The entire Sky City trembled and shook.
As one Titan after another emerged from the city's underground, seemingly imprisoned there for who knows how many years, the Sky City appeared to be experiencing a prolonged earthquake.
The stone slabs beneath Ian's feet cracked like spider webs, while a deafening rupture echoed from the city center, as if some ancient shackles were forcibly torn apart.
Giants were being released one after another. A deep and ancient roar—the roar of ancient giants, the roar of Titans finally seeing daylight after millennia of imprisonment.
"Ah...this is truly myth becoming reality."
Ian's gaze was fixed upon the giants emerging from the ground.
Their bodies were colossal, muscles knotted, skin seemingly forged from rock and metal, and each step they took caused the entire Sky City to tremble violently.
Without exception.
Chains of shackles also remained on all the giants.
Regarding this.
Ian was somewhat curious.
Not panicked.
He composedly raised his Magic Wand.
Cast a spell on his eyes.
"Piercing Vision!"
Ian did not know what purpose the inventor of this Magic intended, he simply learned this X-ray Magic from the library in Hogwarts.
Unlike common X-ray Spells.
The advantage of this Magic is that it can selectively pierce through only desired things, even deciding on layers, though Ian, being someone proper, used it for the first time outside of practice.
His vision penetrated through the interference of bricks on the ground, a faint golden light flowed in his pupils, his sight pierced through heavy rock layers and some simple Magic Barriers directly reaching deep underground.
Then he looked underground.
Sure enough.
Beyond some hollow structures, the city's interior was filled with many cages comparable to prisons. Countless giant Spell chains crisscrossed, weaving into a tightly sealed cage network. Each chain carved with ancient runes, flickering with faint yet powerful magic power.
These runes were not ordinary Sealing Techniques but complex Restrictions fused with Alchemy and Ancient Witchcraft, which were considered unfamiliar means to Ian. Many bronze grids of the same material as the city crisscrossed like rooms, woven together by those dense chains.
This was a cage.
A mysterious bronze metal cage.
Incorporated within the city's interior surely for a reason, dark red Spell chains coiled around the cage, although many of them now appeared to be in an opened state.
The giants climbing to the surface were released from here—however, there were giants still in the process of being released, their condition inside the cage revealing a startling truth to Ian.
Those metal chains.
Not only were they restraints restricting the giants' movements, but also appeared to be "veins" deeply embedded within the giants' bodies, each deeply wedged into their flesh.
Absorbing energy like veins.
As energy flowed, the runes on the chains flickered, pulsing as if breathing. These chains not only restricted the giants' actions but also continuously extracted their power.
"I see."
Ian understood.
These Titans are the power source for this city!
This Sky City floating in the clouds, able to defy gravity and hover high above without falling, relies not on mysterious Floating Stones or pure Magic Energy. These imprisoned giants, serving as living power sources, endlessly supply the city with energy!
"I was wondering why I couldn't perceive much Magical power, turns out this isn't Magic." Ian finally understood why the operation of Sky City was difficult for him to analyze.
Turns out.
This thing's operating method is different from the system he practiced. The power these giants possess is unlike any familiar form of magic Ian knew.
It's not Magic.
But a more primal and quite powerful force. With this power as energy, a city the size of a large one is able to prosper in the sky without needing much magic power—giants possess the world's most primitive.
Energy harmonizing with nature.
As long as it's absorbed.
An all-encompassing "small world" can be created anywhere.
"Roar!"
Giants continued to be released.
This might be the ancient wizard's trump card against enemies. Once the chains embedded in their blood and flesh ceased absorbing energy, the giants began awakening swiftly one after another. Their chests swelling, blood circulating again. They struggled, roared, crawling out from the abyss-like cages, approaching the surface step by step.
Through the dust on the ground, several towering entities emerged slowly. Their bodies stood like mountains, skin and forms varied due to their power properties.
Yet they all carried a fleshy texture. Broken chains wrapped around them, some not coming off, some coming off, and those chains falling to the ground.
Creating a deafening clamor.
Each chain seemed capable of crafting at least several large airplanes.