Eiris and Alexa stood side by side.
A faint blue glow pulsed from within Eiris's sleeve — and gradually, his renowned sword emerged.
Its name was the Moonblade.
The blade was broad and slightly curved, with a circular hollow near its tip. Along the upper edge, smaller razor-like ridges gleamed with deadly sharpness.
Its hilt was forged from pure gold, engraved with symbols and letters of the ancient Akimo tongue.
Eiris gave Alexa one last look. Then, without another word, he surged forward.
He sprinted toward the giant with inhuman speed — a motion that defied logic itself.
Winds and debris scattered violently in his wake as he dashed toward the Keeper of Hell.
Though the giant stood several kilometers away, its colossal size made it appear deceptively small from a distance. But as Eiris closed in, its true scale grew monstrous before his eyes.
He realized, grimly, how impossible their task truly was.
"You must be joking…"
he muttered under his breath.
Behind him, Alexa turned to her three companions.
"Eiris will draw its attention by attacking head-on. We'll circle around and climb it from behind. Ilara and I will take the left side — Zak and Alex, the right."
The five of them tightened their grips on their weapons. For a heartbeat, time froze. Then—
—they launched forward together, matching Eiris's impossible speed.
The two pairs sprinted wide around the sides of the giant, hoping to strike from behind.
Meanwhile, as Eiris neared the Keeper, he understood just how foolish his plan was.
The air around the giant shimmered with rainstorms of molten rock. Its body was a web of fissures and glowing cracks. Thousands of armored spiders nested within its stony skin. The slick volcanic surface made climbing nearly impossible.
Defeating such a creature… bordered on miracle.
Within moments, Eiris entered the fiery rain that surrounded the giant. He needed a solution before he melted beneath that infernal storm.
The Moonblade flashed — deep, ominous blue. With one powerful swing, Eiris struck the ground.
A thunderous explosion tore through the earth, blasting a crater a hundred meters wide.
That was the Moonblade's gift: it could be charged with magical energy — and then release it all at once in a devastating burst. The strength of the blast depended entirely on how much energy had been stored.
A fearsome ability…
…but not without a price.
The explosion spared no one — not even its wielder. Since the user stood at the blast's center, they suffered the brunt of its fury.
The shockwave ripped outward in every direction, driving the molten rain aside — just for a moment.
A moment was all Eiris needed.
He burst through the shroud of smoke, dashing straight toward the Keeper once more.
From a distance, Alexa watched him — Ilara at her side — both silently praying for his survival… and their own.
Eiris reached the giant's foot just as it began to lift.
Since the titan was striding forward, its next step came crashing toward him with terrifying force.
Eiris leapt toward the incoming foot.
A collision like that should have shattered every bone in his body — but he had a plan.
He hurled his sword like a spear at the giant's foot.
Moments before contact, the Moonblade detonated.
The explosion was far stronger than the last — the shockwave slowed the giant's step before it could crush him.
Eiris thrust both hands toward the stone skin of the giant's foot — and sank them into the rock as if it were sponge.
His four allies watched in awe from afar.
Zak and Alex exchanged stunned looks.
Zak thought to himself:
> "Even without holding the sword… and without striking a solid surface… he still triggered it. By the Abyss… how perfectly has he bonded with that weapon?"
Eiris wrenched the Moonblade free from the stone and began to climb upward, toward the main channel that ran along the giant's front and up its neck.
He would have to pass through colonies of armored spiders and streams of molten fire to reach it.
Swarms of those grotesque arachnids poured toward him, leaping from cracks above in a tide of chittering monsters.
Eiris used his left hand and both feet to propel himself upward, each leap hurling him meters higher in blinding bursts of speed.
As the cascade of armored spiders descended from above, time seemed to slow for an instant.
He saw, in that still moment, the faces of everyone he fought to protect. Their lives — all of them — rested on his shoulders.
Now was not the time to fall.
He had no choice but to succeed.
He had to.