The sky darkens with clouds, animals fall asleep, and people worry for their pets. From the darkest depths of a garbage truck, a figure slowly emerges. Black button-up shirt with gold buttons, black trousers with a silver belt, gray eyes, and straight, dark hair. With a muscular build and iron-plated knees, he looks around and watches more garbage trucks arrive. Straightening his hand like a blade, he destroys all the incoming trucks with a single strike. One driver ducks, barely dodging the attack. His heart pounding at a thousand beats per minute, he slowly slips away, hiding near the wreckage of the trucks. The figure looks at him and simply shakes his head; the driver finds a cell phone and hastily dials the police.
"Help, come help me right now, they're going to kill me any second!" proclaimed the driver, his voice frantic and desperate.
The figure approaches, grabs him by the back, and effortlessly lifts him off the ground, raising his hand once more like a blade. The man closes his eyes, bracing for his end. But when he opens them, he sees he is alive and safe, wondering why. Looking up, he sees a white-haired figure holding swords standing right in front of him. Countless questions rush through his mind, but a voice breaks the silence.
"Don't worry, you're safe now, but I can't protect you forever. Right now, I have to face this creature—I assume it's a 'Boss' like the others that keep coming," Said Sebastián, his voice serious yet soft.
The man nodded and sprinted away. The figure watched him leave but made no move to stop him; his primary target right now was Sebastián. He sighed and clenched his fists, dropping into a fighting stance.
"Let's get this over with," said the figure calmly.
"Fine, but first I want to know what number you are," mentioned Sebastián, solemn and collected.
"I'm Number 17, though it doesn't matter since I have far more abilities than 18," proclaimed the Boss, letting out a sigh.
Sebastián nodded and closed his eyes, but before he could do anything, he was grabbed by the shirt and hurled into a streetlight, shattering it on impact. He opened his eyes and slammed a punch into the ground, cracking the pavement and raising a massive boulder from the fissure. He launched it at supersonic speed, but the Boss caught it with a single finger and disintegrated it. In that brief window, Sebastián closed his eyes and summoned Level 5 Rage.
The rage took control of his body, instantly igniting his fists in flames. He created a magma circle and touched it. The Boss leaped backward just as a magma pillar four meters high and ten centimeters wide erupted beneath him. Sebastián spun his hands in circles, launching a fireball, but the Boss had already anticipated it. Spinning his own hands in circles, he created a powerful gust of wind capable of extinguishing the fire. Behind Sebastián, several apartment buildings were obliterated, killing both people and animals.
"I see... so you actually know how to fight," spoke Sebastián, with calm respect.
The Boss tilted his head and lunged forward, landing a kick straight to the protagonist's stomach. Sebastián was sent flying backward, but he dug his hand into the ground, stopping himself instantly.
"Good strength," said Sebastián with a serious expression.
He quickly leaped to his feet and unleashed a fiery energy blast. The Boss dodged it, narrowed his eyes, and sidestepped, but the attack began tracking him. Still, he had already anticipated such a trick. Sebastián, on the other hand, was slightly surprised to see him decipher the attack pattern so quickly.
Taking a deep breath, Sebastián began moving his hands in unison, forming a four-meter dragon made of pure fire. The beast shot forward with its jaws wide open toward the Boss, who jumped directly over the fire attack and slammed down onto the dragon, flipping backward in mid-air to gain extra distance—narrowly dodging the massive explosion caused by the clashing attacks.
"You're smarter than I thought. You're different from the other Bosses," mentioned Sebastián.
The Boss simply relaxed his shoulders and prepared a new technique he called "Piercing Bloodflow." This technique focuses on red blood cells, granting the ability to launch them as a multi-directional attack through five fingers. By concentrating his focus, he can fire them to deal minor or massive damage to the enemy, depending on how refined the technique is. Every cell counts, especially when paired with mastery and precision.
Aiming all five fingers at Sebastián, the Boss unleashed the technique. A stream of blood shot toward the protagonist, who dodged the initial burst. However, it wasn't enough—another stream struck him from behind, shredding a large portion of his shirt and scorching his skin. Sebastián analyzed the hit and realized that each stream had a distinct purpose, leaving him with very few vectors to evade.
The attacks relentlessly pursued and struck him. Our protagonist was running out of options when an idea crossed his mind:
What if I copy the ability, or at least try to?
He copied it on the fly, aiming at the bloodstreams coming after him. The copy worked. His copied technique collided with the original, but because his version wasn't fully refined or at max capacity, it couldn't completely stop the assault. Taking advantage of the brief opening, Sebastián charged toward the Boss, preparing a magma-infused strike. Boss 17 let out a sigh, and from his back, he deployed the "Refined Piercing Bloodflow."
The attack struck Sebastián before he could react, blasting him backward and piercing straight through his bones. In a desperate response, the protagonist grabbed one of the bloodstreams—his hand burning on contact—and yanked it backward, pulling the Boss right toward him. He quickly landed a flame-empowered strike, damaging the Boss with his own technique. The streams pierced through the Boss, but he had already seen Sebastián's plan coming.
He began to spin, forcing the streams to halt and dissipate. Shifting his gaze, he leaned backward, narrowly dodging a strike from the protagonist. Sebastián slammed his fingers into the ground, upheaving the entire city block—ripping up the earth and causing nearby buildings to collapse. For a split millisecond, the Boss was left suspended in mid-air, an opening our protagonist immediately exploited by blasting him point-blank with a fire dragon. The dragon carried him high into the clouds, nearly reaching outer space while scorching his skin. Reactivating his technique, the bloodstreams pushed back against the dragon with immense force.
The Boss pressed his fingers together to unleash his ultimate technique: "Circular Piercing Blood." A colossal blood orb measuring 6 meters tall and 20 meters wide was launched straight at the dragon and down toward Sebastián.
The attack hit the protagonist and the surrounding cities with devastating force; Sebastián vanished into the explosion. Our hero was driven deep into the earth, crashing through to the second layer of the mantle, where he fell unconscious.
Inside his mind, the real Sebastián could no longer see what was happening on the outside. Level 5 Rage returned to its place within him. Sebastián looked at it and sighed deeply, unsure if his team would arrive in time to stop the Boss.
Yet, a calm still lingered. Level 3 Sadness looked at Sebastián and smiled faintly. A new level of sadness had just been unlocked: the state of "Forbidden Sadness"—also known as "Corrupted Sadness."
This form of sadness is unstable yet immensely powerful, capable of destroying planet Earth if it wished, and moving at eight times the speed of light. Its abilities are water-based, introducing new techniques such as a fluid flow and an ability named "Tsunami."
Meanwhile, Worh was watching the news on TV, where a journalist in a helicopter was reporting on the destruction. He turned off the television and sent a message to Kiro and Sone: "Head to these coordinates immediately. We have a new battle." He stood up, pulled on a pair of black gloves, stepped out of the apartment, and dashed off at 600 kilometers per second—fully ready for combat.