Chapter 73

Sshwaaack!

A silver longsword shot forward.

A tremendous force was channeled into the blade.

The grip tightened around the hilt.

Mana surged through his hand.

But it wasn’t ordinary mana expelled through the Mana Heart.

It was something far more explosive and destructive.

Kiiiiing—!

The three Mana Circles surrounding Javier’s heart spun at high speed.

Pushed to their limits, they twisted.

One circle encased his heart.

The other two collided.

A violent explosion erupted.

The impact surged through his veins, racing through his body.

It shot up from his torso, past his shoulders, down his arm.

Finally, it reached his fingertips and was channeled into his sword’s hilt.

Amplified through the blade.

And then—

It was released.

Straight toward Gigatitan’s most fatal weak point—

The connecting joint between Carapace Plate 11 and Carapace Plate 12.

Twok!

The blast struck the weak point.

At that moment, Javier’s blue eyes gleamed.

‘It worked.’

The twenty-year-old silver-haired genius was certain.

The ideal Burst Strike had been executed.

The explosive force had been delivered precisely.

The stab and angle had been flawless.

Every condition perfectly matched what Lloyd had taught him about targeting weaknesses.

Then, the explosion detonated.

Thwkaaaaang—!

Devastating force tore through the gap in Gigatitan’s carapace.

Everything caught within the blast radius was shredded, ripped apart.

The attack penetrated deep inside.

Grrrrrrruk!

Gigatitan let out a monstrous roar.

Its massive body twisted in agony.

In that moment, the explosion surged deeper into the gap between its carapace.

It burrowed.

It rampaged.

It sought out the vital organs where it could inflict a fatal wound.

Breaking through everything in its path.

And then—

It stopped.

At just 5 centimeters.

It had pierced through the carapace but stopped 5 centimeters short of the inner flesh.

The once-explosive force dissipated.

“Huh?”

Javier’s eyes widened.

At the same time, a powerful recoil shot back toward his shoulder.

The price of failing to completely pierce through the carapace.

Thwok—!

“……!”

The backlash from the explosion came rushing back through the narrow hole he had carved.

“Guh!”

Javier’s sword was knocked away.

His torso lurched, his right shoulder, gripping the blade, flung wide open.

The same happened to his other arm.

His left hand, which had been gripping one of Gigatitan’s carapace spikes, was momentarily shaken loose.

He lost his grip.

His body plummeted downward.

No—

He was hurled downward by the backlash.

‘Damn it…!’

Crack!

Javier gritted his teeth.

The ground was rushing toward him fast.

At that moment, realization struck him.

Why had his Burst Strike failed?

Why hadn’t it completely pierced through Gigatitan’s weak point?

What was the missing condition for breaking through?

Then it clicked.

“Every condition was perfect. The targeting, the angle—there was no mistake. But one condition… My strength fell short. I was more exhausted than I realized.”

And he was right.

Lloyd had calculated the attack based on the best Javier could do.

Naturally, the weakness-targeting conditions he had given him were based on that maximum potential.

Executing Burst Strike at full power was the key condition.

But he had failed to meet that requirement.

The reason was simple.

“I didn’t realize my stamina was this low.”

He had been fighting Gigatitan alone for over twenty minutes.

No breaks. No respite.

Dodging, sprinting, shifting directions, leaping, swinging his sword.

Constantly struck by boulders.

Enduring shockwaves that churned his insides.

He had fought, fought, and fought, surviving relentless attacks.

Of course, he was exhausted.

“But that’s no excuse.”

Clench!

Javier’s grip tightened around his sword.

He couldn’t let this failure be the end.

“Lloyd trusted me.”

Lloyd had revealed Gigatitan’s weakness.

But that wasn’t all.

He was risking his own life—

Pulling Gigatitan’s attention just so Javier could land the attack.

Javier had to respond to that trust.

He wanted to respond to it.

“So just one more time!”

Whirr! Click!

Just before impact, he twisted his body midair.

His feet struck the ground with explosive force.

He launched himself back up.

Kwaaaang—!

Amidst the scattering stone debris, he shot forward.

A fierce gleam burned in his eyes.

His focus locked onto one single target.

The exact weak point where he had failed.

The same opening he had made earlier.

“One more stab!”

If he could drive his blade in just one more time—

He would definitely pierce through the carapace.

He would definitely reach the monster’s heart.

“Just once more!”

Kwaaaa—!

A massive forelimb club swung down toward him.

Sensing imminent danger, Javier reflexively swung his sword.

But—

It wasn’t enough.

His sword clashed against the descending limb.

Sparks flew.

His blade was knocked aside.

His body was thrown back.

The force was overwhelming.

Unstoppable.

“……!”

Thud—!

Gigatitan’s massive forelimb club swung through.

Javier—

Struck by the sheer force—

Was sent flying.

His consciousness blacked out.

Like a severed kite, he plummeted.

Past the rocky coastline.

Past the sandy shore.

Into the shallow seawater beyond.

“Urgh?”

Even Lloyd, watching from afar, gasped.

“Did he just… die?”

His heart plunged.

He had worked so hard to keep that idiot alive.

Had risked his own safety for it.

“He can’t die now!”

His heartbeat pounded in his ears.

A chilling numbness spread through his veins.

But things got even worse.

Grrruuuuuggg!

Gigatitan let out a furious roar.

Then—

It moved.

Step after step.

Heading toward the sandy shore.

Toward Javier’s fallen body.

Its intent was clear.

“That thing… it’s going to finish him off.”

Javier may have failed—

But he had nearly punched through Gigatitan’s weak spot in one strike.

What if that reckless second attempt had actually succeeded?

It would have undoubtedly pierced through the weak point.

That seemed to be the reason.

“Right now, it sees Javier as the biggest threat. It’s trying to eliminate that threat first.”

Lloyd still didn’t know how badly Javier was injured.

Whether he was dead or alive.

But if he was still alive—

The monster was moving to erase even that possibility.

“No. I need to stop it.”

Lloyd swallowed hard.

He frantically pounded on Podong’s back.

“Podong! Faster! Keep going!”

“Pododong!”

Podong had also witnessed Javier being struck down.

It seemed to share the same sense of urgency.

As soon as it was urged forward, it sprinted at full speed.

It even dashed right beneath Gigatitan’s massive head.

The cart rattled wildly behind them.

They were making as much noise as possible in plain sight.

But Gigatitan didn’t even glance their way.

“Damn it!”

It seemed the mermaid statue no longer held any value to it.

Or rather, eliminating Javier was now its absolute priority.

In short—

The aggro that had been on Lloyd was now completely fixated on Javier.

“What do I do?”

Lloyd’s mind raced.

There was only one conclusion.

“Podong! First, we save Javier! Let’s go!”

“Podong!”

“Then I’m cutting this loose!”

“Pododong!”

Lloyd grabbed his shovel. He swung it down.

Chak!

The rope connecting Podong to the cart trembled from the impact.

Lloyd swung again, furiously hacking at it.

“Come on! Cut already!”

Chak! Chzzt! Chhk!

Strike after strike, the rope frayed—

Until finally, it snapped.

Thunng—!

The moment it severed, the cart carrying the mermaid statue was left behind.

Podong’s movements became noticeably lighter.

“Let’s go! Get ahead of Gigatitan!”

“Podododododong—!”

Fwsshhh!

With its burden gone, Podong dashed at full speed.

It outran Gigatitan with ease.

Leaping over rocks, gliding down cliffs like the wind.

It crossed the sandy shoreline.

It rushed past Javier’s limp body, lying half-submerged in the shallow surf.

Lloyd, clinging to Podong’s side, stretched out his hand.

He grabbed Javier’s collar.

“Got him!”

With all his strength, he yanked him up.

Lloyd pulled him onto Podong’s back.

Javier’s eyes were still shut.

The first thing he did was check his breathing.

“…He’s alive!”

“Podong!”

Fortunately, Javier was still breathing.

And from what Lloyd could see, he didn’t appear to have any broken bones.

Considering the impact he must have suffered, it was a miracle.

Or maybe it was just his sheer skill.

“He probably swung his sword at the last second to disperse the impact. That’s why he only got grazed instead of taking a direct hit.”

Either way, he was impressive.

Lloyd felt relieved.

Javier wasn’t seriously injured.

With some rest, he would recover just fine.

“It’ll take a few days, but a guy with Triple Circles will bounce back.”

It was the same when he fought the Giant Ants.

He recovered ridiculously fast.

This time would likely be no different.

“So let’s get out of here. Podong, run!”

Lloyd felt they had done more than enough.

Javier was down.

There was no way he wanted to keep fighting that building-sized monster.

“We’ve already stalled it for almost 30 minutes. That should be enough time for the city to prepare for a proper fight against Gigatitan. Now we just have to retreat. We’ll hide until it’s gone and everything settles down.”

He could also tend to Javier in the meantime.

Once the disaster was over, they’d collect their rewards and head back to the Barony of Frontera.

With that in mind, Lloyd patted Podong’s back.

“Let’s get off the beach, Podong. To the forest!”

The thick trees would give them better cover from Gigatitan’s sight.

But then—

“Pododong… Podooong! Huff, huff!”

Podong’s response sounded off.

Lloyd’s heart sank.

“Podong?”

“Podooong? Huff, huff, huff!”

“Wait… Are you exhausted?”

“Pododong, huff… huff!”

“…….”

It had been running slower than before.

At first, he thought it was just because of the sand.

But now—

Its breathing was ragged.

“It’s exhausted.”

And of course, it was.

It had dragged that heavy cart and mermaid statue the entire time.

Then it had sprinted at full speed to reach Javier before Gigatitan.

Even though it was a summoned beast, it was still an animal.

Exhaustion was inevitable.

To make matters worse—

Gigatitan, chasing behind them, had shown no signs of slowing down!

“Damn it!”

Lloyd gritted his teeth.

“We just need to run…”

But it seemed that was no longer an option.

Podong’s breath was getting heavier.

Its pace was visibly slowing.

Meanwhile, Gigatitan—

Unbothered, unstopping—

It stormed forward, striding closer with its crustacean-like legs.

“At this rate, it’ll catch up within minutes.”

Five minutes at most.

A crushing sense of urgency stabbed at his chest.

Lloyd’s mind whirred at full speed.

“What do I do?”

He thought of every possible scenario.

Make Bangwool grow massive and ride it away.

Use Volcanic Eruption to obscure their escape.

Have Hamang gulp down seawater and escape via the ocean.

Various strategies flashed through his mind.

But—

He quickly shook his head.

“No. None of that will work.”

Bangwool was only fast when using Volcanic Eruption.

Its short, stubby body made it slow on land.

Even skimming across water like a banana boat, it wouldn’t outrun Gigatitan.

The same went for Hamang.

“There’s no way to escape. No way to break free. If I don’t abandon Javier, we will definitely get caught.”

A grim certainty settled in.

Lloyd’s gaze shifted to the unconscious Javier.

“Should I abandon him?”

For a brief moment, he considered it.

Right now, Gigatitan’s sole target was Javier.

If he left him behind, he could definitely escape safely.

But—Lloyd shook his head.

“Javier would die. I can’t let that happen.”

That idiot was supposed to become a Swordmaster and support him in the future.

If he lost him here?

That would be a massive loss.

“Sure, if I only cared about my immediate safety, leaving him would be the right call… But no. Looking at the bigger picture, that would be a terrible decision. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

He refused to make a short-sighted choice that would cost him greater benefits later.

That left him with only one option.

“I have to swap roles.”

The bait and the blade.

Up until now—
Lloyd had been the bait.
Javier had been the blade.

Now, it was time to reverse their roles.

“Damn it. This is exactly why I said we should hide instead of fighting!”

Grit!

Lloyd clenched his teeth.

He gave Javier’s unconscious cheek an irritated slap.

Then, he pulled up his System Window.

It was time to prepare his weapon against Gigatitan.

“I don’t have nearly enough power on my own. If I want to deal any real damage, I have to hit the opening Javier left behind with his Burst Strike.”

Right now, the only way he could land a precise strike on Gigatitan was through Burst Strike.

“And to use Burst Strike, I need at least three Mana Circles.”

Two circles to collide and generate the explosion.
One circle to protect his heart from the recoil.

To obtain those three circles, Lloyd made his decision.

“Let’s do this. I’ve got enough RP.”

With his mind made up, Lloyd selected the Skill Menu.

That skill he had first created in despair, deep within the ant cave.

Asrahan Heart Method.

Finally—

It was time to upgrade it to Triple Circle.