Barion rose from his slumber with a start. He noticed first of all that his world had grown terribly dark. The sounds of trickling water soothed the terrible headache that threatened to split his skull in two.
"Finally awake, are you?" A familiar voice noticed.
"Ah…" He clutched his forehead while sitting up, "Manyu? I can't see a thing…"
"We're currently in a shallow cavern high in the mountains. Your vision will adjust to the darkness shortly." Manyu assured, "We should be safe here."
"Safe? Safe from what?" He asked, "The last thing I remember was that terrible ringing in my ears…"
"It would be best if you saw it for yourself. I'm not good enough of a storyteller to make it sound believable." From his side, Barion heard a rustling, "The entrance isn't far."
Before either of them could move, a staggering tremor shook the very walls of the cave, dislodging pebbles and sand from the ceiling. Accompanying it was the cry of some wounded animal--or, perhaps it was more like a scream. Barion recalled his first time witnessing a Garuda as a child, and being reduced to tears by its deafening song as the majestic creature swooped low to the ground. Only, whatever he had just heard was louder than any Garuda.
"...What in the name of the Goddess was that?" He wondered aloud.
"As I just said, it's quite difficult to put into words." Manyu answered, "Come. We're wasting time lounging around in here."
As Barion's vision improved, he could make out the silhouette of Manyu departing towards a passageway leading out of the chamber they had found themselves in. Struggling to his feet, he quietly followed after the former Demon King, recoiling as the alien roar slowly increased in volume as it bounced from the cave walls.
Lifting a hand to cover his eyes as light flooded past a faraway corner, he staggered his way to the windswept entrance, feeling a refreshing gale blow past his face. As he lowered his arm, the endless sprawl of cloud Anjima was laid out before him. From their elevated vantage, one could easily peek over the mountain valleys towards the grassland sprawl of faraway Tor. A glimmer of sapphire reflecting the sunlight caught Barion's attention, and as he turned his attention to the cliff they stood upon, he could spot the scaled, serpentine body of some gigantic creature wrapping around the length of the mountain.
"Oh." He blinked, "Isn't this…"
"The Dragon, yes. Or, perhaps I should call it the Earth Spirit?" Manyu finished, "Who would have thought that we would find ourselves seeking shelter upon the very same mountain that serves as this creature's grave?"
"Then… that roar came from this corpse?"
"No, you fool." Manyu pointed towards the distance, "That is where it came from."
Almost in reaction to his call, a faraway hilltop sunken between the embrace of two mountains shifted. Barion quickly took note of the fact that it wasn't a hill at all, but something like a living creature. His expression was plain and undisturbed as his brain struggled to piece together the possibility. Surely, he was only seeing things. But no. The mountain was moving--or rather, standing up. Jagged spines the size of Gria's battlements sparkled wickedly in the sunlight as the creature's arched back straightened out, elevating it above even the highest peaks.
Its body appeared root-like and twisting. Flesh spun and contorted wildly, offering the occasional glimpse into the monster's cavernous innards. The open wounds leaked freely with discoloured, oily blood which dripped to the soil below, half-coated in raging flames. At its full height, the beast could easily trample an entire city without knowing it. It was only when the pitiful, gangly neck of the creature emerged to lift a twice-forked head that Barion could wager a guess at what he was looking at.
"...Atroma?" He muttered.
"It seems our presence has triggered some form of dire transformation." Manyu explained, crossing his arms, "When once its destruction stood unopposed by common folk, now even we may struggle to contend with its strength. Is it a desperate measure enacted by Black Luna to guarantee its survival, or a hidden power of Atroma's own design?"
"I don't care what it is." Barion replied, "We can't allow it to get anywhere near Anjima. There won't be any hope for this country if its capital is reduced to rubble."
"This is no time to be rushing in." Manyu argued, "We need a plan."
He spoke those words without a hint of sarcasm, but it didn't surprise him in the slightest when Barion launched from the mountainside towards the newborn Atroma with reckless abandon. All the former Demon King could manage in response was a tired sigh, before moving to follow after him.
Barion's head was spinning. He had faced some terrifying adversaries in his time, but the foe he was approaching at that moment was even moreso a mountain than the peaks surrounding its gargantuan body. Thankfully, much like a mountain, the new Atroma was almost completely immobile, its arms swinging at a glacial pace and its newfound size unable to discern the comparatively miniscule Barion from the flecks of soot and ash dispersing from its skin.
His plan hadn't changed one bit, nor did it differ from the barbaric strategies of his youth. With a balled fist, Barion launched his arm towards the beast's rippling skin, surprised to find his strength contested by an impossibly-tough hide. Not to mention, the sheer heat radiating from Atroma's body forced him to retreat just as quickly as he had approached, using the creature's body as a launchpad to send him careening towards the ground.
"Ah…" A dull pain radiated through his fist, "Just what is that thing made of?"
The fact that a single being existed who could resist his blows caused Barion to worry. If he couldn't harm Atroma, then what hope did anyone else have of accomplishing the same feat? He was barely able to keep his balance as the titan's gargantuan footfall shook the very foundations of the world, crushing entire forests beneath its heel.
"I don't understand…" He muttered, "Black Luna was keeping this hidden all along?"
"A sound strategy, wouldn't you say?" Manyu wiped the sweat from his brow as he landed close by, "Lend the people hope by allowing their forces to ferment, and then crush all delusions of resistance with a show of force that could make even a God weep. Imagine if this happened with the other Heavenly Kings, too. It wouldn't just be humanity's lives at stake--our very planet would be destroyed."
"Shit… what are we supposed to do against that?"
"I know this isn't what you want to hear… but I'm not entirely sure." Manyu admitted, "How exactly does one kill a mountain?"
"Conjure a Gate."
"...Excuse me?"
"It's possible for someone like you, isn't it?" He insisted, "We'll be needing help to sort this out."
"No, no, no-" Manyu repeated, "You vastly underestimate the kind of magical power one needs to summon a Gate. Why, even with Dorma's help, Yula required a few hours to finish her incantation. And that was with a magical circle, no less. If I tried to do something like that using dark magic, it would most certainly push me to the brink of death."
"Does that mean you can do it?"
"Perish the thought from your mind. Look at how slow this titan is--we could walk to Gria and return with an army in tow by the time it manages to reach the border."
"By the time it reaches the border, Anjima will be an uninhabitable wasteland of fire. If we defeat it here and now, the country could yet be saved."
"You stubborn fool…" Manyu sighed, "If you insist on doing this, know that I won't be available to lend you any aid in the coming weeks. If I end up in a coma, you had better not consider dragging me along on another of your excursions until Black Luna is dealt with."
"...Thank you, Manyu."
"I don't want to hear another word of gratitude from you for as long as I live. It makes my stomach turn just imagining the kind of irreversible damage this could do to my body." The former Demon King grumbled, "Now, leave me be and survey Atroma for potential weaknesses. I'll be needing complete concentration to get this exactly right."
Nodding, Barion disappeared towards the mountainous beast's shadow, leaving Manyu to consider the specifics of his impossible task.
Atroma's tracks were no longer smouldering prints in the dirt, but basins of bubbling magma which leaked from the beast's skin like pus. A sound like the felling of trees accompanied the wild but predictable swings of its arms, colliding with distant mountain peaks and sending landslides crashing into the valley. It was no longer a monster, but some cruel manifestation of nature--an earth-shaping God given form and cursed with ceaseless rage.
Barion wasn't even on the creature's mind anymore, just as he struggled to identify it as anything other than a mountain given life. Climbing upon it was simply out of the question. The plumes of steam jetting from cracks in its skin made Barion wary of attempting to approach it at all. Bands of disorganised Demons who seemed just as bewildered by the sight as any human stood with their heads--or, what passed as their heads--craning towards the sight of Atroma's body, barely even acknowledging Barion as he ran past.
"Where do I even begin…?" He wondered, "...Well, the head is always a good place to start, I suppose."
Leaping, he aimed himself towards a calmer region of Atroma's body, clinging to the back of its heel. As expected, what he was grasping onto couldn't quite be described as a living creature. As he stared up towards the faraway reaches of Atroma's back, boulders of obsidian skin flew past his head, dislodging from crumbling outcrops of flesh. Even the blackened portions of its body were scalding to the touch--only just bearable as Barion began the slow but steady ascent towards the moving mountain's summit.
Meanwhile, Manyu was struggling to construct the correct incantation in his head for a Gate that would lead straight to Gria's royal castle. Without a focus, he could only rely on dark magic to cast the spell. However, the exhaustion of using his own body as a focus would only reasonably grant him a single attempt.
"Right…" He resolved, "Let's give this a try."
Normally, Gates were created with the aid of magic circles, which increased in both size and complexity depending on the distance one wished to travel. A Gate spanning an entire country's worth of land would have normally required a four-layered circle--quite the test for even an accomplished sorcerer, and one which Manyu hoped to pass using nothing but his innate aptitude for controlling magical particles.
He closed his eyes, retreating to the inner sanctum of his mind and blocking out any external stimuli. Attempting to visualise the precise exit point of the Gate, he began channelling magical particles through his own body. While Manyu was exceptionally gifted in the use of dark magic, a human's body could only withstand so much stress before giving in. Most who dabbled in utilising their own bodies as foci could barely cast a simple levitation spell, never mind a high-level translocation spell like Gate.
As the very fabric of reality was torn asunder in front of him, a numbness overcame Manyu's body. It was necessary for him to maintain total concentration until the spell was complete, but as all feeling disappeared from his body, he couldn't be certain of whether he was even alive anymore. Just as his focus began to waver, the portal ripped open with a piercing sound, displaying within its shimmering surface an image of Gria's royal castle.
"Hah… hah…" His legs could barely carry him, "Well… I suppose that wasn't too bad."
He reassured himself with those words, but as he took a step forward, he immediately fell to the floor, and was forced to crawl like an insect through the curved rim of the Gate--a tingling sensation lingering uncomfortably in his midsection as he pulled himself completely through the passageway into the comparatively quieter grand hall of the castle.
"Wha-" A feminine voice recoiled, "Manyu!?"
A number of his companions were already present--Dorma, Shilahi, Pale… they, along with King Granda, appeared to be holding a strategic meeting of some sort. The three warriors were braced as if preparing for a fight, more than likely expecting an intruder from the Gate, but their stances fell just as quickly when they recognised the man crawling across the threshold.
"What's this all about!?" Shilahi exclaimed, "Don't tell me Atroma got the better of you!"
"Something strange has happened…" He didn't even attempt to stand up, "Atroma is… well, exterminating it has become quite the ordeal… it would be better if you saw it for yourself."
"Did you conjure this Gate yourself? Without a focus?" Dorma asked, suddenly intrigued, "Rather impressive. But I doubt you're in any state to fight now."
"Gather everybody…" He instructed, "Especially Witilla. No doubt she'll know something about this…"
"Shilahi, go and fetch the girl immediately." Dorma began, "Pale--head through this Gate and assess the situation. I'll go to the alchemy lab and grab hold of Lotte, Yula and Fusala."
"Is nobody going to help me…?" Manyu asked as politely as he could manage.
"I'll have someone collect you from the floor." She answered, "If the situation is so bad that you have to request our aid… I have a bad feeling about this…"