With the golden giants a few hundred feet away from Storm Hammer, her body which was at least a hundred feet tall had shrunk down until it was less than twenty, and her Natal

Treasures reached their limits, unable to handle such world-crushing forces, and one by one they began to explode.

First were a pair of vambraces, then her large belt, shoulder armor, cape, crown, and finally her hammer, which exploded with a mournful shriek that could be heard halfway around the continent.

Every explosion pushed the giants a few feet back, but they had concentrated all the pressure in front of them like a domain, and if the power of Young Po was enough to suppress Storm Hammer, then a hundred thousand giants all focusing their powers in front of them like a gigantic dome left her helpless.

This was another new application of their powers they discovered after a few clashes with the Ascendant. Their bodies, especially in the golden giant form, seemed to have a sort of protective force field around them. It was this force field that shielded them from the brunt of the Geo-Magnetic Storm explosion, and their healing factor took care of the rest.

Watching Storm Hammer wield the Aura around her in such a natural manner had inspired them to wield the force field around their bodies, and when the first Blood Blessed figured out how to do it, the rest had quickly learned, and the result was more spectacular than they could have ever anticipated.

When the first of the giants reached her side, Storm Hammer was a shell of herself and had become as small as a child. A massive golden hand seized her like a chicken and she was

carried away.

The golden giant lifted her and thrust his hands repeatedly at the sky, and a loud cheer broke across their ranks.

For the first time in nearly a million years, these people had taken back their power, and the first of their victims was one of their most hated enemies that had haunted their bloodline since the moment they began to walk the earth.

With every moment that passed the full realization of what they had accomplished passed through their minds and their cheers grew louder, sending shockwaves that rippled across the continent. Deep below the earth, the remaining Blood Blessed unable to yet reach the first star layer began to emerge upon hearing the mighty cheers.

Above the Calamity Sun faded away bringing back the light of Ascendancy, as a new day dawned.

R

The procession back to the center of the continent was a solemn one. The battle was short but the effect on the surface of the continent was nothing short of calamitous.

Although Storm Hammer was not aware, the week she had spent observing the Blood Blessed did not go unnoticed, her assurance in her invincibility and the weakness of those below gave the Elders enough time to plan their attacks, they were especially focused on protecting the rest of their population to be safe during the battle and in the eventual event of their victory or failure, a path to escape their doom.

The many caverns underneath the earth from almost seven hundred thousand years of mining had served as valuable shelter during the battle, and there were massive ongoing projects to create tunnels that led to the eternal ocean, where boats and other sea-faring vessels were docked to deliver them out.

There would be thousands of such docks created to ferry as many of their people out of the continent if their battle was to be lost or got out of control.

Knowing that their bloodline was no longer shackled, they were aware that even if only one of them was able to survive and make it out of the continent, they would eventually rise and dominate all of creation. Despite all that, they still underestimated the power of their bloodline and the Ascendant had fallen without them losing even a single member of their army.

As they walked through the shattered landscape, the people that emerged from the ground looked at the hundred thousand golden giant with awe and fierce longing in their eyes, especially the giant at the front who held the whimpering Storm Hammer aloft, with less than a single percent of her Core Aura left and all her Natal Treasures destroyed, Storm Hammer was at the end of her ropes.

The procession of the hundred thousand giants drew more attention as the people began walking behind them, to their destination, the center of the continent where the statue of their god waited.

The Elder who addressed Storm Hammer at the beginning of the battle had told her that she would be sacrificed to their god, perhaps she should have listened.

In less than an hour, the procession behind them had nearly a hundred million people behind and this number kept doubling in quick succession.

When they reached their destination, there was already a greater portion of their population waiting for them, and even in the distance, they could see the glow emerging from the bodies of the golden giants as they walked towards them, and a mighty cheer arose.

Waiting in front of the gigantic statue of the Ouroboros Serpents were several hundred Elders, who watched the golden giants with glowing eyes, all aware of the significance of this moment and the impact it would have on their race as a whole.

The first golden giant also an Elder that was holding Storm Hammer, motioned with his left hand and the marching army stopped, leaving him alone to walk to the Elders he stopped a few hundred feet away and presented the bedraggled form of Storm Hammer, and he spoke out, his voice loud enough and sufficiently powerful to reach the billions of ears spread across the entire continent.

“Our ancient enemy arrived at our shores and as always, they came with fire in their hands and poison in their hearts. They came here to slaughter our children, torture our women, and break our men. They came to revel in our suffering and disgrace, to inflict so much harm upon us that none of us would survive it, and on top of our bones they would harvest our spirit and imbue it to another generation to suffer the same fate.”

“We all know this… we have all felt it. That pain inside of our blood, that cry we hear every evening in the winds as the ghost of our dead children knocks on our door. They came again and again and again, and they took from us… everything, again and again… and again. Today, they came once more, wishing to do the same as they had always done, and we were waiting!”

The roar that came from the people came from their hearts, and the Elder held Storm Hammer up, “Blood Blessed, we have all seen the account of the traitorous animal Jerediah when he spoke of a scourge that had ravaged our people from the moment of our conception. A despicable force that has bled us to the bone, the Storm Hammer.”

He flung the wasted body of Storm Hammer to the ground, “Here she lies, defeated.”

The roar this time, reached the heavens.