Chapter Thirteen: Instant Victory and Ju Zhonghui's Approval

“Run, run!”

The workers scattered in all directions, but in this underground construction, every step was a struggle.

Their speed in fleeing was barely noticeable to Garura.

“Gah!”

Garura spat out sticky stones, his voice changing slightly.

With effortless strength, his palms tore through the mountain that even the excavator struggled to move, freeing more of his buried body.

His gaze drifted toward the fleeing humans below, conflicted.

It seemed he was torn over whom to devour first.

Not far away, Keigo Masaki shivered all over, watching the scene unfold.

“Is this what ancient power really is?”

“No... this is nothing like I imagined.”

“This isn’t ancient power, nor is it the opportunity to become a savior!”

“I unleashed a disaster but have no power to quell it!”

Keigo Masaki painfully clutched his head, pressing hard enough that strands of hair were stained with fresh blood between his fingers.

“I told you, there’s nothing good down there. Why didn’t you listen?”

A sigh came from behind Keigo, snapping him back to reality.

He suddenly remembered—there was someone else here, a mysterious figure!

Turning his head, Keigo saw a tall man in a bluish-gray uniform.

Even in the pitch-black underground, lit only by artificial lights, the man’s sharply chiseled features were clear.

“You are...”

Squinting, Keigo’s eyes locked on the emblem on the man’s chest.

HUD.

A defense squad?

He didn’t recognize them.

Keigo was well-traveled and knowledgeable but had no memory of the HUD team.

That wasn’t surprising—Rin Yu had only just taken office that day.

“Hmm... things are getting noisy. King Aire, handle him.”

“His weakness is the throat.”

Rin Yu glanced at the cracked ground beneath Garura, furrowing his brow.

At the same moment, a flash of blue light shimmered in Rin Yu’s eyes, and Garura hesitated as he reached for a worker’s arm.

The worker escaped successfully.

“What!?”

Keigo Masaki shuddered as he caught the fleeting blue glow from Rin Yu’s eyes.

“Gegi!”

A shrill cry sounded overhead.

“Boom!”

The earth collapsed!

A cloud of dust surged forward, forcing Keigo to cover his mouth and nose, coughing uncontrollably.

Yet he struggled to keep his eyes open, tears streaming, determined to witness everything.

He saw it.

Beneath the dust, workers were lifted into the air one by one, shouting in surprise: “What’s happening?”, “I’m flying!”, “I haven’t even gotten my paycheck yet!”—all being transported through the tunnel to the surface.

He saw it.

King Aire, even larger than Garura, broke through the earth’s surface.

With a single stomp, he crushed the excavator. His massive tail swept away boulders. Three strides later, he effortlessly wrapped his giant tail around Garura, who was struggling violently—like a lamb caught in a python’s coils.

He saw it.

King Aire gathered power in his mouth for several seconds, then unleashed a massive blade of light, slicing clean through Garura’s throat, trapped and immobilized by the tail!

Garura, whose defense had shrugged off punches, kicks, and minor skills on TV, had his neck severed instantly!

The struggling ceased.

Then, death.

At that moment, Keigo Masaki’s pupils constricted violently, bloodshot with red veins, unable to tell if it was from sand or sheer terror.

“If you want to be a savior, come find me at the HUD team—tell them Rin Yu sent you.”

In a daze, Keigo heard the faint words.

He tried to speak, but swallowed a mouthful of dust instead.

His eyes closed in agonizing pain.

He saw nothing.

The ground trembled, rocks tumbled down.

Garura’s corpse was discarded carelessly by King Aire—half buried underground, half exposed above.

A black hole absorbed King Aire, leaving behind bewildered but inspired workers, terrified city dwellers, the curled-up Keigo Masaki, and the Victory and GUYS teams rushing to the scene.

...

Rin Yu walked down the street.

[Host has slain the ancient monster—Garura!]

[Congratulations, host has earned the right to raise Garura!]

Garura was an ancient monster from the TV series featuring Diga, like Gorz and Mirba, but his strength was even greater due to his exceptional defense.

He was covered in hard stone and armor dating back to ancient times—making him nearly impervious.

Yet his fatal weakness lay in his unprotected throat, fragile and exposed.

Diga defeated him by targeting precisely that spot.

Knowing this, Rin Yu wasted no time and struck the throat to finish him swiftly.

Otherwise, if King Aire fought him head-on, it would have taken much longer.

“Keigo Masaki should be fine, but we still haven't found Makio Kirino.”

Rin Yu eyed a seemingly ordinary house ahead.

Inside, weeds grew wild; no one had lived there for a long time.

This was Makio Kirino’s home.

Kirino possessed a special ability: he could see the deepest secrets of a person's heart, as well as glimpses of events yet to come.

He had no control over this power; it could not be turned off.

Like... a prophet.

He was the one who saw Garura's vulnerable throat and told Diga, enabling the monster’s defeat.

At the same time, Kirino was a recluse.

Because of his ability, he could casually see others’ secrets in childhood, which made people fear him and treat him as a monster.

As he grew older, he envied Diga—also a “monster”—but one respected by all.

He once threatened Daigu but ultimately chose to help him defeat Garura.

He was still human, not a cold-hearted monster.

Rin Yu naturally wanted to recruit such a person.

But unfortunately, Kirino was nowhere to be found.

“Grandma, do you know when the people in this house might return?”

Rin Yu asked an elderly woman sweeping nearby, presumably a neighbor.

“That household, huh?”

The old woman pushed up her bifocals, recalling.

“There’s only one very withdrawn child there, always locked inside his room.”

“We neighbors don’t know what he does, only that his surname is Kirino.”

“I remember... he left several days ago.”

“No one knows where the child went.”

The woman answered thoughtfully.

“I understand. Thank you, grandma.”

Rin Yu nodded politely before departing.

Though he hadn’t found Makio Kirino, rescuing Keigo Masaki was a worthwhile outcome.

“By the way, I still don’t understand what the Sphia core cell does. I should check it out when I’m back.”

Rin Yu’s figure gradually faded into the distance.

He left as swiftly as he had fought, while the Victory and GUYS teams, responsible for cleanup, were left somewhat flustered.

“You’re saying there’s a multi-thousand-ton monster’s head above ground, with its body underground, and we need to dig it out?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“A group of workers flew out of the earth, apparently rescued by King Aire?”

“That seems to be the case, Captain.”

“Understood. Assign Vice Captain Munakata to handle the excavation.”

“Yes!”

After hanging up, Megumi Kyo softly exhaled, rubbing her temples.

On her desk lay a photo of King Aire.

She gazed at the image for a long time.

Finally, she slowly wrote the character for “friend.”

“I hope a woman’s sixth sense doesn’t betray her this time.”