When Michael had initially Awakened, even before the moment itself, his thoughts were filled with how his Awakening would be a life-changing event for him.
He didn’t know how it would happen, but he believed it should enable him and his family to live a better life.
Thoughts of supreme power weren’t his primary intention back then.
He had them, but they weren’t his main focus; he considered them a natural goal to strive for.
That changed when he saw that video on the forum.
That Demigod.
Michael knew that figure hadn’t gone all out, yet a single attack from them was enough to bring a 100-meter monster crashing to the ground.
A 100 meters?
What kind of power concept was that? It was impossible for him to quantify.
That sight made him vow that day to grow just as strong as that figure.
When he first leveled up and felt the drastic surge of strength, that resolve only deepened.
Then came the discovery of his talent ability, which strengthened his desire to grow even more.
And now.
Michael looked up at the sight in the sky.
High above was a figure emitting a brilliant blue light, like a flame cutting through the darkness.
The energy radiating from the figure matched the ominous energy of level 5 cracks teetering on the edge of breaking.
However, that wasn’t what stunned Michael.
What truly shook him, making his heart race—whether from excitement or fear, he couldn’t tell—was the sheer display of power from the figure in the sky.
Michael watched as blue spheres of flame rained down from the heavens.
Every monster they touched disintegrated into ash.
Within each of those small, radiant flames, Michael could sense a power so overwhelming it could obliterate him in an instant.
The feeling dwarfed anything Lucky could emit or even the terror of that corrupted monster he had faced in the abandoned ruin in the Land of Origin.
“What kind of power is this? Who is that being?”
Michael could only stare in awe.
Unfortunately, the blazing light from the figure and the great distance between them made it impossible to identify who they were.
Then, silence fell.
The blue light vanished as abruptly as it had appeared.
In the wake of the figure’s departure were only the ashes of every monster, scattered by the wind.
For the first time in his life, Michael had witnessed a power capable of leveling entire cities.
For the first time, he felt truly insignificant.
Just as he stood there, stunned, his phone’s ringtone jolted him back to reality.
Slightly dazed, Michael shook off his shock and retrieved his phone, only to find a message from the Association:
[Thanks to the early reinforcement of a King Rank expert, the immediate danger in the city has been cleared. However, there’s still a possibility of stray monsters. Supernaturals are urged to remain vigilant and eliminate any threats. Please also be cautious of demonic Supernaturals that might have survived the King Rank expert’s attack. Protect the public and rest assured, more reinforcements are on their way.]
“That was a king-rank Cultivator?”
Michael wondered aloud, still in shock over what he had just witnessed.
“So strong,” he murmured.
As an Awakener, Michael understood the potential of his kind.
At rank 1, nearing its peak, Michael believed he could already match most commander-rank Cultivators.
Imagine that—a rank 1 Awakener equaling a rank 3 Cultivator.
The gap between the two paths was clear.
The only rank he felt beyond his current reach was master-rank Cultivators at rank 4.
However, he was confident that would change when he advanced to rank 2 as an Awakener.
Even so, a small part of him had assumed that once he approached the peak of rank 2, dealing with a king-rank Cultivator might not be impossible.
Now he realized just how cocky he’d become, despite his repeated warnings to himself to remain cautious.
He didn’t know if advancing to rank 2 would offer more than a significant stat boost, but if it followed the same pattern as his previous breakthrough to rank 1, he could understand why king-rank Cultivators were equated with rank 3 Awakeners.
The power to level cities in an instant.
Michael couldn’t imagine himself doing the same at rank 2.
As he was now, he could destroy a city single-handedly, but only if he had time and wasn’t interrupted by other Supernaturals.
Yet the figure in the sky had just eradicated multiple rank 1 to rank 4 creatures while simultaneously avoiding harm to ordinary humans and buildings—and all in an instant.
And they were clearly holding back.
This was evident from the reports of the possibility of stray monsters and demonic Supernaturals still lurking.
Michael also knew how ominous his own energy was.
If that figure targeted demonic beings based solely on their energy, he’d be dead by now.
Even some of his undead—despite their monstrous appearances and the death energy radiating from them—remained untouched.
It was clear that the figure wasn’t going all out.
If they had truly wanted to bring down the entire city, Michael had no doubt they could have done so effortlessly.
“Maybe I don’t need to reach rank 3 as an Awakener to achieve something similar,” Michael thought suddenly.
“Maybe if my skill mastery reaches a high enough level, I could do the same.”
Michael wasn’t sure, though.
For one, the range of his undead skills hadn’t expanded much, even as their mastery level increased.
“Whatever. I haven’t even reached the max level at rank 1 to be thinking this far ahead.”
Finally recovering from his earlier shock, Michael took a deep breath. Find your next read at My Virtual Library Empire
Knowing that the immediate danger had subsided, he turned with his undead in tow and began the journey back to his community, where he had left his family.
Along the way, Michael began contemplating his next steps.
According to the message from the Association, reinforcements—possibly more figures like the one he had just witnessed—were on their way.
If there were others with that level of power, then it seemed plausible that the current chaos could be brought under control.
However, Michael remained skeptical.
Even if such figures could handle rank 5 monsters, who were likely on the same level as them, the battles wouldn’t end quickly.
And battles of that scale wouldn’t just be prolonged—they would inevitably create shockwaves capable of implicating countless others in the crossfire.
