"Looks like someone around our age," Shane muttered, his earlier sarcasm fading into a more serious tone. "But… what would he even be doing out here? This Threshold just manifested minutes ago."
Fin and Shane finally stopped bickering, both now alert. Shia narrowed her eyes at the figure in the snow.
"Let's ask questions after we make sure he's alive, yeah?" Fin said firmly.
Shia nodded, already moving, her silver hair glinting faintly in the cold light. The others followed close behind—but Shane, distracted as usual, lingered.
"Hey… is it just me or did the air get suddenly colde—"
"SHANE! DU—"
SWIPE.
A monstrous, silver-clawed paw slammed into Shane's body before he could even react. Bones cracked like snapping twigs.
He didn't scream—there wasn't time.
His body flew across the snow, crashing into a thick slab of ice with a resounding CRACK. He slid down it slowly, eyes dulling, blood trailing after him.
"NO! Shane!" Fin's voice broke. "Shia—go to him, now!"
Dark energy exploded around Fin's arms as he turned, fury igniting his face.
The beast revealed itself from the icy mist—a towering Sub-Zero Jaguar, its silver fur shimmering like frozen steel, pale blue dots glowing across its massive body. Its breath misted the air as it let out a blood-chilling ROARRR that rattled the earth itself.
Frost bled from its body like a blizzard given form.
Shia's heartbeat thundered in her ears as she sprinted toward her brother, snow kicking up behind her.
Fin didn't waste another second.
"Tch. Shadow Beasts—GO!" he barked.
The black energy around him twisted and swirled, congealing into the shapes of massive, wolf-like creatures. Gleaming fangs, hollow eyes, each one wreathed in shadow. They shot toward the jaguar in a coordinated blur of motion.
Judicators—those chosen by Divine Cores to fight Thresholds. Fin was one of them.
But he wasn't a Tamer—not yet. He hadn't bonded with a beast. So unlike some of the others, he didn't have a partner to fight alongside him.
Still, he had his Trait.
Divine Cores gifted them. Random, chaotic abilities. From farts of fire to rocket-boosted feet.
Fin's own was B-Rank: Shadow Control.
Simple. Direct. Deadly.
'C'mon, hold that frosted pussy for one damn second.' he thought.
But his heart sank.
The Sub-Zero Jaguar roared again—then opened its jaws and fired a concentrated Frost Beam that incinerated every shadow wolf in a flash of white-blue light.
Gone.
'Are you kidding me?! That's just Tier 1?!'
The realization hit hard. If this was a Tier 1 beast what the hell did a Tier 5 look like?
Elsewhere
Cold.
That was the first thing he felt.
Then… screaming.
A roar.
Groggy, Aquarius groaned as he tried to move. His limbs ached, stiff like stone. Something icy covered his face.
He shoved himself over with effort, collapsing onto his back.
His blurred vision cleared enough to reveal an eerie, blue-glowing sky above.
And a memory jolted him.
A woman.
She had called him Master before everything went black.
But wait…
Didn't he get shot?
He raised a shaky hand to his temple. The pain was faint now, but there—a dull ache from where the bullet hit. So..why was he still breathing?
Before he could process more, a panicked male voice cut through the air:
"How can this be?! None of my attacks are working! This can't be an E-Ranked Threshold!"
Threshold?
Aquarius's mind raced.
He remembered the novel he'd been reading earlier.
[Some screamed as they were torn apart. Others simply winked out of existence like extinguished stars…
Then came the Thresholds.
Rents in reality. Divine scars. Gateways to other realms spewing monsters and relics and nightmares shaped by divine wrath.]
His heart dropped.
"No… fucking way…" he whispered, barely able to get the words out.
Was he actually… in the novel?
Isekai. Fantasy. Overpowered protagonists. All the dozens of novels that he read before..
This was happening. To him.
But before he could spiral deeper into disbelief, a horrific sound tore him back.
Bone. Crunching.
"FIN!!"
A woman's voice. Raw with terror.
'Shit…' Aquarius's instincts surged. He gritted his teeth and forced his legs beneath him. They trembled, but held.
Ahead—he saw them.
Three people. One down, blood pooling in the snow beneath him. The girl—likely his sister—held him tightly, sobbing. The other boy looked..mutilated and-
That thing.
The Sub-Zero Jaguar.
It dwarfed them all. A miniature Godzilla sized god of ice and death. It was charging another attack.
Aquarius clenched his fists.
He had to have some protagonist powers, right?
..Right?
His eyes flicked to his hands.
"What the…?"
They didn't look like his hands. Too slender. His arms too toned. Even his clothes weren't the same.
And this silky—was that hair?
A deep growl snapped his attention back.
The jaguar was about to fire.
"Fuck it!"
The blast erupted.
Shia flinched.
She held Shane tightly, bracing for impact. This was it. Their end.
'Sorry, Mom… Dad… guess I wasn't meant to be a Judicator.'
She waited for pain.
It never came.
A few seconds passed.
She cracked one eye open—and gasped.
A figure stood in front of her.
The same boy from earlier—the one they'd found collapsed.
He stood between them and the blast.
And it was…gone?
Her breath caught. What the hell just happened?
Even Aquarius didn't know.
Hovering in front of him, a blue screen shimmered with golden text.
[Supreme Core Trait: Limitless Devouring has activated.]
Aquarius blinked. Then glanced down at his hands.
"…What the hell did I just—"
WHAM.
The Sub-Zero Jaguar struck again—claws sweeping with brutal force.
SLAM.
Aquarius was launched into the air like a ragdoll. He crashed into the snow, tumbled, and smashed into a jagged rock.
Pain exploded through his ribs. His vision blurred.
He gasped—blood spilling from his lips.
The blue system screen flickered, then dimmed.
[ /!\ Warning /!\ Host synchronization disrupted. Core trait temporarily disabled. ]
Aquarius winced.
'So… okay. Can't block everything.'
He spit out blood, coughing.
'Good to know.'