The three women of Mirean hurried through the night, their cloaks snapping in the cold wind as they made their way back across the rough, stony expanse. When they finally reached the broad shell of the Rock Tortoise, they saw Luciel standing tall on the creature's wall-like back, with Mino and Agni Moon beside him, the three of them illuminated faintly by the distant lights of the Tenth-Floor City.

"Thanks," Luciel said warmly, his voice steady but low.

Elara blinked her silver eyes in confusion. "Thanks? For what?" She glanced around, frowning. "And where is it? I don't see anything."

Luciel's lips curved into a small, knowing smile. "You'll see soon enough. Just stand behind me." He gestured calmly, as though this were something routine rather than something that could shake an entire city.

The women obeyed, stepping back and gripping the battlements that jutted from the tortoise's armored shell. They knew that tone of Luciel's—measured, commanding, but carrying the weight of something he wasn't saying aloud.

Luciel took a deep breath and warned, "Hold on tight. The ground may not like what's coming."

"Understood," Mirean replied crisply, her long hair whipping about her face as she braced herself. The others nodded, following her lead.

Luciel turned his gaze toward the distant city. Its towers and bridges gleamed faintly under the moonlight, quiet and unsuspecting. He exhaled, then spoke softly in his mind.

System, evolve the Rock Tortoise to level seven.

A cold, mechanical voice answered within him:

> "Ding! Evolving from level six to level seven will cost one million evolution points."

"Ding! Evolution successful."

"Ding! The Rock Tortoise offers you the talent: Earth and Rock Control – Twentyfold Weight. Do you wish to inherit this ability?"

Luciel's response was silent but sure. Inherit.

> "Ding! Talent 'Earth and Rock Control– Twentyfold Weight' is adapting and merging with host physiology."

Then came the pain.

It struck him like fire through the veins, the tearing and rebuilding of flesh, the deep cracking of bone. His body shuddered as his muscles tightened, fibers straining as though forged anew beneath his skin. His joints popped audibly—a rapid succession of hard, rhythmic cracks that echoed across the shell.

Mirean's expression changed instantly. "He's evolving again," she murmured, voice sharp with alarm.

The sound from Luciel's body intensified—an unnerving, metallic rhythm that made the air itself feel heavy. The others could feel it pressing against them, a suffocating pulse of growing power.

"Everyone, behind me!" Mirean ordered, stepping forward. Her aura flared like a curtain of shimmering light, forming a protective barrier to shield them from Luciel's increasing energy.

And then the world shook.

The Rock Tortoise roared—a long, guttural cry that rolled through the night like thunder. The entire shell trembled as cracks of golden light flared along its armored plates. Its body expanded, stone and scale groaning as they grew. Massive ridges of rock formed anew, and its shell widened, deepened, hardened. The tremors rippled outward in waves, rattling the ground far below.

Rumbling filled the night.

Down in the Tenth-Floor City, the tremors sent people staggering from their beds. Windows rattled, and hanging lamps swayed.

"What's happening?" Taigen shouted, gripping the edge of a window frame for balance. His heart raced as the walls shivered around him. He peered outside and felt his blood run cold. The streets themselves were moving—cracking, shifting, expanding.

"The ground is… growing?" he whispered.

Across from his house, the Variety Witch burst from her room, eyes wide. "What in the blazes is that sound?"

Taigen pointed frantically toward the darkened street. "The ground—look at it!"

She leaned beside him and saw the impossible sight herself. The entire street was stretching outward, the stones splitting apart as if pushed by some massive, unseen force. The city seemed to be sinking away from them—buildings shrinking, lights flickering like dying candles.

Her face went pale. "We have to get out of here—now!"

Before she could say another word, a deep, rasping breath came from below. Out of the darkness slithered an enormous, three-colored lizard—eight meters from snout to tail, its scales gleaming in red, blue, and black hues. It stopped in front of their house, head tilted, its eyes glowing faintly gold.

Taigen's words caught in his throat. He stared, speechless, as the beast's tongue flicked lazily through the air.

The Variety Witch's face twisted. "Oh, come on. You're telling me he sent one of those to babysit me again?"

The lizard's head turned sharply toward her at the sound of her voice, its gaze narrowing. She froze instantly, forcing a shaky smile. "Good evening, mighty lizard. Lovely night, isn't it?"

After a tense moment, the creature turned away, uninterested. She exhaled in relief and tried to recover her dignity, ignoring the amused stares of the other captives in the room.

"What are you looking at?" she snapped, tossing her hair. "I'm just… pragmatic. You can't fight everything head-on."

"Of course," one of the prisoners muttered dryly. "So noble of you."

Meanwhile, atop the now-massive shell, the shaking began to subside. Inside Luciel's temporary command hall—one of the stone houses built onto the tortoise's back—the smaller black tortoise spirit that stabilized the creature hummed with energy, anchoring it against the convulsions. Still, the transformation had been violent enough that all of Tenth-Floor City could see it.

And what they saw left them speechless.

The Rock Tortoise—once enormous—was now colossal. Its body stretched over twelve hundred meters in length, eight hundred in width, and rose more than five hundred meters high. It was less an animal and more a mountain that had chosen to move. Its dark shell gleamed like wet stone, layered with jagged ridges and glowing runes. The tortoise let out a second bellow, shaking dust from the distant rooftops.

In the city, panic erupted.

"What in the gods' names—" Waldo, the city's acting lord, staggered backward as he looked out from his tower window. "It's grown again? That thing—how—"

He had heard rumors of this creature before: an ancient beast from a forgotten age. But this—this was beyond comprehension. He could feel its presence pressing against his chest even from miles away.

"Gather the others," he barked, though his voice wavered. "We need to—"

"Lord Waldo," one of his aides interrupted, eyes wide with terror, "if that thing takes one step toward us, the city will be crushed!"

Waldo hesitated, sweat beading his forehead. His thoughts raced. Could this be divine punishment? Retribution for his dealings with that mysterious thief? He remembered the guards' warnings—the whisper that the Black Tortoise's wrath would come.

Maybe it had.

"Pack the essentials," he said at last, voice trembling. "We're leaving through the eastern gate."

The aide nodded in relief and sprinted off to gather the others.

Elsewhere, in the estate of Liyi Yi, panic had already taken root.

"Is this… is this the disturbance the dark guard warned about?" Carson asked, voice shaking as the tremors rattled the walls. "This is more than a disturbance—it's an earthquake!"

Liyi Yi stood still for a long moment, her pale face illuminated by the flickering lamplight. Then, with calm that surprised even her retainers, she said, "Enough gawking. We move now. Take everything we prepared and head toward Amestris City."

"Yes, my lady!" The servants scrambled to obey.

As she gathered her cloak and travel bag, Liyi Yi paused at the door and turned back to the window. The titanic shape of the Rock Tortoise loomed in the distance like a moving mountain. Its roar rolled over the plains like thunder. Her lips curved into a faint, rueful smile.

"So this is what you meant by a 'small diversion,' Luciel," she whispered. "You really do overdo things."

Then she turned and vanished into the night with her people, joining the long trail of refugees fleeing the city.

---

On the tortoise's back, Luciel exhaled deeply. His body still ached from the transformation, but his eyes were sharp as he looked toward the chaos below. From up here, the Tenth-Floor City looked like a disturbed anthill—tiny lights flickering, people scattering in panic.

He turned to the women behind him, his expression almost sheepish. "I'd say the distraction worked," he murmured. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Elara blinked at him, still pale from the experience. "Worked? Luciel, you terrified everyone. They're running like the world's ending!"

Mirean, ever composed, brushed her hair behind her ear and nodded. "Still," she said softly, "your plan succeeded. Liyi Yi and her people will get out safely."

Luciel nodded, though a faint shadow crossed his face. "Good. That's what matters."

He turned his gaze back to the city, watching as the lights dwindled. He had only meant to draw attention, to cause a bit of chaos. He hadn't expected this—a mass exodus, an entire city brought to its knees. The scale of the Rock Tortoise's evolution was beyond anything he had imagined.

"Luciel," Agni Moon said quietly, steadying herself on the wall. "Look—the city looks so small now."

She was right. From their height, the Tenth-Floor City looked like a model—a toy town beneath the towering form of the tortoise. The people below scurried like insects, their cries lost in the distance.

Mino's voice trembled slightly. "Should we leave? If they realize what caused this—"

Luciel nodded. "Yes. It's time."

He looked down at the sacks of beast crystals they had gathered—enough to fund a small army, enough to make enemies of many. "We've taken what we came for," he said. "No point staying. The night will cover our retreat."

He reached out with his mind. Black Tortoise, move.

The titanic creature rumbled in response. The glowing runes across its shell flared softly as Luciel triggered the talent he'd just inherited.

Diyan: Twentyfold Weight—activate.

With a low, resonant growl, the tortoise's immense body seemed to grow lighter, as if gravity itself bent around it. Its steps, though ponderous, no longer sent devastating shockwaves across the earth. Each movement was deliberate, silent, restrained.

As the creature turned away from the terrified city, Agni Moon sighed wistfully. "And here I thought I might get a chance to explore that city."

Luciel smiled faintly. "Next time, I promise. The next city we find, you can shop as much as you like."

"Really?" She brightened a little, though suspicion lingered in her crimson eyes. "You won't scare everyone away this time?"

Luciel hesitated. "Probably not," he said, though his tone carried more hope than certainty.

The others laughed softly, the tension finally easing as the massive tortoise began to move, its shell glowing faintly in the moonlight. Behind them, the Tenth-Floor City continued to shrink into the darkness—its people still fleeing, its towers trembling in fear of the giant that walked away.

Alina, still pale, leaned on the railing and whispered, half to herself, "How are they so calm about this? How do they ever get used to him?"

None of them answered. The night wind swallowed her words as the Rock Tortoise carried them onward, leaving the chaos behind.

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