"Oh shit, this isn't good," Aiden said as they all stared at the giant.

"We have to get out of here!" Aren yelled from a distance.

But it seemed the giant understood their intent.

Suddenly, it spun its hammer. The runes engraved along the weapon flared to life, glowing brightly as the giant hurled it with all its strength.

Everyone watched as the hammer flew through the air in a perfect arc before slamming into the ground several hundred meters ahead.

BOOM!

The entire ground trembled violently. Dust rose like a massive wave and slammed into them, forcing everyone to brace themselves.

But it didn't end there.

The activated runes suddenly expanded, forming a massive forcefield wall that blocked their path entirely.

"This is very bad," Aren muttered.

By now, the rest of the men who had been knocked out by Aren were waking up. The moment they regained their senses and saw the giant, any lingering hostility toward Aren vanished instantly. Whatever grudges they held no longer mattered, because the giant was a far, far greater threat.

With the path blocked by the hammer and its forcefield, it felt as though the giant was telling them one thing clearly:

They were trapped.

The only way out was to defeat it, or find another escape route.

"Aren, what do we do?" Aiden asked, looking at him.

"Not sure myself," Aren replied, staring at the giant.

The creature hadn't moved after throwing the hammer. It simply stood there, watching them.

Everyone began to slowly back away. Even if the exit was sealed, distance still mattered. They retreated until they were clustered together as one group, all facing the giant.

Then it finally moved.

The giant lifted one massive leg and slammed it into the ground.

The impact was catastrophic.

The earth shook as if a massive earthquake had struck. Cracks erupted and spread rapidly. The terrain warped as massive spikes of earth burst upward, holes tearing open across the ground as destruction rushed toward them.

"Oh shit! Oh shit!" everyone cursed, fear gripping their minds.

Zero stepped forward.

She slammed her palms into the ground, forming a massive spatial forcefield. A huge dome enveloped them. She reinforced it once, twice, three times, just as the shockwave hit.

The dome held.

The ground beneath them still shook violently, threatening to tear itself apart, but the attack was stopped.

The next instant, the dome shattered.

Zero coughed violently, blood spilling from her mouth as she dropped to one knee.

Aiden rushed to her side. "Are you alright?"

She coughed again, then nodded weakly. "I'm fine."

She looked up at the giant.

That had been a single stomp.

Just one.

If it chose to fight them seriously, they wouldn't last long.

"There's no way we can defeat this," Aren said. He spoke to everyone, including the enemies they had been fighting just moments ago. "If we want to get out of here, we have to escape."

"How?" asked the man with the lightning sword. "It's impossible. Look at the size of that thing!"

"We're going to die," said the man who could transform into a dragon. His voice trembled with fear, so different from the pride and ferocity he'd shown in dragon form.

"Yeah, with that attitude, we definitely will," Aren snapped. "But I'd rather find a way out than sit here and let that thing step on me."

As he spoke, he scanned the area with shadow sense, searching desperately for any possible option.

"What about the walls?" asked the man with the exploding sword.

"They're probably several layers thick," Zero said. "Breaking through them is impossible."

Before anyone could respond, Aren froze.

A system message appeared before his eyes.

[The Son of Jotnar has challenged you to a one-on-one duel.]

[Reward: Blessing of Loki, Guardian Spirit, Divine Hammer]

[Punishment: Death]

Aren's breath caught.

At the same time, everyone else received a different message.

[Do not interfere with the Duel of Shadow versus the Son of Jotnar.]

[Punishment: Death]

The opposing group stared at the message in shock. Shadow? Where was Shadow? Then they looked at Aren, and at the stunned expressions of his teammates.

Something was very wrong.

"A duel?" Kira said, rushing to Aren. She grabbed his hand, fear plain on her face. "You can't fight that thing."

"Can't you refuse?" Aiden asked urgently. "This can't be serious."

"The punishment if I refuse, or lose, is death," Aren said.

His voice was cold. Empty. Like someone who had already accepted the inevitable.

"You're going to die if you fight it," Zero said bluntly.

Kira shot her a furious glare. "Shut up. Now's not the time."

"She's right," Aren said quietly, looking at Kira. "Zero's right. I'll die."

He turned his gaze toward the giant. "I don't see a way out of this."

Karmela's words echoed in his mind.

They will kill you.

He'd ignored it then. He never imagined it would come true like this.

His heart pounded. Fear crept in.

Was this really the end?

SMACK!

Kira slapped him hard across the face. The sound echoed, shocking everyone.

She grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her. Anger burned in her eyes as tears streamed down her cheeks.

None of them knew how to face something like this.

"You're not going to die," she said fiercely. "Promise me."

Aren tried to speak, but the words caught in his throat. He wanted to reassure her, but he couldn't.

"I'm sorr—"

She cut him off.

Standing on her tiptoes, she pressed her lips against his.

A kiss.

Aren's eyes went wide in shock as she pulled back.

"You're going to come back," she said with absolute conviction.

Aren stared at her, stunned. Then, slowly, a smile formed on his face.

He nodded.

Without another word, he walked past her, heading toward the giant.

'I might die here. Hell, I'm sure I will,' he thought.

'But I've never had more reasons to fight than I do now.'

'So I'll fight until my last breath.'

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