"Not good!"
Cloud's eyes snapped open. Half showed his own clarity; the other half showed Orochi's indifferent platinum gold!
He knew he was about to lose control.
Once he was completely consumed by this "inner demon," he would become a world-destroying demon god a hundred times more terrifying than Igniz!
At that point, the entire Earth might be annihilated with a single thought from him!
"Can't... can't stay here!"
Cloud's mind flashed with the faces of his women—seductive, pure, tsundere, gentle.
He couldn't hurt them.
He couldn't destroy this world he so deeply loved!
Using the last of his rationality, he made a decision that even shocked the System!
He would leave Earth!
Go somewhere absolutely safe, where he absolutely couldn't harm anyone, to weather this "inner demon tribulation" of his own!
The next second, his figure silently vanished from the underground laboratory.
In the estate, every girl who shared a soul bond with him felt, at the same instant, the aura of the most important person in their lives suddenly... completely vanish from this world.
As if he had been erased from the level of "existence" itself.
"Cloud?!"
...
The Moon.
On the desolate, crater-covered lunar surface.
A figure appeared abruptly.
It was Cloud.
He gazed at that sapphire-like, beautiful blue planet in the distance, then looked at his own hand—already uncontrollably releasing wisps of "destruction qi"—and a complex smile crossed his face.
"This should be... safe enough, right?"
He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.
Behind him, that massive demon god shadow symbolizing "Orochi"—constructed from the Will of Nothingness—slowly materialized, its indifferent golden vertical pupils coldly surveying the lunar surface like a being looking down upon all creation.
A war belonging to him alone had begun—the most lonely and dangerous battle against "divinity" and "humanity," against "creation" and "destruction"—on this silent planet 380,000 kilometers from Earth.
Could he conquer himself and become a true "Genesis God" who mastered his power?
Or would he completely fall, becoming a "World-Destroying Demon God" that annihilated everything?
No one knew the answer.
The people of Earth only knew that on this day, the "Savior" who had protected them multiple times had completely vanished from everyone's perception.
...
The KOF XI tournament invitations arrived on schedule.
But this year's atmosphere was completely different from before.
If KOF '97 was "gods fighting" and KOF 2003 was "big shots crashing the party," then this year's KOF XI felt more like an eerie game of "Werewolf."
The air was thick with suspicion and unease—"who's the villager, who's the wolf?"
Because this year's participant roster was simply too "bizarre."
First was the white-haired "little punk"—Ash Crimson—who had suddenly betrayed everyone at the end of KOF 2003, stolen Chizuru Kagura's "Yata Mirror," and mocked the protagonist team while he was at it.
This guy, instead of being globally wanted, had openly assembled a new team to compete! His new teammates were "Duo Lon" and "Shen Woo"—one taciturn, one explosive as thunder. The three standing together created an extremely mismatched image, their whole aura screaming: "We're thrown together last-minute, but we're badass."
No one knew his purpose for competing this time. That face, always wearing a mocking smile, seemed to say: "Go ahead and guess—if you're right, I lose."
And even more explosive was the "Three Sacred Treasures Team" lineup.
Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami—these two who had viewed each other as "lifelong enemies" for centuries—had actually... unprecedentedly... teamed up?!
This news, upon announcement, detonated like a nuclear bomb in the fighting world!
"Holy crap! Kyo and Iori teamed up? What kind of divine plot is this? My youth is over!"
"Won't these two fight each other first and sacrifice their teammate when they're standing together?"
"I bet fifty cents they'll have internal conflict over who goes first before their first match even ends."
And the third member of the Sacred Treasures Team shocked everyone even more—Maki Kagura!
This legendary Kagura shrine maiden had actually appeared on the participant list, alive and well!
She wore a shrine maiden outfit even more magnificent and mature than her sister Chizuru's. That face, extremely similar to Chizuru's yet more gentle and graceful, carried a faint smile as if she could see through everything.
The Three Sacred Treasures Team had made a powerful return with an unprecedented "royal flush" lineup! Their target was obvious—the mysterious organization stirring up storms from the shadows, "Those From the Past"!
However, just as fighting fans worldwide went crazy discussing and betting on this tournament's "godly lineup," some sharp observers noticed a... deeply unsettling problem.
Where was Cloud?
That man who had descended as the "Savior" for several consecutive tournaments, like a "meta answer" grinding all villain BOSSes into the dirt...
That man who had single-handedly defeated the Emperor, sealed Goenitz, and converted more than half of the Hakkesshu to his side—the "World's King of Fighters"...
He... wasn't on this year's participant list!
"What's going on? Cloud-bro isn't competing this year?"
"Impossible! KOF without Cloud-bro is like beef noodles without beef, wife cakes without wife—what's the point?"
"I heard... after the Mukai battle, he announced he was entering seclusion. Could he have... gone mad from training?"
"Don't talk nonsense! He's pursuing a higher martial realm! How can you mortals fathom the thoughts of a god?"
Speculation about Cloud's "disappearance" ran rampant. And his absence cast an even more mysterious shadow over the already eerie KOF XI.
...
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