Chapter 118

“Priegoss, please step back with the other humans.”

“Anart, the giants are coming. This place, Pohelrn, is a city of humans. There’s no way we can run away in this fight.”

“I understand what you’re trying to say. Look over there.”

Priegoss turned to where Anart’s finger was pointing.

It was originally the gate district filled with inns and shops belonging to merchant guilds.

But now it was covered by the power of El Prigion, transformed into a forest.

“The forest is the territory of the Elves, but it’s not a place where humans can act comfortably. Not only can we not use our full power here, but it will also hinder the Elves from moving.”

Anart’s expression was very serious, unlike usual.

A massive horde of colossal giants was rushing in, each comparable to nature itself, their sheer size a formidable presence.

“What that nasty giant Terato and the others are after is definitely the item in the Grand Temple. If that’s the case, this is not the place where you should lead the other humans to fight, Priegoss.”

As Anart struck the ground twice with her staff, a section of the sturdy city wall crumbled, transforming one side into a slide.

“Go. Priegoss. This is a battlefield suitable for us to fight. There will definitely be a battlefield where you can shine.”

Priegoss looked around with a troubled expression.

It was already a horrific scene even before the forest began encroaching within the city walls.

Suddenly, a giant’s sword struck down in a violent blow, splitting one part of the wall, and over ten soldiers were swept away and turned into a mass of blood in an instant.

Even having learned martial arts from Araya, it was still not enough to bridge the gap between giants and humans.

Even after their defeat, the disciplined soldiers were confused atop the wall, unable to regain their composure.

As Anart had said, in the battlefield of this region, Priegoss and the humans were not very helpful.

But wasn’t this city, after all, their own?

Could they allow others to bear the defense of the city while they remained in the back?

As feelings of self-recrimination swirled within him, Anart poked Priegoss’s forehead with her finger.

“Don’t furrow your brow so much. Humans already age quickly; you’ll look even older at this rate.”

Anart smiled brightly.

“Let’s go.”

With that, she turned away.

All the forest guardians atop the wall leaped towards the forest.

“…All troops, head to the Grand Temple.”

Anart felt Priegoss’s presence fade and laughed.

But soon, her usual gentle expression turned cold, and she spoke toward the outside of the wall.

“You’re large, yet you behave like a rat.”

“You’ve caught on quickly, but your response was a little late!”

In an instant, a voice rose from below the wall.

Like the female giant who had effortlessly smashed through the wall and entered, the male giant had snuck up to the base of the wall, then leaped up, bringing down a massive sword.

“「Grandol」”

As Anart called upon the name of the earth spirit, the sturdy wall crafted from solid and massive stones transformed into a firm rocky hand that swatted away the descending sword.

“Ugh-!”

The giant’s colossal stone fist shattered, creating a thunderous sound as it scattered.

However, the giant also seemed to be affected by the recoil, wobbling in the air before barely grabbing hold of the edge of the wall and managing to climb up.

“The smaller they are, the more they’re capable of remarkable skills. That’s the Elves.”

The giant who climbed to the top of the wall smiled, resting his massive sword on his shoulder.

“I am Pudret. I thought it would be a hassle to head toward the forest, so I detoured a bit, but it seems like there’s an even bigger hassle right in front of me.”

“…If it seems bothersome, why don’t you return to where you came from?”

“Ah—I’d like to do that, but it’s my father’s orders. It’s troublesome, but it can’t be helped.”

Thud!

The massive sword resting on his shoulder slid down and struck the ground.

“I doubt we want to die, so let’s do our best, Elf.”

◈ ◈ ◈

The sound of wood fibers tearing accompanied the massive impact.

The ground trembled under the weight of heavy footsteps.

A sharp sound cut through the wind.

The pained screams of giants.

The shouts of Elves.

In the dense forest where nothing could be seen, horrific voices resonated from all around.

“AAAH—!”

Boom-!

A giant was struck by a forest guardian’s attack, rolling on the ground with a painful scream.

The force emerging from the small body sliced through the air, and no matter how gigantic the opponents were, they inevitably sustained significant injuries.

Moreover, the Elves within the woods were elusive, appearing momentarily before vanishing like the wind.

Each Elf was a deadly hunter capable of bringing down vast giants.

Within the forest, giants were mercilessly hunted.

However, the giants didn’t remain idle.

Initially, they only flailed at the air in a panic when the Elves suddenly appeared, but soon began to smash up the very grounds they suspected the Elves might be hiding in or even the entire area.

Their sheer mass made them akin to a living siege weapon as they cut through the forest, their massive swords bringing down everything in their path.

Some of the forest guardians were caught in this destructive endeavor, losing their lives in vain.

Both Titans and the forest guardians, the Elves.

All were apex predators within their respective domains.

They were beings unaccustomed to defeat.

As they witnessed their comrades falling, never to rise again, the fear of death began to creep in—an emotion they had never felt before.

But soon, that fear transformed into rage over the loss of their comrades forever.

“…This is tougher than expected.”

Eremai’s sword slashed through the body of a retreating Elf.

The Elf’s body fell apart, severed in half, rolling onto the ground.

A shout came from one side of the forest.

The dead one was male. The one screaming was female.

Must be a companion or lover, I suppose.

Eremai looked around with vacant eyes.

Corpses. Corpses. Just corpses.

The once lively and vibrant forest lay overturned, filled with bodies.

Particularly, the giants stood out clearly in death—perhaps due to their size.

‘It should be easy to know how many survived later.’

He thought jokingly to himself, yet deep down, Eremai felt utterly despondent.

One hundred?

Perhaps two hundred had died.

These monstrous and grotesque Elves were bounding around the forest like grasshoppers, using their small bodies to hunt down giants.

The giants following him were all headed to where Grandidi was located.

It’s fortunate that there was none as terrifying as Araya, but these seemingly ordinary ones were horrible enough.

In his frantic fight, having launched himself first into the disorienting forest, he realized he had no clue where the other Gigas unit was.

Above all, would he even reach his destination after breaking through such resistance?

‘Have I taken down eight already?’

Eremai mentally counted the Elves he had cut down.

In such a short time, he had indeed taken down a significant number.

Still.

‘There hasn’t been one that seemed like a real threat.’

Muttering cursed words, he swung his sword at another charging Elf.

The female Elf splattered downward, her clear blood staining the ground.

Foolish. Your strengths are stealth and agility.

You shouldn’t think of fighting me head-on.

And yet, he looked down at her, her face disfigured with rage, pain, and despair.

‘Honestly, I can’t tell what’s what anymore.’

He thought that an action for revenge would bring him some sense of relief, but all he felt was the heavy, murky weight clouding his chest.

This was revenge for the ones who had become meat scraps, but as he slashed at the desperate, charging females, he couldn’t help but feel like he was the villain.

‘Am I the villain after all?’

Eremai thought this was the most horrendous and unbearable experience of the hundred years he had lived.

A senseless act void of any productivity.

Titans and Elves.

Killing each other yields nothing to gain or eat, merely turning lives that had endured for decades into mere piles of fertilizer.

Less than fallen fruits rotting on the ground.

Had he really lived his life for this senseless affair?

For the first time, he felt a sense of disillusionment towards his father, Terato.

‘…Once everything is over and I return to the village, I’ll smash Beryl’s head in…what will I do then?’

The title of Gigas that he had once taken pride in held little allure now.

As Eremai lumbered forward, felling two massive trees, an Elf sprang from hiding, and he swung his sword precisely.

‘Fire.’

That was something to think about later.

At that moment, Eremai’s blurry eyes caught sight of an Elf.

One who neither hid nor fled.

‘…How lucky do I feel?’

Staring at him with anger was a female Elf.

However, this one felt…different from the others.

Moreover, there was something vaguely familiar about her.

‘…But she doesn’t seem suited for battle.’

Well, it doesn’t matter.

Eremai stomped his feet into the ground.

With that, he swung his sword down with the same force he’d unleashed when he had shattered a corner of the wall.

Within Eremai’s mind, Araya had deeply established herself.

Without a moment of complacency against the Elves, he unleashed his utmost swordsmanship.

The Elf regarded him with a vacant expression, showing no reaction whatsoever.

‘Was this just a fluke?’

He thought he had disposed of another Elf, but—

Thud-!

With the power he wielded, his grip on the handle felt like it was going to split open.

The sword he had swung down with everything surged back upwards towards the sky.

From his wrist to his shoulder.

He endured the vibrating pain and created distance.

“Atira, are you mad? You almost killed me!”

“…Palas. The children…”

The female Elf looked at the suddenly appeared male Elf with a forlorn expression.

Eremai narrowed his eyes and turned toward the unexpected Elf.

Both the female Elf and the suddenly appeared male Elf.

There was something inexplicably familiar about them.

“Hey, Elves.”

Eremai asked with an unexplainable certainty that arose from within him.

“You, what kind of relationship do you have with Araya?”

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