Chapter 108: The Silence

Everyone watching froze, speechless. The world fell silent. There it was—unbelievable. A giant and two dragons appeared, attacking the "Tower."

The giant and the dragons were said to be the strongest monsters in existence. They’d terrified people all across the world.

Now, these monsters were fighting the very abomination that had driven humanity to the brink of despair—the Tower. On the surface, they seemed like allies. But almost everyone doubted it.

And the one most baffled of all—

[United Nations Geneva Office]

"Is that dragon… the 'Leader' from Britain, reported in the files?"

The European Parliament was holding an emergency joint session with the UN. The topic was obvious—this battle unfolding in France.

The attendees were watching the fight on a large TV set in the conference room.

The UN had data on the "Leaders" from various nations, but no direct intel on the Titan in America. Still, they’d heard rumors—enough to recognize the features.

The giant on screen—was the Titan, plain and simple.

The sudden appearance of the giant, the one that had nearly wiped out America, in France—it sent shockwaves through the world.

But the real problem was the dragon. The report on Britain’s "Leader" had come directly from Leo Garcia, who’d supposedly slain it.

Leo’s report had said nothing about the "Leader" being under anyone’s command.

"Wait—'Leader' is attacking the Tower monster?! What the hell is going on?!"

"Could it be Carlo from the Sanctuary Knights? He was an 'Abomination Tamer,' wasn’t he? Shouldn’t he be able to command even a 'Leader'?"

"Carlo explicitly said he wouldn't take part in this battle. And it's weird there's a giant that looks like a Titan. The Sanctuary Knights shouldn't be in America."

Not just European parliamentarians were arguing—UN officials and others were there too. But no one had solid information. Everyone was just speculating.

"Can you even control something like a 'Titan' or a 'Dragon King'? I've never heard of someone with powers that extreme."

"But the monsters are running wild. We can't deny that."

As various opinions flew back and forth among the European MPs, one speaker drew everyone's attention.

"Isn't the one fighting right now someone who joined the UK extermination mission? There's no other way to command a Dragon Leader, is there?"

Most in the meeting agreed.

"Who else participated besides the Sanctuary Knights? Any other abilities involved?"

The European MP asked a UN official responsible for tracking abilities. The official accessed the database and reported the needed information.

"Besides the Sanctuary Knights involved in the UK extermination, the other abilities were Wang Xinyi, the leader of the Vermilion Bird, Liu Zuhao, her deputy, and—"

"Gojo Shōmon, a Japanese individual."

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The continuous summoning had taken an enormous toll on my body. Even with infinite mana, there's still a limit to how much I can release at once.

And even with my power, summoning high-level monsters one after another has pushed me past my limit. I can't summon any more now.

The Leader’s magic is immense too—can’t sustain this summoning much longer. Gotta take this thing down before the summoning time limit runs out.

The “tower” looms up, radiating a pitch-black aura. Hundreds of tentacles rise from the ground, creating a grotesque sight.

Hydra and Shiva circle the tower, dodging the tentacles reaching up from above.

Through the gaps between the limbs, Shiva fires a fireball. It hits the side of the tower—boom!—a massive explosion scours away a huge chunk of the structure.

Hydra blasts away the oncoming tentacles with bursts of light.

Spinning wildly, unleashing light in all directions, attacking anything in range—including the tower. I’m a little worried Shiva’s light might hit the Titan down below… even a Titan wouldn’t survive that kind of blast.

The Titan below swings the “Axe of Annihilation” sideways, cleaving the base of the tower apart—exploding it into fragments, sending it flying. The giant tower shudders.

If it’s a Titan, couldn’t it just chop this thing down like a lumberjack?

I thought that—but the tower’s four sides are reinforced by massive, vine-like tendrils. Looks like we gotta destroy those vines before we can bring it down completely.

“Titan! Aim for the giant vines nearby!”

The Titan shifts direction sharply, then starts walking toward the vines. Honestly, I don’t even know if it understands me—but the intent gets through.

Dozens of tentacles wrap around the Titan, trying to halt its movement. It could burn off a few with its scorching body, but being pinned down by dozens? Not so easy to move now.

Up in the air, Shiva and Hydra are also caught in tentacles.

Once they stop moving, more and more tentacles coil around them. Shiva tries to unleash a fire breath—but her neck’s being crushed.

Hydra has “Absolute Defense,” but apparently, it’s still possible to trap her.

Three monsters completely immobilized. Just as I try to use magic to help, Hydra’s body starts glowing.

“Damn… she had a trick up her sleeve.”

Hydra transforms into a radiant sphere, and a sudden burst of light expands outward in a blazing ring. The tentacles holding her vanish completely.

The dragon dominating the sky lets out a burst of light from its mouth, furious. It strikes dead center of the tower, blasting straight through the outer wall. The tower tries to avoid total destruction by wrapping tentacles around the damaged areas, trying to compensate for its slow regeneration.

Only one monster free to move—Hydra. Hundreds of tentacles rush toward her at high speed.

Gotta deal with these tentacles or the tower’s destruction will be impossible. I gather multiple types of magic into both hands. Fire, darkness, lightning—fused together, raw power floods the area.

“Composite Magic — Black Thunder Bloom —!!”

Hundreds of lightning bolts, wrapped in black flames, strike down! Even the tentacles chasing Hydra freeze in place, paralyzed by the shock, then burst into flames.

Hydra doesn’t miss a beat—using her blinding light, she eradicates every single tentacle in the vicinity, wiping them clean from sight.

Lightning strikes the tentacles restraining Titan and Shiva.

Even if it doesn’t work on the two monsters, the tentacles take deep wounds and burst into black flames. Once restrained, they can’t possibly hold down those two anymore.

Titan’s body heats up further—the tentacles are scorched from both inside and out. Freed, the giant swings his axe at the massive vine.

The vine shatters into splinters. One of the enormous vines supporting the tower collapses completely.

The tentacle wrapped around Shiva also sustains damage, its grip weakening. Shiva rockets upward with all her might, tearing the tentacle apart.

Soaring higher than the tower, the dragon gathers her power to the limit and hurls it as a sphere of annihilation. The fireball detonates at the tower’s peak, unleashing superheated fury.

The tip of the tower—egg included—is utterly destroyed.

Surely, the egg can’t regenerate after that? I thought… but less than a minute later, it’s back to its original shape.

Now I feel something off. That egg’s definitely weird. Not only does it regenerate faster than anything else, but… it doesn’t even *feel* right.

Like it’s… *inviting* us to attack it. No way… could it be…

“Guiding us?”

Is it deliberately letting us attack, to protect the rest of the structure? If so, that egg isn’t an egg at all. More like a… self-amputating organ, like a lizard’s tail.

If I hadn’t heard Leo’s description of the egg beforehand, I might’ve wasted all my attacks on it.

So it really was protecting the tower all along…?

Or… maybe something even deeper.

“Is there something buried beneath the ground?”