It was because of this drawing that Hu Qiandai remembered its contents.
However, deep in her heart, Hu Qiandai didn’t quite believe it.
She was a member of the “Inside World.”
She had seen monsters.
Although monsters were incredibly powerful, even the most fearsome among them could never reach such a hyperbolic level.
After all, this was destruction on a world-ending scale.
A flood destroying the world?
How could that be possible!
That was her thought from a thousand years ago.
Her face changed dramatically as she stared at the water, which had in mere moments risen to the height of an ordinary person’s thigh, and terrifying scenes began flashing through her mind.
"Get to higher ground!”
Hu Qiandai shouted loudly.
But it wasn’t to warn the people present.
It was—for the people down the mountain!
Urashima looked at Ryosuke.
"Listen to the girl!”
Ryosuke said without hesitation. His experience told him that she was worth trusting.
However, the next moment, the middle-aged officer was stunned.
They were currently at the mountain’s base, and moving to higher ground meant heading toward the mountain peak.
And up there, a fierce battle was raging.
Going up meant a certain death.
That seemed like a certain death as well.
There were many others in the same predicament as Ryosuke. The members of the Inside World in the Kinki region found themselves in a similar position.
Hiding in the corners far away from the battlefield, they exchanged helpless glances.
Completely at a loss.
Strangely, it was the ordinary people in the city who acted with urgency, packing their belongings and fleeing with their families at once.
They didn’t know if Hu Qiandai’s warning was true.
But the massive serpent with its eight heads was undeniably real.
So, they chose to believe Hu Qiandai’s words.
Still, it was too slow!
Just one minute later—
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
A towering wave surged down from the mountain peak.
In an instant, it was a hundred meters high.
Everyone cried out in shock.
Husbands clung to their wives, while wives quietly sobbed.
Mothers held their children close, shielding the little ones’ eyes, and fathers embraced their families with all their strength, as if trying to protect them in this final moment.
Even though they knew it was futile.
Ryosuke, Urashima, and the other members of Zero Section stared at the impending wave with despair written across their faces.
That was what they all thought.
Ryosuke was no exception.
Silently, he pulled out another cigarette.
At that moment, there was truly nothing else he could think to do but light his cigarette.
The flame flickered to life.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The massive wave crashed downward.
"The world will return to the ocean!”
The immense monster declared in a booming voice.
Its words were like proclamations.
In the face of absolute despair, everyone could only choose to surrender to this fate.
What could they possibly do in the face of such a calamity?
They could only await death.
Pray that someone might save them!
But even as they prayed, they understood how slim the chance was.
No one could possibly save them!
The despair deepened further!
The world, shrouded in night, seemed to sink into darkness in that moment.
The overwhelming negativity felt almost tangible.
As though inhaling this despair, the enormous monster laughed uproariously.
"This is what ants are!”
The world itself seemed to be reduced to nothing but this unbridled laughter, which only made the monster even more smug.
But in the next moment—
Clear and steady footsteps resounded in the night.
A figure emerged, walking through the crowd frozen in despair.
Wearing a tattered monk’s robe, he seemed utterly out of place in the bustling nighttime city.
Even more incongruous was the faint golden radiance.
The golden light that emanated softly from within his body, shining outward.
Bathed in this golden glow, the terrified people quickly calmed down. Their eyes instinctively fixed on the elderly monk who stepped forward, one step at a time.
He walked through the city.
He traversed the outskirts.
He climbed the mountain peak.
He approached the massive wave.
The old monk stared at the towering wave in front of him, his heart filled with overwhelming fear. He had no idea why the wave had suddenly stilled—he had only come to do what little he could. How could something occur?
But he knew that everyone was watching him, those who had just moments ago been comforted were all looking at him now.
And so, he could only press forward.
But for all living beings.
Instead… hold on to hope!
With this thought, a sudden calmness washed over the monk’s heart.
If death is inevitable, so be it.
If it means being swallowed by the wave, so be it.
Hadn’t he already foreseen this?
He continued to stride forward, his palms coming together lightly in prayer—