Three months went by quickly.
Then, without any warning, the sky changed. It became eerily quiet, as if even time was too scared to move.
Next, the sun shifted. It looked like an eclipse at first, but the sun didn't just get darker. It turned black, as if something unseen had swallowed its light from the inside. A strange, dying glow flickered around its edges, like a cursed ring, casting twisted shadows everywhere.
And high above, the moon began to look like it was bleeding. It was huge and scary, bathed in a deep red color that swallowed the stars around it. On its surface, strange symbols moved and crawled like living scars, old and watchful.
The heavens had changed completely.
Everyone on the Great Plane who looked up felt it. Something big had arrived.
All the systems inside people's minds reacted at the same moment. Every awakened person, no matter what kind of being they were, heard the same chilling message:
[World System Update: Cataclysmic Stage Initiated]
[Global Event: Descent of the Blood Moon]
* Dimensional Stability: Critical
* Monster Evolution Rate: Tripled
* Abyssal Gates: Unlocked
* Celestial Influence: Rising
Survival Chances: 4.4%
Begin Phase II.
The air grew thick, shaking with wild and uncontrolled power. Cracks ripped open in the sky like shattered glass. From these cracks spilled creatures that made no sense, twisted monsters made by rules not known in this world.
And then… came the whispers.
They weren't from the beasts. They weren't from the systems. They came from above, from the stars, the moon, the empty space. Voices from a time long forgotten, all speaking at once, like the cry of something huge waking up.
Some people screamed. Some cried. Some went crazy. And some… felt a forbidden power start to grow inside them.
From the highest heavens to the deepest holy places, from floating islands in the sky to forgotten sacred grounds, the signs were the same:
Monsters appeared in huge waves.
Old magical seals broke apart.
Ancient ruins from the sky appeared, glowing with sleeping energies.
Even the strongest Awakened people trembled, realizing how small they were compared to the power that was coming.
The Great Plane had entered a new time. It was no longer just a world where people tried to survive, but a stage for a huge, cosmic war.
As night fell, lit by a blood moon that would never go away and under a black sun that no longer gave life, a final message appeared. It was written in golden words across every mind and system:
"They have seen you."
"They are coming."
And then, it happened.
The reason the sky bled. The reason even the gods went silent.
A Star Thirty Sky Behemoth came down.
It ripped open the sky like paper. Its body was so massive it blocked entire landmasses from view. With it came its army: monsters of Star Rank 22 to 24, horrors from places that humans couldn't even begin to understand. Their presence alone twisted gravity. Space itself screamed as they moved.
Whole cities and societies crumbled under their huge shadows.
This wasn't just an attack. It was like a cosmic execution.
Just as the world was about to break, just as all hope was fading, he came down.
From beyond the broken parts of reality, beyond time and space, through the dust of shattered stars, a figure appeared. He was cloaked in silence, in shadows darker than any light.
His presence made the winds stop. His steps turned the ground into black glass. The Black Sun had arrived.
He didn't come to save. He didn't come to conquer. He came to fix things.
To stop the Blood Moon's power. To face the Sky Behemoth. To protect the Benefactor… and the Master—the one who must never be forgotten.
And I…
I watched from the deepest, forbidden abyss, trapped beneath all realms.
I remember.
Even though I'm bound in darkness. Even though the world forgets. I still remember him.
My master. My promise. And the day the stars began to die.
"Master…"
"Even though you don't remember me—because you don't remember yourself yet…"
A faint voice echoed through the dying sky, soft as dust, heavy with fate.
"On your journey… you will someday pass through the Forbidden Abyss."
"I will be waiting for you."
"I am weaker now. My light is dim."
"My brother, the Radiant Sun, has chosen to be on the side of Black Heaven."
There was a brief, endless pause.
"But I remain. Bound by my promise. Bound by memory."
"Goodbye for now."
And then—he disappeared into the air, as if he had never been there. No sound. No sign. Only silence.
The skies, which had been drowned in red and shadow, cleared—as if breathing out for the first time in ages.
A new system message flashed in every mind, for every race, in every part of the realm:
[System Alert: Global Threat Neutralized.]
[Blood Moon Status: Completely Eradicated.]
[Stability of the Great Plane: Restored.]
* Dimensional Integrity: Stabilizing
* Realm Absorption Sequence: Initiated
The Great Plane will now begin to fix itself. Broken realms and shattered places will be pulled into its growing existence.
But even with that, the message didn't end with comfort.
Instead, a final line appeared—written in cold silver light:
"This is not the end."
"It is only the silence… before the end that is coming."
The sky was calm again. The Great Plane began to grow. But high above and deep below, in places no one could see, something still watched… waiting.
And deep inside the abyss, a sealed presence remained, its promise unbroken.
"Who was that frightening black figure?" one of the Awakened people shouted, his eyes still fixed on where the figure had vanished.
The silence that followed was heavy.
"We don't know who he was talking about…" another replied carefully, still shaking from the immense power they had just witnessed. "But whoever it is… they must be incredibly powerful."
Whispers quickly spread among the survivors.
"Could it be… the New Dawn Guardian Hunter Kim Jame?" asked a younger Awakened. "I heard he just reached Star Seventeen."
Gasps and low murmurs followed.
"Kim Jame…? Star Seventeen?"
"If it's really him, maybe we actually have a chance now."
But before people could talk more, a sudden, bright light filled the sky as a global system message appeared in the minds of every living being.
[World System Alert: Phase II Expansion Complete.]
The Great Plane is now actively growing.
* Absorption of Collapsed Realms: In Progress
* Dimensional Terrain Shifts: Incoming
* Preemptive Warning Systems: Activated
Prepare for Skyborne Threats and Oceanic Beasts.
Estimated Surge: 19 Hours
Adapt. Migrate. Defend. Survive.
The message disappeared.
But its serious meaning remained.
Awakeners across the Great Plane looked to the sky and then to the oceans. Their hearts pounded not just with fear, but with determination.
The world was getting bigger. The dangers were getting stronger. And even after the Blood Moon was gone… the real storm had only just begun.
The sky darkened. The oceans became rough.
Just as the system had warned, they came.
Sky monsters, scary winged creatures made of lightning, wind, and empty space, flew down in screaming groups. From the deep parts of the ocean, huge beasts rose up: giant creatures hidden in mist, terrible kraken-like monsters, and armored snakes with scales that gleamed like metal.
They came quickly. They came loudly.
But this time… people didn't just feel fear.
The Great Plane was ready.
From the Elven Moonspire cities, arrows shot out in shining silver arcs, guided by old winds. The Dragonfolk flew into the sky, their wings on fire, tearing through flying beasts with roars that split the clouds.
The Horned Tribe's fierce fighters, dressed in bone and blood, met the huge ocean monsters at the shores. Their bodies pulsed with strength like stars. Dwarven cannons roared from the strong stone walls of their mountain forts, firing with great aim and power to destroy the sea monsters before they reached land.
The Monks of the Silent Path walked on water, their calm punches breaking the heads of huge sea creatures. Fairy magic users covered their friends in shimmering shields while throwing spears made of light into the hearts of the invaders.
Even the Demons and Ogres, who were wild and messy, fought alongside the others. Not because they were friends, but because they had to. No one wanted their homes to be taken over.
And among all of them, the humans, with their many different systems and surprising abilities, changed and adapted like no other race. They used clever plans, strong spirits, and a lot of stubbornness to hold every line.
The battle only lasted a few hours.
The monsters fell quickly and completely, not slowly or painfully. Their huge bodies crashed to the earth, shaking the ground and staining the oceans with their strange blood.
A temporary quiet returned.
The first real invasion had been stopped.
And for the first time since everything started to fall apart… a strange feeling grew across the Great Plane:
Hope.
They had stood together.
They had fought.
And they had won.
Yet, above the clouds, far beyond the broken sky, something else watched. It didn't move. It didn't blink. It was just waiting.
Because easy wins often happen right before the true challenge that will test the whole world.