After more than twenty consecutive bombardments from the Supercritical Accelerators, the living mountain began to move again. Its kilometer after kilometer of dark surface once more heaved with nauseating waves, and even greater energy began gathering within its biological cannons. For a brief moment, the entire battlefield seemed to fall silent.
The soldiers had witnessed the world-ending might of the Supercritical Accelerator bombardment. Seeing the Crawling Calamity emerge virtually unscathed after such a terrifying barrage filled everyone who saw it with immense shock and fear.
No, it could not exactly be called unscathed—the energy-laden accelerator projectiles had indeed carved a series of horrific wounds across the Crawling Calamity's surface. Magic's "material critical effect" had vaporized hundreds and thousands of tons of the colossal creature's flesh tissue, gouging vast stretches of pitted trenches and rifts into its upper body. Scalding bodily fluids steamed from within the Crawling Calamity, condensing into a low-hanging mist that covered the living mountain like dark clouds. Splattered fragments of flesh still fell like torrential rain. Yet even in this hellish state, the Crawling Calamity remained highly active and began to strike back.
Magic shells streaked toward Dawn of the Mortal World's main shield with shrieking trails of blue light. Several came in succession, almost all aimed at the same spot. The nearby Gorgon Fortresses immediately raised their shields in an attempt to intercept the dreadful attack, but the Crawling Calamity's magic shells had previously been capable of hitting tiny reconnaissance aircraft within the Magic Turbulent Layer. Its fire-control system was extraordinarily powerful, while Dawn of the Mortal World was simply too enormous a target. The Gorgons' interception failed.
A cataclysmic explosion rose from Dawn of the Mortal World's shield. It was as if a new sun had suddenly risen over the wasteland beneath the dim sky.