Barely suppressing his panic, Sunny stared at the falling hand of the giant, then twisted around and waved at Luster, shouting as loud as he could:
"Go, go, go! Speed up!"
If there was one good thing in this situation, it was that Goliath's arm that aimed at them seemed to be a bit off. If the convoy accelerated, they had a slim chance of shooting underneath the gargantuan arm before it slammed into the highway.
Should they end up being just a little bit too slow, at least a couple of vehicles would be instantly flattened by the titanic blow… but stopping meant death, so there was no other choice.
The Rhino went forward, gaining a bit more speed. Sunny and Nightmare galloped ahead of it, diving into the shadow of the swiftly falling hand and emerging from it on the other side. The Rhino was just behind them.
Sunny's heart was beating wildly as he counted off seconds… the first of the civilian transports appeared behind him, then another, and another.
'Not yet, not yet…'
Finally, the rear vehicle shot past the Gate. A few moments later, Goliath's arm hit the concrete surface of the highway, pulverizing a large part of it and sending an earthquake spreading from the point of impact.
Nightmare stumbled but righted himself a split second later. Some distance behind, the wheels of the rearmost military vehicle momentarily flew into the air, then hit the cracked surface of the road. Somehow, the driver managed to maintain control of the vehicle and desperately sped forward, hoping to get away from the threat.
Sunny let out a groan, knowing that their narrow escape from death was both temporary and futile. No matter how fast the convoy was moving, they had no hope of outrunning a titan. Now that Goliath was aiming for them, there was no chance of salvation.
Unless something managed to stall the giant for a few minutes, the convoy was doomed.
'Not fair, not fair… this is not fair!'
Behind them, the enormous hand scraped against the concrete, and then, a titanic shape started to rise from the ocean. Goliath was pulling himself out of the cold water, its ugly head emerging from beneath the waves first.
The titan was somewhat humanoid in appearance but far from resembling a graceful statue. The surface of its body was rough and unpolished, like a natural cliff, and its proportions were all wrong.
His legs were powerful and stocky, and its torso was massive and asymmetrical, with mounds of stone rising from its back like humps. The giant had three arms, each hand possessing a different number of thick, short fingers.
His head was like a misshapen hill of brown rock, with two cavernous holes gaping in it, drowned by darkness, and a single circular eye set deep in the center of his forehead.
At least Sunny thought that it was an eye. The thing was milky-white and round but seemed to be cut of stone, like the rest of the titan's body. The thought of being gazed upon by the giant eye made him feel a deep sense of primal terror.
Sunny knew that the convoy had no hope of escaping the titan. But they still had to try.
The column began navigating the snowy highways at the maximum speed its condition allowed, the turrets launching a ridiculous number of bullets that impacted the weathered stone of the titan's body.
However, their impacts were like mosquito bites to the giant… less than, even. Mosquitos could break the skin of their prey, at least.
Goliath climbed onto the highway, his massive shape barely fitting between the mountains and the ocean. Countless waterfalls continued to stream off his body, falling down and forming a pool in the obliterated section of the road.
The titan's single eye moved, locking on the escaping convoy. And then, the creature took a step forward…
The whole world seemed to tremble from the terrible weight of Goliath's massive foot.
With a single step, the Fallen Titan covered an enormous distance between itself and the desperate convoy trying to escape.
Watching that, all hope of escape in Sunny's heart was crushed like the highway beneath the legs of the walking calamity.
'…Curse you.'
Sunny turned Nightmare around and dashed past the convoy, charging directly at the fearsome titan. Translating his thoughts to the Extraordinary Rock, he sent a short message to Luster:
"No matter what happens, continue forward and don't slow down. I'll catch up with the convoy later."
Looking at the approaching titan, Sunny shivered.
'Can I kill a titan?'
He was honestly not sure. One thing he did know, though, was that he wouldn't be able to kill this particular titan.
If Sunny had time to study Goliath, learn his weaknesses, and prepare, then things might have been different. But Army Command knew very little about the stone monstrosity, since only Arthur's cohort had visualized it, and so, he knew even less.
If the two of them fought to the death, there was no question of who would end up dying.
Fortunately, he didn't need to fight to the death—buying some time would be enough for him. And if the opportunity to kill the big bastard presented itself along the way, he wouldn't hesitate to take it.
Then, after a few seconds of riding in the wrong direction for any sane person, Nightmare stopped, and Sunny jumped from his mount.
His face was full of defiant spitefulness with a smile on his pale lips.
The next moment, he summoned the shadows to his aid.
On the slopes of the mountains and on the dark ribbon of the ocean shore, the mass of shadows moved, coming to life. Then, a thick black chain shot from the darkness, wrapping itself around one of the titan's arms.
It was followed by another, and another. Dozens of dark chains flew from the ground, the mountain slope, and the edge of the coast, shackling Goliath's arms and legs. Sunny was utterly focused, his eyes drowned by deep shadow. His essence surged and flowed like a tide, saturating the deep darkness of the polar night.
He was burning through all of it without looking back, knowing that nothing but would be enough for the impossible task.
At first, Goliath did not seem burdened by the shadow chains at all. He continued moving forward, dragging them along. He did not even show a sign of noticing them.
However, Sunny was not done. A crooked grin appeared on his pale face, and suddenly, it seemed as though the night itself had come to life. Countless chains shot toward the towering titan, binding his limbs.
Where there were dozens, there were now hundreds. Sunny felt as if his brain was on fire and wasn't quite sure how he was managing to keep this many manifested shadows shaped, tangible, and strong at the same time.
But he was doing it, and more than that, new chains appeared from the darkness every second. Goliath looked like he was carrying a forest of them on his body, anchored to the ground so thoroughly that, finally…
The titan's march slowed down.
Just a little bit at first, but then more and more. The towering monstrosity lowered his torso and pushed forward, a hint of irritation appearing in his bearing. But the more he pushed forward, the more the chains held him back.
And there were new ones appearing every moment, wrapping themselves around him like snakes.
In the end, the titan came to a stop just a few dozen meters away from Sunny—less than a step—bent low and utterly immobilized. The shadow chains groaned, cracking as if on the verge of snapping, but held.
From the side, it looked as if the giant was trying to kneel in front of a defiant ant.
Sunny let out a shaky breath, and then swayed slightly, feeling drops of blood falling from his nose. His essence was disappearing at a terrible rate. At this point, he wouldn't be able to sustain the hundreds of shadow chains for long… but no matter how much time that was going to buy, it was already enough.
…Probably.
His mind was somewhat hazy.
'I think I overdid it this time…'
Suddenly, Sunny's eyes opened slightly. He heard a voice similar to his own.
"Useless."
In the next moment, dozens of chains wrapped around one of Goliath's legs snapped with a deafening crack.
The titan's foot shot forward with astonishing speed and smashed into Sunny—
—Or that's what Sunny would have expected.
Goliath's foot stopped in the air as if it had become completely dense beneath the rock. The shadow chains Sunny created disappeared in the moment, but in their place, new chains of intense purple color replaced them.
The Fallen Titan exerted more force in its leg to crush the annoying ant, causing some purple chains to be completely destroyed. Still, in their place, new silver-colored chains appeared.
Soon, Goliath found himself wrapped in a net of countless purple and silver chains—like a fly falling into a spider's web.
Sunny took advantage of the time to use the little remaining essence in his shadow cores and, using shadow step, moved away from the battlefield, appearing beside Nightmare.
His onyx eyes moved across Goliath's entire figure while his completely exhausted mind tried to understand what the hell was happening.
'What the hell is this?'
Soon, with his shadow sense, he identified four familiar shadows, and confusion began to leave his mind.
'It's Sylvie, Jet, Regis, and Arthur…' He blinked. 'How did they get here?'
Still, it was actually a question Sunny cared little about. The positive thing was that the Fallen Titan had just met its worst enemies.
A wicked smile found its place on his pale lips, and he couldn't help but let out a laugh at the beating approaching the colossal creature.
"Too bad I don't have popcorn!" he told Nightmare while patting the magnificent steed's head.
Nightmare let out a sound of approval, meaning he agreed with his Master.
On the battlefield, Arthur and Sylvie, using the ambient Aether and Mana, immobilized the Fallen Titan once more.
If Sunny, using his shadows as an Ascended Terror, managed to stop it for a few seconds, then two Ascended Titans could manage it for minutes.
Even so, Goliath didn't remain defenseless.
The next moment, the single eye on its forehead blinked, and an intense red appeared in it—as if a hell were trapped within.
The heat began to make itself felt on the crushed highway between the mountains and the coast. The water of the latter began to evaporate due to the infernal heat wave, and the chains binding it didn't fail to follow the same fate.
Still, only some chains broke, but they weren't enough to grant the stone titan freedom of movement. This wasn't because they were stronger, but because they were being repaired immediately as they broke.
Sylvie, using her Ascended Ability that allowed her to alter the state of objects, began keeping the chains in the best condition of their existence—as if they had just been formed—and they continued holding the rock calamity in their embrace.
Goliath exerted all its strength against the net of chains but achieved nothing. Soon, a figure moved to the front of the colossal figure of the stone titan.
This figure wore a black suit clinging to her slender form. A beautiful war scythe with frost patterns in her pale hand.
The next moment, Jet's scythe impacted one of the stone titan's rocky legs.
At the point of impact, not even a simple mark appeared upon contact. Still, Goliath felt it in its very soul.
Jet smiled satisfactorily and continued her barrage of attacks.
Arthur didn't stand idle. Summoning Dawn's Ballad in his right hand, he moved, feeling the Aetheric Pathways, using multiple platforms to facilitate his movement. He appeared on Goliath's rocky shoulder.
He managed to get so close using the Runes trait of Djinn of War to make the armor as cold as possible to resist the infernal heat the Fallen Titan invoked with its red eye. Still, drops of sweat began to appear on his body.
Dawn's Ballad embedded itself at neck height, penetrating the rock almost as if it didn't exist—and for such a sword, it didn't.
The sword wasn't just Transcendent rank; it was seventh tier and possessed six argumentation on it.
The attack cut through the stone like butter, and Goliath let out a cry of pain that caused the infernal heat to become even stronger, making even the drops of sweat evaporate the second they appeared.
The chains began to make breaking sounds faster and more intensely, forcing Sylvie to spend more of her essence reserves—not only to keep them summoned but to keep them in good condition. Not only that, but Arthur's chains cost her more essence, since they weren't created by her.
For this cumulation of reasons, she could only maintain distance and use her essence strategically, reinforcing the most important chains.
Arthur and Jet felt the temperature change in their own bodies, giving them the need to flee from such hell, but neither of them did. The former even activated King's Presence to prevent the creature from continuing the attack.
Regis, who had remained somewhat on the sidelines, used that moment to attack for the first time. He had stayed in Arthur's core, and upon feeling the stone titan's infernal scream, he decided to attack.
Leaving his Master's core and materializing in all his glory, he appeared on Goliath's shoulder but immediately moved.
He leaped toward the very face of the colossal stone creature. His fangs imbued with Destruction shone with an intense purple while drops of purple saliva created from pure Destruction fell from his jaw.
Purple droplets of saliva fell onto the Stone Titan's rugged chest and began to slowly consume it; however, as more drops fell, the rate of destruction rapidly increased.
The place Regis decided to attack was none other than the infernal eye itself!
If it brought a hell with its eye, he was going to show it that even hell itself could be consumed!
Regis had only one second to deliver the attack due to the opening Arthur provided by activating his Ascended Ability.
Using this time, he did not waste it. His purple fangs sank into Goliath's infernal eye.
For a brief moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then, the hell trapped within the eye encountered Destruction brought forth by Regis.
The flames inside the massive eye writhed violently, as if trying to devour the purple fire that had invaded them. The two flames clashed against one another—infernal heat colliding with the destructive essence of Regis.
But there was no contest.
…In the next moment, the same hell was consumed.
Thin purple flames crawled across the surface of Goliath's eye, spreading from the point where Regis had bitten into it. They moved almost unnaturally, devouring everything they touched without producing smoke or leaving anything behind.
The infernal flames that had been burning inside the eye suddenly began to weaken.
Goliath let out another deafening scream.
The sound shook the air around them as the Stone Titan instinctively tried to raise one of his enormous hands toward his face, desperately trying to crush Regis beneath his fingers.
But he failed to move even a centimeter. Arthur and Sylvie's chains held him tied in place without the possibility to defend himself.
The heat radiating from his body began to change as well.
Until that moment, the infernal temperature surrounding Goliath had been so intense that the water along the coast was constantly evaporating. The stone formations scattered around him had begun to melt under the unbearable heat, their surfaces glowing red as they slowly lost their shape.
Now, that heat was disappearing. But not fading—simply being eaten…
The purple flames continued to spread through the eye, consuming the infernal energy that had been sustaining the monstrous heat. With every second, the temperature around Goliath dropped.
The others noticed it immediately. One by one, they began retreating from the Stone Titan. None of them had any desire to become fuel for those hungry purple flames.
Everything was simply something to be consumed.
Goliath's scream grew louder as his enormous head began to burn from within, purple flames spreading through his stone skull like cracks through glass.
In a matter of seconds, the entire head of the Stone Titan was engulfed in flames that continued to consume the creature's body. At that moment, a message resonated in Arthur's mind.
[You have slain a Fallen Titan, Minor Shard of the Stone Titan.]
[…Your Aether grows stronger.]
He wanted to smile upon receiving such a message—it meant that all the people killed in Aurora Vale and Erebus Field by the Fallen Titan were avenged, and one less Titan roamed the Antarctic Center. However, the next moment, he saw something strange in the corpse as it was consumed.
Small fractures began to appear on the rocky body—some as small as flies, while others grew and grew with every passing moment.
Arthur frowned upon seeing this and immediately sent a mental signal.
'Sylvie, get as far away as you can! Take Jet with you!'
'What's happening?' she asked, her tone sounding confused in his mind.
Arthur decided not to waste time explaining.
'Get away now. I'll tell you later.'
Sylvie trusted Arthur and abandoned all the chains and her Ascended Ability. Her essence reserve was quite low, but it was enough to use her transformation.
Transforming into a magnificent dragon, she flew as fast as possible in Jet's direction, and she didn't hesitate to climb onto her back. Then, she took a slight change of direction, and the next moment, Sunny appeared beside Jet while Nightmare hid in his shadow.
The three of them moved away from the battle zone as fast as possible, heading toward the convoy where Seishan was watching over the civilians.
Regis entered Arthur's core while he moved away using Godstep but staying at a prudent distance.
'This doesn't look good, princess…' the former said.
Arthur didn't respond immediately and remained observing the fractures along the stone titan's corpse.
Using his Aether Sense, he began to feel presences leaving the corpse, creating larger fractures every second. Soon, the legs were completely destroyed, and in their place, a dark cloud remained.
But it wasn't a cloud. Arthur, surprised, still managed to identify the nature of the cloud. How could he not, when a few days ago he had a sparring match against someone who used the same element?
'…True Darkness.'
Regis's voice sounded in his mind again.
'We can't kill that, boss.'
He shook his head.
'It's not necessary. Buying time for the rest to escape is enough.'
Regis groaned while saying, 'I have to say I don't like that you're right in these kinds of moments.' Then, he left his core again, showing himself in all his majestic form.
The next moment, and before all the True Darkness creatures could leave Goliath's corpse, Regis's figure began to grow instantly, reaching a height of almost fifteen meters. His horns began to grow and almost reached a meter in length. His fur had an intense purple tone that moved in the air with unbridled behavior.
Regis adopted the complete form of Destruction, the purple flames engulfing his entire body as the destructive essence within him surged to the surface.
His jaws opened wide.
Then, deep within his maw, a dense cloud of Destruction began to gather. It formed rapidly, twisting and churning as more and more destructive energy was drawn into it, until the space between his fangs was filled with a swirling mass of purple darkness.
Regis did not hesitate.
The accumulated Destruction erupted from his jaws in a violent torrent, tearing through the air as it shot directly toward the cloud of True Darkness.
The True Darkness that left the stone titan's corpse was absorbed by the cloud of Destruction, and slowly, both natures began to fight for dominance.
Regis, in such a form, was like the embodiment of Destruction, making his dominion over such an element superior to that of an Ascended…
Still, his enemy was clearly not of such rank. The cloud of True Darkness began to react, battling against the purple flames trying to consume them.
But no one saw anything more. Arthur forced Regis back to his normal form, and he appeared as a small Aether wasp that entered his core without uttering a single word.
Arthur used Godstep repeatedly, and in a matter of seconds, he had already abandoned the battlefield. In minutes, he had caught up with the convoy under Sunny's command.
Appearing at the back of it, he saw the convoy of almost a kilometer of trucks and civilians. They were restless at the possibility of a Fallen Titan following them, but the moment they saw Arthur walking calmly, the weight on their hearts was relieved.
The soldiers protecting the trucks felt the same way, allowing them to let out sighs of relief.
At that moment, both sides began celebrating the return of Paragon of Purity…
Arthur, feeling uncomfortable with the looks of hope and adoration the civilians and soldiers were using to celebrate him, decided to hide this feeling and greet them with the proper respect.
Still, he didn't stop completely. Again, he used Godstep to traverse the final stretch and reach the front of the convoy.
He had stopped at the end because he wanted to see its condition and confirm everything was in the correct state. With that checked, there was no more reason to stay in that place.
Appearing at the front of the convoy, he could observe both Rhinos parked side by side. Around these APCs were the members of both cohorts.
Standing in a circle were the Awakened soldiers of Sunny's cohort.
Belle, Dorn, Kim, Luster, Quentin, and Samara were surrounding their Captain with expressions of relief and adoration on their faces.
Their Captain was in a conversation with Jet, while Sylvie, Seishan, Emily, and Hale were around them, adding information to the situation.
The moment they noticed Arthur arriving, many let out sighs of relief and put smiles on their faces.
Arthur didn't beat around the bush and asked, "Are they up to date?"
He was asking if they had already informed Sunny about Erebus Field and what they would have to do next.
"He already knows the situation, so we can move quickly," Jet replied while Sunny nodded.
Walking toward his friend, he extended his hand, and Sunny didn't hesitate to return the greeting.
"I'm glad I arrived in time," he said with a smile on his face.
Sunny smirked.
"And I'm glad you arrived in time."
"Well." They released hands, and Arthur turned to see the convoy of almost forty thousand people… "Let's get moving. We're still far from Falcon Scott."
With that said, everyone present headed to the Rhinos, and in a matter of seconds, the convoy was moving again.
Internally, Sunny was glad he hadn't run into Regis!
'That damn bastard was tired after the fight. It serves him right!'