The giant devil let out another roar, a guttural, earth-deep bellow that rolled across the battlefield and made the air itself feel heavier. It surged forward, its titanic frame blotting out much of the fire-lit sky, each thunderous step striking the scorched ground with enough force to shake dust loose from the wooden barricades and the battered ramparts behind them.
In only a handful of strides, the monster reached the frozen barricade that Mia had sealed earlier—the same one that had withstood the lesser devils' claws and the battering of their crude weapons. The thick wall of jagged ice loomed like a frozen cliff face, its surface faintly aglow with the golden traces of the priests' blessings still embedded within. For a heartbeat, the air around it was still—then the giant's massive axe came down in a violent arc.
