“Hold on tight,” Ellie commanded, her voice sharp yet composed as she urged the horses forward. The royal cart jolted violently as it veered off the main road, speeding across the rugged terrain of Kazhamara Plains. The wheels rattled over uneven ground, but Ellie kept a firm grip on the reins, her focus unwavering.

Behind them, Jun’de and Cassian had already left the cart, engaging the enemy on the battlefield.

Jun’de soared above, his form almost weightless as the air bent to his will. The moment he activated his Ring, Dusty Dancer, the wind around him became a violent tempest, whipping against the swarm of incoming gargoyle-like golems. Their grotesque forms screeched as they swooped in, talons extended. Jun’de twisted midair, his baton flashing as he struck one clean across the head, shattering it into dust. The others closed in, but with a single motion of his hand, he summoned a powerful gust, knocking them off course.

Below, Cassian fought from the ground, her palm pressed against the soil. The earth rumbled in response, jagged boulders rising at her command. With a swift motion, she launched them skyward, sending the massive stones crashing into the enemies above. A gargoyle managed to evade and swoop toward her, but she barely flinched—with a stomp, the ground beneath her cracked, a spike of rock shooting upward and impaling the creature mid-air.

Despite their efforts, the creatures kept coming.

Back on the cart, Rendy tightened his grip on the railing, his knuckles turning white. He stole a glance at Lady Audries, who sat upright now, her expression unreadable.

“Are you alright, Lady Audries?” he asked, keeping his voice steady despite the chaos around them.

Audries nodded, though a shadow of unease flickered across her face. “I am fine, but we need to keep moving. Something is coming.”

Rendy hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Understood.”

Ellie stole a quick glance at the battlefield behind them. Jun’de and Cassian were holding their ground, but the fight was drawing them farther away. She clicked her tongue and tightened her hold on the reins.

“Rendy, stay alert. We’re not out of this yet.”

Suddenly, the terrain shifted. The endless plains of Kazhamara gave way to something unnatural. Ruins. Crumbling pillars and half-buried structures loomed ahead, their presence unsettling.

Audries narrowed her eyes. “…This isn’t right.”

Rendy turned to her. “What do you mean?”

Her fingers curled slightly as she scanned the unfamiliar landscape. “I’ve lived in Kazhamara all my life, yet I have never seen this place before.”

Before Ellie could question further, the ground trembled.

A deep, guttural sound resonated beneath them—not just a tremor, but something alive. The horses neighed in distress, their hooves skidding against the unstable ground. Ellie yanked the reins, trying to keep control, but the shaking only intensified.

From the sky, Jun’de turned sharply, his eyes darkening as he sensed the shift in the wind.

“Ellie, get out of there. Something’s beneath you.”

But before she could react—The earth split apart.

A colossal shadow surged from below, its form entwined with the very ruins they had unknowingly entered. The land quaked as an ancient titan emerged, its monstrous maw gaping wide.

Ellie’s eyes widened. “Hold on!”

A deafening roar tore through the air. In a single, earth-shattering motion, the titan’s massive jaws closed around them—swallowing the royal cart whole. Darkness consumed them.

——

"Rendy! Wake up!”

A sharp but controlled slap met Rendy’s cheek, jolting him back to consciousness. His breath hitched as his eyes fluttered open, vision swimming before settling on Lady Audries’ concerned face. She was kneeling beside him, her hands gripping his shoulders lightly.

“Lady Audries—” He turned sharply, taking in the surroundings.

The first thing he noticed was the unnatural shimmer covering his body—a diamond-like substance encasing him in a thin but sturdy crystalline layer. He ran his fingers over it, feeling the solid protection crack and flake away harmlessly.

Ellie stood a few feet away, her expression as cold and unreadable as ever. She was also covered in the same crystalline shield, her Diamond Valkyrie Ring’s power still lingering in the aftermath of their fall. The ground beneath them—if it could be called that—was eerily stable despite the chaos that had swallowed them moments ago.

Rendy's gaze snapped to their surroundings. The royal cart, miraculously intact, sat a few paces away, as if barely affected by the impact. There were no splinters, no broken wheels—only a thin sheen of protective crystal coating its surface. However, the horses were nowhere to be found, likely having run off in fear when they were swallowed by the titan. The absence of their mounts added another layer of uncertainty to their predicament.

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Rendy swallowed. “We were eaten, weren’t we?”

Ellie’s sharp gaze swept across their surroundings—a vast expanse of twisting corridors and towering ruins, ancient buildings stacked in impossible angles, forming an unsettling, labyrinthine interior. Pale light filtered through cracks in the titan’s walls, illuminating floating debris, broken stone pillars, and remnants of what seemed like an ancient civilization frozen in time.

Her voice was calm but edged with urgency. “It seems we’ve been devoured by something.”

Audries, still kneeling beside Rendy, frowned. “Then this… this must be inside the titan.”

Ellie nodded, scanning their surroundings with a calculating gaze. “More importantly, we’ve been separated from Jun’de and Cassian.”

Rendy exhaled sharply, pushing himself to his feet. “If we were swallowed whole, how are we even alive?”

Audries placed a hand over her chest, her brows furrowing. “…I felt it. A barrier. The moment we fell, Ellie’s ring activated before impact.”

Ellie didn’t confirm nor deny it, only giving a short nod before turning her attention back to the eerie, shifting maze around them.

“We don’t have time to waste. Whatever this place is, it’s alive, and I don’t plan on waiting to see what happens next.”

Rendy clenched his fists. “What do we do?”

Ellie’s violet eyes sharpened. “We find a way out before it’s too late.”

Audries then nodded softly. "We need to move soon—they’re coming for us," she murmured, her voice laced with certainty. This wasn’t the first time she had foreseen this; the vision had appeared to her more than once in the past, a warning she now realized was inevitable.

Ellie’s brow arched slightly. “Lady Audries, did you see this in your premonition?”

Audries nodded, pressing her hand to her temple as though recalling a hazy vision. “They will come soon. Two figures, beings made of stone. They are coming for us.”

Ellie hesitated before speaking, her voice steady but questioning. "Lady Audries, if I may ask, you have been seeing premonitions about this several times in the past. We know it is our mission to guard you to the capital, but why exactly are the titans attacking us? I know you are a valuable asset, soon to be wed to our King Chris... but titans are mindless. They wouldn’t be attacking at this scale without reason. Is there anything that we should know?” Ellie turned her gaze toward Audries, waiting for her response. Silence hung in the air before Audries finally spoke.

“I can’t say for sure,” she admitted, her tone somber. “But what my premonition told me is that they are coming for this ring… or what this ring will lead them to. But I can’t see past the premonition, because every time I try, an image appears—of a red draconic beast, woven from threads of destiny. And that is where the vision ends.”

Before they could talk more, Ellie’s instincts flared—something was approaching fast. Without hesitation, she moved swiftly, summoning her diamond armor in an instant. The crystalline plates formed seamlessly over her body, gleaming under the dim light of the maze. With a sharp motion, she conjured a massive diamond shield in front of Rendy and Lady Audries, bracing for impact.

“Rendy, activate your ring! Scan the area and protect Lady Audries!” Ellie commanded, her voice cold and precise.

Rendy didn’t hesitate, pressing his hand to his ring. A shimmering aura surrounded him as his power surged, enhancing his perception. His eyes darted across their surroundings, trying to pinpoint the exact direction of the incoming threat.

A split second later, a barrage of metal beams and stone pillars came hurtling toward them with deadly force. They slammed against Ellie’s diamond shield, sending shockwaves through the air. Dust and debris scattered around them as the impact rang out like a thunderclap.

Ellie wasted no time. With practiced ease, she formed a diamond lance from thin air, its razor-sharp tip gleaming. With a burst of speed, she charged toward the source of the attack, her movements fluid and unyielding.

A figure emerged from the shifting ruins—a humanoid being composed entirely of pillars and stone. Its faceless head tilted slightly as it raised a massive stone beam, intercepting Ellie’s strike with a resounding crash. The impact sent both of them skidding back, their feet grinding against the ancient stone floor.

Ellie adjusted her stance instantly, tightening her grip on the lance. She lunged forward with tremendous speed, her weapon slicing cleanly across the creature’s abdomen. Fractures formed along its body as it staggered back, but Ellie’s senses screamed another warning.

Without turning, she leapt high into the air. A deadly volley of razor-sharp stones whizzed beneath her, barely missing her feet. Still airborne, she twisted mid-air, her hand forming a new weapon—this time a sleek diamond blade. In one swift motion, she slashed through the incoming projectiles, reducing them to harmless fragments.

Another enemy emerged—a second figure, this one more slender and distinctly feminine, wielding a jagged stone blade. Without a moment’s hesitation, she charged at Ellie, her attack swift and calculated.

Ellie met the assault head-on, her diamond blade clashing against the stone weapon. The force of the impact sent a shockwave rippling through the battlefield, the sheer power felt even at the backline where Rendy and Audries took cover behind Ellie’s conjured shield.

Rendy gritted his teeth, eyes flickering as he monitored the battlefield. “What are they?” he muttered. His gaze flicked toward Audries, whose hazel eyes gleamed with an eerie light. The way Ellie’s diamond weapons seamlessly reformed before her made Audries’ heart pound with excitement. Rendy glanced at her and spoke with reassurance, "Don’t worry, Lady Audries. We’ll protect you. Vice-Captain Ellie is one of the best in the kingdom.”

Audries, still kneeling behind the shield, exhaled sharply. Her hazel eyes gleamed with an excited light as she watched Ellie’s diamond weapons reform effortlessly before her eyes. "I know I've seen this unfold in my premonition many times... but witnessing it in person—everything feels so much more exhilarating," she murmured.

——

As the fight to protect Audries unfolded within the colossal titan, Jun'de and Cassian’s battle outside raged on. The two warriors stood in the open plains before the towering monstrosity—the Greater Titan of Fallen Civilization. Its immense form loomed over the battlefield, its presence warping the very air around it.

The sky above was scattered with the remnants of their previous battle. The flying gargoyles that once swarmed them now lay shattered across the earth. Jun'de, hovering above with his ring’s power, scanned the area with sharp eyes, his body surrounded by swirling gusts of wind.

“Cassian! Are you hurt?” he called out, his voice carrying effortlessly through the air.

Cassian, still grounded but standing strong, shook her head. Her stance remained steady, her hand gripping the earth beneath her as faint tremors pulsed from her fingertips. Her hazel eyes remained locked on the figures materializing in front of them.

Two humanoid beings, their bodies shifting like animated statues, stepped forward from the titan’s colossal form. Their movements were unnaturally smooth, their stone bodies inscribed with ancient symbols that pulsed with ominous energy.

Jun'de’s brows furrowed. “So, they’re finally making their move.”

Cassian rolled her shoulders, cracking her knuckles as the ground beneath her trembled slightly. "Then we better be ready." She exhaled, glancing briefly at the titan’s massive form before muttering under her breath, "I just hope Vice-Captain Ellie and the rest are fine inside."