Chapter 138: The Giant Destroyer (6) |
TL/Editor: Rungir
Schedule: none
Illustrations: none
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Roaring!
The five-horned rhinos at the front let out a massive roar and charged, smashing through the giants on the left flank.
Their strength was such that not even the giants, with their incomparable might, could withstand it.
"Don't let them break through! Block them at all costs!"
The Utekan tribe chiefs, commanding the front lines, watched in dismay and shouted desperately.
Frost wolves ridden by Lord Goblins appeared from behind the rhinos, starting to cut through the giants.
"Screams!"
"What, what! How are these goblins so strong... Aaah!"
As if that wasn't enough, suddenly, flying monsters filled the sky, dropping huge boulders indiscriminately onto the giant's ranks.
The power of their attack was comparable to that of a level 8 mage casting a large-scale area spell.
The giants, who were almost completely unprepared for aerial attacks, were helpless against it.
Screaming and chaos!
During this, the main force, comprised of drakes and other superior monsters, arrived and began to mercilessly slaughter the giants.
This caused the already shaky front line of the Utekan side to collapse in an instant.
"...This should be enough."
Watching the increasingly tilted battlefield from behind, the Monster King Horrible, who did not participate in the battle, muttered to himself.
His expression was not good.
From the rampage in the giant horde to attacking the giants with red horned helmets now.
None of it was his own will.
After the battle at the Steel Fortress, Horrible had his 'real heart' taken by Zion, and since then, he had no choice but to reluctantly follow Zion's orders.
"Well, it's not all bad."
After nearly dying at the hands of Zion in the Achilles Basin and arriving at this horde, Horrible found himself in a much changed state.
Not just in terms of strength, but also in the number of monsters he could control, tactics, strategy, and even his mental maturity.
Everything had improved to an incomparable degree, and he was still growing.
It was unbelievable progress made in less than a month.
"If only I wasn't under his control, things would have been better."
Thinking this, Horrible shook his head and looked at the rapidly dwindling Utekan giants, clicking his tongue.
"Those poor things. They've ended up as his enemies."
The battle between the two sides was still fiercely ongoing, but Horrible spoke as if he already knew the outcome.
It's hard to imagine him dying since he holds my 'real heart'.
Just thinking about that time still makes Horrible tremble.
Then,
----------------!
A burst of white light from the center of the battlefield enveloped the surroundings, followed by rising darkness that caught Horrible's eye.
"Has it begun?"
Recognizing the darkness as Zion's, his eyes sparkled.
---
Prince Utekan Agnes.
His power was very special from a young age.
His cry at birth made a nearby doctor collapse, and before he could even walk, he was breaking trees with his bare hands.
Divine Strength.
A power that seemed to have been bestowed by the heavens.
Utekan actively used this power to refine his skills and applied his innate talent to become unusually strong, almost rivaling the 'Seven Heavens,' known as the strongest in the empire.
Thus, even though Zion had achieved the fourth level of Dark Star, under normal circumstances, he would not be able to compete but...
Shrrrr!
'Now, it's possible.'
The Giant Slayer, Gigapherses.
A weapon that shows mythic-level performance specifically against giants was already in Zion's hands.
The effect of Gigapherses was simple.
It limited the abilities of the targeted giant to a certain level and used any power beyond that to gradually destroy the giant from within.
This ability was fully effective even against the half-breed Utekan.
'No matter how much the spirit is demonic, as long as the body being used is a giant, it can't be avoided.'
Watching the Giant Slayer wrap tightly around Utekan's body on its own, Zion thought.
The Gigapherses, having been starved for giant blood, moved aggressively like a snake tightening around its prey.
"Argh, this is...!"
Utekan tried to remove the chains with both hands, but they only tightened further.
Since there was no need to continue watching, Zion approached quickly and swung his sword, Eclaxia, enveloped in a black flash.
The sword, amplified by a partial eclipse, aimed for Utekan's neck, revealed through the chains.
"Gah!"
Even in this confusing situation, Utekan, with his chains still wrapped around him, twisted his fist and struck out.
Boom!
The light of Divine Wrath burst from his fist, creating dozens of wheels spinning in different directions.
The sound of tearing!
Zion's sword, having pierced through about half of the light wheels, stopped. Utekan, with the remaining wheels spinning faster, grabbed his other fist tightly and swung it.
Utekan's fist, filled with immense power despite being limited by the Giant Slayer, shot towards Zion's head.
At that moment, whoosh!
Zion deactivated the dark energy on his blade, withdrew Eclaxia, and swiftly moved back to escape the attack range.
Boom!
Utekan's fist, missing its target, caused an explosion, warping the space around it.
"What have you done to me!"
Not satisfied, Utekan, with fiery eyes, shouted at Zion and clenched his fist again, pulling it back.
This created a suction force that pulled Zion forward.
Then, thump!
As if waiting for it, Zion quickly leaned forward, using Utekan's force as propulsion to shoot forward even faster.
As Zion's Eclaxia once again scattered dark flames ominously,
At the moment Utekan's fist, radiant with Divine Wrath, formed a perfect sphere, crash!
The simultaneous strikes of both collided, causing a powerful shockwave around them.
"Ugh!"
The knights of the Twilight Sword Sect and the giants grunted softly, trying to block the shockwave.
'...Why?'
Utekan, puzzled, saw his fist bounce off without inflicting any significant damage on Zion.
Utekan was sure his power was stronger.
Even now, with his power limited, and during their first clash moments ago.
So why couldn't he gain the upper hand?
'Could it be that darkness...!'
But Utekan couldn't finish his thought.
Zion's sword had already reached his heart.
Whoosh!
Instantly, the atmosphere around them turned into darkness, being sucked into the tip of Zion's sword.
Unable to ignore the strike, Utekan clashed his fists in front of his chest.
Thump!
The wave of Divine Wrath created from his fists spread through space, forming a thick barrier between him and Zion.
As the barrier and the dark blade were about to collide, swoosh-
Zion's figure melted away and disappeared from the spot.
"…!"
Feeling a sense of dread, Utekan immediately turned around.
But a moment faster, crack!
Eclaxia tore through the space behind him, exploding darkness as it slashed across Utekan's back, revealed through the chains.
This wound allowed the dark energy to seep in, starting to cause secondary damage within Utekan's body.
"Argh!"
A scream burst from Utekan's mouth as he felt the pain.
It was uncertain how long it had been since he last experienced a wound.
Despite being a half-breed, Utekan's giant heritage was so dominantly expressed that his body was even harder than iron armor.
Thump!
Utekan immediately tightened his muscles to stop the bleeding and clenched his teeth as he fiercely punched the air.
Sky Shards.
The power wave that burst forth mixed with the light of Divine Wrath, shining brilliantly before shattering into hundreds of pieces and shooting towards Zion.
Utekan, whose entire body was as good as the strongest weapon, had mastered martial arts that utilized this weapon to its fullest potential, incorporating Divine Wrath to develop his own unique fighting style.
The power was enough to astonish the heavens and shake the earth.
Getting hit even once would undoubtedly leave no trace, but Zion did not evade. Instead, he charged towards the incoming shards of light.
Whoosh!
Amplified by the eclipse, the soul-consuming flames fiercely burned.
Simultaneously, Zion's eyes, stained black, began to see the shards' weaknesses as dots and lines.
Crack!
The black trails created by the consecutive swings of Eclaxia hit those weaknesses precisely, without a single error.
Boom!
The fragments of light, unable to reach Zion, caused a massive explosion in the air.
Breaking through the explosion in one go, Zion's form appeared right in front of Utekan.
"Zion, you...!"
"You won't have time to be surprised."
Facing Utekan's shaky gaze, Zion smiled slyly and swung Eclaxia, unleashing a storm-like flurry of attacks.
Crash!
The unimaginable clash began.
"..."
From a distance, Captan watched the battle with a blank expression.
There was no opening for him to intervene.
In fact, he could hardly understand how the battle was progressing.
Crack, crash!
All he could see were the flashing lights, waves of light, and explosively rising darkness.
Even that was enough for him to realize the battle was at a level far beyond what he could emulate, especially captivated by glimpses of Zion's movements.
Zion seemed to be swinging his sword in directions completely unrelated to the battle, yet every swing precisely met the opponent's attack.
It was as if he was foreseeing dozens of moves ahead.
To display such movements against Utekan, already one of the strongest within the imperial walls, how profound must Zion's skills be?
"No, this is beyond the realm of skill."
Something that transcends even skill.
Even though Utekan's power was limited by Gigapherses, that only applied to the realm of strength, not skill.
The sight was awe-inspiring enough to evoke a sense of reverence.
'Could I ever reach that level?'
Captan, clutching his fist, thought this with a slowly igniting flame of desire in his eyes.
Then,
"Aaaaah!"
Perhaps deciding he could no longer afford to waste time as the chains continued to constrict and limit his power, Utekan let out a roar, almost like a scream, and then suddenly,
Zion's body, which had stopped in place, began to be pressed down as if gravity had increased tenfold.
Utekan, with veins bulging from exertion, had suppressed the very space Zion was in.
Together with this, boom!
Utekan, wrapped in the divine power of the sun-like Divine Wrath, rushed towards Zion with insane speed, leaving a trail of flames behind him.
Whoosh!
Soon, those flames of Divine Wrath gathered into Utekan's fist, starting to form a small sun.
Heavenly Star Drill.
A strike from a giant that once obliterated an entire fortress.
That strike was now being recreated here, aimed at Zion.
"Prince Zion!"
Lucas, witnessing the sudden turn of events, urgently shouted and started running towards Zion.
Dangerous.
His lord could not move, and the power in Utekan's fist, bearing down on him, was terrifyingly malignant.
'I must block it...!'
But Utekan was already launching his sun-infused punch directly at Zion.
The intense killing intent and exhilaration in Utekan's eyes.
And just as his sun was about to completely obliterate the bound Zion,
Lucas, Captan, and everyone around could see it.
Partial eclipse.
The second stage of soul-consuming amplification.
Armor of the Lost Souls.
The darkness wrapping around Zion formed a complete armor, and then, crack!
A chilling black light burst forth, erasing the bindings in an instant, followed by,
--------!
The scene where even Utekan's sun was completely engulfed.