"Groaaaaaaaar!"
A deafening roar ripped through the monastery. The soldiers ganging up on Alfonso suddenly froze, their eyes glued to the altar. Alfonso turned, his eyes widening at the sight of Rainar's unconscious body hovering in the air, red light pouring from his eyes.
"Rai... Rainar!" Alfonso screamed.
"Groaaaaaaaaaar!"
Rainar let out another thunderous roar. A red, misty aura enveloped his body, forming a colossal cocoon that floated in the air, right between the two massive goddess statues. Clang! Alfonso dropped his sword. Thud! He immediately fell to his knees, his mouth agape, his eyes fixed on the red misty cocoon. The soldiers retreated, ready to flee, but curiosity still held them captive.
"W-why is this happening... is my son, Rainar, truly a demon's envoy?" questions began to flood Alfonso's mind.
His heart ached, seeing his wife lying on the altar and his son suspended within that red, misty cocoon. Soon after, crack... crack, the cocoon began to splinter, emitting an incredibly bright red light. Alfonso instinctively shielded his eyes with his arm, as did the soldiers behind him.
"Groaaaaaaaaaaaaar!"
A massive, ear-splitting roar vibrated through the air. "Aaaaaah!" Alfonso squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears with both hands.
Graaaak... braaaak... kraaaak!
The monastery crumbled. Alfonso opened his eyes, and they immediately widened in horror. A colossal foot was directly in front of him. "Whoaaaaaaah!" The soldiers behind him scattered, fleeing the collapsing monastery. Alfonso turned and ran out, following the soldiers, clutching the wound in his stomach that was still bleeding. Once outside, Alfonso turned and looked up. He saw a gigantic monster, larger than anything he'd ever imagined, standing tall before him.
"Groaaaaaaaaaaar!"
The monster roared, its head tilted upwards. Alfonso immediately covered his mouth with his hand.
"N-no, Rainar... h-he's really a demon's envoy... the colossal monster named Gigas who defeated many gods during the war of gods and demons in the legends," Alfonso mumbled, staring at the dragon-like monster, standing on two legs like a human, with sharp, mountain-range-like fins on its back.
"Groaaaaaaaaaaar!"
The monster roared once more, shaking the entire ground. Alfonso looked left and right. He spotted a sword and immediately ran towards it. After picking up the sword, he looked back at the monster, who seemed to be standing still, observing its surroundings below.
"W-what do I do? I have to stop Rainar for the sake of humanity," Alfonso mumbled, preparing himself.
"Yaaaaaaaaah!"
Alfonso turned to see a group of knights flying in the air, attacking the giant, motionless monster. Alfonso recognized them—the hero group that always protected the kingdom.
"They're moving," Alfonso murmured to himself, clutching his stomach.
A Sword Saint landed directly on the monster's head and repeatedly plunged his greatsword into its skull. A Great Sage continuously bombarded the monster with fire, lightning, and earth magic. A Gunslinger fired his weapons at the monster while hovering around its head. Alfonso saw many magical attacks coming from below; he turned to see many Wizards, Sages, and Sorcerers firing their magic at the monster from rooftops.
But what truly unnerved Alfonso was that the giant monster remained perfectly still, even closing its eyes, as if the attacks from the heroes, knights, adventurers, and others felt like nothing at all.
"He-hey, stop!" Alfonso yelled.
Suddenly, the monster opened its eyes, and they looked incredibly enraged. Woosh... woosh... woosh. The fins on the monster's back began to glow, and its red eyes turned bright blue. The monster's head turned towards the rooftops.
"Graaaaaaaah!"
It spewed a blue beam from its mouth. A Holy Saint and a Paladin—hero-class individuals—immediately stepped forward, creating a semicircular magic shield that protected everyone. But kraaaang! The shield shattered into pieces, and sreeeet! Blargh! The monster's beam leveled half the city to the ground in an instant.
"Groaaaaaaaaar!"
The monster roared again. Its hand began to rise, snatching heroes who were floating in the air, stunned by the monster's incredible destructive power. The Gunslinger was caught in the monster's hand, then the monster squeezed its hand. When its hand opened again, all that remained of the Gunslinger was a pile of flesh and blood.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
The Sword Saint ordered everyone to fall back and jumped from the monster's head. But blaaaz! Sreeeet! The monster fired again, and all the heroes, along with the other half of the city, were reduced to ash without a trace.
"N-no," Alfonso mumbled, witnessing everything.
The monster turned to look at the palace on the hill in the distance. Badum... badum. It began to stride towards the palace, ignoring whatever its feet crushed. Screams and cries immediately filled the city. Alfonso saw plumes of smoke rising from the flattened land that was once a city. Grip. He gripped his sword tightly and slowly raised it.
Crack... zrrrt! Black clouds swirled above him. Lightning crackled and struck. Flash! A bolt of lightning struck his sword from above, as if he were gathering lightning for a single strike. The monster, seeing the sky suddenly darken, turned. It saw the lightning continuously striking Alfonso's sword. Thud. It turned again, then stared at Alfonso, standing still.
"Stop, Rainar!" Alfonso shouted.
Though dying, Alfonso forced himself to use his last ounce of energy to fly towards the monster's face, still raising his sword. The monster stared intently at Alfonso, as if observing him. Alfonso smiled and wept.
"Forgive me, my son," Alfonso whispered softly.
Blaaaaaaar!
Alfonso aimed his sword at Rainar's face, and all the lightning stored in his sword shot towards Rainar, simultaneously with lightning from the sky that also struck Rainar's body.
"Groaaaaaaaaaaaar!"
The giant monster seemed to be in pain and raised its hands, blocking the lightning strikes hitting its colossal body. Alfonso closed his eyes. He knew his life would soon end, having exerted all his energy and with his body severely wounded.
"Groooooooo!"
The monster recoiled and fell to one knee. Alfonso continued his relentless attack. "Cough!" He coughed up fresh blood, but he kept fighting. Suddenly, his consciousness faded, and his body began to fall, but before he hit the ground, tap, the monster extended its massive hand and caught Alfonso, even though Alfonso's lightning continued to strike it. Hrrrh. The monster's face moved closer to its palm, where Alfonso had fallen and lay. When it saw Alfonso up close and he was no longer moving, the lightning stopped, and the sky became clear again.
Slowly, the monster moved and gently laid Alfonso's seemingly still crying corpse on the ground. Then, thud, the monster stood up again and looked at the palace. It squinted its eyes. Woosh... woosh... woosh. Its back glowed once more. "Graaaaaaah!" It immediately fired its beam at the palace, destroying it in a single attack until it was shattered to pieces. Then, sreeeet, it swept its laser, obliterating the rest of the city. After that, "graaaaaaaaah!" it fired its laser beam into the clear sky.
"Groaaaaaaaaaaar!"
After that, "badum... badum... badum," the monster walked south towards the sea, leaving the Hestalia Kingdom completely razed to the ground, with nothing left. That day would forever be known in history as the annihilation of the Hestalia Kingdom and the awakening of Gigas, the enemy of the gods.