In one of the archmage estates, a spiky-haired boy casually sat at the pinky fingertip of the hand statue, resting an arm on a raised knee. Kakunō Kanadzuchi (金槌 格納), sixteen-years-old, observed the battlefield.

His rune-engraved black haori flowed with the wind, and it never fell off. Its golden oak leaves and branches expressed his family roots. He did so further via his half-and-half shirt. The kanji for charcoal (木炭) on the red part and rainwater (雨水) for the blue part gave him immense pride and confidence. Bravery became his theme.

Ever since setting foot on Pantaiyanilam, he decided a mix of modern and traditional clothing. Blue jeans and geta sandals were the perfect combination.

“Man… sure is getting hectic out there. But I’d rather not intervene. It doesn’t seem to be the right time. Not to my guy, however.” He looked at his comrade, who stood on the hand’s middle fingertip with crossed arms.

“Kakunō! Have you seen the blood god anywhere?” Kenkō Kusabana (草花 健康) looked up from below.

Kakunō pointed to the middle fingertip structure.

She sighed. “Not again. Tell him to be quick. We gotta shop for supplies.”

“Doesn’t sound like you’ll buy ‘supplies’ to me, ginger short-stuff….” His eyes drooped in unimpressed indifference.

Even for a young adult woman, Kenkō had a literally underwhelming stature: 148 cm. Her light skin, green eyes, and orange hair cropped as pigtails solidified it more. She even had noticeable freckles on her cheeks.

However, she meant business at all times. People saw this via her crimson suit-and-tie worn like a cape. In reality, she meant the pink cap sleeve shirt underneath.

She never cared for anyone denouncing ‘cute’ aesthetics. The shirt expressed it further with its cartoon crane dressed as a doctor holding a stethoscope—complete with a speech bubble in vertical Japanese: “It’s alright, hang in there.” (大丈夫、頑張れ。).

If Kakunō displayed pride via his roots, she would appropriate quirkiness as a healthy identity. She had zero regrets.

As his words flustered and angered her, she pointed with a shaky finger. “Urgh! Shut up, country boy! So what!? I’ll buy whatever the hell I want along the way. It doesn’t mean I don’t care about our needs! Why do you two always think I’m selfish when I’ve been the only one who’s—” She heard her other comrade laugh.

Hokori Udemaeno (腕前乃 誇利), a twenty-five-year-old reborn human. The de facto strongest mage in Coelestis. He rose to nationwide fame three years ago after defeating one of the most dangerous rogue mages. Many noted his appearance as that of a yakuza boss, only younger. His warm beige tone and a vertical scar on his neck’s center contributed to the notion.

He wore a loose white T-shirt every day. In front lay a peace sign inside a red ‘no’ symbol. Yet, the back had a rhinoceros beetle on top of the “nirvana” kanji (涅槃). People saw it as his love for duality—given the red prayer beads around his wrists, ankles, and neck. Each even had a yin-yang pendant. They would be right, if only with half the picture.

Hokori chuckled and corrected his circular shades. “How’s five minutes sound for you, Kenkō? I’d stay longer, tho. Cuz these things seem a lot of fun.” He looked down.

Her eyes rolled. “Whatever…” she walked away, “…I just want the malls to open again.”

Kakunō also chuckled. “Oh, he’ll definitely stay longer. He’s wearing his earpieces again.”

One of Hokori’s favorite routines in battle was to play music. The usual was “Touch The Sky” by Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco.

He swiped his fingers up. The multifaceted, holographic interface of Coelestis’ wireless service called “The Every Hub” appeared. It contained an experimental application named “WormLink.” Its feature was housing multimedia from movies to video games found on Earth, albeit twenty years late.

He pulled his hat back, it returned like a magnet. He jumped down as the song began, grinning with eyes wide open upon his descent. His landing caused the ground to tremor so much it rippled, leaving nothing but dirt.

Hokori now began his fight, killing many dwellbeasts in mere moments. After covering the entire southside in body parts and fluids, he quickly traveled to the eastside with the same face. Large areas converted into barren land in his wake.

The two imperial mages stationed on the eastside noticed him approaching. “Oh shit, it’s him!” one turned his head. They both cast portal-based runes that opened to the northside.

He gleefully threw a dwellbeast onto a skyscraper. It obliterated into large chunks of building material. With debris raining down on them, the monsters tried to thunderclap their way out of it. However, this action turned out to be a mere distraction. He massacred each before they could blink.

As the song continued, he sang the “Now let’s take ‘em high” verse in a still gleeful tone. Complete desolation on the entire eastside as only the borders remained.

Duality played further onto his self-being via his rune-engraved, olive bucket hat with white “LOVELY WAR” letters in front. It would never fall off—neither his toothy grin in battle. On the other hand, tan cargo shorts and blue rubber hiking sandals served as his regular fashion statement. Same for his shades.

He paused the song and traveled to the westside with the same demeanor.

On the northside, Danielle was still busy alongside four imperial mages. Moments later, the other two exited their portals. “Ms. Elfmann,” one kneeled. “Hokori’s on the battlefield.”

“Oh, no… Should’ve told that guy where Feuer was.” She looked into the distance.

He stood up. “What shall we do, ma’am?”

“Nothing. We stay here. Probably killed 90% of these things already. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that even if the world and the Gods sought to stop him, they’ll all perish.” Danielle’s eyes squinted.

At the westside, the overflowing dwellbeasts slowly dwindled. However, they had one more ace up their sleeve against Feuer. They fused together into a mountainous mass. A gigantic version of themselves formed, towering over thirty meters.

Feuer was already moderately injured before all this. “Blast! I’ll have to use this.” He panted. “Even if it leaves me bedridden after, it must show some worth, now!”

An aura clad his body as he underwent a Zenith Corpus state. However, the enormous dwellbeast suddenly fell over its back. Some fused out of the body upon its earth-shaking crash. Right in front of Feuer, without noticing his presence, was the human calamity himself.

“Hey, y’all!!” Hokori happily waved at the monsters, which caught their attention. “Can ya show me fun for at least three minutes? If you can’t, you’d be third rate trash.” He grinned in sheer bloodlust with lit up eyes.

Feuer limped from behind. He had clutched his torso and panted. “I’ve… I’ve as much respect for you, your strength, and your title as I have for our majesty. But as earthly people say: You’re pissing me off.” He stated stoically, even in anger.

He chuckled and turned around. “Aw, shucks. I never knew ya loved me that much. Too bad ya ain’t my type.” He shrugged, eyes closed and a smirk.

“I’d not express my feelings that manner, simpleton!” He still kept his composure, albeit with a popped vein.

With Hokori distracted, the giant dwellbeast got back up and downward uppercut him back to the eastside. The ground had warped.

He chuckled again and walked out from the rubble. “Splendid,” he spoke in Japanese, “Aight, now it’s my turn.” After a few blinding steps and a jump, the giant dwellbeast had its face blown right off by his uppercut. Then, he threw a downward punch at the monster’s torso, which painted the whole area.

The remaining creatures scattered across midair only to die swiftly. Hokori continued his battle on the ground. As an earth-splitting slaughter occurred, Feuer shielded himself with a dome of rapidly cooled magma. It dissipated into thin air in the end.

Danielle and the others teleported to their location after protecting the northside. Feuer noticed a large runic circle at the borders, previously obscured by the overflowing mass. “Looks like that’s the source of the invasion.” The former pointed.

“Oh, fuck yeah! More fun time! Wooooooooooh!!!” Hokori sprinted toward the portal.

Another vein popped on Feuer. “No! Get back here and listen to me, you insolent—” Danielle held his left shoulder.

“Let him do what he wants. We need to tell Harald the invasion’s over. Once Hokori makes up his mind, only an immovable object could interfere. I highly doubt such a thing even exists.”

He sighed with closed eyes and decided to ride on her floating piano. Meanwhile, the portal led to an open field outside the city. Hokori saw six fused giant dwellbeasts in the distance.

He sighed and shook his head. “I know I gon’ be disappointed with weak turds like ya. Either way, y’all gotta die!” He grinned and repeated ‘Touch The Sky’ on The Every Hub.

In the throne room, the two Novus archmages informed the battle’s aftermath to the king. “Excellent… Now, all we need is this.” Harald snapped his fingers.

The runes on the bronze rings permeated the entire city. The roads, infrastructure, and even plant life, Coelestis reversed to what it was—completely unscathed. Said rings were an ancient device “confiscated” as a war bounty from Naraka (नरक) by his predecessor and father of the same name.

The king sat down. “Sadly, I’ve yet to find a better solution. It’s a piece of demon technology lost through time. One use and this machine takes two weeks to work again. Still, it’s much better than what we used to do.

He turned to the Novus representatives’ de facto strongest member. “Feuer, I’ve finally chosen our Vetusian archmages last night. You should be happy. An old friend awaits.”

He walked closer. “Your majesty… Do you not mean?”

“Yes, I do.” He held his shoulder. “She is now with us.”

With the invasion over, citizens exited the bunkers. For over a mega annum, Coelestians were very used to catastrophes. So much so, The Every Hub would inform them via an urgent pop-up. They continued their daily lives with no panic whatsoever.

In the Coelestis estate, Kakunō, still sitting on the stone fingertip, noticed a pegasus carriage in the sky. “Hey Kenkō, take a look at this!” he turned his head below.

She jumped up to the ring fingertip. “Oh… We’ve got Vetus tourists coming in.” She squinted. “No, wait. That carriage looks way too fancy for normal passengers. Could they be….” She put her hand over her forehead.

Kakunō smiled. “Oh, nice! They’ll be Hokori’s next prey. I still remember what he did to Clovis and his friends.” He sighed with droopy eyes and rested his cheek over a fist.“Such golden reactions.”

As the carriage neared Coelestis, Yukino fixed her mother’s hairdo. The latter giggled. “You know, honey… People say I look ten times prettier because of these braids. Are they wrong?” She smiled at her.

“Of course they are. It makes you look a million times prettier!” She raised her arms high. Moments later, the family saw the great city in the distance. “Mama, Papa! Look!” she reacted first.

Tokino gasped with a covered mouth. “By the Gods… it’s gorgeous….”

Haruto was mesmerized as well. “Say, wanna check out the city before we meet the king?” He looked down at his daughter.

“Really!?” Her eyes widened alongside her smile.

“Anything for you, honey.” Tokino patted her head.

“Yaaaaay!!” she exclaimed, eyes closed.

As the family entered the City of Gods, the story had truly begun. A grinning devil eyed them far away.