Episode 194 White Giant (1)
As they followed Geos to this remote territory, they had also prepared for the possibility that it might be a wasted trip.
The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
It was no problem to adjust the party's schedule and invest their time, but wasn't Geos's testimony alone insufficient evidence to be certain that the other person was an Earthling?
He had just thought it would be great if he was actually an awakened one and that he would be satisfied if he could get even a little bit of information…
'The harvest is much greater than I expected.'
Not only did they meet Chehai, a real settler from Earth, but he even readily provided them with valuable information that couldn't be easily obtained.
And he even received teachings from him and his unique skill even grew!
'Thanks to that, we stayed longer than expected.'
But Heinrich and the other members of the hero party couldn't stay in this remote countryside forever.
Actually, even taking this much time off was quite unusual.
"See you later, Mister Geos!"
"Sister! Be careful!"
"Bye~!"
Even though it had only been a few days since the party started living here, going back and forth between the villa on the hill and Chehai's orphanage, they seemed to have grown quite attached, as the children all came out to see them off.
Except for Geos, it was just a brief encounter, and they didn't know when they would be able to meet again…
But the children's faces were filled with cheer, although there was a hint of sadness.
'They're all strong. …Better than me.'
He couldn't even imagine the extent of the pain hidden behind their smiles, the pain of surviving in this harsh world that even adults struggled to endure.
They were probably able to act like this because of the adults who embraced their pain with love and the friends who were always by their side.
The party said their goodbyes to the children and left the orphanage.
And as they were walking, Chehai, who was accompanying them for a while, approached Heinrich.
"I tried my best to help in my own way. I'm not sure if it was actually helpful. Maybe I just wasted your precious time."
"Not at all. It was a great help. Please leave the rest to us and continue to protect this place, Chehai. Children are the future of the world, aren't they?"
"Hahaha, you're right. That's what I'm best at."
The two of them shook hands with smiles, exchanging compliments.
And after exchanging a few words with the others, Chehai headed towards the last one left.
"Geos."
Geos quietly looked at him at his soft call.
He had seemed a bit better while they were at the orphanage, but now that they had left, his face was filled with gloom again.
"How about letting go? You can't start anything new if you're stuck in the past."
"I don't want to start over. My world ended that day."
"…Anna and Nia wouldn't want you to be like this either."
"Well, maybe you're right."
But it was all meaningless now that he couldn't see them again.
He just looked blankly into space, as if he didn't care what anyone said, his eyes empty as usual.
"Sigh—"
Chehai couldn't help but sigh, watching him with worry.
He knew he would have acted the same way if he had been in Geos's shoes, so he felt like his words were empty.
After a while,
They finally arrived at the villa on the hill, a suitable place to prepare for teleportation, and immediately set up a magic circle in the backyard.
"I've used this magic circle so much lately that I can draw it with my eyes closed. I specialize in elemental magic… ice magic to be exact. But now I'm thinking of switching my major to spatial magic."
"That's because Master is so talented! Why don't you master all the other fields too? I'm interested in a certain school of magic, how about we…"
"Hmm…"
Hesperon quickly tried to tempt Isea as she grumbled while setting up the magic circle with the materials she had taken out from her subspace magic tool.
Even though he could receive help from Hans, wouldn't it be more efficient if he could also work with her to learn other magic systems!
'Anyway, she's amazing.'
It might seem easy because it was an everyday occurrence, but teleportation was a high-level magic that couldn't even be attempted without a certain level of skill and preparation.
Even in the magic tower, they only attempted it with the help of large facilities, many materials, and the cooperation of several mages.
That showed how amazing Isea was, being able to do it alone.
Of course, Hans, who was the Immortal King, was an exception.
And as the teleportation preparations were almost complete,
"I'll be prepared so that you can come back and rest whenever you want, Master. Please remember that."
Oliver, the mansion's caretaker, who had brought some snacks, bowed politely to Geos.
He was also worried, like Chehai, but he couldn't overstep his boundaries as an employee, so he was just indirectly expressing his concern.
He was telling him to come back to this place… 'home', whenever he was struggling.
"…Yes. Thank you."
Of course, Geos just gave a dry reply, as usual.
"I'm ready. Everyone, gather here."
They had finished everything they had to do in this village, so there was no reason to stay any longer.
The party said their final goodbyes to Chehai and Oliver and gathered around Isea, waiting for the teleportation.
"Then we'll depart. As you all know, adjust your magic resistance so you don't resist the magic…"
But…
Before she could even activate the spell,
Crackle—!
A strange sound, one that they would rarely hear in their lifetime,
A grotesque noise, as if space itself was being torn apart, echoed in all directions.
"Hmm…?"
"······!"
Everyone's nerves were on edge at the ominous phenomenon.
This wasn't something caused by Isea's teleportation magic.
The heads of her companions and Chehai, who were seeing them off, all turned to the side.
Towards the village they had just left.
"Wait…!"
"Don't tell me, that's?!"
And at the edge of the village, where their gazes were directed,
A giant crack appeared in the air, and a white 'hand' slowly emerged from within, prying it open.
As if trying to force its way out of a closed door.
There were a few problems.
The being that was coming out was incredibly large, befitting the size of the crack…
"No!"
And Chehai's orphanage was located near where the crack had opened.
____________________
Not only its hand, but its entire body was white, as if it had been covered in paint.
It finally tore open the crack with both hands, extended a leg, and took its first step outside.
Boom—!
The ground shook as a deafening roar, as if a bomb had exploded, echoed with just that one step, and a deep footprint with five toes was imprinted on the ground.
And finally, the being pulled its entire body out of the crack, straightened its back, and raised its head.
Immediately after—.
[———!]
A suppressed roar emanated from it, shaking the surroundings.
The deep, rumbling sound, like a whale's cry, contained a clear 'joy', even though it wasn't in any language.
If it had just been a little more considerate, they might have genuinely congratulated it, such a clear emotion it was.
Rumble—!
But the listeners weren't in a good situation to sympathize with its joy.
The destructive energy that erupted from its overwhelming size was naturally carried by the sound waves, violently shaking the surroundings.
Trees swayed, their roots uprooted, rocks flew in all directions, and structures collapsed.
If objects suffered that much damage, it was obvious what would happen to living beings if they were directly hit by the wave.
And the village right next to it…
"Ugh, my ears… What's going on…?"
"Waaaah—! Mommy!"
"Hiik? What, what is that monster?!"
Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any major casualties, just a commotion and property damage from the roar.
"Haa, haa… That was close…"
Isea gasped for breath and tightly gripped the staff she had received as a gift from the imperial family.
A blue light, covering the entire village, was flickering as it blocked the torrent of sinister energy.
She had been a bit late in reacting because they were in the middle of preparing for teleportation, but she was an Archmage who had reached the pinnacle of magic.
It only took her a dozen seconds to grasp the situation, cancel the magic she was preparing, and activate a new one.
But it was still burdensome for her to cover the entire village in such a short time, especially since it was quite a distance away from where she was.
It was only possible because it wasn't a deliberate attack, but just an unintended aftereffect.
"Anyway, what is that…?"
Isea repaired the barrier, which was flickering due to being hastily constructed, and stared at the large white being that seemed to defy perspective.
A typical humanoid giant, over thirty meters tall.
The unique thing was that the seven orifices on its face – eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth – were all sewn shut with something black.
[———!]
At that moment, the giant let out a strange sound from its throat.
But unlike before, it was filled with annoyance, not joy.
It couldn't be helped.
Heinrich the hero, Harley the barbarian warrior, Geos the spear knight.
The three vanguards of the hero party, who had arrived in front of the giant, were relentlessly attacking to draw its attention away from the village.
'Mr. Chehai… went straight to the orphanage.'
The others had also immediately found their tasks and started moving, almost at the same time as Isea reacted.
"…I should also get closer to increase the efficiency of my magic."
"Yes! I'll escort you, Master! Trust me!"
Except for the incompetent Hesperon.
____________________
Holy power, mixed with holy sword ki, flowed through Heinrich's rigorously trained body.
Crack—
His body, which was already strengthened by "Grand Blessing: Knight of Light" and "Blessing: Fortitude", surpassed its limits once again, granting him superhuman strength.
He dashed like the wind, stepping on the giant's foot, knee, and thigh, and leaped high into the air.
"Blessing: Holy Blade", amplified by "Blessing: Capacity Increase", blazed fiercely, and it pierced the giant's heart, imbued with "Blessing: Holy Sword".
Following the guidance of "Logia Holy Combat" and "Path of Martial Arts", drawing a fatal trajectory.
Whoosh—!
[———?!]
White blood spurted from the giant's torn body.
But he couldn't completely destroy its heart because it was so large and its body was tough.
And it had dodged slightly, as it was surprisingly agile despite its appearance.
Squirm, squirm—
'…It's even regenerating.'
Heinrich, who landed softly on the ground, frowned.
The giant's gaping wound was slowly but steadily closing.
Suppression of regenerative ability was one of the holy sword's basic abilities.
But for it to have this much regenerative ability despite being hit by such a sword meant that it even surpassed the "Super Regeneration" that Heinz the Second and Harley had…
It was an abnormal monster in many ways.
'What is this monster? That crack it came out of is definitely a scar of the abyss.'
The giant was humanoid and naked, but there was nothing to indicate its gender, not even genitals.
It had no hair, not even a single strand, and it looked like a human figure roughly molded from white clay.
The black wires that had sewn its seven orifices shut stood out even more, emphasizing its grotesqueness.
'Is this also one of those that were drifting in the abyss's boundary?'
But it was strange that it had suddenly appeared after being dormant for so long.
And above all…
'The concentration of madness in its body is considerable. It's similar to… Heratos when he was a Mad Dragon.'
If it was a being with thick madness that emerged from a scar of the abyss…
'…Is it a monster that crawled out of the abyss.'
Heinrich frowned.
The giant also frowned and looked at Heinrich, as if it could see him.
It was clearly filled with anger, beyond just annoyance.
"Saint! It's too dangerous to fight here! The orphanage is nearby! We've drawn enough attention, so we should lure it…"
At that moment, Geos, who had been relentlessly poking at it with his spear to draw its attention, shouted sharply.
Isea, who had approached, was busy supporting them, not only by helping to restrain the giant, but also by maintaining the protective barrier and even using magic to assist with the villagers' evacuation—.
But the physical force from its overwhelming size, at least thirty meters, was a disaster in itself.
Even after fighting to distract it as much as possible, the village was a mess, and there were even casualties they couldn't prevent…
'Honestly, even if it just slipped and fell, it would be a fatal attack for us.'
So they couldn't help but be careful even in trying to take it down.
If they could just kill it in one blow without any resistance, there might be a way…
"Understood! It seems like it's angry at me, so I'll slowly retreat and lure it outside the village…!"
Heinrich, who was answering Geos, suddenly stopped, feeling a chill down his spine.
Because of the strange behavior the giant was showing.
'No, wait. Don't tell me…!'
The giant, which had been frowning angrily, tilted its head for a moment,
And then grinned.
It looked grotesque because of the black wires that had sewn its face shut, but—.
It was definitely a big smile filled with anticipation.
'It's intelligent…!'
And…
The White Giant's head,
'It understood our conversation?!'
Turned towards the orphanage they were desperately trying to protect.