Chapter 21
The air grew heavier the closer they came.
Keal felt it first—a pressure in the atmosphere that didn't press on the body, but on the soul. The horizon shimmered with waves of heat, but it wasn't heat at all. It was killing intent.
The Second Zone's bones gave way to black stone streets. Massive paving slabs, each one the size of a ship, stretched out like a road to a throne. Buildings loomed on either side, colossal and skeletal, built for beings far taller than any mortal.
And there, in the distance, towers of obsidian clawed at the blood-red sky.
"So this is it," Myros said, glancing upward. "The City of Titans. Graveyard of the First Giants."
"Graveyard?" Astrili gave him a sharp look. "I can hear them breathing."
She was right.
Low, rumbling, almost subterranean—like the heartbeat of the land itself.
They passed the threshold into the city. The moment Keal stepped over it, his cosmic eyes burned brighter. The walls were laced with dimensional fractures. The ground hummed with old magic. This place was alive.
And then, from the shadows between two black stone towers… a Titan stepped out.
This one was nothing like the Silent Colossus they had faced earlier. Its skin was black iron, its veins glowing molten orange. Horns curled from its skull like twisted roots. And its eyes—empty voids, filled with sparks of dying stars—locked onto Keal.
Another emerged behind it. Then another. And another.
In moments, the street was filled with ten of them.
"We should run," Selvaria said quietly.
"We won't make it far," Keal replied. "Circle formation. Myros—summon."
The first Titan charged, the ground quaking under its steps.
Keal vanished. He reappeared directly beneath its chin, palm open, releasing a burst of frozen time-space that locked its body mid-stride.
Nyx erupted from the frozen shadow, blades singing through the air. The Titan's throat split open—but no blood came. Instead, molten light spilled out, burning the ground where it fell.
Before it could even fall, Astrili unleashed a rain of golden lances from above, each one detonating on impact.
The second Titan roared, swinging a stone-crushing fist at Myros—only for a wall of skeletal knights to rise from the cobblestone, spears locking in place. The giant's blow shattered them instantly, but the fraction of a second was enough for Selvaria to blur past, her twin daggers slicing glowing veins across its arm.
The giant howled, reaching for her. Keal appeared again, inside its guard, and drove his fist into its chest. The shockwave splintered a nearby building, and the Titan flew backward, crashing into another.
"Two down," Keal said, his voice calm—almost bored. "Eight left."
But the Titans weren't fighting alone.
From the towers, shapes began to move—smaller than the giants, but still over four meters tall. Their skin was pale gray, their eyes burning with golden flame. They dropped from the heights like falling meteors, weapons in hand.
"Sub-Titans," Myros spat. "Their war caste."
The street became chaos. Steel met bone. Shadow clashed with flame. Keal moved like a ghost, each step carrying him across dimensions, striking faster than thought. Astrili swept the skies with divine fire, cutting down Sub-Titans before they could overwhelm the ground fighters.
Nyx was everywhere and nowhere, shadows curling around her strikes, her laughter echoing in the dark like a predator playing with prey.
Selvaria darted through gaps in the battle, every slash precise, every kill clean.
Myros grew stronger with each corpse that fell. The ground around him became a graveyard of his own making, skeletal titans rising to clash with the living ones.
Hours seemed to pass in minutes. The streets filled with rubble and bodies, glowing molten veins painting the black stone in shades of orange and gold.
Finally… silence.
Keal stood in the center of the carnage, his eyes dimming back to their normal glow. Myros raised a hand, and the undead Titans shrank into mist, slipping into the pocket dimension he carried.
"All of them?" Astrili asked, panting.
"No," Keal said, looking deeper into the city. "That was just the gate guard."
They turned to follow his gaze. At the heart of the city, beyond the towers and streets of ruin, a single massive temple rose—its doors shut, its walls carved with constellations that moved.
From inside… something breathed.