"Goliath’s Fall."

Ding!

Before those words had fully left his lips, everything around Malik began to get crushed.

The snow beneath them compressed into ice, and the sand cracked and splintered.

The air itself seemed to collapse inward, pressing down on the Demons with an invisible force that turned their elongated bodies into paste.

Their crowns clattered to the ground, and their black ichor mixed with the red-stained snow.

The only thing left of the swarm was the grinding sound of their remains settling into the earth.

—

╔════════════════════╗

║NEW SOUL GLYPH ACQUIRED!║

╚════════════════════╝

[Goliath’s Fall (Peak) x 1]

[Rune Description: This Rune grants you immense strength and enlargement at will.]

—

’Hm.’

It was the first time he had bought this Rune, and he was sure of his decision.

Because indeed, it not only made him impossibly stronger, but it also allowed him to become as insanely massive as he liked, perhaps even as big as one of the numerous Trees of Life.

Sand seemed to coalesce around and inside his body.

It added mass and density, turning him into something else entirely.

Malik calmly stood in the center of the destruction, his golden eyes burning.

He could feel Goliath’s Fall pumping through him, and he knew he did not have long.

Peak Glyphs lasted only a minute, and he had already used two seconds just activating it.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Caring not for the gargantuan Tree of Life’s repeating pulse, he walked over to another that was nearby and, notably, a safe distance away from where Huda and Safira lay unconscious.

A sword was left there.

Meanwhile, the growing flowers tried so desperately hard to drain his Rukh, but with the Soul Glyph active, his seemingly infinite reserves met no match.

The petals weren’t able to do anything.

Reaching the Tree of Life, Malik stopped and focused.

He let the Rune take hold, and his body began to grow.

His shoulders widened, his arms lengthened, and his legs thickened.

The ground shook with each inch of expansion, and within moments, he was no smaller than the tree itself.

A giant of flesh, his golden hair brushing against the lower branches.

Thankfully, his clothes remained intact, enlarging alongside him.

Reaching down, he wrapped his massive hands around the trunk of the tree and pulled.

The roots tore from the earth with a sound like thunder, sending chunks of frozen soil and rock flying in all directions.

Malik straightened up, holding the tree like a spear, and spun on his heel.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

He flung it at the gargantuan Tree of Life in the distance, putting every ounce of his enhanced strength into the throw.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The tree shot through the air like a missile and crashed into the unfathomably large trunk, causing a tiny piece of its frontal bark to chip off, falling to the ground far below.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

The impact sent shockwaves rippling back towards Malik, but he stood his ground, his feet planted in the snow.

Malik didn’t even know how long his throw had traveled—tens of thousands of miles? He wasn’t sure.

Either way, he did not stop.

Reaching for another tree, he pulled it from the earth and threw it.

Then he went for another.

And another.

And another.

Each throw sent a massive projectile hurtling toward the distant Tree of Life, and each impact chipped away another tiny fragment of its trunk.

The sound was deafening.

A constant barrage of explosions that echoed across the land.

Slowly, the repeating pulses from the massive tree began to slow.

Far beneath him, the red flowers’ glow was fading.

Though the damage seemed minimal, it had an effect.

Right after that, the tree stopped thumping altogether, and the land fell into an uneasy silence.

Perhaps Malik had done enough damage.

Stopping his attacks for a moment, breathing hard despite his infinite Rukh, he watched the gargantuan trunk.

The chipped parts were already beginning to heal.

While its healing was very slow, he knew very well that he could not destroy it.

Not even now, with his full power, had he made much of a dent.

Indeed, this was a God’s grave.

An Angel’s power couldn’t do much against it.

But perhaps he could shut it up for a good while.

Perhaps he could affect IT’s reach and do as the expeditioners so desperately wanted, even if a little.

Though he was sure that the Entity didn’t exactly originate from here—IT was Void, and Void had no origin but itself—there had to be a reason everyone came here of all places to stop it, thinking it to be the "Source..."

Besides the insane levels of Corruption, of course.

Perhaps this land was the inverse of Hell, connected directly to it and, in turn, to the Origin of Corruption Itself.

This land also seemed to be a spawn for Demons.

The Corrupted ones, Fallen as they once called them.

ITs army.

And if that were the case, it’d explain how the Demons appeared in Devil’s Maw despite their Trees of Death being cut.

All of them came from this very place!

That was why all of them attacked from the East!

It also explained why Demons were appearing all over the universe.

The Origin of Corruption simply sent IT’s army through Hell, then its inverse, which was this land, and then finally into every planet in IT’s reach.

In other words, every Tree of Life here didn’t only connect to what could only be called mere Saplings of Death in the North, West, and South of Devil’s Maw, but also to those on other planets entirely!

Rather, it was their main focus!

IT attacked the other planets not only to expand IT’s influence but also to put more pressure on Devil’s Maw, using those Malik knew as invaders in IT’s plans, with them being none the wiser.

Truly, Corruption was a universal-level threat.

Malik was sure that this was the case, for before him...

Another Demon materialized.

This Demon, however, was unlike any that came before it.

It matched Malik in size, its body rippling with condensed Corruption.

Its crown was different compared to the others, housing more sword-like shapes.

What stood out most, however, was its eyes.

Yes, unlike the others, it had eyes.

Entirely white, the same pale light of the East.

This was a battle of giants.

Not only was it as big as he was...

It was also just as strong as he was.

As strong as damned Angel!

Malik had finally met his match!

How fitting that it was a Demon.

He was their bane, after all.