The clash between Hiroko and Ymir spilled over into chaos, ripping the battlefield in half.
One moment Vulkan and the others were locked against Cyclone and Inazuma, the next—BOOOOM!
The Shadow King and the Giant of Iron slammed into the earth between them, tearing apart the ground and disrupting everything in their path.
"(Cough) What the hell! Watch where you're throwing people, assho—" Vulkan barked, only for a sudden burst of wind to smash into him and the others mid-sentence.
The gale swept them off their feet, tossing them several meters like ragdolls. Their armor screeched across stone, their weapons nearly wrenched from their hands. By the time they regained their footing, their lungs were burning from dust and smoke.
Shiro wiped blood from his mouth, eyes narrowing. "What was that—?"
Kirishima pointed. "Not just us. Look."
Through the choking fog, they could see beast lords and soldiers alike scattered like leaves in a storm. None had been spared by the shockwave.
Then the fog shifted.
No—it wasn't fog. It was pressure. The sheer aura radiating from Ymir had thickened the air itself. With each step the giant took, the mist dispersed in violent currents, unveiling his form little by little.
And when they finally saw him clearly, their stomachs sank.
Ymir towered above them, his frame clad in plates of living iron. But unlike other giants who wielded trees or crude weapons, this one carried a sword—a weapon forged for killing, not smashing. Its edges shimmered faintly, as though hungry for blood.
His blazing white eyes pierced the haze. Just looking at them was enough to stir an instinctive, primal fear. The aura he carried pressed down like the sky itself had collapsed.
For a moment, no one moved. Not beast, not man. The entire battlefield seemed trapped in the gravity of two gods colliding.
The silence broke when Ymir swung his blade. A simple downward strike—but one that split the air like the heavens themselves were falling.
Hiroko vanished, shadows twisting around him as he slipped past the colossal edge. He reappeared in a whirl of hand seals, counterattacking instantly.
"Let's see how you like this—"
Fire erupted. Lightning cracked. Frost howled.A storm of ninjutsu bombarded Ymir, raining down like a thousand cannons.
The clones joined in, weaving coordinated patterns that forced the giant into a corner. Explosions lit the sky, shadows flickering like fireflies of death.
And yet…
Clang!Boom!Crash!
Ymir deflected, blocked, endured. His sword spun like a shield, iron plates absorbing strikes that would have obliterated mountains. Each impact sent out shockwaves strong enough to sweep weaker soldiers and beasts into the distance.
Vulkan cursed, bracing against the gale. "That giant is strong."
Shiro grit his teeth. "Agreed."
Kirishima, struggling to keep his balance, growled. "There's no time to stand around. Stay here and we'll be crushed by their collateral. Move!"
He drifted with the wind, using it to carry him out of range. Vulkan and Shiro followed, staggering behind.
But safety never lasts.
From the corner of his vision, Vulkan spotted the massive bird swooping down. "Shit! That bastard is relentless!"
Cyclone dove with a screech, wings whipping up an ice storm that froze corpses mid-air.
Shiro snapped his fingers, summoning the [Icicle Spear]. He hurled it with precision—not at Cyclone's chest, but at its legs. The bird twisted to dodge, but too late. The spear scraped its talon, leaving a bleeding gash.
The injury was shallow. Too shallow.
The wound sealed instantly, frost knitting flesh back together. Cyclone's screech turned feral, its aura swelling tenfold. The bird wasn't just angry—it was wrath incarnate.
"Great," Shiro muttered.
"Hurry up, skinny! It's coming for us!" Vulkan bellowed, raising his hammer.
"I'm trying, asshole! Stop shouting in my ear!" Shiro snapped back.
Kirishima rolled his eyes. "Blink, blink. Bitch, did you forget? We don't even take fall damage."
The realization dawned on them. Vulkan and Shiro froze, blinking at each other like idiots.
"…Oh.""…Right."
"(Fucking idiots)," Kirishima muttered under his breath.
They leapt off the cliffside just as Cyclone's talons raked down. The bird missed, shrieking in rage as its prey plummeted.
But before they hit the ground, the three summoned their enchanted weapons. The blades and hammers unfolded into glowing constructs—hovering platforms of magic. They mounted them mid-fall, stabilizing in the air.
From his duel, Ymir glanced sideways, utterly baffled.
(Bruh… if you already had flying weapons, why did you even struggle to escape a bird?) the giant thought, his face twisted in disbelief.
He shook it off and turned his focus back to Hiroko.
Until now, Hiroko had restrained himself, testing Ymir's defenses with clones and elemental barrages. But the giant's armor bore no dents, no cracks.
Hiroko narrowed his eyes. "So… normal attacks won't cut it."
Shadows surged around him, swirling like a storm. They wrapped his body, condensing into black armor etched with glowing sigils.
"[Shadow King Armor: First Stage]."
The ground quaked under the aura he released. His power spiked tenfold, shadows lashing at the air with violent hunger.
Ymir's lips curled into a grin. (Finally. About time you got serious.)
Hiroko smirked. "Been a while since I used this. Let's see if you can handle it."
In a blur, he charged. His strike slammed against Ymir's blade, the force pushing the giant back several meters. For the first time, the titan yielded ground.
Ymir laughed—a booming sound like mountains collapsing. "Yes! This is it! A proper fight!"
Hiroko's own grin widened. For the first time in years, he'd found someone who could withstand his strength.
The battlefield paused as the two titans stared at each other in silence. Then… both erupted into laughter.
Ymir's thunderous bellow rolled across the land, mistaken by soldiers as the crash of a thousand storms. Men and beasts clutched their ears, some collapsing under the deafening sound.
Then silence.
Then movement.
Both Hiroko and Ymir vanished, their speed multiplying. To the naked eye, they became blurs of shadow and iron. Their clash carved shockwaves that split the sky.
"Faster," Ymir growled.
"That's more like it," Hiroko replied, blades dancing.
Each strike shattered the ground, tornados forming in their wake. Typhoons spiraled outward, earthquakes rippled, lightning split the heavens. The battlefield had become an apocalypse.
To the soldiers watching, it wasn't a duel—it was a god clashing with a titan, their blows rewriting the laws of nature itself.
And yet, amidst this chaos, a strange thing happened.
The warriors on the ground… rallied.
For days they had fought in despair, crushed beneath the might of beast lords. But seeing Hiroko stand against Ymir lit something within them.
If one man could fight a god, then what excuse did they have?
Cries rose across the field. Weapons lifted. Fire reignited in their hearts.
They screamed their war cries, charging back into the fray, their courage a wildfire that spread in seconds. Even as disasters raged, they fought—not to survive, but to win.
Vulkan spat blood, grinning through cracked teeth. "Heh. Guess the bastard lit a fire in them."
Shiro tightened his grip on his spear. "Then let's feed that fire."
Kirishima slammed his fists together, stone erupting around him. "No more hesitation. We fight!"
Together they surged into battle, weaving through storms and lightning, striking beasts with newfound fury.
Hiroko glanced at them from the corner of his eye, shadows flickering like a smile behind his helmet.
"Good. Then I'll keep going too."
He roared, diving at Ymir once more, their blades and fists crashing like thunder.
"ARRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!""ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!!!"
The war raged on.