Still inside the meeting room, Christian watched as his sister and Eva hovered over the table, voices lively and eyes gleaming as they pointed at various data projected by the hologram. They were completely immersed, talking excitedly about their plans for the near future.
Seeing that, Christian decided to make a tactical retreat.
He turned away and made his way toward the long sofa, where Olivia sat with her arms crossed, clearly bored from all the strategizing. Without asking, he lowered himself beside her — not with distance, but close. Shoulder to shoulder. His arm brushed against hers, and their thighs pressed together.
He leaned enough for the side of his body to touch hers — casual, yet intimate. And Olivia, though she glanced briefly at him, didn’t say a word.
Christian smirked slightly, then broke the silence.
"What do you think about your mother’s current behavior? Doesn’t she seem... younger?"
"Well..." Olivia started, just as she felt his hand settle on her thigh. Her words stalled. Her gaze slid toward him, only to find his face tilted toward her, smiling with that teasing, infuriatingly smug expression.
A soft flush crept into her cheeks. And she quickly turned her head, eyes darting across the room — straight to Eva, who was absorbed with her conversation. Then, as if surrendering to the mood, she exhaled slowly and said, "Mom looks... vibrant."
A soft smile played on her lips as she kept watching her mother. And Christian, who had been hoping to provoke a reaction, was momentarily distracted. Her smile — unguarded and a little wistful — struck him as unusually radiant.
That’s why, he pulled his hand back without a word.
For a while, they talked in quiet voices, until Christian, growing more comfortable, slowly made a move.
This time, he leaned fully against the arm of the sofa and stretched out, resting his head lazily on Olivia’s lap. His cheek met the soft curve of her thigh, warm and welcoming, and her hand hesitated only for a second before brushing a strand of his hair aside.
Together, they sat like that.
He lay there, half-listening to Eva and Annabelle still discussing their plans to take over the Infinitel company, voices rising and falling with determined excitement.
After all... Olivia was Vincent’s granddaughter. And they were determined to use that to their advantages.
Christian closed his eyes for a moment, soaking in the calm danger of this strange peace — the soft comfort of her lap, and the sharp, vivid picture of two women planning to seize power.
And then — the moment shattered.
[Master, following a fallout between the North Korean government and the outsider group settled there, they’ve just decided to launch a nuclear bomb!]
[Estimated launch is in a few minutes. And targeted location is the border between North Korea and South Korea.]
Silence crashed through the room like a sudden drop in pressure.
Christian, already sitting, exhaled sharply and muttered under his breath, "They’re really crazy."
Time passed, and in the end... North Korea really did it.
The nuclear bomb was launched.
The chaos that was already unfolding around the world seemed only to escalate further after the detonation.
Panic and fear spread like wildfire through the hearts of ordinary people.
Because this time, it was North Korea.
Seoul, a city once bustling and vibrant, among the most prominent in the world, wasn’t directly targeted, but due to its relative proximity to the border, it still suffered.
After all, three disasters struck it in rapid succession.
First came the earthquake — a violent shake that shattered buildings, split roads, and sowed confusion. Then, barely had the city caught its breath when the nuclear blast hit the border. Though Seoul was not the epicenter, the shockwaves, radiation, and sheer panic that followed plunged the city into further disorder.
And as if that wasn’t enough — came the third disaster.
In the aftermath, essence masters flooded the area. Be it from ancient families, rogue factions, or the strongest: outsiders.
They clashed across the broken streets. And their battlefield extended through shattered neighborhoods and blackened high-rises. The chaos that essence could bring was no longer fiction.
Now, two weeks after the nuclear strike, Seoul was nearly deserted.
What few remained either fled or adapted — and those who adapted, began to learn. Essence was no longer a hidden mystery in Korea. People, even ordinary citizens, had begun to learn about a side of the world they once believed belonged only to fiction, to stories, or to movies.
And while other countries weren’t hit as directly, they weren’t safe either. Essence was being talked about everywhere — if not openly, then in whispers and rising rumors. A veil had been torn, and the world could not pretend anymore.
Some factions still tried to downplay the truth — launching rumors, manipulating the media, spinning conspiracy theories to keep the masses calm.
But the facts wouldn’t change.
The world had tipped into chaos.
And the reason wasn’t just the powerful groups fighting behind the scenes.
It was the common people.
Because now... they had power too.
The Liberation Front, acting almost like a charitable foundation, began distributing essence techniques across the globe. And not to be outdone, other groups quickly followed.
Essence techniques were everywhere.
From the depths of rural villages to the heart of major cities, they spread at an alarming pace. Techniques no one had even heard of before began appearing in back alleys, black markets, and anonymous online forums. New ones were surfacing every day — some refined and powerful, others unstable and clearly dangerous.
It wasn’t just techniques spreading — the consequences followed close behind. Abominations began appearing with increasing frequency: grotesque transformations born from improper or incompatible essence attunement.
The first signs had already made the essence density in the atmosphere rose, overwhelming those with weak attunement. And now, those twisted mutations were only accelerating.
And with this change, most governments could no longer handle the situation.