Chapter 177: The World of Arrogant Giants (3)
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The giants were strong. Even those without much training could easily defeat C-rank monsters.
But Taesan was unsure.
Did they truly possess the legendary power to fight against transcendents?
The God of Magic had told him that the giants once delved deeper into the mysteries of magic than anyone else. But now, they had forgotten him.
Even the reaction of the lord indicated that much. The city was quite large by giant standards. Assuming their civilization was comparable to Earth’s medieval times, it was a fairly well-established territory.
Yet the lord of such a place did not truly understand magic.
This was strange.
At first, Taesan thought that they might be suppressing magic and denying the God of Magic.
He considered that it might be a quest to confront those who were hostile to the God of Magic, much like in the battleground of gods.
But the giants were not hostile to magic.
They had merely forgotten it.
Taesan extended his hand into the air.
[You have activated Ice Arrow.]
As soon as the frozen arrow materialized, a check was triggered.
[Mind Control Check in Progress…]
[Check Successful!]
A check occurred every time he used magic.
‘Is it because of this?’
The reason why the giants, who once deeply studied magic, had forgotten it. It was just a hypothesis, but it seemed highly plausible.
Taesan dispelled the Ice Arrow. Finding out why magic was forgotten seemed important, but the immediate priority was to solve the current problem.
The most important goal was to earn the right to meet the king.
And to meet the king as an outsider, he had to achieve a significant feat.
After pondering for a while, Taesan stood up. There was a limit to what he could achieve by sitting and thinking in the room. Such matters required direct action to find a solution.
The next morning, Taesan stepped into the hallway to wait for someone. Before long, he saw Umberach, drenched in sweat but with a satisfied expression.
“Phew. That was an enjoyable fight.”
“Hello.”
“Hmm? Human?”
Umberach noticed Taesan and looked at him with concern.
“I won’t stop you from wandering around, but you should be careful. You could get stepped on if you’re unlucky.”
“That won’t be a problem.”
“Right. After all, you did take down the Black Marauders, so you won’t die just by being stepped on.”
Umberach grinned. His armor was battered, and his hair was disheveled. Taesan asked,
“Have you been fighting?”
“I was dealing with the monsters from the rift you saw yesterday. Those damn creatures. The fights are satisfying, but they are exhausting.”
Umberach’s eyes narrowed. He could defeat them without issue, but they appeared daily, which was quite troublesome for him as he managed the territory. He couldn’t predict when another problem might arise.
Listening to his story, Taesan realized something odd.
“Can’t you block the rift itself?”
Taesan had already blocked the purple rifts on Earth.
But Umberach shook his head at Taesan’s suggestion.
“We can temporarily block them, but we lack the power to completely seal them. The royal warriors must come for that. And they are too busy to visit a remote territory like this.”
Umberach’s words made Taesan realize what he needed to do to meet the king.
“When is the next rift supposed to open?”
“It opens twice a day. It should open again this evening.”
“Then I’ll join you next time.”
Umberach’s eyes widened at Taesan’s words.
“You too?”
“Is there a problem with that?”
“There’s no problem, but… are you sure?”
Umberach’s eyes were filled with concern.
There was no hint of disdain or mockery, just genuine worry for Taesan’s safety.
Taesan smiled.
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
That night, Taesan arrived at the rift with the giants.
Many giants, stationed near the rift, looked at Taesan with worried expressions.
They felt the same concern that Umberach had shown, but Taesan calmly dismissed their gazes.
“The rift will open in a few minutes. Well, if you insist, I won’t stop you.”
Umberach sighed. He had planned to hold a festival for the outsider for several days, but now he found himself worrying about the outsider’s life. It was only natural that he felt concerned.
Taesan, undeterred, asked his question.
“That’s a rift caused by the High Gods, right?”
“Hmm? You know about them too?”
“I come from the labyrinth.”
“Now that you mention it, the gods are present in that place. That makes it easier to explain.”
Umberach spoke.
“Just as you said, it was the High Gods who created the rifts to destroy our world. They continuously send monsters to attack us. They’re really troublesome.”
Umberach snorted.
He seemed completely accustomed to it by now.
“How long have those been around?”
“I don’t know. What’s certain is that they’ve been here since before this territory was established. Those annoying things have been with us for over a thousand years.”
Umberach’s face showed annoyance.
“They’re not particularly threatening, but they keep coming and pestering us.”
“The rifts aren’t just here?”
“There’s a rift near each territory.”
That was peculiar.
The giants were indeed strong. The fact that they could be compared to players who had risked their lives to clear Normal Mode without any training was remarkable.
But their strength wasn’t that exceptional.
If a B-rank monster appeared, they could defeat it, but they would have to risk their lives. It wasn’t something they could simply dismiss as annoying.
‘Is there some kind of restriction?’
Crack.
At that moment, the rift split open.
But the appearance of the rift was unusual. It seemed to tremble violently, as if something was trying to force its way through a narrow space.
“Hmm?”
Umberach had never experienced this before. Then, monsters began to emerge from the distorted rift.
Crack.
Some monsters had limbs crushed and cut off from forcing their way through the twisted rift.
But a few managed to cross the rift intact and rose up.
“Huh?”
Umberach’s eyes twitched as he looked at the emerging monsters.
Something was wrong.
The power emanating from the giant monsters was qualitatively different from the ones he usually saw.
And Taesan saw a system window that only he could see.
[Monster 91221 has appeared.]
[Monster 45432 has appeared.]
[Monster 51125 has appeared.]
Five-digit numbered monsters.
B-rank monsters.
The monsters showed killing intent toward Taesan.
“They’re quick to respond.”
They seemed to have noticed Taesan’s presence and had sent stronger monsters to kill him.
“Huh?”
Umberach couldn’t recklessly charge at the unfamiliar aura of the monsters. But the impatient giants charged at the monsters with a battle cry.
“Uraaaah!”
The monster swung its massive arm.
It shattered the giants’ clubs and struck their chests.
“Argh!”
The giants screamed and fell. The giants who were late to charge stopped in their tracks, shocked by the unexpected strength of the monsters.
The monsters started to approach slowly.
The giants’ eyes turned red.
“How dare you!”
“Those accursed beings!”
Monsters that had once been insignificant were now striking down the great giants. Enraged, the giants charged all at once. Umberach also joined the fray.
“Hup!”
He swung his sword fiercely.
The monster swung its square-shaped arm to block the sword.
Clang!
Both were thrown back. Umberach’s eyes widened.
Up until now, the monsters had never been able to properly block his sword. But this one had almost equal strength.
The monsters had become stronger.
But Umberach laughed heartily.
As a lord, the rift was a nuisance, but he was also a giant who revered strength and loved battle.
The fact that the enemy had grown stronger was something to be delighted about, not shocked.
And the other giants felt the same. Even as they bled, they roared and fought against the monsters.
They did not fear death.
But the limits were clear.
The opponents were several B-rank monsters. And only the strongest, Umberach, could fight them one-on-one. Other giants were attacking the monsters together, but more and more were getting injured.
Seeing this, Taesan began to move.
Umberach, who had been enjoying the battle, was startled.
“Human! Fall back! This place is dangerous!”
Unlike the previous monsters, there was no room to watch. He shouted urgently, but Taesan did not stop.
When Taesan entered the battlefield, the monsters’ movements changed. They pushed away the giants they were fighting and charged at Taesan.
Three monsters, each the size of a giant, charged at Taesan. Umberach tried to break free to help, but he couldn’t shake off the monster in front of him.
The monsters attacked Taesan.
Taesan casually threw a punch.
Crack.
With the sound of something shattering, the monsters were sent flying. Umberach’s eyes widened.
“B-rank monsters are no problem for me now.”
He had already defeated an A-rank monster upon his return.
Even if several B-rank monsters attacked him, it wouldn’t be a significant problem.
“Did they think this would be enough?”
Or was this all they could do?
Considering how the monsters had forced their way through the rift, it seemed more likely to be the latter.
Taesan continued to move.
He drew his sword and moved among the monsters.
Crack.
[You dealt 2,285 damage to Monster 91221.]
He plunged his
sword into the monster. He dodged the arm coming down on him and activated Ice Arrow, piercing it. At the same time, an unpleasant sensation pierced his mind, but he shook it off.
‘It’s definitely because of these.’
The unpleasant feeling he had sensed whenever he used magic had intensified.
It wasn’t enough to be a problem, so Taesan continued to fight the monsters.
The giants, including Umberach, watched Taesan’s battle with dumbfounded expressions.
‘What is this…’
They knew Taesan was strong. But they had thought of him as a weak outsider, far below the giants.
They believed he had defeated the Black Marauders by taking advantage of their small size and catching them off guard, not in a serious fight.
That wasn’t just Umberach’s belief.
Every giant believed that.
They thought they were the strongest beings in the world.
The labyrinth, with its gods, didn’t matter to them.
Magic was nothing.
They belittled the outside world and considered it inferior. As contact with the outside world ceased, their prejudice became fact.
But now, that belief was being shattered before their eyes.
[You have activated Lightning Strike.]
Lightning pierced through a monster. The very magic they had so despised was now effectively striking down the monsters they struggled against.
Crack.
Another monster fell.
Umberach finally snapped out of his shock and gritted his teeth.
“We are giants.”
He couldn’t just stand by and watch a human handle everything. He broke free from his shock and shouted.
“Giants! Are you just going to watch this tiny human do everything?”
The giants’ eyes lit up.
Their pride roused them.
After that, it was simple. Taesan could have defeated all the monsters alone, but with the giants joining in, it didn’t take long for all the monsters to be eradicated.
[Your Spiritual Elevation has activated. ??? proficiency has increased by 1%.]
Defeating several B-rank monsters had raised his proficiency by a total of 4%.
It wasn’t a bad harvest.
Umberach looked at Taesan with trembling eyes.
“You are…”
“Before that.”
Taesan stood in front of the purple rift.
Umberach had said only the king’s warriors could seal the rift.
Taesan thrust his sword into the rift. The rift twisted violently, resisting him. It looked as if the rift was screaming, but Taesan crushed it with sheer force.
Eventually, the rift, which had been writhing, gave in and vanished.
The giants watching were astonished.
“Is this enough to meet your king?”