"RROOOOAAARRR!"
The scream didn't just tear through the forest—
it shattered it.
Colossal trees—trunks as wide as houses—quivered under the force of the sound.
High above, ancient branches shook loose entire storms of leaves.
Flocks of giant birds burst into the sky in a panicked wave, their wings beating frantically against the sudden violence in the air.
The ground heaved once.
Then again.
Then came the wet, dragging sound.
Out from behind a fallen titan of a tree, something enormous lumbered forward, pulling a limp, broken creature across the forest floor.
The dead thing was twice the size of an elephant, yet it hung from the predator's jaws like a gutted carcass, limbs dangling uselessly, blood streaking behind it in thick, dark trails.
The creature's feet slammed into the earth like meteor impacts—
three gargantuan toes tipped with talons the length of swords.
Each step vibrated through the soil, sending ripples through nearby puddles and shaking loose bark from ancient trunks.
Its legs rose like pillars of living stone, muscles shifting in rolling waves beneath scarred, rough skin.
Its tail, long as a ship's mast, swept the ground behind it, knocking aside shrubs and snapping young trees as if they were brittle twigs.
As it dragged its kill into the clearing, its torso rose into full view—wide as a boulder field, ribcage expanding with each thunderous breath.
Light cut across its hide, revealing a mosaic of scales, ridges, and old battle scars clawing across its body like a map of past wars.
But the head—
The head was a nightmare carved from ancient earth.
It slammed the carcass to the ground, jaws opening in a span wide enough to swallow a person whole. Teeth like curved daggers glistened with fresh blood.
With a single downward snap—
CRUNCH
—bone fragments burst outward in a spray of red mist.
Strings of flesh tore.
Tendons snapped like thick rope.
The beast lowered its massive skull again, ripping another slab from its prey, chewing with slow, powerful finality.
Hot breath burst from its nostrils, fogging the air in thick clouds.
And then—
"SKREEEEEEAAAHHH!"
The sound shredded the sky.
It wasn't just a screech—it was a sonic slash, a scream of pure death, vibrating the air and making every branch and leaf quiver.
Birds scattered in frantic waves, flapping wildly, their wings slicing the gusting wind.
The canopy itself seemed to shudder, showering the forest floor with debris.
Then the shadow came, descending from the clouds like a storm made flesh.
The creature above was colossal—wings stretched wider than the valley below, membranes veined like lightning, pulsating with muscle and power.
Every beat of its wings shoved the air downward, whipping dust, leaves, and the metallic scent of blood from the predator's kill into a violent spiral.
Its head was a dagger of bone and leathery hide, long, sharp, and terrifyingly precise.
Eyes black as molten obsidian burned with predatory intelligence, scanning the ground below with chilling calculation.
Its beak, curved like a scythe, dripped with drool and flecks of crimson from the air itself, jagged along the edges, perfect for ripping flesh from bone.
A sharp crest ran along its skull, catching glints of sunlight like fractured glass.
The neck, long, sinuous, and horrifically strong, arched like a living whip, vertebrae rippling beneath leathery skin.
Its body, compact and muscular, flexed with lethal grace, every line of muscle honed for speed and devastating force.
Its talons, black as iron and sharp as swords, glinted as they extended. Each claw was long enough to pierce the thickest hide, to crush bone like brittle wood.
The tail, long and whip-like, flicked to maintain balance, cutting the wind with precision.
Then—
It dived.
With a scream that split the valley, talons plunged into the carcass the ground predator had just torn from its prey.
Flesh ripped, sinew snapped, and hot, sticky blood sprayed across the forest floor in thick, glistening ribbons.
The ground shuddered under the massive creature's frustrated stomps as it snapped at empty air, teeth tearing nothing but wind.
With a violent, bone-shaking beat of wings, the aerial predator lifted, jerking the prize free from the jaws of the ground predator.
The carcass dangled helplessly in the talons, limbs flailing, blood spraying like a red torrent over the shattered forest floor.
Trees cracked and splintered beneath the force of the wind, smaller creatures screamed and scattered, and the ground itself seemed to tremble in terror.
Its beak dripped crimson, flesh hanging from its hooked edges, as it let out another piercing scream that split the air.
The wings flexed, sending a gale that ripped ferns from the soil and shattered branches like kindling.
Every motion was a ballet of death, every glance of its obsidian eyes a declaration: nothing on this world could challenge it.
Only now, in all its horrifying glory, did its full face come into view—hooked jaw smeared with blood, sharp ridges on its skull gleaming, eyes burning with cold, merciless intelligence.
Its body gleamed with muscle and sinew, wings coiled and ready to crush anything below, talons still dripping with gore, a nightmare of the skies made real.
And then, leaving the forest in a crimson-stained silence, it vanished into the clouds, carrying its stolen feast, the air vibrating with the echoes of its scream.
On the far side of the island, a vast field of grass stretched toward the horizon, sunlight glinting off waving blades and ferns.
The scene was calm, almost soothing, the kind of peace that seemed eternal.
And then it moved.
A living colossus rose from the earth, neck stretching high into the sky, a sinuous tower of muscle and flesh.
Its head bent to graze, jaws closing around greenery with slow, deliberate precision, each bite careful yet capable of crushing the largest branches.
Its body was a rolling mountain of muscle, scales glinting like molten metal under the sun.
The tail trailed behind, a living whip, swaying gently as it walked, each step deep enough to leave craters and shake the plains.
A shadow passed across the field.
A flying predator streaked low, attempting to cross its domain, wings slicing the air. Below, the ground predator bolted after it, claws pounding the soil in pursuit.
The colossal creature breathed.
And the air moved with it.
A single exhale pushed gusts strong enough to bend entire groves of grass.
The flying predator struggled against the wind, claws scraping the earth as it lost control and pitched down toward the field.
The ground predator, charging blindly, didn't notice where it stepped.
One foot descended—massive, like a boulder dropped from the sky.
The earth trembled under the impact.
Then—
A crunch followed, wet and horrifying, as the smaller predator was crushed completely, bones and flesh turning to paste beneath the unimaginable weight.
Blood seeped into the grass in dark, thick ribbons, mixing with dirt and flattened vegetation.
The colossal being did not stop.
Its enormous head lowered to nibble at the tallest grass, chewing calmly, rhythmically.
Tail flicked lazily. Steps measured and serene.
To it, nothing had happened.
After all — it was just having an indifferent stroll through its domain.
Though, even its breath caused havoc.
The air stirred, scattering flocks of birds, shaking shrubs, rippling puddles in the grass, yet it continued without concern, utterly unaware of the devastation beneath its feet.
Its scale dwarfed everything else on the island.
The ground predator, feared by all, was nothing but paste under a step.
The aerial predator, fastest in the skies, now limped or lay crushed, insignificant against its colossal presence.
Every movement of its neck, every sway of its tail, every step left reminders of its dominance—silent yet horrifying.
The field seemed alive with its calm authority.
Grass flattened, trees shivering, wind howling gently across the plains.
And yet, the creature moved as if the world were merely a backdrop, chewing, grazing, strolling, completely unconcerned with the life or death it left in its wake.
It was not threatening—it was omnipotent.
The terror was not in its aggression, but in the absolute inevitability of its presence.
The other creatures' power, speed, ferocity—are all irrelevant.
Nothing could survive under it by accident.
Nothing could rival it.
And still, it grazed, calm and slow, each bite a mountain-shaking act of casual destruction.
The wind stirred with each exhale, carrying the faint scent of trampled grass and crushed earth.
Birds scattered in frantic bursts, insects fled from flattened shrubs, and distant creatures froze, sensing the unshakable weight of a presence that could erase them without thought.
Its neck arched gracefully to reach the tallest vegetation, muscles rippling beneath the armored skin.
Its tail swept lazily behind it, a pendulum of unimaginable power, flattening groves in a single swing.
And yet, the being moved as if it were simply strolling through a garden, unconcerned with the world's fragility.
Even the ground beneath it seemed to yield, trembling with every deliberate step, leaving deep craters that would outlast generations of smaller creatures.
"BBBBUUUUUUMMMMM!"
A low, vibrating rumble emanated from its chest, more felt than heard, resonating through the plains like the pulse of the island itself.
At that same moment—
ZZZZZZZZ—
A red circle crackled into existence atop one of the island's jagged peaks, shimmering like a wound tearing open in the sky. The glow deepened, darkening from crimson to a molten, pulsing scarlet, until it swirled into the unmistakable shape of a portal.
The air warped around it.
And then two figures stepped through.
Oliver stumbled forward onto solid rock, boots scraping against the rough stone, while beside him Czar emerged with calm, controlled steps—as if crossing realities was something he'd long grown numb to.
Oliver's breath caught.
His eyes widened.
Far across the landscape, the colossal creature towered above the plains—its massive neck rising like a living mountain, its tail swaying with the force to level entire forests, its steps so heavy the earth trembled even from this distance.
Oliver staggered back a step, the sheer scale overwhelming his senses.
"What… what is this place?" he whispered, barely able to form the words. Fear, awe, and disbelief tangled in his throat.
Czar didn't answer immediately.
He simply lifted a hand, motioning for Oliver to take in the world around them—the shattered valleys, the storm-bent trees, the titanic shadows moving across the horizon.
"Welcome," Czar said, his voice calm and terrifyingly certain.
He gestured toward the island, the roiling skies above, and the monstrous landscape unfolding beneath them.
"To the end of the world."