The Titan That Should Not Exist
Time flowed strangely after the Dashen battle.
Hours bled into minutes, and the plains slowly darkened as the girls neared the looming silhouette of Darkwood Forest. The wind tasted older here—like dust and memories—and every step stirred a sense of foreboding none of them could shake.
Luna Frostborne walked at the front, every breath fogging the air.
The elements… they're close to evolving. I can feel it. But something ahead… something feels wrong.
The trees at the horizon trembled.
Not from wind.
But from something colossal.
A shadow eclipsed the sun.
"Luna…" Liora whispered. "That… that isn't a tree."
The shadow stepped out.
A massive, nightmarish upper torso—muscular, winged, and crawling with bone-like protrusions—rose from the treeline. Its arms were monstrously long, tipped with claws capable of shredding steel. Its wings boomed with each flap, stirring shockwaves across the plains.
And it had no lower body.
It simply floated there… severed, yet alive.
A system alert flared violently before their eyes:
[WARNING]
Catastrophic-Class Beast Detected
Sundermaw Titan — Upper Torso (Lv. 78)
DO NOT ENGAGE ALONE
The Titan shrieked—an ear-splitting roar that rattled the sky itself.
"WHAT—THE—HELL IS THAT?!" Aria gasped, clutching her ears.
Lyra's pupils constricted, her breath seized.
"Time is… twisting around it. Something's wrong. This creature… it shouldn't even exist."
The Titan dove.
"MOVE!" Luna shouted.
They scattered as a hurricane-force impact blasted the earth, leaving a crater where they'd stood.
Luna's heart pounded.
This pressure… this killing intent… how do we fight something like this?
The Titan twisted midair, fanged maw snapping at Aria.
"ARIA!" Liora screamed.
Aria unleashed a sonic burst, pushing it back mere inches—but inches weren't enough.
The Titan lunged again.
Time shimmered.
Lyra thrust out her hand.
"Temporal Halt!"
For half a heartbeat, the Titan froze—but cracks immediately spread through Lyra's timestop.
Too strong. Too fast. Too ancient.
The Titan shattered the temporal hold like glass.
Lyra staggered. "Even time won't bind it—!"
"Everyone—focus!" Luna yelled. "We fight together!"
Ice burst from her palms, forming a crystalline barrier just as the Titan's claws descended. The impact cracked the ice instantly, shards flying like frozen shrapnel.
"We can't win like this!" Aria shouted over the chaos. "It just keeps coming!"
Lyra's gaze sharpened—distant, focused.
"…It has no lower body."
"We noticed!" Skyler snapped. "Very observant!"
"No—listen!" Lyra held her head, wincing as fragmented visions flickered across her mind. "Something is anchoring it. Something… far away. I can sense the distortion, but not the exact spot."
"Meaning the lower half exists somewhere else," Luna realized.
"And if it's killed," Liora added, "the upper half dies?"
"No." Lyra shook her head. "The upper half resurrects endlessly. Unless…"
Skyler's eyes widened.
"…Unless we destroy the lower half."
Silence fell for a heartbeat.
Then Skyler stepped forward, wind swirling fiercely around her legs.
"I'll find it."
Luna grabbed her wrist. "Skyler—wait—"
"I'm the fastest. If it's anywhere near here, I'll reach it first." Skyler forced a smile. "You handle big-and-ugly. I'll kill the part it's hiding."
Luna's voice cracked. "But—if you go alone—"
Skyler grinned. "Hey. When have I ever let you down?"
She launched into the skies with a sonic boom, wind spiraling around her as she vanished across the plains.
The Battle Against an Immortal
The Titan roared and charged the remaining four.
Liora rooted her feet, slamming both palms into the soil. "Nature's Grasp!"
Thorned vines erupted from the ground, wrapping around the Titan's arms—only for the beast to tear through them like wet paper.
Aria struck a chord, unleashing a wave of resonant force.
"Stay back, you oversized torso!"
The Titan spun with unnatural speed, its wings creating a vortex that swallowed Aria's shockwave whole. The backlash launched Aria into Luna's arms.
"Aria!" Luna cried, steadying her trembling friend.
This thing… it's beyond anything we've fought.
Skyler, please hurry…
The Titan flashed forward—blindingly fast despite its massive size.
Lyra pushed her power to the limit.
"Temporal Shift!"
Time bent around her, slowing the world to syrup. She tried to drag Luna out of the Titan's attack path—her fingers brushing Luna's arm—
Time snapped.
Lyra collapsed, gasping. "It's too… strong…"
The Titan's claws descended—
Luna formed an ice dome around the four just in time. But cracks splintered instantly, the temperature dropping to painful levels as Luna poured all her mana into reinforcing it.
I can't hold it… I can't…!
"SKYLER—WHERE ARE YOU?!" Luna screamed.
Skyler's Race Against Death
Skyler darted across the land faster than human sight could track, the wind molding around her, pushing her faster, sharper.
Come on… where is it? Lyra sensed something this way…
Her lungs burned. Her legs felt like lightning.
Then—
A ripple.
A distortion in the air.
Skyler skidded to a halt, wind screeching around her feet.
"There you are…"
A grotesque, pulsating mass lay in a crater—flesh, bone, and beating veins. The Titan's lower body. Helpless. Immobile. Fragile.
Skyler raised her hand.
"Windlance."
The air sharpened into a blade.
With one clean strike—
she cut the lower body in half.
It writhed—
shuddered—
then melted into ash.
Titan's End
Back with the others—
The Titan reared back for its final, killing strike.
Luna felt her mana thinning.
I can't protect them.
I can't—
The Titan's claws descended—
Then stopped.
Smoke curled from its chest.
Cracks spread like burning veins.
Lyra exhaled. "Skyler… did it."
The Titan let out a silent roar as its entire upper torso crumbled into black ash, dissolving into the wind.
A final notification blinked before their eyes:
⟢ SYSTEM LOG
Sundermaw Titan — Defeated
EXP Gained: +876,700
⟢ Level Up!
Luna Frostborne — Lv. 50 → 59
Skyler Aeris — Lv. 50 → 59
Liora Greenhaven — Lv. 50 → 59
Aria Harmonix — Lv. 50 → 59
Lyra Timekeeper — Lv. 50 → 59
⟢ ELEMENTAL EVOLUTION PROGRESS:
High → Mega: 87%
Luna dropped to her knees, trembling.
"We… survived."
Skyler jogged back moments later, grinning despite her sweat-soaked hair.
"Miss me?"
Luna lunged forward and hugged her tightly.
"You idiot! Don't scare me like that!"
Skyler blinked. Then softened. "Sorry. I'm here."
Into the Darkwood Forest
They entered the Darkwood Forest, deeper and deeper, branches twisting overhead like skeletal arms.
Hours later, a foul smell hit them—putrid, suffocating.
"Ugh—what is that disgusting smell?!" Luna gagged.
"My eyes are burning…" Liora coughed.
Aria covered her nose. "Can we PLEASE block our noses and hurry?!"
Skyler waved them off. "Come on, the smell probably gets better inside."
"No," Lyra muttered. "It won't."
They approached a cave.
The stench intensified.
Skyler and Lyra walked in first without hesitation.
Luna, Liora, and Aria reluctantly followed, grumbling curses under their breaths.
Inside, the air was thick—almost slimy.
They reached the center.
A staircase spiraled downward.
The smell grew unbearable.
But they kept going.
At the bottom—
Their breath caught.
A cavern opened before them, glowing with emerald light.
And within it…
Lay a massive ancient green dragon, sleeping peacefully, its titanic body rising and falling with each breath.
Luna whispered—
"…This journey… is only getting started."