Shang felt like the entire world stopped moving as these gigantic wings on the horizon lowered.
Everything was silent.
In silence, a terrifyingly gigantic bird rose into the sky. It was impossible to see its colors from such a distance since it still wasn't fully illuminated.
In seemingly an instant, the body of the bird had reached an incredible height. It had probably jumped several kilometers into the air in just a single second.
That speed was insane!
And then, the Storm Eagle stretched its wings.
They were gigantic!
Shang knew that the Crater, the place where the Storm Eagle lived, was over 100 kilometers away from Warrior's Paradise.
Yet, Shang could still see it.
It was so much further away than the Eternal Spires, but it already took up more space in Shang's vision than them.
And then, the Storm Eagle flapped its wings as it flew towards Warrior's Paradise.
For several seconds, Shang saw the gigantic wings flap, but he didn't see the Storm Eagle approach. It was almost like it wasn't moving from its spot.
And then, it grew a bit bigger.
And a bit bigger.
By now, Shang could see the green shimmer of its feathers. Like an emerald, its feathers reflected the light.
For these next few seconds, Shang felt like the entire world had fallen into silence.
And then, Shang saw something shocking.
Bodies!
Gigantic bodies!
The Storm Eagle had become much bigger in Shang's vision, and he had seen a literal wave of dust shooting across the Canyon.
And with the wave came the bodies of gigantic beasts.
One huge beast after the other was thrown around inside the Canyon.
From a distance, Shang could see the Eternal Spires vibrate as huge bodies hit them.
Many beasts died, but a lot of them also managed to survive.
"Down!"
The familiar voice of the dean echoed throughout Warrior's Paradise.
Before Shang could do anything, Yiral pulled him to the ground, behind the wall of the tower.
Shang was surprised since the Storm Eagle didn't seem to be that close, but he was mistaken.
Just one second after he had been pushed below the wall, a gigantic shadow passed over Warrior's Paradise.
For just an instant, Shang saw an enormous wing blot out the sky.
The sky had literally been hidden from Shang for just this instant.
Yet, the shadow vanished just as quickly.
And then, hell broke loose!
Everything began to shake!
It was like an enormous earthquake had suddenly taken place as Warrior's Paradise began to shake severely!
As Shang was behind the wall, his gaze was turned to the middle of the city, and that's when he saw it.
The gigantic, green dome of the Mana Austerum began to shine with a bright, green light.
Shang's eyes followed the light, and he noticed that a nearly invisible, green dome had appeared around Warrior's Paradise.
Over the next second, the Mana Austerum began to shine brighter and brighter until it rivaled the sun. It was like there was now a second sun in the sky.
Shang had to look away from the Mana Austerum since he felt his eyes burning.
But just before he looked away, he saw the shadow of the Storm Eagle in the distance.
In these short moments, it had already left behind the entire Storm Eagle Zone!
From one end to the other, the entire Storm Eagle Zone was probably over 200 kilometers long!
The Storm Eagle had flown the entire distance in less than 30 seconds!
"We have been lucky this time," the officer said calmly to the surrounding guards. "It didn't screech while it flew over the city."
The city was slowly calming down as the quakes subsided.
Meanwhile, Shang was shocked into disbelief.
That's right!
The Storm Eagle had merely passed by them!
It had simply flown past them, but it had created such destruction!
It hadn't attacked Warrior's Paradise!
The entire city had gathered its entire power just to prepare for the Storm Eagle to pass them!
Just by moving from point A to point B, the Storm Eagle had probably killed over a hundred Commander Stage beasts!
One of the strongest cities in the world, Warrior's Paradise, had gathered its entire force just to prepare for the Storm Eagle to pass over them!
Just by existing, the Storm Eagle changed nature.
Its Mana formed the environment.
Its wings destroyed the land.
Its movements killed beasts.
The Storm Eagle was literally a natural catastrophe!
The strongest people of the Storm Eagle Zone had covered behind the walls to protect themselves against the passive wind the Storm Eagle created by simply flapping its wings.
Shang looked back at the center of the city, and he noticed that the Mana Austerum was beginning to dim.
How?
The green light was seemingly siphoned out of the Mana Austerum as it bent towards its base.
Shang remembered that he had seen several huge boxes near the Mana Austerum in the last couple of days.
The people had told Shang that these were raw Mana Stones.
Mana Stones were stones used to store Mana. The raw ones were empty, which meant that they could be filled with Mana.
Mana Stones were used to power all kinds of Magic Circles and powerful spells.
It was very difficult to fill Mana Stones with a pure source of Mana.
However, purity was extremely important!
If there were impurities in them, the Mana Stone might damage or even destroy the Magic Circle.
After about half a minute, the green light vanished from the Mana Austerum.
At its base, huge boxes filled with Mana Stones now shone with a green light.
The Mana Austerum had created many tons of Mana Stones filled with pure Wind Mana.
"The Mana Austerum can only protect the city itself," Yiral said from behind Shang. "It is the very reason why the city still stands."
"The quakes you felt earlier came from Warrior's Paradise's base. While the Mana Austerum can protect the city, it can't protect the mountain on which the city is built."
"However, risks are often accompanied by rewards. A major part of the world's supply of Wind Mana Stones comes from this very city."
"Every six months, on the Day of Chaos, Warrior's Paradise is under a major threat. However, every six months, the city also earns a ridiculous sum of money," Yiral explained.
By now, the Storm Eagle's Shadow had vanished behind a couple of mountains, but Shang still looked toward the north.
At this moment, he understood two things.
First, he now fully understood what Warrior's Paradise was.
This was not simply a city that housed the best academy for warriors in the world.
No, this was a bastion.
A bastion for profit!
Humanity had built this gigantic city in such a dangerous location.
For what reason?
For money!
The city was under constant danger, but it was also unimaginably profitable!
This city was the very embodiment of two concepts.
Courage!
Greed!
But the second thing Shang understood went far deeper than that.
Power!
The Storm Eagle embodied true power!
It was true power!
Only now did Shang understand how insignificant Warrior's Paradise was in front of the Storm Eagle.
Shang knew that the Storm Eagle could destroy Warrior's Paradise if it wanted to, but only after seeing it today did he truly understand the unimaginable difference in power between the two.
Warrior's Paradise was as helpless as a baby in front of the Storm Eagle.
And everyone was only alive because the Storm Eagle didn't care about them.
Their survival hinged on the Storm Eagle's whim.
And there was nothing they could do about it.
In front of it, they were helpless.
This was true power.
