Chapter 2406: Story 2407: The Prisoner of Eternity
The world trembled.
Not from the giant.
Not from the storm.
Not even from the endless army of the dead.
The trembling came from something far older.
Something awakening after an imprisonment that had lasted longer than human history itself.
Aiden stared into the abyss.
The crimson eye remained fixed upon the world above.
Watching.
Learning.
Remembering.
Its gaze swept across the industrial complex.
Everywhere it looked, reality seemed to distort.
Metal rusted instantly.
Concrete cracked.
Dead grass turned black.
Even the air felt wrong.
As though existence itself rejected the creature below.
Father Gideon dropped to one knee.
His Bible slipped from his hands.
"No prison should have held that thing."
Lena looked at him.
"What exactly is it?"
The priest’s voice shook.
"I don’t know."
The admission frightened everyone.
Father Gideon always seemed to have answers.
If he didn’t know, nobody did.
Above the silos, the Throne King raised his skull-topped staff.
Purple energy exploded across the sky.
Thousands of runes appeared among the storm clouds.
Ancient symbols burned like stars.
The skeletal giant responded immediately.
Its violet eyes brightened.
The giant stepped forward.
Each footstep shook the wasteland.
Then it roared.
The sound echoed across the horizon.
A challenge.
A declaration of war.
The Devourer’s crimson eye slowly narrowed.
It understood.
The giant was standing between it and freedom.
For one long moment, neither monster moved.
Then the battle began.
A gigantic scaled arm erupted from the abyss.
Faster than anyone expected.
The claw struck the giant’s chest.
The impact sounded like a nuclear explosion.
The skeletal titan flew backward.
Three silos collapsed beneath its weight.
Metal and concrete rained from the sky.
Noah screamed.
Marcus stared in disbelief.
"Nothing should be that strong."
The giant rose again.
Its bones repaired themselves instantly.
Purple fire flowed through every crack.
The Throne King’s magic was sustaining it.
Again the giant charged.
Again the Devourer attacked.
This time both monsters collided.
The shockwave flattened nearby buildings.
Hundreds of zombies were thrown through the air.
The survivors barely managed to remain standing.
Aiden grabbed Noah before the boy was blown away.
"Everyone down!"
The ground split apart beneath them.
A new crack opened only yards away.
Crimson light spilled upward.
And from the crack emerged something unexpected.
A hand.
Human.
Small.
Pale.
Reaching toward the surface.
Everyone froze.
Then another hand appeared.
And another.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
People were climbing out.
Not zombies.
Not survivors.
Something else.
Their skin glowed crimson.
Their eyes burned red.
Ancient symbols covered their bodies.
The first figure climbed fully from the earth.
A woman.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
Her white hair flowed behind her despite the absence of wind.
She looked toward the battling giants.
Then toward the Throne King.
To everyone’s shock, the skeletal ruler stepped backward.
The woman smiled.
A cold smile.
The smile of someone who had once ruled kingdoms.
"You failed, jailer."
Her voice echoed across the battlefield.
The Throne King’s eyes flared brighter.
For the first time, anger radiated from him.
The woman raised her hand.
Instantly every crimson-eyed figure knelt before her.
Thousands emerged from cracks throughout the wasteland.
An army.
An ancient army.
Forgotten by time.
Waiting beneath the world.
Father Gideon stared in horror.
His face had gone completely white.
"No..."
Aiden turned toward him.
"What is it now?"
The priest whispered the answer.
A name buried in forbidden texts.
A name erased from history.
"The Crimson Queen."
Above them, the Devourer roared.
Below them, the Crimson Army gathered.
And between them stood the Throne King and his army of the dead.
The war that ended the ancient world was beginning again.
