Episode 196 White Giant (3)
[———!!]
The giant's roar, filled with fury and murderous intent, echoed heavily, shaking the surroundings.
Rumble—! Crack! Boom—!
And it didn't stop there. The ground crumbled, and earthquakes occurred as it thrashed about.
"Hahaha! This guy's still full of energy!"
Harley burst into laughter, sitting on the giant's head with his 10-ton body.
He was still using "Gem Eye: Coercion" at full power to prevent it from getting up.
Of course, it was impossible for him to completely suppress the giant's massive body, which was the size of a 10-story building and weighed hundreds of tons.
But since its body was humanoid, the process of getting up was obvious.
'I'm quite knowledgeable about the human body structure.'
It was easy for him to focus on hindering the movements necessary for the giant to get up, as he had become an expert in human anatomy by modifying his own body.
'It consumes a lot of energy, so I can't maintain it for long. But we've bought enough time for the people to evacuate.'
And he was using life force mixed with 'madness' to activate "Gem Eye: Coercion", so it was showing a greater effect on the giant, as he expected.
If it hadn't been for that, he would have needed more power to restrain it.
Rumble—
But it seemed like he was reaching his limit.
"Oops! This guy's impatient! He can rest a bit longer!"
Harley subtly got up as the giant finally placed both hands on the ground and started to raise its upper body.
As expected,
Whoosh—!
A white hand, comparable in size to Harley in his complete form, flew towards him with a loud whooshing sound.
"Oof!"
Of course, Harley, who wouldn't allow such a simple attack, easily dodged it and took cover.
And thanks to him buying time for Isea to personally evacuate the people, there was only himself left near the giant…
"Hmm, as I expected, destroying its internal organs doesn't have much effect. But I didn't expect it to be fine even after its heart was crushed."
"Ugh, I don't even know if my attacks are working."
…And Heinrich and Geos, who had been diligently attacking the giant's body.
"Khahat! I guess we have to aim for the head? I tried to crush it while I was on top of it, but it's too tough, and it's filled with madness. Isn't a heavily defended area usually a weak point?"
Harley moved to his companions, speaking nonchalantly.
Heinrich and Geos were also quite tall, but they looked like an adult and a child next to him.
…But they were all the same in front of the giant.
The White Giant was now standing upright before them, looking down with an angry expression.
It felt like the sky was blocked, and shadows were cast everywhere as they looked up at it.
[——?! ——!]
'Hmm, it seems very angry.'
A rough roar emanating from its massive, bulging muscles and its constantly twitching throat.
And now it didn't even seem to care about the orphanage group it had been chasing, its gaze fixed on the hero party… more precisely, on Heinrich and Harley.
And as if to reflect the giant's feelings,
Whoosh—! Boom!
Its hand, which had already risen high into the air, struck down like lightning, crushing the area where they were standing.
Of course, the party wouldn't be hit by such a simple attack, and the battle resumed in a similar fashion as before.
'This giant, it's definitely intelligent… But it's not rational enough to use it effectively. Well, it's a monster that crawled out of the abyss, so it's only natural.'
It had somehow understood human language and even extracted information from their conversation to identify their weakness.
It had even shown a cunning side, using it to gain an advantage in battle.
'But it was an irrational decision to actually charge into the village.'
After all, hostages were only valuable when they were alive.
If it really killed them, it would only provoke the hero's anger…
'Wait, would there really be nothing left?'
A thought suddenly crossed his mind.
The opponent was a monster that crawled out of the abyss.
Was it right to judge its behavior based on ordinary standards?
'If that's the case, what it could gain is…'
When someone was killed, others would feel anger.
And there would be those who would grieve, those who would despair, those who would become nihilistic, and even those who couldn't accept reality and went mad.
'All negative emotions.'
And to a being of the abyss, such negative emotions weren't just a source of power.
'A means to absorb evil karma… and become stronger.'
He knew that better than anyone.
Because—.
'…Hans is the same.'
Immortal King Hannibal Strauss, or Hans for short.
The previous Immortal Kings had been consumed by their mission to cover the world in death and had repeatedly invaded the continent.
Hans was able to block that urge thanks to "Mind Hub", but he knew how strong that force was.
Not only had he felt it indirectly several times while coming into contact with the fragments, but he had also seen the information left behind by the previous Immortal King's thoughts.
'And Hans is the successor to the evil karma of his predecessors.'
When the Immortal King was succeeded, he would inherit a part of his predecessor's evil karma and become even stronger.
Of course, he was already strong from the beginning, as he was a crystal of death extracted from the abyss.
The first Immortal King, who was the best mage of his time, had burned half the continent, even though he had aimed for an unguarded situation, and…
The second Immortal King, a third-rate dark mage who happened to obtain the heart, had destroyed the western part of the continent, which was already well-prepared.
'Of course, this giant doesn't seem to have the ability to pass on evil karma to its successor…'
The important thing right now was that this White Giant was also a being who could become stronger by absorbing evil karma, just like the Immortal King.
'…Is he trying to create a second Immortal King?'
Heinrich frowned as he swung his sword.
He was convinced that this phenomenon wasn't natural.
It wasn't a being that was drifting in the boundary, it was a monster that should have been at the bottom of the abyss, and it had suddenly torn through the scar and appeared.
And it was even carrying a considerable amount of madness.
Then the identity of the one who did this was obvious.
'Oath of Heaven's Defiance. The one who possesses the medium of madness extracted from the abyss. He must have done something.'
Thinking about it that way, it didn't seem like a coincidence that the giant had appeared here at this time.
No matter how many scars of the abyss were left in the Lesque Kingdom because it was the site of the final battle with the second Immortal King, the timing was too perfect.
'…Was he targeting Heinrich, the Saint? Or maybe he was drawn here by the madness Harley possesses.'
Maybe it really was a coincidence, but it didn't matter now.
'…I just have to stop him from growing any further and finish him off here.'
Heinrich's and Harley's eyes gleamed as they swung their sword and dug their claws into the giant's flesh.
["I'll support you now! I've gathered the orphanage people and even the villagers and set up a temporary barrier in a safe place, so they won't be swept away."]
["Good. Now that we don't have to worry about them, shall we finish him off?"]
Isea's message arrived, saying she had returned.
They had sufficiently grasped the giant's abilities, and there was nothing more to be concerned about.
Whoosh— Thump!
The giant's massive right foot, aiming for Harley, stomped down.
But by the time it reached the ground, he was already behind it.
He moved so fast that the dust he kicked up hadn't even settled yet.
Harley, who had landed on the ground, crouched like a beast and bared his teeth, his lips curving upwards into a ferocious grin.
Crack! Creak—!
Metallic sounds escaped from his extremely compressed muscles, and the "Mad Dragon's Heart" pulsed relentlessly, high-density energy swirling throughout his body.
"Haha! First…!"
Tattoos, bio-aura, and 'madness' started to strengthen and destroy his body, easily surpassing his physical limits.
"Super Regeneration" was in charge of maintaining the necrotizing cells.
"Let's get on the same level, friend!"
His thigh muscles, mixed with the mutant Minotaur's genes he had acquired, bulged,
And as he pulled himself up with both hands planted on the ground,
Boom—!
His body shot up like a missile.
Towards the giant's right hamstring.
Thump—!
The giant's leg shook, and its body swayed.
Even if it weighed hundreds of tons, it wasn't exactly light.
It was only natural for it to stumble when something of his weight crashed into a weak point of its body.
It tried to support itself with its left leg…
"Haa—!"
Whoosh—
But its efforts were in vain because its left leg was already covered in cuts, and Heinrich swung his sword again at the perfect timing.
[———?!]
The giant started to fall to the side where Harley had crashed into it.
And as it instinctively reached out to brace its fall,
"Hoooo—"
Geos, who had taken a deep breath, raised his spear—.
And thrust it towards the air a dozen times in an instant.
His attacks hadn't been very effective so far, as the wounds healed in a matter of seconds, but…
Boom—!
It was enough to buy time for him to shatter the giant's wrist as it was about to touch the ground, sending it rolling.
[———!!]
The earth screamed, and a massive shockwave swept the surroundings as the giant roared and writhed in anger.
And as it tried to support itself with its left hand and push off the ground with its right hand, which had just started to regenerate,
Wooong—
Isea's gravity magic activated again, pressing down on the giant's body.
It was a brilliant coordinated attack, made possible through their teamwork and the communication magic.
["I can't maintain this for long because of its magic resistance!"]
["Hahaha! That's enough! We're going again right away!"]
["Wait, be more specific!"]
But Harley just charged forward, as if to show them with actions.
He reached where the giant's head was and leaped up with all his might.
"Heave-ho—!"
["Ah? W-wait! If you go in there, even Harley…"]
"Hahaha! That's what I want!"
His two hands, tightly clenched and pulled back behind him, and his back arched like a bow.
And as he fell from the sky, accelerated by gravity,
He slammed both hands down, putting all his weight into it.
Boom!
The giant's head was slammed into the ground again.
It was only natural, as it was as if a hammer weighing dozens of tons had struck it.
["Are you okay?! Isn't that too much, even for you?!"]
["Hmm… It's a bit stiff."]
Naturally, Harley, who had launched a physical attack, couldn't completely ignore the impact.
But he just shook his hands a few times and then looked down at the head beneath him.
"This is a familiar position. A nostalgic sight! Now then, should I crush this?"
He nonchalantly stomped on the ground, using "Gem Eye: Coercion" to restrain the giant's movements.
Its skull was so tough that it was only slightly dented, even after being directly hit by his 'Gravity Hammer'.
["…How about we try to cut its neck?"]
["Oh? That's a good idea, mister!"]
["Then I'll try to cut it."]
But it wasn't easy to cut its neck, perhaps because it was a weak point.
Of course, it just meant that it would take a little longer.
The giant finally broke free from the restraints and rampaged again, but it didn't last long, and its neck was eventually severed.
And finally,
'Oh, this is?'
Harley smiled with satisfaction, holding the reward for their efforts.
____________________
Western border of the Azeria Empire.
"Ugh!"
"What the hell is this monster! How are we supposed to defeat something like this?!"
A massacre was literally unfolding in a garrison there.
Hundreds of elite soldiers had already died, and even the master-level knight who was the commander of the unit was among them.
"Retreat! Retreat! We need to inform the legion first!"
"No, if that thing gets loose and enters the city, everyone will be killed!"
"There's nothing we can do! We have to warn the surroundings first!"
The executives finally succeeded in relaying the information after a desperate retreat, even suffering casualties.
But over 90% of the unit had been massacred in the process.
And the White Giant, standing in the middle of a sea of blood and corpses, the one who had caused the tragedy,
Thud— Thud!
Felt the suffocating seal that had been binding it finally loosening, and was filled with joy.
Of course, not all the restrictions had been lifted.
Only the seal that had been blocking one of its nostrils had been opened.
[Haa—]
But even that was a great joy for him.
Because he could finally breathe.
The air around him was sucked into his lungs at a tremendous speed as he started to inhale deeply.
And…
[Huu—]
From his exhalation,
Whoosh—
A terrifying miasma that corroded everything spread in all directions.