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Out of nowhere, two people suddenly appeared in the middle of a white room and a red room. One was a tall man with butler-like clothing and a blank white mask, and the second person he carried was a certain kitsune he had to save.

Yes... that is Scyllary.

Before she and the Hydra were being completely vaporized by the extremely compressed nuclear explosion that will definitely obliterate 2nd-tier transcendents, her guard was able to take her soul out of the Beast and teleported out, leaving the hydra as it gets completely disintegrated instead.

As for Scyllary, her soul is saved by her guard, who surprisingly also made a new body for her.

"Haa... haaa..."

Scyllary nearly vomited as she felt herself get pulled away from the horror and then being shoved into a new body, which is a very strange experience.

'T-this place is...!'

The moment she looked at her surroundings, she recognized it well as her dining area.

Why would her guard teleport her to a dining area instead of the Safehouse?

'No... not even that. I didn't even know he could use Spatial and Soul Manipulation Magic.' Scyllary's thoughts flowed.

"Haaa..." She tried to speak, but only heavy breaths came out.

She felt very nauseous, and her new body was still trembling from the leftover fear that the man in black had "inflicted" on her.

Right now, it didn't matter that her guard could use Spatial or Soul Magic without her knowledge.

Only one thing was of concern to her.

"C-can you beat him? That monster in the form of a man... can you win against him?"

"Hmmm..."

The guard placed his hand on his chin, located directly behind his white mask. He seemed to be thinking very deeply about it, which gave Scyllary some glimmer of hope that it wasn't too absurd.

'I-if he can win... or even if they're even, then it's possible that I can escape while he tries to hold him back!'

"It's a possibility."

"Huh?"

"Me winning against him... it's a possibility."

Scyllary's anxious face transformed entirely the moment she heard this bit of good news.

"Then stop him! Fight him off while I escape!"

Once again, the guard rubbed his chin for a few seconds.

'What's there to think about? I'm your Master!' Scyllary wanted to scream, but she patiently waited.

"No."

Her eyes widened as soon as she heard that response.

"What did you just-?!"

"[Command Code: Kneel]." Words flowed from his lips, and the next moment, Scyllary felt her body descend.

'E-eh...?!'

Her eyes began to widen as she found her body unable to move in the slightest. She merely powerlessly knelt before the man who was supposed to be her guard! Her slave!

"W-what is the meaning of this? What's going on? Guard, tell me! You just saved my life and soul, why are you doing this!?"

Her question fell on deaf ears. Not only did the guard not answer her question, but he didn't seem to be paying any mind to her.

The confusion written on Scyllary's face only got even more palpable by the second.

He saved her, yes, but now he then started to harm her for some reason.

Her heart raced and a certain fear began to surface.

A fear that perhaps... she was not in control of the situation.

'No! No! No!'

"Guard, I command you by the Slave Crest to explain yourself."

No response.

"Release me!"

Nothing.

"Protect me!"

No word was given back.

Scyllary wheezed as she looked at the man in the mask with shock and downright confusion.

None of this made any sense.

"W-why... isn't this working...?"

"You're quite the idiot." His voice suddenly echoed in the air, and for the first time since they arrived in the room, he looked straight into her eyes.

His glowing blue gaze caused her body to tremble in a feeling she could only associate with fear.

No... despair!

"You still haven't figured it out?"

Scyllary didn't know what he was talking about. Figured out? Who could possibly understand this paradoxical event?

He was her slave, yet not only was he not responding to her Slave Crest, but he was displaying abilities that she never knew existed.

The man before her was already beyond mortal when he was loyal to her, but with these new sets of Skills that he was displaying, she didn't know where to place him.

Scyllary didn't understand him.

"W-who... are you...?"

Wasn't he her slave? Wasn't his name...?

'H-huh? His name? What is his name? What is... huh?'

As Scyllary stared at the white mask with nothing short of stupefaction, the man behind it spoke.

"Who am I? Well... you're about to find out."

'I'm about to... find what out?'

As Scyllary had this thought, she saw a finger of the masked figure draw close to her.

'N-no! Stay back!' Her thoughts echoed as it neared.

Unfortunately, she could do nothing to stop its advance. Before long, it completely closed the distance and reached her forehead.

~Tut~

Nothing but a gentle tap reverberated through her head as the finger made impact.

However, the moment Scyllary relaxed her body...

~ZZZTTZZZZ!~

...The true inflow arrived.

"ARRRGHHHHHHH!!!" Her screams filled the massive room, followed by convulsions all over her body.

Her head particularly swayed as her hair whipped all over. Like a madman, she constantly bobbed her head and her face showed hints of insanity.

Tears descended down her eyes, causing her mascara to melt. The cause was a dream of black lines streaming down her cheeks.

Perspiration covered her face as well, which caused most of her makeup to be ruined.

She just had the worst experience with that man in black not too long ago, and now she is experiencing another level of pain by her own guard, the same one who saved her from death.

Why??

After a while, countless months, if not years, encapsulated in a single moment, Scyllary finally stopped her throes of insanity.

It was only when she stopped screaming that the finger left her forehead, and the strange buzz it had exited her brain.

"Do you remember now?"

The strange voice of the man in the mask wafted through Scyllary's fox-like ears as she looked up at him with a perplexed and apprehensive expression.

"I-I don't know who you are. You're not... you're not my guard. Who are you? Where's my guard?" Her voice began to climb as she gazed upon him.

"Oh? So now you remember!"

"Who are you? Where is my guard! Who are you? Where is my guard? Who are you? Where is my guard?!"

She kept screaming, almost like a broken doll.

"[Command: Silence]."

That very instant, Scyllary stopped talking, almost as if she was never shouting to begin with.

"Perfect."

Her pained expression made it obvious that she had a lot more to say, but that didn't seem to concern the man in the mask at all.

"Don't worry about all of it. None of that matters now..."

Scyllary didn't understand what he meant by that, but it didn't seem like he had any intentions to explain any further.

"You know... I've only known you for a relatively short while, though those false memories told you otherwise, but you've always disgusted me along with this Civilization Zone."

Scyllary's shock didn't vanish. It only intensified upon hearing that.

"Your twisted habits and questionable tastes... I don't understand how people who are so weak and pathetic end up being so cruel." He drew closer to her, the blankness of his mask adding a sense of dread to the lady's mind.

"Ruthless, yet weak. It's incompatible, I'd say."

The man in the white mask took another step closer, and this time Scyllary nearly jumped out of her skin.

She was frightened beyond words.

Her muffled voice pleaded for mercy, and the tears in her eyes flowed even more.

'Anything... I'll do anything!' Her face screamed as she watched him advance even closer.

Of course, the man in the mask ignored this altogether.

In fact, he seemed to be chuckling.

Suddenly, the chuckles stopped, and the guard seemed to look behind Scyllary for some reason.

He was staring at something, she could tell.

"It's finally the time I've been waiting for. Looks like there's no need to delay any longer."

Scyllary didn't know what he meant by that. She did her utmost to move her body, much to her surprise... it moved!

"But if you want to know, I'm just some lowly servant who likes to play around in this primitive Civilization."

"Lowly... servant? W-Who is this master you speak of?"

If it wasn't for the white mask the guard wore, Scyllary would've noticed the smirk on his face.

"For the Emperor... of the Dragon Empire."

Then, to Scyllary's shock and horror, a pair of massive dragon-like wings burst out of his back and three horns began growing from his head.

"You... are a dragon?"

The guard chuckled. "Always has been. You've been a good playdoll, primitive fox. Farewell."

With those last words echoing in her mind, Scyllary felt her head being separated from her body.

Everything went blank nearly instantly.

The last ounces of her tears floated in the air with her blood as the violet colors of her eyes dulled.

Just like that... she, who had planned everything from the start, ended up suffering such a humiliating and thorough defeat.

Where did she go wrong?

She knew it already! The nexus point that kickstarted her entire undertaking.

'H-he did this...! This... dragon!'

Scyllary had always been somewhat dissatisfied with her position in the Slave Union. As an ambitious woman, she constantly desired more.

However, she never acted on this desire.

Not only was she too weak, but her resources wouldn't allow her to swallow the others in the same trade as her.

Besides, if she ended up failing, or if the other factions ganged up on her, she would be completely done for.

As a result of these factors, Scyllary never made any real moves.

But... all of that changed when she got power.

She suddenly obtained more resources and an invincible guard for unknown reason. She was confident in her ability to win, and she acted on it.

As a result, she was able to pull everyone she wanted as an ally to her side and get rid of her enemies.

None of this... none of it was her fault.

'I never wanted all of this!'

It was too late, though. Her cries could be heard by no one at this point.

Scyllary only screamed at the abyss as it called for her.

And she had no choice but to answer.

------------------------

BAM!!

The two large doors burst open as a large group of soldiers from the Liberation Army and the Black Armored Legion enter Scyllary's residence.

General Trese pushed aside an elven guard's corpse with her foot. The elf's body crashed to the ground and limped there. She advanced through the residence, one of many that the Human army had marked for destruction.

Several enemy guards ahead were dead as they were hit by gunfire. The enemy soldiers fought desperately, trying in vain to defend the base, but all to no avail.

Trese raised her sword and sliced an enemy in two, as theur had not been enough to stop her charge.

She was like lightning, her blade slicing through the flesh of all who tried to cut her down. Magical attacks rained down on her, but they could not penetrate the adamantite armor. She impaled and stabbed, and she didn't stop.

The Austronesian soldiers advanced without pause, the two different Military Factions were like howling wraiths that left nothing but devastation in their wake. Trese was ecstatic to see such merciless power being unleashed on the field. The way they wreaked havoc on the enemy soldiers who had occupied a estate to defend themselves, the way her army advanced and slaughtered everything inside only to move on to the next. The destructive power of their carbines made a mockery of any weapon the enemy had.

"General, there are lights in another room over here." One soldier said.

"I'll lead ahead and be armor support, just in case an enemy is waiting for us over there." Trese responded.

Trese had already braced himself for the worst when she and a squad of her regiment approached the light. She expected to even be plunged straight into battle once they appeared in front of the enemy.

She had planned for traps and all sorts of preparations that their adversary would have set up in order to deal with them.

However...

"What the..."

...Even Trese never expected what she saw in the white and red room.

A woman who looked like some fox was standing about fifty meters from her, kneeling before the man in the white mask and surprisingly... he had wings and horns similar to those filthy demons they fought.

The moment she and her men arrived, the kitsune turned to look at them, and they saw her wretched face, one filled with tears and melted makeup.

Black lines fell from her eyes, and a particularly horrified expression consumed her face. For some reason, it was both perplexing and satisfying to see.

But, before anyone could fully savor or understand what they were witnessing, the next surprising thing happened.

~SWISH!~

Her head was sliced off her neck in one swift motion from the white masked demon.

'...?!'

There was a certain emotional detachment from the man who committed the act. His action was fluid, precise to the letter.

As he used his hand as a blade, swinging it with sharp momentum, and the head flew from the body, Trese maintained her silence and watched, while her men raised their guns and aimed for the man

Scyllary's head ascended high, her blond hair dancing in midair as bubbles of blood followed her.

Then, her lifeless body crumbled to the pure white tiles, with a red pool already forming underneath it.

Not long after, the decapitated head followed.

As the humans stood there, watching all of this with widened eyes, they only had one thought.

'What the hell?'

The guard's brilliant smile broadened and a twinkle flashed in his blue eyes as he saw them.

It seemed he was already expecting their arrival.

"You all did well. I never would have expected for mere inferior humans to be able to put up a fight against these weak primitive things. Congrats."

"Shut the hell up, vile demon scum. We had fought demons with nothing but steel and gunpowder," Trese hissed in disgust as she raised her gun as many possible alternatives to the situation at hand appeared in her head while she gazed into the man's azure eyes.

"If you consider me vile like demons and act righteous against this world, then I wonder how you'll react once you see it."

"See what?" Trese asked in a bit of frustration.

"The power of the 1st Civilization Zone," he chuckled. "I don't know how you humans were able to reach this strength, but there is zero possibility of being able to fight at our level."

For some reason, Trese flinched a little more.

"Hahaha! I suppose this is farewell, humans. But be lucky this isn't actually a serious mission ordered by the Dragon Emperor, but more of a fun thing in my freetime. We'll see how-"

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Before the white masked guard could react, Trese and the rest of her soldiers opened fire and instantly turned his entire body into dust by the maelstrom of bullets.

"Fuck, is he just using some fake body?" Trese whispered under his breath with anger radiating from her slightly frustrated eyes.

A figure approached beside her, it was the commander of the 44th Armored Battalion. "My men neutralised all the survivors who managed to escape. But I've seen reinforcements coming from the east."

"No matter." Trese replied. "They'll be gone by the time they arrive."

They approached one of the taken bunkers, blood splattered on its walls, the product of a massacre inside. A black armored soldier came out to meet them, "General, you need to see this." He said.

He led her into one of the deeper rooms, it was a cold, dimly lit place. A musty smell permeated the air that had been here for probably years. There was a metal door, heavily secured, but the guards lay dead on the floor.

"What have you found?" asked Trese.

"It looks like some kind of secret tunnel. We need more troops in case the enemy were gathered there while also distance ourselves in case magic traps were placed there."

Trese studied the seals, it was a door that could certainly be something of a nuisance, to them at least.

With a grunt, Trese approached the door. He lifted his hand and dug her fingers into the concrete, she found barely any resistance, the concrete feeling like sand between her armored fingers. She felt the edge of the steel, wrapped her fingers around it and pulled.

The metal shuddered, the superhuman strength of her armour began to pull at itself, for a moment there seemed to be no effect, but Trese did not relent, instead she seemed to apply more force with the only arm she could use as she could not release the Black Sword in her right hand.

Then a screeching sound was heard, and the bolts burst, the latches deformed, and the steel door came loose from its anchors. Trese threw what was left of the door aside and was the first to enter.

For minutes, she and a squad of soldiers made their way to the very bloodied hall where they slaughtered their enemies.

Trese didn't care to look at the dismembered corpses and walked inside the gaping entrance that was yet to close.

They finally reached the bottom of the stairs, and all they saw in front of them was a massive red door.

Atop the door, a message was shown:

[WARNING: Powerful Aphrodisiac Usage ahead. Please wear a face mask]

'Aphrodisiac? What... no.'

Trese knew well about that term, which is a word for a chemical stimulant for one's sex drive.

"Boys, better wear your gas mask or I'll smash all of your skulls to pieces if you get horny at me. We might enter that woman's secret sex chamber."

As the soldiers followed her orders and wore gas masks, Trese flung the red door open, and she was greeted with a squeaky clean white hall, much larger than any room she had seen.

It was so big and tall.

But...

"H-huh...?!"

...It was very occupy

Trese had witnessed a lot of horrors, one of which just recently concluded above her very facility, but this one trumped everything.

It was the ultimate punishment for one not deserving at all.

The true definition of despair.

*

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WARNING: DISTURBING DETAILS INCOMING!!!

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"W-what... What in the world is this?!"

Trese would've expected a mass orgy or a massacre, even if she didn't expect to see a scene of bloodshed, it wasn't at all new to her. However, this would be the first time in all of her existence that she would witness this...

...This scene of absolute depravity.

She saw humans and manaless demihumans being treated like cattle.

Young ones who looked like they were barely adults, were having intercourse despite the blood and gore that was bound to overwhelm the senses.

They were naked, like beasts, and they carried out their duties with utmost precision.

The male swung their hips, thrusting their tools into the holes of the women whose bodies dangled with each move as they received their dues.

It was a twisted scene.

Their faces told Trese that none of them were enjoying this. It seemed more like they were in a trance rather than reality.

They had dilated pupils, with drool oozing from their mouths and snot dripping from their noses, all signs of doping.

One look of their faces and Trese could easily tell that they were on some kind of drugs, though she didn't even need to go that far to arrive at that conclusion.

What she was looking at weren't humans anymore.

They were nothing more than broken dolls whose activities had already been predetermined for them. Overcome by lust, and without barely any cognitive function left, the only thing they could do...

...Was to breed.

"W-WHAT IN THE FUCK IS THIS?!?!?!?!!"

Even though they had gone through countless horrors and battle against demons, Trese and everyone behind her took in this abominable scene and could barely even speak, talkless of move.

Gore mixed with an unsavory orgy left a bad taste in their mouth, almost driving them all to vomit all over the place.

However, Trese stopped herself since that would only make things worse.

'Why? Why would that bitch do this?' She wondered.

Trese could think of a few plausible reasons. For example, Scyllary could have intended on making the Slave Trade business self-sufficient, so she wanted them to bear children for her.

'No... that makes no sense!'

It would take too much time and resources to fully cater for the children until they reached a viable age for proper trade.

Besides, Scyllary could always just get viable slaves by utilizing the aid of the Mercenary Gang, which was already under her control.

They could pillage towns and obtain the kind of slaves she wanted.

'If her plan this night succeeded, no one would be able to stop her. There's no way she would have done any of this for a self-sustaining enterprise.'

Trese continued to rack his head for an answer.

'Could it be for entertaining purposes? Are there sick bastards in this world who like to see things like this?'

This was another possibility.

It was a stretch to accuse Scyllary or any other person of it, but considering the diminished commercial values of the breeding slaves in their current state, and the fact that it would be a loss to Scyllary's enterprise to merely raise children for years until they were ripe for selling... Trese began to think this was the reason behind such a horrific sight.

'I just... can't comprehend it.'

There were at least 3000 innocent lives here.

Why would someone put them all in this place just for them to have constant sex until they ceased to function?

It was absolutely sick!

She is often cruel and sadistic, sure, but never on this level!!

'Treating humans like animals...' Trese sighed as she took a few steps forward.

The closer she got, the more the incoherent words of the mind-broken masses began to make more sense.

Trese could hear words being uttered.

"K-kill me..."

"I... I don't want to... anymore..."

"Kill me... please kill... m-me..."

Words like this wafted in the air, forcing Trese's legs to grow heavy the more footsteps she took.

'I can see rune markings embedded on all of them. Even if they somehow recover from the Aphrodisiac, they won't be able to stop their actions if they have been commanded to by the runes.' Trese thought with absolute disgust. 'They could also be inflicted with the Curse that we heard about, so if we manage to make them stop... they could die.'

There was no way of really knowing how prepared the enemy was.

'Rather than letting them die in such a wasteful fashion, it would be better if we end their suffering right away.'

"They must be purged... Burn it! Burn it all!" She ordered a group of soldiers armed with flamers. "Reduce it all to ashes! Let us end their suffering! If this is what these barbarians do, then they alone are worth the purge."

"Wait," The commander of the 44th Armored Battalion said, and Trese turned with indignation, she was ready to cut him in two, but the General's will would not yield. "Gather all the information here. This is something we must report to the High Command."

Trese heard the crackle of the man clenching his rifle even tighter, but she did not flinch. "Then they will burn everything. But we must first find out how many of these... facilities these people have."

Minutes passed by, and as half of the squad were gathering any useful information here, Trese stared at the commander of the 44th and nodded.

With the slight of one hand, she ordered the squad to put them all out of their misery.

And all 3000 lives were instantly consumed by the raging flames in a lifeless fashion.

In that single moment, a grand execution was performed.

While watching such a scene, Trese's eyes catch another large door on the other side of the sea of flames.

"There's something else..." she told everyone.

Trese could sense Monsters, but she could also sense people there as well.

'Let's see what this is all about.'

Of course, they kept their guard up, though none of them felt any sort of threatening presence from them.

As they passed through the doors and proceeded through the white hallway that lined their sight.

Once they reached the end of the hallway, they all noticed that the path was divided into two points.

So the squads were divided into two teams and went into their respective paths.

From their comms, one reported that in one direction, they were guaranteed to find Magic Beasts and other people who seemed to be capable to an extent.

And the others reported that the other side only had a handful of people, and they didn't seem to be threats of any kind.

As the 44th commander and his team walked down the right path until they got to the furthest end, they saw a large door, where they saw a warning sign above.

[BEWARE: Dangerous Monsters Beyond This Point]

'Are they keeping Monsters here? Rearing them? Breeding them?'

The 44th commander had another dark thought, but he banished it from his mind and ventured inside.

"W-who are you?!"

"I-intrude-!"

Before the several enemies inside the squeaky clean room could say anything, the soldiers instantly fired their guns and gunned them down.

They were all very weak, so it didn't take a moment.

"Huuu..." The commander set his sights on the activities within the room, beyond the pool of blood and gore that spilled on the ground.

The good news was that his worst fears about the nature of the room didn't come to pass.

Magic Beasts weren't being bred with humans.

However, what was occurring here could be perceived as equally appalling to some.

"They're feeding humans to the Monsters..."

Monsters were inside their cages, all of them docile thanks to the runic crests that existed on all of their bodies.

They weren't particularly strong Monsters, around Level 2 to 3 at most.

Nothing was particularly special about these creatures, except perhaps what they were feeding on.

The commander saw it clearly, the body parts of human beings.

The corpses were already pale and dull-looking, most likely the cause of being dead for a considerable length of time.

'I see. So they feed the dead ones to the Monsters...' he found his thoughts trailing.

At this point, he had reached an emotional lull as he found it difficult to be shocked or furious at the scene playing out in front of him.

Perhaps he was desensitized.

Maybe he was simply tired.

Either way, the commander looked at everything with dead eyes.

'So, they make the slaves have sex with themselves to breed, and those who have reached expiration are sent to the Monsters as feed.'

It made sense why this woman Scyllary would want more offspring now.

At the very least, they could serve as meat for the Monsters, especially since they wouldn't have much value otherwise.

'They look healthy, which means they're being fed well.'

The commander observed the way the creatures ate their meal, not even disturbed by their presence or the fact that they had just killed their caretakers.

'How many humans have they eaten already? I don't know. I can't even estimate.'

The commander counted the creatures in an attempt to get the numbers.

'They're only about a hundred Monsters. I don't know how long they've been here, but if I assume it's recent, that means they'll have at least fed them hundreds of people, if not a thousand.'

It was no wonder the other Warehouses were empty or abandoned.

'Scyllary fed the slaves of the other Slave Traders to her Monsters. Was she trying to rear them for war, or maybe for commercial reasons?'

The crests on the Monsters made it so that they would obey their Master's instruction. It was very possible that Scyllary was trying to make Monster Slaves.

If she indeed was trying to break into a new market, using Monsters as the commodity, Riley could understand a lot of her actions.

In fact, he found it impressive.

'How much profit would she be able to gain from it? If she took control of many Dungeons, just how high would the profit margin be?'

A lot of these questions swirled in his mind as the crunching sounds of Monsters devouring human flesh echoed in the air.

In the end, he found himself more curious than he imagined, enough to report the other teams not to kill anyone they encountered in the other room.

'I need to know more...' he thought to himself.

Since he was pretty much done with his investigation here, the commander turned his back on the Monsters and ordered his team to open fire, instantly turning them into slabs of meat.

'The Monster Cores might be useful for us once we investigate these parts...'

Meanwhile in Trese's team, she and her team were greeted by a pure white room, though considerably smaller than that terrible room.

More surprising than the squeaky-clean nature of the room was what kind of place it was.

The place was a stark example of a classy kitchen.

"I never expected to see something like this here..." Trese mused as she looked at half a dozen individuals who were currently paralyzed.

"Good job."

As Trese uttered these words, she took a close look at the suspended men and noticed how they were dressed like chefs.

Pure white apparels, with the chef hats and everything. The pristine kitchen, the grand decor, the clean white ambiance...

...This seemed like the dream kitchen anyone would want to eat their meals from.

However...

"What is that meat?" Trese pointed at the slab of flesh that was placed on a large tray on top of a counter.

She didn't need an answer to the question, she could already guess.

A portion of human flesh.

"You're preparing human meat... here?"

Disgust swelled within her stomach the moment a second question surfaced

"For who...?"

This didn't look like a place where food for Monsters was being prepared. It appeared to be an exquisite place made for the most distinguished of people.

Trese could see spices and a bunch of other ingredients in the large kitchen that told her that these chefs were preparing a delicacy.

She could smell something cooking, like fresh stew.

It felt absolutely amazing.

It almost made her salivate just from a single whiff.

However, there was no way anything made from this place could be appetizing to her.

Beyond this kitchen, Trese could sense a door that led to another room.

She feared what she would see there, but her curiosity got the best of her so she ordered the nearest soldier to instantly burst the door open and entered.

What the soldier found... was horrible.

Human meat, hung as if they belonged to some kind of cattle in an abattoir.

The room was freezing cold, though the soldier felt none of it.

All he felt was sheer disgust.

He wanted to vomit.

His vision blurred as the information he received began to overwhelm him. He even staggered a little and struggled to find his footing.

His head turned back and forth as he looked at the shelves in the cold room, only to find packets of already sliced meat, all human of course, with certain names inscribed on them.

Trese walked past him and analyzed the names.

'Names of... people? I know some of those names!'

They belonged to some rather famous merchants or rich elites in the Third Civilization Zone.

Of course, some of those names were obscure. They didn't know everyone, but she could picture the faces of a few.

Some were known by many to be corrupt, while others were viewed as pious and incredibly good-natured.

'Why... why are their names here?'

The packages had human meat, but it couldn't belong to those people.

Trese knew that some of them were very much alive, and it would make no sense for them to be turned into meat, especially since their value being alive far outweighed them being dead.

Then, a dark thought coursed through her mind.

The same question she had before reappeared inside her mind.

'All this meat... who is it for?'

Trese felt like she already had the answers to her question, but she wasn't satisfied.

She couldn't be!

So she went back to the chefs and ordered her men to kick one of them in the stomach, causing him to cry out in pain but was silent when another shoved his gun into his mouth. The other chefs tried to resist, but were easily subdued and kneeled to the ground by the other Black Armored soldiers as they aimed their guns behind their heads.

"The meat in that cold room, who are they for!?"

"O-Our customers!" The man muttered in response.

"Who are your customers!"

"M-Madam Scyllary's friends... in her inner circle!"

Trese knew this was enough for her, but she had to be sure.

She had to hear it straight.

"What... what do they do with the meat?"

The answer was one Trese should have already known, yet once she heard it, her eyes widened considerably.

Puke swelled from the depths of her throat, and not fluids rose from her bloodshot eyes.

The abominable horror that was uttered was forever burned into Trese's mind.

"They eat the meat."

"...Explain."

As they began to explain more, Trese learned a lot of disturbing things.

One, Scyllary was a cannibal.

Personally, she enjoyed her meat slightly undercooked, so she could get the moisture just right, and her spices were also milder than usual.

She also didn't like her food preserves prior to being served, which meant every time she was hungry... someone had to die.

There was no preserving her meal afterwards.

Scyllary had friends who shared in her twisted hobbies and enjoyed the same delicacy as her, so she turned her disgusting practice into a business.

She would procure, process, and even sometimes cook the meals that her comrades would enjoy, and they would give her money or small favors in exchange.

Of course, these people readily agreed.

They were too high-profile to risk their names being marred by murder or some kind of illegal activity. Also, since most of them weren't particularly deep into the criminal Underworld, they didn't know how to properly go about killing and processing humans.

In the end, it was far better for Scyllary to do the dirty work.

There was something else too...

Out of all the clients Scyllary had, none had managed to outmatch her own cruelty.

She was the worst of them all.

Since she preferred her meat to be very tender, her favorite meal was the meat of young ones, the younger the better.

Imagination could go wild on that, but it was exactly how it sounded.

Her twisted nature knew no limits.

'What... the fuck?!'

The more Trese got to know about this Scyllary, the more the disgust in her stomach bit at her.

Trese thought having a private island for pedophiles is the worst, but this was on a different level.

Her bloodshot eyes couldn't stop twitching as she tried her hardest to process the information she was receiving.

'Even... babies...?!'

When Trese first heard about Scyllary in the reports, her first thought was that she was just a beautiful yet greedy woman, no different than those greedy old oligarchs in her country.

'I'm cruel and sadistic I have to admit, but this is on a whole different level!'

She never thought that bitch would be such a Monster.

'If I had known sooner, I would have killed her myself!' He gritted his teeth as she made a murderous thought.

"I've seen enough." Trese sighed, pinching her nose with his hand.

Rage. Disgust. Downright confusion.

A bunch of feelings swirled inside Trese to the point where she just wanted to collapse and lose herself in sleep.

However, she wasn't done yet.

Since she had gotten to the final stages of her plan, she simply walked away from the kitchen and ordered a firing squad of the chefs in the kitchen.

"Fire..."

"N-No... wai-!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

All of them, without exception, had become the very meat they were tenderly handling.

'There really are some people who do not deserve to live. People who are no different from Monsters.'

No... even worse than Monsters.

At the very least, Monsters had very limited intelligence, and their main directive was to kill their enemies, humans included.

They simply couldn't help it.

Compared to the kind of people she had learned about this very night, Trese found Monsters to be quite benevolent.

Scyllary had just proven to her that some people could be worse than Monsters.

'To make this world a better, safer place... some of these vermin have to die.'

Trese wondered if she should pay visits to some of the names she saw on the list, but she decided against it.

It had been a long night already.

After leaving the underground world of Scyllary, she and her team went around and investigated the entire estate.

After an hour, they had searched every nook and cranny of the place.

"Finally, I'm done with this bullshit!""

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In Japan, the sky was pitch dark, as if a jet-black ink had been smeared across the sky. It was so dark that not a single ray of starlight managed to make its way through. This dark night was very unsettling.

And equally unsettling was the silence.

But right then, a mournful howl like that of a Wolf's suddenly echoed from the sea.

Immediately after, a horrifying scene unfolded.

Ripples spread across the shallow sea as countless figures, faintly visible in the darkness, emerged from the ocean. They kept swimming toward the shore, as if responding to some unknown call.

At the beginning, they occupied just a small section of the coastline. However, in mere moments, ripples covered the entire shoreline, resembling boiling water ceaselessly seething.

One after another, dark figures hidden in the night crawled onto the coast.

On a closer look, they turned out to be a variety of marine animals.

Most of these peculiar marine creatures were the Sea Turtles and Crabs.

Apparently, because they were amphibious.

And now, these creatures were rushing toward the shore at a terrifying speed.

Of course, besides Sea Turtles and Crabs, there were many other strange creatures mixed among them. Such as enormous Sea Monsters of hideous appearance and surrounded by a silver-white electric glow. Or massive eels with bodies as large as subtrains, stretching tens of meters in length.

Be that as it may, these Mutant Creatures were evidently a level above the Mutant Sea Turtles and Crabs in terms of strength. No other Mutant Creature dared to approach within dozens of meters of their surroundings.

Nonetheless, this was not the most terrifying part.

The most terrifying entity was undoubtedly another creature.

"Hisssss..."

A hiss resonated, stirring one whirlpool after another in the sea. Though its body was not visible, the shadow spanning hundreds of meters underwater indicated the creature's horrifying size.

At this moment, the creature seemed to have detected something as its crimson eyes slowly focused toward the sky, and-

BOOOOM!!

The fighter jets roared through the sky as missiles, dragging a long fiery tail, streaked across the jet-black sky, and illuminated it like a meteor shower.

At the end of the day, they were a coastal nation.

How could they not be prepared for a Sea Beast Tide? At the very first sign of the rise in oceanic mutation, numerous strategic deployments were already put in place. Now, the first wave of attack was launched to confront these Mutant Sea Creatures, launching a barrage of missiles by dozens of fighter jets.

"HISSSS!"

Another inexplicable hiss reverberated through the sky. Faintly, a hint of human-like disdain flashed in those lantern-like crimson eyes lurking in the depths of the ocean. Following the roar, the seawater started flowing in reverse and created a whirlpool. At the same time, a dreadful aura began to rise continuously.

"Are you kidding me!?" A pilot burst into an exclamation, looking at the Mana detector attached to the fighter jet, and his face was filled with disbelief.

In just an instant, the Magical Energy Units had surged to 180,000.

"How is this possible!?"

With disbelief painted across his face, the pilot also gazed down at the vast sea. The next moment, a tornado of water, dozens of meters wide, caught his attention.

BOOOM!!

Before the pilot could react, the fighter jet was swallowed by the tornado, leaving no trace of wreckage. However, even more horrifying was the fact that the water tornado's momentum showed no sign of diminishing. It charged straight toward the airborne missiles.

BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!

Amidst the continuous deafening explosions, missiles rained down from the night sky and crashed into the water tornado, one after the other, painting a picture of fireworks constantly bursting in the pitch-black night sky.

Furthermore, the water tornado continued to rise toward the horizon, swaying left and right as if it were alive.

In doing so, it managed to intercept 80% of the missiles.

From a distance, the JSDF forces saw a water vortex piercing the night sky, stretching hundreds of meters in length, wantonly havocing through the sky like a fearsome demon. Its terrifying momentum even caused the weather to change.

In an instant, the sky was blanketed by dense, dark clouds.

BOOM!! BOOM!!

Flashes of lightning streaked across the night, illuminating countless pale faces.

"It's over... true terror has descended."

Trembling voices quivered as their legs gave out.

Fear filled the eyes of the onlookers.

Until, suddenly, a shrill cry pierced the night.

Raising their gaze, they saw a crab about the size of a human head suddenly leaping onto a soldier's head.

CRACK!

The next moment, as its powerful pincers snapped shut with tremendous force, sending a head flying into the sky, followed by a geyser of blood. The headless corpse then crumpled into a pool of blood.

------------------------

A cacophony of thunderous explosions and shrill screams filled the air, shattering the tranquility of the night.

The coastal city of Sasebo was ultimately engulfed in a cacophony of slaughter and gunfire. This was an endless war, perhaps the most brutal of all.

The continuous bloodshed dyed the earth red. One street after another was inundated by swarms of giant Crabs and even Turtles.

The agile and fearsome Crabs moved with a stealth similar to assassins moving in the shadows. A mere moment of inattention would expose one to the deadly might of their pincers, capable of cleaving a person into three.

Whereas the shells of the Turtles were like impenetrable armor. Even though they were merely Level 6 creatures, they withstood a barrage of bullets and relentlessly charged forward.

When they drew close, their heads concealed within their shells would shoot out like lightning, striking at lightning speed.

And this did not even include the real monsters lurking within the horde.

As their gazes lifted skyward, a sudden flash of lightning stole their breath away.

The bolt of lightning was in harmony with the periodic flashes streaking across the sky. In an instant, amidst countless despairing gazes, the enormous Sea Monster spat a lightning bolt.

BOOM!!

A thunderous roar reverberated through the night sky, kicking up clouds of dust that were intermittently punctuated by flashes of lightning. When the dust finally settled, a pitch-black crater several dozen meters deep appeared on the ground. In the distance, a colossal Eel of around tens of meters in length had entwined itself around a skyscraper.

"HISSS!!"

Amidst its horrifying hiss, visible sound waves rippled spread outward, shaking nearly half the city.

------------------------

"What's going on? Can someone tell me what on bloody Earth is going on? Why have the Sea Creatures launched a large-scale attack all of a sudden?"

One after another, shrill shouts filled the conference room, causing the upper echelons of Japan to flinch, and their faces to turn pale. In just one night, Japan had lost nearly 2% of their territory to the Sea Creatures.

A total of seven cities had been lost. Not to mention the near decimation of 20% of the Japanese self-defense forces.

If it were not for the early evacuation of coastal cities, the casualties among the populace alone would likely be over a million.

The implications were clear, there was no need for any further explanations. Looking out the window, the cities looked as if doomsday had arrived. Everyone's face was filled with the air, even the very air over the entire city was oozing desolation.

"Sir, it's not just us," a voice filled with sorrow can be heard within the conference room as a middle-aged man stood up, staring at the assembly, and continued to explain, "Reports stated that coastal nations around the world are under attack. However, none have suffered losses as catastrophic as ours."

The Japanese Prime Minister clenched his fist as his face turned livid.

'Indeed, based on the information we've received from all over the world, it's not only Japan, even the US, China, Europe, and Southeast countries are under the Sea Creatures' attack. It's an unprecedented natural disaster, one that the Human Race had not anticipated. There are countless coastal cities all around the world, and yet, all these cities have all been attacked. How is this even possible?'

Even now, he has been having a hard time accepting it. However, as the Japanese Prime Minister looked at the lost territory, he had no choice but to come to terms with reality.

Just then, a weak voice suddenly heard in the office, "May I ask a question?"

A young man stood up, his voice trembling slightly as he asked, "Since coastal cities all around the world are under Sea Creatures' attack, why has our nation suffered the most severe losses? We've been preparing for Sea Creatures' attacks for the past 2 years since the first Siege back in September 2027. Moreover, most coastal cities have been evacuated, leaving them nearly empty. Why is that?"

A murmur spread through the room. The middle-aged man who had spoken before, the head of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office explained in a bitter tone, "All the major nuclear superpowers launched nuclear weapons at the very beginning of the attack, causing blinding flashes of light to illuminate the shallow seas, turning them as bright as daylight. Not to mention, these superpowers possess military forces many times stronger than ours. And, do you know? We are an island nation with a coastline spanning 33,889 kilometers. Virtually every part of our coastline has witnessed Sea Creatures' attack. But our military strength is far from being able to bridge the gap..."

"Really? Pretty much the majority of countries in Southeast Asia like the Philippines and Indonesia, were the definition of Island nations. Why do we get the hardest treatment here??"

"All I have to guess is that they have a grudge against us because of their defeat back in 2027."

The more he spoke, the more bitterness colored his words.

His narrative struck a chord with every higher-up present, causing the eyes of many to glisten with moisture.

Basically, their military was weaker than other nations, yet they had to face Sea Creatures' attacks that were several times or even dozens of times worse than what other nations were facing.

More importantly, even if they anticipated the coastal anomalies in advance, they lacked nuclear weapons to suppress them.

"Okay," accepting in a somewhat bitter voice, the young man slumped onto his chair in despair.

------------------------

Meanwhile, at the highest office of China, a group of powerful individuals gathered around were sitting around a circular conference table with a grave expression on their faces.

"This time, we have General Li to thank. If it were not for his resolute decision to deploy nuclear weapons, we would not have been able to weather the beginning of this Dark Era so smoothly." As he spoke, the President of China, Xi Jinping, stood up and extended a hand in acknowledgment toward a silver-haired middle-aged man seated beside him.

General Li was the Generalissimo of China. He was also one of the few hawks within China, known for his strong and assertive stance.

General Li had been maintaining a low profile before the resurgence of mana, and had remained relatively unknown. However, after the resurgence, he climbed to a position of power, wielding considerable authority single-handedly. He was in-charge of the coastal region, and effectively suppressed most of the Sea Creatures' rampage.

When China's Mana Monitoring Department detected unusual fluctuations by the coasts, he pondered for a while before decisively exercising the privilege to deploy nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons were the most terrifying tools of Humanity. They could not be used lightly.

China, in particular, had always advocated for peace and kept their nuclear weapons hidden away.

However, because of General Li, their nuclear weapons were finally awakened from their slumber.

Rising up in the shallow sea. The resulting heat and light from the explosion was like the sun, illuminating everything.

And because of General Li's quick action, China had been spared from an unprecedented catastrophe.

Unlike powerful countries like Russia, who too possessed nuclear weapons, but because of their indecisiveness, two cities had fallen, and hundreds of thousands of citizens had lost their lives. Not to mention smaller countries like Japan, that did not even have genuine nuclear weapons.

Furthermore, China had received credible intelligence that this was a dreadful attack that had swept through major coastal cities worldwide. No coastal city could escape its reach.

Due to the unprecedented nature of the disaster, its suddenness, and global scale, this night was referred to by everyone in the world as the 'Dawn of the Dark Era.'

A true era of darkness and desolation had arrived.

The silver-haired General Li, who was seated in the last, gazed at the President of China and nodded slightly.

It had to be said that the President of China was quite good. At least, when General Li had requested to deploy nuclear weapons, the President had not hesitated and had instead provided full support.

However, it was precisely because of this that General Li firmly believed that China would inevitably rise again in the impending great era, perhaps even standing on top of the world's nations.

Thinking this, a fervent gleam appeared in General Li's eyes.

However, after a moment, as if struck by a thought, General Li stated, "China's Mana Research Institute seems to have reached a conclusion regarding this global Sea Creatures tide. Let's hear what they have to say."

"Agreed."

Nodding in agreement, the collective gaze of the group shifted toward an elderly man dressed in a white robe, seated in the assistant position.

The elderly man adjusted his glasses before standing up. There was not an ounce of nervousness on his face, rather his expression looked pretty grave as stated, "Up until now, based on our investigations, we have discovered significant anomalies in the depths of the ocean, with a remarkable increase in mana concentration.

"As you all know, mana is like oxygen. Pure oxygen is highly toxic, and similarly, if organisms can't tolerate dense mana, it becomes equally toxic. Therefore, countless creatures lurking in the deep sea have no choice but to approach shallow waters.

"In the face of these Deep-Sea Monsters, the Mutant Sea Creatures of the shallow waters naturally fear them like tigers. Thus, under their pressure, they have been relentlessly advancing toward the land. In this manner, we are now seeing an attack of Sea Creatures worldwide."

Silence, a complete pin drop silence.

Listening to the account of the elderly man, the hearts of everyone was bogged down with worries.

Certain things did not need to be explicitly stated, everyone understood. Just like the significant increase in mana concentration. What does that signify?

Thinking this, General Li let out a deep breath and inquired about a confirmation he already had in his mind, "If I'm not mistaken, the true catastrophe has only just begun, has it not?"

"Yes." Nodding, the Director of China's Mana Research Institute added with a note of concern on his face, "Setting aside the reasons for the remarkable increase in mana concentration, even the current situation is something we can't ignore.

"The ocean has always been one step away from the mainland. And now, with the sudden spike in mana concentration in the oceans, I believe the mainland won't be far behind. At that time, due to the significant increase in mana concentration, Mutant Beasts deep in the mountains and wild forests will swarm toward cities just like the Sea Creatures. What's awaiting us is undoubtedly a disaster even more dreadful, tens or even hundreds of times worse than now. While Sea Creatures can be suppressed with nuclear weapons, those Mutant Beasts approaching cities..."

"Due to the significant increase in mana concentration, these Mutant Beasts will evolve into even more terrifying monsters. Dense mana is a deadly poison for Mutant Beasts that can't withstand it, but if they can, their evolution will accelerate by thousands or even hundreds of times."

As he reached this point, the elderly man glanced at the group and concluded with one final statement.

"So, everyone, we have limited time left."

(This scene is from "Arc 3: The Dark Era" from "Magical Dawn: A New Era on 2025 Earth" :D)