Darkness.
Not night.
Not clouds.
A darkness that swallowed every color.
The moment Arga touched the portal, the entire world went dark.
No glow from the lava.
No stars.
No fire.
No Core.
The seven hearts of the Earth stopped beating.
Silence covered the planet.
Then—
a cracking sound echoed across the sky.
CRAAAAAAAAACK.
A single line of golden light split the darkness.
Then the line widened.
And the entire world witnessed something opening its eyes.
Above the Fire Continent—
the massive portal slowly spun.
Its light was not blinding.
It was too ancient to be called light.
Too magnificent to be called energy.
The lava in the crater stopped flowing.
The volcanoes that had been raging moments ago suddenly fell silent.
The hot wind died.
Even volcanic ash froze in midair.
As if all of nature itself were holding its breath.
Farhan stared at his laptop screen, now filled with nothing but corrupted data.
"All the sensors… are down."
Lila shivered.
"Even the world's energy system has stopped…"
Bimo swallowed hard.
"Okay."
He looked up at the sky.
"I'm officially scared now."
Inside the swirling light—
a colossal figure slowly descended.
Its head emerged first.
A crown of ancient stone horns curved backward.
Then came shoulders as massive as mountains.
Its body was made of the stone of the world, roots of light, and golden rivers flowing through ancient cracks.
Its wings slowly unfolded.
When they reached their full span—
the clouds across the entire sky split apart.
Its shadow covered the island.
Its eyes opened.
Two endless golden eyes.
Not the eyes of a monster.
The eyes of the planet itself.
Kai dropped to one knee.
"That…"
His voice trembled.
"…Gaia Primordia."
The moment its feet touched the ground—
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The entire Fire Continent shattered.
Mountain slopes collapsed into the sea.
The walls of the crater cracked for hundreds of meters.
Waves of lava rose like fiery tsunamis.
Across the world—
forests trembled.
Glaciers shattered.
The savanna bowed beneath the force.
Mountains echoed with an ancient roar.
The seven Cores lit up simultaneously.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
The Earth's heart began beating again.
Badly wounded, Ignivar Draco stood before the Fire Core.
His neck was cracked.
One wing was destroyed.
Lava-blood dripped onto the stone.
But when he saw Gaia—
the magma dragon lowered his head.
Not in defeat.
In reverence.
A legend bowing before the source of all legends.
Bimo whispered,
"A dragon that huge…"
"…is bowing?"
Pak Rahmat answered quietly,
"Because he knows who has come."
Everyone turned.
Pak Rahmat stood at the edge of the crater.
His eyes were wet.
For the first time—
the man who was always calm was trembling.
Sinta fell silent.
"Sir…"
He looked at Gaia Primordia as if he were watching the past come back to life.
"I once swore…"
His voice cracked.
"…that I would never let you awaken again."
A tear rolled down his cheek.
Bimo stared in disbelief.
"Wait…"
"Is Pak Rahmat crying?"
Pak Rahmat closed his eyes for a moment.
"Forgive us."
On the other side of the crater—
the Dominion Leader took one step back.
Then another.
The hand that was usually so steady was now visibly trembling.
"No…"
"This is happening too fast…"
The man in the hat panicked.
"Sir! What are our orders?!"
For the first time, the Dominion Leader shouted.
"ACTIVATE ALL REACTORS!"
WHOOMMMMMMMMM!
Seven Dominion machines around the crater powered up simultaneously.
Blue beams shot toward Gaia Primordia from every direction.
The sky trembled.
Bimo raised an eyebrow.
"They're seriously attacking a god?"
But Gaia did not move.
It merely turned its head.
One look.
That was all.
CRAAAAAASH!
Every Dominion reactor exploded at once.
Metal melted like wax.
Aircraft fell from the sky in flames.
Drones turned to ash.
Dominion soldiers were thrown through the air like leaves.
The Dominion Leader was hurled from the platform and slammed into the rocks.
THUD!
He coughed up blood.
For the first time—
the Dominion was destroyed without a fight.
Farhan stared in disbelief.
"She… hasn't even attacked."
Kai whispered,
"A planet doesn't need to exert itself to brush away dust."
Then—
Gaia Primordia's chest began to glow.
Golden cracks opened across the center of its chest.
From within that light—
a figure fell.
Sinta screamed.
"ARGA!"
WHOOSH!
Arga's body was thrown from Gaia's chest and fell toward the scorching rocks.
Bimo caught him just in time.
THUD!
Arga was unconscious.
His body was covered in glowing cracks.
Like porcelain on the verge of shattering.
Twenty-three glowing grains of rice floated weakly around him.
Lila dropped to her knees in panic.
"His pulse is weak!"
Farhan scanned him quickly.
"His energy is almost completely depleted…"
Sinta cupped Arga's face.
"Wake up…"
"Please, wake up…"
There was no response.
Then—
Arga's fingers moved.
Slowly.
His eyes opened slightly.
Ancient golden light reflected in his pupils.
He whispered a single word.
"She… is sad…"
Kai turned sharply.
"What?"
Arga looked at Gaia Primordia.
Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.
"She didn't awaken to destroy…"
"…she awakened because the world called for help."
Everyone froze.
Pak Rahmat stared at Gaia.
His expression crumbled.
"I was wrong all this time…"
Gaia Primordia raised its head toward the sky.
Then it roared.
Not a roar of anger.
A roar that made the seas, mountains, forests, ice, and fire answer as one.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!
The seven Cores burned even brighter.
But at the same moment—
the sky above the portal cracked again.
Not gold.
Black.
A dark rift appeared behind Gaia.
Pak Rahmat's face immediately went pale.
"No…"
Kai took a step back.
"That can't be…"
From the black rift—
another enormous hand emerged.
Bigger than Gaia.
Darker than night.
It reached forward and seized the First Guardian by the shoulder from behind.
The entire world trembled.
Pak Rahmat whispered, his voice breaking:
"He's here…"
Farhan trembled.
"Who…?"
Pak Rahmat stared at the sky, fear filling his eyes.
"The World Eater."