Chapter 626: Six-Star Promotion! The Crimson Dragon Ascendant!
The Indestructible Reptile twisted violently, its body a grotesque tapestry of rapid evolution and immediate destruction.
It roared, a sound that wasn't merely audible but felt—a vibration that rattled the very marrow of one's bones. It struggled, clawing against the fabric of space itself, attempting to escape the event horizon of the miniature black hole suspended before it.
That was no ordinary singularity born of collapsing stars.
Instead, it was a manifestation of the Infinite Tree, a construct woven from the concept of "Absolute Devouring." It was an abyss that hungered not for matter, but for existence itself.
However, the creature's resilience was terrifying.
Even as its flesh was ripped away atom by atom, new, more durable matter knitted itself together in milliseconds. The Indestructible Reptile began to elongate, its scales hardening into an armor capable of withstanding gravitational shearing. It was evolving into a world-shattering behemoth right before their eyes.
This anomaly, which left the girls on the ground dumbfounded with terror, immediately caught the attention of the dimensional network.
[Ding! Detected Abnormal Doomsday Factor SCP-682 undergoing hyper-evolution. Energy readings spiking!]
[Ding! Warning! Doomsday Level recalculating...]
[Ding! Abnormal Doomsday Level adjusted from Three-Star to Four-Star!]
This notification was merely the prelude to a symphony of escalating danger. As the creature fought against Ren's power, the system began to spam notifications, the numbers climbing with terrifying speed.
[Ding! Abnormal Doomsday Level adjusted from Four-Star to Five-Star!]
[Ding! Level adjusted to Six-Star...]
...
The numbers blurred, climbing higher and higher until they hit a threshold that would make even gods pause.
[Ding! Abnormal Doomsday Level adjusted from Eight-Star to Nine-Star!]
[Ding! Warning: Doomsday Companion Mission is locked. Participating personnel may choose to withdraw and re-derive the Companion Mission!]
[Ding! Incentive Update: If Doomsday Companion personnel forcibly resolve this ascended Nine-Star Doomsday, the Doomsday Points reward will be multiplied by a factor of ten!]
A sudden jump spanning six entire star levels!
The Chat Group exploded into chaos.
Nami: "???"
Vivi: "What in the world is happening over there? How does a Three-Star threat suddenly jump to Nine-Stars? That's skipping the Grand Line and going straight to Laugh Tale!"
Mumei: "It feels... so eerie. Even through the screen, I have goosebumps."
Sakata Gintoki: "O-oi, oi, oi! My hands are trembling here! Is this the level of Doomsday in the Administrator-sama's world? I want to go home to my Jump magazines!"
Shiroyasha: "Hmm? Strange. I didn't detect any fluctuations of this magnitude when I visited last time."
Exusiai: "I remember Ren saying something about his world having a Twelve-Star threat called 'Cognitive Doomsday.' Apparently, unless you have the cognitive capacity to perceive it, you won't even know you've been wiped out. Compared to that, maybe this is small fry?"
Shiroyasha: "..."
Rory Takakura: "Is Ren-kun in danger? Should we send help?"
Yuzuriha Inori: "Worried."
Esdeath: "Heh heh, what is there to worry about? That man thrives on conquest. With a multiplier like that, he's bound to make a fortune in points."
Bronya: "The logic holds. However, based on the rate of evolution... is there a probability the level will increase again?"
As if waiting for that cue, the system chimed again.
[Ding! Abnormal Doomsday Level adjusted from Nine-Star to Ten-Star!]
Kushina: "???"
Aqua: "Ah hahaha! You jinxed it! You totally jinxed it! Are you a goddess of misfortune in disguise?"
Bronya: "Ah, this..."
Bronya's analytical prediction had unfortunately become reality.
In the physical world, the atmosphere screamed.
Furious thunder detonated overhead, not from clouds, but from the friction of magical energy tearing the sky apart. Whirlwinds howled, ripping up pavement and trees, while blood-red clouds surged like a tidal wave across the horizon.
The earth groaned, tremors radiating outward as if the planet itself were shivering in fear.
"ROAAAAR!!!"
The Indestructible Reptile was no longer a mere lizard. It was struggling, yes, but it was changing.
It was visibly trending towards the form of a primordial dragon.
Its skeletal structure expanded, snapping and reforming instantly. Massive dragon wings, dripping with viscous fluid and shielded by bone plates, unfurled to cover the sky, obscuring the sun and plunging the zoo into a crimson twilight.
Its eyes, burning with hateful intelligence, fixed on Ren.
Endless rage. Boundless malice.
The moment it escaped the black hole's event horizon, it would unleash a vengeance that would scorch the earth clean of all life.
Ren looked up, his golden eyes glowing with a calm, almost bored, luminescence.
"Sorry, Grandpa 682," Ren murmured, his voice cutting through the roar of the wind. "But in this story, you don't get to be the protagonist."
He raised his hand higher.
"Devour."
He did not give it another second to evolve. Now was the time to reel in the line.
The Infinite Tree responded to his command. The ultimate devouring progress was unlocked, shifting from a passive pull to an active erasure.
The black hole didn't just pull; it bit.
"ROAR—GAAAAH!!!"
The berserk reptile, now halfway transformed into a dragon god capable of shattering continents, found its evolution utterly meaningless.
Adaptation required time. Ren gave it none.
The gravitational force multiplied exponentially. Space twisted into a funnel.
Unfortunately for the creature, this was as far as it would go.
Its defiant roars warped into a final, powerless wail of despair. The massive, sky-obscuring body twisted, elongated like taffy, and was violently sucked into the singularity.
Pop.
With a sound like a bubble bursting, the black hole vanished, taking the monster with it.
[Ding! Detected Abnormal Doomsday Factor SCP-682 (Indestructible Reptile) has been completely eliminated by Ren. Doomsday Companion Mission ended!]
[Ding! Settlement Complete: Ren obtained 5,000,000,000 Doomsday Points. Tokisaki Kurumi obtained 0 Doomsday Points!]
Silence crashed down upon the zoo.
The dragon's shadow that had eclipsed the sun vanished. The blood-red clouds dissipated as if wiped away by a giant hand. The spatial fluctuations smoothed out, and the chaotic sounds of panic from the crowd outside the barrier returned to a low, distant hum.
It was serene. It was peaceful.
It was as if the apocalypse that had nearly manifested seconds ago had been nothing but a collective hallucination.
But for Kagayama Kaede, Koshiguma Kazuho, and the others who had stood within Ren's protective barrier, the silence was deafening.
They were stunned, their minds unable to process the visual information they had just received.
The terrifying monster. The black hole tearing the sky. The world changing color.
The incongruity between that hellish landscape and the current peaceful sunshine was enough to drive someone mad. It felt like a glitch in reality.
"Tsk, why is my reward zero?"
Tokisaki Kurumi's voice broke the trance. She clicked her tongue in genuine annoyance, floating down gracefully to the ground, her Astral Dress fluttering.
Her casual complaint acted as a grounding rod for reality.
The girls blinked, realization flooding back. Their mouths felt dry, throats constricted by lingering fear.
It was the carefree Renge Miyauchi who broke the tension first. She opened her curious, wide eyes and tugged on Ren's sleeve.
"Ren-nii! Were we watching a movie just now? Special effects? That monster movie was so cool! Nyanpasu!"
"..."
The older girls exchanged glances. Originally, they had desperately hoped it was a hallucination. But seeing Renge's reaction, hearing Kurumi's complaint... their hearts tightened.
It was real.
"Gulp! W-Wei... Ren-kun..."
Tohka Yatogami swallowed a mouthful of saliva, her voice trembling. She cautiously, hesitantly asked the question burning in everyone's mind.
"What... what exactly was that just now?"
Ren merely shrugged, his demeanor relaxed as if he had just swatted a fly rather than erased a Ten-Star threat.
"Nothing much. Just a guy who causes World Doomsdays in nightmares decided to come out and cause trouble. I conveniently dealt with him."
He turned his gaze to the side.
"Speaking of which, Kaede, are you very scared?"
"Huh?"
Kaede, suddenly addressed, hadn't yet recovered from the shock. She blinked, her face pale.
Ren lifted his left hand.
Kaede was gripping it so tightly that her knuckles were white, her nails digging into his skin.
"You're holding on a bit tight," he teased gently.
"!!!"
Kaede realized her impropriety. A flush of embarrassment shot through her, and she quickly released his hand, stepping back.
"S-sorry!"
But the others were still replaying Ren's answer in their minds.
World Doomsday monster.
Conveniently dealt with.
What kind of sentence structure was that?!
What was the monster? What did he mean by Doomsday? And who, exactly, was Ren Kazama?
Only one person accepted this reality with absolute enthusiasm.
"I knew it!"
Rikka Takanashi stepped forward, removing her eyepatch dramatically to reveal her colored contact lens. She pointed a finger at Ren, her pose striking and theatrical.
"You are the Dark Hero who protects the boundaries of the world! You are the fated contractor of the Evil Eye of the True King! I have finally found you!"
"Huh?"
The atmosphere shifted from terrified to confused.
Natsumi Koshigaya looked at Rikka, then at Ren, her expression grave. "Rikka-chan... could it be that you also have..."
Rikka had always spouted nonsense about the Evil Eye and hidden organizations. Natsumi had treated it as a game.
But now... after seeing that? It seemed like it might be true!
"Rikka..."
Even Tohka couldn't help but think in this direction. Was her sister actually a powerful mage guarding the seal?
"No, she's just a little chunibyo."
Ren's single, flat sentence shattered the rising fantasy instantly.
"Uh..."
Natsumi covered her face, even more embarrassed than before. She had actually believed for a second that Rikka had the power to save the world.
Tohka, meanwhile, had dark lines forming on her forehead.
Her sister was truly a hopeless chunibyo!
At a time like this, which clearly called for seriousness and caution, Rikka was still roleplaying.
Konomi Fujimiya took a deep breath, forcing her emotions to calm down. She looked at Ren with a serious, mature gaze.
"Ren-kun, was everything just now... truly real?"
"It was real."
Ren didn't hide it. He glanced around at the bustling crowd outside their barrier, who were oblivious to the near-apocalypse.
"It seems you're not in the mood to continue shopping or looking at animals. This isn't the place to talk, either. Let's go somewhere else, and I'll explain in detail."
He turned his head slightly towards the floating girl.
"Are you going back now?"
Tokisaki Kurumi rolled her heterochromatic eyes. "Only remembering me now? What a heartless man."
She smoothed her skirt, a playful yet dangerous smile on her lips.
"I won't stay here to be a third wheel. I still have to help you coax those foolish Spirits back home. This trip was a total waste of time. Zero points... how tragic."
No gains whatsoever.
Though she complained, there was no real anger in her voice.
"Ara ara, goodbye then, Ren-san."
With that, she chose to return. Her figure dissolved into shadows, vanishing from the spot instantly.
"!!!"
Tokisaki Kurumi, appearing and disappearing like a phantom, shocked the girls all over again.
Ren clapped his hands to draw their attention back.
"Let's go to my house first. It's safe there."
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