Ash's breath caught in his throat as the creature emerged, its sheer size enough to leave them all momentarily frozen. "What a horrifying sight," he thought, standing alongside the others, who could only stare in awe at the enormity of the beast.
Wain couldn't bring himself to move as he watched the monstrous presence tear its way into their world. He couldn't recall the last time an Apocalypse had entered the human realm, but he knew it had been roughly eighty years since humankind had faced such a devastating nightmare. I've heard the legends, the myths of the snake that devours the world... I wish it had stayed a myth.
They said its body coiled around the earth, an endless one—a fitting title, Wain thought grimly. The dragon dragged itself free from the massive cavity in the center of the city, its enormous body adorned with jagged, brownish-gray spikes that fused into a natural armor. It was a beast built for destruction, an unstoppable force born from the abyss.
The dragon's maw widened, its throat glowing with accumulating mana. A purple flame grew in the back of its esophagus, growing more violent as time passed, rising into the back of its mouth. Though they were still some distance away, Wain swore he saw the corners of its lips curl upward. "It's smiling..." Wain whispered.
The creature was relishing their terror, savoring the way the tiny humans scattered in panic. The mana within its throat swelled, spilling from the edges of its teeth like molten fire. The group could only watch helplessly as the dragon continued to gather energy, the purple flames overflowing from its maw. "Here it comes," Wain thought, his body reacting before his mind could catch up.
He sprinted forward alongside his comrades, running toward an enemy none of them believed they could defeat. What do we even do? What's the plan? We are just running at it... We don't even know how to kill it... How do we even stop it? Can we? It'll just kill us... Oh, Judex Divinum, we need a miracle, don't we? Shit... Is this how it ends? Is there an Angel who will answer our pleas? His mind raced, the futility of it all clawing at his resolve. "Judex Divinum, we need a miracle." Tears stung his eyes.
He could run. He could gather his allies and flee. But then what? The people in the city, helpless and terrified, would die. A priest's duty was to protect. Every last one of them would be dead if he cowardly saved his own life.
The dragon snapped its jaws shut, compressing the seething mana within. The purple fire didn't extinguish. Instead, it condensed, refined into a blinding inferno. The pressure forced Jormungandr's jaws open in a sudden snap as if his jaws were pried apart. Wain would never forget what followed.
The fire expanded as it traveled, a tidal wave of destruction. In the blink of an eye, a quarter of the city was reduced to nothing but cinders. Large metal rods, the skeletal remains of buildings, jutted from the ground like grave markers. The purple fire filled the streets, incinerating anyone who failed to escape. Yet, Wain realized with cold clarity, those who perished instantly were the fortunate ones. A painless death, he muttered.
Those who sought refuge in the buildings met a far crueler fate. The flames cleaved through structures, toppling them with ease. With their foundations shattered, the towering buildings buckled and fell, crashing into the earth with a deafening roar. Metal twisted and groaned, stone crumbled, and the sheer weight of destruction sent shockwaves through the city. Clouds of dust and debris billowed into the air, choking the streets in a suffocating haze.
As Jormungandr's rampage continued, the group could only cling to a single desperate hope that the beast would exhaust its mana before there was nothing left to save.
The survivors surged forward, a desperate tide of humanity. The debris fell like a storm, and the group fought to shield as many as they could. Rose swung her massive wrecking ball, intercepting falling wreckage. Mel shifted the form of her guns into a shotgun, blasting incoming debris before it reached the ground. Ash unleashed arcs of flaming mana, slicing through rubble in midair. But it wasn't enough. Splintered shards of stone and metal found their marks. Screams filled the streets as jagged pieces tore through flesh, breaking bones on impact.
A woman's shriek pierced through the chaos. Wain turned just in time to see a shard of metal lodge into her eye, burying deep with a sickening crunch. "Aghhhhhh!" She was still alive. He rushed to her side, lifting her as she clutched at the wound, blood pouring down her face. "Mel! She needs healing!" He shouted.
"I'm a little busy!" Mel snapped, her focus locked on the relentless downpour of debris. She had trained endlessly to hone her aim, but even she wasn't prepared for the sheer volume raining from the sky. "I'll help!" Kane appeared through the crowd, hands glowing as he pressed them against the woman's wound, channeling healing magic into her body. "I need time to focus!" The boy shouted at Wain, his body trembling. Wain nodded, but the woman thrashed against his grip.
"I'm okay! Let me go!" She desperately tried to push them away. "You're badly injured!" Wain protested. "Better injured than dead! Let me go." She tore herself free, holding her face as she vanished into the flood of fleeing bodies. Wain could do nothing but watch. She was right. If she didn't escape the city, none of it would matter.
All around them, the storm of destruction raged on. Jagged beams speared through civilians, pinning them to the ground. Boulders fell like meteorites, crushing entire groups beneath their weight. The cathedral was only a few hundred feet away, yet every step felt like a mile, every second an eternity.
And then Wain froze. Jormungandr's head was no longer at the cathedral. When did the breath stop? He scanned the wreckage, following the creature's body as it snaked through the ruins. It was moving now, its path hidden by the remaining buildings. A new fear gripped him.
"Is it... devouring the people in the streets?" He asked, picturing the serpent's head tearing through the streets. To their horror, the largest building in the city began to fall. A skyscraper reaching farther than any other in the city reached up as if it touched the sky. Falling from the heavens, the tower split in half as it toppled to its side. Mel watched, a silent prayer escaping her lips as the skyscraper collided with Jormungandr's colossal form. Maybe, just maybe, the impact would slow the creature down, buy them some precious time.
The thunderous sound was gut-wrenching. Just how many died in a matter of seconds? Mel asked herself. Echoing through the city, the noise rang like a bell in their ears as if a fight just ended, a fight they were losing… A tidal wave of dust and debris rolled forward, swallowing everything in its path. The world turned gray, and in the suffocating haze, the group lost sight of one another. Mel could only pray they were still alive on the other side.
When the dust finally settled, the devastation lay bare. Fires raged uncontrollably, their smoke blotting out what little light remained from the setting sun. The city burned, consumed by the chaos Jormungandr had wrought. Ash stared at the smoldering ruins, fists clenched. The people inside those buildings had no chance. He had no chance. None of them did. The dragon had declared war on humanity, and there was no savior in sight. Only fire. Only death.
The fading light of the setting sun was swallowed by the blanket of despair. To Wain, it felt like a declaration from Jormungandr himself that the light of the heavens would not save them from his wrath. Darkness had fully descended, save for the fires that raged across the ruined city. With every passing second, the helpless were consumed by the inferno that devoured the buildings.
Through the chaos, Rose pressed forward, hurling her wrecking ball into the burning buildings. Upon impact, a dark wave erupted from its core, crashing upward before descending over the flames. For a fleeting moment, relief washed over the group as some fires flickered out. But others roared back to life, undeterred by their efforts. However, there was no time to keep fighting the flames. Jormungandr was the priority.
"We need to save them!" Wain cried, desperation breaking through his voice. "If we stop even for a moment, thousands more could die," Rose countered, her face grim. "We can't save them all, Wain." The truth of her words weighed on them like chains.
Guilt gnawed at their resolve—how could they claim victory if they couldn't even protect the people they swore to defend? Doubt spread through the group like a poison. Even Rose, fierce and determined, could not entirely hide the uncertainty in her eyes. Jormungandr was winning before the battle had even begun.
They reached the massive cavity from which the great serpent had emerged. Up close, its enormity was staggering. The beast dwarfed the ruined structures, its width and height rivaling a four-story building. Scanning the area, Rose searched for survivors among the cathedral priests, but the sea of crushed bodies buried beneath debris snuffed out any hope. Most had perished in the dragon's violent entrance. Were there any left? Or had they fled, abandoning their sacred duty?
She wanted to blame them. But deep down, she understood. If she hadn't been blessed by the Angels, would she have stayed? Would she have fought a losing battle, knowing how it would end? Even with Lydia, Asura, and an Arch Knight, the task ahead seemed insurmountable.
They needed a miracle from God to accomplish such a feat.
Mel and Rose were the first to strike. With gritted teeth, Mel slammed her twin pistols together, and in a burst of holy amber fire, a minigun formed from the molten metal. She tightened her grip and unleashed a relentless barrage of bullets into Jormungandr's hide. At the same time, Rose swung her wrecking ball with all her might, hurling it at the beast's side.
Rose and Mel chanted in unison, their voices rising in a desperate plea for power. "Judex Divinum strengthens those who follow the light. Through Hephestine, the dullest blades become sharp." Their weapons surged with holy mana, their edges glowing with an incandescent intensity. Rose continued her incantation, her voice echoing with unwavering faith. "Judex Divinum's righteousness shall always prevail. Through Michael, the wicked shall be vanquished."
Her wrecking ball pulsed with golden light, its form expanding, its weight increasing exponentially. She swung the large weapon, slamming it into the dragon's hide relentlessly. Yet, neither attack left so much as a scratch.
Undeterred, Mel swapped her weapon for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Pouring all her mana into the missile, she prepared to fire. But before she could pull the trigger, a sudden commotion erupted from deep below. Clinging to one of Jormungandr's spikes, two figures emerged from the depths. Lydia and Asura. "NOW THIS IS HOW YOU MAKE AN ENTRANCE! HAHAHAHAHA!" Asura bellowed, his laughter booming.
Relief flooded through the group, rekindling the hope that had nearly slipped away. Lydia and Asura leaped from the serpent's body, landing with practiced ease before their allies. For the first time, Mel had the overwhelming urge to hug the reckless moronic ogre, but before she could, Lydia cut in. "No time to explain. Here's the plan. We need to get its attention—"
A thunderous, sluggish voice rumbled through the air, cutting her off. "You have my audience, priests..."
The ground trembled as a nearby building exploded into dust and rubble. Clouds of dust spilled out into the street like a crashing wave in the sea. For a moment, they saw nothing but darkness. Then, it emerged. Its large purple eye, the size of a car, glowed vividly in the night. Glaring at them like a beacon of malevolence, the group became paralyzed with fear.
Excreting from its body was a thick fog of quotidian mana that swirled all around in the air, bathing them in the acidic mana and burning their skin. The large pupil constricted, shrinking in size as it focused on a particular person. Turning her head to see who it was glaring at, Lydia found the gaze rested on Asura, who stood defiantly. "We meet again, danger noodle!" he sneered.
Without moving its mouth, Jormungandr spoke again. Its voice did not merely echo, it hammered into their skulls, each word repeating like a relentless drumbeat. "To speak with such confidence after falling so far, Asura."
"Couldn't have fallen farther than you, old friend," Asura shot back. "You're looking rough. Got your ass whooped by the big momma?" Jormungandr's jaws parted, unleashing an ear-piercing hiss. Wain clutched his skull as white-hot pain split through his head. Mel, Ash, Kane, and Rose collapsed to their knees, blood trickling from their ears. The sound shook their very souls.
Only Lydia and Asura remained standing. Asura winced but grinned through it, plugging a finger in his ear. "You done crying 'cause you're a sore loser? I was guessing, but damn, you really did get spanked by the king, huh?" Jormungandr's voice darkened. "Malachi has revealed to me that you adore a human child... I will relish the sight of your despair as I devour her before you."
A dark shift overtook Asura. His jaw was clenched, every muscle in his body flexing with barely contained rage. The mention of Lily sent a searing fury through his veins. Asura knew Jormungandr would do whatever it took to get his way, even if it meant devouring innocent lives. The depths of a dragon's cruelty were boundless. They would devour their own kind if it meant achieving greater power. The thought made his stomach turn.
"I'll fucking kill you... Ha... Hahaha... Hahahahaha!" Asura's laughter turned manic. His eyes flickered wildly, his mind spiraling into madness. Like embers buried deep beneath layers of restraint, something ancient and furious began to resurface. Was this the feeling of betrayal? When have I been betrayed? Asura thought as the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, a long-dormant rage clawing its way to the surface.
Lydia's voice was distant in his ears as she called out. "Focus! We need you." Jormungandr rose, its massive form towering above them. "This is the end, Asura. For you, for your friends, and for the humans you sacrificed so much for." Its eye blazed with hatred. "A worthy end to such a failure. An end to the so-called Great King. The day has come for the Mother of Dragons to return. And so will her rage and hatred against man and the shadows. The end of all."
The ground trembled beneath their feet as the buildings around them quaked violently, the spikes sinking deep into the walls, tearing through the structures with terrifying ease. Towering above, Jormungandr loomed like a mountain, its monstrous jaws gaping wide. Deep within its throat, a brilliant purple flame flickered to life, crackling as mana surged and compressed, building with ominous power.
Wain's heart raced, his face flushing with realization as he understood what was coming next.