At the moment the O5 Councilor's order was transmitted, the entire battlefield seemed to hit a pause button.
Then—
The earth began to vibrate.
It was clearly not an earthquake, but the resonant aftershocks of countless weapons and artillery firing simultaneously. Roaring soundwaves kicked up invisible gales, sweeping through every corner of the field of vision. The air was annihilated into twisted vacuum zones under the release of massive energy and thaumaturgical backfire. With terrifying shrieks, countless counter-current meteors of fire rose into the sky. They traced graceful arcs beneath the night veil, like divine judgment cast down upon the mortal world by God, or a torrential downpour—except this rain was forged of death.
"BOOM!!!"
The first thaumaturgical nuclear warhead from the Foundation detonated on the entity's surface. The violent explosion shattered all matter within a radius of several kilometers. Terrifying EVE particle fluctuations expanded like physical waves, shredding every material structure in their path.
Then came the second, the third, the fourth—and endless other attacks. The earth was continuously trampled by invisible giant fists, and the entity shook frantically under the combined strike of multiple anomalous organizations. The surface of its distorted spatial shield rippled densely, like water struck by a heavy storm.
The O5 Councilor stared fixedly at the screen. His pupils reflected endless data streams—the trajectories of projected anomalies, structural arrays of Humes, runic matrices of thaumaturgy, anchoring fields of reality benders... even some "suspicious" items labeled with black-level clearance, taken from the deepest containment facilities just for this moment.
Thaumaturgy, theology, physics, Realistics, demonology, and necromancy—the intelligence and spirit of humanity were displayed to their extreme in this act of destruction, continuously roaring at the being that had tortured their species for ten thousand years.
...Would this be useful? The answer was revealed quickly.
"Attention, the entity's shield is nearly gone! The attacks are effective! The results exceed all expectations!" a researcher's voice exploded in the communication channel, filled with an uncontrollable passion, as if shouting out all hope and fear together.
Sure enough, everyone saw it. The soap-bubble-like shield shuddered violently. The entity seemed dazed for a moment—its movements stalled briefly, as if it had not expected these "ants" to actually threaten it.
...The shield vanished.
Wait, something was wrong. Under the observation of all organizations and amid the continuous fire suppression, the entity performed a move no one anticipated. It slowly raised its head and moved its slender limbs—the structure that should perhaps be called "legs"—as signs of spatial distortion reappeared. Then, like a ghost, it streaked across the sky. In an instant, the entity crossed vast distances at high speed, reaching a mountain peak and leaping over the range, charging straight in a specific direction with incredible velocity.
Where was it going? Foundation researchers immediately projected the trajectory onto the wall. The holographic map displayed a clear straight line. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.
It was charging straight for the Command Center!
"Councilor, we suggest you evacuate immediately," a representative from another anomalous organization said on the screen, their tone brook no argument.
The Councilor shook his head calmly. "That won't be necessary." His voice carried no ripple of emotion. "The situation remains under control. This entity does not yet have the qualifications to make me leave my post. Our side still has trump cards to play."
As the Councilor finished speaking, an anti-gravity craft that had been waiting for a long time flew out from the flank at high speed, dropping a massive containment crate directly in the entity's path. The black crate opened in mid-air. A gargantuan body projected out, casting a massive shadow upon the ground, then continuously expanded, expanded, and expanded further in the air—
A giant lizard appeared before everyone's eyes.
—It was the Hard-to-Destroy Reptile.
Its size ballooned to a scale comparable to the entity within seconds, every inch of its scales shimmering with an unnatural metallic luster. Clearly, with the Foundation's help before arriving, this anomaly had gained extremely powerful resistances, a hundred times stronger than before.
The Reptile's eyes stared fixedly at the entity charging toward it. Its mouth split open, revealing a grin that could only be described as hideous. It had waited for this day for a very, very long time. Every moment, it could directly perceive that this entity had tried every possible way over the long ages to kill it, to inflict absolute pain upon it, and to drain its strength.
Thinking of that horrific pain, even the Foundation's method of restricting its regeneration with corrosive liquids seemed trivial by comparison—it was a hatred that could never be fully set aside. But now, the tables had turned. It was going to personally take its revenge on this entity.
The massive beast stepped across the earth. In the next moment, the two gargantuan presences collided heavily.
"BOOM—!!"
Like a meteorite impact, the shockwave generated by the two lifted the entire ground within a several-kilometer radius. Vast swaths of vegetation fell, and debris and dust expanded outward like a tsunami. The Reptile's claws, in some unknown manner, ignored all defenses and embedded deep into the entity's torso, while the entity's slender limbs lashed out like whips against the beast, each strike tearing away large chunks of flesh.
They began to tear, to slaughter. The entire earth was shaking, mountains trembled and then collapsed in the aftershocks of the battle. And those anomalous organizations clearly had no sense of "fair play"; they didn't hesitate at all. Massive scales of firepower continued to pour frantically onto the entity. Thaumaturgical barrages from the Serpent's Hand, anomalous volleys from the Foundation, mechanical artillery arrays from the Church of the Broken God, theological focus fire from the Horizon Initiative... everything was projected toward the two god-like fighting beasts, continuous and unceasing.
The Reptile clearly didn't care about the firepower damaging its own body. In fact, amid the continuous damage, its flesh was regenerating rapidly, and through that regeneration, it was quickly becoming harder and accumulating infinite resistance.
The entity, however, clearly lacked this ability. Its body began to sway under the combined strike. Its movements slowed, and more openings appeared. The Reptile seized a gap, its massive jaws biting hard into the entity's torso, tearing away a large piece of tissue.
"It's been heavily wounded!" someone roared in the Command Center.
The entity staggered. It seemed to finally realize something and wanted to react—but it was too late. At that very instant, the demonology satellite from the Global Occult Coalition successfully finished its recharge again, projecting down a psionic beam. A blinding white light illuminated the entire space.
The entity swayed, and then half of its body vanished within the radiance!