"From this day onward, Tiga is our king!"
An Cheng descended among the assembled Dark Giants and shouted the declaration.
The Dark Giants responded instantly, their voices rising in unison.
"Tiga!"
"King of Darkness—Tiga!"
"Tiga!"
"…"
Not a single Dark Giant opposed the idea of Tiga becoming their leader.
The first Dark Giant to appear on Earth—this identity alone was enough to earn universal recognition. More importantly, in this battle, Tiga had annihilated the detested Giants of Light with effortless dominance.
Such overwhelming power left the Dark Giants willingly bowing their heads, eager to serve under him.
"Exterminate them."
Yu Zhou raised the Giga Battlenizer and pointed it toward the remaining Giants of Light, his voice cold and indifferent.
"We can't die like this!"
"We're dead anyway!"
"Let's fight them to the end!"
"All of us—charge!"
Among the Giants of Light were still those with courage. Facing certain death, they abandoned all hesitation, rallying their comrades and taking up desperate battle stances.
"Futile resistance."
Yu Zhou showed no reaction. He casually threw the Giga Battlenizer into the air. It spun several times before plunging into the ground.
Streams of purple mist surged from the weapon, landing side by side and materializing into ferocious Dark Monsters.
Golza. Melba. Silvergon. Goldras. Zoigers…
Each monster bore dark patterns across its body—creatures Yu Zhou had subdued within the Dark Realm and sealed inside the Giga Battlenizer.
"Kill!"
An Cheng led the Dark Giants forward, charging straight at the Giants of Light.
The Giants of Light responded in kind, meeting the assault head-on.
Joining the fray were the Dark Monsters as well.
"A battle with no suspense," Hudra said coldly as he and Darramb stood behind Yu Zhou with Camearra, watching explosions light up the battlefield.
Darramb, however, revelled in combat. He charged straight into the fray, launching brutal attacks against the Giants of Light.
Beams of every colour crisscrossed the battlefield, detonating against their targets. Explosions lit up the black night sky again and again, thunderous roars echoing without end.
Roars, shrieks, and screams rose and fell across the battlefield.
"You really intend to wipe us out completely?!"
A Giant of Light roared in rage just before death.
"What do you think?"
The Dark Giant sneered.
"When you hunted us down, did you ever show mercy?"
The beam in his hand swallowed the Giant of Light whole, followed by a violent explosion.
Some Giants of Light were surrounded by multiple Dark Monsters, beaten down relentlessly until their energy was completely exhausted. They collapsed to the ground, never to rise again.
The battle ended swiftly.
Smoke blanketed the land. Not a single stretch of ground remained intact.
The bodies of Giants of Light lay scattered across the scorched battlefield, their once-brilliant glow completely extinguished.
Of course, some Dark Giants and Dark Monsters had also fallen, unable to return to the ranks.
Panting heavily, the surviving Dark Giants knelt on one knee before Yu Zhou, Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb, exhaustion written across their forms.
The Dark Monsters, meanwhile, returned on their own to the Giga Battlenizer to rest.
The sun rose in the distance, a faint glimmer of light appearing on the horizon.
"The battle is far from over,"
Yu Zhou said expressionlessly to the Dark Giants.
"Darkness will shroud the entire Earth."
"This planet will become the domain of the Dark Giants."
Boundless darkness erupted without warning from Yu Zhou, Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb, surging straight into the sky.
In an instant, the faint light of dawn was swallowed whole. The world seemed to plunge back into night.
But this was only the beginning.
With R'lyeh as its centre, darkness spread outward in all directions—its speed beyond imagination.
The retreating Giants of Light looked up in horror as the sky was instantly swallowed by blackness.
"What is happening?!"
"Could it be the Dark Giants?!"
"It's coming from R'lyeh!"
They quickly realized the source—the very place they had just fled.
Some attempted to release light to disperse the darkness, but it had no effect whatsoever. Even their light was devoured.
Central Capital — Royal City
Standing by the window of her confinement chamber, Yuzare gazed into the distance, lost in thought.
Suddenly, overwhelming darkness swept in from afar, instantly covering the sky.
Her eyes widened in shock, snapping out of her reverie.
"What happened?!"
Her breathing quickened as she pushed open the door of the confinement chamber.
The guards outside immediately blocked her.
"Princess Yuzare, please don't make this difficult for us. His Majesty ordered us to watch over you. If you leave, we will face severe punishment."
The confinement itself meant little to Yuzare—but King Ord had deliberately placed the blame on the guards, exploiting her compassion to prevent her from leaving.
Under normal circumstances, she would not have insisted. But this was different.
"Look outside,"
Yuzare said sternly, gesturing toward the window.
"The situation is critical. Father will not blame you."
The two guards glanced outside—and froze.
The sky was pitch black, as though the entire world had been swallowed by darkness.
Without another word, Yuzare hurried toward the palace hall.
The confinement chamber was not a prison—merely a restricted residence for royalty—and it lay close to the palace itself. She reached the hall quickly.
Seeing the situation outside, King Ord had already convened an emergency council.
Ministers gathered around as they discussed the origin of the darkness.
"Your Majesty," the head of the Research Division reported, projecting a holographic display, "our analysis shows that the darkness is spreading outward from R'lyeh. At present, the entire Earth has been engulfed."
On the projection, the planet was completely shrouded in black.
"How could this happen?!"
Ord exclaimed, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Didn't the Giants of Light deploy en masse to eradicate the Dark Giants at R'lyeh?!"
"With so many of them—how could they possibly have failed?!"