A towering monstrosity nearly one kilometer tall, its entire body encased in armor-like purple carapace, gazed upward with its six arms hanging menacingly.

Whoosh—

Even at such an imposing height, it had to crane its head to look upon the colossal tree that loomed above, dominating the heavens.

A tree so vast it inspired reverence, now burning fiercely with an abyssal black flame. Its branches and trunk, smeared with viscous fluids and sticky flesh, had become a cradle for the monsters.

Countless blue portals, glowing faintly in the distance, formed a ring around the enormous tree like a perimeter fence. …