"Sh*t, not now... come on, just move!", Noah muttered through gritted teeth. He tried to push himself up, but the pain was too much.
His legs were useless, burning with an intensity that made his body seize up in protest. Blood dripped from his nose, the force of his fall breaking it, leaving a trail of crimson running down his upper lip.
His vision blurred, and his bruised lips ached, adding to the ever-mounting misery.
'I'm going to die here,' Noah thought bitterly, the weight of his situation crushing him. He hadn't even gotten to his feet when a gust of wind whooshed past him, whipping at his clothes. The beast had moved, and it hadn't just gone anywhere. It was standing right in front of him.
A shadow fell over Noah, larger than life, blocking out the light. He didn't need to lift his head to know that the Kaiju was looming over him, and yet, his body moved on its own, his eyes slowly trailing upward to meet the nightmare-made flesh.
The creature was gargantuan. Its thick, brown skin looked impenetrable, like living armor. Twin tusks jutted out from either side of its head, each half a meter long and curved upwards menacingly.
The Kaiju stood on four limbs, its hind legs bent awkwardly, ready to pounce. But it wasn't the beast's terrifying appearance that paralyzed Noah—it was the overwhelming sense of dread that poured off it in waves.
'This is how I die.'
The thought repeated itself, over and over, as Noah's body refused to move. The Kaiju's dark eyes bored into him, and for a moment, he swore he saw something resembling amusement in them like it was toying with him—savoring his fear.
Growling low, the Kaiju took a step closer, its eyes gleaming with malevolent intelligence. It wasn't a mindless creature. It was calculating, enjoying the slow, creeping terror it was instilling in him.
Noah's body remained frozen, pain lancing through his limbs, his will to fight swallowed by despair.
'Why is this happening to me?' Noah thought, but there were no answers, just the cold, brutal reality that he was about to be torn apart by a creature he could never hope to outrun, let alone fight.
The beast moved, its massive forelimb coming down with a thud against Noah's ribs. The cold, unyielding pressure made Noah's breath hitch.
Panic surged through him as the Kaiju effortlessly lifted him off the ground with one mighty push.
His chest was wide open now, exposed. The beast's massive leg hung ominously over his body.
'No…'
Boom-!
With a kick that sent Noah hurtling backward, the Kaiju flung him like a rag doll. The kick wasn't even full strength, yet the force behind it was enough to knock the wind out of him.
He felt bones creak and muscles scream in protest as he was thrown to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. Blood trickled down his chin as his vision swam.
'It's playing with me. It's toying with me like a cat with a mouse.'
Noah's breath came in ragged gasps, his body barely clinging to consciousness.
Even an upper-dormant-ranked Awakened would struggle against a Kaiju of this caliber.
He was nothing. Just a boy—an unawakened nobody in the face of a creature that had brought civilizations to their knees centuries ago.
The portals, the Kaiju, the endless war—it had all started so long ago, and now, here he was, about to die like so many before him.
He wanted to fight back. He wanted to live. But what could he do? The beast circled him, slow, deliberate, savoring its moment.
Noah's body refused to move, and his mind spun with hopelessness. He had always dreamed of awakening, of becoming strong, but that dream had been crushed long ago when his powers never manifested. He was just a weak human, and no amount of wishing would change that now.
The Kaiju growled again, as if sensing his despair, and Noah finally gave in. He closed his eyes, hoping that someone—anyone—would come to save him. But deep down, he knew no one was coming. This was the end.
Centuries ago, humanity faced a catastrophe unlike anything they had ever known.
Portals tore through the fabric of reality, unleashing monstrous creatures upon the world. These beasts, known as Kaiju, descended on Earth, spreading terror and death.
They attacked indiscriminately, turning bustling cities into ruins and forcing humankind to the brink of extinction.
At first, humans were powerless against these creatures. The Kaiju, unable to handle the strange, foreign energy that seeped into their systems from the portals, mutated violently.
Unlike humans, who could harness the mysterious 'Alliance Spot'—a gift that manifested seemingly out of nowhere—the animals that came into contact with the corruption were twisted into monstrous forms.
Their cells mutated, turning them into nightmarish beasts, stronger, faster, and far more aggressive than anything on Earth before.
For a time, it seemed the end was inevitable. But as the chaos raged on, humanity found within themselves a spark of resistance.
They began to awaken latent abilities, talents that allowed them to combat these Kaiju. The slaughter, once one-sided, began to turn as humans learned to fight back.
With newfound powers, they hunted the beasts, pushing back against the tide of destruction. Eventually, the majority of the Kaiju were slain, and peace, albeit fragile, returned to the world.
But the respite was short-lived.
Years after the initial onslaught, a new terror emerged. Portals, different from those before, began to appear once again, spreading across the globe. From these openings, more Kaiju spilled forth, each one more fearsome than the last.
These new invasions devastated human settlements, undoing the peace that had been so hard-won.
The portals came to be known as 'Dungeons,' and the relentless attacks were dubbed 'The Kaiju Attack.' Humanity now faced a constant state of survival, battling not only against the monsters but also against the very nature of the portals, which seemed to defy logic and reason.
The struggle between humans and the Kaiju had become an unending war, one where survival was never guaranteed.
Noah stared at the beast looming over him, his face drained of all color. His heart pounded in his chest, each beat slower, heavier, as the weight of his situation settled in.
'This is it,' he thought grimly, hopelessness wrapping around him like a shroud.
There was nothing he could do. His mind clung to one desperate, fleeting hope—someone might somehow arrive in time to save him. But deep down, he knew that was nothing more than a fantasy.
Once, he had dreamed of being awakened, of gaining the power to stand against these monsters.
That dream had been shattered when he passed the crucial awakening age, between 10 and 12 years old.
Now, all he could do was watch as the monstrous Kaiju circled him, savoring his fear.
The creature moved slowly, deliberately, as if studying him.
Noah's terror was palpable, his breath shallow as the beast's heavy footsteps echoed around him. And in that moment, he could almost swear the thing was enjoying itself—a sick, twisted smile seemed to pull at the corners of its grotesque face.
'I knew it… It's not just a dumb brute,' Noah thought, horror dawning on him. 'This thing is an E+ Kaiju. Somehow, It's smarter than it looks.'