Marcus had followed Rio's orders to the letter.
The RYUNN GODWAR SUIT, a sleek, high-performance battle armor equipped with next-gen tech and a dimensional warp drive, stood ready in the hidden hangar. Its surface shimmered with thin kinetic plating, glowing faintly like a sleeping beast.
"Master Rio," Marcus pleaded, his brow furrowed with concern, "at least let me accompany you—"
Rio smirked and placed a hand on Marcus's shoulder. "I need you to bring me some food packs and military-grade stimulants from Vault C-9. It's urgent."
Marcus turned without hesitation.
By the time he realized he'd been tricked, the suit had already launched, tearing through the atmosphere with a sonic boom. Rio was gone.
---
Outer Space
The stars stretched out around him like a shimmering ocean. Inside the GODWAR suit, Rio felt both terrified and electrified.
"This... is amazing", he said as the thrusters hummed.
"Let's go to Earth," he said aloud. "I hope this ride isn't wasted. If I come back empty-handed, I'm finished. The tournament's close. But I have to take this gamble."
He activated the celestial scanner, locating the remnants of a war-torn planet once called Earth. It was a skeletal version of its past glory—distant, fractured, but intact.
With full thrust, Rio plunged toward it.
---
Ruins of Earth – Abandoned City Sector X
The atmosphere was heavy with ash and silence. Buildings leaned like weary titans, windows shattered, streets cracked.
Rio landed amidst the ruins of a forgotten metropolis. The moment his boots touched ground, the environment flickered strangely.
First pristine. Then ruined again.
And again.
"A visual distortion field?" Rio murmured. "No... this is something else."
His HUD displayed signs of a neuro-hallucinogen in the air. He traced the fog to a large industrial drum perched precariously on top of a collapsed skyscraper—leaking pink fluid that shimmered like oil.
When he flew closer, he saw a strange, one-eyed old man standing on the edge of the building.
(An old man? Here? What in the...)
The old man turned as if expecting him.
"Warrior!" the old man called out in a hoarse voice. "Have you come to give us supplies? A mission? Food?"
Rio hovered cautiously.
"Pardon me, sir. I'm just doing research. And... I don't even have food for myself right now. Sorry!"
He turned to leave, confused and uneasy.
(Wait... how's he even up here on a sixteen-story ruin... without support?)
Then—
"Ughh—What the—?!"
A shockwave slammed into Rio.
The GODWAR suit absorbed most of it, but the sheer force sent him flying backwards.
When he looked again, the old man was gone—and in his place stood a towering humanoid with crackling muscles and a monstrous grin.
"Another God of War...!" the being said, voice no longer feeble. "How interesting..." He laughed—deep, wild, and inhuman.
Rio scanned him.
[Power Signature: TIER-5]
"Not too dangerous", he calculated. With the GODWAR suit, I can take him down and maybe even force him to help me track a TIERCRAFT...
But then the air trembled.
Shapes began emerging from behind broken walls, rubble, and shadows—dozens, then hundreds of them. Eyes gleamed in the fog.
Each wore a smile that didn't belong to humans.
Rio froze.
"It's not his power alone. It's their numbers!"
Panic surged through his veins. He diverted all reserve power to thrusters and activated the emergency warp.
A pulse of blue energy exploded from the GODWAR suit as Rio escaped into deep space—barely.
---
Location – ????
System Log: Location Unknown. Composition: 97% ` Complex Carbon-Based Terrain.
Rio tumbled down onto jagged, brittle ground made entirely of blackened charcoal. Smoke coiled in the air like ghosts.
He panted heavily.
"Holy shit... what was that?"
Then—movement.
Across a vast ridge, a figure appeared—cloaked in black, with wings like those of a raven forged from obsidian. His very presence seemed to warp the air around him. Power surged from him in waves, and even the suit struggled to analyze it.
(TIER-1-2 warriors and commoners would faint from just sensing this aura...)
Rio ducked behind a mound of scorched coal, forcing his breath still. He shut down most of the suit's active systems to avoid detection.
Power reserves blinked red.
Only enough left to return to keep him safe...
Another winged figure turned his head slowly, like a predator sniffing the wind.
"Oi. Mortal."
His voice was sharp and low, like a blade drawn across granite.
"What are you doing here? Don't tell me... you're here to spy? To warn your people about us... and this place ?"
Rio didn't move.
But he knew—he had just stumbled into something far bigger than he ever imagined.