08 / 07 / 2018, 17:45 - Tuesday, Nakagawa City.
The city is no longer the same.
Silver glow painted the sky across the horizon, shimmering through the gap in buildings. Countless dark spatial rifts opened up in the sky, bringing a flood of monsters.
In the background, a building burned, the faint smell of burnt metal and ozone clung to everything, while fragments of light, like floating embers, drifted in the night air. Scream and echoes of survivor, gunfire, and even explosions are now silent.
Alicia Mikhailovich tightened her grip on the steering wheel. Her black business suit was stained with soot, the blue ribbon she always wore in her white hair half undone. But even in the dim glow of her car's dashboard, her eyes still held that same warmth, anxious, yes, but alive.
"Come on, come on… just a little bit more halfway through." She muttered, pressing the steering wheel even tighter with one hand and pressing the phone to her ear with the other hand.
"Akane, sweetie… pick up the call, please…"
Her voice cracked, but she forced a small laugh. "Geez, your mother's out here surviving an alien invasion and you're ignoring her calls, huh? Kids these days…"
The joke helped. Barely.
She had been in her office when the first wave hit, a tremor like an earthquake, followed by screaming and the sound of glass shattering everywhere. The sky had turned white. She remembered grabbing her bag, sprinting down the stairwell barefoot after losing her heels, pushing the fire door open, and running without looking back. She didn't even know where her coworkers went, only that she needed to get home.
And now, halfway there, she drove through a city that felt like it was stretching, repeating itself. Streets she swore she had already passed appeared again, and signs flickered in loops.
Then, something fell from the sky.
It wasn't a meteor. It was something alive.
It crashed several meters ahead, a black, sinewy shape that pulsed faintly as it writhed, like a half-melted insect. Alicia slammed the brakes, but another streak of light descended from above, hitting her car directly.
The impact lifted the vehicle off the ground, the world spun, the glass exploded, and everything went white.
When she opened her eyes again, her head was ringing. The windshield was gone, and her seatbelt had saved her from being thrown out. Blood ran down her temple, warm and sticky.
"...ow…" she hissed, voice trembling. Then she laughed, soft and shaky. "Well… that's one way to ruin a car…"
Her body screamed in pain, but her instincts moved before fear could settle. She unbuckled the seatbelt, crawled out through the broken window, and dragged herself across the cracked asphalt. Her phone buzzed weakly beside her, screen shattered. She didn't look at it.
The ground vibrated.
A faint shadow passed over her.
She turned her head and froze.
A creature stood there.
No, not stood, floated, as if gravity had forgotten it. A figure of stretched limbs and glimmering membranes, its head crowned with soft, glowing tendrils like a jellyfish, yet shaped almost like a human's silhouette beneath a curtain of translucent light.
It stared down at her with something between curiosity and hunger.
For a heartbeat, neither moved.
Then, with a tiny exhale, Alicia smiled, the kind of nervous, almost childlike smile she always wore when caught in something absurd.
"...You're not here for directions, are you?"
The creature twitched. That was enough.
She bolted.
Her knees scraped against gravel, shoes slipping, but she didn't stop. Pain flared up in her leg, tears pricked her eyes, but her breathing stayed steady. Don't look back, don't think. Just move.
Behind her, the shadow grew larger, the air heavy like water. Then—
A flash of light cut across the street.
Something of a human appeared at least, a tall man in a strange attire, he wore only a white shirt and black formal pants, atop his head was an eboshi, also holding an ink brush. The other one is a woman who wears the same white shirt and holds a naginata, her black hair hangs, wearing glasses.
"Get behind us!" the woman shouted.
Alicia didn't question. She stumbled forward, ducking behind a toppled car.
The man raises his brush and, magically, writing appears in the air as the brush moves, a black ink chain quickly extended from the void to bind the creatures.
Unwilling to be suppressed, the jellyfish struggled, acid even corroding the ink chain.
Then, the woman from before rushes out at a speed invisible to the naked eye, like a wind, the naginata flows, splitting the jellyfish from above to below.
The woman nodded. "Another civilian secured."
Alicia, panting, clutching her bleeding arm, looked up at them, her saviors. For the first time in hours, she felt a sliver of relief.
"…You guys… are you from the government or something?" she asked weakly.
The woman gave her a faint smile without answering.
Then the ground trembled again, and the silver glow in the sky deepened.
---
The streets were eerily still, a tension hanging in the air like a coiled spring. Smoke curled from toppled buildings, and the occasional flare of fire lit the chaos around them. Misaki Asakura and Hayakawa Kazuhiko paused, scanning the scene.
They had been dispatched only minutes ago, sent by the Master of the Gate to secure paths for civilians and assess the threat.
"This… is worse than the reports suggested," Hayakawa muttered, eyes darting across the streets.
Misaki adjusted her tactical gloves. "Stay focused. Headquarters expects a safe corridor. Every second counts."
Even as professionals, they both knew the limits of their power. Ordinary people might be helpless here, but even extraordinary agents like them were fragile against the scale of this invasion.
The Master of the Gate had acted swiftly, mobilizing every available member, coordinating with government and extraordinary organizations alike, but the gap between ordinary and extraordinary, and extraordinary and the forces above, remained immense.
Ahead, a civilian stumbled from behind a toppled car. A woman, disheveled, hair streaked with dirt and blood. Misaki stepped forward.
Alicia, panting, clutching her bleeding arm, looked up at them, her saviors. For the first time in hours, she felt a sliver of relief.
"…You guys… are you from the government or something?" she asked weakly.
As Alicia weakly gets up and continues to go her way to her home.
"'I need to get home. My husband… my child…"
"Stop! We're here to help, it's too dangerous," she called, voice firm but calm, as she stopped her.
Hayakawa exchanged a glance with Misaki. "She's not wrong. That area is along our route. We'll escort her."
Breathing heavily, the woman allowed them to guide her. Her steps were uneven, but each movement carried instinct, caution, and stubborn determination, a survivor's tenacity.
"They're coming," Misaki whispered, nodding toward the dark silhouettes advancing in the distance.
Hayakawa's eyes narrowed. "Fodder units. Low-level interference. Civilians first, but we remain vigilant."
Leaning slightly on Misaki, the woman pressed forward. "I have to see my family," she said softly, eyes glinting with determination.
Misaki offered a faint nod of respect. "Then we go. Together."
Above, the city groaned under invisible pressures, but the trio moved as one. Misaki scanned rooftops and alleys, Hayakawa covered the rear, each step careful, calculated, yet swift. Even the best-laid plans were fragile in this chaos, yet they pressed on.
Minutes passed. The sounds of destruction softened, as if the city itself exhaled. Still, the agents remained alert. Each fleeting moment of calm could shatter instantly.
The woman pressed on, her determination unwavering despite fear, injury, and exhaustion. Misaki caught a glimpse of her resolve, a spark that refused to be extinguished. A faint, approving smile touched her lips.
This civilian would make it home. And they would make sure she did.
---
08 / 07 / 2018, 18:00 - Tuesday, Fukuoka, Japan.
Above the skies of Fukuoka Prefecture, the sky is now clear, the sun is about to set, painted with the fire from the building below, burning scent and smoke mask the sky. The jellyfish loomed, massive, pulsating with a bioluminescent glow, descending at an alarming rate.
Aldean stood on the far skies of Fukuoka, his kimono and hakama rustling in the wind, the jian gripped tightly in his right hand.
His left hand rose, fingers extended, two pointed directly at the approaching monstrosity.
Streams of condensed Galaxy Filament twisted around him, forming intricate rivers that flowed in precise trajectories, each designed to obstruct and divert the descent of the jellyfish. The filaments churned and shifted, as if alive, responding to his slightest thought.
"Authority of Field: Domain Unfolding, Liminal World" as a protective domain envelops the whole Earth from the impact.
"Authority of Filament: Exile, Matter Storm." Filaments twisted, the river grows into a turbulent flood, the space is filled with cosmic storms, and stellar winds.
"Authority of Field: Seal and Replicate, Attractor." Gravity, replicated to attract the surroundings.
"Authority of Field: Replicate, Thousand-Fold Amplifier." Aimed at the attractor, gravity is amplified to form an event horizon, where it could slow down the jellyfish's descent.
"If one is not enough, how about a hundred? Authority of Filament: Replicate, Hundred Event Horizon", he muttered under his breath, his eyes narrowing.
As one attractor without a mass sustainer suddenly appears without warning and then replicates into a hundred blooming event horizon attractor points.
The jellyfish slowed, its massive form undulating midair as invisible currents tugged and twisted it, forcing it to hover above the Japan-Pacific corridor.
He gritted his teeth, feeling the strain ripple through his body. Even a human vessel was sufficient to channel his power, but the exertion was immense. Every displacement, every micro-adjustment of space and filament, required split-second calculation, a harmony of intuition and raw strength.
After calming down for a moment, Aldean rises to match its level, moving towards the atmosphere. He notices that many prying eyes focus on his side, but he doesn't care; he simply ignores them.
With a measured and testing attitude, his jian slashed through the air with precision, cleaving pathways through the energy storms that prepared to erupt from the jellyfish's body.
The jellyfish that sustained in the atmosphere now focus on Aldean, shrieking, its tentacles and islands bobbing up and down.
Various creatures, like small jellyfish, come down from the island above and chase Aldean; contrary to their body, they move very fast, at the speed of sound.
As one of the dependent want to hit Aldean's side, he sidesteps and slashes his jian, effectively cleaving it into two, then…
"Authority of Field: Recursive Sidestep." Aldean constantly blinked out of space, slashing and teleporting towards the dependent's side.
Unwilling to be outdone, the jellyfish compressed its energy, silver light of the horizon shining through its head, hindering Aldean's movement, and at the same time, as he is slowed down, the obelisk at its head flickered, a beam of black silver light approaching his head.
"Authority of Filament: Energy Distortion." Aldean uses his authority to distort the form of energy to come down at him, while another dependent jellyfish approaches him.
Aldean blinked out, his other hand continued the silent dance of Authority, bending space, displacing matter, and recalibrating the battlefield in real time. The shining light is still up, like a silver lamp in space.
"Authority of Filament: Seal, Branch of Filaments."
Rivers of light from his Authority laced around the creature's tentacles, tugging, stretching, and partially fragmenting its motion. Yet, even as the jellyfish's descent halted, its sheer presence compressed the clouds below, turning the sky into a roiling ocean of mist and light.
"This ends here," he murmured, eyes locking onto the pulsating core of the creature. With a sudden surge, he propelled a filament spike, not to destroy, but to manipulate the battlefield, turning his surroundings into both shield and weapon.
Each displacement chipped at the jellyfish's momentum, forcing it to react, to expend energy it did not have in such a compressed space.
Above the Pacific, the monster hovered like a storm waiting to break. Bore the strain, pushing himself beyond the limits of flesh and mind.
Every strike, every gesture, every manipulation of space-time brought him closer to forcing the fight entirely into the open ocean, a chessboard vast enough for his Authority to dominate.
And all the while, the jellyfish pulsated, as if aware, as if mocking, each movement of its massive form a silent challenge to the being controlling it.
Aldean's jaw tightened, a flicker of a grin crossing his face. This was no mere clash of power; it was a test of calculation, intuition, and patience. And he would not allow his family below to be caught in the storm.
---
The streets were littered with debris, shards of glass, and twisted metal glinting in the gray light. Akane's legs ached with every step, his hands scraped and dusty from helping his siblings over obstacles, yet he pressed on.
Ayato limped beside him, occasionally supporting Irina when her foot caught on jagged concrete. Exhaustion weighed on them all, but the thought of home was enough to keep them moving.
Akane's gaze drifted upward, toward the city hovering faintly in the distance. Something felt… wrong.
The city shifted, subtly at first, then violently. A loud, resounding crack spread across the Earth. Another layer of the city, like a fractured mirror, tilted and fell, shards cascading downward. Just before the fragments could strike, the original city and its broken twin collided with a deafening crash, then melded seamlessly as if nothing had ever broken.
The cloudless sky revealed the city in its raw state: streets split and uneven, skyscrapers charred or crumbling, smoke spiraling into the amber glow of the setting sun.
Ayato and Irina sensed the change too, quickening their pace despite bloodied feet and fatigue. Only Akane noticed the subtle shift first: a shadow stretching impossibly across the horizon, descending toward Earth with unnatural speed.
For a heartbeat, his calm determination faltered, replaced by instinctual wariness. The city, the sky, the fading light, they all seemed aligned for a single, looming purpose. And from that shadow, a silent warning pressed down: the storm had only just begun.