Chapter 178: The World of Arrogant Giants (4)
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“…It’s enough.”
Umberach finally nodded his head.
“That much… is definitely enough.”
“Good then.”
Taesan returned to the village.
After tending to the injured, Umberach came back to the territory with his soldiers.
Due to the sudden threat posed by the stronger monsters and its aftermath, Umberach spent the night wide awake.
When everything had settled down to some extent, he sought out Taesan.
“Hmm. I apologize. I was too overwhelmed at the time and failed to express my gratitude properly.”
Umberach bowed his enormous body.
“Thanks to you, no one died. I am deeply grateful.”
Given the strength of the monsters, it would not have been surprising if some giants had perished on the battlefield. But thanks to Taesan, everyone had survived, for which Umberach, as the lord, was profoundly grateful.
Yet his gaze at Taesan was complex.
“May I have a moment to talk?”
“Go ahead.”
The giant sat down. Despite that, Taesan still had to tilt his head back to meet his gaze due to the size difference.
“We… are giants. We believed no one in the world was stronger than us.”
They had thought that although Taesan was strong, his strength did not reach their level.
Thus, they had considered protecting him when taking him to the rift.
“But it was a foolish thought. A foolish judgment.”
Umberach gave a bitter smile.
“First of all, with your strength, you have more than enough qualifications to meet our king. As I said before, sealing the rift is impossible without the strength of a great warrior. You’ve shown that strength, so now it’s my turn to help you.”
Taesan nodded. Umberach continued.
“But it will take some time. The royal castle is far, and the king is busy.”
“That’s fine.”
He had expected to wait a few more days from the start.
After a brief silence, Umberach spoke.
“How did you become so strong?”
“By constantly fighting and winning.”
Taesan replied. Umberach sent him a complex look and asked again.
“Are there many like you outside… those as strong as you?”
“There aren’t many, but there are some who are stronger than me.”
Umberach’s eyes wavered significantly.
“Stronger than you?”
“For now.”
He would eventually catch up, but at this point, the leaders of the guides of sin possessed a strength he couldn’t match.
Umberach chuckled hollowly.
“What are we fighting for?”
Emptiness. The shock of realizing that the world he had known and believed in was crumbling.
He stared blankly at the floor before he spoke.
“In the distant past, there was a giant who ventured into the labyrinth. He was a warrior, stronger and larger than any other. He ventured into the labyrinth, and we heard nothing from him for a long time. We thought he had conquered the labyrinth, but…”
Umberach smiled bitterly.
“If what you say is true, that’s not what happened. He must have fallen in the labyrinth.”
“I was surprised too. I heard you fought against gods.”
Compared to that story, the giants now seemed far too weak.
“We know that story too. All the giants of the world gathered to defeat a transcendent who tried to trample our world and make us his vassals.”
Given the power of the transcendents Taesan knew, such a feat seemed nearly impossible. The descendants of those who had achieved such a feat couldn’t even handle B-rank monsters now, which was laughable.
“Most believed it was just a legend. No one actually believed it. But if it’s true… it means we’ve forgotten something.”
Umberach stroked his chin and asked.
“You said you came to our world by the will of the God of Magic.”
“That’s right.”
“But we know nothing about magic. Not just me, but most giants. It’s strange when you think about it.”
Umberach furrowed his brow.
“A long time ago, I read an ancient book that was almost decayed. It mentioned giants who used magic.”
He had forgotten about it until he heard Taesan’s words. Umberach realized that something was amiss.
“The existence of such a book means we once wielded magic. But now, no one knows about it. Why?”
Umberach was puzzled, but Taesan could guess the reason.
‘Every time I cast magic, something has a negative impact.’
Knock, knock.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
A maid with a very flustered expression entered the room. Umberach stood up.
“What’s the matter?”
“My lord.”
The maid swallowed and said,
“The great warriors have arrived.”
“Huh?”
Umberach was visibly startled.
“It’s only been a day since I sent the message, and they’re already here?”
It was too fast.
The messenger probably hadn’t even reached the royal castle yet. It was an incomprehensible speed.
The maid nodded.
“Yes. And not just one, but four of them.”
Umberach’s eyes widened.
He hurriedly ran outside.
Taesan followed him to the guest room in the lord’s castle, where he saw four giants.
All the giants wore blindfolds. Seeing them, Umberach hastily knelt.
“Oh, great warriors!”
The blindfolded giants looked at Umberach for a moment before turning their gaze to Taesan. Although they wore blindfolds, their gaze was perfectly directed at Taesan without any discomfort.
“Human. Our king has summoned you.”
Taesan nodded.
The great warriors, leaving Umberach’s hospitality behind, prepared to depart for the royal castle immediately. Umberach could only console his regrets.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t give you proper hospitality as a great warrior.”
Umberach regretfully handed Taesan a small piece of ore. Of course, it was small to Umberach, but it was the size of Taesan’s torso.
“It’s a precious ore that only comes from our world. It can be alloyed with any other metal, is harder than steel, yet flexible. Take it.”
“Is it okay to take it?”
“You saved our lives. This is a small price to pay.”
Umberach smiled warmly. He saw Taesan off.
“I hope I can see you again, small warrior.”
The great warriors and Taesan left the city behind.
“How long until we reach the royal castle?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
One of the blindfolded great warriors reached out. A mystical energy began to envelop them.
It was magic.
The great warrior clenched his fist. Their bodies leaped through space.
“We’ve arrived, human.”
The surroundings had completely changed.
Taesan found himself inside a gigantic building where he looked like an ant.
Taesan frowned.
“I heard you forgot magic.”
According to Umberach, the royal castle and his territory were quite far apart. Yet they had traveled the distance in an instant.
It was a spatial leap that couldn’t compare to Taesan’s Blink. The great warrior replied indifferently.
“We paid a price for it. By covering our eyes and limiting our senses, we block interference.”
The great warriors began to leave one by one. Before they disappeared, they left a final word with Taesan.
“Our king awaits you inside.”
Taesan was left alone in the vast hallway.
The ghost murmured.
[That was quick. They must be in a real hurry.]
“It’s not bad for me.”
Taesan approached the giant door and pushed it lightly.
Creak.
With a loud noise, the door opened to reveal a spacious throne room inside.
At the end of the room sat an elderly giant on a throne.
The giant looked very tired. However, the immense power emanating from his body filled the throne room.
Taesan instinctively knew.
The giant before him was an immortal.
Naturally, Taesan assumed a combat stance. Given his bad memories of immortals, it was a reasonable precaution.
Seeing this, the giant king spoke softly.
“I have no intention of harming you. There’s no need to be wary.”
He rested his chin on his hand, looking exhausted.
“Rather, I am grateful to the God of Magic for this opportunity.”
The giant king showed no hostility. As Taesan relaxed, the giant king continued.
“Those gauntlets look familiar.”
His gaze fell on the gauntlets Taesan was wearing.
The God of Magic had unlocked the seal on these gauntlets, which he said he had once used.
“Long ago, there was the strongest individual in our world. He was ferocious, but no one dared to challenge him.”
The giant king spoke like an old man recounting a tale.
“And there was the smallest among us, a giant who was the size of a human. Everyone mocked and ridiculed him. But he never gave up and grew stronger. Finally, he defeated the tyrant and forged his gauntlets as his trophy. It’s all ancient history now.”
It wasn’t clear who the strong one was, but Taesan could guess who the weak one was.
‘The God of Magic.’
The God of Magic was a giant.
The giant king, looking at Taesan, muttered.
“Indeed, you are an agent of the gods. Otherwise, the God of Magic wouldn’t have sent you here.”
“An agent?”
“The gods have their domains. Even gods find it difficult to interfere in other domains. It’s even more so for the gods in the labyrinth.”
That was something Taesan knew. Until he conquered the battleground of the gods, the labyrinth gods didn’t interfere with the gods of the outside world.
“It’s said that it happened once long ago, but I never thought it would happen again. They must be very fond of you.”
The
giant king stood up.
“Are you curious? Why we have become like this? Why we, who once repelled even transcendents, have become so weak?”
Taesan nodded.
The giant king led the way out of the throne room. Taesan followed.
Though there was a huge difference in their sizes, it seemed the castle was magically treated, allowing Taesan to easily keep up with the giant king.
The giant king spoke.
“We were a powerful race. Not just physically strong but also close to the mysteries. It reached its peak when the smallest giant became the God of Magic.”
The magic wielded by the God of Magic was a power of a different level. Just by looking at the magic used by those who called themselves mages in Bekeseuta, it was clear. Their greatest magic was equivalent to the labyrinth’s beginner magic.
“We were strong. So strong that even a transcendent, who once tried to trample us and make us his minions, was defeated by our power. But you know how we are now.”
“Indeed.”
They were barely able to handle B-rank monsters. They weren’t weak, but they couldn’t match their past feats.
“We lost magic. Only a few can use it, sacrificing all their senses to block interference. And you can guess why.”
“The High Gods.”
Taesan murmured. The giant king smiled bitterly as he continued walking.
“The High Gods are cunning. They realized that they couldn’t destroy us by force alone, so over the millennia, they made us forget our power.”
Before long, the two arrived at a transparent barrier deep within the castle.
“Look inside.”
Inside the barrier was a gigantic black sphere.
Countless tentacles attached to the sphere wriggled, creating a repulsive sight.
[A monster ??? has appeared.]
“That monster itself isn’t very strong.”
The giant king said.
“But the problem is the waves it emits.”
The giant king frowned in pain. The waves from the monster penetrated the barrier, spreading outward.
“Thousands of years ago, that monster descended into our world. Since then, it has influenced the entire planet, preventing us from using magic.”
The giant king suddenly turned his gaze to Taesan.
“The closer you get to that monster, the stronger the waves become. Even the strongest giants, except for me, have collapsed before reaching this point. But you seem unaffected.”
“It doesn’t bother me much.”
At Taesan’s words, the giant king laughed.
“Our ancestors sealed that monster with magic and built the royal castle above it, passing down the task of managing the monster for generations. But even in its sealed state, we couldn’t completely eliminate its waves. Even I, an immortal, can only suppress it with force. But you, a mere mortal, are unaffected by these waves. Isn’t that strange?”
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