Chapter 378: Global Disaster
Days after the cataclysmic battle, a fresh wave of newspapers began circulating across the globe. These papers chronicled the war between two gods that had erupted just days prior, a conflict so monumental it shook the entire world.
The fallout was so severe that even the World Economic News Agency, led by Morgans, faced delays in distribution. Newscoo, the agency's trusty delivery creatures, refused to fly in the skies during the height of the chaos. Natural disasters, storms, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and torrential rains, ravaged the world, making flight perilous. Only when the disasters began to subside did Morgans deem it safe to resume publishing.
The headlines screamed with unprecedented urgency:
"Big News! Holy Land Marijoa was Invaded by Demons! The Sun God King and Demon God Ryomen Sukuna clash in a Battle of Gods. It resulted in Forever Altering the World!"
"The Sun God King and Demon God Ryomen Sukuna, Eternal Deities! Their Power Defies Imagination!"
"The World's Highest Crown No Longer Belongs to the World Government, but to These Two! They Are the Glory of the Two Gods Era, Two Eternal Stars in the Skies!"
As the newspapers hit the streets, people, still reeling from days of fear and uncertainty, eagerly snatched them up. This time, the World Economic News Agency released multiple editions, each dedicated to the earth-shattering events of the recent past. Other news, pirate skirmishes, political shifts, took a backseat, relegated to mere corners of the pages.
This event had delivered a shockwave unlike any before. Across the globe, people grappled with the reality of an unimaginable natural disaster, one that threatened their very existence. Survival, not curiosity, had been their priority during the chaos. But now, with the worst seemingly over, their hunger for answers was insatiable.
The demand for newspapers skyrocketed, matched only by the public's fervor for information. The world had endured abnormal weather for days, storms, tornadoes, quakes, tsunamis, and floods battered every corner of the planet. Worse, a pervasive mental malaise gripped humanity. People reported feelings of depression, helplessness, and suffocating unease, as if an invisible weight pressed on their souls.
The dual assault, external disasters and internal despair, left the world in misery. Though the worst had passed, the toll was incalculable. Entire regions lay in ruin, economies teetered, and countless lives were lost.
Now, people desperately needed to understand what had happened.
Hands trembled as they turned the pages of the unusually thick newspapers. Eyes widened in disbelief, absorbing the accounts of the battle, a clash between two gods, true deities whose power defied comprehension.
The world has gone mad!
The realization that such catastrophic natural disasters were man-made, or rather, god-made, struck like lightning. Why did beings of such terrifying power exist in their world?
As the truth sank in, a profound fear of the Sun God King and the Demon God Ryomen Sukuna took root. The mere fallout from their aerial battle had unleashed global devastation. It was the stuff of fantasy, too fantastical even for fairy tales. Their might transcended mortal understanding, leaving people in awe and terror.
In truth, the global catastrophe had been mitigated, severely restrained, even. Without intervention, the world would not be reading newspapers from their homes in comfort.
Days earlier, King and Sukuna's final confrontation had pushed the planet to the brink. Their ultimate techniques were so cataclysmic that, if left unchecked, they could have shattered the world itself.
The planet had been perilously close to their clash. If nothing was done, the collision of their powers might have caused it to explode.
Kai, who had been monitoring the battle. At the critical moment, he intervened, subtly shifting the planet's orbit to a safer distance. This adjustment ensured the clash wouldn't annihilate the world outright.
Even so, the maneuver carried risks. While the planet itself was spared, the surface bore the brunt of the consequences, an apocalyptic tableau of chaos.
For the planet, these disasters were mere scratches, inconsequential in the grand cosmic scale. But for the lifeforms on its surface, they were nothing short of apocalyptic.
Kai also neutralized the lingering shockwaves that threatened to destabilize the planet further, a detail unknown to those on the ground. All they witnessed was an endless darkness splitting the sky, countered by a blazing red light that divided the sky in two.
As time passed, the red light overpowered the darkness, and the world began to stabilize, though "normal" was a generous term.
What followed were relentless natural disasters and stranger, more insidious afflictions. People across the globe reported mental disturbances, as if their minds were unraveling.
These twin calamities, physical and psychological, were interconnected.
The natural disasters stemmed from Kai's orbital adjustment. Shifting a planet's trajectory, even slightly, disrupted its gravitational and ecological balance. Though the planet eventually returned to its original orbit, the damage was done. The upheaval triggered tsunamis, storms, droughts, and floods, exacerbated by King's power, which had evaporated vast quantities of seawater, further destabilizing the climate.
The mental afflictions, however, were tied to Sukuna's influence. His collapsing power, radiating negative energy, had seeped into the world, tainting the psyche of countless individuals.
Yet, this was merely the surface impact.
Unbeknownst to most, Sukuna's energy, now dispersed across the globe, laid the foundation for a new power system, distinct from Haki. This force, altered by Kai to be gentler and more compatible with life, was no longer pure negative energy. Its properties had shifted, making it accessible to living beings.
This was the seed of a new era.
In time, those attuned to this energy would give rise to a new breed of warriors, wielding abilities born of this novel system. The environment itself would transform, with nature birthing new demons, while animals, plants, fish, and even Sea Kings evolved under its influence.
This invisible force would shape the world's biosphere for centuries, though its discovery lay in the future.
For now, the world's attention was fixated on the battle of the gods.
According to the newspapers, the clash had ended in a draw. But many preferred to believe King had triumphed. After all, he had defeated Sukuna before, and days ago, the red light, King's signature, had visibly overwhelmed the black light in the sky.
This belief brought comfort. The power of the Sun God and Demon God was too terrifying to contemplate. If justice couldn't prevail over evil, what hope was there for a world at the mercy of a malevolent deity?
Rationally and emotionally, people clung to the idea of King's victory. In the wake of such upheaval, they needed hope to soothe their restless souls.
(End of this Chapter)