For the first time, Snow stood before the gathered hunters—not as a background support, but as a central figure. Yet all he felt... was disappointment.
The room was filled with representatives from major guilds and even guild leaders themselves. And among them, seated comfortably like a mere observer, was Ruciel Faithhood—when she should have been at the frontlines with Arthur and Ibrahim.
Snow's voice was cold and unwavering as he stepped forward.
"It's... disappointing," he said plainly. "The state of this room. The current situation."
Murmurs began to stir, but he continued, his gaze sweeping across them.
"The World Association's Hunter President should have prepared contingencies. But it seems even now, my warnings carry no weight. Despite the methods I used—despite being detained for trying to stop this in advance—here I am again..."
He scoffed under his breath, then lifted his head with a hardened expression.
"...Here to tell you how to defeat Chronos' Avatar."
Gasps rippled across the chamber.
"But let me make one thing clear." His voice dropped a note deeper. "Chronos only becomes a threat if he accomplishes his goal."
Ruciel stood, arms crossed, a sardonic smile tugging at her lips.
"I'll admit, we failed to listen to you before. And it's led to chaos. But let's not pretend anyone here should've taken seriously the words of an F-rank buffer."
A hush followed her words.
"But," she added, voice pointed, "if you're supposed to guide us out of this disaster, shouldn't you provide usable information to defeat Chronos?"
Snow looked at her. No anger. No reaction. Just a quiet, piercing stare.
Then, his lips curled slightly.
"That's rich... coming from someone I personally upgraded to the max."
Gasps rang louder now.
"And yet, here you are—sitting here—when you should've been beside Arthur or Ibrahim."
"Hey! Don't talk like that to my fiancée!" Kyle snapped, rising from his seat.
"Oh, wow. Congratulations," Snow replied dryly. "But like I said—it's a shame. All of this could've ended the moment Chronos' Avatar arrived... if Ruciel had gone to support the frontline."
His tone sharpened.
"Ruciel Faithhood. Your unique pet, Scarlet, possesses the ability to distort time and space. Chronos, likewise, manipulates time and space to his will. Had you countered him—had you acted—this chaos, which started just two hours ago, would have already been stopped."
He faced the room.
"So tell me... am I wrong for saying this, even knowing she had the power to suppress it from the very beginning?"
The room fell into murmurs. Uncertainty. Suspicion. Realization.
Ruciel's expression twisted. "You claim I had that skill? Then why am I only hearing about it now?"
Snow didn't flinch. "Shouldn't you be asking yourself that?"
His voice grew colder.
"There's no time left to entertain this farce. The only thing that matters now... is ensuring the casualties don't exceed the number I've seen."
Lola stepped forward. "What number?"
Snow's eyes darkened.
"In my vision, Chronos Avatar's first appearance resulted in over a billion deaths. The continent was fractured—reduced to just four."
Silence. Fear gripped the room.
"That's why we must stop him. At all costs."
Theresa Williams took a step forward, her voice steady. "Do you know the real reason Chronos is here?"
Snow nodded. "His goal is to retrieve the remnants of the Zodiac."
"Remnants... of the Zodiac?" she echoed.
"In the vision," Snow explained, "the Zodiacs were the sons of the God of the Universe. When the throne of divinity trembled, those sons fought for power... only to be annihilated by the Seven Deadly Sins—beings said to be the Royal Guards of the God."
He paused.
"Only one of the Seven survived. And that survivor killed all the Zodiac sons—except one. Chrono, the Zodiac of Capricorn."
The weight of the tale settled heavily.
"To become a god himself, Chrono began gathering the remains of his fallen siblings," Snow said. "Eight of them are on Earth."
The room shifted with anxiety. Doubt and awe flickering in every glance.
Theresa narrowed her eyes. "You're saying... the Zodiac remnants are on Earth?"
"Yes. And Chronos already has four."
His voice dropped.
"He sent his Avatar here to collect the rest. The nearest remnants are in Japan and South Korea. Tokyo has two... and South Korea has one."
Snow paused as the tension in the room grew unbearable.
"The one in South Korea... is the remnant of Chrono himself."
"What does that mean?" someone asked.
"If he retrieves that piece, he'll gain access to his clone skill—allowing him to rapidly accelerate his true goal."
"Wait... slow down," Lola interrupted, stepping closer. "Are you saying... right now, Chronos' Avatar is in Seoul—looking for his own remnant? And if he finds it... he'll activate a skill that lets him multiply?"
Snow gave her a grim nod.
"Exactly."
Theresa narrowed her eyes, her tone sharp. "Then... what is Chronos' second purpose?"
Snow's voice dropped, flat and grim.
"To destroy the world... and rebuild it in his own image."
Gasps and stunned silence rippled through the hunters.
"Time doesn't wait," he continued without pause. "So I'll speak now about what must be done. How the efforts are distributed... that's up to the President."
He turned, facing the central projection of the world map.
"Seoul. Tokyo. Paris. New York. Dubai. Rome."
He pointed to each region in sequence. "These are where the remaining eight Zodiac remnants are located."
He paused. "I don't know who or what the remnants are exactly... but Chronos' Avatar will manifest in each of these regions once he activates his clones."
A heavy breath fell from his lips. "Our goal is simple. Either stop him from obtaining the remnant in Seoul—or stop him from making contact with any of the others."
His expression darkened even further.
"And you all need to understand this—Chronos' ultimate skill is Time Reversal. That's why only hunters capable of distorting time and space can face him directly."
Gasps filled the room again. Several hunters exchanged worried glances.
Snow looked up. "So far, the only two capable of such distortion are Yui Shito—who is likely already dead..."
Ruciel's eyes widened. "What—?!"
"...and Ruciel Faithhood." His gaze landed on her. "Who, in this case, has proven to be useless."
"You bastard!" Ruciel exploded, flaring with aura. "Don't insult me—and what do you mean Yui Shito has been killed?!"
Before Snow could answer, reality itself warped.
A sudden wave surged through the chamber—a flicker, a glitch in time. The air rippled. Reality bent for a fraction of a second... and returned.
Everyone froze.
Snow's eyes snapped wide open. "...What the hell?"
"Did—did you all feel that?" asked the Ice Queen, standing from her seat.
"I... did," Lola replied hesitantly, holding her arm where goosebumps had risen.
"Damn it," Snow muttered.
He turned abruptly toward the global projection.
"Change of plans!" he barked.
His gaze locked onto a location that glowed unnaturally in red—far from the predicted zones. His expression twisted in disbelief.
"What the hell is he doing in Texas?!" he roared.
The room plunged into chaos as panic stirred again.
"All of you—get out there and keep the people safe! Do whatever it takes to minimize casualties!"
Before anyone could stop him or question his next move, Snow's entire body glowed with light—and vanished on the spot.
Earlier... Before the Meeting
High above a ruined city, space cracked like shattered glass. Through the tears in reality, monstrous creatures poured down into the streets below. Panic and destruction reigned.
And there, floating above it all, was a lone figure.
He hovered, timeless, regal—and terrifying.
||"Hmm..."|| the figure murmured, his voice echoing across dimensions. ||"So this... is Earth?"||
He surveyed the world below with a cold, indifferent gaze.
||"Father lavished so much care on this tiny planet... yet cast it aside to favor others."||
Though he appeared human, he was far from mortal. His body was lean, dignified. White hair flowed down his shoulders, adorned with divine gold ornaments. His robes shimmered with ethereal light—pure white, trimmed with celestial gold, fit for a god. His glowing eyes radiated ancient power.
He hovered in stillness... as though listening.
||"Why is this planet so saturated with mana?"|| he mused. ||"As though the world itself is nurturing something..."||
Then, with sudden clarity, he vanished from the skies—only to reappear in a desolate green field, far from the chaos of the city.
There, the ground trembled as he raised a hand.
A massive crater exploded into existence, the shockwave flattening the surrounding terrain. From within the dust, a great orb emerged—massive, ancient, glowing faintly like a buried star.
He stepped forward. Reached out.
But the moment his fingers touched the orb—
CRACK!
Lightning erupted from the surface, striking his hand. He recoiled, smoke rising from his fingers.
||"...Father's restriction barrier."|| he said calmly, staring at his burnt hand.
He smirked.
||"Even in death, you still try to stop me."||
He braced himself, then struck again with full force—raw power erupting from his body. The ground shook. Wind howled. The skies crackled.
But the more strength he poured in... the stronger the barrier became. Like it was learning from him.
||"YAAAAAHHHH!!"|| he roared, forcing his hand against the orb—only to be thrown back like a spring-loaded weapon, skidding across the landscape.
Silence fell. Then laughter.
||"...So Father passed his will on to someone else."||
He stood, brushing dirt from his robes, his eyes now burning with fury.
||"Fine. I'll come back for it."||
He vanished again.
Hours passed. In the silence of the skies, his form reappeared—hovering once more above the Earth, this time scanning the planet's mana signatures like a hunter marking prey.
Then—his gaze sharpened.
||"This signature... I know it."|| His expression twisted.
||"Asmodeus?"||
A moment of silence passed... then rage erupted on his face.
||"ASMODEUS!!!"||
He bellowed across the heavens—and vanished in a thunderous boom.
When he reappeared again, it was over Texas.
Above the headquarters of the Hunter's Association.
Drawn to his most hated enemy.
||"...This is..."|| the figure murmured, narrowing his eyes.
The air vibrated with energy. Thick currents of mana coiled through the sky, far denser than anything he had encountered so far. The city below—though already scorched—was practically drenched in concentrated magical flow.
And among it... two familiar mana signatures pulsed.
Before he could react—
BOOM!
A figure came hurtling from the sky like a warhead, crashing through the clouds with blinding speed.
It was Snow.
Mask-clad, aura blazing—yet completely unprepared.
An unseen force slammed into him mid-air.
Snow was violently launched downward—his body tearing through the air before smashing into the towering structure of the Hunter Association HQ. The impact sent shockwaves echoing across the city. Rubble scattered. Fire erupted.
He couldn't even tell what had struck him.
Before he could recover, it hit again—then again. Blow after blow from an invisible hand drove him into the streets, and the world around them collapsed. Buildings crumbled. Fires bloomed in every direction.
The unknown attacker stood high above the wreckage, unbothered.
Then—he raised his hand.
And unleashed hell.
Dozens of blows landed per second, each one exploding on impact, each one carving massive trenches into the city. The ground split, craters bloomed, and shockwaves reduced entire blocks to dust.
||"I won't let you have your way this time, Asmodeus!"|| the figure roared.
But just as another blow was about to land, something stopped him.
Clack.
A hand caught his fist mid-air.
"What...?" he blinked.
Snow, battered and bruised, had caught the punch. Smoke curled around him. His mask was cracked. His eyes glowed with divine light. And behind his head... a radiant gold crown hovered, flickering into existence.
"You've already destroyed Texas beyond recognition," Snow said, rising slowly to his feet amidst the rubble.
From the haze, his voice carried with power.
"I think we should move this fight... somewhere else."
Without another word, he reached out, grabbed the man by the face—and launched him into the sky like a missile.
The two rocketed through the air, blurring across states within seconds. Then, high above the sea, Snow hurled the man downward with overwhelming force.
BOOM!
The ocean split. A deafening explosion rang out, waves towering like mountains. It was as if a nuke had been dropped into the heart of the sea.
Snow hovered above the carnage.
"Cool your head."
The sea churned... then exploded upward.
The figure rose once more, unfazed.
A sound echoed in Snow's ears.
DING!
=============================
PATHFINDER HAS DETECTED A CHAIN EVENT
===========================
DING!
============================
PATHFINDER HAS DETECTED A UNIQUE BOSS
==========================
DING!
===========================
PATHFINDER IS CALCULATING...
=========================
DING!
==========================
PATHFINDER CANNOT DETECT A PATHWAY
=========================
DING!
=========================
UNIQUE BOSS [WORLD BOSS]
NAME: Azazellion Dixvon (Chronos' Avatar)
CLASS: Swordsman
ATTRIBUTE: Time Warp
TITLES: Chronos avatar, Son of God, Destroyer of Worlds, Archnemesis of Asmodeus
LEVEL: ??
=========================
DING!
==========================
QUEST
You are currently experiencing a CANON EVENT.
Prove yourself worthy to succeed Ukris.
Defeat Azazellion Dixvon, the Avatar of Chronos,
and claim the Final Key of Succession.
REWARD:
EGO
SPECIAL REWARD: AUTHORITY
PENALTY:
DEATH
============================
The figure—Azazellion—hovered before him, his robes now soaked but pristine. His eyes studied Snow more carefully.
||"You're not Asmodeus."|| His voice rumbled like a god judging creation.
"No," Snow replied coldly, his clothes tattered, crown still flickering. "But that doesn't mean... you won't pay for the lives you've taken."
Azazellion's gaze sharpened. Then—
The world glitched.
The skies warped. The ocean froze mid-motion. And reality bent around them like a skipping tape.
Suddenly, they were back.
Back in the sky, above Texas.
Azazellion's form hovered in place, exactly where he had first appeared.
And again—Snow appeared before him, angry, confused, his momentum broken.
||"Does this suffice?"|| Azazellion asked calmly, watching Snow relive the moment again.
"What are you doing here?!" Snow shouted—and instinctively, like before, grabbed him and tore him away from the city.
BOOM!
Once more, he slammed Azazellion into the ocean.
And now... satellites and drones deployed by the World Security Agency floated above, recording it all.
The battle had begun anew.
And someone—somewhere—was watching.
||"You should listen when spoken to."||
Azazellion's voice rumbled like thunder as he rose from the sea, saltwater cascading off his pristine white robes. His figure hovered just inches above the surface—unnaturally still—while the turbulent ocean churned beneath him.
He looked up.
Snow remained in the sky, gold light flickering around him, his gaze sharp with fury.
"I asked you a question!" Snow growled, his aura igniting. Golden arcs of energy rippled through the air. His eyes glowed, blazing like miniature suns as he descended, slow and deliberate, like judgment itself.
Then, Azazellion's eyes widened in disbelief.
||"Y... You... You are Father's successor?"||
The shock in his voice echoed across the sea.
Snow's response was cold and calm.
"And what if I am?"
Azazellion stared for a moment longer—then laughed.
||"Hahaha... HAHAHA!"||
The sky dimmed. The very air grew cold, as if something ancient and malevolent had stirred.
||"At last... I no longer need to follow through with the old man's design. If you're here—that means I can take the Key of Succession directly!"||
His eyes narrowed. The space between them rippled.
Then—
BOOM!
Like the sound of a celestial gunshot, the two launched toward each other. Their fists collided mid air.
CRACK—!!
The resulting impact split the sea open.
A vortex formed beneath them. Explosions of light and shockwaves followed, ravaging the ocean. Every punch they exchanged created sonic booms that vaporized water and shattered marine life for miles. The sky above twisted with energy. The water below trembled.
But Snow was losing ground.
One heavy blow caught him square in the side—and he was sent hurtling across the surface like a skipping stone.
WHAM—WHAM—WHAM!
He slammed into the sea, bounced off the surface, and finally skidded to a stop, dazed and breathless.
||"There's no doubt now..."|| Azazellion said, now descending toward him. His expression was no longer one of confusion—but exhilaration.
||"You're the one they chose."||
His gaze flicked briefly to the glowing crown above Snow's head—proof of succession. But what truly confirmed it... was the earring.
It radiated the unmistakable signature of Excalibur.
Excalibur—the weapon once wielded by Asmodeus.
But what Azazellion didn't realize... was that the weapon had already evolved.
Its name was no longer Excalibur.
It was now Starlight.
||"Finally..."|| Azazellion muttered, his voice trembling with excitement. ||"Let's see how you fare... human."||
He raised his hand to the sky.
Thunder crackled.
From the clouds, a sword descended—long, ancient, and wrapped in chains of lightning. The wind howled as it came to his hand, its presence enough to cause the sea to recoil.
Snow's eyes narrowed.
That blade—its mana signature was unmistakable. It was nearly identical to the old Excalibur before its evolution. And now... Azazellion held it.
The old man swung.
WHOOSH—!!
Snow vanished just in time. The sword's arc ripped through the air, cleaving everything in a perfect line. The slash carved a deep canyon through the ocean, water walls collapsing on either side. The wound left in the sea slowly began to fill again, a scar etched into nature itself.
||"You did well to dodge that."|| Azazellion said calmly, his tone disturbingly genuine.
But above them, high in orbit, space drones had already begun transmitting the scene across the globe.
Hunters across the world—watching through broken comms and half-functioning screens—held their breath.
Many couldn't even watch.
They were too busy fighting for their lives on the ground—against the endless flood of monsters erupting from the time fractures Azazellion left in his wake.
But those who could see...
Wondered:
Was anyone coming to help him?
And...
Could he even survive?
------------------------------------------------
to be continued...