Chapter 299: Surviving the Apocalyptic Event

Solomon sprinted past the towering city gates, his boots hitting the soft, shifting desert sand. He desperately hoped he could maintain his speed and outrun the apocalyptic sandstorm roaring behind them.

However, the treacherous terrain immediately worked against him. He couldn’t run properly. With every heavy step, his boots sank deeper and deeper into the loose powder, completely killing his forward momentum. He couldn’t jump to clear the dunes, as the sand offered absolutely zero solid purchase for a launch. His sprinting speed rapidly deteriorated into a struggling slog.

The harder he tried to push his muscles, the deeper he sank, making it exponentially harder to move.

The maid girl, still tucked securely under his arm, looked past Solomon’s shoulder. She watched in horror as the massive wall of churning sand slammed into the ancient city. The stone buildings, the pristine dining hall, and the grand temple were instantly pulverized, erased from existence as the dungeon began to violently collapse in on itself.

She looked back up at Solomon. His jaw was clenched, his silver eyes fixed with absolute, stubborn determination on the distant blue exit portal, despite his agonizingly slow progress through the dunes.

"You need to leave me here!" the maid girl shouted over the deafening roar of the approaching storm. "You will not be able to make it to the portal while carrying my extra weight! You are going to get swallowed by the sandstorm and killed because of me! Drop me! Drop me!"

Solomon gritted his teeth and didn’t say a single word in response. He just kept trudging forward, dragging his boots through the powder.

"Drop me!" she repeated frantically, struggling against his grip.

The sandstorm closed the distance with terrifying speed. The sky turned pitch black as the churning wall of debris loomed directly over them. It was close enough now that outrunning it on foot was mathematically impossible.

It was too late.

Solomon looked down at her, his expression completely unwavering. "You are my reward. And I never leave my hard-earned rewards behind."

A split second later, the massive sandstorm violently engulfed them both.

Solomon pushed through the blinding, abrasive darkness. The high-velocity sand acted like millions of tiny razors, slicing through his clothes and tearing at his skin. He struggled to even take a single step forward against the crushing wind pressure, his body continuously getting shredded and instantly healed by his eden heart.

The maid girl watched him endure the agonizing torture just to keep moving forward. She completely failed to comprehend why a human would willingly suffer like this for a broken, forgotten tool.

Although it was true that he might not have outrun the storm even if he had abandoned her, dropping her would have at least given him a slight, desperate chance of reaching the exit.

Refusing to let him die for her, the maid girl twisted her body and forcefully wiggled out of his exhausted grip. She dropped onto the shifting sand.

Instead of running away, she turned around to face the roaring sandstorm. She ducked down, scooped Solomon entirely off his feet, and threw him over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

Then, she began to run.

It was immediately obvious that she possessed a mysterious, terrifying level of physical strength. She sprinted across the desert effortlessly, her sandals gliding over the loose powder without sinking a single inch. The abrasive sand and the crushing wind pressure didn’t seem to affect her momentum at all.

She ran even faster than Solomon’s previous giant form.

Reaching the edge of the valley, she didn’t bother climbing. She bounded off the desert floor, launching herself high into the air. She jumped from the peak of one crumbling sandstone mountain to the next, clearing massive canyons in single bounds until she finally landed squarely on the high plateau where the swirling blue exit portal waited.

Far, far away, standing completely still within the heart of the apocalyptic sandstorm, a colossal figure watched their escape.

It was the temple slave, fully transformed into his gargantuan giant state. He leaned heavily on the serrated spear. It was the exact same weapon Solomon had chosen from the armory to fight the sandworm, and he was using it like a walking cane.

The giant looked at the fleeing pair and smiled warmly. His gaze lingered affectionately on the small maid girl carrying the silver-haired boy to safety.

The temple slave recalled the very first time he had laid eyes on her. She had been sent to the city as a sacrificial slave bride thousands of years ago, permanently bound to the sanctuary by ancient, cruel magic. For centuries, she had been trapped in an endless cycle of servitude, forced to wait in the dark for champions who rarely survived.

Now, she was finally free. And the one who had stubbornly refused to leave without her, the one who had shattered her eternal curse, was Solomon.

The temple slave reached up with his free hand and pulled the colossal, gilded crown from the sky. He looked down at the glowing divine gemstone, then shifted his gaze back to Solomon’s retreating figure.

"He has successfully passed the true trial and reached the ending," the temple slave announced, his booming voice vibrating through the storm as he spoke directly to the ancient artifact. "This crown now rightfully belongs to him."

He held the crown higher. "Solomon shall now possess the true power of the giants. And when the destined time finally comes, he is the one who will succeed me. He shall become the next King of the Giants. I, Titan, declare Solomon as one of the Giants."

The moment the decree was spoken, the gilded crown began to glow with a blinding, ethereal light. The gold and the divine gemstone slowly dissolved, turning into fine, shimmering sand that scattered into the howling wind, drifting away to find its new master.

Meanwhile, back on the plateau, the maid girl dropped Solomon onto the solid bedrock. She quickly checked his body for injuries. His were shredded and heavily stained with blood, but his skin was completely flawless, having already healed from the sandstorm.

Solomon managed to stand up straight. He looked back at the apocalyptic wall of sand rapidly consuming the final mountain peaks, racing directly toward their position.

Solomon turned to the maid girl, grabbed her hand firmly, and pulled her along with him as they dove straight through the swirling blue vortex.

They stumbled out of the portal, landing on the paved asphalt of the military barricade back in the real world.

A few seconds later, the glowing blue rift behind them sparked violently, collapsed in on itself, and vanished from the alleyway completely, leaving no trace of the S-rank dungeon behind.