"What?!"
The exclamation tore through the battlefield, halting every movement. Heads snapped upward in unison, drawn by the voice's urgency. What greeted them in the skies was a nightmare etched into the fabric of their souls.
A colossal stone, no—a mountain, plummeted from the heavens. Its descent carved roaring fissures in the air, a deafening cacophony that resonated deep in their chests. The atmosphere turned thick with dread, heavy as if the heavens themselves were pressing down. Shadows spread outward, cloaking the land for hundreds of miles, their suffocating presence matched only by the crushing aura that seemed to halt time itself.
Their breaths caught in their throats, hearts pounding as an icy chill gripped them.
"God's damn meteorite—no, this is a mountain! A freaking mountain!" an extraordinary warrior bellowed, his voice trembling as if barely holding the shards of his sanity together. His hands shook, his face pale. "Where in the nine hells did this come from?!"
Meteorites—they were phenomena of awe and destruction, and many had witnessed them in some form. Yet, none had seen anything close to the behemoth hurtling toward them now. Five thousand feet tall, its sheer size dwarfed cities, eclipsing everything in its shadow. A city, a fortress, even an entire mountain range was compacted into this gargantuan stone.
Despair sank into their hearts like lead.
"Run! Get out of here! If that thing lands, we're dead—dead, do you hear me?!" another warrior screamed, his voice cracking under the weight of the inevitability.
The crowd stirred at his words, but none moved. What was the use?
"We're extraordinary warriors, invincible to mortals—but this, this is no mortal threat!" he continued, his cries turning desperate.
It was true. They were warriors capable of shattering armies, beings who had transcended mortal limits. But against this? Against a mountain-sized stone summoned by the heavens? Even gods seemed absent in their despair.
"Escape?" someone whispered, their voice hollow. "How? Even at our speed, it's impossible. The range—it's too vast!"
Hopelessness settled over them like the stone's shadow. Their elite troops, numbering in the tens of millions, seemed insignificant. What could they possibly do against such a force of nature?
The realization was merciless—this was not a battle. This was divine punishment.
"Divine punishment!" a voice shrieked, rising above the others. An extraordinary warrior staggered forward, his eyes wide with hysteria. "Tang Country must be protected by an ancient god! This—this boulder, it's divine wrath! It's retribution for our blasphemy!"
The crowd faltered, the accusation taking root in their minds.
"No, no, it's impossible! Gods, protecting a place like this?"
"Then how do you explain it? This mountain, this… annihilation descending from the heavens—what else could it be?!"
Their voices clashed in panicked tones, each one more desperate than the last. The truth gnawed at their souls. This wasn't a natural event. This was the wrath of a Primordial Being, punishment summoned by Tang Country's ancient guardian.
"And we dared to blaspheme."
"It's over… we're completely finished. There is no doubt—blasphemy will lead to death."
The grim proclamation spread like wildfire, muttered by generals and soldiers alike, their voices trembling under the weight of their impending doom.
"How could such a ridiculous thing happen?" one of them rasped. "We are the Thunder Kingdom—an empire of over ten billion people! We've crushed dozens of nations beneath our banner. How could we be brought to ruin because of some ancient god?"
"This is the power of the divine," another murmured, their face pale as ash. "Mortals cannot fathom it, much less defy it."
Their words reflected the despair that had gripped them all. Pride, strength, and countless victories meant nothing before the titanic force descending from above. The shadow of the falling boulder stretched endlessly, a grim harbinger of their extinction.
It was natural.
What courage could a person muster when faced with a disaster of this magnitude? It was as though humanity itself had been confronted by a meteor the size of Beijing, hurling toward Xuanhuang Star. Technology, armies, and strategy—all rendered meaningless against such a force of annihilation. Even a nuclear bomb would fail to destroy something of this scale.
The soldiers knew this truth.
A memory seemed to surface collectively in their minds—a time sixty million years ago when a similar calamity had struck Earth, ending the reign of the dinosaurs and plunging the world into an ice age.
This was Tianwei, the wrath of the heavens. The might of nature, impartial and insurmountable.
And so, they stood helpless.
Until a voice thundered through the despair.
"Fools!"
The shout came from the heart of the formation, commanding attention like a crack of thunder. The Lord of Thunder himself stood, his aura fierce and unshaken. His hand gripped the fabled Thor's Hammer, and his eyes burned with defiance.
"What natural disaster? What divine punishment? What ancient god?" he roared, his voice thick with contempt. "Do you think a mere stone—no matter how large—can bring about my end? I am the Thunder God on earth!"
The words hit like a lightning bolt, shattering the paralysis of fear.
"Wishful thinking!" he snarled. "Watch as I shatter this so-called stone of extinction with a single strike!"
The air around him surged with power. Purple lightning erupted from his body, crackling with fury. The sky darkened further as black clouds churned in obedience to his will. Thunder roared, shaking the heavens, as if announcing the rise of an equal to the divine might descending upon them.
In that moment, the Lord of Thunder stood not as a mere man or ruler but as a god reborn—ready to defy the heavens themselves.