Chapter 266: Moonlight Night
Chapter 266: Moonlight Night
It was a night that the entire planet must be experiencing.
"....?"
On the last day of the year all the blue skies on the planet are suddenly engulfed in inky blackness and the sun, shining brighter than ever was suddenly gone.
".... What the hell?"
The entire planet, the whole world, plunged into darkness.
"...Honey, look outside."
"God..."
And above it all was a huge bright moon that should not be seen at this hour.
It was shining in the sky, bigger than ever.
Not just Korea, but the entire world was plunged into darkness in an instant.
"...I wonder what's going on."
"I see. Did a villain appear somewhere else?"
The people who were having a normal day, enjoying the holiday spirit, were puzzled by the sudden situation.
"Wait a minute. This isn't just here, this is the whole country...No, the whole planet is like this?"
"That's what the radio said?"
"...Shit!"
"Hey, hey, hey, wait, what's going on?"
Realizing that this phenomenon was not limited to one area, but was happening to the entire planet, they were running in panic under the dark night sky.
"....."
"Is this what he was talking about...?"
Someone had warned them beforehand.
As they looked up into the night sky with their troops a voice came out of nowhere.
[Greetings...Earthlings.]
"...?!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
The city of Seoul is shrouded in darkness.
The people behind the wheel, the people walking down the street, the people sitting in the cafes trying to figure out what was going on, the people in power sitting in high places watching the situation with serious faces or the people lying in bed sleeping.
The bizarre voice was suddenly heard by all.
[Until now, have you all been living peaceful lives...?]
The old man's voice that sounded like it was going directly into their brain was beyond language and perception.
It was a voice that was heard by all species, even those who were asleep.
When all of Earth's inhabitants soon realized what was happening and listened in horror to the questioning voice.
The gravelly voice spoke calmly, but with a hint of maniacal glee.
And then it said,
[Yes, yes, you've been so carefree all this time]
[You rotten bastards]
[Polluting this world with your disgusting breath]
[Haven't you lived well...]
His voice, pale and cold, pierced through the air.
For a moment, the recipients stagger as they are hit in the head with a direct hit of the heartfelt disgust and sparking anger contained within.
The voice laughed again, as it always did, and said.
[Anyway, now it's time to put an end to that....]
[A humble little man, finally introducing himself, I'm the Moonlight Church, Moonlight Lord...]
And the moment he finished speaking the screens of all the electronics turned off at once.
Finally the figure of an old man in a white robe, with his back to the dark city of South Korea was revealed on top of a tall building standing with a cane in hand.
Only then did the people see the maddened look in the eyes of the man known as the Moonlight Lord.
[....I'm sick of your disgusting hypocrisy]
[Say no more, it's your turn to be judged, isn't it?]
[The moment of your destruction has arrived, humans]
A dark night sky high above, where the wind blows fiercely, he is watched by millions and millions of eyes.
The Moonlight Lord felt the wind nipping at his flesh, and realized that the day he had waited so long for had finally arrived.
Today, this disgusting world will end and in its place, the God of Moonlight and his creatures will create a new world.
No one can stop them now.
All is done.
With that, he inhaled for a moment.
Exhaling coldly, he raised the staff in his hand as if proclaiming, he opened his mouth.
[Earthlings]
[Your world is at an end]
With those words, he slammed his staff to the ground and at the same time countless magic circles of violet symbols beneath his feet and behind him, intricately intertwined.
-Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping.
-Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
The sound of the sky tearing apart echoes in all directions as dozens of colorful portals, gates, aka dimensional doors sprang from the sky behind his back.
[Farewell, Earthlings]
His words ended as countless gates began to appear all over the planet.
Paris, France.
[Do you see it, everyone? Up there in the sky.]
Against a dark night sky with the Eiffel Tower in the background numerous light blue, blue, and purple gates were floating disparately.
In Tokyo, Japan numerous portals glowing alone in the black sky, above a crowd of onlookers.
Similarly.
Beijing, China.
USA, New York.
India, New Delhi.
Russia, Moscow.
United Kingdom, London.
[Folks, there are tons of weird portals floating around Seoul right now! Similarly, there are these weird things in Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Gwangju, and other major cities...]
In Seoul, South Korea numerous circular gates suddenly appeared against the dark night sky above tall buildings and soon after they came into being.
[Chhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]
[kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!]
Monsters.
Monsters whose bodies were made of black and purple tentacles, monsters not of this world.
From beyond the gate, one, two, dozens, hundreds, thousands were dropping to the ground and rushing toward the city, and the people.
"""Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"""
And with that, the overwhelming force of the beasts engulfed the city.
The world had ended.
...No, it seemed so.
"So, are you all sticking to the plan?"
[Yes! Let's warm up after all this time]
[Da-in, the troops are deployed, the missiles are ready to intercept, and we're ready to fire.]
[President, start an emergency broadcast, open all the bunkers, and send out all the heroes.]
[Haha. Brother, it's just beginning. I'm here too. I'll take care of what's in this area first]
[Master Da-in, I'm going into battle now, I'll be in touch later]]
[Egostic, this is Katana. Our Japanese region is ready for the first battle. Are you okay?]
....ha.
The world has ended? No way.
The country I've been protecting won't fall so easily.
I'll show you that perfect preparation can prevent disaster.
I chuckled, and then Eun-wol and I sprang into action while the rest of the Egostream members went out.
***
"Hee, hiiiit!"
[Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!]
In the heart of Seoul's city center, with countless monsters rampaging and creating havoc, a boy hid behind a collapsed building and held his breath.
[Reminder: all citizens are advised to evacuate to underground bunkers immediately, the location is...]
The mechanical sound of the Association's announcement continues to echo through the city center.
The announcement was made as soon as the crisis broke out, guided by the Association's agents, though most people had already been evacuated to the underground bunkers.
The boy hadn't managed to escape and was hiding alone in the darkened city center, shivering.
'Please don't let them find me, please don't let them find me, please don't let them find me...'
And so he prayed, clamping his hands over his mouth and trembling.
Alas, his prayers were not heard.
[Kie-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e?]
Sensing something, a quadrupedal, purple-tentacled, fox-like creature appeared.
It growled and began to lunge towards him.
"Hmph, hmph!"
The boy screamed, realizing his fate as he saw the creature leaping toward him, right before his eyes.
-Kwagagagagagang.
[-Keeeeeeeeeeeeee!]
A huge bolt of lightning struck where the beast had been and as the smoke clears, the beast is reduced to dust, along with its tentacles.
An orange-haired woman clenched her fist to the ground where the lightning had struck.
Touching her own hand, she rose to her feet.
"Hmm... So this is how it's done? Okay, I got one."
She says as she casually swings her arms and gets up.
The boy, suddenly revived, rolls over onto his stomach and looks up at her, eyes wide.
"Hmm?"
His eyes locked with the woman's, and he quickly regained his composure.
"Go, go, thank you...!"
"Huh? Ah, ah, ah. It's no big deal, no need to thank me."
"Yeah, yeah...?"
"That's because I'm a villain."
"What...?"
"Well, then, bye!"
And with that, she left the dazed boy behind.
The woman, Electra, giggled and then flew off at lightning speed towards the other monsters.
"Now, how does the Star Breaker taste!"
[Chirp!]
Han Seo-Eun.
"Hmph... I guess we can burn them all, right? Ahaha."
[Gah!]
Mist, Seo Jae-young.
[Hmph] [Hmph] [Hmph] [Hmph] [Hmph] [Hmph].
"Phew, yeah. This is it! Fifteen, sixteen..."
"Hey, Choi Se-hee, cover me!"
"Ugh! Ha-yul, buff her!"
"Neh..."
[Kyaaaaaaah!]
The PMC members are struggling against several strong monsters while the citizens who quickly fled to safety following the broadcast of the association.
Amongst the almost empty major cities of the country filled with monsters, they are holding their ground and stopping the waves of monsters. They've been prepared by Egostic.
And
"Ugh... Uh, wait, Calypso, what are you doing here!"
"Ha. I'm here to help you this time, so shut up and take cover. If you don't want to get yourself killed."
All over the world, villains from the many villain organizations of Cathedral cooperated with heroes to the best of their abilities and began to stop the hordes of monsters falling from the night sky.
Just like that, contrary to what the Moonlight Lord thought, everyone was prepared and not helpless.
To everyone's surprise, they held on.
".... Something is wrong. Are you ready yet?"
"Yes. Gates over a certain size need to be prepared in advance, so we're turning them into summoning stations. Master, please be patient."
"...Something... strange."
The Moonlight Priests are feeling a strange sensation.
In the heart of Seoul, the city center, occupied by Moonlight Church, a woman in a hero suit of red and blue, with a star-shaped mark in the center, flew through the air, her blonde hair whipping around her.
Her name was Stardus and she was South Korea's A-list hero.