CHAPTER 197: CHAPTER 197 – GIANT FROM A BURIED AGE

The gate to the 60th floor creaked open, revealing a massive chamber bathed in the dim red glow of stone torches fixed to the walls. The air inside was hot and trembling, as if she had stepped into the heart of a volcano. Every step Sylvia took into the room felt like descending into the bowels of the earth itself heavy, oppressive, and saturated with a metallic stench that stabbed at the nose.

The floor was made of huge slabs of cracked black stone, and at the center lay a massive rune circle spanning tens of meters in diameter. Scattered around it were piles of bones and broken weapons, signs that this place had long been the grave of challengers who failed.

From the shadows at the far end of the chamber came a deep, heavy sound like the rumble of a mountain splitting apart.

DUUUM... DUUUM... DUUUM...

The tremors crawled up Sylvia’s legs, enough to make some of the zombies in the rear ranks stumble slightly.

The figure emerged slowly from the darkness, a giant nearly ten meters tall, with bluish-gray skin covered in petrified scars. Its eyes burned a deep blood-red, and its long silvery hair cascaded like streams of molten metal. Its body was encased in black armor cracked in several places, with each fracture glowing faintly yellow, like veins of lava.

In its hands was a weapon more like a monument than a tool of war a double-bladed great axe nearly as long as its entire body. To Sylvia’s eyes, the blade wasn’t just metal, it was a fusion of magic and ancient force that could cleave mountains in two.

[Race: Ancient Titan]

Type: Giant Humanoid

Level: 75

Sylvia narrowed her eyes slightly.

"That level is far too high for the 60th floor... This was put here to wipe out challengers."

The Titan slowly lifted its axe, the movement like a storm building before it breaks. The sound of the blade dragging through the air alone was enough to make several zombies in the front row take a step back not from fear, but from an instinctive reaction to a threat far beyond normal limits.

Sylvia didn’t give hesitation the chance to grow.

"Advance."

Her hundreds of zombies moved as one, the sound of their footsteps and guttural snarls filling the chamber. The high-tier and elite zombies took the front line, armed with bone shields, spears, and greatswords. Behind them, artillery-type zombie mages began gathering energy for long-range attacks.

The Titan merely watched. Then, it stomped its foot.

BOOOMMM!!!

The shockwave from that stomp swept across the entire room, making the floor quake violently. Half the zombies in the front ranks were flung away instantly, some shattering into pieces upon slamming into the walls. Sylvia felt the weight of the pressure against her skin like being crushed beneath a mountain but her Deathborne Tolerance absorbed the worst of it.

Before her forces could reform their formation, the Titan leapt an impossible feat for a body that size. It soared through the air, then brought its great axe down from overhead.

WHUUUUUMMM BOOOOMMMM!!!

The impact carved a crater into the floor, annihilating dozens of zombies into dust and severed limbs. Sylvia’s command network immediately kicked in the remaining forces scattered to avoid the next sweeping strike.

She raised her hand, and Nether Branches burst from the ground, attempting to ensnare the giant’s legs. The black tendrils coiled like serpents, but the Titan merely tensed its muscles, shattering them all with a single stomp.

"Can’t hold it for long... its body is like a living mountain," Sylvia thought as she sidestepped a horizontal swing of the massive axe.

Behind her, the zombie mages unleashed a rain of Flame Balls explosions engulfing the area around the Titan. But from within the smoke, a deep voice rumbled:

"Weak."

The Titan emerged from the haze, almost unscathed with only faint scratches on its armor. With speed unfit for its size, it reached for one of the zombie mages with its left hand and crushed it like clay.

Sylvia began moving more aggressively, sliding into Death Step Mirage, her figure splitting into multiple shadows circling the giant. From one of them, she struck with Eclipse Piercing, driving her attack into a gap in the Titan’s knee armor. Blood like molten lava sprayed, and the giant dropped to one knee with a growl.

Her troops seized the opening dozens of elite zombies drove spears, axes, and swords into the Titan’s body.

Then the Titan roared.

"RAAAAHHHH!!!"

A surge of red energy blasted outward from its body, throwing all nearby zombies back with devastating force. More than thirty were destroyed instantly, the rest tossed aside like ragdolls.

Sylvia felt a pulse of pain at her temple.

"My forces will be gone if this keeps up."

From her original 100% force, only about 40% remained. The floor was littered with mangled undead, some still crawling despite having only half a body left.

Yet Sylvia’s eyes only burned brighter. She knew this wasn’t an ordinary enemy, this was a true trial.

She raised her hand, forcing the remaining zombies into a single tight formation. Black chains erupted from the ground, binding the ankles of her undead, synchronizing their movements into one massive, coordinated entity.

"Prepare... this time, we won’t retreat."

The Titan lifted its axe again, the lava-like glow in its body flaring brighter, a sign it was about to unleash a strike powerful enough to split this room in two.

Sylvia stared without blinking.

"If that attack lands... half of them might be gone instantly."

But her lips curled into a thin smile.

"Fine. Let’s see who breaks first."

And in the next heartbeat, the Ancient Titan swung its axe with full force...

...The axe came down.

WHUUUUUMMMMM BOOOOOOOMMMM!!!

The impact made the floor quake like an earthquake, stone fragments flying, and a wave of pressure smashing through the entire chamber. Sylvia’s zombie formation, already reinforced by Undead Commander’s Presence, was shattered, the undead bodies breaking apart like glass dropped from a great height.

Sylvia leapt back using Void Steps, but even a distance of over a dozen meters wasn’t enough to completely avoid the Ancient Titan’s shockwave. Pain lanced through the bones in her legs from the force, though Queen Flesh quickly repaired the damage.

"He’s too strong..." she thought, glancing around.

All that remained were the ruins of her army. The hundreds of zombies that had followed her were now nothing more than scattered body parts some heads still moved, but not enough to form any real combat force.

The Ancient Titan turned its head, its red eyes radiating full awareness not mere beastly instinct.

"Small. Alone."

Its voice was deep, echoing against the chamber walls.

Sylvia didn’t reply. She simply raised her hand.

"Nether Branches."

Black roots burst from the floor, far denser than before, trying to wrap around the Titan’s legs. But the giant merely shifted its feet, and all the roots shattered instantly, exploding into black smoke.

"No effect... even area control is useless."

Sylvia closed in, her claws extending with Venom Reaper Claw. She aimed for the gap in the Titan’s neck armor, her movement as fast as lightning

CLANG!!!

The massive axe swung, intercepting her claws and deflecting them with such force that the joints in her hands vibrated. The Titan immediately kicked, trying to crush her.

She vaulted onto its leg, running up its shin toward its waist.

"Eclipse Piercing!"

A spear of dark energy drove toward the Titan’s chest. But

KLANG!!!

The Titan twisted its body, letting the armor on its shoulder absorb the blow. The metallic shockwave rattled the air, and Sylvia’s strike bounced off without penetrating.

She landed on the floor, her breathing slightly heavier.

"Even combined physical and magical penetration... blocked."

The Titan swung its axe from above, forcing Sylvia to roll aside. The ground behind her split open, forming a fissure two meters deep.

No more army. No more distractions. Just her and the Ancient Titan.

Sylvia closed her eyes for a brief moment, then opened them again, her gaze radiating pure death.

"Technique: Unification."

Chains burst from every direction, swirling and merging into one massive form a black chain pulsing like a living vein, radiating pure death energy. Sylvia’s entire body was wrapped in power, all her stats surging by 500%. Strength roared through her muscles and bones.

She vanished.

WHOOSH!!!

In an instant, she was right in front of the Titan’s face, her Unification chain transforming into a massive spear-tipped coil that tore through the air.

SWUSSH!!

The chain slammed into the Titan’s face with full force, twisting to drain its HP and MP. A blast of dark energy spread outward, shaking the entire chamber.

Dust engulfed them both.

Sylvia landed on the floor, her body swaying slightly.

"That... should have "

The dust cleared.

The Ancient Titan stood exactly where it had been, one hand gripping Sylvia’s Unification chain stopping it as if it were a child’s string. Its eyes locked directly onto hers.

"Not enough."

With a single harsh motion, the Titan tore the chain apart, shattering it into fragments of energy that dissolved into the air.

For a fraction of a second, Sylvia froze.

"He... broke my Unification?"

Before she could react, the massive axe was already swinging. She blocked with the remainder of her chain in Form 2: Shield, but the Titan’s strength drove her back dozens of meters, slamming her into a stone pillar hard enough to crack it.

Her breath now felt heavier not from physical exhaustion (her undead body knew no such thing) but from something her mind rarely experienced: pure pressure.

The Titan began to advance, each step sounding like a war drum.

Sylvia triggered Death Step Mirage again, creating decoys to mislead it but the Titan seemed able to tell which one was real. Every swing was precise, forcing Sylvia to retreat further and further.

"This... is bad." she thought, adjusting her distance, her crimson eyes glowing even brighter.

But the Ancient Titan gave her no room.

And once again, the axe rose high ready to end this round.