“Hangzhou, cleared.”
Huoyu stood atop a massive flaming tiger, its body wreathed in fire. A vast horde of fire-type summoned beasts clustered beneath him, and the ground was littered with the corpses of mutated beasts.
“Ningcheng, cleared.”
Ningguang toyed with a strange-looking fruit in his hand, his tone calm and unhurried.
“Beijiang, cleared.”
Wang Ming adjusted his glasses and resumed his research. Behind him lay countless mutated beast carcasses—and if you looked closely, you could just make out faint silvery markings on them.
“…”
The battle was over.
The true elite prodigies of China—those who had already stood out during the nationwide awakening—had undergone their second spiritual tide and completed their transformation. With overwhelming force, they crushed the rampaging mutated creatures like a tidal wave sweeping away sandcastles.
And the power they displayed sent chills down countless spines.
Though they were all espers, the gap in destructive capability between them and these geniuses was like night and day.
Of course, China had far too many cities and far too few talents who could truly turn the tide of battle. For the other cities, the strategy was more about evacuating civilians first, then using advanced tech-based weaponry to clean things up.
In many cities, you could see heavily armed soldiers and rows upon rows of armored tanks.
Right now, this was still humanity’s era. The cities still belonged to humans.
No matter how massive or terrifying the beast hordes were, they posed no real threat to humanity.
It would just take time—and they would be eradicated.
Meanwhile, deep in the mountains, far from any city, a massive crimson tiger stood on a cliff, gazing toward the human metropolis below.
There was something complex in those majestic eyes.
He had once been human, you see. A car accident had sent him hurtling into the body of a wild tiger.
He’d thought he’d live out his life as a tiger—but then the spiritual energy revival happened. Luck was on his side, too, because during the awakening, he’d unlocked a powerful ability: Divine Flame.
That was a legendary power—the flame of the phoenix. It burned with searing heat and could preserve the host’s consciousness through phoenix rebirth.
But unlike what he’d imagined—preserving his mind, healing injuries, rebuilding his body—this phoenix rebirth simply kept his consciousness intact and passively reincarnated him into another body of the same species. It was more like possession and rebirth.
Sure, it wasn’t exactly what he’d expected, but hey—at least he wouldn’t die.
As for what happened to the tiger he’d possessed? That wasn’t his problem.
But because the Divine Flame’s power was too immense for his body at the time, it had to be sealed, slowly enhancing his physical abilities over time, releasing its strength bit by bit. As a result, a flame-lotus rune had appeared on his forehead.
He’d been living peacefully in the nature reserve when, out of nowhere, he ran into a man and a woman. At first, he wanted to leave—but for some reason, the moment he laid eyes on that man, he became intensely agitated and bloodthirsty, overwhelmed by the urge to devour him.
Then his consciousness went hazy. When he opened his eyes again, he was in a different body—and, as luck would have it, right in the middle of the second spiritual tide.
No doubt about it—his previous body had died.
He just wasn’t sure how.
Well, he wasn’t the only lucky one. If he could obtain the Divine Flame, others could gain powers just as strong—or even greater.
For now, he’d have to lie low.
Having once been human, he knew exactly how terrifying human technology could be. His abilities weren’t weak, but compared to humanity as a whole? He was still far behind.
As for returning to the city—that thought never crossed his mind.
Humans are humans, beasts are beasts. The two paths would never intersect.
What would he even do back in the city? Even if someone could communicate with him and believe his human identity, what then?
He’d just be locked up. Or watched. If he made any aggressive move, he’d be warned or put down.
He shook his head. His future wasn’t in the cities—it was in these great mountains.
The mountains. That was where he belonged.
And he wasn’t alone. All across China, countless figures stared coldly at human cities from the wilds. If there was one thing they all had in common, it was their immense, terrifying presence—and the unmistakable intelligence gleaming in their eyes. Their minds had awakened, and they had their sights set on human territory.
They would eventually strike at humanity—but not yet.
It wasn’t just China, either. Countries around the world were dealing with their own beast surges. They might not have as many game-changing espers as China, but they had some—plus overwhelming firepower. Though many civilians had been lost, they managed to suppress the hordes.
But this was only the beginning. The beasts would strike back, harder and fiercer, in the future.
By then, suppressing them wouldn’t be so easy.
The era of spiritual energy revival had fully arrived.
Whether you liked it, accepted it, or not—you had no choice but to face the irreversible change. The ordinary, safe days of the past were never coming back.
They had to embrace the new age.
—
Just Ordinary Group Admin: “I’ve been so bored lately. @Golden Flash, is Naruto out yet?”
Golden Flash: “…”
Golden Flash: “A few more months.”
Just Ordinary Group Admin: “Ahhh~”
Just Ordinary Group Admin: “But hey, we agreed—we’re visiting your world when the time comes.”
Just Ordinary Group Admin: “And don’t you worry about that Nine-Tails battle. Leave it to us.”
Lighthouse Tycoon: “Us? Does that include you?”
From what he remembered, the group admin had only eaten that Devil Fruit a few months ago.
A few months—no matter how powerful the Mythical Zoan Angel Fruit was, how strong could he really get?
Against the Nine-Tails or Obito Uchiha? He’d be useless, right?
Just Ordinary Group Admin: “It’s all pretty much the same.”
Just Ordinary Group Admin: “I can’t really join the fight, but I can at least use Sacred Light to heal Kushina Uzumaki.”
Be My Son: “Kulalala~ Then I’ll take care of the Nine-Tails.”
The Worst Evil Spirit: “I’ll handle Obito Uchiha.”
With the power of Zafkiel, it wouldn’t be easy for Obito to use Kamui in front of her. Even if he managed to phase, rewinding his time wouldn’t be too hard either.
Hmm… actually, maybe that wouldn’t work.
Kamui shifts his real body to another dimension—so even if she struck his apparent body with the power of Zafkiel, it wouldn’t do anything.
That’s a bit troublesome, isn’t it?
Still, Kurumi Tokisaki’s face held no hint of frustration. That gentle smile of hers never wavered.
