Shadow Slave

Sunny froze, mesmerized by the harrowing sight of a dark expanse of weathered stone rising from the depths of the ocean. It rose higher and higher, rivers of water flowing down from the numerous grooves and ravines covering the surface of the giant’s arm. Due to the scale, it seemed as though the arm was moving deceptively slowly, but he knew that to be an illusion.

A single thought formed in Sunny’s stunned mind.

‘Goliath…’

One of the three titans that had come to the Antarctic Center. It had to be him… the Whispering Legion was dead, and the Winter Beast prowled somewhere far to the north. The last one, stone giant Goliath, had disappeared without a trace. Army Command had no accurate data on his current location, the last time Sunny had been in contact with them.

…No wonder, if the missing titan had been traveling through the shallows off the coast of the landmass.

‘It’s… it’s a damn Fallen Titan.’

A moment later, Sunny suddenly came to his senses, shrugging off the dread and awe of witnessing the enormous creature… or rather, one of its limbs. What was the big deal, anyway? The Goliath was a runt, as far as titans were concerned. He was simply a giant stone abomination, instead of a sentient force of nature. Even then, Sunny had seen far greater beings before…

However, the damned titan – no matter how he compared to others of its kind – could destroy the convoy with one brush of his finger.

Barely suppressing his panic, Sunny stared at the falling hand of the giant, then twisted around and waved at Luster, shouting as loud as he could:

“Go, go, go! Speed up!”

If there was one blessing in this dreadful situation, it was that Goliath’s aim seemed to be a bit off. If the convoy accelerated, they had a slim chance of shooting underneath the gargantuan arm before it slammed into the highway.

Should they end up being just a little bit too slow, at least a couple of vehicles would be instantly flattened by the titanic blow… but stopping meant death, so there was no other choice.

The Rhino dashed forward, gaining a bit more speed. Sunny and Nightmare galloped ahead of it, diving into the shadow of the swiftly falling hand and emerging from it on the other side. The APC was just behind them.

Sunny’s heart was beating wildly as he counted off seconds… the first of the civilian transports appeared behind him, then another, and another.

‘Not yet, not yet…’

Finally, the rear vehicle shot past the Gate. A few moments later, Goliath’s arm hit the concrete surface of the highway, pulverizing a large swath of it and sending a localized earthquake spreading from the point of impact.

Nightmare stumbled, but righted himself a split second later. Some distance behind, the wheels of the rearmost military vehicle momentarily flew into the air, then hit the cracked surface of the road with a screeching sound. Somehow, the driver managed to maintain control of the vehicle and desperately sped forward, hoping to get away from the colossal threat.

‘Made it…’

Sunny let out a groan, knowing that their narrow escape from death was both temporary and futile. No matter how fast the convoy was moving, they had no hope of outrunning a titan. Now that Goliath was aiming for them, there was no chance of salvation.

Unless something managed to stall the giant for a few minutes, the convoy was doomed.

‘Not fair, not fair… this is not fair!’

After all they had been through, after everything he had done, this was the end? Sunny felt like howling at the moon in sorrow and anger.

Behind them, the enormous hand scraped against the concrete, and then, a titanic shape started to rise from the ocean. Goliath was pulling himself out of the cold water, its ugly head emerging from beneath the waves first.

Sunny shuddered.

The titan was somewhat humanoid in appearance, but far from resembling a graceful statue. Unlike the magnificent monuments of the Forgotten Shore, Goliath looked more like a small mountain that had come to life than an effigy of a human. The surface of its body was rough and unpolished, like a natural cliff, and its proportions were all wrong.

His legs were powerful and stocky, and its torso was massive and asymmetrical, with mounds of stone rising from its back like humps. The giant had three arms, each hand possessing a different number of thick, short fingers.

His head was like a misshapen hill of brown rock, with two cavernous holes gaping in it, drowned by darkness, and a single circular eye set deep in the center of his forehead.

At least Sunny thought that it was an eye. The thing was milky-white and round, but seemed to be cut of stone, like the rest of the titan’s body. The thought of being gazed upon by the giant eye made him feel a deep sense of primal terror.

…Or rather, even more of it.

Sunny knew that the convoy had no hope of escaping the titan. But they still had to try.

The column sped up as much as it could, the battered vehicles burning through whatever they had left to distance themselves from the terrible monstrosity. The turrets unleashed a barrage of bullets, which hit the weathered stone of the titan’s body in twisting streams.

However, their impacts were like mosquito bites to the giant… less than, even. Mosquitos could break the skin of their prey, at least.

Goliath climbed onto the highway, his massive shape barely fitting between the mountains and the ocean. Countless waterfalls continued to stream off his body, falling down and forming a pool in the obliterated section of the road.

The titan’s single eyes moved, locking on the escaping convoy. And then, the creature took a step forward…

The whole world seemed to tremble from the terrible weight of Goliath’s massive foot.

Just with this single step, the damned giant covered a lion’s share of distance between him and the desperately speeding convoy. Whatever hope of escape Sunny had left was instantly shattered.

‘…Curse you.’

He stared at the towering shape of Goliath for a few seconds, his pale face full of dark resentment.

Then, Sunny turned Nightmare around and dashed past the convoy, charging directly at the fearsome titan.

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