Chapter 1364: The Wound Was Planted

Seraphina thrust a claw through the shattered stone and hooked it into a breach that had not yet fully repaired. She smashed the rocks ahead aside with her head, then spread her wings and blasted the remaining debris away, finally breaking free.

By then, Ataneya’s fox tails had already caught the stone giant.

All twelve wrapped around its neck, limbs, and waist, pinning its enormous body in midair.

Seraphina’s timing was perfect.

All the rage she had built up while trapped inside that stone shell finally had somewhere to go.

Spiraling currents gathered around her front claws. The winds intensified, forcing the nearby gray-white forest toward the ground. Trees bent and toppled in the same direction.

Seraphina beat her wings and charged the stone giant head-on.

It did not dodge.

Nor did it attempt to raise another defense.

The giant watched Seraphina hurtle toward it, its bloodred eyes still shining even as its body went completely still.

It knew it was about to die.

Inside the barrier, however, something else had caught everyone’s attention.

The stone particles that had slipped inside had gathered together. Gray-white fragments stacked one atop another, gradually forming a stone giant no larger than an ordinary person.

Everyone stared at it.

When had this little thing appeared?

The attack outside struck at the same moment.

Seraphina’s cyclone-wreathed claws slammed into the stone giant’s chest. Ataneya’s tails pulled from twelve different directions, tearing its rocky body apart.

The towering giant collapsed under the combined assault.

Its head, torso, and limbs shattered. Seraphina landed immediately afterward, crushing the remaining chunks beneath her claws until only tiny particles remained.

As the battle outside ended, everyone finally got a clear look at what was happening inside the barrier.

The smaller stone giant had assumed the fight would be easier once it slipped in among its enemies.

But the moment its body finished forming and it raised its head, it found everyone staring at it with unmistakably hostile intentions.

Power pressed in from every direction.

The little giant tried to raise an arm, but frost had already climbed from its feet and spread across its body. Ice locked the gray-white stones in place, freezing every joint.

Phoenix Queen Ignara stepped up to it.

She opened her beak and unleashed a scorching breath directly at the frozen giant.

The outer layer of ice continued contracting while intense heat burned through the stone within. The rocks cracked under the cold, then melted in the flames and trickled through the gaps in the ice.

Frozen outside, incinerated within.

The small stone giant was reduced to a puddle of slag before their eyes.

Ethan gave the ashes a pitying look, then crouched and picked up a tiny particle near the edge that had not completely melted.

A thread of energy flowed from his palm into it.

The cold particle trembled, and memories that did not belong to Ethan unfolded before him.

Novalici had once been a vast primeval forest.

An endless sea of trees covered the land, home to countless animals. The stone giant was the guardian god of the forest and protector of every living creature within it.

Then one day, five uninvited guests came to Novalici.

They wore black and concealed their faces behind bird-beaked masks. After entering the forest, they did not linger. They left an injured bird beside the path and continued deeper into the woods.

The stone giant was curious about their purpose.

It intended to follow them, but stopped when it saw the wounded bird on the ground.

The little creature was barely alive.

In the end, the stone giant abandoned its pursuit and gently lifted the bird. It found a hollow within its own body, made the space suitable for shelter, and carefully tended to its injured guest.

The days passed.

Five years later, the bird had grown.

But its temperament had begun to change.

It grew restless and irritable, developing an intense hatred for everything around it—especially the green that filled every corner of the forest.

Novalici could not tolerate any creature that harmed the forest.

Then, one day, the bird could no longer suppress its emotions.

Brilliant red light erupted from its beak and swept through the trees. Everything it touched turned gray-white. Trees stopped growing, animals lost their vitality, and every sound in the forest fell silent.

The stone giant was furious.

It drove the bird from its body and chased it into the sky. The animals below gathered as well, each expressing its hatred in its own way.

No living creature would accept something that destroyed the forest.

But the stone giant could not bring itself to abandon the bird.

In secret, it hid the little creature inside its own heart.

From that day forward, the bird had a name.

Kravik.

And the stone giant that guarded the forest had a name as well.

Granthor.

The memory ended there.

The stone particle in Ethan’s palm lost its last trace of luster, crumbling into powder that slipped between his fingers.

He had found several important clues.

Kravik was indeed directly responsible for the gray-white forest. The red light had come from its body, and its power had gradually drained the color from every living thing in the woods.

Yet Kravik’s strength did not match the vast amount of energy that had accumulated throughout the gray-white forest.

Before it began to change, five black-clad figures in bird-beaked masks had visited Novalici.

They had left the injured bird behind and ventured deeper into the forest.

Those five were the true masterminds behind everything.

Andona withdrew her Divine Power, and the golden barrier surrounding the group slowly dispersed.

She flew into the sky, rising above what the mountain had previously blocked from view.

With the peak gone, the scene in the distance was much clearer.

At the far end of the gray-white forest, space was fluctuating continuously. Long, narrow cracks trembled in the air, occasionally releasing spatial winds that sent the nearby trees swaying violently.

The forest ahead remained uniformly gray-white.

Seraphina looked down at the remains of Granthor beneath her claws, feeling somewhat disappointed.

She had taken part in the final attack, but the finishing blow had not belonged entirely to her. It was a shame she had not claimed the kill for herself.

Still, she lowered her body and let everyone climb back onto her.

Seraphina spread her wings and flew toward the source of the spatial disturbance.

The moment she left, a tremendous force began pushing them from behind.

It caused no harm, only propelled Seraphina forward. Even without beating her wings at full strength, she continued to accelerate.

Everyone looked back.

There was nothing behind them but the receding gray-white forest.

Yet the force kept doing everything it could to send them onward.

When Seraphina reached the area where the spatial disturbance was strongest, the force vanished.

Just like that, as though its task had been completed.

Everyone was still searching for its source when a small War Machine appeared beneath them.

It moved on two treads. Its metal casing was covered in signs of wear, and a device mounted on top flashed continuously.

Seraphina raised a claw, ready to smash it.

"Wait."

Ethan stopped her in time.

Everyone climbed down from the dragon’s back and gathered around the tracked War Machine.

Its device kept emitting fragments of speech, most of which were impossible to understand. Mechanical noises, static, and unfamiliar words overlapped, leaving only a few phrases they could make out.

"Welcome... your... arrival..."

"Two surprises... how..."

"We... surprise..."

"Death."