The world trembled beneath unseen pressure. While Luna was busy "punishing" Michael far away, the balance of Earth shattered silently. The air thickened, then cracked, as Mana — pure, alien, uncontrolled — seeped into the world's veins. Skies glowed faintly, and invisible ripples rolled across oceans, cities, and every fragile human soul.
In the crowded streets of New York, chaos began quietly. A thief sprinted through the alleyways, clutching a heavy bag of stolen money. Sirens wailed behind him, but greed pushed him faster. His heart pounded, his breath ragged, when suddenly — he stopped. A strange tingle brushed across his skin. The air itself… felt alive.
He screamed as the Mana invaded his flesh. "AHHHHHHHHH—UGH—WHAT IS THIS?!" Veins flared blue beneath his skin, muscles convulsing, bones creaking. His body twisted with impossible pain before collapsing on the asphalt. The world fell silent around him. Cars halted. The neon lights flickered. For a moment, everything stood still.
A young man nearby rushed forward. "Hey! Are you okay?!" He knelt beside the thief, eyes wide with concern. Then he noticed the bulging bag of cash. Realization dawned — he opened his mouth to shout, "Thi—" but his words never came. In an instant, his head vanished — blood splattering like crimson mist.
The thief had punched by reflex. His arm trembled as he looked at the corpse. He hadn't even swung hard. Just a small motion… and that was enough to destroy a man. "W-what… I… killed him?" His voice broke. His body shook violently. Power pulsed within him, intoxicating yet terrifyingly wrong.
He staggered backward, eyes wide with guilt and awe. But then came the memory — his wife's pale face, her lifeless body on their bed. Her murderer laughing. The police doing nothing. The court's silence. The thief's trembling stopped. His lips parted, voice trembling into madness. "No justice… then I'll make my own."
His fear turned into resolve — twisted, burning resolve. "They don't protect us… they protect themselves. Fine. I'll cleanse this city!" He roared. Mana surged through him, shaping muscles like steel cables. He leapt — a single bound landing him on a three-story rooftop. The concrete below cracked under the shockwave.
The thief laughed maniacally. "Hahahahahahah! I'm free! I'm strong! I'll kill them all!" His laughter echoed across the hollow streets as he sprinted toward the nearest police station, each step crushing the asphalt. His newfound power radiated out, uncontrolled, maddening — a taste of divine strength in a mortal shell.
Across the city, the same phenomenon unfolded. Criminals convulsed in their cells, then shattered the bars that caged them. Police officers screamed in pain as power filled them too — but before they could understand it, bullets melted, cars exploded, and chaos swallowed order whole. Civilization cracked like fragile glass.
The world began to scream.
Two minutes earlier, inside Aethernova University, Arina sat in her class, pen tapping lightly on her desk. She had stayed behind for an additional lecture — unaware of the storm brewing beyond. But then, something brushed her senses — something ancient, foul, familiar. Her body stiffened. Her eyes widened. Mana.
Her heart dropped. "No…" she whispered. "This energy — it's not from Earth." She could see it, feel it seeping into the air like blue smoke. This was the same essence their enemies wielded — the power that had destroyed galaxies before. Her mind raced. "Why now? Why here?"
The student by the window was the first to fall. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" His scream shattered the calm air. Blue light crawled under his skin as he convulsed violently, slamming his hand against the desk. "It burns! IT BURNS!" The professor ran forward instinctively, reaching out to help — and screamed next.
Blood spilled from his mouth as the Mana ripped through his body, restructuring flesh and bone without mercy. One by one, the students fell, their screams overlapping in a choir of agony. The windows exploded. Desks cracked. The fluorescent lights flickered, then died, leaving only the eerie glow of blue.
Arina gritted her teeth, shielding her body with protective energy. The Mana tried to invade, but she resisted — barely. Her mind spun in panic. "This can't be happening… this planet shouldn't even support this kind of energy!" She turned toward the window — the entire city below glowed faintly.
She could sense it now — every soul being rewritten, every boundary between human and monster dissolving. "Dammit," she hissed. "We were supposed to take this planet peacefully. Who unleashed this?" Her breath quickened. "Uncle said he'd arrive in a few hours… but at this rate…" Her chest tightened with dread.
She looked around. Every student lay fainted, their bodies twitching as Mana rearranged their structure. "They'll need time to stabilize," she muttered, clutching her head. "This is… a disaster." Her voice cracked, frustration mixing with fear. "If our enemies are already here…" Her pupils shrank. "Then Earth is doomed."
Her thoughts raced — her mother, her father, still unaware of this storm. She had to move. "I have to warn them," she whispered, heart pounding. She sprinted out of the classroom, her footsteps echoing through the trembling halls. The air buzzed with unstable Mana — screaming, alive, unpredictable.
Outside, the sky tore open. Lightning laced with blue energy split the heavens. Buildings trembled as faint ripples of gravity bent glass and metal. Humans screamed, cars floated, animals ran mad. It wasn't just power — it was transformation. Evolution, forced and uncontrolled, rewriting humanity in real time.
Arina pushed through the chaos, covering her head as debris fell around her. "I have to get home!" Her shoes splashed through cracked puddles, each breath sharp, her mind replaying the same question — "Who did this?" But deep inside, a voice whispered, you already know who.
Because far away, in the darkest stretch of the cosmos — something stirred. Chains shattered. Stars dimmed. Xekron, the Capturer of the Guardian, opened his eyes, smiling faintly as he gazed toward the glowing planets and Stars. His voice echoed through the void, silent yet deafening. "Let's get started, shall we?..Hahahaha"
Will Michael take action to stop him?
Or will he simply watch, unmoved, as the world burns this time?
The dawn was no longer golden.
It was shattered — blue, burning, and alive.
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To be continued..