Chapter 279: In a World of Giants

Max dropped to his knees and caught an exposed root as the earth surged upward beneath him. The wooded hill rose with it, carrying the path, the houses, and every tree surrounding him. Soil crumbled between his fingers as he dragged himself closer to the trunk, desperately seeking a firmer hold while branches whipped violently overhead.

Beyond the hill, a terrible tearing sound rolled through the forest.

A vast stretch of earth broke away along the distant slope, dragging centuries-old trees downward in an avalanche of tangled roots, broken trunks, and soil. Through the enormous opening left behind, Max could see the forest farther away, its canopy sinking lower as the ground carrying him continued to rise.

Something moved beneath the falling earth.

At first, he could make out little beyond a massive shape forcing its way through the swirling dust. Then it bent at a joint, shedding thick layers of compacted soil from a pale, armored surface. Roots that had grown across it over countless years snapped apart, while entire trees were torn from their foundations.

A leg.

Its lower section disappeared into the forest far below, while the other end remained concealed beneath the rising land. Farther along the slope, another enormous limb tore free, sweeping aside trees as it slowly unfolded.

Max stared in disbelief until the drifting dust swallowed both limbs from view.

The village shook behind him. He turned toward it, watching women stumble between houses that were rising alongside the hill. Some clung desperately to doorframes, while others crawled across the trembling ground, their screams barely audible beneath the continuous rumbling.

“You’ve got to be kidding me… I’ve been on this monster’s back the whole time?!”

His gaze swept across the forest, searching for some indication of where the creature ended, but the broken ground vanished beneath the canopy. Even now, with its enormous legs lifting them higher, the rest of its body remained buried beneath the very land he had thought he could escape across.

How many centuries had it remained here, buried beneath mountains of soil while forests grew across its back and generations of people lived and died without ever suspecting what lay beneath their feet?

The thought sent a chill down his spine.

Then, without warning, a deafening roar erupted from somewhere deep beneath the earth.

The ground shuddered violently, and a tremendous wave of sound swept across the forest, shaking the trees and rattling the houses as though the very air had become a weapon.

Pain shot through Max’s ears, swallowing the distant screams beneath a piercing ring. He clamped one hand against his ear while the other remained locked around the root, warm blood trickling between his fingers.

Beneath him, the forest continued to rise.

The shockwaves would have been enough to rupture an ordinary person’s eardrums, but Max’s extraordinary constitution spared him the worst of their force. The ringing soon began to subside, leaving him with little more than a dull ache.

Yet before he could recover, something far more devastating took its place.

An excruciating pain erupted deep within his skull, so sudden and overwhelming that his fingers loosened around the root. He barely managed to tighten his grip before another wave of agony swept through his mind, making his entire body convulse.

It felt as though an immense weight had settled upon his consciousness, pressing against his very existence with a force he could neither comprehend nor withstand.

The world spun before his eyes. Colors bled into one another, trees twisted into indistinguishable shapes, and the rising forest gradually dissolved into a swirling haze.

For a moment, Max could no longer tell whether his eyes were open or closed.

His jaw fell.

“A crab?!”

An unimaginably enormous crab stood before him, its towering form stretching so high into the heavens that even the moon seemed insignificant in its presence. Its immense legs extended beyond the limits of his vision, disappearing into a boundless darkness, while the sheer breadth of its armored body defied his understanding of what a living creature could possibly become.

Max could only stare.

He had faced dragons, powerful mages, and armies numbering in the millions. He had witnessed mountains crumble beneath overwhelming displays of strength and seen entire cities reduced to ruins.

Yet nothing he had encountered could compare to the monstrosity before him.

And then he noticed its eyes.

Two enormous crimson gems gleamed high above, their dreadful radiance illuminating the surrounding darkness as they slowly settled upon him.

Max froze.

The moment their gaze reached him, an indescribable terror seized his entire being. He felt naked beneath those ancient eyes, stripped of his strength, his accomplishments, and everything that had once given him confidence in his own power.

The kingdoms he had conquered, the enemies he had defeated, even the mighty dragons he once regarded as the pinnacle of existence – all of them suddenly appeared pitifully small.

And he was smaller still.

The crimson eyes continued to stare down at him, their overwhelming presence pressing upon his consciousness until even his thoughts began to falter.

He wanted to look away, to move, to do something other than stand there and endure that dreadful gaze.

But his body refused to obey.

For a brief, horrifying moment, Max felt as though his very soul might collapse beneath the weight of something that had never even needed to acknowledge his existence.

As abruptly as it had appeared, the vision vanished.

Max collapsed against the tree, gasping for air as the familiar colors of the forest returned to his sight. His entire body trembled, and cold sweat drenched his clothes. Even the simplest thought seemed difficult to grasp.

For several moments, he remained motionless, struggling to comprehend what he had just witnessed.

He had once believed that, given enough time, he could grow strong enough to overcome anything that threatened him or those he cared about.

Yet here, in this forsaken land, he had discovered something terrifying.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Max no longer wondered how much stronger he could become.

He wondered whether he would survive long enough to find out.