For a brief moment my mind struggled to comprehend the scale of what was emerging before me.
It was a Hydra. Or at least the closest thing my mind could compare it to.
Three colossal serpentine necks rose from the ocean and continued climbing higher and higher into the sky. Silver-black scales covered every inch of its body, and engraved with ancient runes that glowed faintly beneath the surface.
The creature’s enormous form remained mostly hidden beneath the waters, yet even that unseen portion distorted the entire sea around it as though an island-sized continent were moving beneath the surface.
Its three heads possessed slightly different appearances. One carried jagged horn-like protrusions extending backward from its skull. Another possessed rows of crystalline spikes running along its neck. The third appeared smoother than the others, though the soul force radiating from it felt significantly more dangerous.
One of the Overseers smiled.
"Billion meet Verilux."
The second Eternal folded his arms.
"The Eternal Guardian."
Before I could respond, one of the Hydra’s heads opened its mouth.
Lightning gathered. Not ordinary lightning.
Condensed soul force compressed into a beam so dense that the surrounding space began collapsing inward.
The attack fired.
There was no warning or time to evade. The beam crossed the distance instantly. One moment it existed inside the Hydra’s mouth and in the next it occupied my entire vision, crossing the distance between us so quickly that there wasn’t even enough time to blink.
Condensed lightning and soul force struck my body head-on and the sensation felt less like an attack and more like an entire world crashing into me. Every defensive layer I had constructed shattered under the impact while violent currents of soul force tore through my body and sent cracks spreading across the surrounding space.
The force behind the attack was overwhelming.
I felt reality bend around me as control slipped from my feet and my body was launched downward through the sky. The city rushed upward at terrifying speed while layers of defensive formations, barriers and monitoring arrays attempted to slow my descent only to collapse one after another beneath the momentum carrying me forward.
Towers disappeared into blurs around me as I punched through entire sections of the city, leaving a trail of destruction stretching for kilometers behind.
Then I hit the ground.
The impact drove deep into the foundations of the district and released a shockwave that rolled outward in every direction. The silver barrier protecting the district trembled violently while enormous cracks spread across the earth beneath me, creating a crater so vast that it swallowed everything for kilometers around.
Dust, debris and soul force surged into the sky and transformed the center of the city into a storm of destruction.
Countless souls caught within the impact zone vanished instantly while others were thrown far across the district, and for several moments the only thing visible from above was an expanding cloud of shattered structures and collapsing streets spreading through the heart of Region Three.
Deep within the crater, surrounded by ruins and shattered structures, I slowly pushed myself upright.
Blood dripped from my mouth. I noticed my soul force fluctuating violently. Above me the Hydra loomed like a living apocalypse.
A roar suddenly erupted from somewhere within the city and rolled across the battlefield with such force that even the raging storms above seemed to falter for a moment.
The sound carried pure fury, the kind born from witnessing someone dear being struck down, and it surged through the region with enough pressure to make the surrounding soul force tremble.
A moment later an enormous figure exploded upward from the city below.
Ragnar’s soul projection had fully manifested.
The giant ape rose above the skyline, his colossal frame towering over entire districts while silver-gold soul force poured from his body in endless waves. A crown rested upon his head and an enormous club remained clenched within one hand, while behind him the image of a roaring king seemed to overlap with reality itself.
The fury burning within his eyes was so intense that it felt almost tangible, and every soul unfortunate enough to meet his gaze instinctively lowered their heads.
His attention locked onto Verilux immediately.
The gigantic Hydra had barely finished lifting its heads in triumph after launching its attack when Ragnar’s roar echoed once more through the heavens.
"How dare you!"
The words rolled across the battlefield like thunder and before the final echoes had even faded, Ragnar moved.
Despite his immense size, the giant ape accelerated with terrifying speed. The club in his hand swept through the air and dragged entire currents of soul force behind it, gathering enough force that the surrounding space began cracking before the strike had even landed.
Then the weapon collided with the side of Verilux’s enormous body and released an impact powerful enough to shake the entire region.
The sky fractured beneath the force of the collision while shockwaves erupted across the Soul Sea below, sending walls of silver water rising toward the heavens.
Several of the Hydra’s scales shattered under the blow and, for the first time since emerging from the depths, the colossal guardian was physically driven backward as one of its massive heads snapped sideways and its enormous body shifted away from the city.
The gigantic Hydra was still being driven backward by Ragnar’s strike when another presence erupted across the battlefield. Lightning gathered above the city in vast quantities, pouring from every direction as though the heavens themselves had suddenly awakened.
Entire storms materialized across the sky while countless bolts converged toward a single point, and within the heart of that gathering tempest, Aurora’s soul projection appeared.
She sat upon her throne, surrounded by an endless ocean of lightning and storm clouds that stretched beyond the limits of sight. Her gaze settled upon Verilux and, without the slightest change in expression, she raised one hand.
The reaction was immediate.
The storms exploded.
Gigantic chains formed from condensed lightning and soul force burst from the clouds and descended toward the Hydra. Each chain was thicker than towers and covered in ancient runes that glowed with blinding intensity. Tens became hundreds. Hundreds became thousands. The sky itself seemed to disappear behind the sheer number of chains rushing toward their target.
Verilux reacted instantly.
One of its enormous heads opened its mouth and released a torrent of lightning powerful enough to vaporize entire sections of the atmosphere, while another attempted to tear through the descending restraints using compressed soul force. Yet the chains continued coming. They wrapped around the first neck. Then the second. Then the third.
The impact shook the heavens.
Lightning exploded in every direction while the gigantic chains tightened around the Hydra’s body. Verilux thrashed violently and the force generated by its movements sent waves racing across the Soul Sea below, but Aurora’s chains held firm. Each attempt to break free only caused more chains to appear as the surrounding storms continuously fed power into the restraint.
Unfortunately for Verilux, Aurora’s attack had never been intended to finish the battle.
It had only been intended to create an opening. The surrounding space suddenly darkened.
Not because light had vanished. Because space itself had folded.
A gigantic panther appeared behind the restrained Hydra.