#196
White Giant (3)
[———!!]
The sonic waves filled with the giant’s fury and murderous intent reverberated heavily, shaking the surrounding area.
Kurururung—! Kwaduk! Kwaang—!
Not stopping there, as it thrashed continuously, the ground collapsed, causing earthquakes.
“Khah! This guy is still lively, huh!”
Harley burst into laughter while sitting on the giant’s head with his massive body weighing ten tons.
He was still using his full power with “Gem Eye: Suppression” to prevent it from standing up.
Of course, completely pinning down a body this size, which was as big as a 10-story building, was impossible, no matter how you looked at it.
But since the giant’s body was humanoid, the required movements to stand up were obvious, right?
‘I know a thing or two about human anatomy, after all.’
Having unintentionally become well-versed in human anatomy while modifying his own body, it was a piece of cake for him to specifically hinder the giant’s rising motions.
‘Although this will consume a lot of energy, and I can’t hold it for long. But at least I’ve bought time for the people to evacuate.’
Moreover, by mixing ‘madness’ into the biotic power activated by “Gem Eye: Suppression,” it showed the effectiveness he had anticipated.
If not for that, he would have used even more strength to hold it down.
Kugugugu—
But it seemed this was about to reach its limits.
“Oops! This friend is in a hurry! It could’ve stayed down a bit longer!”
Finally, the giant, placing its hands on the ground, slowly began to lift its upper body.
Harley, who had been pressing its head down with his overwhelming mass, discreetly stood up.
As expected.
Hooong—!
A white hand, roughly the same size as the now fully transformed Harley, flew toward him with a loud bang.
“Oops!”
Of course, Harley would not allow such a monotonous attack, deftly dodging the hand and rolling to the ground.
Nevertheless, it seemed that thanks to Isea stepping in to help evacuate the people while he bought time, now there were only Harley and…
“Hmmm, I expected this to some degree, but destroying the insides doesn’t seem to have much effect. I wouldn’t have guessed it could survive even if I crushed its heart.”
“Ugh, I wonder if my attacks are even effective at all.”
In that brief moment, only Heinrich and Geos, who were diligently slicing the giant’s torso, remained.
“Khahat! I guess aiming for the head is the answer, huh? I tried to keep smashing it while sitting on top earlier, but it’s so tough and packed with madness that I couldn’t do it right away. Isn’t a heavily fortified spot a weakness?”
As Harley moved his massive body to stand next to his companions, he spoke nonchalantly.
Heinrich and Geos were relatively tall as well, but next to him, they looked like an adult and a child due to the extreme height difference.
…But before that giant, even that was trivial.
Before them stood the now fully upright white giant, looking down with a face full of rage.
Looking up at it from right below cast shadows all around, blocking out the sky.
[——?! ——!]
‘Hmm, it really looks angry, doesn’t it?’
The overwhelming muscles swelled, and the loud rumbling from its constantly writhing throat was quite a sight.
Now, it seemed the group they’d pursued, the orphanage crew, was forgotten, as the giant’s gaze remained fixated on the hero party… more precisely, on Heinrich and Harley.
Reflecting the giant’s emotions,
Whiiik—! KWAANG!
Its hand, now elevated high, came down like lightning, smashing the area where they had just been.
Naturally, the party was not one to fall for such a simple attack, and the battle resumed its previous patterns.
‘This giant definitely has intelligence, but it’s not using it rationally… I guess it makes sense since it’s a creature that crawled up from the Abyss.’
Somehow, it could understand human language and sift through information from conversations to pinpoint potential weaknesses.
As a consequence, it displayed cleverness by using that information against them to gain significant advantages in battle.
‘Ultimately, charging toward a human village was an irrational decision.’
After all, hostages only hold value while alive.
If they were truly killed, it would merely provoke the wrath of its enemies, leaving nothing behind…
‘Wait a minute, is there really nothing to gain?’
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.
The opponent was a monster that crawled up from the Abyss.
Was it truly reasonable to judge its behaviors with ordinary standards?
‘If that’s the case, what it could gain is…’
When a specific target is killed, those who witness it will feel anger.
Some will grieve, while others may feel despair, pessimism about the world, or even madness.
‘All of them are merely negative emotions.’
And for a being from the Abyss, such negative sentiments couldn’t merely empower it.
‘They could elevate its very existence… a means of absorbing evil karma to grow stronger.’
He knew this well.
Because—.
‘…Hans is the same.’
The Undead King Hannibal Strauss, or Hans for short.
Past Undead Kings, consumed by their mission to color the world with death, had invaded the continent over and over again.
Hans could block that impulse thanks to the “Mind Hub,” yet he was well aware of its limits.
Having experienced fragments a few times and having received the information left behind by the previous Undead King, he understood.
‘And the evil karma accumulated by past Undead Kings is what now constitutes Hans.’
When an Undead King is succeeded, they inherit a portion of the accumulated evil karma, growing even stronger with each generation.
Of course, having been born from the death crystallized in the Abyss, it must have been inherently powerful from the start.
The first was the greatest wizard of his time, who, no matter how unprepared, burned half the continent.
The second, a third-rate dark sorcerer who just happened upon a heart, destroyed the now-well-prepared west of the continent.
‘Of course, this giant doesn’t seem to have the ability to pass down evil karma to the next generation…’
What mattered now was that this white giant before him could also become stronger under similar conditions as the Undead King.
‘…Is there a plot to create a second Undead King?’
Heinrich, wielding his sword, couldn’t help but frown.
He was certain that the phenomena occurring right now were not natural occurrences.
This creature, which should have been drifting about in the abyss or at the bottom of the Abyss, suddenly tore through scars.
Moreover, it bore significant madness within its body.
Then the identity of the one who instigated this was quite obvious, wasn’t it?
‘The Oath of Reversal. The one wielding the medium of madness drawn from the Abyss. It seems it has pulled off some tricks.’
Thinking that way, the giant’s appearance here definitely didn’t seem like mere coincidence.
Even if this was the Resk Kingdom, a site of the final battle with the second Undead King, where the scars of the Abyss were pervasive, the timing was too convenient.
‘…Was it targeting Saint Heinrich? Or could it have been drawn by the madness that Harley harbors?’
Perhaps it really was coincidence, but at this point, it didn’t matter what the reason was.
‘…As long as I ensure this fiend doesn’t grow any stronger, we can finish things here.’
The glimmers in Heinrich’s eyes, wielding the holy sword, and Harley’s as he clawed at the giant’s flesh sparked brightly.
[“I will assist now too! I have gathered not just the orphanage folks but also the villagers in a safe spot and set up a temporary barrier, so they shouldn’t be swept away anymore.”]
[“Good! With that taken care of, let’s take this beast down for good, shall we?”]
Just then, Isea, who was absent, returned to convey her intention.
They had sufficiently grasped the giant’s abilities and had nothing else to worry about.
Hooong— Kuuung!
Once again, a gigantic right foot came descending toward Harley.
Yet, by the time it touched the ground, he had already placed himself behind the giant.
Moving so fast, the dust swirling in the air hadn’t even settled yet.
Lying on the ground, Harley curled up like a beast, lifting the corners of his mouth to reveal his vicious teeth.
Budduduk! Kkiiggk—!
Metallic sounds spilled from his severely compressed muscles, and the “Heart of the Bone Dragon” continuously pulsated, pumping high-density energy throughout his body.
“Khuhah! First off…!”
Engraving and biotic aura, along with ‘madness,’ easily outpaced the limits of his body, beginning to enhance and destruct it simultaneously.
Maintaining the dying cells was the job for “Enhanced Regeneration.”
“Let’s align our height! Buddy!”
His thigh muscles, mixed with the genes of the mutated Minotaur he had once acquired, swelled tremendously.
Yanking with all his strength on both hands lodged in the ground.
KWAANG—!
Harley shot off like a missile.
Aimed right at the giant’s right knee.
Kuuung—!
With a heavy thud, the giant’s leg shook, and its body staggered.
Even though its mass was hundreds of tons, it wasn’t exactly light.
Colliding that body against a human’s weak point as if it were a missile led to a predictable outcome.
The giant tried to hold itself up with its left leg for a moment, but…
“Ugh!”
Swaaaack—
Given that it had already been cut multiple times, it was futile given Heinrich’s timely sword strike at exactly that spot.
[———?!]
Ultimately, the giant began to topple toward the side Harley had rammed into.
At that moment, as it instinctively reached out a hand to brace itself…
Hooou—.
Geos inhaled deeply and raised his spear—.
In an instant, he thrust the spear into the air a dozen times.
Although his prior attacks hadn’t caused great damage to the giant, as they would heal in mere seconds,
KWAAANG—!
That was more than enough time to shatter the wrist of the giant trying to brace itself with its hand, sending it tumbling to the ground.
[———!!]
The ground screamed as the massive shockwave swept through the area, causing the giant to writhe and screech.
As it attempted to press itself up using its regenerated right hand, which was still intact and its healthy left hand reaching for the ground,
Wuuuuung—
The sound of magic resonated as Isea activated her gravity magic once more, pushing the giant down.
This was a brilliant coordinated attack, made possible by the teamwork and communication magic they had cultivated.
[“That giant has a high anti-magic ability, so it won’t hold for long!”]
[“Khah! This should be enough! Let’s immediately move on to the next step!”]
[“…Huh? You need to be more precise if you want to hit!”]
However, as if to show that the rest would be handled by him, Harley simply dashed forward.
He aimed for the location of the giant’s head and jumped up with all his strength.
“Urahtchacha—!”
[“Huh? Wait a second! If you enter that range now, Harley—!”]
“Uwahhahaha! That’s exactly what I was hoping for!”
Firmly grabbing his hands behind him and bending his back like a bow.
Taking that shape, he fell through the air, accelerated by gravity.
Using all of his weight, he drove his hands down toward the giant’s head.
KUUUUUUNG!
Just like before, the massive head was slammed back into the ground.
It was akin to a hammer weighing dozens of tons striking it.
[“Are you okay?! As sturdy as you are, aren’t you pushing it too much?!”]
[“Hmm… It’s a bit stiff, but I’m fine.”]
Naturally, Harley could not disregard the impact he delivered.
However, he merely shook his hands a couple of times before looking down at the giant’s head once more.
“What a familiar setup. A very nostalgic sight! Now, it’s time to smash this thing!”
Using “Gem Eye: Suppression” once again, as if he were familiar, he disrupted the giant’s movements while tapping the ground lightly.
The skull was so tough that even his ‘Deadly Gravity Hammer’ striking full force did little more than dent it slightly.
[“…How about we try cutting off its neck first?”]
[“Oh? That’s not a bad idea, brother!”]
[“Then I’ll go ahead and try to slice it.”]
But, as it was a crucial weak point, it wasn’t easy to sever the neck.
Though it would only take a bit more time.
In between, the giant eventually broke free from suppression and thrashed one last time, but it quickly collapsed down again, suffering a decapitation.
And finally…
‘Oh, what is this?’
Harley smiled in satisfaction as he grasped the rewards of the efforts made thus far.
*
Western Frontier Region of the Azerion Empire.
“UAAAAK!”
“What kind of monster is that! How on earth are we supposed to deal with something like this?!”
In a stationed place there, a massacre was literally unfolding.
The number of elite troops already deceased reached into the hundreds, and among them was even the master-ranked knight, the commander of the unit.
“Retreat! We need to retreat! The first priority is to inform the legion of this!”
“No, if that thing breaks loose and enters the city, we’d all be wiped out!”
“But we can’t do anything! The priority is to warn the surroundings!”
Eventually, the officers, suffering losses, made a reckless retreat, achieving their intended purpose of sharing this information.
Though more than 90% of the soldiers in their unit met a tragic end in the process.
And at the center of that disaster, the enormous white giant stood.
Tutuk— Thuk!
Feeling the oppressive seal that had bound him for so long lifted, he was lost in joy.
Of course, that did not mean all restrictions had vanished.
Only a seal blocking one of his nostrils had opened.
[Huh—]
However, that was a tremendous joy for him.
At least now, he could breathe freely.
As the giant began to take deep breaths, the surrounding air was rapidly sucked in, filling his lungs.
And…
[Huh—]
From the breath that surged from his nostril.
Whaaa-
A deadly poison, corrosive to everything, began to spread in all directions.
