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Before long, Mason was completely lost in the swirl of perfume, glittering company, exquisite food, and fine wine. It was sensory overload in the best way possible.
Only now did he truly understand that old saying—money really does bring the purest, most straightforward kind of happiness.
By the time he'd eaten and drunk his fill, the sun had already slipped below the horizon, the last golden light fading into dusk. Mason decided it was time to head home.
After tasting this kind of luxury, one conviction crystallized in his heart: he had to squeeze every last drop of value out of the "Myriad Worlds Projection Platform." It was his only ticket to rewriting his fate and reclaiming his place in the world.
"Once I earn another big payout, I'm buying a mansion around here. I'm done living in that rat-infested dump that gets invaded by mutated rodents every other week."
He walked out, already sketching out his future.
Then it happened.
A shrill siren ripped through the night, slicing straight through his ears like a blade.
"…That's a war alert?!"
Mason froze. A few seconds later, realization hit. It was the highest-level emergency evacuation alarm. A powerful mutated creature had breached city airspace.
"No way… it can't be that bad, right?"
He forced himself to calm down and scanned the surroundings. The civilians looked shaken, sure, but under the direction of patrolling Awakened squads, they were moving swiftly and orderly toward the underground shelters.
For people who had survived countless monster attacks, alarms like this were practically routine.
But what happened next made everyone stop dead in their tracks.
The captain of the Demon-Slaying Guard stationed at the shopping center suddenly shot into the air, sword beneath his feet, turning into a streak of sharp light as he charged toward the unidentified creature in the distance.
It lasted one second.
Midair, the captain's body froze, as if something invisible had locked onto him.
Then came the horrifying sight.
An unseen blade sliced clean through his waist.
Blood poured down like torrential rain, splattering across the ground below.
"C-Captain?!"
The other Awakened cried out in shock. Their captain was a genuine Four-Star powerhouse, someone capable of fighting a Level Five mutated beast head-on. And now he hadn't even seen his enemy clearly before dying on the spot.
Just how monstrously strong was this invader?
"Move! Get everyone into the shelters! All units prepare for combat!"
Figures leapt into the air one after another, eyes fixed warily on the sky, bracing for whatever nightmare was descending.
"Hey! You over there! Get into the shelter now!"
Mason was still standing where he was, staring upward. A clear, urgent female voice called out behind him.
He turned around.
And froze.
A simple white dress. Long hair cascading like a waterfall. A face so delicate it looked almost unreal, like a celestial being who had stepped down from the heavens, though her expression still carried a sharpness from battle.
"Mason?!"
The girl's eyes widened with disbelief and sudden joy.
"It's been a while, Chen Muyun." He gave her a polite, faint smile.
She had been his college classmate. The acknowledged campus beauty. The girl he once had a crush on.
And yet…
Looking at her now, Mason felt nothing.
On the Projection Platform, he had seen countless women of breathtaking beauty—faces and figures beyond imagination. His standards had been pushed to absurd heights. Ordinary beauty barely registered anymore.
"Why are you here? Forget it, just go! Get into the shelter! This fight's going to be ugly. I can't protect you if things go south!" Chen Muyun's brief happiness vanished, replaced by urgency as she fired off her words.
"Alright."
Mason nodded and started toward the nearest shelter entrance at an unhurried pace. Even though he now possessed the power of Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic, he had no intention of jumping into the fray.
Not because he was afraid.
He simply believed the country's Demon-Slaying Guard elite could handle it. There was no need for him to step in yet.
But in the next second, a colossal shadow blotted out the sky.
With a thunderous roar, something massive descended from the heavens, unleashing a piercing shriek that rattled the soul.
"AAAAAAAHHHH—!!!"
The sound hit like a physical force. Mason's face darkened in irritation as he turned toward its source.
"Holy hell… that thing's huge."
His pupils shrank.
It was a mutated giant bird.
At least twenty meters tall. Its wingspan stretched an estimated forty meters or more.
As he stared in stunned silence, Chen Muyun's trembling voice reached him.
"T-That's a Level Six mutated beast! How is this possible? How did something like that break through the city's defenses?"
Her words sent shockwaves through Mason's mind.
Level Six?
In this system, Awakened were ranked from One to Ten Stars, while mutated creatures were graded from Level One to Ten. But mutated beasts had natural physical advantages. At the same level, they were usually far more dangerous than Awakened of equivalent rank.
Unless someone was a once-in-a-generation genius capable of fighting above their level, taking down a Level Six mutated beast required multiple Six-Star Awakened working together.
Anyone below that?
They'd just be cannon fodder.
"In a situation like this, shouldn't you be calling for reinforcements?" Mason asked, glancing at Chen Muyun, who was trembling despite herself.
"Right! Reinforcements! Call for backup—wait, Mason? Why are you still here?!"
She fumbled for her communicator like it was a lifeline, then realized who she was talking to. She spun around, only to see him still standing calmly on the edge of disaster.
"Come on. That's a Level Six. If all of you die, do you really think the shelter's going to hold it off?"
He shot her a look.
Most of the Awakened here were below Three Stars. Their strongest fighter, the Four-Star captain, was already dead. Without backup, hiding in the shelter would only delay the inevitable.
Shelter or not, it barely mattered now.
While they were speaking, the giant bird made its move.
It opened its beak wide. Instantly, visible blades of compressed wind formed in the air, vibrating with terrifying cutting power. They slashed toward the Awakened flying on their swords.
How could small fry possibly withstand a Level Six attack?
The wind blades tore through the sky like bolts of death.
Every figure riding a sword was cut clean in half. Broken bodies and blood rained down in a gruesome shower.
One attack.
An entire squad.
Wiped out.
"How… how can it be this strong…"
Chen Muyun stared at the hellish scene in a daze. In a single exchange, more than half their combat strength was gone. It was obvious that with what they had left, there was no stopping that monstrous bird.
Mason frowned slightly.
Why hadn't high-level Awakened arrived yet? The city's Awakened Association headquarters was practically next door to the shopping center.
Unless…
The thought hung in the air.
No reinforcements were coming.
Chen Muyun's communicator received no response. Which meant this wasn't an isolated attack. The entire city of Haicheng might be under siege, stretched too thin to send help anywhere.
Despair flooded her eyes as the giant bird took heavy steps forward, closing the distance.
"Mason… run. This place is done for."
But Mason didn't panic.
Instead, an unbelievable thought kept circling in his mind.
That attack just now… it hadn't felt that threatening to him.
In fact, he had the strange impression that he could unleash power on that level himself.
Or stronger.
He had never tested Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic in real combat. Yet a firm, undeniable confidence had rooted itself in his heart.
I could crush that thing.
Easily.
He looked at Chen Muyun, who was already drowning in despair, and let out a quiet sigh.
Then he stepped forward.
Not backward.
Toward the giant bird.
Chen Muyu felt a gust of wind tear past her, so fast it was almost unreal.
She snapped her head up.
The figure that came into view was a familiar back clad in a white shirt, shoulders set with quiet resolve.
"Him…? That's Mason?!"
Her pupils trembled violently. She knew Mason. He was supposed to be normal. Just an ordinary guy.
But what she was seeing right now shattered that belief beyond repair.
He's just a regular human… so what the hell is he doing?!
"Wait… no. That's…"
She stared at him, unblinking.
Golden lightning burst across every inch of his skin, crackling and writhing like a nest of enraged serpents. It was surreal, so fantastical that she wondered if she'd slipped into a nightmare.
Wasn't Mason just an ordinary person?
Then what the hell is this?
He… is he one of the legendary Awakened too?
High above, the massive monster bird circling the sky suddenly froze mid-advance. It lowered its enormous head, violent eyes locking onto the tiny figure below.
A bone-chilling sense of death crept into its heart without warning.
That instinctive terror didn't lie. Even as a sixth-tier ferocious beast, it could feel it clearly.
The "prey" walking toward it step by step… was dangerous.
In the next instant—
The monster bird's wings snapped open, and its colossal body shot upward into the clouds.
"GRAAA—!!!"
The shriek pierced the air like a blade, drilling into eardrums. Immediately after, countless wind blades tore through the sky, slicing down toward Mason like the scythes of death.
Target locked.
Under the piercing sonic attack, Mason frowned. Irritation flashed across his face. With exaggerated disdain, he stuck a finger in his ear and dug it out.
"You damn beast… you're seriously… loud as hell!"
As the overwhelming storm of wind blades roared down on him, lightning magic exploded from within his body. He drew the power of the Thunder Dragon into his chest, leaning back slightly as he gathered strength.
Then—
A massive magic circle, brimming with destructive energy, burst into existence in his palm.
"Dragon Slayer Magic—Roar of the Thunder Dragon!"
ROAR—!!!
A thick, blinding violet breath erupted from his mouth, carrying enough high-voltage electricity to rip the world apart.
Midair, the blast condensed into a lifelike purple thunder dragon. Wrapped in fury and tyranny, it let out a sky-shaking dragon's roar and lunged at the panicking monster bird.
The bird's mind went blank.
One thought remained.
Run.
But horror seized it when it realized its speed couldn't match that streak of violet lightning.
Because the instant that thought formed—
The thunder dragon was already there.
With a screaming torrent of electricity, it tore straight through the bird's chest.
And then—
BOOM!!!
The creature's body locked rigid in the air. Its massive chest cavity was pierced through, organs instantly scorched and carbonized under the terrifying heat of the current.
Even the absurd vitality of a sixth-level awakened beast couldn't reclaim life lost in a single, merciless moment.
Staring at the frozen monster in the sky, Mason's first thought was:
Did I just… one-shot it?
The next second, he crushed that naïve idea without hesitation.
He was cautious to the bone. Loose ends were unacceptable.
So—
"Falling Thunder."
He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers coolly.
Ever since mastering Thunder Dragon Slayer Magic, he could command the very laws of lightning.
Rumble—
Chen Muyu stared blankly at the man before her, as if he were a statue carved from divinity itself. There was no trace of tension, fear, or hesitation on him.
It was as if everything in the world lay under his control.
With one hand pointed toward the heavens and a single snap of his fingers, he summoned heavenly judgment.
In that moment, he looked like a king wielding divine punishment.
BOOM—!!!!
A blinding golden bolt materialized out of thin air, crashing down from the sky like a spear of heavenly wrath.
The gigantic bird was instantly swallowed by lightning. It didn't even get the chance to let out a pitiful cry.
It was already dead.
When the light faded, a bottomless, charred crater remained. The sixth-tier monster bird had been erased completely, reduced to nothing. No corpse. No blood. Not even ash.
Mason looked at the lightning-scorched ground, not a scrap left behind, and a satisfied smile curved his lips.
Even he hadn't expected the Thunder Dragon Slayer Magic to be this terrifying. Killing a sixth-tier mutated creature felt no harder than swatting a mosquito.
He turned his head.
Chen Muyu was sprawled on the ground, staring at him as if she'd just seen a ghost, too stunned to move.
"....."