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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 237: Giant God
Mercenaries appeared in droves at the rear of the battlefield, where the Crazy Mage Squad and the Lotus Swordsman had gathered.
At first glance, they seemed like reinforcements, but the moment a Lotus Swordsman screamed as a spear blade slashed across his back, their true nature became clear.
"You bastards!"
"They're the enemy!"
A mercenary reflected in Spear Fiend’s eyes looked familiar.
‘Hodgkin.’
It was Cecilia’s Mercenary Corps.
Fwoosh!
In the brief moment his focus was split, Spear Fiend barely managed to deflect a Dark Sword.
His gaze met mine.
As expected, his eyes were tainted with demonic energy.
Even in his maddened state, he hesitated to act, perhaps due to an instinctive sense of danger.
Vrrr—!
Six circles spun in reverse once more.
As the band of darkness coursing through my right arm took the shape of a blade, I lunged at Spear Fiend.
Crackle!
He shifted into a defensive stance, his massive spear crackling with lightning.
But in that instant, Black’s manifested Heart Void Style and sliced through the space in front of him, scattering the lightning.
I drove my Dark Sword straight into the opening that formed.
Even the skin of the Three Evils, known to withstand the sword force of superhuman knights, was useless against it.
Not even Magnus could block the Dark Sword, calling it the Blade of Annihilation and treating it with dread.
Shhh—
Like a blade passing through air, the Dark Sword pierced deep into his chest without resistance.
A terrible scream rang out as Spear Fiend’s chest melted away.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Haa..."
Had I expended too much power in an instant?
A sharp pain surged through my heart, and nausea crept up my throat, but I forced it down.
There was no sense of triumph in killing one of the Three Evils of the Giant Tribe with a single strike.
Swish—
I immediately turned to check on my subordinates.
The Giant Tribe’s numbers had dwindled significantly thanks to the Crazy Mage Squad’s arrival, but the sudden appearance of Cecilia’s forces in the rear had turned the tide.
However, rather than us, it was Cecilia’s mercenaries who looked unsettled.
"Kill them all!"
"Wait, why does it reek of blood?"
"The head! Aim for the head, you bastards!"
Cecilia’s men, who had initially targeted the Lotus Swordsman, fell helplessly under the Crazy Mage Squad’s incantations.
They called themselves the continent’s greatest mercenaries, second only to the Divine Clans, yet they couldn't even put up a proper fight against the Crazy Mage Squad, who had already stepped into the realm of the Sixth Circle.
Only after merging with the Giant Tribe and securing a numerical advantage did they manage to reach a standstill.
Plop—
A faint wetness landed on my crown.
Raindrops began to fall, one by one.
Plop. Plop, plop—
Beyond the entangled battlefield, a man came into view.
Riding a white horse, a man carrying a golden spear on his back surveyed the battlefield just like I was.
It was him.
That bastard was Cecilia.
Even as his subordinates were being pushed back, he was fixated on someone in the battlefield, staring as if he'd seen something he couldn't believe.
And directly in the center of the battlefield, locked in a gaze with Cecilia as if sparks were about to fly—
"...It's time."
As Wolf drew his sword, Cecilia pulled the golden spear from his back as if he had been waiting for this moment.
The two men leaped at each other.
The moment Cecilia’s spear erupted with spear force, Wolf, his left sleeve rolled up, braced the hilt of his sword with his prosthetic hand.
At the same time, sword force surged from Wolf’s blade, and for a brief moment, surprise flickered in Cecilia’s eyes.
I didn’t step in to help Wolf.
Because I saw the look in his eyes.
Instead, I stood still and surveyed the battlefield once more.
‘This isn’t over.’
Something felt ominous.
The Three Evils of the Giant Tribe and Cecilia—
All of it was orchestrated by the Myriad Demon Assembly.
Did they really not anticipate that I would come to reinforce them?
Maybe they hadn't.
Right now, we were deep beyond the northeastern border stronghold, lured far inside enemy territory.
Unless one was a transcendent knight, it would be difficult to grasp the warped terrain of the "Land of Death" at a glance.
The very structure of this place made it nearly impossible for reinforcements to arrive quickly.
‘Even so…’
It didn’t make sense.
If their goal was to kill Loren and Black here—
Then just the Three Evils and Cecilia’s mercenaries wouldn’t be enough.
They already knew that Black and Loren had reached the realm of transcendence.
Fwoosh!
Even now, Loren was effortlessly pushing back Sword Fiend.
The Crazy Mage Squad and the Lotus Swordsman were cutting down Cecilia’s mercenaries.
The attacks of the two commanders from the Giant Tribe weren’t enough to turn the tide.
Given a little more time, victory would be certain.
"Luine."
But just as Black approached with a solemn expression, having recovered from his internal injuries—
I realized the source of the unease pressing against my heart.
I immediately asked Black,
"Where is Legion Commander Maohe?"
Black shook his head.
"Haven’t seen him."
"But he was supposed to be guarding this place. I heard it from the Ten Thousand Swordsman."
Black replied in a low voice,
"The Clan Head has arrived, then."
"Yeah, I met him. He’s suspicious of Arihama."
"So he already knows about the Myriad Demon Assembly?"
"That’s not the issue right now. Is Maohe really stationed here?"
"Legion commanders rotate between key strongholds. He was never here to begin with."
"Any way to contact him? None?"
"At this point, no."
"Where was he originally stationed?"
"Arihama."
The moment Black and I spoke, we both turned our eyes to the sky.
As if night and day had swapped in an instant, the sky was engulfed in complete darkness.
Then, like the end of an eclipse, light returned.
"Loren!"
I layered Inferno and unleashed it toward Loren, who was locked in battle with Sword Fiend.
At the same time, Black drew his sword, turning swiftly to slash downward with Dark Sword.
Heart Void Style, Third Blade.
Shaa—!
Right behind Loren—
Within the space Black had cleaved apart, Inferno erupted.
And in that moment, a massive, jet-black hand shot out from the inferno's searing flames.
The space tore open, revealing a hand far beyond the size of any grown man’s.
A grotesque, hellish appendage stretched forward, aiming directly for Loren’s head.
"Tch."
For the first time, Loren gritted his teeth while facing Sword Fiend.
Swish—!
A fallen lotus-patterned sword on the ground suddenly moved as if guided by will, intercepting the monstrous hand.
The mastery of Sword Control.
Seizing the moment, Loren quickly evaded and fixed his gaze on the spatial tear.
Riiiip—!
The rift in space was completely torn open—
And through it emerged a giant.
Even larger than Sword Fiend and Spear Fiend by a full head.
Four arms. A grotesquely twisted face.
There was only one possibility.
"...First Fiend."
The foremost of the Three Evils.
Now, all of the Three Evils of the Giant Tribe had appeared.
Black immediately moved toward Loren in the rear.
But I turned forward and shouted instead—
"Fall back!"
Vwooom—!
The moment my mana-infused voice echoed across the battlefield, the Crazy Mage Squad sprang into action.
I began chanting a 7th-Circle wind spell.
Boom—!
With a wide arc, Makan swung his spear overhead before slamming it into the ground.
At that moment, every squad member unleashed their most devastating spells at once.
Sensing the overwhelming danger, both the giants and Cecilia’s mercenaries instinctively retreated into a defensive stance.
"Move!"
At Zion’s signal, the Crazy Mage Squad halted their incantations and fell back toward me simultaneously.
The battle-hardened Lotus Swordsman, reading the shift in momentum, swiftly withdrew their blades and regrouped as well.
In the brief moment of stillness that followed as our forces and the enemy separated—
I completed my incantation and stretched both hands toward the cluster of giants and Cecilia’s mercenaries.
Whooosh—!
The howling winds gathered into a single vortex, spiraling upward toward the heavens.
The Land of Death.
In this place, where frigid winds howled like madness—
The most efficient incantation.
Grrrrk—!
The frost lingering in the domain gathered around the vortex, sharpening into countless blades.
In the blink of an eye—
The vortex swallowed the enemies whole and surged forward.
7th-Circle, Wind-Type.
Gigantic Hurricane.
Fwoooosh—!
Every enemy in the front vanished into the swirling storm.
At the rear, Loren and Black finally unleashed their full power—
And the overwhelming presence of the Three Evils of the Giant Tribe began to fade.
"…Commander."
Only the Crazy Mage Squad still had their eyes on me.
The unease I felt—
They felt it too.
Saaah—
It was coming.
He was coming.
Though nothing was visible beyond the raging vortex—
I could feel it.
The fact that all Three Evils of the Giant Tribe had appeared could mean only one thing.
There was only one being capable of assembling them in one place.
If the Three Evils were the Giant Tribe’s strongest warriors—
Then he was the very reason for their existence.
Saaah—!
Suddenly, the storm splitting forward was sliced apart diagonally.
And through the parted winds, a man began to walk forward.
"……"
Everything froze.
Black and Loren, who had been attacking just moments ago, instinctively turned to face him.
Without hesitation, First Fiend and Sword Fiend leaped to his side.
He was clearly of the Giant Tribe—
Yet, compared to the giants we had seen so far, his build was the smallest.
But his presence alone utterly erased that of the Three Evils.
Six arms wielding swords wreathed in roaring flames—
It was clear who he was.
"So this is what the Myriad Demon Assembly was after."
Their true goal.
Not the Four Lords. Not even the Three Evils.
To deal with Black and Loren, they had sent him.
Boom—!
The god of the Giant Tribe.
The Giant God was approaching.
Even if the Demon Dragon that once stood beside him had perished long ago—
The sheer presence of the Giant God alone surpassed every enemy we had faced thus far.
Beyond the fully dissipated vortex, countless giants had assembled behind him.
"Ah, for fuck’s sake."
The moment I muttered those words, the Crazy Mage Squad responded as if on cue.
"For fuck’s sake."
"Ah, shit."
"Should we kill him, boss?"
For some reason—
I could feel the Giant God’s gaze locked onto me.
I met his eyes.
Krurururururu!
Kraaahhhhh!
Hundreds of giants let out deafening war cries and charged forward.
At the same time, the Crazy Mage Squad surged ahead to meet them.
Step—
Even as the battle erupted, the Giant God and I remained locked in a stare.
Like a volcano about to erupt, a fierce demonic aura began pouring from his burning pupils.
And then—
With a single motion of one of his six arms,
The flaming sword in his grip vanished—
And instantly reappeared before me.
A blade of fire, tearing through space as if it had a will of its own.
Sword Control.
Loren’s Lotus Sword flew forth to intercept it.
Crack— Crackle—
A wet, sticky sensation made me pause.
I ran a hand across my face.
"Drenched already."
My palm was slick, as if I had dipped it into a river.
At that moment, the raindrops that had been trickling down began pouring in a downpour.
Swooosh—!
"Even the fucking rain’s a mess."
The crimson sky roared as the storm scattered torrents of rain in every direction.
Vwooom—!
I fully unleashed my heart’s circles—
And charged.
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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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