the world of the Shadow Monarch, a catastrophic event was unfolding in real-time. A massive, previously unseen S-Rank Dungeon had torn open in the desolate, frozen landscape of Siberia. The dungeon had stabilized into a vast, subterranean chamber ruled by a monstrous entity known only as the Dragon Lich of Eternal Ice.
This was Jin-Woo's environment, his stage. The entire raid was being broadcast globally, with every major Hunter Association watching. Jin-Woo stood alone on the battleground, a figure of icy calm in his Monarch's Cloak of Silent Steps.
"Prepare the main assault," Jin-Woo commanded. His entire army—Beru, Igris, Tusk, and thousands of foot soldiers—stood ready, a dark, silent tide of death waiting for the signal.
The Dragon Lich, a skeletal horror the size of a mountain, had its eyes fixed on Jin-Woo. The Lich was emitting an oppressive Mana, a pure, cold spiritual power that could freeze time itself.
Jin-Woo raised his hand. "Attack."
The Shadow Army surged forward, a deafening wave of black energy crashing against the Dragon Lich's crystalline armor. The ground shook, and the sound of a thousand magical strikes echoed through the chamber. Jin-Woo focused his intent, conserving his strength, ready to deliver the final, crushing blow.
I need to end this quickly, Jin-Woo thought. The structural integrity of this Gate is already volatile.
He was precisely right. The Gate was already volatile, not because of the Lich's power, but because of a familiar, irritating, dimensional anomaly.
Thousands of miles away, in a quiet park in Tokyo, Gojo Satoru had just effortlessly erased a small, low-grade Cursed Spirit that had been bothering a cat. He felt the dull ache of boredom.
"Seriously? Is that all there is?" Gojo sighed, running a hand through his slightly unkempt white hair, still mourning the loss of his specialized styling clay. He thought back to Jin-Woo's quiet, brooding strength and the absurd claim of his "Shadow Monarch Authority."
I bet his dungeons are just dark and smelly. He probably doesn't even use proper lighting. I should go check on him. A surprise visit from the strongest would probably make his whole day.
Gojo's enormous ego, coupled with his focused, competitive intent to prove his superiority, was the perfect trigger. He focused his Six Eyes and the concept of "Absolute, Unstoppable Penetration" onto Jin-Woo's Mana signature, using the Nexus link as an express lane.
The Dragon Lich battle chamber instantly became ground zero for a catastrophic dimensional incursion.
A shimmering tear, blindingly blue and radiating unstable Cursed Energy (CE), ripped open directly above the Dragon Lich's head. Gojo Satoru dropped through it, landing with a casual, theatrical thud on the Lich's icy skull.
"Yo! Sorry I'm late! Just popping in to say hi, Jin-Woo!" Gojo yelled, adjusting his Legendary Blinding Glasses with a playful smirk.
The effect of Gojo's sudden, highly energetic arrival was immediate and devastating.
The Dragon Lich, a creature based entirely on structured, icy Mana, roared in confusion. The influx of chaotic, alien Cursed Energy immediately destabilized its core, causing large chunks of its icy armor to spontaneously melt and reform into bizarre, non-Euclidean shapes.
Jin-Woo's Shadow Army suffered the worst. The black, Mana-based shadows began to flicker violently, their stable forms clashing with the chaotic CE. Beru, leading the charge, suddenly stopped and began furiously polishing his own carapace with a paw, muttering about the importance of aesthetic perfection—a clear residual symptom of Gojo's ego contamination.
"Satoru Gojo! Get out of my Gate!" Jin-Woo commanded, his voice laced with genuine fury.
Gojo just shrugged, standing on the Lich's head. "Relax, Jin-Woo. I just wanted to see what a real S-Rank looked like. Turns out, it's just a giant, bony lizard. Pretty boring."
He turned his attention back to the Dragon Lich, which was now desperately trying to maintain its spiritual form. "Tell you what, I'll give him a quick touch-up."
Gojo raised his hand, gathering a vast quantity of CE. He wasn't aiming to kill; he was aiming to show off. "Cursed Technique Dispersal: Blue—Conceptual Cleanse."
The Blue attraction force, meant to compress the Lich's Mana core, collided directly with the Lich's innate dimensional stability field, which was powered by Jin-Woo's Mana authority.
The clash of Limitless (the infinity of Cursed Energy) and Shadow Authority (the absolute rule over Mana) created a localized conceptual break.
For three agonizing seconds, the underground ice chamber vanished. The audience watching the raid broadcast saw the feed replaced by a fragmented, terrifying image: the clean, neon-lit skyline of modern Shinjuku, superimposed with giant, skeletal dragon bones, all warping under a silent, destructive pressure.
The high-level Hunters observing the feed recoiled in terror.
"What was that?! Dimensional warp?!" screamed one Hunter.
"No, that was a conceptual overlap! Two primary powers of two different realities just fought over the definition of 'space'!" yelled a researcher.
Jin-Woo knew the fight was lost if Gojo stayed for even ten more seconds. The sheer instability would cause the Gate to collapse, killing everyone in the city above. His Shadows were too busy having an existential crisis, and the Dragon Lich was a ticking time bomb of unstable, mixed energy.
This could not be solved with power. It required conceptual rejection.
Jin-Woo turned his full, Monarch-level focus away from the Dragon Lich, directing it entirely toward Gojo. He didn't focus on raw strength or Mana; he focused on the core concept of the Nexus Anchor: Osamu Dazai.
Jin-Woo centered his intent on the one thing Gojo hated more than anything: being irrelevant. He focused on the idea of 'Aesthetics of Non-Interference.'
You are not allowed here. You are not cool here. Your presence is an ugly interference. Your power is conceptually rejected by this reality.
Jin-Woo poured every ounce of mental and spiritual will into this single, low-concept command. "Go home. You are not allowed to look this good in my dungeon."
Gojo, who was mid-pose and preparing another massive attack, suddenly felt a horrifying, absolute drain. It wasn't his Cursed Energy that was draining; it was his concept of being the strongest. He felt a cold, existential dread wash over him—the profound sadness that his power was suddenly and arbitrarily unnecessary in this space.
"Woah, hey! That's harsh, Jin-Woo! My coolness factor just dropped to a four!" Gojo protested.
A pure, clean white portal, smelling faintly of old books and self-loathing (the residual scent of Dazai's focused power), snapped open directly behind Gojo. It was the absolute, focused rejection of his presence.
Gojo Satoru, the strongest Sorcerer alive, was shoved backward into the portal, not by a physical force, but by the conceptual weight of being unwanted.
The portal shut instantly.
The Dragon Lich, now entirely free of Cursed Energy contamination, stumbled, its form stabilized and weak from the earlier Shadow attack. The dungeon lights returned to normal.
Jin-Woo looked at the confused Shadow Army, which was slowly regaining its focus.
"Beru. Igris. Finish the raid. No more dramatic poses."
The shadows immediately resumed their terrifying, focused assault.
The Dragon Lich, sensing the return of its nightmare opponent, let out a final, pained roar before Jin-Woo finished it with a single, massive strike of the Monarch's Hand.
Back in the control room, the researchers were speechless.
"The dimensional shift... it stopped instantly!"
"It was the Shadow Monarch! He... he simply expelled the anomaly!"
No one understood that Jin-Woo had just weaponized existential despair to save the multiverse from a rogue Sorcerer.
Jin-Woo left the Gate, exhausted but victorious. He immediately focused his thoughts toward the Nexus Anchor. Dazai. I need a word. Your concept is officially terrifying.
Back in Tokyo, Gojo Satoru landed in the middle of a pedestrian crosswalk. His composure was shattered.
"He used the sad guy's power! He kicked me out because my presence was aesthetically displeasing! That is the most offensive use of dimensional authority I have ever experienced!" Gojo fumed, fixing his hair.
The Nexus Seven are certainly making inter-dimensional travel a regular, terrifying event.