52.2-32 The Immortal Titan – The True Nature of the Machine Revealed

The Undying Titan — the Machine's True Nature

Hell‑fire subsided, leaving a silence so thick even a cough seemed forbidden.The paladins lowered trembling shields. "I‑Is it over…?" someone whispered—nobody answered.From the gray haze a cinder pulsed orange again.

Thoom… thoom… thoom…

"Impossible—still alive!" a sorcerer gasped, stumbling back.On the pyre's rubble, a crimson core throbbed.

Ink of light bled outward, sketching thousands of ancient sigils in mid‑air.The runes fluttered like paper, searching for partners; in moments they sheathed the broken giant‑bones, knitting fresh joints.Iane swallowed. "Not flesh… letters turning into sinew and bone."A tingling spark nipped Rean's fingertips."It's like a spellbook reading itself aloud, then building a body to match the words…"

"Hellfire couldn't erase it?""It's… changing shape!"

The colossus was not burning away;letters and diagrams drifted off with the flames, then spiralled back together.

"Look—those aren't wounds, they're glyphs," Iane murmured.Rean cried, "It isn't a living thing! What is that?"

When the fire peeled back, its core form emerged:

A skull‑like framework the height of a keep.

⚙︎ Metal ribs meshed with mechanisms no era could claim.

Armand, arch‑wizard, spoke hoarsely."That's no titan of legend… it was manufactured."

"Whose relic is this?""Why build a giant out of cogs and scripture?"

Rean touched a drifting rune shard; blue static nipped his skin.Unfamiliar characters whirled in his seer's sight. "A cipher this world can't parse."

Demian planted his sword in the flagstones. "Law, design—makes no difference. If it bleeds, I cut."

The skeleton kept moving, as though existence itself were pre‑written code.Runes orbited overhead like a golden score, notes sliding back into the titan's frame.Armand whispered, "The book is turning its pages—sentences become organs."

"This isn't any magic we know!""If it isn't magic… what are we fighting?"

"Less talking, more shielding!" cried Larth Bark, raising his cracked aegis.The giant's body was recompiling—metal sinews clacking, stray glyphs slotting into place.

"Damn it—can we even kill that?" Iane hissed."The rules we trust are buckling," a wizard muttered.

Kane nocked an arrow. "Sever the core before that rune‑chorus finishes its refrain!"

Demian lifted his blade; mana pooled along the edge."Tri‑Essence Sword — Sever the Essence.If this world's a design, I'll cut the blueprint."

"Front line, gather light! Rear, consecrate your blades!" Larth commanded.Armand shouted, "All mages, trace the flow—find how to end this thing!"

And so the battle—against a monster of scripture and steel—began anew.

**

Chapter : The Phoenix Blade – The Giant Is Felled

1. Damian's Blade – At Last, It Strikes True

The Titan's body began to reassemble, unleashing a cacophony of mechanical groans.Recompiled code pulsed in red from deep within its core.

Lars Vark grit his teeth and raised his shield once again.

"No matter how much we attack… it won't stop!"

At the center of the battlefield, Archmage Armand of the Wizard Guild focused intently on the flow of magic. His eyes flared with realization.

"The core! As long as that core remains intact, it will continue to regenerate!"

Damian narrowed his eyes.

"Then destroying that is the only way."

He gripped his sword.No matter the laws of this world—All he could do was cut.

2. Wizards and Holy Knights – A Path Is Made

Armand shouted toward Damian:

"I saw your sword strike that thing—but the core's too high up. You'll need a way to reach it!"

Lars Vark nodded firmly, tightening his grip on his shield.

"Then we'll buy you the time you need to get there."

The Holy Knights formed a solid defense line.The Wizards readied their offensive spells.

Magic sliced through the sky.The Holy Knights summoned a powerful barrier.

In the midst of all that chaos—Damian's goal never changed.

3. The Leap – Into the Sky

Damian turned toward Rean.

"Use wind magic. Launch me."

Rean didn't hesitate. He raised his hand.

[Wind Support]

A blast of wind erupted beneath Damian's feet—And he shot into the air.

His body soared skyward.

But above, debris from the clash between magic and Titan rained down like a storm.

Enormous shards of metal plummeted toward him, threatening to tear him apart midair.

Ian and the others instantly saw the danger.

"He won't make it if this keeps up!" Ian shouted.

Cain raised his bow with precision.

"Tie the rope! I'll shoot arrows into the Titan's body!"

Ian and Cain worked together—Launching arrows with ropes attached.

Thwip—!

The arrows embedded into the Titan's massive frame. Thick ropes stretched taut.

Cain shouted:

"Use those as your foothold!"

4. Gyeonggong of the Martial World – Supreme Sky Step (Chosangbi)

Damian twisted in midair and landed on one of the ropes.

He unleashed Gyeonggong (light-step martial arts).

He leapt with impossible agility,his body as light as the wind, dancing from rope to rope.

One—two—three steps—Each one an explosion of movement.

Faster than light, he closed the distance toward the Titan's core.

The Sorcerers stared in awe.

"…He's doing that without magic? Just swordsmanship?"

Even Armand of the Wizard Guild murmured in awe:

"So this is the martial art of Murim…"

In that moment—Damian's sword ignited.

5. The Phoenix Blade – The Giant Falls

A crimson flash cut through the sky.

"Heukwoon Sword Technique – Phoenix Slash (Bonghwangcham)!"

His sword, wrapped in flames, plunged toward the Titan's core.

The Titan thrashed violently—But it was too late.

The core split cleanly down the center.The red flow of mana came to a halt.

And like a great system shutting down—

The Titan stopped moving.

Thud…

Its colossal frame collapsed—At last, the Titan had fallen.

6. The Battle Ends – Questions Remain

The giant moved no more.

Yet even in its wreckage, strange codes and symbols still scattered into the air.

Wizards approached cautiously, beginning their investigation.

Armand exhaled and muttered:

"These are not the laws of the world we know…"

Rean reached out and touched a fragment among the ashes.

A sudden image flashed through his mind—

An unknown being, watching them from beyond dimensions…

Rean broke into a cold sweat and bit his lip.

"This wasn't just a battle.It was… a sign. A step closer to the truth of our world."

But none of them yet understoodwhat this event would bring.