The Apocalypse.
This world is like hell. Fights, battles, murders, thefts, and rapes. All of these happen openly and insanely!
All of this occurred after the apocalypse struck, turning the world into a game zone, with humanity hanging by a thread.
Hope and perseverance—those were essential. But behind it, there was always evil exploiting the chaotic situation.
This apocalypse began on January 2nd, 2035, a Wednesday.
On the 30th day after the apocalypse struck, humanity, which had been struggling against ghosts, demons, devils, and monsters, faced an unexpected situation.
On a full moon night, all living beings that appeared on the day of the apocalypse underwent significant changes in their bodies. Humanity once again faced a catastrophe! Murders broke out everywhere in the world.
Rivers of blood flowed, thousands, even millions of people were killed overnight.
Only tens of millions of humans remained from billions.
I, one of the survivors of this incident, was born weak. I thought I would die, but everything changed.
My name is Rey Xie, a physically weak loser who was lucky enough to kill a level-9 evolved monster that fell from a building and appeared to be dying.
In this world—or more precisely, in this apocalyptic era—monsters are categorized into nine levels, with level 1 being the weakest and level 9 the strongest.
Humans could gain superpowers by consuming the core or heart of creatures that many referred to as the embodiment of hell. They also obtained a system as a reward and superpowers from the creature they killed.
That's what everyone gained after killing. But I didn't get any of it.
I thought I was abandoned by the world and heaven, or as people would say, trash!
Perhaps, to the gods, my pride meant nothing, and my fate was insignificant. Maybe that's just how it was.
...
There were creatures recorded in notes written by a level-9 superhuman who gained Sage powers after mercilessly killing hell creatures and continuously leveling up. He documented the names, techniques/skills, and appearances of each hell creature.
One of them was the White Tiger, who stood atop a building near where I was. It was watching two level-9 hell creatures, as described in the Sage's notes, fighting against a Sky Blue Dragon that wielded the power of the heavens.
After a fierce battle, the creature fell from the collapsing building after its fight with another level-9 hell creature.
"How lucky for me to be around that building, and luckily, the area is deserted."
Rey Xie mustered his courage to approach, even though his body trembled violently and he wet himself, he kept moving forward! All for the sake of justice!
"Sadly, it... Its appearance looks like a living being about to die. Even though it managed to defeat the Sky Blue Dragon, how could I kill it? I don't even have superpowers!"
With chaotic thoughts, Rey Xie could only try, even if it seemed impossible.
Slowly and quietly, hiding his footsteps, Rey Xie finally managed to get close to the hell creature called Lunaris, the White Tiger.
The creature appeared to be in immense pain and on the brink of death. This made Rey Xie feel guilty and begin to waver. But his sense of sacrifice and understanding of the hell creature's desires brought him back to clarity.
"I... I can't hesitate!" Rey Xie said firmly, shaking his head to dispel his guilt.
Lunaris was in a dire state—both eyes were blinded, and its body was riddled with claw wounds.
With unwavering determination, Rey Xie raised his spear toward the heart, closing his eyes as if he didn't want to see the outcome of his actions.
"I'm sorry...!"
Guilt continued to haunt him. Rey Xie was born as a kind, gentle human with a soft heart who couldn't bear to see the weak suffer, no matter who they were.
Crast! The sound of blood spurting came from the direction of the heart after Rey Xie thrust the spear.
The White Tiger stared at Rey Xie as if it knew his thoughts and the guilt in his heart. With its blinded eyes, it could only see through its sixth sense.
Although the images were only black and white, it managed to discern Rey Xie's appearance.
Lunaris could only accept every attack from Rey Xie because its body was immobile due to its injuries.
"I'm sorry! Sorry! Sorry!!!"
Rey Xie shouted in despair. Deep inside, in his innermost being, he harbored a caring soul.
Lunaris felt the turmoil in Rey Xie's heart and smiled.
'Finally... I can die in peace. Finally, this will all be over.'
Lunaris spoke in its heart, trembling. Its soul was in the process of disintegration.
In truth, Lunaris was not a hell monster but a guardian beast.
This all began with someone who had reached the pinnacle.
...
This is a brief tale of one of this world's guardian beasts. Once, there lived four celestial creatures guarding the Earth.
One of the four world guardians was the White Tiger of the West. Alongside the Vermilion Bird of the South, the Azure Dragon of the East, and the Black Tortoise of the North, they maintained the balance of the cosmos.
Hundreds of millions of years ago...
Tragically, the first Vermilion Bird or Phoenix died mysteriously. Known as the symbol of immortality and fire, the first Phoenix left behind its descendants who lived hidden in the shadows of life.
Together with the Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger, the Phoenix's descendants continued to maintain the world's balance.
In the era of the void, the Black Tortoise disappeared along with the Phoenix's descendants, leaving the White Tiger and Azure Dragon. During that time, relations between the East and West were strained.
Wars, bloodshed, and massacres were everywhere. In the era of the void, superpowers, magic, and cultivators were rampant. That's why the two world guardians descended to Earth to stop the foolish and senseless wars.
On Earth.
After the two world guardians descended to the mortal realm, humanity swarmed toward them with malicious intent.
Millions, even hundreds of millions of humans regarded the two guardians as gods.
However, with humanity's insatiable greed, their thoughts turned to betrayal of the Azure Dragon and White Tiger.
Centuries later, sensing something was amiss, the Azure Dragon descended to Earth once again.
Descending to Earth Once More.
Instead of gratitude, humans from all over the world raised their weapons against it, enraging the Azure Dragon!
At the time, humanity believed that if they could defeat the Azure Dragon, they would achieve immortality by consuming its flesh. Of course, there were some who tried to stop this foolish plan.
The enraged Azure Dragon massacred countless humans, leaving only a few million alive. The White Tiger, sensing something strange as it witnessed the many restless souls, hurriedly descended to Earth once more.
Sure enough, it saw the Azure Dragon slaughtering humans, blinded by its rage. The White Tiger immediately flew toward the Azure Dragon to stop this madness.
"Hey! Stop this, you lunatic! Do you want to destroy everything in this world?!"
"Look at the humans down there! We saved them, and they pointed their weapons at us! Is this what they call justice? I only want to end this wretched existence!"
The furious Azure Dragon, unable to think rationally, left the White Tiger with no choice but to intervene.
The White Tiger was forced to fight the Azure Dragon to prevent further casualties.
That day, the entire world shook violently, causing the Black Tortoise to rise to the surface and the descendants of the Phoenix to reappear in the world.
Together, they managed to stop the battle between the two guardians. Afterward, the whole world was left trembling in fear. The Black Tortoise and Phoenix commanded humanity to keep this event a secret from future generations.
Thousands of years passed, and humanity eventually knew nothing of the battle between the two world guardians, dismissing the Four World Guardians as mere legends and rumors of the past.
The Azure Dragon, harboring deep hatred for humanity due to the events of the past, suppressed its anger toward them.
However, when the apocalypse struck, the Four World Guardians scattered. Some were influenced by the chaos, including the Azure Dragon.
It sought to take advantage of the turmoil to annihilate every human in the world.
But who would have thought that on the 30th day, it was confronted by the White Tiger?
The Azure Dragon spoke to the White Tiger, "The Phoenix and the Black Tortoise are dead! I killed them! Hahaha!"
The White Tiger's emotions surged. "You madman! You've turned into a demon! I can't hold back anymore—I will kill you!"
Thus began the final, tragic battle of the Four World Guardians.