The combined beam of the Giants of Light continued to crash down upon the Dark Giants. Camearra's golden whip managed only to snatch Hudra out of the blast zone at the very last moment.
Boom!!!
A thunderous explosion erupted. Not only were the Dark Giants who had raised barriers instantly engulfed, but even those who had already begun retreating behind them were swallowed by the beam, unable to escape in time.
"They're finished," Hudra said grimly at Camearra's side as he watched the scene unfold. "A fusion beam released by so many Giants of Light… only Tiga could have dealt with it easily. But now, Tiga's energy is no longer sufficient."
"Tiga has his own plan," Camearra replied. She glanced briefly in Tiga's direction while urging Hudra to withdraw from the area.
Under the assault of that overwhelming beam of light, the Dark Giants were completely annihilated.
This could be called the most astonishing achievement in the history of the Giants of Light.
Even when they had stormed R'lyeh in the past, they had only wiped out a portion of the Dark Giants. But this time, in a single strike, they had eradicated nearly all of them.
Among the Dark Giants, only four remained: Tiga, Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb.
"Commander, shall we pursue while the momentum is ours?"
A Giant of Light stepped forward to report, arguing that now was the perfect opportunity to completely eliminate the remaining Dark Giants—Tiga included.
"Tiga is in a state of energy depletion. This is the best chance to destroy him," the Giant of Light analysed confidently.
"…We can try," Yuzare said after a moment of contemplation.
Indeed, if they failed to take advantage of Tiga's weakened state now and allowed him to recover and return, the outcome of the war would become impossible to predict.
"No!"
At some point unknown to anyone, Keshiva had rushed up onto the city wall. He shouted vehemently at Yuzare, "You cannot lay a hand on Camearra and the others!"
"Camearra is my daughter! My daughter!"
"Keshiva!"
Yuzare snapped back sharply, her voice uncharacteristically harsh. "I know she is your daughter. But if we do not destroy them now, the ones who will be destroyed in the future will be all of humanity!"
Given Yuzare's temperament, she rarely raised her voice at anyone. But in this moment, she had no choice—she had to force Keshiva to face reality.
"No! I won't allow it, no matter what!" Keshiva continued to shout hysterically. "She is my daughter! My daughter! You cannot do this!"
"Guards, escort Mr. Keshiva away and have him rest," Yuzare said with a sigh, unwilling to argue further.
At this moment, Keshiva could see nothing but his daughter. Unlike her, he could not look at the fate of the entire world.
Two members of the Garrison stepped forward, each grabbing one of Keshiva's arms and dragging him away as he struggled and shouted.
"Attack! Destroy Tiga in one decisive strike!"
Yuzare issued the order without hesitation.
Destroy Tiga.
As long as Tiga was destroyed, this world would finally be safe.
Even though… Tiga had once been a friend. A friend.
"Commander, watch out!!!"
No sooner had the order been given than a Giant of Light cried out in alarm and threw himself in front of Yuzare.
In the next instant, all the Giants of Light raised barriers at once, attempting to block something approaching from ahead.
But it was utterly futile.
An explosion surged forward like an unstoppable avalanche. Black flames tore through the barriers, burning and devouring them, and then reduced one Giant of Light after another into drifting ashes.
Watching the Giant of Light who had shielded her perish, Yuzare's mind went completely blank.
"What… what just happened?!"
"What is this?!"
"What in the world is going on?!"
Black flames roared before her eyes, and these words spilled from Yuzare's mouth without conscious thought.
They were all dead.
The Giants of Light were all dead.
Every single one of them—gone.
She looked again toward where Tiga had been standing. He had vanished completely. Only the dark particles lingering in the aftermath of the explosion seemed to carry traces of Tiga's presence.
"No… that's impossible… absolutely impossible!"
Yuzare clutched her head and collapsed into a crouch, disbelief flooding her heart.
Hundreds of Giants of Light—her companions, her loyal warriors—how could they simply vanish like this?
As the darkness overhead slowly faded into pale white, Yuzare raised her head slightly, extending a finger to touch a drifting dark particle in the air.
"Tiga… you actually… self-destructed."
This was something Yuzare had never even considered.
Tiga had self-destructed.
Using his own destruction to annihilate all the Giants of Light in one final blow.
"What happened?!"
"Camearra—where is Camearra?!"
Keshiva, who had been escorted away earlier, rushed back in a panic. The sheer magnitude of the self-destruction had filled him with dread.
The moment he appeared; he began desperately calling out Camearra's name.
But when he saw that the Giants of Light in the sky had completely vanished, he froze in shock.
"What… what happened? Where are our warriors?"
He searched frantically for any trace of the Giants of Light—but found nothing.
"They… they're gone," Yuzare said, her voice trembling.
"Gone… gone?!"
Keshiva's first instinct was that Princess Yuzare must be joking with him. But at such a critical moment, how could she possibly joke?
That meant the Giants of Light were truly gone.
"Camearra!"
Keshiva's gaze finally caught sight of Camearra. Only then did he allow himself to breathe a little easier.
As for the battlefield itself, Tiga's avatar had vanished in the self-destruction. With both the Giants of Light and the Dark Giants wiped out, there was no longer any reason for Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb to remain.
"Withdraw," Camearra said calmly.
The sky had already been completely shrouded in darkness. Staying here any longer was meaningless.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong…
At that moment, the colour timer on Camearra's chest began to chime. She dispersed her avatar, her consciousness returning to her true body.
Hudra and Darramb followed suit, withdrawing alongside her.
"…It's all gone. Everything," Yuzare murmured as she stared at the empty sky, her heart filled with indescribable emotions.
"This is all the fault of the Light Particle Converter," Keshiva said bitterly. Had he not modified and researched it; things might never have come to this.
Both the Dark Giants and the Giants of Light were, in the end, products of the Light Particle Converter—along with, inevitably, the Light of Orion.
With his resolve hardened, Keshiva turned and hurried back toward the central platform of the capital.
...
Yu Zhou, Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb's consciousnesses returned to their true bodies within the temple. None of them showed any particular reaction.
Whether Giants of Light or Dark Giants—destroyed was destroyed.
Sealed within the temple and unable to leave, it made no difference to them who won or lost.
Suddenly, Yu Zhou lifted his head, quietly sensing something.
Somewhere in the vastness of space, a colossal beast carrying a familiar aura was slowly flying toward Earth.