The sky seemed to have been torn in two. That pillar of destruction descended from the pinnacle of the heavens like divine punishment, tearing through the sky with a shrill, piercing howl that made scalps tingle.
The entire world seemed to freeze behind that beam of light, leaving only thunderous booms like souls being torn apart to echo endlessly between heaven and earth, stirring the deepest fears in every heart.
Across the land of Elbaf, the air seemed to solidify as everyone unconsciously held their breath.
Even the once towering Giants now had trembling legs and ashen faces, staring blankly at the canopy of sky above, as though it might collapse at any moment.
Children wept in their mothers' arms, while the elderly prayed under their breath, their trembling fingers clutching weathered talismans.
The shadow of war had only just begun to recede when a new abyss suddenly split open, as though fate were coldly mocking this land that had not yet had the chance to rebuild.
Jin An stood atop Elbaf, the pillar of light descending from beyond the heavens reflected in his eyes. He did not retreat. Instead, he stepped forward, his black hair whipping in the wind, his expression cold and unyielding as iron.
His right hand clenched into a fist, the veins on its back twitching faintly. His heartbeat was steady, yet it pounded like a war drum.
He had not forgotten—the comrades who had fallen amid the ruins, the civilians struggling in pools of blood, and the gazes that had entrusted their hopes to him.
"Is that attack... about to fall?"
A warrior muttered, his voice like a dying candle in the wind, despair impossible to conceal in his eyes.
Jin An abruptly raised his head. There was not a trace of fear in his