#263
The King of Madness (2)
At the very northern tip of the Aonia County in the Kingdom of Toolk, stands the Steel Fortress.
This was the kingdom’s front-line stronghold built to fend off the notorious monsters coming from the Northern Mountain Range.
Usually, it served as a base for those entering the mountains for peculiar materials and hunting, also functioning as a reconnaissance station to assess abnormal situations in real-time.
Especially after facing both the Madness Incident and a large-scale invasion of monsters, it was reinforced to near impregnable strength…
“Ugh! My leg… my leg!”
“Gasp, gasp…”
“Move quickly! We need to tend to the injured first!”
But now, that place had turned into chaos.
Injured soldiers lay everywhere, groaning in pain, and there were quite a few bodies with severed limbs, brutally mangled.
Thud—
A section of the castle walls, fortified to be higher and sturdier, crumbled uselessly under the onslaught of monsters, and the destruction unfolded right into the inner city of the fortress.
“Captain! Are you all right? Quickly, the potion!”
“This way! Hurry, bring the captain!”
The one caught in this catastrophe was none other than the head of the Steel Fortress‘s defense.
He was regarded as a formidable knight, leading the Kingdom of Aonia’s first knight division.
However, the sight of him emerging from the rubble of the collapsed wall was anything but glorious.
His body was battered and bruised, with one arm even lost, as the middle-aged man received emergency treatment from his subordinates before being rushed out for further care.
“Ugh… what about that monster?”
“Eh! Captain, are you aware?”
In the midst of this chaos, he managed to mutter with the tenacity trained within a knight, having regained some consciousness thanks to the potions.
But as he slowly opened his eyes, he could not help but squeeze them shut again at the scene of the wreckage surrounding him.
It was clear to him how things had spiraled since he lost consciousness.
‘The White Giant…’
He had heard the rumors about the creature.
After all, it was one of the culprits behind the terror that had engulfed the continent alongside the undead army, and as a captain of the knight division, how could he not know?
‘But it was different from what I heard. It was much larger, and the seals on its face were not intact. And…’
Above all—its strength was incomparably beyond what he had heard in rumors.
With the walls reinforced by magical barriers, he thought they could at least buy some time if they held out.
But that was a gross miscalculation.
The walls built high and thick to withstand giant monsters barely reached the creature’s chest, and neither he nor his knights stood a chance against it.
‘Even in a state that didn’t seem normal, it had that level of strength. How monstrous was it originally?’
The giant appeared before them, covered in wounds from the start.
Yet, its presence was overwhelming enough to feel like merely being alive was a feat.
“First, the situation has been reported. You should rest now, Captain.”
“Ugh— how pathetic… to have allowed the creature to breach and now to lie here without doing anything…”
“That was a disaster. How many can withstand such a monster? Unless it’s the famous saint…”
“…At the shrine?”
“We contacted them right away.”
“…Hoo, I hope the damage isn’t too great…”
No matter how he thought about it, that creature was not one that could be dealt with at a kingdom’s level.
Ultimately, it meant they had to rely on the church.
Now the key question was how many injuries they could endure before the special task force led by the saint arrived.
“Holy God…”
With that one utterance, the captain, who was desperately holding on, soon lost consciousness and slumped down.
While the Steel Fortress fell into chaos following this sudden catastrophe, the outlaw that caused it was moving south at an incredible speed.
A place only a day’s journey by cart.
To the great city of Tarak.
*
Something feels ominous.
That thought hit her suddenly, sending her heart racing.
A creeping sense of imminent disaster made Diana anxious and restless without her realizing it.
“Lady Diana? Are you alright?”
“Huh?”
The girl, Diana, who had been unconsciously biting her nails, flinched at the sudden voice and managed to compose her expression as she replied.
“…Yes, I’m sorry. Please handle that matter accordingly.”
“Yes, understood.”
After shaking off her daze and finishing the work instructions, her subordinates nodded and hurried away.
“It seems Lady Diana is feeling unwell today.”
“More than that, I’ve been noticing something unusual about the soldiers’ movements. Is something happening…?”
“Now that you mention it, I just came back from the wall, and there…”
While they chatted among themselves, the merchants remained unaware of Diana’s state as she surveyed the periphery of the warehouse area.
She took a deep breath and placed her hand on her chest.
Thump— thump— thump—
Her heart pounded fiercely as her breathing grew rapid.
Nothing had necessarily happened yet.
‘Why am I feeling this way all of a sudden? It’s like…’
In the past, when she had caught a whiff of an immensely dangerous object in Azhantu, a sense of urgency had awakened within her.
The item she had spent a lot of time dodging before searching for her uncle.
No, it was even worse than that.
Unlike back then, she now felt a real threat to her life.
‘The vampire guards my uncle affixed to me are definitely hiding, and this warehouse area is crawling with mercenaries from our association. It’s a safe place… wait?’
As if analyzing the root of her concern, an unfamiliar scent hit her like a freight train.
“Ugh, what is this?”
A dangerously warm smell began pulsating around her.
Having become familiar with the scent of monster byproducts as a merchant, this was something of an entirely different level.
‘…Where is it coming from?’
Her gaze instinctively shifted in one direction.
Though she couldn’t pinpoint the exact location due to the strong scent, she was certain of its general direction.
A place reasonably far from this urban outskirts.
Diana’s head turned northward.
And it was then that she realized another fact.
A cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
The unknown scent was…
Quickly approaching.
Right towards where she was.
Whyahhhh——
Ding ding ding ding—!
Just in time, a loud alarm rang out across the city.
Surely, something troubling was about to unfold.
‘I need to head back. As fast as I can.’
Leading her associates, she hurried into the move.
Boom—!
Suddenly, a violent shockwave rocked her surroundings and she stumbled, barely managing to regain her footing with her guard’s help.
“What’s going on all of a sudden!”
“The wall’s defense mechanism has activated! There’s an external attack!”
“Get Lady Diana to safety! Quickly to the headquarters…!”
Shouts erupted everywhere amidst the unforeseen chaos.
Not only from the Hubert Association entourage but others nearby also fell into confusion.
However, the situation didn’t end there.
Boom—! Crashing—! Thud—!
With successive shockwaves, stone blocks flew from the wall, crashing into nearby warehouse buildings and creating a cacophony of sound.
Rumble—
The outer region was obliterated.
Buildings were collapsing.
And beyond that…
“The wall has crumbled!”
“W-wait, what is that?”
“Uh, is that… a giant…?”
Even from a notable distance, the overwhelming presence of a massive figure disregarded spatial perspective.
One White Giant loomed over them, grinning grotesquely.
“Ah, ah.”
“Ugh…”
Merchants, workers, mercenaries, and soldiers alike all froze at the sight of the creature.
Like pitiful lambs facing a predator.
“Grrrgh, I found you—!”
The giant’s voice brimmed with delight.
And in an instant.
Boom—!
A massive shockwave engulfed the outskirts of Tarak.
*
Thoughts scattered like confetti.
Her mind, a swirling tornado, was unable to piece together anything coherent.
What was I doing?
Just like any regular day, I left the house for work at the association, had lunch, and went out to inspect the outer warehouse.
Then, while giving work directions… I sensed something.
‘Ah! And…’
An immensely gigantic, pure white giant appeared.
Everyone froze at its glare, and shock at its voice led them to lose consciousness.
And she…
‘What… happened…?’
Just as those questions blossomed in her mind, Diana finally became aware of the scent and wrinkled her nose.
A very warm and familiar fragrance.
Thanks to that, her consciousness began to return swiftly as her eyes widened.
“Ugh!”
The fierce wind slapped her face, causing her to shut her eyes again and turn her head.
Into the arms of someone holding her.
“Finally coming around?”
Then a very familiar, perpetually calm voice flowed into her ear.
“Head of the Association? What’s happening…”
With that smooth voice, Diana began to calm and cautiously opened her mouth.
Slowly opening her eyes, she swept her gaze around—
“Ah?”
And her jaw dropped, eyes blinking rapidly.
Whooooo—
The scenery zipped by at dizzying speed.
They were in the sky.
More precisely, Hubert cradled her in his arms, cutting through the air at an astonishing velocity.
As the shock of this unexpected situation washed over her, Hubert let out a sigh of relief.
‘That was close. The creature arrived in Tarak faster than we anticipated.’
Despite getting ready to move the moment it vanished from their sight, he almost arrived too late.
Especially since Diana had been out on external inspections at that time.
It was all thanks to one particular item that made him swiftly recover her and escape.
The armor that Howard was currently crafting.
“Universal Combat Full Body Suit Mk.1 (Prototype)”.
Though it was still incomplete, merely a segmented armor patched together, it had been immensely helpful.
“Uh, Head of the Association, what about that armor…?”
Diana, noticing it, cautiously raised the query, startled at its distinctly unusual appearance.
The suit was made from an unidentifiable metal, sleek and elegant in design, with intricate circuits engraved on its surface.
The core at the heart of the chest pulsed with light that flowed along the circuits like blood vessels, connecting to fierce flames erupting from the soles and the back of the waist.
“This is a magical tool I’ve been recently developing. It’s still a prototype, but thanks to it, we weren’t too late.”
Utilizing the suit provided through Avatar Cloud, Hubert had swiftly snatched Diana from the brink and made their escape.
‘Though pushing it too hard during that process will mean I’ll have to scrap it after this. Well, considering the real data obtained, it’s worth the cost.’
Given the prices of the materials involved, it would be wasteful to use it as a one-time item, but it was a necessary sacrifice to momentarily evade the giant’s attention.
“Ah! What about the giant? What’s happening with it?”
Diana, coming back to her senses, asked in a rush, her eyes gradually awakening.
“Ah, that giant.”
Right after Hubert fled with Diana, the creature immediately diverted its focus from the city and chased after them.
Thanks to unleashing the highest grade magical core obtained through the Karma Shop, they briefly escaped the giant’s grasp, but obviously, that wouldn’t last long.
That massive being closed in on them in less than ten seconds—
“Lucky for us. Someone capable of handling it was nearby.”
Just then, someone stepped in to block the giant, allowing Hubert and Diana to slip away.
‘But just to be safe. Until this is all over, I need to keep Diana as far away as possible.’
Judging by its reactions, she seemed to be more important than he initially thought.
That was the reason Hubert continued flying despite having some breathing room now.
And at the same time, the one who created that opportunity was sharing a busy moment.
*
Boom—!
Once again, a loud explosion erupted from an area slightly away from Tarak.
“Grrr! What the hell is this? How did you get here? You were clearly supposed to be to the south!”
The giant roared in frustration.
Of course, such a reaction was expected when one of the beings disrupting his plans showed up once again.
“Hahaha! This is a major one! I can’t let this go!”
Regardless of the other’s fury, Harley laughed maniacally as he leaped back towards it.
The reason he was here was simple.
He possessed the “Hero’s Footprints”, a power allowing him to go anywhere he had previously been!
Originally, it had a long cooldown and was not very far, but thanks to Heinrich stepping in alongside, he could now arrive anywhere within the same continent.
‘I had a bit of a delay explaining the situation to Misty, but…’
All-in-all, the situation wasn’t too bad.
Damage from the fight with Hans had somewhat healed, and perhaps due to the additional enhancement effects from that space, the creature’s fierceness was markedly diminished compared to when they first clashed on the edge of the abyss.
‘It seems the power waned since it didn’t recognize me at first.’
Of course, despite being able to briefly hinder it, Harley was still up against an opponent that he couldn’t defeat alone.
Continuing on this path, he would inevitably be defeated.
“Hahaha— let’s have some fun!”
“Come on! I’ll take you down first, barbarian!”
But he didn’t worry about that one bit.
At that moment.
At the vampire’s lodgings dispatched to Tarak, a blood gate opened.
Simultaneously, from the shrine, sacred light began to pour forth.
