"Welcome, my apostles."

A robed man appeared and immediately bowed onto both knees as if praying before Samiri and Messenio.

"Good job, my servant," Messenio said.

He placed his hand on the man’s head, and suddenly, dark aura spread from his palm and covered the man in darkness.

"Ahhh... I am truly thankful for your blessing, my apostles," the man said excitedly.

"Where is our target?" Messenio asked.

The robed man slowly stood up and pointed toward a boy within the celebrating crowd. A wide grin appeared on Messenio’s face.

He then extended his hand toward the boy as black-and-red magical aura gathered around it.

"I apologize, child. But your celebration will end prematurely."

---

"Oliver! Can we look at your monster?"

Ray’s group excitedly asked Oliver, who was currently enjoying grilled chicken. Ray himself was just standing behind the group, clearly unhappy that everyone’s attention was no longer focused on him.

Oliver originally wanted to ignore them and continue eating his food. But after seeing their sparkling eyes filled with curiosity, he finally gave in. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

He then summoned Husk out. Husk looked visibly irritated as all the children immediately crowded around him and started touching his fur in amazement.

Even some adults gathered around to take a closer look at him.

’Should I start charging them later if they want to pet Husk? Hmm... that’s actually a great idea.I should tell my parents about it later.’ Oliver thought seriously.

His eyes then wandered around the celebration. His parents looked genuinely happy. And to Oliver, that was what mattered the most.

But then, he suddenly realized something. Happiness was not always permanent.

[Mysterious force is trying to invade the system!]

Suddenly, Oliver’s eyes widened from the system notification.

"What is happening?!"

He immediately stood up, completely forgetting the meal in front of him as he quickly walked out from the open tent.

At the same time, both Nyx and Queen appeared on their own without being summoned. Their sudden appearance shocked the townspeople as they saw the other monsters Oliver possessed.

"Why are all of you coming out by yourselves?" Oliver asked, since he originally planned to keep the existence of his other monsters hidden.

"We can feel something ominous approaching through the system, my Oliver," Queen said seriously.

"Master... what is... this feeling?" Nyx asked slowly.

Even Husk left the crowd and quickly ran toward Oliver.

"Kid, I don’t feel good about this," Husk said seriously.

Oliver was also confused by the sudden situation. Everything had started after the system sent that strange message.

Suddenly, an intense heat spread from inside his body. It felt as though flames were burning through his internal organs.

"Arghh... hot!"

Oliver fell onto his knees as all of his monsters became worried.

[The mysterious force is trying to corrupt the monster cards! Remove them before it spreads!]

Oliver immediately took out the two monster cards he had been keeping for some time. Ragthorax and Oculbane.

But the moment he looked at them, he saw ominous black-and-red smoke covering the cards.The smoke felt burning hot in his hands. Oliver immediately threw both cards onto the ground.

Suddenly, the smoke surrounding them became more and more intense before the cards completely evaporated into particles.

The black-red particles then flew toward the rooftops of two nearby houses.

And from within the black-red smoke, two figures slowly emerged.

One was a monstrous winged creature standing nearly five meters tall on top of a roof.

The other was a two-meter humanoid figure with a single piercing eye standing on another rooftop nearby.

<Ragthorax>

<Oculbane>

Both monsters radiated intense killing intent.

The crowd was instantly shocked by their appearance.

"Oliver, are those your monsters?" Nolan asked seriously.

"Yes... but also no," Oliver answered.

The monsters indeed originated from his system, but he had not tamed them yet.

"RRRRAAAARRR!!"

Ragthorax suddenly released a deafening roar. Its voice was so loud that Oliver and the others immediately covered their ears. Oliver could even feel his eardrums vibrating painfully. The surrounding windows and flower vases instantly shattered from the sound alone.

"Run!" Nolan immediately shouted to the townspeople.

Everyone instantly began dispersing in panic as tables and tents were overturned everywhere.

"What is happening now?!" Robert shouted in disbelief as his mouth still full of food while covering his ears.

Suddenly, all the fleeing people stopped in their tracks before collapsing onto the ground.

Oliver also fell onto one knee as he felt immense pressure descend upon his body. He looked upward and saw Oculbane raising its staff.

"What the hell is this large-scale skill? It’s so powerful..." Oliver muttered.

At that moment, he finally realized something terrifying. The monsters within his system were far beyond anything he had ever imagined.

And now, he did not even know if he and his monsters together could defeat the two bosses standing before them.

Just as Oliver desperately tried to think of a way to stop the calamity descending upon his town, two figures wearing black-and-white attire suddenly appeared from nowhere and landed before the monsters.

Samiri confronted Ragthorax while Messenio stood facing Oculbane. Surprisingly, neither of them seemed affected by the immense pressure skill at all.

"Unholy Gleam."

Messenio cast a ray of darkness toward Oculbane.

In the next instant, Oculbane blinked away onto the roof of another nearby house. Its large-area pressure skill was immediately canceled, allowing the crowd to continue fleeing in panic.

"That attire..." Husk muttered as he recalled seeing those robes somewhere before.

"Who are you?! What are you doing here?!" Oliver shouted after finally managing to stand upright.

"What an interesting monster you have, boy!" Samiri laughed excitedly. "I can finally fight a monster seriously!"

He cracked his neck before throwing his robe aside. Then, lowering his body, he charged directly toward Ragthorax.

THUMP!!

Samiri and Ragthorax collided violently, causing roof tiles to explode outward. Samiri grabbed Ragthorax by its jaw, but Ragthorax immediately swung its massive head and sent Samiri flying into a nearby house, destroying it completely.

Ragthorax then spread its wings and charged after Samiri.

On the other side, Oculbane swung its staff.

Five magical arrays of different colors immediately appeared floating before it. From each array, attacks of flame, water, wind, earth, and thunder burst out simultaneously toward Messenio.

However, Messenio remained completely calm and nonchalant. He slowly raised one hand, and a massive magical array appeared before him. It effortlessly absorbed all five attacks.

’Who the hell are they?’

Oliver thought in shock as he watched the two men fight equally against the monsters without even summoning their own.

Messenio slowly turned his head toward Oliver.His eyes gleamed under the moonlight as he stared directly at him.

"Sorry, child.The reason we are here..."

"...is to tame your monsters."