The sky above the Pacific Ocean turned black.
Not because night had fallen.
Not because a storm was approaching.
But because the colossal wings of the Eclipse Devourer blotted out the moon, creating the illusion of a living eclipse.
Its four violet eyes blazed in the darkness.
And every single one of them was fixed on one person.
Arga.
On the deck of the research vessel, no one moved for several seconds.
Bimo swallowed hard.
"...It's really looking right at us."
Dika slowly shook his head.
"Not us."
His gaze shifted to Arga.
"It's here for him."
The sea wind suddenly died.
The ocean, which had been raging moments earlier, fell silent.
Far too silent.
As though the entire Pacific were waiting to see who would die first.
The Eclipse Devourer opened its mouth.
Darkness swirled deep within its throat.
Not light.
Not fire.
But a void that devoured color itself.
WHOOOOOMMMMM—!
The air around the vessel grew unbearably heavy.
The steel deck trembled.
Windows began to crack.
The lights went out one by one.
Farhan stared at the radar screen, his hands shaking.
"The attack's energy is still rising!"
Lila went pale.
"If it releases that thing..."
"...this ship will be erased," Farhan finished.
Sinta stepped forward, even though her knees were trembling.
Her face was pale, but her voice remained sharp and commanding.
"Everyone, take defensive positions!"
"Crew members, get to the emergency compartment!"
"Bimo, starboard side!"
"Dika, protect the engines!"
"Farhan, activate whatever shields we have left!"
No one argued.
No one ran.
They moved.
Together.
A massive crack split the ship's hull.
Seawater began pouring inside.
The alarms blared.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
A crew member slipped and nearly fell overboard.
Without a second thought, Bimo lunged forward.
"GRAB MY HAND!"
He caught the crew member with one hand, his own body nearly dragged away by the crashing waves.
Meanwhile, Dika sprinted toward the engine room.
A massive pipe had broken loose and was about to slam into the generator.
He caught it with his shoulder.
"OAAAAARGH!"
The scorching metal burned into his skin.
But he refused to let go.
Farhan dropped to his knees in front of a damaged control panel.
His fingers flew across the keyboard.
"Come on... come on... work!"
Electric sparks struck his face.
He kept typing.
Lila stared at the chaotic energy readings.
Her eyes widened.
"There's a pattern!"
Everyone turned toward her.
"It's not attacking at random!"
She pointed at Arga.
"It's targeting the Core resonance inside his body!"
Kai froze.
For the first time, his expression changed.
Above them, the Eclipse Devourer's attack finally reached its completed form.
A mountain-sized sphere of pure void spun before its jaws.
The ocean beneath it began rising into the sky.
Fish were dragged upward by an invisible force.
The clouds tore apart.
The stars vanished.
Kai whispered hoarsely.
"If that thing hits..."
"...it won't just destroy this ship."
"...it could kill an entire stretch of ocean."
Arga stepped forward.
Alone.
The MBG Lunchbox rested in his hands.
Inside, twenty-six glowing grains circled a twenty-seventh grain whose light still flickered unevenly.
The unstable grain trembled violently, struggling to hold its shape.
Arga's heart pounded against his ribs.
His body was still covered in wounds from the battles that had come before.
Every movement hurt.
Yet he remained standing.
"Arga! Get back!" Sinta screamed.
He didn't turn around.
"If I step back..."
"...everyone dies."
The Eclipse Devourer fired.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A black sun fell from the sky.
Straight toward the ship.
In that instant—
The ocean exploded.
AETHERNOX erupted from the depths like a living mountain.
Its crystalline body slammed into the incoming attack high above the waves.
An explosion of blue and black light engulfed the horizon.
The shock wave swept across the Pacific.
The research vessel was hurled several meters into the air before crashing back onto the water.
Everyone was thrown off their feet.
But they were still alive.
Bimo let out a hysterical laugh, coughing as he struggled to get up.
"Okay..."
"...I officially hate the ocean."
But the Eclipse Devourer wasn't finished.
It descended.
Fast.
Far too fast.
Its claws slammed into Aethernox's body.
CRAAAAAASH!
The ancient Guardian of the Ocean was hurled through a towering wall of waves.
Leviathan Thalassa attacked from the right.
Thalorion surged upward from below.
The two Ocean Guardians struck together, their jaws and bodies crashing against the cosmic predator.
BOOOOOOOOM!
For a moment, the ocean blazed with blue light.
Then the Eclipse Devourer simply spread its wings.
A wave of void energy erupted from its body.
Both sea dragons were blasted backward like leaves caught in a hurricane.
Farhan stared at the readings.
"That's impossible..."
Lila's voice dropped to a whisper.
"It's too powerful..."
Arga felt the MBG Lunchbox shaking violently in his hands.
The light inside it flared wildly.
Then—
Something changed.
The twenty-seventh grain stopped flickering.
For one brief, impossible moment, its light became steady.
And beneath that golden glow, another pulse emerged.
Faint at first.
Then brighter.
Kai stared at the lunchbox.
His eyes widened.
"No..."
Arga opened the lid.
Amid the swirling golden light, a new grain of rice began to take shape.
It was brighter than every other grain.
The twenty-eighth.
WHOOOOOMMMMM!
Golden energy erupted into the sky.
The entire ocean lit up.
The towering waves froze in place.
Aethernox raised its head.
Leviathan roared.
Even the Eclipse Devourer recoiled half a step.
For the first time—
The cosmic predator looked startled.
But Arga's body couldn't withstand the power pouring through him.
Cracks of golden light spread across his arm.
Blood trickled from his nose.
His knees began to buckle.
Kai caught him by the shoulder, barely able to keep himself upright.
"Stop!"
"Your body isn't ready!"
Arga gently pushed Kai's hand away.
"If I stop..."
"...Earth is finished."
He raised the MBG Lunchbox toward the sky.
All twenty-eight grains spun inside it like a miniature golden galaxy.
The cracks across the lunchbox's surface widened, threatening to split it apart.
Energy from the world's Cores answered his call.
The Sahara.
The Fire Continent.
The Amazon.
The Poles.
The Mountains.
And the oceans.
One by one, they responded.
A colossal beam of golden light pierced the heavens.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The attack slammed into the Eclipse Devourer's chest.
The cosmic creature unleashed a deafening roar.
Its massive body was driven backward, tearing through the clouds.
Violet cracks spread across one of its wings.
For the first time, its armor-like hide had been breached.
Bimo stared in disbelief.
"It's... hurt."
But their victory lasted only a second.
Farhan looked at the radar.
The color drained from his face.
"No..."
Lila turned toward him.
"What now?!"
Farhan pointed at the trembling screen.
A new signal had appeared in Earth's orbit.
It was enormous.
Far larger than the Eclipse Devourer.
Far older.
And incomparably denser.
Kai lifted his gaze toward the sky.
All color drained from his face.
He whispered—
"...It's here."
Arga turned toward him, barely able to remain standing.
"Who?"
Kai stared into the darkness gathering above the clouds.
His voice was almost inaudible.
"The creature that destroyed my world."
The sky tore open.
Not cracked.
Tore.
A colossal rift split the atmosphere apart.
And from within the endless void—
A pair of golden eyes slowly opened.
The Eclipse Devourer lowered its head.
Aethernox froze.
Leviathan retreated.
The ocean stopped moving.
Arga collapsed to his knees.
And for the first time—
Everyone felt the same thing.
Fear.
TO BE CONTINUED...