Iris and Alexa stood face to face with the colossal magical gates.
Those who had descended with them landed from the palace rooftop, taking position behind the two.
Expressions froze on their faces, grim with the knowledge of what was about to unfold. The true battle had now begun.
Since the capital had already fallen, their goal was no longer its defense. Instead, it was to protect Ethios, who remained trapped inside the palace's throne hall.
There was no room for failure.
In an instant, violent torrents of wind surged out from the three magical gates, striking every member of the Siren clan with unimaginable force.
They were like hurricane gales—only faster, sharper, far more devastating.
The clan warriors struggled to remain upright, shielding their faces with their arms from the shards of stone and debris hurled about by the furious winds.
The gale drove the commanders backward. Their legs, buried deep into the soil, tore great cracks into the ground as though they were iron pillars forced aside.
Silken sleeves ripped apart under the tempest's fury. The palace walls behind them split and groaned.
All they could do was resist—fight against being swept away. Yet even that, the simplest act of standing firm, was a battle in itself.
They clung desperately to their positions.
Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the storm ceased. The air stilled to a gentle breeze once more.
Siren warriors collapsed to the ground one after another, gasping for breath. Only Iris and Alexa remained standing.
Iris whispered under his breath.
—Now…
Before he could finish, a massive hand emerged from one of the gates.
"Massive" was too small a word to describe it.
The giant's arm pushed further outward until the elbow appeared. Then the colossal hand bent, grasping the peak of a nearby mountain. In its grip, the mountain looked no bigger than a hill.
The fingers clenched. The rock crumbled under the sheer might. First cracks splintered through the peak, and then the entire mountain collapsed.
With a crushing grip, the giant pressed the remains into dust, clawing for purchase as though dragging itself out from the depths of hell.
Eilara's eyes widened in disbelief.
—This… this can't be…
The hand tightened once more, stones straining as it hauled the giant's body forward. The mountain shattered utterly, flattened into nothing.
Debris rained down across the land, boulders the size of palaces falling like a storm from the heavens. Each impact sent violent tremors racing through the ground, rattling beneath the feet of the Siren warriors.
The giant's fingers dug into the earth like titanic spires. One would grow dizzy trying to follow them upward with the eye.
The stone hand clenched, pulling, dragging itself from the abyss. But even with its massive strength, the weight of its body forced the hand to rake the land, plowing deep scars into the earth.
The ground split apart. Cracks spiderwebbed through the rock, swallowing soil and rubble into widening chasms. Within a minute, the land would be carved into valleys.
The Siren warriors leapt desperately from fissure to fissure, scrambling to avoid being swallowed by the earth. Staying still, even for seconds, was impossible.
Another hand burst from the gate—grasping yet another mountain.
That peak, too, crumbled like sand in the giant's grasp. With both arms now free, the stone titan dragged itself further from the magical gate.
Not far from the emerging behemoth, Evelyn and Heiko darted away on conjured clouds of magic, fleeing the collapsing terrain.
To remain at the center of such a calamity was to invite death, no matter one's strength.
The sisters wove their path between the widening fissures and the crashing boulders. They could have taken flight, rising high into the skies, but doing so would have risked exposing their identities. Their mission demanded secrecy.
Meanwhile, the Siren warriors managed to find a moment's refuge upon solid ground. They collapsed in exhaustion, heaving for air, lungs straining as they pulled in desperate breaths.
They could have drawn upon their magic to flee as well. But if the stone giant succeeded in breaking through, they would need every shred of strength to face it.
Alexa glanced back toward the palace. Ethios was still inside.
The structure would only withstand the chaos for a few more minutes. This had to end soon.
Her gaze returned to the gate. The battle was drawing near.
Now with both hands free, the giant strained once more, dragging itself out with terrifying ease.
First its head, then its chest emerged. The colossal gate, hundreds of meters wide, barely contained its immense body.
It crawled forward, forcing its way through.
Moments later, the stone giant fully emerged, rising to its feet. Straightening its back, its towering form split the skies.
The Siren warriors clenched their teeth, faces grim with resolve.
The time had come.
They would bring the stone giant down.