The battle against the Giant began.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
The enormous creature had finally reached the lake, and there it stopped.
It stood at the edge of the water, its colossal body towering over the surrounding forest. The surface of the lake trembled beneath its shadow.
Thousands of soldiers stood before it.
For the first time since the war began, the army of three kingdoms faced something that none of their weapons had been designed to fight.
A creature from an age that had supposedly vanished from history.
Lucian looked toward the commanders.
"Fire."
The First Volley
The Light Cannons were turned toward the Giant.
Their mana cores began to glow.
One after another, the cannons charged.
The soldiers stepped back.
The humming of the weapons grew louder.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!
A barrage of brilliant light erupted across the battlefield.
White beams tore through the air and struck the Giant directly.
The impact created a tremendous explosion.
Dust and debris rose into the sky.
For several seconds, nothing could be seen.
The soldiers waited.
Then the wind began to clear the dust.
The Giant was still standing.
No.
It hadn't simply survived.
It hadn't even moved.
The soldiers stared in disbelief.
There wasn't a single serious wound on its body.
A few marks could be seen where the Light Cannons had struck.
But even those were barely scratches.
A commander whispered,
"Impossible..."
Another soldier lowered his weapon.
"How can something survive that?"
Lucian's expression hardened.
"Prepare another volley!"
The cannons began charging again.
But before they could fire—
The Giant moved.
The Giant's Hand
Its enormous right arm slowly rose.
The soldiers watched.
At first, its movement seemed almost slow.
Then—
WHOOSH!
The arm swept across the battlefield.
A tremendous shockwave tore through the air.
The Light Cannons positioned at the front were obliterated.
Metal twisted.
Mana cores shattered.
Wooden platforms were thrown into the air.
The soldiers nearby were forced to dive out of the way.
Fortunately, the commanders had kept the infantry away from the cannons.
Otherwise, hundreds would have died instantly.
Lucian's eyes widened.
"Fall back!"
But the Giant wasn't finished.
Its other arm moved.
This time, the attack travelled even farther.
The ground erupted.
Trees were ripped from the earth.
Several soldiers from the frontline were thrown through the air.
The formation collapsed.
"Frontline! Regroup!"
"Don't scatter!"
"Hold your positions!"
The commanders desperately tried to restore order.
The Giant simply stood there.
It looked almost bored.
A Combined Assault
The commanders understood that individual attacks were useless.
"All units!"
"Attack together!"
The army responded.
Archers released their arrows.
Mages unleashed spells.
Knights charged.
Light Cannons fired from the rear.
Dwarven weapons thundered.
Elven magic filled the sky.
Lucian charged forward with his Melarium sword glowing with Light Mana.
He concentrated everything he had into a single strike.
"HA!"
His sword struck the Giant.
CRACK!
A tiny line appeared across its skin.
Lucian stared.
A scratch.
That was all.
His strongest attack had produced nothing more than a shallow wound.
The Giant looked down at him.
Lucian felt something he hadn't experienced in years.
Fear.
Not fear of death.
Fear of realizing that everything he had learned about strength might not be enough.
The Giant swung its arm.
Lucian barely escaped.
The ground where he had stood exploded.
The Golems
The alchemists finally deployed their secret weapons.
"Golems!"
Several enormous mechanical constructs marched onto the battlefield.
Their bodies were reinforced with Melarium.
Their cores were packed with high-density Mana Crystals.
They had been designed to fight Demonic Beasts.
Some were almost as tall as small buildings.
The soldiers cheered when they saw them.
"Go!"
The Golems charged.
One grabbed the Giant's leg.
Another struck its knee.
A third attacked its torso.
For a moment, the soldiers believed they had found a way to restrain it.
Then the Giant moved.
BOOM!
One Golem was crushed beneath its foot.
Another was thrown into the forest.
The third had its arm ripped away.
Metal screamed.
The remaining Golems were destroyed within moments.
The cheering stopped.
The battlefield became silent.
No weapon worked.
No machine worked.
No spell worked.
The Giant simply continued moving.
The Light Across the Lake
Then—
A flash appeared from the opposite side of the lake.
Lucian turned.
A brilliant light pierced the battlefield.
FWOOM!
A massive beam struck the Giant.
For the first time...
The Giant moved backward.
Its enormous body staggered.
The soldiers stared.
Someone whispered,
"It worked."
The Giant had been pushed back.
A wave of hope spread through the army.
Then a familiar figure appeared behind the weapon.
A woman in battle armor stood beside the enormous cannon.
Lucian's eyes widened.
"Aunt Irene..."
Irene Tecka had entered the battlefield.
The Weapon of Tecka
The canon was the latest creation of Tecka's alchemists.
It had been constructed from the designs Irene had secretly provided.
The original concept came from the weapon that blasted into the blue pillar.
But this was no longer the same machine.
It had been rebuilt.
Improved.
Strengthened.
And made specifically for one purpose.
Fighting creatures infused with enormous quantities of Demonic Energy.
The cannon's core glowed.
Irene stood behind it.
"Lucian!"
Lucian looked toward her.
"I'll hold it."
Irene raised her sword.
"You attack."
Lucian smiled.
"Understood."
The cannon fired again.
BOOOOOOM!
The Giant staggered.
Lucian charged.
The soldiers followed.
For the first time since the battle began, the Giant started losing ground.
The Giant Retreats
Irene's weapon continued firing.
Every blast pushed the Giant backward.
Lucian and the other warriors attacked whenever an opening appeared.
The commanders coordinated their troops.
The army advanced.
Step by step.
The Giant retreated.
Its movements became slower.
Its attacks became less precise.
Dark blood began dripping from several wounds.
The soldiers saw it.
"It can bleed!"
"It's weakening!"
"Keep attacking!"
The army surged forward.
Hope returned.
Lucian and Irene fought side by side.
Irene's sword cut through the Giant's defenses.
Lucian followed with a burst of Light Mana.
The Giant stumbled.
Lucian saw his opportunity.
"Aunt Irene!"
She understood immediately.
Irene extended her hand.
Lucian grabbed it.
Together they rushed forward.
They moved with everything they had.
The Giant tried to regain its balance.
Too late.
Their combined assault struck its leg.
The enormous creature stumbled.
Then—
CRASH!
The Giant fell to one knee.
The earth shook beneath its weight.
The soldiers erupted in cheers.
"We did it!"
"It's falling!"
"The Giant is down!"
Lucian looked toward Irene.
She smiled.
But neither of them celebrated.
Something felt wrong.
The Roar
The Giant suddenly stopped moving.
Its head lowered.
For a moment, the battlefield became silent.
Then a strange sound came from its body.
A deep rumbling.
Grrrrrrrrr...
Dark Mana began leaking from its wounds.
Lucian's expression changed.
"Everyone, move!"
Too late.
The Giant released a roar.
ROOOOOOOOOAR!
A tremendous wave of Demonic Energy erupted from its body.
The battlefield shook.
Soldiers were thrown backward.
Trees snapped.
The surface of the lake erupted into enormous waves.
The Giant rose again.
Its eyes burned with a strange crimson light.
The Mega Cannon
The engineers immediately activated the Mega Cannon brought by Irene.
"Charge!"
The enormous weapon began absorbing Mana.
Its core grew brighter.
Brighter.
Brighter.
The entire battlefield seemed to illuminate.
Irene looked toward the weapon.
"Fire!"
The cannon released its energy.
A gigantic beam of Light Mana crossed the battlefield.
BOOOOOOM!
It struck the Giant directly.
For a moment, the Giant disappeared inside the light.
The soldiers watched anxiously.
Then the beam faded.
The Giant remained standing.
The soldiers were horrified.
The Giant had raised an enormous amount of Demonic Mana around itself.
The dark energy had become so dense that it interfered with the Light Mana.
The beam was being deflected.
The Giant roared.
The Mega Cannon's core flickered.
A dwarven engineer stared at the readings.
"The cannon..."
"It's overheating."
Irene's expression darkened.
The weapon had been rendered useless.
But the Giant wasn't unharmed.
Dark blood flowed from several parts of its body.
It had been wounded.
It could be hurt.
That was enough.
"Continue attacking!"
The commanders gave the order.
The remaining forces charged.
The Turning Point
The battle continued.
Sword after sword struck.
Magic exploded.
Arrows pierced its flesh.
Dwarven weapons fired continuously.
Lucian released every ounce of Light Mana he could gather.
Irene fought beside him.
The Giant began bleeding heavily.
Dark liquid poured from its wounds.
But then—
The ground shook.
A strange pressure spread across the battlefield.
Lucian suddenly felt his stomach twist.
Something was coming.
The Giant raised its foot.
Lucian looked up.
The enormous leg descended toward him.
He tried to move.
He was too slow.
Then—
BOOM!
A wave of dark energy struck the Giant.
Its leg stopped midair.
The Giant staggered.
Everyone froze.
Lucian coughed.
Blood stained his lips.
"What...?"
The Giant turned.
Its eyes widened.
Something had attacked it.
Not the army.
Not Irene.
Not Lucian.
Something else.
The Giant suddenly screamed.
A crack appeared across its enormous body.
Dark energy poured from the wound.
Then another crack.
And another.
The soldiers watched in horror.
The Giant's body began splitting apart.
CRACK!
A tremendous explosion of dark blood erupted across the battlefield.
The Giant collapsed.
Its enormous body was torn apart.
The battlefield became silent.
No one moved.
No one understood what had happened.
The creature that had resisted everything...
Had been killed by something else.
Irene stared into the dark mist.
"Who did that?"
Lucian slowly raised himself.
Through the thick cloud of Demonic Energy, he saw a silhouette.
A figure was walking toward them.
Slowly.
Calmly.
As though the battlefield belonged to him.
The soldiers raised their weapons.
Irene tightened her grip around her sword.
Lucian's Light Mana began gathering around his body.
The silhouette continued forward.
For one terrifying moment, Lucian wondered if it was him.
Rio.
The Demon Commander who had vanished after the battle at the Twin Mountains.
But the figure's movements were different.
Its presence was different.
Even the Demonic Mana felt unfamiliar.
The figure stepped through the mist.
Everyone held their breath.
The Giant lay dead behind it.
And the stranger continued walking toward them.
Irene whispered,
"Who are you...?"
The figure didn't answer.
Not yet.
The only sound was the slow dripping of the Giant's dark blood onto the ground.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.