The sound wasn't a simple impact. It was the agonizing groan of tens of millions of tons of geological strata fracturing under incomprehensible pressure. Before the noise even registered, a shockwave of pure physical force swept over the ruins, carrying a wall of shrapnel and dust that slammed into my chest. I choked back another mouthful of blood.
Dust swallowed Sector C like a thick fog.
Then, a massive black-iron combat boot—soaked in blood and exposing twisted white bone—kicked its way out from the gap between two colossal boulders.
A collective gasp rippled through the surviving beast-kin warriors.
A miracle that violated every law of physics had just occurred. Garza crawled out of the rubble.
Crushed beneath tens of thousands of tons of rock, the heavy black-iron armor he was so proud of had crumpled like tinfoil, driving deep into his own flesh. His entire lower half had been pulverized. His legs dragged behind him at impossible angles. Relying entirely on the terrifying leverage of his upper body, he dragged himself forward inch by agonizing inch, leaving a dark, smeared trail across the gray stone dust.
His arrogant head had taken catastrophic damage. His left eye was gone, reduced to a gory black socket. His shattered jaw hung limply, exposing broken fangs.
By the medical parameters of any carbon-based organism, he should have died a thousand times over.
But then I saw the glow.
Visible through his torn pectoral muscles, right where a biological heart should have been... a sphere of blue energy burned violently.
"Defensive positions!"
Zayla lunged forward. With a feral growl, her twin blades cleared their sheaths. She planted herself in front of me, shielding me like a protective leopard. The surviving warriors gripped their notched weapons, bracing for the dying monster’s final, suicidal counterattack.
Using his remaining arm, the Wolf King forced his ruined chassis upward. His single, heavily bloodshot eye locked dead onto me.
In that eye, I saw the absolute refusal of an apex predator. I saw humiliation. And... I saw the profound, foundational terror of a 'Physical Law' that had fallen from the sky, completely indifferent to mana or magic.
His primal brain simply couldn't process it. He couldn't comprehend how a frail human—a creature without a single drop of mana, relying entirely on scrap metal—could summon a meteor strike that made gods tremble.
He opened his shattered mouth. A wet, rattling wheeze leaked from his throat. He seemed to be trying to force out one final roar, or perhaps burn the last drop of his fuel to cast an extreme-cold spell that would drag us all to hell with him.
He failed.
The blue energy sphere in his chest flickered violently, hitting the absolute limit of its overload capacity. Then, like an incandescent bulb burning out its filament, it went dark.
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Garza’s massive frame swayed. The arm propping him up lost its final ounce of leverage. He managed half a pathetic step forward.
Then, the tyrant who had dominated the northern wasteland for centuries suffered total structural collapse. He smashed heavily into the ash less than ten meters away, kicking up a cloud of dust.
He didn't make another sound.
"It’s over."
Staring at the pile of ruined meat a few meters away—the untouchable butcher who had murdered her parents—Zayla’s voice actually trembled. It wasn't fear. It was the overwhelming, complex relief of a blood debt finally paid in full.
Gripping her twin blades tight, she took a long stride forward. Following the brutal laws of the wasteland, she prepared to sever the monster’s head as a final offering to her kin.
But the exact millisecond her blade was about to touch the Wolf King’s neck...
RUUUUMBLE—!
The sky above was suddenly, violently ripped open.
It wasn't sunlight punching through the clouds. It was a colossal, deep-blue column of repulsive force. It struck straight down from the stratosphere, achieving a flawless, pinpoint lock directly onto Garza’s corpse.
A gale-force wind erupted. This wasn't weather; it was an artificial storm generated by extreme magical pressure. The sheer downward force launched boulders weighing hundreds of pounds into the air, radiating a pressure easily ten times greater than Garza at his peak.
"What the hell is that?!" Zayla roared.
Seeing her parents' murderer about to be stolen, she recklessly launched herself into the air, reaching out to grab the Wolf King’s body as it began to levitate in the blue light.
But before she even grazed the corpse, she hit an invisible wind barrier. The kinetic repulsion violently launched her dozens of meters backward. She slammed into the rubble with a pained grunt.
"Zayla!"
Fighting through the agonizing pain of my fractured ribs, I shielded my eyes from the blinding glare and forced myself to look up.
Hovering silently in mid-air, high above the cordite smoke and the torn cloud layer... was a colossal, silver Thunderbird.
Its wingspan easily exceeded thirty meters. But the most terrifying detail was its feathers—they weren't biological keratin. They gleamed with a cold metallic luster, cascading with blinding cyan electrical arcs. It didn't even need to flap those massive wings. Relying entirely on ultra-high-pressure rotational air currents, it defied aerodynamics, stabilizing its terrifying weight in the sky.
And standing on the back of that colossal metallic bird...
An incredibly arrogant voice carried perfectly down the raging gale, echoing across the ruined expanse of the Silvermoon Rift:
"Garza’s body belongs to the sky."
Always wear your PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), kids. Especially when fighting S-rank monsters.
Question of the Day: What is the most satisfying sound in the world?
(Click to listen to the victory)
?? A) Rain.
Result: The ASMR Choice. Usually relaxing. But in this valley, "Rain" usually comes with "Acid" or "Freezing Hypothermia." I think we've had enough weather for one week.
?? B) Opening a soda can.
Result: The Victory Sip. Tss-crack. The sound of sugar and caffeine hitting a dehydrated system. It tastes like survival. Refreshment: +50.
?? C) A pneumatic drill piercing a boss's skull.
Result: Industrial Harmony. VRRR-THUNK. The sweet screech of tungsten carbide biting into magical bone. It's violent, it's messy, and it sounds like... progress. Satisfaction: 11/10.
Follow and Rate. The war is over. Now comes the sunrise.