had really been that long—after all, I'd just seen the Turncoat Knight not too long ago.
'Not the fondest memory for him, though.'
Back then, during the mission with the recon team, I had to rough him up a bit for the sake of our "performance." Understandably, the Turncoat Knight still looked like he hadn't fully recovered.
'To be fair… I did go a little overboard.'
But it was necessary—to sell the illusion and keep the recon team fully deceived.
'Anyway…'
With the Triple-Wave imminent, I felt the need to bolster the Turncoat Knight with Janus's power.
Before, I might have hesitated, wary of him becoming a liability—but now, in the face of this overwhelming threat, there was no time to be picky about allies.
'During the nutrient transfer, I'll inject Janus's fragments more aggressively.'
The Turncoat Knight was already a loyal subordinate, but just in case—strengthening the control was only prudent. If he grew stronger from Janus's power and then turned on me, that would be a nightmare.
["…Master?"]
'What.'
["You look… kinda shady right now."]
'...'
Ignoring Esther's comment, I turned my eyes to the Turncoat Knight.
"We're short on time. Let's begin."
Janus carefully extended a bone tendril toward the Turncoat Knight, who slowly raised his own to meet it.
["Kin… what… doing?"]
"Nothing big. You just looked like you could use a little health boost. Call it… a tonic."
["Tonic…?"]
The Turncoat Knight tilted his head but didn't pull away.
That was all I needed.
'Janus.'
[Keek!]
Janus began to channel his fragments through the connected bone tendrils, pushing his energy into the Turncoat Knight.
Squirm, squirm—
Their tendrils moved in unison as the exchange began.
Of course, with Janus now far stronger, he didn't have much to receive—it was mostly one-way.
[You have absorbed a portion of the Beyond-Grade Skull Turncoat, 'Turncoat Knight'.]
[You have acquired a portion of the Beyond-Grade Skull Turncoat, 'Turncoat Knight's abilities.]
Janus didn't change much.
In fact, the effect on him was negligible.
But the Turncoat Knight—he was a different story.
His previously mottled tendrils—swirling with black, white, and gray—now shifted entirely to the same gray as Janus.
"Grr… grk…"
The Turncoat Knight's body trembled violently as the power surged through him.
["W-What did you do to him?!"]
'Nothing. Just watch.'
["…You're not doing anything weird, right?"]
'Shut up.'
Across his entire body, the exposed bone tendrils thickened and expanded.
A clear sign of growing strength.
[Keek!]
After some time had passed, Janus slowly retracted the connected tendrils.
The nutrient transfer was complete.
"This…"
The Turncoat Knight looked down at his own palm, marveling at the changes.
His power had clearly risen—enough for even me to notice it from here. His reaction was only natural.
Then—
THOOM!
KUUUUUUUUUUM!
Any time for him to fully evaluate his strength was abruptly cut short.
The reason was clear.
A massive tremor, echoing all the way from beyond the horizon, reached us.
'They're here.'
There was no mistaking it.
["…Master, it's started."]
'Yeah.'
Just as Esther said.
And not just on land—the black clouds that had been gathering in the distance now began to take shape, revealing countless monsters and beasts, shrieking as they surged forward.
[Screeeeeech!]
[KIEEEEH!]
And it wasn't just from the direction I'd been watching.
East, west, north, south.
Sky, land, underground.
The monster armies were coming from everywhere.
But I wasn't afraid.
Because I was ready.
"Let's go."
At my command, the Turncoat Knight extended twin bone spears and stepped up beside me.
["To… protect… kin."]
The Triple-Wave—
had officially begun.