RUMBLE—RUMBLE—RUMBLE...
The earth quaked violently.
Within a radius of several hundred meters, it felt as though an earthquake had erupted out of nowhere.
Flocks of birds scattered into the sky in a frenzy. Even the statues within the altar trembled incessantly, as though they were about to collapse.
Fissures began splitting the ground open, first in one spot, then another. Yet strangely, each fracture seemed confined to a specific area, as though limited by some invisible force.
Then came more, cracks zigzagging across the terrain, spreading, but never exceeding a certain boundary.
Without warning, the ground exploded. Shards of stone blasted outward like shrapnel, and a white, translucent column of compressed air erupted upward from beneath the earth, several meters wide, punching straight into the sky.
More ground detonated in rapid succession. Stone fragments screamed through the air like bullets. Multiple identical air-pressure columns surged skyward from underground, carving clean, brutal paths through rock and soil.
Within moments, thick smoke and debris veiled the land, shrouding everything in a fog-like haze.
But it was night, and the wind began to stir. Gusts swept the dust away, slowly revealing the ravaged aftermath.
The battlefield was in ruins, craters four to five meters wide now pockmarked the earth, one after another.
In some areas, the ground had completely vanished, exposing the vast underground chamber that had once been hidden beneath twenty meters of solid earth.
Moonlight poured through the gaping wound in the earth, illuminating both the shattered terrain and the demolished underground room.
Dirt and stone were strewn everywhere. The place looked like a warzone.
"This... this isn't just 'punching through.' Are we dreaming right now?"
"This is twenty meters underground. I can see the goddamn moon!"
"No... No, this guy... this guy's not human. He's a damn monster in a man's skin!"
Bathed in moonlight, the dazed figures within the ruined chamber stared up at the sky, dumbstruck.
Shock, disbelief, even desperation crossed their faces. Some groaned in disbelief. Others slapped themselves in the face, just to be sure they were awake.
They'd witnessed the unthinkable: a single punch from that man, Chris T. Aeridar, had unleashed a pressurized air column so powerful, it blasted through twenty meters of compacted soil and solid rock.
He'd punched all the way from the underground to the surface, tearing the earth asunder and exposing the hidden chamber in the process.
"Oi oi, Captain... wasn't that a little much?" Arlan rubbed his forehead with a wry grin.
"You trying to start a war with half the island?" Oliver's usual laid-back tone was nowhere to be found, his lip twitched involuntarily.
Still, their concerns were misplaced. The people of Alvis Island were used to localized quakes, it happened often enough that even something of this scale wouldn't fully rouse the town.
"Come up and fight, boys! Let's make this fun!"
Aeridar smirked and leapt into the air, stepping across the sky as if walking on solid ground, landing easily back on the surface.
"Tiger" wiped blood from his face, revealing a chiseled square jaw and a head of blond hair. His expression was a mix of fury and disbelief.
Beside him, "Lion," his leonine face filled with apprehension, watched silently. "Eagle" and "Wolf," still masked, said nothing, but the tension in their posture made it clear they weren't feeling much better.
"I believe it now... He really is one of the new Seven Warlords of the Sea."
Vito, Rock, Marcus, and the rest of the Triangle Pirates stood frozen in awe. Every time they witnessed a true heavyweight in action, it shook them to their core.
Vito steeled himself and was the first to leap to the surface.
"Finally, my turn to cut loose!"
From Eagle's back, muscle bulged, clothes tore, and a massive pair of jet-black wings unfolded, three meters across. One powerful flap, and he shot skyward like an arrow.
Soon, everyone still in the chamber made their way to the surface using their own means.
After they were gone, Lion hurried over to the only piece of furniture left untouched by the chaos—a black, circular table.
He ran his clawed hand across its surface, then dripped a bead of blood onto it.
The center of the table rose, revealing a ten-by-ten centimeter black square. Lion gripped it and yanked, pulling free a stone block from the table, leaving behind a perfectly shaped square cavity.
He reached in with two fingers and retrieved... a glove.
Silken, smooth, unassuming, just like any glove an ordinary man might wear.
But Lion... Lion wore it.
Or rather, he fitted it over his clawed hand.
He stood nearly four meters tall. His hands alone dwarfed those of normal men, yet this glove, meant for a human, fit snugly on his left paw.
"What does it matter if he's a Warlord? He dies here all the same."
Staring at the black glove on his left hand, Lion's face twisted into a wicked grin. His lips curled upward with cold confidence.
He slid the black stone block back into place and patted the table once.
RUMBLE—RUMBLE—RUMBLE...
Along the chamber walls, hidden mechanisms activated. Every two meters, from the base all the way up the stairs. Each door was half a meter thick, carved deep into the stone, and behind each one stood a statue.
These statues were eerily lifelike. Some took the form of armored knights wielding swords, shields, spears, or war hammers. Others were ferocious beasts, lions, tigers, giant serpents. A few even depicted towering gargoyles, wings poised as if about to take flight.
The one known as "Lion" strode past them, pressing a gloved hand, black and dust-streaked, against each stone figure in turn.
Then, the statues moved.
Yes, moved. Their eyes flickered open. Jaws creaked as if remembering how to breathe. Stone limbs trembled, then flexed, stepping out of their alcoves with the weight of ancient purpose.
The knights, in particular, raised their voices with startling clarity:
"Master, we are yours to command!"
"Crush the intruders! Slay them all!"
With a clenched fist, Lion turned and charged through the great doors at the top of the stairs, leading the way forward.
He emerged into the plaza before the altar, and struck his palm firmly against the metallic bodies of five beasts carved atop it: a lion, a tiger, an eagle, a wolf, and a snake.
The piercing cries of beasts shattered the silence. One by one, the metal creatures shuddered, came to life, and leapt down from the altar. Without hesitation, they formed a protective circle around Lion.
Not long after, Lion awakened even more statues hidden within the altar chamber.
Hundreds of them, stone knights, stone beasts, grotesque monsters, poured forth like a tide. An unstoppable army, bound by neither fear nor mortality, surged in a single direction.
Birds of prey soared through the skies. Beasts rampaged across the earth. They moved like a nightmare battalion, one that knew no gods, no mercy.
Any who stood in their way... would be crushed.
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