The earth shook violently beneath my feet.

  Reika moved with slow, deliberate strides, her towering form casting an endless shadow over the city as she approached. The once-proud stronghold stood defiantly against the night, its towering walls meant to keep demons at bay, its streets bustling with life only minutes ago.

  Now, all that remained was panic.

  The bells rang furiously, desperate cries echoing into the dark sky. Guards scrambled to their posts, archers lining the walls, Onmyoji already chanting counter-barriers, trying to reinforce the defenses.

  "Brace for impact!"

  "Demon Queen incoming!"

  They were preparing for a siege.

  But they didn’t understand.

  There was no siege.

  There was only her.

  Trying to Stop Her

  I ran after her, my breath ragged, my lungs burning.

  "Reika, STOP!" I roared.

  She didn’t.

  She didn’t even gnce down.

  The sheer difference in scale was overwhelming—she took a single step, and I had to sprint just to keep up.

  Her long, stocking-cd legs rose and fell like living pilrs, each movement so effortless, so unconcerned with the world beneath her. The soft fabric of her bck stockings stretched over impossibly powerful muscle, her sheer physical presence dwarfing everything around her.

  In desperation, I lunged—grabbing onto her ankle, my hands barely managing to grip onto the silk-covered skin just above her sandal.

  It was like grabbing onto the trunk of a moving tree.

  "Let go, Jin," she murmured, still walking forward without even breaking stride.

  I tightened my grip, my entire body dragging against the ground as she moved.

  "You need to STOP!" I snarled.

  For the briefest moment, she finally paused.

  And then—she flicked her ankle.

  A casual, effortless movement, like brushing away a speck of dust.

  I was ripped off instantly, sent hurtling backward, tumbling across the dirt, my body smming into a fallen tree trunk.

  By the time I scrambled back to my feet, she was already at the gates.

  The Fall of the Gates

  The city’s outer defenses loomed ahead, reinforced walls standing nearly ten meters high, lined with barriers of sacred energy—a bastion of human ingenuity, built to withstand legions of demons.

  Reika took one gnce at it—and then reached forward with one hand.

  She pressed her fingers against the stone.

  A heartbeat passed.

  Then—the walls cracked.

  A deafening, splintering groan rippled through the city as veins of golden-bck energy spread outward from her fingertips, fracturing through the very foundation of the fortress.

  "BRACE—!"

  BOOM.

  With a gentle push, the walls exploded inward, raining molten stone and shattered wood into the city streets.

  The shockwave ripped through the air, sending soldiers flying—some smashing against the ground in broken heaps, others pulverized instantly beneath the raining debris.

  And then—Reika stepped through.

  Her sandaled foot pressed into the main road, the sheer force crushing the stone beneath her step, sinking into the earth as if the city itself was submitting to her presence.

  She was inside now.

  There was no stopping her.

  A City’s Despair

  The first wave of defenders charged at her—dozens of samurai and guards, their weapons gleaming, their voices crying out in defiance.

  Reika barely gnced down.

  With a slow, almost zy sweep of her foot, she kicked forward—

  And sent the entire squadron flying.

  Their bodies crashed against the ruined remains of the gate, some crushed instantly, their armor shattered like paper, while others y broken, groaning, writhing in agony.

  "No, no, no—" I choked out, forcing my legs to move, sprinting into the wreckage.

  A young soldier, barely past his teenage years, struggled to crawl from the wreckage, his face bloodied, his leg twisted in the wrong direction.

  "P-please…" he whimpered, his eyes wet with terror, looking up at me.

  I reached for him—

  And then—the ground shook.

  A shadow loomed over us.

  I looked up.

  Reika had raised her foot.

  "No!" I lunged forward, throwing myself over the wounded man, shielding him with my body.

  And for a moment—Reika hesitated.

  A single, heavy pause.

  Then, ever so slightly, she tilted her foot, her sandal hovering just a few inches to the side—

  And stomped down.

  The force obliterated the ground, the shockwave sending me tumbling back, the sheer wind pressure alone like being smmed by a tidal wave.

  The soldier I had been trying to save?

  Gone.

  Nothing but a red smear beneath her sandal.

  I stared, horrified, my body frozen in shock.

  And then—she lifted her foot again.

  The remains of the man were stuck to her sole, strands of blood and crushed bone stretching slightly before detaching, falling in grotesque chunks onto the cracked pavement.

  "Ah," she murmured, inspecting the mess absently.

  Then, with a single, effortless shake of her foot, she flicked the remains off—sending what was left of him spttering across the ruined buildings.

  Terror Beyond Strength

  People screamed.

  Civilians tried to flee, their frantic footsteps echoing against the burning streets.

  Reika—not in a rush, not even remotely concerned—watched them.

  Then—she reached down.

  A young woman, desperately dragging her injured father through the street, suddenly jerked to a halt as Reika’s massive fingers closed around her torso.

  She was plucked into the air effortlessly, her legs kicking wildly, her screams high-pitched, animalistic with terror.

  Reika turned her over in her grasp, inspecting her like one would inspect an insect.

  "Hmm," she mused. "So small."

  Then, slowly—she squeezed.

  The woman’s screams pitched higher, her ribs compressing painfully, her body trembling in agony as Reika toyed with her like a fragile doll.

  Then—with the tiniest flex of her fingers—

  A sharp, sickening crack.

  The woman’s ribs shattered inward, her body going completely limp, blood leaking from her lips.

  Reika sighed. "Too delicate."

  Then—she let the corpse drop.

  The Perspective of a God

  I couldn’t breathe.

  I couldn’t process what I had just witnessed.

  I barely even realized when Reika finally turned toward me—her massive fingers wrapping around my body, lifting me effortlessly into the air.

  She held me up, raising me to her eye level, her gaze calm, indifferent, yet quietly amused.

  "Look at them, Jin."

  She gestured with her free hand, motioning to the burning, ruined city below.

  "Do they still look strong to you?"

  I couldn’t answer.

  Because all I could see was the truth.

  They were nothing.

  Just insects beneath her feet.