Thousands of kilometers away from the Forest of Light lay a vast region covered in endless silver soil and rolling plateaus stretching as far as the eye could see.

This was the Silver Plateau Region, once home to billions of intelligent beings from countless races. It was also the very first place where the Giants had appeared one hundred and fifty years ago.

After the Giants emerged in this region, they destroyed every city and village and exterminated the population until not a single intelligent being remained throughout the entire Silver Plateau Region, an event that would later become known as the greatest genocide in history.

After the massacre, the Giants claimed the Silver Plateau Region as their homeland and the seat of their race, from which they spread across the rest of the lands.

Near the heart of the Silver Plateau stood an enormous hexagonal plateau whose area rivaled that of a medium-sized city. On one of its six sides was a colossal cave whose entrance alone stood one hundred meters tall.

This was the main cave of the Giant race.

Ten Giants, each thirty meters tall and armed with iron spears and war hammers, stood guard before the entrance. They watched every tiny movement with absolute vigilance, never daring to slack off for even a single moment.

Every one of these Giants was at the peak of the third level, powerful enough to crush people like Etham and Gao with ease.

Yet they stood here merely as guards.

Venturing several kilometers deeper into the cave, into its central chamber, six Giants sat in a semicircle, silently staring at the cavern wall before them.

Each sat upon a stone throne. Though all six were thirty meters tall, the aura they radiated was far more terrifying and oppressive than that of the guards outside.

Their cold gazes rested upon another Giant suspended against the cave wall.

Unlike the others, this Giant was fifty meters tall.

His body was grotesquely swollen, especially around the abdomen. Blue veins bulged and pulsed across his entire body with every heartbeat. White foam spilled endlessly from his mouth, and his eyes were completely white, devoid of even the slightest trace of irises.

His stomach was nearly transparent, rising and falling with each calm heartbeat.

Inside...

There was a Giant fetus measuring ten meters in length.

"At this rate, the fetus should complete its growth in no more than three years."

The speaker was a Giant with long black hair, gray skin, blue arms, narrow eyes, and an upper face colored crimson as he calmly observed the fetus’s development.

He was one of the six Giant Kings.

Rodak, the leanest among them.

"Grimar, you’re the oldest among us. Have you ever seen a Giant fetus this large before birth?"

The question came from Nimrok, another Giant whose long hair and thick red beard were braided from end to end. His face resembled that of a man in his early sixties, while his gray skin was covered in intricate markings.

Grimar, whom Nimrok addressed, possessed the appearance of a muscular old man and boasted the greatest physical build and muscle mass among them all.

His skin was blue, his head completely bald, and a thick white beard reached all the way down to his chest.

"When I was born, I personally measured seven meters in height. The only Giant who surpassed me was Brajon."

Grimar spoke in a calm, deep voice as he gestured toward the Giant seated directly opposite him.

"He was eight meters tall at birth."

Brajon was bare-chested and heavily muscled, yet carried the appearance of a young man. His blue-gray skin was covered with numerous gray tattoos, and unlike the rest of the hairy Giants, his body was completely smooth without a single strand of hair.

His expression remained tranquil, sharply contrasting with the arrogance and savagery of the others. He wore nothing more than a brown cloth around his waist and wrists, along with several necklaces made from leather and charms.

"This cub will surely surpass even us Giant Kings. And the day his growth is complete... that will be the day this continent comes to an end."

Ignoring everyone else’s discussion, Brajon spoke in his calm voice as though the extermination of an entire continent’s population meant absolutely nothing.

The other five Giants looked at him but remained silent.

Among them, four secretly doubted the true extent of Brajon’s strength.

Between him and Grimar—the two who competed for the title of strongest Giant—no one knew who would survive if they ever fought to the death.

"Speaking of extermination, have those fools completely conquered the Forest of Light yet or not?"

A middle-aged Giant with two brown braids and a short beard spoke in a hoarse voice, mocking the Giants rampaging across the continent.

This was the Giant of Rage, Thorgar.

"It doesn’t matter whether they’ve conquered it or not. Most likely those idiots are fooling around in the vast territories we’ve already seized or hunting beasts in newly conquered lands. Once it’s our turn to move, everything will end naturally."

The speaker wore a metal helmet adorned with mammoth tusks protruding from both sides, while mammoth fur wrapped around his waist and wrists.

He was the most battle-crazed among the Giant Kings.

Magnus, the Giant of Flame.

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This was the same moment Rios had begun devouring the Tree of Life.

He had completely lost consciousness as a cocoon woven from white strands of energy wrapped itself around both him and the sacred tree.

At that very moment, thousands of kilometers above the City of Light, a black phantom appeared in the sky.

Its silhouette vaguely resembled that of a human, yet possessed almost no discernible features. Only a pair of crimson eyes remained, radiating such overwhelming killing intent that it could have slain anyone standing within its presence.

The phantom extended its hand toward Rios’s location.

Several strands of scarlet energy gathered around its palm, weaving themselves into blood-red dragons that prepared to strike.

But before the dragons could launch their attack, countless blue lightning serpents suddenly materialized around the phantom and instantly obliterated them.

Then, from behind it, came the voice of a young woman.

"I won’t let you do as you please this time."

A woman who appeared to be in her twenties stood behind the phantom, enveloped in a radiant golden aura that concealed everything except her breathtaking face and brilliant golden hair, which shone like strands of sunlight.

Upon her head rested a majestic crown, making her appear as though she were the empress of the entire world.

She fixed her golden eyes upon the black phantom without concealing her killing intent.

"Wasn’t it enough that you slaughtered dozens of your own candidates? Wasn’t it enough that you unleashed that filthy race that spreads destruction and ruin upon me? What more do you want?"

After hearing her words, the phantom slowly turned toward her.

Meeting her gaze with equally murderous intent, it spoke in a cold, raspy voice.

"Your candidates were created using my power. Your growth and your strength exist because of me. Everything you possess belongs to me."

It paused briefly before speaking once more and disappearing.

"The Giants are only the beginning. And everything that belongs to me will eventually return to me. And as for you... sooner or later, you will submit."

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Images of the characters are in the comments.