Parallel Memory

Chapter 553: The Giant Devil

The giant devil let out another roar, a guttural, earth-deep bellow that rolled across the battlefield and made the air itself feel heavier. It surged forward, its titanic frame blotting out much of the fire-lit sky, each thunderous step striking the scorched ground with enough force to shake dust loose from the wooden barricades and the battered ramparts behind them.

In only a handful of strides, the monster reached the frozen barricade that Mia had sealed earlier—the same one that had withstood the lesser devils’ claws and the battering of their crude weapons. The thick wall of jagged ice loomed like a frozen cliff face, its surface faintly aglow with the golden traces of the priests’ blessings still embedded within. For a heartbeat, the air around it was still—then the giant’s massive axe came down in a violent arc.

The first blow rang out like a cannon shot. The wall shuddered from base to peak, shards and dust-like frost scattering outward. Hairline cracks began to creep across its surface, spider webbing outward with alarming speed. The priests’ enchantments flared briefly in defiance, a wash of golden light pushing back against the damage—but the reprieve lasted only moments.

The second strike fell, heavier than the first. The cracks exploded outward, racing to the very edges of the barricade like lightning across a storm-dark sky. Ice splintered and the blessing’s glow dimmed, its magic fraying as the structure groaned under the colossal force.

Then came the third swing. The axe struck with such raw, brutal momentum that the priests’ light shattered entirely in a burst of golden sparks. The sound of the impact was deafening—like the snap of a frozen tree in the dead of winter. The wall fractured in a single, decisive moment, the center exploding into shards as steam hissed upward into the night.

Through the breach, the giant stepped forward. Its body exuded a blistering heat that melted the ice underfoot, the steam curling around its legs as it pushed aside the last fragments of the barricade. The air became heavy with the stench of scorched frost and sulfur.

Mia’s jaw tightened into a hard, controlled line. She didn’t waste time with words. Before the fragments of the wall had even settled to the ground, she was already moving—her boots crunching across frost and ash, her limbs driven by the surging pulse of mana. Cold light trailed her every step, the air snapping with the sharp bite of winter magic.

She threw her hands forward toward the gaping hole, eyes narrowing to razor focus. Mana poured from her like a flood, an almost tangible wave of frigid power spilling outward.

This time the frost didn’t merely grow—it erupted. A torrent of jagged, crystalline ice shot from the ground and the surrounding debris, knitting together into massive overlapping slabs. The breach vanished behind a rising barricade of frost so dense it almost seemed carved from stone. The structure rose higher and higher until it towered nearly two full stories, its surface bristling with spear-like spires and serrated edges.

Mana pulsed visibly through the ice, giving it an otherworldly sheen. The cold radiating from it made breath plume thick in the air, frost creeping outward over the ground like grasping fingers.

”Bless it—now!” Mia’s voice rang clear over the chaos.

The nearest priests, pale and shaking from the exhaustion of maintaining the earlier defenses, scrambled forward. Their hands shook—not from fear, but from the weight of spent mana reserves—but they raised them anyway. Golden light blossomed once more, spilling across the icy face of the wall in a slow, deliberate wave. This time the blessings glowed brighter and cut deeper, their holy essence sinking into every vein of the frost until it shimmered with a double-edged radiance: the cutting bite of cold and the searing purity of light.

It was stronger now—much stronger—but Mia knew even this would not last forever. The giant would not stop.

And then she felt it—the ground trembling again. This was no ordinary vibration from the clash of weapons and the running of boots. This was something slower. Heavier. The kind of rumble that sank into bones and made the earth itself seem uneasy.

Above, the sky shifted from its hellish orange glow into something darker, deeper—a red so saturated it seemed to drink in what little light remained. The change was slow but steady, a sign of something building.

In the distance, the swarm of smaller devils that had been pressing endlessly against the defenders suddenly changed their behavior. As if obeying an unheard command, they all pulled back at once. Their claws scraped against the scorched earth, their twisted heads turning in unison. Snarls rippled through their ranks, but none of them advanced. Instead, they began parting to either side, forming a wide corridor that cut straight toward the outpost’s center.

From the far end of that path, through the haze of smoke and embers, a shadow began to emerge.

It was tall—taller than the outpost’s walls, tall enough to blot out the warped moonlight beyond. Each stride was ponderous, deliberate, the ground sinking under its weight. As it closed the distance, its details sharpened into horrifying clarity.

The giant devil’s body was a monstrous amalgam of molten-black flesh streaked with glowing cracks, as though it were forged from volcanic rock and kept alive by rivers of magma running through its veins. Heat radiated from it in visible waves, making the air shimmer and distorting the shapes behind it.

Two spiraled horns curled back from its skull, framing a face twisted into a permanent expression of rage. Its eyes burned with a furnace-like light, and its jagged teeth flashed whenever its lips curled back in a snarl. In one hand, it carried an axe larger than most of the outpost’s siege weapons—a brutal, jagged weapon of obsidian-black metal, its edges glowing faintly from the heat and dripping molten fragments with every movement.

Mia’s gaze hardened instantly. She had anticipated something like this from the moment the first wave had broken uselessly against their lines.

”They were just softening us up,” she murmured under her breath, though Hiro at her side caught the words. ”This... this is their real strike.”

The giant devil let out another roar—louder this time, the kind that didn’t just fill the air but seemed to press against every inch of skin. The defenders’ lines wavered, some soldiers stumbling a half-step back under the weight of the sound alone.

Behind the giant, another cluster of lesser devils surged forward, their snarls and howls louder, braver in the shadow of their massive champion.

Hiro’s jaw clenched, his hand tightening around his sword’s hilt. His armor was streaked with dirt, ash, and the faint black traces of devil ichor. Sweat dripped down the side of his face, his chest rising and falling with the heavy rhythm of someone who had been fighting for far too long already. ”If that thing gets inside,” he said grimly, ”this place will fall apart in minutes.”

”Then we stop it before it gets the chance,” Mia said without hesitation. She turned sharply toward two other figures nearby—Seraphine and Nock. Both were catching their breath, but the look in their eyes was the same as hers: there would be no retreat.

”Hiro, with me,” she ordered. ”Seraphine—everything you’ve got. Nock, brace yourself. You’re our wall.”

Seraphine’s grin was fierce, her eyes bright with the thrill of the coming clash. She drove the butt of her spear into the dirt, letting mana surge through the weapon. Instantly, flames raced along the shaft, gathering into the spearhead. The runic engravings carved into its length flared to life, pulsing like a heartbeat. The heat rolling off it was intense enough to make nearby frost hiss into steam. ”Perfect,” she said, her voice low and dangerous. ”Dual Art—Burning Lance.”

Nock stepped forward in silence, lowering his stance as he gripped the straps of his heavy shield. The polished surface gleamed faintly with golden light, and with a single motion he slammed it into the ground. The sound was like a drumbeat of war. ”I’ll keep it off you as long as I can,” he said evenly. ”Make it count.”

The giant didn’t slow. With a guttural growl, it brought its axe down on Nock’s shield. The impact exploded in a burst of sparks and golden motes, the sheer force pushing Nock back half a step despite his rooted stance. His boots dug deep into the dirt, shield braced at an angle to absorb the blow.

”Mia—now!” he barked.

Even before the words left his mouth, jagged pillars of ice erupted from the ground around the giant’s legs, slamming into its molten flesh. Steam rose in thick clouds, the frost hissing violently. The giant roared in frustration, its movements slowing under the constricting seal.

”Seraphine!” Mia called.

The lancer was already in motion. Her spear blazed white-hot, the flames roaring along the haft as she spun, gathering force before lunging forward. ”Pierce and burn!” The weapon struck true, sinking deep into the giant’s side. Fire rushed along the wound, devouring from within.

The creature thrashed violently, swinging its axe in wild arcs. Hiro darted in during the openings, his blade flashing with concentrated mana. He struck again and again, each slash carving deep glowing lines across its torso.

But the giant’s strength was monstrous. One wide sweep of its arm sent a shockwave that forced Hiro back, the ground splitting at his feet. Chunks of ice cracked loose from its legs.

”Mia! Reinforce it!” Nock shouted, intercepting another blow. The impact rattled his arm, but he held.

Mia pulled the cold into her lungs and veins until the air burned to breathe. ”Glacial Seal!” she cried, thrusting her hands forward. Frost surged again, locking tighter around its limbs, climbing to its waist.

Nock slammed his shield down once more. A golden wall rose behind the giant, sealing it in place. ”Seraphine—finish it!”

Seraphine met Mia’s gaze. ”Lend me your edge.”

Frost spiraled from Mia’s palm, wrapping the spear’s head in shimmering ice over the blazing heat. The combination seethed violently.

”Do it!” Hiro shouted, leaping clear.

Seraphine struck. The spear punched into the giant’s chest, unleashing both extremes at once—fire consuming inward, ice spreading outward.

The devil’s roars faltered, then died, its frame collapsing into molten shards and frozen fragments.

Silence lasted a heartbeat—then the lesser devils screamed, charging in a final, desperate rush.

”Hold the line!” Mia’s voice cut through the smoke.

For several more grueling minutes, the four held the breach while others cut down the swarm. Without the giant, the enemy push faltered.

Delta Outpost still stood. And now, for the first time that night, the defenders began to believe they had a chance at winning this.