Before them, stretching beyond what their eyes could fully comprehend, was a colossal being. It lay within the heart of the planet, still in a state of regeneration.
It was not fully healed.
Looking up, the survivors saw the crack in reality—the same tear they had gazed upon from the surface. But now, they were beneath it, staring upward through the thinning veil of the planet itself.
Then, the army broke through.
A fraction of the invasion force—still more than enough to destroy everything—spilled into the cavern.
And the regenerating being… was defenseless.
The civilians braced for death.
Then—machines roared to life.