Chapter 1506: Story 1506: The Corpse Titan

The ground split beneath their feet as the titan took its first step, a quake that rattled the very marrow of the forest. Trees toppled like brittle stalks of wheat, their roots torn free by the force of its stride. Its body was a grotesque cathedral of flesh, hundreds of corpses fused together, mouths still screaming in endless torment.

Elara staggered backward, her fire flickering as dread gnawed at her will. “Gods preserve us…” she whispered.

Kael planted his sword into the soil to keep himself steady, his eyes locked on the towering monstrosity. His voice was hoarse, but resolute. “There’s no god here, Elara. Just us—and that thing.”

The titan swung one massive arm, a pillar of bone and flesh that smashed into the ground with the force of an avalanche. Dirt and corpses scattered, and the shockwave hurled Kael and Elara off their feet. They hit the ground hard, breath ripped from their lungs.

Kael rose first, coughing blood, forcing his battered body to obey. “On your feet! If it closes the distance, we’re finished!”

Elara struggled up, her bow trembling in her hands. She loosed an arrow, its tip blazing with her white fire. The shot streaked through the air like a falling star, striking the titan’s chest. For a moment, the flame ate through the writhing mass of corpses, burning a hole. But almost instantly, new bodies shifted to fill the wound, sealing it shut.

“It’s healing,” she gasped.

Kael gritted his teeth. “Then we don’t aim for the flesh. We find its heart—whatever the hell keeps it standing.”

The titan roared, a sound that wasn’t a voice but the shrieking of a thousand dead throats. It raised both arms and slammed them down. The earth cratered, flinging boulders and bodies into the air. Kael grabbed Elara and pulled her behind a fallen tree as debris rained around them.

“We can’t outlast it,” he said, eyes blazing with desperation. “You’ve got to use the flame again—stronger, harder. Enough to burn through its core.”

Elara’s hands shook violently. The memory of the fire ripping through her veins terrified her. “If I lose control, it won’t just burn the titan. It’ll burn me. It’ll burn everything.”

Kael gripped her shoulders, forcing her to meet his gaze. His face was pale, veins blackened from the master’s corruption, but his eyes burned with iron will. “Then better you burn it all than let that thing devour the world.”

The titan began to advance again, each step splitting the forest further, its skull-like head turning toward them with unholy focus. Elara’s chest heaved, her pulse pounding like war drums. She raised her trembling hands, white sparks gathering in her palms.

But before she could release the power, the titan’s chest cracked open like a ribcage. Inside, half-buried in rotting sinew, glowed a pulsing sigil—the same one Kael had destroyed earlier, only larger, more alive. It was its heart.

Kael’s jaw tightened. “There. That’s our mark.”

Elara’s fire blazed brighter, her fear swallowed by determination. “Then we end this.”

The titan roared again, its jaws unhinging wide enough to swallow them whole.

And the battle was joined.