NOVPUBGolden Shores City.
Within a secluded mansion.
A man, dressed in formal attire, sits poised on a custom high-end sofa.
He is Lexio’s father, the younger brother of Black Hat Gang Godfather Elkampen -- Hilton.
Ever since Daniel took Lexio’s life, Hilton had been burning with the desire to exact revenge on Daniel.
Yet, every assassin he dispatched mysteriously vanished.
It became apparent that the young man named Daniel was no easy target.
Hilton wasn’t a fool.
He began to delve into the enigma that was Daniel.
It was only after coming across the Supernatural Phenomenon Investigation Bureau that a cold shiver raced down his spine.
The rumors about Evolvers turned out to be true.
For someone who prided himself as a monarch in the underworld, he was astounded to realize he’d been oblivious to such revelations.
Now, Hilton held in his hands a dossier, a report on Daniel.
"An investigator from the Supernatural Phenomenon Investigation Bureau... became an Evolver just a few months ago."
A voice emerged from behind him, "The details of the investigators from the Bureau are mostly top secret. Even the president can’t access them directly. But this Daniel, being a newly minted Evolver, probably doesn’t possess much strength. You could easily dispatch a level 1 Evolver to take him out."
"Hmm," Hilton responded, seemingly unfazed.
He then remarked with an unexpected query, "Isn’t he dating Andrew Green’s daughter?"
The voice behind him replied, "Yes, they are deeply in love."
"Good," Hilton said, "Send him a message. Tell him I want to collaborate."
The shadowy figure hesitated for a brief moment, then hastily responded, "Yes."
As the voice gradually faded away, silence once again enveloped the mansion.
...
Upon their return to Golden Shores, Daniel parted ways with Alex and the group.
At that moment, he was headed towards his villa located in the West Coast district.
Stepping out of the taxi, he was immediately greeted by the embracing sunlight.
But then, he froze, his eyes widened in shock.
Though bathed in brilliant sunlight, he felt a chilling cold to his very core.
With a dazed look, he murmured under his breath, "Have humans... fallen?"
All around him on the streets, countless monsters roamed freely.
In the sky, there was an endless horde of terrifying creatures, densely packed, blotting out the sun, as if they had taken over the entire expanse.
It looked as though the world of man had been breached and conquered by these monstrosities.
A centipede, as thick as a man’s thigh, crawled over the nearby lawn.
Pointy-beaked bats with four pairs of wings flitted between buildings.
Legions of blood-soaked giants, their rotting flesh shedding, ran rampant on the streets, along with myriad monstrous beings that resembled mutated reptiles.
Yet, compared to the aerial creatures, they seemed almost insignificant.
There were the familiar cyclopean monsters with pristine wings, heads reminiscent of the Buddha covered in fleshy tumors, and even the Behemoth, lying dormant by a distant shoreline, its eyes closed in deep slumber.
How could they be here?!
However, when he witnessed a towering monster on the street about to collide with a building, it simply phased through it like a ghostly apparition.
Suddenly, realization dawned on him. All these sights were from the Abyssal Realm.
Perhaps his comprehension of the monstrous utterances had reached such a depth that it allowed him to perceive the visions of the Abyssal Realm while still in the human world.
But Daniel didn’t let his guard down.
He understood that if humanity couldn’t grow stronger swiftly, everything he saw might one day become a grim reality.
But was all this merely an illusion?
His gaze shifted to the side. Under a tree by the road stood a little girl, about five or six years old, licking a lollipop, her large, dewy eyes innocent and enchanting.
Behind her lurked a spider with six eyes on its forehead, its gaze filled with longing.
In a flash, Daniel moved like a wraith, tightly clutching a silk-threaded dagger in his hand.
The blade shimmered, and the once-ethereal six-eyed spider, as though crossing the boundaries of space, solidified only to be sliced in half.
The tremoring resonance of its cry hadn’t even fully emanated before it crashed to the ground.
Pulling the little girl behind him, shielding her from the sight of the monstrous corpse, he asked, "Little one, where are your parents? Do you live here?"
The girl stared blankly at Daniel.
Then, startlingly, she opened her mouth to reveal a maw of fangs, the corners of her mouth ripping apart as her flesh turned inside out.
"You can see me?!"
A piercing scream followed, but Daniel silenced it with a swift cut to her throat.
Damn it, he had unknowingly rescued a monster.
With a furrowed brow, Daniel felt a surge of unease.
These creatures were genuinely real.
Could they, at will, cross spatial barriers and invade the human world?
If so, the implications were terrifying.
Yet, he soon realized it wasn’t quite so.
The phantasmal images of the Abyssal Realm were separated from the human world by a spatial barrier.
It’s likely that directly interacting with them provoked their aggression.
Much like Atelarxus.
Daniel’s face darkened, his eyes inadvertently scanning the spectral creatures surrounding him.
Even a mere gaze might provoke their assault. Ignoring these entities, he entered his yard, easing his guard.
Previously, merely stepping into the yard would elicit an oppressive murderous intent, even causing auditory hallucinations.
But now, standing before the door, he felt no discomfort. Clearly, due to his amplified strength, the mummy no longer posed a threat.
He unlocked the door with his fingerprint, weapon gripped tightly, ever vigilant.
However, strangely enough, aside from the regular furnishings, the living room was barren.
"The mummy should’ve been placed in the living room. Where has it gone?"
A sense of foreboding crept into Daniel’s heart.
Thud!
Silently, the door shut behind him. Then, all the lights flickered on.
[Welcome home, my master.]
A cold voice echoed, the voice of the house’s AI housekeeper.
" You’re back?"
Daniel tensed.
This voice was unmistakably different from the housekeeper’s, sounding more like a woman’s.
And then, his eyes widened in astonishment.
Emerging from the depths of the living room was a bewitchingly statuesque woman.
She donned a magnificent fringed robe, a crown inlaid with gemstones atop her head, exuding an aura of regality that demanded reverence.
Her beauty was intoxicating; deep eyes reminiscent of a starlit night sky, luminous and captivating, her skin with a hint of golden shimmer, flawless, as if a celestial goddess had descended from the heavens.
She was stunning.
He couldn’t deny that he was momentarily captivated.
Although he wasn’t paralyzed, he couldn’t help but steal a couple more glances.
However, a realization hit him; her attire bore a striking resemblance to a sultry queen he’d once seen in an art film.
And more puzzlingly, why was she in his home?
Unaware of the impending danger, Daniel inadvertently locked eyes with the woman. Her once ethereal visage twisted grotesquely.
" Can you see me?!"
Her fair complexion began to crack, with dark blood seeping through the fissures.
Startled, Daniel came to a sudden realization.
This wasn’t some bewitching beauty; it was a damned monster!
Without a hint of panic, his right hand gripped the silk thread dagger tightly while his left unleashed the Behemoth Maw, with surging spiritual energy roaring forth.
Within his right eye socket, it appeared as though something wriggled.
Soon after, the white of his eye was consumed by blood vessels, revealing the Enchanted Eye!
Compared to this beguiling monstrosity, Daniel’s level of terror seemed equally unmatched. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
If any ordinary human were present, they’d surely deem Daniel a monster as well.
Unleashing multiple killing techniques, he was confident that he could take down what appeared to be a rather ordinary-looking creature.
Suddenly, he made his move.
Wielding power capable of inflicting a hundred-fold damage, the dagger surged forth with an awe-inducing might.
Whoosh!
In an instant, he vanished from sight, only to reappear an arm’s length from the creature.
The dagger, now a streak of silver brilliance, swiftly slashed across the monster’s throat.
A fatal strike!
However, things did not unfold as Daniel had anticipated.
As the dagger slashed across the creature’s throat, it felt as though he was cutting across water, accompanied by an overwhelming suction.
It felt as if he had encountered a massive whirlpool on the surface of the water.
Propelled by inertia, even his hand was drawn in, and visibly, half his arm seemed to plunge into the creature’s neck.
What the hell kind of monster is this?
Daniel sought to use the system to identify the creature’s origins.
But before he could, half of his body was consumed.
"Damn it! Behemoth Maw, devour!"
His left hand lunged forward.
The torn gap widened immensely, and its row of even teeth clamped down on the creature’s head.
Just when Daniel thought he’d succeed, the Behemoth Maw astonishingly malfunctioned.
His entire left hand was pulled into the vortex, just like the rest of his body.
Panic surged in Daniel.
Am I really going to meet my end like this?
He tried to unleash the Devouring Maw, but by this time, his body had nearly fused with the creature, and it was too late.
Subsequently, darkness consumed Daniel’s consciousness.
...
[Remaining retrospections within 24 hours: 9]
With a jolt, Daniel’s eyes snapped open.
Seeing the distant little girl licking her lollipop, an immense frustration welled up within him.
