...a mountain has stood up and looked down on the entirety of the Sloth territory from the height that no bird could ever dream to reach...

Unfortunately, the single eye that the mountain had looked at the tiny dots of human beings miles below it, was a bloodshot golden one.

"...borrowing the words of Lairs... we are absolutely FUCKING CURSED...!"

Shanks screamed his lungs off, squatted down, and hid his head between his knees.

"Why did I had to be right, why...?!"

He growled, gritting his teeth in denial.

The size of the cyclops that they managed to kill during the 9th wave was already comparable only to a skyscraper.

As for this one...

The human brain was literally rejecting the idea that something so huge could be a single living creature - that was why the first thought of anyone witnessing the impossibly huge monstrosity standing up and begin to walk was: a mountain just stood up.

Honestly, believing that a formation of rocks suddenly became animated was so much better than facing the reality...

"..."

Shanks wasn't the only person who has left the outpost to witness the horror unfolding in the bright sunlight of the surprisingly warm day.

Every single person taking shelter inside did too.

"...that is the Gravestone Peak... the last expedition lead by the previous general had made it there and disappeared without a trace..."

One of the higher ranked Sloth soldiers pointed his shaking hand at the giant spiky growth at the monster's back.

"...oh, so that's how my father died, either eaten or crushed by that thing, huh..."

Shanks looked at the soldier and sighed in disbelief.

Everything about the situation seemed so unreal that most people present simply thought that it was a terrible, terrible dream.

Some of the youngest Sloth soldiers started crying, honestly, even those in their late teens did the same.

Many were just staring at the humongous beast - sluggishly turning around as if looking for something - while others looked away in denial.

...there were even some people amongst the Sloth soldiers who simply turned around on the spot and started running away without ever looking back - and one of those people was the black-haired monk 89-F that had many times loudly displayed her absolute disdain towards the southerners, blaming them - rightfully - for triggering the quest and the loss of all the Sloth soldiers lost during the waves.

And as for the southerners...

Uresha, Rotte, as well as Lairs, and Ti were all doing their best to calm down the youngest Sloth soldiers that broke down in tears.

Mary and her tamed monsters were looking at the beast with pure disgust and powerless anger - it was hard to imagine even scratching that thing in the first place.

Mika was clenching her fists and staring at her feet, pale as a ghost and trembling like a leaf on the wind - without the side effects of her skills, the fear of death was taking over her, making her lose all faith.

Shanks had somehow managed to calm down and already stood up - many of the Sloth soldiers began looking up to him in the few short days and he didn't have the privilege of despairing over the unfairness of the system.

"Peculiar..."

But there was one more southerner left, and he certainly didn't behave like anyone else...!

The white-haired young bespectacled man, who somehow managed to get his hands on a dye and fashioned the standard Sloth soldier's armor that he was given, turned it into a fashionable black and white set.

His calmness was so out of place that the people around him stared at him as if he suddenly went crazy.

"Peculiar?! You're calling this peculiar?! What is wrong with you?!"

Out of all people, Mika was the one to snap and shout at the white-haired capture target, who was supposed to be her crush.

"..."

Corvus raised his brow at the ashen-haired girl and then pointed at the beast occupying a huge part of the scenery unfolding before them with his chin.

"As soon as that thing stood up, I got a system message notifying me that I'm within the quest's area."

He shrugged his shoulders and explained just as calm as before.

"Tsk! Well, of course you are within the area! We all are within the damned area! Can't you see?! Half of the damned kingdom is within that thing's reach!"

Mika furiously pointed at the beast, that reached towards something only it could see but then instantly got its hand slapped away and some of its fingers got ripped off and flew away towards the distant horizon.

"¿£¤•¤•| ¤±»|±>€^±«±¤÷|«£¿±¡€ «$«± £¡$¿±>¿€«±¤"

The inhuman roar of pain that the beast let out was so deafeningly loud that it could as well be a physical attack, and almost knocked out the weakest people there - the three Dandelions trying their best with calming down the youngest Sloth soldiers.

*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH*

A sudden shockwave blew past the shocked soldiers making them even more confused than they were t begin with!

"...fuck me...! What the fuck was that?!"

Lairs shook her head trying to get rid of the ringing in her ears.

*$¡•¤|±>[%[»±¿÷¡±¤>•¿[¡÷¿£¿÷¿÷)(*&^*%$@@#&*(^&¿*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

As if to further confuse the terrified audience spectating it, the beast's eye begun shining and the titan-class monster unleashed a fully powered golden beam straight down at its feet, causing such huge tremors that barely anyone was able to continue standing upright even hundreds of miles away.

"?!?!?!!!?!???!!"

No one could even explain what was happening.

The attack that could be used to wipe all of them off the face of the earth, was wasted just like that!

If someone was naive enough to believe in the divine providence of the system, they would most definitely be kneeling and thanking it for that stroke of luck.

...but even the most devoted person amongst them all - the white-haired Corvus - had a more pressing matter to wonder about.

"Why the FUCK did it do that?!"

Once again Lairs voiced the unspoken question that everyone was thinking.

"Skwee...? (Huh...?)"

Suddenly Blueberry, the blue emperor griffin by Mary's side, flinched and tilted her head staring intently at the ground below the mind-bogglingly huge monster.

"Raor...? (What is it...?)"

Arion, the horribly skinny black wolf the size of a small horse - that got a bit stronger over the few hours of rest - looked at the griffin and growled questioningly.

"Skwee...? (Can't you smell it...?)"

Blueberry screeched back without looking at him.

Instead, she was focusing on the tiny violet dot that showed up suddenly and was glowing with more intensity each second.

"As I was saying..."

Corvus straightened his back and looked back at Mika.

"I got a system message about my quest. MY quest, not the special one we all started, but the previous one. You know which... the one about finding the villainess..."

*WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM*

Just as he finished his sentence, a massive explosion occurred underneath the mountain-like titan-class monster, and the shining violet dot shoot upwards, followed by a trail of howling fire.

*CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSH*

In the next second, the yellow eye of the monster burst apart like a giant grape crushed between the two fingers and the back of the beast's head exploded into a fountain of yellow blood...!

*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

As if that wasn't enough, right after that, a pillar of raging fire erupted upwards from the monster's neck making the beast's body look like a gargantuan matchstick.

"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Forget about the single outpost where the southerners and a part of the surviving Sloth soldiers were stationed - the jaws of every single living being in the whole territory able to witness the scene dropped in perfect unison.

"SKWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! (IT SMELLS LIKE MOMMY AND DADDY!)"

Blueberry spread her wings and screeched in overwhelming happiness, spreading her wings to the full extent.