"Who am I? Didn't you say you were looking for me?"
Camearra let out a ghostly laugh, gripping her long whip as she looked at the Giant of Light she had dragged over.
With two sharp whooshes, two figures appeared beside her.
One was the Dark Giant Hudra, shrouded in purple hues; the other was the red giant Darramb.
"W-Who are you people?!"
Gantu panicked—completely panicked.
Without realizing it, he had been dragged over by Camearra, and that bastard Cain had not even reached out to stop it.
Gantu understood all too well that his fate would now be utterly miserable.
"Milady, just looking at this guy annoys me. Let's wipe him out directly."
Darramb cracked his knuckles, clenching his fists.
"Or let me loosen up a bit," Hudra said eagerly.
"Even if this is just a clone, it's rare to leave the temple. Might as well enjoy myself."
"I'll leave it to you,"
Camearra replied calmly, flinging the golden whip toward Darramb.
Gantu, bound at the end of the whip, was caught in Darramb's arms.
The whip loosened as if it were alive, and Camearra flew off toward the Giants of Light.
"Heh."
Darramb tossed Gantu into the air, his fist igniting with red flames as he prepared to blow him apart with a single strike.
"What are you doing?!"
Thrown upward and facing imminent death, Gantu screamed in terror.
Whoosh!
Before Darramb's punch could land, Hudra fired a beam, freezing Gantu into an ice sculpture.
Crash!
Darramb's flaming fist still slammed into him.
Frozen solid, Gantu shattered instantly under the blow, breaking into countless fragments that scattered across the ground.
"Refreshing,"
Darramb said with satisfaction.
From a distance, Cain watched the scene and felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
He was a prince, yet that wretched man had dared speak to him in such a manner.
Was that not courting death?
"It seems I've been far too accommodating all this time," Cain thought coldly.
"That's why some people came to believe that this prince was nothing special."
Ignoring Gantu's shattered remains, Cain turned to Camearra, who was walking toward him.
"C-Camearra… M-Master's wife!"
Cain hesitated for a moment before blurting out the words.
"Cain."
A faint ripple passed through Camearra's emotions.
"If you wish to live, leave this battlefield."
"If you stay here and are injured by Tiga, he will regret it."
Camearra was still relatively lucid—though only just.
Using what little clarity she had, she urged Cain to leave.
Still, that single word—Master's wife—had clearly pleased her.
"No. I will take my soldiers and leave together."
Cain shook his head, refusing her suggestion.
Had it not been for Gantu, he would have ordered a retreat long ago.
Facing his master, regardless of which side was hurt, was something Cain could not bear.
And with Tiga's strength…
If someone wanted to injure him, they would probably need another twenty thousand years.
"Cain."
Suddenly, a dense aura of darkness erupted from Camearra's body.
Guardie barked sharply, warning him.
Sensing danger, Cain grabbed Guardie and retreated rapidly.
Boom!
Dark energy slammed into the position Cain had occupied moments earlier—missing him entirely.
"Has Camearra completely fallen into darkness?!"
Cain was slightly shocked. Had he been slower, he would have been gravely injured.
"Retreat! Everyone, retreat now!"
Cain immediately issued the order, shouting to the Giants of Light.
"General Gantu has fallen! Follow my command—withdraw immediately!"
As a prince, Cain's authority still carried immense weight.
Upon hearing that Gantu was dead, the Giants of Light naturally rallied around Cain.
More importantly, the enemy was simply too powerful.
This was not a battle they could win.
The Giants of Light began to retreat—but Yu Zhou had no intention of letting them go.
Gripping the Ultimate Battle Instrument once more, dark energy gathered at one end of it.
Countless dark-purple lightning bolts surged forth, exploding among the retreating Giants of Light.
Though the attack did not kill them outright, it forced many Giants of Light to crash down to the ground.
"Not good!"
Seeing this, Cain immediately realized the danger.
He rushed forward to stop Yu Zhou—only to be restrained by several Giants of Light.
"Your Highness, you're a prince! Please don't act recklessly!"
"If anything happens to you, how can we answer to His Majesty the King?!"
They held Cain tightly, desperately trying to dissuade him.
"No! I have to save them—they are our companions too!"
Cain struggled, but it was useless. His subordinates held him firmly.
"Although we have several hundred Giants of Light, most of us are newcomers,"
one clear-headed Giant sighed.
"We barely have any combat experience."
"If we had been given more time—to fight, to grow stronger—things wouldn't have come to this."
"So, Prince Cain, you have no obligation to face an enemy you cannot defeat."
Cain paused, then turned to him and said calmly:
"'Cannot defeat'? I don't understand that phrase."
"Prince Cain, if Captain Yuzare were here, she would never let you throw your life away either."
"So… forgive us."
The Giants of Light carried Cain and rushed out of R'lyeh, followed by several hundred others.
It looked like a large number—but far fewer than the total forces that had originally attacked R'lyeh.
"If my sister were here, things wouldn't have turned out like this…"
Cain felt utterly miserable. He had even considered asking Guardie to help him break free.
But Guardie also knew that Cain would only be throwing his life away, and so helped restrain him instead.
Yuzare had never wanted to turn her blade against the Dark Giants of R'lyeh.
Thus, on the eve of the campaign, she had resigned before King Ord—
stepping down from her position as Captain of the Earth Defense Force.
Enraged, King Ord placed Yuzare under confinement and appointed General Gantu to command the force for the R'lyeh campaign.
Trapped in confinement, Yuzare could only attempt every possible method to cleanse the stain upon her Heart of Light.
…
Landing on the ground, Yu Zhou walked toward the group of Giants of Light who had been forced down.
Behind him, a host of Dark Giants—fully restored—stood ready for battle.