Marcus slumped against the cold stone wall of his cave, exhaustion creeping over him. His body ached from the fight, and his mind still buzzed from the strange sensation of raising his first undead. The lizard's skeletal frame stood motionless beside him, dark mist curling around its exposed bones like a silent warden.

  He closed his eyes. Just for a moment.

  Then—

  Rumble.

  A faint vibration trembled beh him. At first, he thought it was his body giving out from overuse of magic, but then—

  ROOOOAAAAR!

  The entire mountain shook. Stones cracked, dust rained from the cave ceiling, and Marcus snapped upright. The undead lizard growled in respos glowing blue eyes flickering as the tremors intensified.

  Then, the first rockfall hit.

  Marcus barely avoided the colpsing ceiling as he dashed toward the cave entrahe momeepped outside, his breath hitched.

  The sky lit apart by lightning.

  The air itself crackled with raw power, a chaoti raging above. Ah it—a battle of titans.

  Two giants cshed in the heart of the tundra.

  One was a massive bear-like beast, taller than mountains, its fur streaked with lightning, each step shaking the nd itself. Its eyes burned like molten gold, and every swipe of its cws sent thunderous shockwaves through the air.

  The other? A colossal molten serpent, its body made of obsidian and liquid fire, shifting and twisting like a living volo. When it struck, the groued beh it, reshaping the ndscape with every movement.

  Marcus’ heart pounded as he stared at the bear-like beast. The shape, the power, the sheer presence of it…

  “…Volibear…?”

  The name slipped from his lips before he even realized it. A hat should —at least, not in his world.

  But it took only seds for reality to sink in.

  This wasn’t his world.

  This was Ruerra.

  And right now, he was witnessing a battle that should o in myths—the legendary csh between Volibear and the serpent that reshaped the nd.

  A deafening crash snapped him back to the present. The impact of their battle sent shockwaves across the nd, causiire ks of id stoo break apart.

  Marcus looked back—his cave was colpsing.

  Without hesitation, he barked an order.

  “Get out of here!”

  The undead lizard leapt forward, sprinting across the shaking ground as more boulders rained down.

  Marcus ched his fist. He had to move.

  Summoning the st reserves of his energy, he propelled himself into the sky, dark energy coiling around his body as he shot upward like a shadow against the storm. He needed distance—safety—but at the same time, he couldn't tear his eyes away.

  He hovered in the air, watg as gods fought beh him.

  The frozen wastend cracked, mountains crumbled, aire gciers melted uhe force of their attacks.

  Marcus exhaled, both in awe and disbelief.

  “...What the hell am I supposed to do in a world like this?”

  Yet, deep inside, a small part of him couldn't help but wonder…

  If beings like these exist—how am I gonna survive?

  This world was cursed with catastrophe. From the dawn of time to the distant future—disaster after disaster threateo tear it apart. If not for a handful of twists of fate, it would have already fallen.

  ‘Wasn’t there a theory that it all started with the Ice Witch?’ The o that set tless others into motion, rippling through history like a stone cast into a frozen ke.

  If that were true, then brute strength alone wouldn’t be enough. Marcus knew he couldn’t stop the Watchers from meddling in this world. If it wasn’t the Three Sisters who had drawn their gaze, then someone else—some other fool—would eventually seek out that power.

  But right now, time was on his side. Plenty of time. If he used it wisely.

  Steeling himself, Marcus watched as the csh of two titans s end. Soon, one would fall, and in its wake, something would remain.

  And he would cim it.

  -^-^-^-^-^-

  Marcus jured a shimmering protective barrier around himself as he stepped forward, his gaze locked onto the colossal remains of the giant serpent. The air was thick with the st of scorched flesh and raw energy. Volibear had emerged victorious, his fury undeniable—but instead of g his prize, the stod had simply left, ued in the lingering power of his fallen foe.

  That was all the better for Marcus.

  His pulse quied as he approached the shattered skull of the beast. Even ih, the serpent's essence g to the air like a dying ember, resisting oblivion. But this time, he wouldn’t simply raise the remains. No—he had something far more ambitious in mind.

  Closing his eyes, Marcus extended his hand over the ruined corpse. His power surged, tendrils of energy snaking out from his fiips before plunging deep into the remains. Unlike before, when he had twisted the esseo an unholy reanimation, this time he pulled it inward, drawing it into himself, g the beast’s lingering vitality for his own.

  The energy hit him like a raging inferno.

  It burned, wild and untamed, shing out as if the serpent itself fought against being devoured. His vei like molten fire, his body trembling uhe sheer force of it. The power was fierce, coiling and thrashing like an uned storm. But Marcus held oless, f it to submit. He willed it to mix, to meld, to bee his. His breath came in ragged gasps as his body shifted, his very essewisting to aodate the new force surging through him.

  His och-bck feathers darkened further, but now they carried a deep, simmering red, faint embers glowing at their tips like dying coals. The mist that always g to his form thied, shifting uably as if charged with something new, something untamed.

  Marcus ched his fists, exhaling sharply as the st of the energy settled within him.

  To test his newfound power, Marcus delved into his inner energy. Before, his reserves had been nearly depleted after the fight with the ice lizard. But now?

  It was overflowing.

  Not only that, but he could feel something else—his core had expanded, his capacity stretched beyond its former limits.

  Raising his hand, he jured a spear—the same on he had used tless times. But now, it was different. The darkeeel of the tip had gained a deep crimson tint, a mark of the power he had stolen.

  With a flick of his wrist, Marcus hurled the spear toward the ground a short distance away.

  The impact was instantaneous.

  A deafening explosion tore through the nd, leaving behind a sm crater. The ground hissed as waves of heat rolled outward, turning solid roto a slowly melting pool of sg. The air itself shimmered from the lingeri.

  Mararrowed his eyes.

  "An upgrade for sure… but it’s not enough."

  He ched his fist. Power like this was formidable, but it was still far from what he needed.

  The Watchers would e.

  He khe timeline—knew what was ing. The War of the Three Sisters was iable. If not them, someone else would have been lured by the Watchers’ whispers. That event was a fixed point in history, a moment that would shape the world to e.

  And Marcus had no iion of interfering. Not yet.

  If he disrupted it, he risked creating a butterfly effect too uable to trol. His knowledge of the future was his greatest advantage—and he wouldn't waste it.

  Marcus turned his gaze toward the serpent’s remains. Its essence was gone, absorbed into him, but the corpse itself still had its uses.

  With a slow breath, he raised his hand. His magic surged forth, dark mist slithering over the serpent’s massive skull and what remained of its body. The energy coiled around the bones, flesh, and ruined scales, seeping into them as if g the lifeless beast entirely.

  Slowly, the monstrous remains began to shrink.

  The same power he used to alter his own form now pressed the corpse, f the heavy mass into something far more manageable. Inch by inch, the titan’s remains shrunk, folding in on themselves as Marcus exerted his will.

  By the time he was done, what remained of the serpent was small enough to fit in his palm.

  Even at this reduced size, the weight of it lingered—a reminder of the sheer scale the beast once possessed. Most of the head and neck were intact, though scorched and cracked from the battle. A few bones remained, some fractured, others whole. The tail, surprisingly, had survived, still thid heavy despite its diminished form.

  The rest? Vaporized. Erased in the violent csh of divine power.

  Marcus closed his fingers around the remains, feeling the heat still radiating from within.

  "This will do."

  He needed every advantage he could get.