“This just in, police officers in City C are asking people to be on the lookout for a woman who robbed a store. I think… Yes, we do have a photo description of the suspect. Yes, this is the individual. She has a more rounded face, wears glasses, with short hair it seems…”

The broadcaster continued to list off the traits of a local suspected individual across a multitude of televisions, smartphones, and radios in City C. Anyone and everyone who bothered to tune into the news at this time now knew the exact description and build of their apparent criminal; which can largely be owed to the remarkably detailed police sketch that was currently being displayed. A few citizens who caught the broadcast decided to keep on the lookout for this criminal; while the vast majority of viewers brushed off the broadcast and carried on with their day. However, there was one, single viewer throughout the entirety of City C that looked on in anguish as the news publicized the suspect’s face.

Of course, this viewer happened to be the suspect herself.

Damn it! It was never meant to get to this point! She was never supposed to get caught! But even still, she had only stolen extremely trivial products. Was all of this crap necessary?!

Cupping her head in her left hand, the young woman leaned forward from the couch she was sitting on and reached for the table in front of her. Grabbing the nearby remote with her free arm, she raised the device and muted her television. She already witnessed her appearance being aired on the news, she didn’t need to hear anymore about it.

The image that was being broadcast throughout the city was that of Naomi Chen, a young woman of 23 years of age. She was of Eastern ancestry—though she was born and raised in City C. Even so, her appearance certainly reflected her lineage. Her thin eyes were cat-like, and were of a deep, dark brown. They were situated on a face that was rather round—however, it showed few signs of fat, this round shape instead being the result of natural genetics. Her skin tone was that of a light, cooled Frappuccino, contrasting with her dark brown hair, the shade of dark chocolate. This hair was fashioned into a bowl cut that was characteristic of many boys and young men in the East. Her hair’s bangs fell down to just right above her eyebrows. To top it all off, she wore a pair of white, translucent circular glasses.

Even though it was nearly 2:00 PM… Naomi was currently wearing clothes that were more suited for lounging around the house at nighttime. She was wearing a basic white t-shirt, but it was completely obscured by a large grey hoodie. The hoodie was unremarkable, with no design or logo to speak of. For legwear, she was wearing loose black sweatpants, which gave way to grey crocs. Both this hoodie and these sweatpants largely hid her small frame. Indeed, Naomi was a mere 5’3”. In correspondence with this, she was rather skinny, with almost no curves to speak of. This meant that she was unexpectedly pretty fast on her toes…

Which undoubtedly helped her during her impromptu shopping spree.

Naomi rose up her remote in order to turn off the television for good, leaving only a dim overhead light and the sun that barely peeped through her closed blinds to illuminate her small apartment room. This common room was one of three rooms in her current living space, the others being an even smaller bedroom and an accompanying bathroom. Indeed, with minimal furniture, dim lighting, and subpar plumbing in each of these areas, it was plain to see that Naomi wasn’t well off at all. When her parents moved to the Republic Cities from overseas almost three decades ago, they worked their hardest to support themselves and their newborn daughter. However, in recent years, well-paying jobs had suddenly become difficult to come by for immigrants, and living in City C wasn’t cheap. As a result, Naomi’s parents had resolved to move out back east, where they could better support themselves. Of course, this left it up to Naomi to support herself here in the Republic Cities, and to hopefully make enough money so that her family may live with her again.

However, it was no easier for her to hold down a job than it was for her parents. In the two years that they’ve been gone, Naomi’s moved between almost a dozen jobs, all of which paid just barely enough for her to get by. And of course, she was let go from her most recent job just three weeks ago. Due to having to pay overpriced rent for her undersized apartment, Naomi started to run low on food and essential resources… which led her to go on her recent bout of theft.

Naomi withdrew her head from her hands, and looked over her shoulder at her nearby kitchen counter. There, sitting on top of the marble surface was a box of cereal. Additionally, in her fridge resided a jug of milk, and in her apartment’s small bathroom were a bag of toilet rolls and individual rolls of paper towels. Finally, within her pantry were four small packs of instant ramen.

Instant ramen was her favorite.

These were all of the items that Naomi stole from her local dollar store just a day ago. Were these menial products really worth all of this commotion? Couldn’t these people see that someone would only steal these items if they were on the verge of going hungry and were in desperate need of sanitation products? After all, before she ate some of her stolen goods last night… she hadn’t eaten for an entire day.

With a defeated sigh, Naomi turned back around to stare at her front door, connecting her apartment’s dim living room to the outside world. Right now, the fledgling thief had no time to reflect on just how unfair this entire situation was. The fact of the matter was that her multiple neighbors and her landlord knew her face well; despite her unfortunate living conditions, it’s not like she was an antisocial shut-in or anything like that. She thoroughly enjoyed the company of her neighbors, and she liked to believe that they enjoyed her as well. She hated the thought of them seeing her as some petty thief, and hated the idea of them willingly turning her in even more. But after this city-wide broadcast, she was expecting a knock at her door any minute now.

Knock knock knock.

And there it was. Dragging her hands across her face in exasperation, Naomi sat up from her couch and made her way over to her door. She walked extremely quietly, verging on tip-toeing as she pondered her next course of action. If it were one of her more rational neighbors, then surely she’d be able to convince them to see it her way, right? Or hey, maybe even one of her more socially progressive neighbors. She could frame this all as sticking it to the man, right?

However, just as Naomi was about to press her eye against her door’s peephole, she heard an extremely loud noise from outside. What the hell?! It sounded as if a nuke had gone off—or, at least, that’s what they sounded like in the movies and TV shows she’s seen. Snapping her head away from her door, Naomi looked upwards with a baffled expression. In her mind, was attempting to work out what could have possibly created that noise. But after a few seconds, she started to pick up screams and the sound of car horns from outside.

That was all of the information she needed. She lunged for her door, unlocked it, and twisted open the knob. Swinging open the door, she motioned with her free hand to usher her guest in.

“Come on! Quick!” Naomi shouted at the woman who was standing outside of her apartment. It was Alexis Jones, one of this apartment complex’s residents that Naomi spoke to the most. She was a Caucasian woman with rather tanned skin, with red hair that was styled into a ponytail. She was quite a bit taller than Naomi, standing at a healthy 5’7”. She had an athletic build and was currently wearing sporty clothing. Indeed, she and Naomi had bonded over going on the occasional jog with each other—that, and the fact that they were rather close in age.

“W-what in the world was that?!” Alexis said as she quickly pressed herself against the nearby wall, holding on for support.

“No fuckin’ idea,” Naomi replied in a considerably deeper voice than Alexis’. Naomi bent down against a wall as she braced herself for an expected earthquake… but nothing came. After about ten seconds, both of the women lifted themselves off of their respective walls as they stood upright. They could still hear the sound of cars and frantic screaming outside, but at least they seemed to be safe from physical harm. That loud noise must’ve just freaked people out.

Naomi wanted to check for herself, though. Her apartment’s blinds have been closed ever since yesterday, but she figured that now was a pretty good time to peek through them and see what was going on outside. As she started to make her away across her living room area, Alexis called out to her.

“…That was like, crazy, right?” The redhead spoke in a shaky voice. “I’ve, uh, never been in an earthquake before…” As Alexis continued to talk, Naomi sensed that something was off. She never spoke this nervously. Of course, one could attribute this to the recent loud bang, but Naomi doubted that something like that would shake her too much. Was something else troubling her? Or… was there a hidden intent behind that tone?

“Yeah, it was.” Naomi replied as she neared her blinds.

“But… hey, it’s over now, right? So, uhh… I came over because I have something to ask you.”

Of course, there it was. “Yeah?” Naomi paused as she reached her window and placed her hand on the blinds, hesitating to look outside before she got Alexis’ concerns out of the way.

“So, uh… do you watch the news?” Alexis asked.

“Yeah.”

“Were you… just watching it?”

“Yeah.”

“So, uh… was that sketch you?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you… actually rob a store?”

“Yeah.”

“…W-Why?!” Suddenly, Alexis’ voice became louder and more confident—its usual state. “You just can’t steal from wherever you like!” Alexis glared at her friend with a miffed expression.

“Because,” Naomi cut off. Even when Alexis wasn’t speaking in her meek tone, Naomi’s voice was still much deeper. “I’m poor and I’m starving.”

“I—…Huh?” Alexis’ tone suddenly became far less accusatory, and her expression became more bewildered than upset.

“Have you not realized how high rent is in this dump?” Naomi finally turned away from her window to face Alexis. “I didn’t have any food so I hadn’t eaten for a day straight. Are your parents rich or something? Do they pay your rent, or buy your food?”

That did the trick. Alexis immediately dropped the accusatory act, taking on a sheepish expression and untensing her muscles. She was now speaking to her good friend, rather than a wanted criminal. “I—I had no idea! I’m so sorry! Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I’m sure me and the girls could have helped you out.” Alexis went on as she walked towards her friend with clasped hands, genuine care in her eyes.

“Yeah, no, I’m good now.” Naomi replied as she held up her hand to her neighbor as she approached. That was definitely a lie—Naomi would take all of the help she could get. But she was prideful, and wasn’t about to beg for it.

“No, really, I’m serious! Everyone here can pitch in! Give you some food to eat, help pay some of your rent. We can even start a GoFundMe, or something like that. Everyone here loves you.” Alexis gradually became more and more excited as she walked over across the living room over to Naomi. “You’ve been too good to me for me to not give back. I want to.”

Naomi looked at Alexis, and hesitated to speak for a moment. Right when she was about to speak…

Another extremely loud sound came from outside. There was no doubt about it this time—this was undeniably some sort of explosion. But this one was far louder than the last. Additionally, the sounds of pandemonium outside intensified, with car alarms going off this time. Naomi could tell that whatever the explosion’s source was, it had gotten closer—this was due not only to the louder noise it made, but also because Naomi could now feel vibrations shoot through the ground.

Naomi’s apartment room happened to lie on the second floor of the complex. This caused Naomi and Alexis to exchange wordless glances with each other, and to promptly bolt for the door.

However, just as they reached the door after a couple of seconds, a third explosion rang out. Only this time, the subsequent explosion knocked the two young women off of their feet.

Both Naomi and Alexis were knocked down to their rear as the ground shuddered underneath them. The single overhead light flickered on and off until it eventually shut off for good, leaving the duo in a barely illuminated room. Even worse, dust fell down from the ceiling, coating the top of Naomi’s head and shoulders with debris. As she looked around, she saw that the dust fell upon numerous other places in her room as well—including on top of her couch and television.

She was no doubt going to be forced to pay for these damages, too. Great.

Once the rumbling was over, Naomi and Alexis remained down on the ground for a few seconds. Realizing the coast was clear, the two women started to inch closer to the door, remaining close to the ground in case a brand new quake shot through their floor. Luckily, they finally reached the door, opened it, and bolted down the stairs into the apartment’s courtyard. The courtyard was a wide, open space about thirty feet wide and fifty feet long, allowing for a view of the sky.

However, when the women got outside, they found that pandemonium had broken loose in the courtyard. It seemed that many of the cries that Naomi heard from within her apartment came from here. Some people were running for their lives to the nearby exits, while others were hunched over the ground—either out of safety or defeatism. However, about half of the many people in the courtyard were looking up at the sky above them, leading Naomi and Alexis to follow suit.

As Naomi looked above her, she took a moment to brush some of the leftover dust from out of her eyes. Surely that was causing her to incorrectly interpret what was currently in the sky. But when she looked back up, she saw the exact same thing. She rubbed her eyes again. And again. And again. And again. But whenever she looked back up, she was greeted with the same sight.

Somehow, for some reason, she was looking through the wispy clouds at a massive black pillar, emerging from the horizon.

…

The Republic Cities were a state of 25 municipalities, titled from A to Y. Almost every city was about 134 square miles in size, with about 5 miles of empty, uninhabited land between each of them. The 25 cities were arranged in a neat, 5-by-5 grid. The rows in this grid are as follows:

Cities A, B, C, D, and E in Row 1

Cities F, G, H, I, and J in Row 2

Cities K, L, M, N, and O in Row 3

Cities P, Q, R, S, and T in Row 4

Cities U, V, W, X, and Y in Row 5

Cities A, F, K, P, and U were all suited next to the western coast of the Republic Cities, where they each faced a massive ocean. However, of all of the 25 cities, it was City C that differed the most from its contemporaries. Rather than being about 134 square miles, it took up an area of 60 square miles; less than half of the usual size. This was a result of various political and economic factors; as was the poverty that ran rampant through the city, impacting none other than Naomi Chen. This also meant that there was a greater distance between this city and the neighboring metropolises of City B and D. Additionally, Naomi lived near the very center of City C, furthering herself from the surrounding cities even more.

However, even she could see and feel what was occurring at the furthermost limits of City A.

…

Of course, the inhabitants of the west coast of City A noticed what was going on before anyone else did—though it was mere minutes before the rest of the republic was informed. A couple of miles out at sea, beachgoers and men who made their living off of the ocean saw what seemed to be a boiling patch of water. This bubbling patch seemed to be about 5 miles large in either direction—however, the patch soon became an afterthought. The seemingly boiling water gave way to a massive pillar of black. Due to its sheer size, a mere pillar was all that the onlooking humans could comprehend it as. It was of the same area as the boiling patch, but it rose about 25,000 feet into the air, putting it at 4.7 miles in height.

Needless to say, this was by far the largest thing anyone in City A had ever seen. It could be seen by almost all of the denizens of the metropolis now, as it rose easily a hundred of times higher than the average skyscraper. It dwarfed the absolute tallest tower in the city, which stood at a “measly” 2,974 feet tall, less than a fifth of the pillar’s height. Indeed, this pitch-black mass was larger than any structure, animal, or natural formation that the world has ever seen.

Some people attempted to discern what exactly the black pillar was made out of. Many of these citizens could see that the pillar was sleek, and seemed to be composed of individual strands… as if it were a strip of cloth or yarn. However, the entire world received their answer as the massive pillar suddenly rotated.

The left side of the pillar gave way to a pale white surface that was comparatively more smooth than the black portion. However, it was on the paler section that the denizens of City A finally saw features that were recognizable to their human minds.

The pale portion of the pillar seemed to be shaped like the profile of a face, with a forehead, nose, lips, and chin being visible on its left side. An eye was situated towards the side of the “pillar,” facing left along with the rest of what was clearly a face. This meant that the sleek, black portion of the pillar was actually a long mop of straightened hair.

There were just two problems: If this pillar was indeed a human head, it meant that just this head was almost 5 miles tall.

The other problem was that the one eye that the citizens of City A could see seemed to be narrowed, and the brow above it was furrowed. This gave off the impersonation that this massive head was for some reason, not happy.

Before City A could fully grapple with this fact, the formation that people were still struggling to comprehend as a human head fully turned around to face the coast, bringing its full visage into view. However, just a second after it turned around, it shot upwards at incomprehensible speed.

In just a mere five seconds, the head rose up 26 miles into the air. It was at this point that the massive figure completely blocked out the midday sun, shrouding Cities A, B, and C in darkness. However, even in this darkness, the citizens on ground could see that the massive head was attached to an equally huge body, which was rising out of the sea.

Though it would be logical to conclude that this enormous being was not truly human—or that it wasn’t even a living being—all signs pointed to it being of a living species that was remarkably similar to mankind. Everything appeared human-like about this figure, except for its immense stature. Now that the citizens of the Republic Cities could get an almost full look at it, they could see that this enormous “human” seemed to be a woman. It was a woman who would undeniably be considered to be Eastern if she were human. Her skin was rather pale, with only the slightest hint of brown within it. This pale skin contrasted with her black, almond-shaped eyes, which were sharp and narrow. This sharpness was only matched by her well-defined yet feminine jawline. Her jet-black hair was combed back in the front, exposing her forehead. This straight hair was pushed back behind her ears, and fell down to her waist. Indeed appeared to be young—perhaps in her upper twenties—but her appearance gave off an air of coolness and maturity

In correspondence with her mature hairstyle and her business-like face, the humans on ground saw that she was wearing a black suit, complete with black slacks. Her choice of footwear was out of view, though, as the ocean’s waters rose up to up her knees, meaning that she hadn’t even reached her full height.

If one looked up at the massive woman’s face, then they would have seen that she was still glaring down at the land with what could only be considered to be scornful, disdainful eyes.

However, no one in City A was looking up at her face. When such a large figure makes such a quick motion while in water… the resulting waves are going to be proportionally large.

To the massive woman, the largest resulting wave of her emergence from the sea was only an inch tall. However, in actuality, it was just over 3,000 feet tall, dwarfing every single structure in City A, and immediately breaking records as the largest tidal wave that the world has ever seen.

Of course, this largest recorded tidal wave was now headed towards the coast of City A.

All hell broke loose on the heavily crowded beaches of the coastal city as the veritable tsunami rushed towards them, with no signs of stopping or decreasing in size. Beachgoers immediately picked themselves off of the sand or their chairs, and all bolted away from the coast. It was one of the worst human stampedes seen in human history, though it was just the first of many. About 5,000 people pushed, knocked down, and trampled over each other as they tried to escape the quickly approaching wall behind them. There were adults who knocked children less than half of their age to the ground, just so that they may save themselves. There were mothers and fathers who were focused on protecting their own, shepherding their kids with minimal regard for those around them. But there were also individuals in the stampede who stopped and stooped down in order to help those unfortunate people who fell down to the ground, with no hope of picking themselves up on their own amidst the cage of legs surrounding them. However, as these more inconsiderate people looked down at the ground… they saw that some bodies were already laying motionless. A dozen people were killed via trampling, or or by unluckily falling directly onto beach equipment and toys that had been left behind. Indeed, the best and worst of humanity were on full display during this stampede.

However, it was those who were already in the water when the tsunami erupted that died first as a direct result of the wave. From surfers, recreational swimmers, divers, boat sailors, to those who were just lounging out in the ocean; there was no hope for these individuals to get back to land before the wave connected. Within a minute, all of these people were slapped by a solid wall of water that killed those out in the open instantly. Swimmers and divers alike had no defense against the immense force of the crashing wave. It was citizens that were inside of boats and yachts at the time of the disaster that survived for just a moment longer. That is, until these vessels collapsed in on themselves, killing their residents with stray wooden planks or twisted metal piping.

If the denizens on land thought themselves lucky compared to their waterfaring counterparts, or if they believed that they could actually outrun the tsunami, then they were sorely mistaken. Only thirty seconds after every citizen in the water was killed, the wave crashed down onto solid land.

The sandy beach extended 200 feet from the coast, and was almost a mile wide. Of course, these dimensions were utterly dwarfed by the tidal wave, which not only stood 3,000 feet tall, but extended to a full length of 10 miles across. As it loomed over the pitiful beach… some citizens stopped running and simply stared up at the sky.

When it crashed down, every single person on the beach was killed from the force of millions of gallons of water landing on top of them. Plants were uprooted, beach houses and other buildings were immediately ripped apart, and the beach itself dramatically decreased in size. Indeed, as the water washed across the land, it swept up copious amounts of sand with it and pulled it back out to sea, forever changing the landscape of the tourist attraction.

However, the impact of the tsunami didn’t stop at just the beach. Due to its immense size, the wave clipped about 2,500 feet of the metropolitan area of City A, which resided just past the beach. The wave that was taller than any skyscraper in sight fell down upon the bustling citizens that largely thought that they were safe from the tsunami. Homes and towering buildings were ripped to shreds, crumbling down as if they were made of papier-mâché. Of course, every citizen within the wave’s range was annihilated instantly as well.

From beachgoers to the city's urban denizens, about 300,000 people were killed by this tidal wave. A tidal wave that was created from a source that was miles away from solid land.

After the tsunami finally dissipated, a wide expanse of empty land measuring 10 miles across and over 3,000 feet long was left. There was nothing in this barren wasteland that rose up above 10 feet—everything had been leveled by an immense degree, and was now floating along the water. Nothing living remained—only debris over a layer of water measuring hundreds of feet high.

This wasn’t an intentional move by the looming titan, but it did give her a place to stand on solid ground.

After the destruction on land had ceased, the remaining citizens of City A saw the giantess begin to shift. It took a moment for them to register what a large body could have possibly been doing, but they all soon realized:

She was lifting up her leg.

Almost half of the districts of the Republic Cities could see the woman’s bare foot as she placed it in front of her, with unspeakable amounts of water cascading off of it. She didn’t lift it any higher than the halfway point of her shin—indeed, it seemed as if she was taking a simple walking stride. And yet, this foot that was barely elevated from her point of view was actually about 5 miles above ground level, giving those on earth a view of its underside. The foot was just about the same pale, Frappuccino tone as the rest of her body; if not a little paler at the sole. If she were normal sized, the foot may have been considered petite, with none of her toes being longer than average. Right now, her sole seemed to be completely unblemished, with the sea water seemingly keeping it clean. Everyone on the ground had a view of smooth rolls of her foot’s underside.

However, a far more pressing matter than the appearance of this woman’s foot was the speed at which it moved.

As the woman’s foot continued to move towards the Republic Cities’ mainland, it became clear that the distance between her current position and solid land wasn’t even half of her normal walking stride. As such, she had to intentionally halt her step so that her heel landed on the coastline, where the ocean and land met. She did this so that she would be standing in the area that she had already destroyed.

However, her single foot was over 5 miles long, easily eclipsing the area of destruction that spanned 3,000 feet from the ocean.

This meant that her foot clipped about 4½ miles into City A.

As opposed to those on the beach, there was no opportunity for most of those in the city to run away from their impending threat. Due to being caught inside of buildings, traffic, and the swarming crowds of a prosperous city, many citizens in City A could only look up as the heaviest single object recorded in human history descended upon their home.

One of the disasters that swept across the land as a result of the giantess’s single step was the massive amount of air that was displaced as her foot fell. Unfathomable volumes of air ripped across the city once the pale surface touched down onto the ground, tearing apart massive skyscrapers and launching their debris into the wind as if a nuke went off. Buildings weren’t the only objects ripped up from the earth—trees, shrubbery, and structures bolted into the ground such as street lights and traffic signs were all sent hundreds of feet into the air. Even the average car weighing in at two tons couldn’t resist the force of this single step, being ripped apart and blending in with the shrapnel of the destroyed buildings along with their drivers. However, the biggest victims of this displaced air were the people currently in the city. Human bodies inside of the buildings were mangled as the structures were torn apart, being pelted and crushed by pieces of furniture and solid debris. Those out in the open had it even worse, though. In a miles-long radius around the woman’s foot, people out on the streets, parks, and suburban areas were killed in the air, or the second they landed back on the ground…

However, the earthquake that followed these intense winds was arguably even more destructive. The earthquake had a far wider range than the blast of air, meaning that it reached the people and structures that escaped the previous disaster. Miles out from the foot, fissures opened tore through the earth, swallowing buildings and people whole. These cracks in the earth were hundreds of feet in width, unapologetically wiping entire communities off of the face of the planet. The intense tremors that shook the earth were stronger than any ever recorded on the Richter scale, as they caused even the most reinforced buildings to crumble to dust.

Of course, the disasters that occurred around the giantess’s foot were nothing compared to the happenings directly underneath it. According to scientific law and media, it was a natural assumption of those underneath it that the woman’s foot would have a slow descent to the ground.

However, it was anything but.

There was only about a second between the time the woman’s foot shrouded the city in complete darkness, to the time it touched down. Men, women, and children alike—they all had no time to react before the foot fell down upon them. But even if they did… what would they have possibly done? Indeed, within that one, fleeting second, some humans underneath experienced an inescapable dread—more intense than any emotion that they had felt before. However, others turned to whatever higher power they worshiped so that they may deliver them safely. However, both of these groups ended up the same. In milliseconds, humans and reinforced structures were flattened with the same exact degree of resistance—that is, next to none. Marred bodies and unrecognizable debris were practically drilled into the earth as the unyielding surface above them pressed about four hundred feet below ground level. It was this pressing into the earth that kicked up mounds of dirt and debris all around the foot. The walls of soil that surrounded her foot rose about 1,176 feet into the air as opposed to her 2,353 foot toes. Indeed, although there were no more skyscrapers in sight… the tallest one would at least stand taller than the mounds of dirt, though they were easily eclipsed by the woman’s toes.

About 52,800 people succumbed directly under the woman’s foot. About 43,600 more were killed by the resulting storm and earthquake.

Just a couple of seconds after the foot touched down, the woman lifted her other foot out of the ocean. And the process repeated itself all over again.

Over 192,000 human lives were ended by two steps. Now, the giantess was standing at her full height of 37 miles and 4,640 feet tall.

…

By the time the giantess was standing on solid ground with both of her feet, Alexis was clinging onto Naomi for support. Meanwhile, Naomi was standing firm as she gazed up at the sky with a blank expression. She just didn’t know how to comprehend what she was looking at.

The life-ending, building-toppling earthquakes were nowhere close to City C. Nonetheless, all hell had broken loose due to the minor tremors that could be felt throughout the metropolis. All around Naomi and Alexis, panicked citizens flooded into the apartment’s courtyard so that they could run away from the giant’s general direction. Over the shrill shrieks, Naomi could hear news broadcasters speak about the massive woman, seemingly through the crowd’s phones and other devices. Indeed, it was clear that the entire media world was now aware of the giant’s existence. Despite this, none of the voices Naomi picked up could provide an explanation for the woman’s arrival or immense size.

However, far louder than any of the people running past Naomi or their devices were the words of the giantess herself.

Wait, she was speaking?!

Naomi immediately covered her ears as she saw the giant woman open her mouth, the actual sound of her words hitting her a full second later. From this distance, the giantess’s voice was merely loud, but not enough to cause any permanent ear damage. However, the denizens of City A weren’t so lucky. Almost every surviving person in the metropolis went deaf right as the giantess spoke, with only those on the far edge of the city being spared. For those that were too close to her, the unfathomably loud sound that emitted from her proportionally large mouth and throat was just too much for their eardrums to bear.

“Attention, citizens of the Republic Cities. May I please have your attention?” As if she didn’t have the attention of the entire world already?! Putting the giantess’s absurd remark aside, Naomi took note of her voice. It certainly had more reverb and bass than the woman had ever heard, due to the immense size of its source. Despite this, Naomi could tell that if this woman were normal sized, she would still have a rather deep voice—for a woman, that is. Her voice was also monotone and flat, as she spoke with a business-like professionalism.

This certainly didn’t serve to humanize her in Naomi’s eyes.

“It has recently come to my attention,” the giantess resumed after a short pause, “that an individual residing in this country has committed a serious crime.”

So that was her deal? She was some kind of cop who came here to catch a criminal? Admittedly, this did strike fear into the heart of Naomi for just a split second, given her recent shopping free. However, common sense drove this thought from her mind. There was no way that this giantess was here for one measly shoplifter.

“To be specific, this particular individual stands accused of theft. The target of this theft was a local convenience store.”

Wait, there was no way, right?

“According to an eyewitness account, the criminal stole a carton of sweetened breakfast cereal, a container of whole milk, assorted packages of paper towel and tissue rolls, and multiple packages of instantaneous ramen noodles”

R-Really?

The color completely drained from the Eastern woman’s face as her eyes widened and her mouth dropped. Someone of that scale, of that magnitude… how could someone like that be so concerned with something that she did? And more importantly, how was a single bout of shoplifting considered a serious crime to her?!

By now, Alexis was already staring at Naomi in horror as a result of the giantess’s words. She was the only one who was aware of what was going on here; aside from perhaps the owner of the store that Naomi stole from. The black-haired woman briefly looked at Alexis to meet her accusatory stare, but both of their heads snapped back to the titaness as she continued to speak.

“To the individual who stole these commodities—have you no concern for society at large? Refusing to pay for even the most menial of products can severely harm the stores at which they are bought. Furthermore, a single failed business can cause a chain reaction that may very well cripple an entire economy—”

Despite the fact that all eyes on Earth were currently on this giantess, some found it hard to focus exactly on her words as she gave a rundown on the inner workings of the standard market economy. After all, it was hard to pin a woman who ended 100,000 human lives down as someone who cared immensely for the lawful exchange of goods and services. However, Naomi was snapped out of her stupor when the giantess seemingly ended her spiel, and decided to take a different approach.

“Though I am certain that this criminal resides within this country, I am not aware of the district in which they find their residency.” The giantess placed her hands on her hips and simultaneously shifted her feet outwards, further sinking leveled land down into the earth. “As such, I will give the law-abiding citizens of this country sixty seconds to present me with this deviant. When I am met with this deviant, I will execute their punishment swiftly and without delay. Present them to me alive, so that I may prosecute them myself.”

Naomi didn’t believe it was possible, but her heart sank even deeper than it had moments before. If this giantess actually found out who she was, where she was, then she would kill her, wouldn't she? I mean, was there any other punishment that someone that large could dish out on a normal sized person?

However, what the giantess uttered next was somehow even worse.

“If I am not presented with the criminal by the time the sixty seconds is over, I will be forced to conduct a thorough search for them throughout the entirety of the country. I believe that during such a search, the suspect will be apprehended through collateral damage, yes?”

So, if no one gave Naomi up, then this giantess would destroy the entirety of the Republic Cities in hopes that she killed her target in the process, huh?

Almost everyone on the ground understood this meaning behind the giantess’s words. As such, pandemonium broke out once more as she boomed the number “sixty.”

…

City A was practically considered invisible to the rest of the world in the seconds after the giantess’ feet touched down within its borders. The seismic waves that shot through the entire city—and a little ways into City B—disrupted the electricity and Internet in the region by dismantling wires and signaling towers. Batteries within the city could last for only so long, and even they were flickering out due to the simple motions of the giantess. This meant that it was up to the surrounding cities to establish communications with the enormous woman. This included Cities B, C, F, and G.

The second that the enormous woman began counting down, twenty-two fighter jets were dispatched from City B’s resident military base. Being military grade vehicles, these jets managed to come within 100 feet of the giantess in about thirty seconds. However, this meant that they now had only thirty seconds to communicate with the woman, as per the timers that all of the pilots had equipped in their jets.

Though the pilots were here on business… almost every single one of them were stunned in awe as they came this close to the towering behemoth they now surrounded. Each jet was capable of flying at a maximum altitude of 23 miles above ground—meaning that they only came up to the woman’s waist. This meant that all the pilots could see around them was a massive pillar of black fabric that spanned 10 miles wide.

The first pilot was knocked out of his stupor once there were twenty seconds left on the giantess’s presumed countdown. To be specific, this pilot was the general of City B’s air force. They were sent here to communicate with the giantess, but how were they supposed to do that? Each plane was equipped with some of the best speakers in the world. But even still, it was hard for this pilot to believe that the giantess would be able to pick up a sound coming from such a comparatively small source, and from such a long distance away. But, he was still obligated to try.

“Attention!” The hardened general blared over a loud intercom. Despite the enormity of the woman on either side of him, his voice was firm and resolute. “The Republic Cities will not give in to threats. You are the one trespassing on inhabited lands. We demand you withdraw from your position immediately. If you refuse, then we will take immediate and effective action against you.”

This giantess’s ears stood far above the distance that jets were permitted to fly. If a pilot attempted to fly up to the woman’s head, they would be dead before they even passed her shoulders. This was due to the thin air quality, coupled with the fact that many of the jet’s mechanisms would cease to work that far above the earth’s surface. This single woman… she seemed utterly unreachable and untouchable.

Even besides the fact that the giantess most likely was not capable of hearing the general, the attention of the fleet was clear now: they were here to threaten the woman. It didn’t take a military official to realize that the giantess had given them an ultimatum before she set out to destroy more human lives. As such, the Republic Cities decided to respond to her ultimatum with one of their own. But… what were they to do if she didn’t comply? Could conventional weapons—such as the ones each jet was equipped with—even hurt her? Would mankind be forced to resort to nuclear weaponry just to eliminate one threat?

But, there was also the fact that this giantess was here to apprehend a criminal. Just one, measly little shoplifter at that! The Republic Cities housed a population of over 110,050,000 people. Depending on whether or not there were witnesses, tracking down the giantess’s specific target amongst this populace was an impossible task. The government was forced to consider the possibility that not a single person in the country knew what this criminal looked like.

And even if the government did know of this citizen’s whereabouts… they had no intentions to hand over one of their own to this woman. The giantess had already done more damage than any shoplifter could dream of.

About five seconds after the general finished issuing his demands, the giantess spoke once more. Fortunately, every pilot that was sent out to intercept the giantess was equipped with noise-canceling headphones. These headphones allowed them to hear the giantess without having their eardrums instantaneously destroyed, unlike almost every other citizen in City A. However, this didn’t make what she said any more palatable.

“Ten.”

What the hell?! The air force general turned to look at the timer in his jet. The number ten was currently displayed on it… but only for that second. Once the ten turned into a nine, the giantess announced in her flat, monotone voice:

“Nine.”

So did the woman not hear the general’s threat? Or was she purposely disobeying?! A thousand thoughts ran through the man’s head—a man who was typically decisive and composed. Should he repeat himself? Or should he give the go ahead to attack? The once composed general flew into a panic as he reached for various buttons for combat and communication, hesitating on which ones to select. A few more seconds into his frenzy, the giantess spoke:

“Five.”

Shit! It was do-or-die time. In a hurry, the general reached for his speaker.

“Four.”

He wouldn’t have time to issue a full, formal command between the giantess’s booming words. As such, he simply yelled, “Fire!”

“Three.”

Following their general’s orders, the twenty-one other fighter jets let loose their full array of weaponry. This ranged from machine guns to compact missiles. After dropping his speaker, the general rained fire upon the woman.

“Two.”

The general’s eyes widened as he beheld the sight before him. The numerous missiles he launched all exploded against the massive suit. But… they didn’t so much as leave a trace. These weapons were more than enough to level an entire small town, and yet, they didn’t so much as singe the suit’s fabric. What in the world were he and his fleet supposed to do, then?

The general didn’t have any time to truly ponder this question. As opposed to his useless missiles, the true fireworks began when the giantess reached the end of her countdown.

“One. Fine, be that way.”

The general of City B’s air force was one of the most accomplished heroes in the country, leading his men to victory on countless occasions and keeping his district safe with merely his presence. He had received too many accolades to count, but more importantly, he earned the respect and trust of his fellow compatriots.

All of this, and his existence was wiped out against the clothes of a young woman.

He didn’t even have time to process his death. After the giantess spoke, she immediately took a step forward, instantaneously destroying the ten jets that were positioned in front of her body. The jets went out in a massive explosion of fire—that is, from a human perspective. The massive woman wasn’t the slightest bit aware of the pieces of machinery that were demolished against her waist. The human pilots didn’t have as much of a dramatic ending as their jets. Milliseconds before the vehicles exploded, their bodies were crushed and smashed flat between the giantess’s body and the metal behind them, without the slightest hint of resistance. Additionally, those twelve jets behind and to the side of the giantess didn’t fare better in the slightest. The massive amounts of air displaced by the giantess’s simple movement launched the jets from their positions in the sky. There was absolutely no hope of the pilots taking control of their planes as they barreled through the open air—they could only wait an agonizingly long amount of time before their vehicles finally connected with the ground, killing each of them instantly.

When the giantess’s foot landed on the ground, about 90,000 more people were killed. The esteemed general was now just part of a statistic.

…

“Right here! She’s right here! Please! Please!!!”

When the giantess started counting, Naomi turned her head in horror to face her friend. Or at least, who she thought was her friend. Alexis was still clinging onto Naomi with her left arm, but now, she was frantically yelling in the direction of the giantess, and pointing at Naomi with her free hand. What the hell, was she actually trying to sell her out?

“What the hell?! Get the fuck off of me!” Naomi spat at the redhead as she tried to pull away from her clutches. But… she couldn’t break free from her grasp. Naomi winced as Alexis’ grip on her wrist became stronger—Alexis was purposefully restraining her!

“I-I—Alexis, she’s not talking about me, I swear. You… you don’t think there’s anyone else in this country who has done some shoplifting?” Naomi’s voice became increasingly shaky as she found it hard to pull away from the more athletic woman. “I mean, we don’t even know the timeframe she’s referring to, and b-besides, I didn’t even steal the things she listed!” This, of course, was a blatant lie.

“Yes you did, you bitch! I saw half of the things she mentioned on your counter!” Alexis spat. Whelp, there goes that plan. Changing her course of action, Naomi pulled herself closer to Alexis’ body, and viciously scratched at her face. After Alexis shrieked and let go, Naomi saw that three streaks of blood were left on her cheek.

Naomi was about to turn around to bolt back to her apartment room, but before she could, she backed up into a sturdy surface. She looked behind her, and saw that she had backed up into a tall, well-built white man. When their eyes met, the man’s brows furrowed, and he brought his hands down on both sides of Naomi’s body. It would be considerably harder for Naomi to break free from this individual’s grasp.

“Yeah, she’s right!” The man spoke in a deep voice full of contempt. “You were just on the news for shoplifting! I saw your face and everything!”

The voices in the courtyard reached an uproar after the man spoke. Men and women, young and old alike took a look at Naomi’s face, and commented on how they saw her on the news earlier. They had all arrived to the accurate conclusion that their fellow apartment denizen was the target of the impending giantess.

Amidst the chaos, everyone in the courtyard seemingly forgot that the giantess was counting down far above them.

The shouting within the courtyard ceased only when the giantess took her first step after her countdown, filling the air with a now-familiar, thunderous rumble. Naomi looked up at the skyline, and someone else nearby shouted out what she was already thinking.

“Wait… w-why isn’t she coming over here, guys?”

Indeed, the entire mob of twenty to thirty people took notice of the fact that the enormous woman was walking to her left, rather than directly towards City C. And one by one, each of the apartment’s denizens came to the realization as to why she was doing this. This woman—this terrible, unfeeling woman—was on a mission to kill her suspected criminal by process of elimination. This meant that she was going out of her way to deliberately destroy every last inch of the Republic Cities. Every. Last. Inch.

Though no one knew her exact measurements for certain, just one of the giantess’s bare feet covered 14.04 square miles of land. Given that City A was 134 square miles large…

It would take only ten steps for the woman to completely level the massive metropolis.

Almost everyone knew that it takes only about seven seconds to walk ten measly steps. Those who didn’t either worked it out in their head… or were clued in by how quickly the giantess was moving over the horizon.

Since she had already started walking, there were only about twelve seconds until the largest living being ever recorded made contact with City C.

…

To those in aircraft miles away from the giantess—as well as any humans in the Republic Cities who were watching said aircraft feed—it was painfully clear just how calculated each of the giantess’s steps were. She didn’t simply walk foot-in-front-of-the-other as a normal person would. Instead, as she stepped forward with her left foot, her right foot would come down right next to it; so close that they were touching. Additionally, when she stepped forward again with her left foot, it came down right in front of the massive crater created by her previous left step, and the process repeated itself.

This deliberate, yet simple process left nothing in the woman’s wake. After about three seconds, half of CIty A was unrecognizable. It was now a bleak, drab patch full of brand new craters and ridges.

By the time the woman destroyed about half of City A, the death toll was well into the millions. Though the vast majority of these deaths were people irreparably mangled directly underneath her soles, thousands of more people were killed as a result of her movements in the half of the metropolis she hadn’t even reached yet. Due to the repeated, constant manner in which her feet pummeled the earth, the fissures that spread out from under her soles became more severe. The cracks in the ground became deeper and spread further, even reaching the outer limits of City B. Entire city blocks were now engulfed by the fissures, falling down to who-knows-where. Of course, the human beings who were currently on these streets fell along with them. Additionally, massive fires had broken out across City A, and even into its neighboring metropolises. Each city was equipped with enough gas pipes that had been ruptured by the giantess to burn their respective city blocks to a crisp. Now, not only was City A shrouded by the giantess’ shadow, but its skies were completely obscured by an immovable cloud of dust. The only thing that its denizens could see were the outline of the giantess, and her impending feet.

The suited woman wasn’t personally aware of the millions of lives she had snuffed out. After all, how could she be? The people underneath her were microscopic—the tallest human not even a hundredth of the height of her smallest toe. How could she know their names, their faces, or their aspirations that she was in the process of snuffing out? Right now, the only thing of note to her within this country was the criminal that needed to be apprehended. As such, as her kill count rose to seven million, nearly wiping out the entirety of City A, she wore the same cold, unapproving expression that she rose out of the ocean with.

However, the human race did soon manage to wipe this expression off of her face. Maybe all hope wasn’t lost…?

If they were looking closely at the sky, then citizens from all around the Republic Cities may have seen it. By the time the giantess was just a step away from leveling the entirety of City A, City J launched a small item into the air. It was only twelve feet long, but it left a distinct trail of smoke behind it that made it noticeable. Citizens watched as this trail and thus the object in front of it flew directly in the direction of the giantess. As it traveled upwards, it easily surpassed the maximum height that the numerous jets in the air could reach, meaning that it was unmanned.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what this object was.

Before she could take her first step into City B, the nuclear weapon exploded against her chest.

The giantess’s foot was already in the air, milliseconds away from connecting with City B. However, the explosion actually made her pull her bare foot back, placing it back within the limits of City A. The nuclear weapon was the strongest weapon that the nation had in storage, and the strongest weapon in the entire world. Indeed, this immensely powerful weapon had a blast radius of about 10.2 miles, or 53,856 feet.

As such, when the bomb exploded against the woman’s chest, the massive ball of fire extended up her mouth and down to her hips. Her entire body from her mouth to lips was obscured by the massive red and orange cloud, as her arms and torso were engulfed on all sides by the nuke. The world watched on in awe and terror as they all watched a nuclear weapon explode for the first time—a device that they were only taught about in schools, or saw in movies and TV shows. Some citizens leapt up in joy and hugged their loved ones as the giantess’s body was swallowed by the fire and flames. From what they had learned, an atomic bomb’s power was unparalleled, absolute, peerless. Their use had been restricted specifically due to the world-ending power they held. Though it was worrying that this giantess forced the government to resort to such a weapon, at least they had her now, right? On the other hand, other citizens were fearful of the nuke’s aftermath. While they were elated by the fact that the giantess was surely annihilated… there was the matter of the radiation that came afterwards. Due to the fact that the explosion spread 10 miles out from the giantess, the fallout would undoubtedly affect the citizens of City B, F, and G. Though they had been spared by the giantess… would dying a slow death or being severely crippled by radiation be any better? And what if this radioactive residue spread to other cities?

However, the few citizens that were looking at the giantess’ face from above the mushroom cloud were neither joyous or despairing. One glance at her eyes was all they needed to know that none of this mattered.

Just from her eyes, the giantess didn’t look hurt, injured, or distressed at all. Instead, with eyes narrowed and brows furrowed, she just seemed… annoyed. She was glaring down at the ground, slightly turning her head from left to right as she had no hope of knowing where such a small weapon was launched from.

The giantess merely stood still for about two minutes, waiting for the explosion to dissipate. At the end of this timeframe, the fireball finally started to fall to the ground, disappearing into the open air before it reached the ground. Once it did, the world looked on in horror as the woman’s enormous suit wasn’t even marred, and her skin was completely unblemished. Her arms were simply hanging at either of her sides, meaning that she didn’t even attempt to guard herself from the explosion.

The strongest nuclear bomb humanity had ever made—the device of legends and nightmares—connected directly with the giantess’s chest. And yet, it had no visible effect at all, other than making her annoyed.

“…Well.” The giantess’s deep voice rang out. “All of that effort to stop me, when you could instead simply present me with the criminal. Oh well. Have it your way, Republic Cities.”

The giantess spoke these last two words with venom and disgust that weren’t present before. When she took her first steps, unperturbed, into City B, people wondered if it was just their imagination that made them think that she was walking slightly faster than before…

…

By the time the nuke exploded against the giantess, Naomi had been hoisted and dragged out of her apartment’s courtyard. With a blank, despondent expression, she was being tossed over a crowd of people as if she were a fan at a sports game. Men, women, young and old people alike were carrying her over their heads towards the general direction of the approaching titaness.

They were also all very, very loud.

“Come on, faster you assholes! We gotta get her to her quicker!”

“Why can’t we just kill her?!”

“Idiot! Didn’t you hear that woman say that she wanted her alive?”

“Why’d you have to steal, you bitch?!”

“Can’t you work like the rest of us?! Now look what happened!”

“Mom… is she why the lady wants to kill us?”

Despite the endless barrage of accusations, insults, and slurs, Naomi remained completely silent and unresponsive. After all… what could she say? She still absolutely did not believe that shoplifting was that serious of a crime, nor did she think that the giantess targeting specifically her was warranted. However, the fact of the matter was that if she hadn’t stolen from that dollar store…

Eventually, the giantess took her first steps in City B. This meant that there were about six seconds before that metropolis was completely annihilated, and she would finally begin her trek into City C. By now, the earthquakes have become more severe in the comparatively small City C, and the fissures finally snaked their way into the city’s limits. Immense skyscrapers at the edge of the city were now crumbling down as if they were made of sand, creating a massive dust storm in the distance. Both the fissures and quakes had gotten strong enough to cause fires to break out in City C, with essential pipes bursting just as they had in the areas the giantess already visited.

Naomi heard an explosion from nearby—an explosion far too close to be a direct step from the giantess. She slowly lifted her head, and saw that her apartment complex had burst into flames. She could tell that her room specifically was at the center of this now raging fire.

Her stolen goods were probably all burnt to a crisp now. She would never even get the chance to enjoy them. And ramen noodles were her favorite.

A second after her apartment caught fire, one of the giantess’s foot falls struck close enough to City C to knock many of the people carrying her down to their feet. Naomi of course fell down along with them, but the sound of approaching police sirens, the dull rumble of tanks, and the whirl of helicopters drowned out any pain that she may have felt. It seemed like the authorities and the military finally pinpointed her location.

“Naomi Chen! You are under arrest for theft!” Yeah, no shit. The voice that proclaimed her arrest came from overhead, in one of the military grade helicopters that now hovered over her. “Do not resist!” Naomi was clued in on what the man meant by this by the mass amount of soldiers that were approaching her from her left and right.

“We’ll be turning you in to the massive female, ma’am.” A particularly young-sounding operative announced to Naomi after he managed to grab her and hoist her up by both of her arms—even with his heavy gear, he struggled to stand upright due to the giantess’s footfalls. But by the time the young man lifted her up, there were only about three more seconds before the giantess’s feet breached the limits of City C. There was no feasible way that the humans on the ground could catch the giantess’s attention with Naomi during this extremely short amount of time.

Only one thing momentarily softened Naomi’s lifeless expression during these three seconds. Amidst the thunderous footfalls, raging fires, and uproar of angry citizens, Naomi could hear a sniffle come from the operative. Her eyes widened and her brows rose when he began to speak.

“My family lives out in City B. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Naomi’s mouth hung agape after the young man asked his question. And yet, she couldn’t find the words to respond with. Of course she had something to say! She felt horrible! The fact of the matter was that if she hadn’t stolen from that dollar store, none of this would be happening! She could pick up from surrounding smartphones that the death count was now well over fifteen million. Naomi knew that it was rational to believe that this giantess had no good reason for pursuing her, and even more so, that it was the giantess’s fault for ending millions of human lives, not her own. And yet, Naomi couldn’t help but feel otherwise. If only she had simply held out a bit longer with her hunger, or tried harder to hold down a job…

So yes, she wanted to be turned in! She wouldn't resist at all. She no longer wanted this country to face the consequences for her crime—no matter how victimless it may have been.

With just her luck, Naomi didn’t have a chance to articulate any of this before the giantess’s feet made contact with City C. Though, even if she did, it’s not like it would have changed her fate. Naomi and everyone around her for miles were flung several feet into the air and then crumbled to the ground as the giantess’s right foot slammed down about 9.5 miles away from them. Half a second later, everyone in the crowd was flung yards away as the air displaced by the step slammed into them, demolishing buildings windows and uprooting nearby plants. When Naomi finished skidding across the hard concrete and the jagged bodies of her fellow citizens, she found that she couldn’t move her left leg. Huh, she must’ve landed on it wrong. And yet, she didn’t really feel any pain at all. On the other hand, she could feel that something warm was trickling down and out of both of her ears. That must be blood, considering the fact that Naomi could no longer hear a thing. Right now, due to her ruptured eardrums, the world around her was completely silent. This, unfortunately, left her alone with her own thoughts.

Her thoughts, and the massive foot that was miles above her, completely blocking out the sun.

Flat on her back and milliseconds away from her death, this was the best view of the giantess and her destructive foot that Naomi would get. Those milliseconds truly felt like hours, so she had quite a bit of time to analyze her. As opposed to when the giantess first stepped out of the ocean, her sole and toes were now littered with a thick coat of black, grey, and brown colors. The pale, rolling flesh that had been broadcast and shared across the media ever since the giantess’s arrival was now utterly invisible due to this new layer. If Naomi squinted her eyes, she could see what this coat was truly comprised of. Plastered onto the giantess’s sole were buildings, vehicles, plants, animals, and people that were unfortunate enough to adhere to the soft, warm surface rather than be disfigured completely. Of course, plastered alongside these structures and organisms were copious amounts of dirt and concrete that were pulled up from the ground as they stuck to her foot.

While it was hard for one to comprehend such an enormous object being attached to a person… Naomi actually did catch some human-like qualities. First off was the face that Naomi saw when she looked past the foot. She had of course noticed that the woman had Eastern features before she arrived in City C, but she was just now realizing just how similar they both looked. The giantess’s eyes, nose, and complexion were so un-Westernized that Naomi was sure that she was actually born in the East. If this giantess was normal sized, and wasn’t on a murderous rampage, then perhaps the two women could have been good friends. They undoubtedly could have bonded over the similar ordeals they experienced as an Eastern woman in the Republic Cities.

Furthermore, whilst the giantess’s foot hovered in the air for a split second, Naomi saw her toes idly scrunch inwards and subsequently stretch outwards. When she did this, endless amounts of rubble rained down upon the area below her toes—with some pieces of debris rivaling the size of skyscrapers. This barrage served to kill a couple of humans even before the foot came down right afterwards. Just a few yards in front of Naomi, what seemed to be the broken bottom half of an office building fell down upon a group of men from the mob earlier. However, Naomi didn’t even take note of their deaths. Rather, she was unshakably fixated on the small movements of the woman’s toes. Why was she flexing them? Did she have an itch, or were feet tired from standing on them for a couple of minutes now? If it were truly one of these two… Naomi took solace in the fact that even this transcendent, peerless woman experienced the same minor inconveniences that ordinary humans do.

However, any similarities this giantess may have shared with the human race were ejected from Naomi’s mind as the massive foot came hurtling down. As opposed to the tentative, indeterminate movements of the woman’s toes while they lingered in the air, her foot was completely steady and firm as it fell. To Naomi, far less time passed during the foot’s descent compared to the time in which it hovered over her.

Naomi Chen's last thoughts were of her parents back at home. She wondered if they knew that she was the cause of all of this.

…

Well, that was City C annihilated. Roughly four minutes had passed since the giantess first emerged from the coast of City A, and it had taken her two and a half minutes to completely raze Cities A, B, and C. Although, two of those minutes involved the woman simply standing still, waiting for the mushroom cloud that formulated around her to dissipate.

She still had not received any sign from the Republic Cities that they had located her criminal, nor that they were willing to hand them over to her. Just how uncooperative could they be? Oh well. The method she was currently deploying served her purpose just fine, though it was a bit barbaric for her tastes.

Even so, she didn’t even feel like she had come across the criminal just yet. Her target residing in Cities A and B seemed just a bit too convenient—life is never that easy. And there was absolutely no way that the criminal lived in City C of all places. It was just way too small compared to the other cities, so there was a decent chance that it wasn’t as developed as the rest of the precincts. From her own experience, there was almost no possibility that such a small city could have produced such a heinous crook.

As such, she would keep marching on throughout the entirety of the country. Until the minuscule nation’s government decided to cooperate with her, she would systematically wipe its cities from the map, from D to Y. I mean, it’s not like it would take her very long to do. Her left foot just breached the limits of this next metropolis, instantaneously killing about 90,000 more people. What was the death toll again? Over 25 million people by now, right? The giantess had absolutely no way of knowing, nor did she care. It was their fault for harboring a criminal.