A terrifying tremor spread through the entire Mt. Moon Range. Even Sorrel and Xia Shu, who had already reached the outskirts of Mt. Moon to help Officer Jenny set up the defensive line, felt the violent shaking.
"Rumble—!"
A dull boom came from deep underground. The sound did not enter through their ears; it passed directly through the soles of their feet and their bones, as if the earth itself were roaring.
The tremors surged from Mt. Moon like waves. In an instant, the entire defensive position shook violently.
Xia Shu's body lurched, and loose stones beneath his feet slid aside. He lost his balance and toppled sideways—then a firm hand instantly caught his shoulder and held him steady.
"Stand firm." Sorrel's voice was as steady as ever, but a rare gravity had appeared in his usually calm eyes.
"Senior Brother, this..." Xia Shu's voice was clearly tense as his gaze involuntarily turned toward Mt. Moon.
The outline of the mountain range flickered in and out of sight through the deepest darkness before dawn. Yet at this moment, that ancient range looked like some enormous beast awakening.
Massive boulders continuously rolled down the steep slopes, while clouds of dust spread at the foot of the mountain, forming a grayish-white haze in the night.
Then Xia Shu saw something that nearly stopped his heart—
The secondary peak beside the main peak of Mt. Moon Range, a mountain more than a thousand meters high that had stood for countless ages, was shaking.
It was not an illusion. His eyes were not playing tricks on him.
The mountain's entire silhouette swayed faintly before his eyes, like a drunkard—or a giant violently shaken awake from its slumber.
Great stretches of rock face began peeling away along the mountainside. Tons upon tons of stone poured