Japan, 20xx AD

The surrounding scenery was pitch black. Soon a bright light spot appeared, followed by Kenshubo Takeru's voice.

"Where are you? why did you disappear before telling what you know about Yokai… where did they come from… what memories did they forget….”

In a barren rocky desert, a man wears a Japanese monk's clothes covered in classic Japanese warlord armor, a cape down his back to ankle length, his head is covered with black steel of a broad conical shape, kegutsu (Japanese samurai boots), and carries a monk's staff modified with a golden flame patterned naginata blade. He walked alone towards the wilderness area with very tall trees and black clouds with thunder rumbling above it. Rengoku Shinokuro walked with the wind blowing strong enough to make the cape on his back wave backward. Ken's voice sounded again.

“Ren? What are you doing? Why are you walking alone there?”

In Ken's view, he could see Ren walking in front of him at a not-too-far distance. Even though Ken was trying to talk to Ren, Ren couldn't hear him. Ken said again

“Ren… can you hear me?”

Not long after, Ren looked like he was realized something; he then stopped and turned to look toward Ken.

"Who are you? how could you…”

Ren looked confused, with his face mostly hidden by his black steel of broad conical hat, and said as if he could see Ken. Soon, the vision around Ken blurred and slowly grew darker until it finally became pitch black.

The current time is 5:40 am. Ken opened his eyes slowly. He was lying on his bed in his bedroom at his house and wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and long white pants. Ken took a sitting position with a flat expression on his face

"Ren... that dream felt so real... as if I really saw him before my eyes."

Ken looked at his digital alarm clock on the nightstand beside his bed and noticed that he had woken up earlier than the alarm he had set at 6:00 am. Ken didn't take long to feel a pain in his head, causing him to close his eyes and hold his head with his right hand. Ken opened his eyes again with a bit of shortness of breath.

“It seems I investigated Ren too much so that I dreamed of him….”

Ken then got up from his bed.

Ken wearing his school uniform, walked down the stairs to the dining room. In the family room, Shitara and Ken's father were watching TV together while waiting for breakfast which Ken's mother was cooking in the kitchen. Ken became curious; he then walked over to them to also watch the news on TV, which turned out to be about Black Star. Ken's expression turned astonished, he thought to himself.

“Black Star… somehow I have the feeling that I have already known him for so long….”

The news program on TV then showed the headline news “Hero or Villain?”.

Not long after, the intercom bell sounded from the direction of the house’s entrance, surprising everyone who was here. Ken's mother, who was cooking in the kitchen, looked at Ken through the kitchen bar.

"Could you please open the door and welcome our guest for a moment, Ken?"

Ken nodded

"Okay mom"

Ken walked with accelerated steps towards the house’s entrance with an astonished expression while he thought.

“Who comes to visit so early in the morning?”

Arriving at the entrance, Ken immediately opened the door. Ken's expression changed to surprise when he found out that the visitor was Suga and Yukari, who were wearing their respective school uniforms, with their expressions showing if something was bothering them. Yukari said

“Ken, we have something to discuss with you.”

Hearing that, Ken's expression turned confused and then curious.

Somewhere on the other side of the world, 20xx AD.

The sky is bright and slightly cloudy in this city. There is a skyscraper, one of the quarters of G.O.DS (Global Organization of Defense). Inside the building, two men sit relaxed in a spacious waiting room on the tens floor, with a row of tall glass windows near them. A man in his 40s named Calahan Damon, wearing a suit and loafers with his hair neatly styled but elegant, sits on a long sofa while operating a tablet computer in his hands with a serious expression. Nearby was a man in his 60s named Alex Rolland, who was also wearing a suit and loafers, with his slightly long and slightly graying hair making regular patterns in his neatly but elegantly styled hair, mustache and beard which were slightly long but neatly styled which also starting to turn white in a regular pattern, this man was sitting on a single sofa while operating the smartphone in his hand with a serious facial expression. A large TV mounted on the wall shows a news program regarding Black Star, indicating that his discussions with the Pentagon are still ongoing. They both watched the news with serious expressions. Calahan said

"I hope the Pentagon disapproves of Black Star's planned actions and can persuade him to drop his intentions regarding Hero or Villain."

Alex crossed his arms, his expression turning deadpan

"I dunno, I guess…."

Suddenly, the news broadcast was interrupted and only displayed a black screen with the words "No signal," the news presenter then said that if there was a technical problem and they could not do live broadcasts from the Pentagon area. Seeing that, their expressions turned astonished. Alex said

"Maybe their signal is having problem, try changing to another channel."

Calahan nodded; he then picked up the TV remote on a nearby table and changed the channel. However, several times Calahan changed the news channels, it turned out that all live broadcasts that recorded situations outside the Pentagon were experiencing problems and only showed bewildered newscasters and news program staff. Calahan's expression turned astonished

“Strange, all live broadcasts at the Pentagon and it surrounding area are cut off.”

Alex appeared to realize something; he then checked his smartphone

“The live broadcast on the internet is also experiencing problem, how strange…”

Alex tried to contact fellow G.O.DS members monitoring the area around the Pentagon but failed.

"I tried to contact some of our agents who are monitoring there, but couldn't get through, even though our connection has its own satellite..."

Calahan's expression turned serious.

“This isn't a coincidence, somehow I have a bad feeling…”

Alex's expression turned serious.

"We can't do anything from here, we should wait for news from the central."

Calahan nodded.

Sometime later, Calahan and Alex are now operating their respective smartphones, which showed the G.O.DS emblem in the upper right corner of the screen. Before long, Calahan's expression turned astonished.

"It's been half an hour since all access to communications from the area around the Pentagon was cut off."

Alex's expression turned curious; he then checked his smartphone

“There is also no news update regarding the discussion with Black Star, was all communication completely cut off….”

This matter starts bothering them. They operate their respective smartphones again with slightly worried expressions. Shortly after, Calahan appeared to remember something.

"Regarding the recent investigation by GODS members about the fairy tale, is it true that the fairy tale is a true story?"

Alex glanced at Calahan for a moment with a flat expression

"It is still under investigation by the special team, we will hear from them soon."

Calahan reading the text on his smartphone screen, his expression then turned serious:

“Once upon a time, there was a group of people from a hidden village. Somehow, they knew that "some kind of disaster" was coming. They began to travel together to find an answer and found a legend about “the valley of monsters,” the place where the monsters exist. They continue on a journey to prove the truth of the legend. It turns out the legend was true; they recklessly entered the place intending to capture some monsters and make them tools to help them.

After that, how surprised they were when they found out that this place turned out to be a very beautiful forest valley of beautiful mountains, far from their thoughts. Not only that, but they were also amazed at how surprisingly this place was so peaceful. The monsters coexist with each other. But unfortunately, this place was very dangerous for them. The monsters could attack them anytime and put them in danger. At first, they were scared and almost gave up wading through this beautiful but very dangerous place, but they finally managed to survive. Even so, after much consideration, they decided to discourage their intention. The reason is:

In the world of monsters, there is an unwritten law that monsters usually don't interfere with other monsters. The smaller the difference in power between them, the less likely they would clash with each other. If anyone tried to interfere with that, the monsters might end up fighting each other and bringing about the destruction of the world...”