Chapter 33: Garuda’s Descent

The sand giant roared, venting his rage. Every time his massive arm came crashing down, a building fell with it, and the entire street was swallowed by a storm of sand.

“Th-this…”

Peter stared up at the colossal figure blotting out the sun, utterly speechless. He had never imagined Marco could possess such catastrophic power.

“Don’t just stand there! Leave this to me—go evacuate the civilians! Get everyone off this street!”

Lucas patted Peter on the back, snapping him out of his daze.

“You—can you even handle that thing?!”

Peter looked at him in disbelief, glancing at the sword strapped behind Lucas. Like Gwen, he had never actually seen Lucas fight.

“I’m definitely stronger than you. Now go! If you don’t, more people will die!”

Lucas waved him off impatiently.

“Be careful, then!”

Peter said solemnly before firing his web and swinging off, his figure darting across the streets as he helped people trapped under rubble to safety.

Gwen, whose wounds had mostly healed, gave Lucas a quick “Be careful” of her own before joining Peter in the evacuation efforts.

She didn’t question him—she believed in Lucas. If he said he had a way, then he did.

Now alone, Lucas raised his head and looked up at the towering sand giant before him.

Having seen both the movies and games in his previous life, Lucas knew Marco could take on this giant sand form. So he wasn’t exactly shocked—nor was he helpless against it.

“Tch~ I really didn’t want to use this. Do I have to turn into a woman again?”

He ground his teeth. A perfectly fine man, and now he had to transform into a woman? Lucas didn’t have any issues with gender, but if Peter and Gwen found out… he’d never live it down.


---

At the DevilMayCry Office

Skye was watching the satellite feed, her heart in her throat as she saw Lucas standing alone before the sand giant. Her arms unconsciously tightened around the Moogle in her lap.

“Kupo~~”

The little creature squeaked, and Skye quickly loosened her grip, gently patting it in apology.

“Boss… you’ve got this, right?”

She whispered to herself. For the first time, she felt a deep urge to fight beside him—but all her thoughts were fixed on Lucas.


---

Back on the battlefield, Lucas stopped hesitating. He’d promised that little girl he’d find her father—and beyond that, this was a system mission. He couldn’t turn away.

“Alright then… female form it is.”

He rolled his shoulders and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, a massive pressure burst from his body, sweeping through the street in an instant. The air twisted as violent gales rose out of nowhere.

“That’s…!”

Peter and Gwen both froze, turning toward the eye of the storm where Lucas stood. A suffocating dread clawed at their chests—a primal fear that made it hard to even breathe.

It wasn’t just them. Everyone nearby felt it too—that bone-deep terror, as if the very air could shred them apart.

“This power…”

Coulson and Natasha exchanged a horrified glance. They could see the same fear reflected in each other’s eyes.

Even Barton, perched on a rooftop, instinctively drew his bow and took aim at the figure below. His hands trembled; it was a reflex born of fear.

The gale intensified, whipping sand and debris into a massive vortex. At the center of the storm, a flicker of emerald light began to glow—like sparks igniting a wildfire—until the entire whirlwind was filled with green energy.

Then came the roar.

“ROAAAAAAR!!!”

A deafening bellow tore through the sky, followed by an explosive wave of wind. The sand giant’s colossal body suddenly looked frail—like a tiny boat caught in a hurricane, about to be flipped at any second.

The tempest surged outward, flinging wreckage in every direction.

When the wind finally subsided, a massive silhouette loomed before the fallen sand giant.

The creature’s body was enormous—perhaps even larger than Marco’s. Its entire form was covered in white and ash-gray feathers. Its feet were like talons, sharp and deadly, and behind it unfurled two pairs of gigantic wings. At each joint, the feathers ended in hooked claws that gleamed in the light.

As the wings gave a single beat, another blast of hurricane-force wind tore through the street.

It was Garuda, the Wind Eikon from Final Fantasy XVI.


---

“Mother—what the hell is that thing?!”

Inside S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, Nick Fury stared at the screen in shock. His one good eye widened as he watched Lucas transform into the monstrous Garuda. He had expected hidden power—but not this.

Just from that single storm, Fury could tell: if Lucas wanted to, he could probably level all of New York.

He realized then how gravely he had underestimated both Lucas’s value… and his danger.

A strange light flickered in Fury’s remaining eye.

The same unease spread through the entire control room. Even Coulson and the others—people who’d seen aliens, gods, and monsters—had never witnessed anything like this.

A man who could become a creature of such power… was he even human anymore?

Peter and Gwen had completely forgotten their mission. They stood frozen, staring up at Garuda, barely remembering to breathe.

At the DevilMayCry office, Skye’s hands gripped the edges of her monitor so tightly her knuckles turned white. She looked from the terrifying Garuda on-screen down to the Moogle in her arms.

“Boss… what are you, really?” she whispered, dazed.


---

“ROAR!!!”

The only one not stunned was the sand giant, Marco. Though shocked, he wasn’t afraid—after all, his own power was enough to threaten all of New York. Snarling, he swung his massive fist at Garuda.

But before it could land, Garuda’s wings gave a single flick—its form vanished. The next moment, it reappeared behind the sand giant.

With a single motion, Garuda’s talons shot forward, grabbing for the giant’s head. Marco didn’t dodge—he simply slammed his arm down in retaliation.

Boom!

Garuda’s claw ripped straight through the sand giant’s skull, scattering it into dust, while Marco’s massive hand crashed into Garuda’s chest—only to meet a wall of roaring wind.

The gale shredded the sand apart like snow in a furnace. Neither side had gained the upper hand.

Garuda leapt back, hovering midair as emerald wind blades began to form around her body.

In an instant, they shot forward—razor-sharp streaks of green light.

They sliced clean through the sand giant’s arms, then his torso—splitting him neatly in half. The blades didn’t stop there; they continued, severing two or three skyscrapers behind him straight down the middle.

Rumble—!!

The massive buildings toppled like dominoes, collapsing into heaps of rubble as the sand giant disintegrated into a pile of dust.

“ROAAAAR!!!”

Garuda let out a triumphant roar that shook the heavens, a primal declaration of dominance.

In that moment, Lucas could feel his consciousness slipping—overwhelmed by the raw, feral instincts of the beast.

The thrill of battle and the call of bloodlust coursed through him. He could feel his heart pounding, his soul burning—

He was no longer just fighting.

He was becoming.