The giant puppet, Harvey's grotesque creation of Dark Magic fused with Earth Magic, loomed over the Underside like a living calamity. Its sheer size made it a perfect target, but that same reality applied to the massive stone pillar B had raised from the ground. The towering column had shot the civilians upward with incredible speed, delivering them near the shattered ceiling of the Underside, where makeshift bridges were still forming. Many sections of the Alterian road above had collapsed, leaving rough stone paths where the mages were building connections as quickly as they could.
But the pillar's height and stability didn't matter. What mattered was how visible it was, how obvious a target it made.
And Harvey noticed instantly.
The puppet's many limbs pulled backward, curling like spears preparing to strike. Dark Magic condensed in multiple nodes of swirling black energy, not just one massive pulse but several, each capable of obliterating everything in its path.
