The monsters had arrived at the city's gates.
In a single night, the United States was plunged into an unimaginable nightmare of destruction. Entire cities were reduced to rubble, and countless men, women, and children were torn apart by creatures that defied comprehension. Humanity's bastions of civilization crumbled, and within hours, it was as if the world had reverted to the primordial age of extinction.
People fled in terror, but under the assault of the colossal Golden-Horned Beast, there was nowhere to run.
Three planetary-level warriors from America rushed to engage the monster, their attacks striking with all the might they could muster. But compared to the Golden-Horned Beast's immense power, their efforts were as futile as ants striking a mountain. In the blink of an eye, two of them were crushed into nothing but pulp beneath its massive claws.
The nation's military forces scrambled from every direction, mobilizing all their might to stop this unprecedented calamity. But before their fleets and aircraft could even approach, the ocean itself turned against them. From the depths, bolts of lightning as thick as tree trunks erupted toward the heavens, tearing through the clouds.
A squadron of fighter jets was obliterated mid-flight, shredded by the raging energy. The American fleet aircraft carriers, destroyers, and cruisers was no better. Enormous tentacles, each stretching hundreds of meters long, rose from the sea, dragging entire warships into the abyss or crushing them into twisted metal.
Human weaponry, no matter how advanced, was as fragile as paper against the might of these sea-born monsters.
One of the surviving planetary warriors hovered above the churning ocean. His breath caught as he saw two colossal, glowing blue eyes staring up at him from the depths below.
A dreadful realization dawned upon him.
"Thunder Dragon Emperor…" he whispered in horror.
Moments later, a titanic shadow emerged an unfathomable creature with countless tendrils writhing like a monstrous jellyfish.
"The Octopus Emperor…" the warrior gasped.
Cold dread crawled up his spine. These were not ordinary monsters they were Beast Emperors, entities that ruled the oceans unseen until now. The Thunder Dragon Emperor, the Octopus Emperor, and the Golden-Horned Beast all had surfaced together.
Three Beast Emperors.
And they weren't alone. All around them, hundreds of Beast Kings lesser titans compared to the Emperors surged toward human lands, beginning a blood-soaked massacre that painted the seas red.
The warrior didn't hesitate. He fled the battlefield, re-entered his fighter, and immediately activated his virtual helmet to log into the War God Palace, humanity's global communication and coordination hub.
Inside, countless planetary-level fighters and War Gods were still chatting, laughing, and unwinding, blissfully unaware of the catastrophe that had already begun.
The man's voice cracked as he screamed, "Disaster has struck! Three Beast Emperors have appeared in America! The western territories have fallen completely three hundred and fifty thousand dead already! Call for Hong and Thunder God immediately!"
The War God Palace fell into stunned silence.
Then chaos erupted. Every warrior disconnected, scrambling to verify the report, to confirm the horror that was unfolding.
The bells of crisis tolled across the planet, and humanity finally realized the scale of the disaster. Emergency meetings began worldwide as leaders, generals, and warriors devised desperate strategies.
Meanwhile, the Golden-Horned Beast, after its brutal rampage, suddenly retreated into the sea. Having devoured massive quantities of metal and energy, it now needed time to digest and evolve.
Back in Huaxia, inside the quiet Moonlight District.
The alarms had reached even here. Hong and Thunder God the strongest warriors of Earth had been briefed by the American President himself. A colossal black beast had attacked New York, over two hundred meters tall. Though its size resembled that of a mere Beast King, its strength was on par with a Beast Emperor.
What humanity didn't yet understand was that there existed powers beyond even the Beast Emperors. They believed this Golden-Horned creature to be the pinnacle of evolution. In truth, it was far more a being counted among the Ten Supreme Species of the Universe.
"A Golden-Horned Beast… impossible," Hong muttered.
Far away, deep inside a training chamber, Rowan and Luo Feng were fully immersed in their cultivation, shielded from external interference by Babata, the sentient AI.
To Babata, matters on Earth were trivial barely worth attention. His only focus was nurturing Rowan, the true genius between the two. Luo Feng was merely a side project.
Out of curiosity, Babata briefly accessed the War God Palace. To a being of his intelligence, hacking it was child's play.
What he saw on the screen, however, made him pause.
"The Golden-Horned Beast?"
Rowan's eyes snapped open, golden light flickering within.
Luo Feng, startled by the rare tone of shock in Babata's voice, also turned his attention to the projection that appeared before them.
The scene showed the Golden-Horned Beast laying waste to military bases and devouring steel like candy. Luo Feng's face turned pale. Rowan, however, smiled faintly, amusement curling his lips.
"Rowan," Babata said quickly, "that creature is one of the top ten peak bloodlines in the universe! Right now it's only at the first level of the Star Rank. You could seize its body take it as your own vessel!"
Rowan chuckled softly. Unlike in the original course of fate, his current strength had already surpassed expectations Star Level Seven, and that was while suppressing his power. If unleashed, he could easily reach Star Level Nine.
His mental energy, honed through the Meteoric Star legacy and intense gravity training, was formidable enough to crush most planetary beings.
To seize the Golden-Horned Beast would be effortless. But Rowan had no interest in such a thing.
Its potential was too limited. The universe was vast and filled with far more intriguing lifeforms. What interested him wasn't its body but its innate ability: the talent of replication.
That was the power he intended to claim.
While Rowan pondered, Luo Feng's anxiety grew. Watching the cities burn, he clenched his fists. "Rowan, we have to go! People are dying!"
He tried to rush out, but before he could take a step, Rowan's telekinetic force swept through the room, and Luo Feng collapsed unconscious.
"Why did you do that?" Babata exclaimed.
"I have things to handle," Rowan replied calmly. "The Golden-Horned Beast hasn't threatened Huaxia yet. It's not my concern for now. I'll deal with it when I'm ready."
Without another word, he entered the Vibranium Chamber, sealing himself inside.
Babata sighed but didn't stop him. Rowan had a habit of removing the AI bracelet whenever he cultivated, claiming it interfered with his focus. Eventually, Babata stopped questioning it.
Inside the sealed chamber, Rowan opened his dual-space ring and stepped through the portal returning to the Marvel Universe, to the realm of flames: Muspelheim.
The air shimmered with searing heat as he sat cross-legged before the Eternal Flame. His four-layered spiritual domain spread out, forming a vacuum sphere five hundred meters wide.
From within his ring, he drew forth the Infinity Gauntlet.
If his theory was correct, then with the Reality Stone, he could replicate not just objects but abilities themselves.
On his arm coiled a living organism of violet tendrils the Demonvine, his symbiotic companion.
"Hold still, little one," Rowan said with a smile.
He raised the gauntlet. The gems glowed one by one, their light converging on the crimson Reality Stone.
Reality bent. The air pulsed with divine resonance as the stone's power engulfed the Demonvine. Its form shimmered, twisted, and then split.
A second Demonvine emerged from the light, identical to the first in every detail.
Rowan's eyes gleamed. "It worked."
He had achieved Reality Duplication.
The newborn Demonvine hissed, its tendrils lashing out wildly, but Rowan easily subdued it with a flick of his will. It was weaker around Star Level One but otherwise a perfect clone.
He sealed it inside a vibranium container, planning to give it to Luo Feng later as an experiment.
Satisfied, Rowan absorbed his creation back into storage and reattached the gauntlet, its surface now partially wrapped in the Demonvine's purple fibers.
Then, using his dual-space ring again, he returned to Earth.
When he opened the chamber door, Babata looked up. "You're done already?"
"Yeah," Rowan replied lightly. "I'm going to deal with the Golden-Horned Beast. Watch over Luo Feng while I'm gone."
"What? No way! You can't just Rowan, that's a Golden-Horned Beast! One of the top ten divine species in the cosmos! People have killed each other for the chance to possess even an infant of its kind, and you you're saying it's not worth taking?!" Babata raged.
Rowan smirked faintly. "He'll make a good pet. But a body for me? Not qualified."
Babata nearly exploded. "You lunatic! Do you have any idea what you're saying?!"
Rowan ignored him, whispering a single teasing word as he activated his Sky Shuttle:
"Hillbilly."
"Rowan! You you damn brat! Who are you calling a hillbilly?!" Babata screamed furiously, but by then, Rowan was already gone soaring westward toward America.
As his consciousness projected into the War God Palace, countless warriors turned their gaze toward the newcomer who had just entered.
The world's fate trembled once more
For Rowan had arrived.
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