Under the cover of night, in an empty, silent yet prosperous downtown district,
it was as though the crowds had vanished from the city, leaving the brightly lit urban center in soundless stillness.
For every participant, this was an all-too-familiar scene.
A man's figure stood in the middle of the open street, as if waiting for something.
Then, the next second, an anomaly descended!
Boom—!!!!
With a deafening blast, the top of a skyscraper over a hundred meters tall exploded before him. Amid the wreckage and dust silhouetted against the night,
a terrifying Numbered Monster with six spider legs and a body nearly ten meters long burst forth in a frenzy!
Swift as a cheetah, it charged down the building as though running on level ground, then leaped midway down with a howl, lunging at the figure.
As the black Numbered Monster crashed into the street, earth and stone erupted from the ground like a massive splash!
Dodging the blow amid the thunderous collapse, the figure kept producing shields, armor, and all manner of equipment to contend with it. Yet even as he inflicted varying degrees of damage,
his insufficient firepower inevitably caused him to fall into a disadvantage little by little.
Its enormous spider legs shattered shields, while its agile, savage body charged through barrages from every weapon as it launched a lethal assault on the man.
But at the very instant the battle became perilous!
He abruptly pulled back, raising a massive weapon over two meters long with a faintly blue mechanical barrel in both hands. Protective armor appeared around him as it fired.
Then—
A blazing torrent of dark-blue light flames pierced straight through the entire night street!
The terrifying Numbered Monster, swift and ferocious just a moment ago, along with the entire block behind it, was