The Giant chasing David discovered something strange. The vehicle's body, which had been tattered through countless battles, was restored to its original state in that short time.
Even if he had somehow procured the necessary materials, there wasn't enough time to fix it.
That wasn't the only change. Fine particle dust was scattering behind the running vehicle. Looking closely, frost was settling on the ground along the path where the vehicle had passed.
Even the flames flickering from the bombing's aftermath hesitated and made way when the muscle car approached. This meant that beyond mere visual changes, some kind of physical effect was taking place.
But the Giant didn't care. After all, it would be crushed like a bug before its attack, wouldn't it?
The Giant, already heated up because of David's driving skills, immediately aimed the gun barrel on its left arm.
The cannon fired as soon as it was aimed. The massive shell, splitting the night sky, made a direct hit on David's muscle car. Until then, he had been instinctively sensing attacks and avoiding them, but for some reason, he couldn't respond this time.
While the Giant was watching this scene, something astonishing happened.
-Boom!
Along with the explosion from the shell, David disappeared without a trace. The Giant clearly saw this, yet the muscle car was running elsewhere.It was a scene that made no logical sense. Nevertheless, the Giant calmly reloaded its cannon.
-Boom!
Once again, the flying cannon shot down David. This time, the Giant watched it properly until the end. It confirmed everything—the flames engulfing him and tearing him to pieces.
-Boom!
But the muscle car reappeared several blocks away. This was something difficult to understand with the Giant's programmed knowledge, algorithmic logic, and emotions. The one it thought it had killed kept appearing, like a ghost.
The Giant soon made a judgment: this was some kind of sophisticated illusion that could deceive even its sensors. If so, then the muscle car currently visible was likely nothing more than a deception.
As if to prove this, the muscle cars kept appearing and disappearing repeatedly. There were already more than three of them and it was impossible to determine which one was real.
The Giant immediately took countermeasures.
-Clank!
The giant upper armor plates on both shoulders opened, and propeller-equipped clockwork devices sprang out.
The clockwork flying machines buzzed like swarms of bees, scattering in all directions. The lenses attached to each moved around, tracking David's muscle car.
"Ha. So it even has such a function."
David let out a bitter laugh, as if he hadn't expected it to be equipped with small drones. He was using trickery to buy time somehow, but with drones in use, there was a high chance his position would be pinpointed.
[Water Moon Mirror Flower], one of the Moonlight techniques, shows the opponent illusions with substance, but David's still-inexperienced illusions had considerable anomalies.
Though indistinguishable from afar, up close, one could tell something was different.
"Really. If you're big, then act big—slow and stupid."
David's complaints were not unreasonable.
Such a monstrous creature of that size could use small drones to track their hidden position. There's no sense of fair play.
He knew intellectually that it was a war machine with functions designed for possible guerrilla warfare and trench warfare, but being on the receiving end was incredibly frustrating.
"But it's too late for that."
David sharply turned the vehicle. All of the doppelgangers created by [Water Moon Mirror Flower] were scattering in all directions, moving away from the Giant. The clockwork drones were also pursuing these illusions, moving away from the Giant.
And during this time, the Giant remained motionless in place, as if dead.
"It seems it can't do anything else while controlling the small drones. At this rate, you're practically asking me to catch you."
David, who had been hiding his appearance by distorting light, appeared right next to the Giant. The Giant, hearing the loud engine noise so close, brightened its eyes and turned its head.
The drones that had been moving away were seen hastily returning but it was already too late.
"Friends, I'm counting on you."
David quickly passed under the Giant's feet. As the Giant slowly tried to move its legs to turn around, it suddenly stopped.
Frost had covered the knee joints of both legs.
It tried to move forcibly to shake off the frost, but meanwhile, David was cleanly turning the vehicle and charging toward the Giant again.
Unable to turn around, it was difficult to confirm this, but it clearly felt something approaching. The Giant rotated the gun barrel on its left arm 180 degrees to face backward. Simultaneously, one of the three-row gun barrels rotated with a clanking sound.
-Whoosh!
From inside the huge muzzle, viscous compound-combined flames erupted. Like a dragon's breath, the radially ejected flames instantly engulfed the surrounding area.
It was a flamethrower made to slaughter infantry in battle. And this was being spewed by a steel giant 13 meters tall. In an instant, an area the size of a playground was covered in crimson flames. Even with David's divine driving skills, he couldn't avoid this.
Naturally, David didn't try to avoid it. Instead, he chose to charge straight through.
-Bang!
A hole was punched through the center of the blazing flames, and the muscle car emerged. The muscle car emitting bluish moonlight was intact even in those hellish flames.
Ronald and Reginald, standing on the hood, had blocked the heat. Even considering that the two automatons were special, they shouldn't have been able to withstand such flames.
What made it possible was the power of the Moonlight flowing through the two automatons.
"Let's go."
David floored the accelerator.
The car's engine made a thunderous noise. Simultaneously, David clicked the red button next to the gear.
-Psshhhh!
With the sound of valves opening, the prepared compounds in the engine mixed. At the same time, the car's gauge instantly jumped past the red zone, and the physical load increased tremendously.
The view changed rapidly as the speed rose to an uncontrollable level. The two automatons standing on the hood tumbled off the vehicle but David had no time to worry about them.
Top fuel mixed with nitromethane resonated with the ether water, pushing the engine beyond its limits. It was a dangerous act that might have exploded from overheating if the Moonlight's cooling effect hadn't worked simultaneously.
White steam and hot flames shot out from the car's exhaust like a rocket. At the same time, David used the power of Moonlight to create the path he needed to advance.
He had already seen how Osian handled Moonlight in District 49. Among those, the most impressive was the sight of him sliding across the hot desert sands as if they were sheets of ice.
If Osian could do it. He could do it too.
That would be the greatest respect a follower could show. The output, far exceeding an instantaneous acceleration of 10,000 horsepower, even crushed the vehicle's sturdy tires. Even this crazy vehicle couldn't maintain such output for more than 20 seconds.
But that was okay. He didn't need 20 seconds. Ten seconds, or even just five, would be enough.
The frost path he created rose up in a soaring form and the muscle car racing along it leaped toward the sky.
It was a situation that could only be described as flying and the muscle car instantly reached the part on the Giant's head.
Having finally turned around, the Giant widened its eyes in surprise at the sight of David right in front of it.
"It's too late to realize now."
-Crash!
The airborne muscle car rammed straight into the Giant's head. The Giant's massive body tilted and was about to fall backward but it tried to hold on to avoid falling.
Naturally, the moment the vehicle hit its head, David leaped from the driver's seat and drew his sword.
His sword, gleaming in the moonlight of the night sky, was imbued with the chilling aura of Moonlight.
A single Moonlight Sword pierced the Giant's forehead. Ronald and Reginald, who had fallen from the car, also climbed up the Giant's legs to its knees and froze the joints with cold energy.
-Boom!
The Giant's massive body fell backward. A cloud of dust rose, and the ground shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
David pulled out the Moonlight Sword he had embedded in the Giant's forehead.
"Huff, huff. I really thought I was going to die."
He turned his head. The other Giants were also being dealt with. One had its eyes taken out by Asmer and was helpless before having its head cut off by his starlight sword.
Another was still struggling with Lupona, but the situation changed when Lupona created a black spot and began to emit a massive laser.
[Dark Destruction]
The Giant collapsed as its massive shield melted away. The three Giants that had appeared on the ground were finally subdued.
It was truly a miracle. A valuable victory achieved by those who surpassed their limits in an unfavorable situation.
The enemies from Battle Trench were shocked by this sight.
"Crazy. How could the Giants..."
"How could such meticulously crafted weapons lose like this?"
Their surprise was understandable. Even a single unit could annihilate an entire company if conditions were favorable, making it a strategic weapon.
Such beings were defeated by mere individuals wearing armor from a bygone era—it was impossible not to be shocked.
Jerey, who had just escaped and reached the surface, couldn't close his mouth at the sight. Weren't the Giants invincible weapons? Why were they being defeated like this?
As Jerey clenched his fist in anger, his expression suddenly brightened.
-Screech! Clank!
The ground split open on both sides, and more Giants emerged. The newly appeared Giants numbered five, more than before. All of them were properly functioning, their eyes emitting brilliant light.
"Damn it. This is insane."
The knights felt their strength draining at the sight of the newly appeared Giants. But none of them fled. Rather, they each took up combat stances, ready to charge at the newly emerged Giants.
At that moment, a rumbling sound accompanied by something breaking loudly echoed from underground. Even the Giants turned their heads toward the source of the sound.
Another passage leading to the underground hangar opened sideways. Through that opening, the wreckage of a partially destroyed Giant flew out amidst flames.
-Boom!
The wreckage of the massive Giant fell to the ground. This sight captured the attention of the five Giants that had surfaced.
"What on earth is happening?"
While everyone was watching the scene in confusion, that's when it happened. Through the exit from which the wrecked Giant had emerged, another Giant appeared, rising as if standing up.
This Giant was somewhat different from the other units. Besides having armor that was scorched all over, as if it had fought a fierce battle, it had bright yellow eyes, unlike the emerald light of the other Giants.
Above all, two knights wrapped in starlight were standing on both shoulders of the Giant.
"Huh? Is that... Lord Osian?"
All the knights around recognized him. The owner of the starlight armor, brilliantly shining even in the dark night, was unmistakable.
[Wow. There are still many left here.]
Neo, who had taken over the Giant's body, muttered as he looked at the units gazing at them with brilliant eyes.
"Can you fight?"
[I'd like to, but I'm out of weapons.]
All the firepower had been used up in the underground hangar. Although five units had come up to the surface, more than ten Giant corpses were scattered in the underground hangar.
All were the work of Neo and Osian. The problem was that five enemies remained, but they didn't have enough firepower to match.
[All that's left is close-combat weaponry.]
"Then bring it out."
Neo hesitated but didn't delay in bringing it out. As the right arm reached toward the back, a massive steel pillar attached to the back was gripped with a clanking sound.
What was drawn out was a giant sword, befitting the Giant's size.
Giant War Blade, imbued with high-temperature heat, was the only close-combat weapon a Giant could use.
But this alone wasn't enough to bring down an enemy Giant. This weapon was just a precaution against possible variant enemies, not enough to deal with another Giant.
[This doesn't seem like enough.]
"Don't worry about that."
Osian said this as he opened his palm and placed it on Neo's shoulder. The starlight energy overflowing from his body flowed through Neo's arm and settled on the War Blade.
-Whoosh!
A massive flame of starlight engulfed the entire War Blade, burning brilliantly. The sight of the 13-meter-tall robot holding a starlight sword befitting its size was magnificent and even sacred.
[White Giant Star]
That was the name of the world's largest starlight sword, empowered by Osian.
"Is this enough?"
[Yes. It's sufficient.]
Osian said with a smile.
"Congratulations on becoming a knight."