The wind from the East China Sea howled against the fuselage of the matte black private jet, chartered specifically by the Security Bureau. Inside, the atmosphere held none of the nervous agitation found in other international delegations. It was the deathly stillness of a predator before the strike.
Sato Kenji sat in a wide leather armchair, observing the jagged coastline of Jeju Island through the window. Below, the island was nothing more than a gaping wound on the ocean, covered by a dome of crimson mana so dense it blocked all satellite imagery.
[Area Status: Jeju Island]
Gate Rank: SS (Unstable) Type: Evolutionary Hive. Warning: Presence of "Monarch" class consciousness detected.
At his feet, Nanami meticulously checked the tension of her bow, while Rin, sitting opposite her, carved a dagger of pure ice to pass the time. Maya, for her part, read reports on the S-Rank Awakened already on-site.
"Master," Maya whispered, looking up. "The participant list is out. There's Hwang Dong-soo from Korea, the 'God Slayer.' And above all... Hanae Akane."
Silence fell in the cabin. The name Akane stirred a hatred in Kenji so ancient it seemed to belong to another soul. Akane, the Sword Saint. The one who had finished him off with a disdainful smile in his past life. She was Japan's ultimate trump card for this mission, and she was still unaware that her former "cleaner" was the mastermind behind the Bureau's most feared unit.
"Akane..." Kenji repeated, a cold smile stretching his lips. "Let her put on her show at first. I want her to feel powerful. I want her to believe this world is at her feet before I show her reality."
"And if she tries to approach you?" Rin asked, a murderous glint in her blue eyes.
"Then you'll show her that ice can burn hotter than steel, Rin."
The jet landed at Incheon Military Base. Scarcely had the ramp lowered before Kenji felt the pressure. Dozens of S and A-Ranks were gathered there, forming an army of titans. The air vibrated with mana.
Kurogane, who had made the trip, approached Kenji with an oxygen mask hanging around his neck.
"The air is already saturated with Gate spores. Listen, Sato... the Koreans are nervous. They want to lead the assault. They've planned an airstrike followed by a coastal insertion. We've been assigned the eastern flank. It's the sector most infested with 'Soldier Ants'."
"Perfect," Kenji replied. "The fewer witnesses, the more I can let my girls have their fun."
Suddenly, a woman cut through the crowd of soldiers. She wore silver plate armor and a longsword whose guard was adorned with an angel's wing. Her aura was dazzling, almost unbearable for the lower ranks.
Hanae Akane.
She stopped in front of Kenji's group. She didn't even look at the three women; her eyes landed directly on Kenji with a look of contemptuous curiosity.
"So it's you? The assistant everyone's talking about? Kurogane claims you're a tactical genius, but I see nothing but a civilian hiding behind women."
Kenji tilted his head slightly, resuming his role as a submissive assistant.
"Hanae-san, it's an honor. I am only here to ensure the Mizuhara unit functions at its full potential to support you."
Akane let out a crystalline laugh.
"Support me? Listen well, kid. In Jeju, there is no room for 'statisticians.' There is only raw strength. Stay in your trucks, boy. If I see you in my way, I might mistake you for a monster and cut you down by accident."
She turned on her heel, her blonde hair fluttering like a banner of arrogance. Rin took a step forward, hand on her dagger, but Kenji restrained her with a gesture.
"Leave her, Rin. The higher the pedestal, the sweeter the fall."
The Insertion
The raid began at dawn. Hundreds of helicopters and fighters poured tons of fire onto the crimson dome. The sea boiled under the impacts. Then, the Awakened jumped.
Kenji, Rin, Maya, and Nanami were dropped on the eastern coast, an area of sheer cliffs riddled with caverns. Barely had they touched the ground when a dull vibration shook the rock.
Thousands of creatures erupted from the walls. The Ants of Jeju. They were two meters tall, equipped with mandibles capable of crushing titanium and carapaces that even armor-piercing bullets couldn't scratch.
"Harvest Formation," Kenji ordered.
He activated [Sovereign's Domain]. A black circle a hundred meters in diameter spread beneath his feet. Inside the circle, the ants slowed down, their movements becoming heavy and erratic.
"Rain of the Broken Soul!" Nanami screamed.
She fired an arrow toward the sky that exploded into a myriad of black bolts. Each arrow precisely targeted the joints in the ants' carapaces. Hundreds of monsters were pinned to the ground in a second.
"Shroud of Eternal Frost!" Rin shouted.
She struck the ground with her hands. A wave of absolute cold spread, turning the wounded ants into ice statues. Maya, standing behind Kenji, channeled her [Dark Restoration], transforming the death energy emanating from the monsters into pure mana to fuel Rin and Nanami.
Kenji walked through the carnage, hands in his pockets. He wasn't fighting, but his System was working frantically.
[Essence Absorption in progress...]
[Level 28 -> 32]
[Ability Unlocked: Shadow Extraction (Rank SS - Fragmentary).]
Note: You can temporarily revive an enemy killed in your domain to make them a soulless servant.
"Interesting," Kenji whispered.
He pointed at the corpse of a General Ant, more massive than the others. "Arise."
Black smoke escaped from the corpse. The ant stood up, its eyes glowing with a violet light. It bowed before Kenji before lunging at its living kin to tear them apart.
For three hours, Kenji's unit cleared the eastern flank with terrifying efficiency. They weren't heroes saving the island; they were a meat grinder programmed to consume everything.
The Summit of the Hive
As they approached the center of the island, where the Queen resided, Kenji stopped. Through [Oppressor's Eye], he saw what the others could not yet see.
At the summit of the central mountain, the international S-Ranks were being slaughtered. Akane, Hwang Dong-soo, and the others were surrounded by something far more dangerous than ants.
A winged man, with bone-white skin and blood-red eyes, hovered above them. The Ant King. A monarch born from the SS Gate.
"Master..." Nanami whispered, her gaze fixed on the horizon. "The mana signature up there... it's monstrous. Akane is in trouble."
"I know," Kenji replied. "It's time. Maya, prepare the 'Forced Submission Serum.' We're going to make a grand entrance."
At the summit of the hive, the carnage was total. Hanae Akane was on her knees, her armor shattered, her sword cracked. The Ant King watched her with cruel curiosity. He had just devoured Hwang Dong-soo's arm and seemed bored.
"Human..." the King rasped in a grinding voice. "You were the strongest of this cattle. But you remain... food."
He raised his claw to take her head. Akane closed her eyes, the same terror she had inflicted on Kenji ten years earlier painting her face.
BOOM.
A shockwave of black mana swept across the summit, pushing the Ant King back several meters.
Kenji appeared, walking calmly through the debris, surrounded by his three women and an army of shadow ants.
"What a pitiful scene, Akane-san," Kenji said, his voice resonating with an authority that made the surviving S-Ranks tremble. "You spoke of raw strength, but I see nothing but a little girl crying before an insect."
Akane looked up, dazed. "You... the assistant...?"
The Ant King roared, furious at the interruption. "Who are you, human? Your scent... it is not that of cattle. You smell like... a Sovereign."
Kenji stared at the King. "I am the one who will use your carcass to forge the throne of my servants. Rin, Nanami, Maya... entertain him."
The battle that followed was of a violence exceeding anything the S-Ranks present had ever seen. Rin and Nanami, doped by the limitless mana Maya transferred from Kenji's Domain, forced the Ant King back. It was no longer a battle of Awakened; it was a war of minor deities.
While the King was distracted by a flurry of Nanami's arrows, Kenji approached Akane. He crouched before her.
"Do you want to live, Akane?" he asked, holding out a vial containing a crimson liquid.
"What... is this?" she stammered, feeling life leaving her.
"Your only hope. But if you drink it, you will never be the 'Sword Saint' again. You will be my blade. My shadow. My object."
Akane looked at the Ant King who was about to unleash a mana explosion, then she looked at Kenji. She saw in him something far more terrifying than the winged monster. She saw a Master.
"Give it to me..." she whispered.
She seized the vial and drank it in one gulp.
[Alert: SSS-Rank Conditioning in progress.]
[Subject: Hanae Akane.]
[Attribute Awakening: "The Fallen Slave of Fate".]
Suddenly, Akane stood up. Her wounds closed instantly, but her aura changed. Her silver light turned to obsidian black. Her eyes, once proud, became dull, reflecting nothing but Kenji's silhouette.
"At your command... Master," she said in a monotone voice.
She rose, picked up her sword now imbued with dark mana, and lunged at the Ant King with a speed even the monster couldn't follow. In a single movement, she severed both his wings.
"It's over," Kenji whispered.
He stepped toward the mutilated Ant King. He placed his hand on the creature's skull.
"[Shadow Extraction]."
An explosion of darkness engulfed the island's summit. When the smoke cleared, the Ant King was nothing more than a giant shadow kneeling before Kenji.
All around, the surviving S-Ranks watched the scene with unspeakable horror. They realized at that moment that the threat of the Gates was nothing compared to the man standing there.
Kenji turned to Akane, who was kneeling at his side, head bowed. He stroked her cheek.
"Welcome home, Akane. You see? I told you I'd make you crawl."
He looked up at the drone cameras filming the scene for the whole world.
"World, listen well," Kenji said. "The era of heroes is over. The era of the Sovereign begins."