Chapter 129

#129 Episode: The Tin Knight and the Land of Giants

You fell into a quiet contemplation.

The power of the West Witch was stronger than you had imagined.

It was quite a blow to face the enemy boss and have to retreat, but at the same time, it felt thrilling.

You thought it was only worthwhile to take down a foe of that caliber, and your competitive spirit flared up.

The experience of the Tin Knight spoke to you.

It told you about the weaknesses and limitations of that technique.

You found a hint for your counter-offensive there.

No matter how powerful a technique might be, once you analyze it, it becomes just a pattern.

Then, before you could expect to face the witch again, you were confronted by giant-sized foes.

However, it was hard to define just how big they were.

Some giants could easily grab you with one hand, while others were barely half their size.

It was like the difference between an adult and a child was blurry here, as there were small adults and giant children.

The giants’ sizes and ages seemed almost indistinguishable.

Moreover, their proportions were a mess, with overly large heads or short limbs.

The surrounding environment was bizarre as well.

The giants were massive, but all the other flora and fauna around them were ordinary-sized, making them look like characters wandering in a model village.

You had no clue what it meant.

You might have figured it out if it were a scarecrow, but not you.

To be precise, you weren’t that interested in their stories or backgrounds.

This place was the witch’s workshop, and they were beings related to her, and crucially, they were hostile toward you.

At the moment a giant grabbed your head and tried to pull you away, you recognized them as enemies.

[“The Tin Knight declares a hunt on the giants!”]

Swoosh!

As you swung your sword, a giant’s finger went flying.

You leaped up its arm and slashed its neck.

The short sword made it impossible to sever body from head like usual, but a significant gash appeared on the giant’s neck, and it let out a gurgling sound before collapsing.

You were ready for another giant to charge at you, but surprisingly, the giant opted to bolt out the door instead.

You chased after it.

-□■◆◇◇!

The giant that had burst into the street opened its mouth and shouted.

It seemed like some sort of language, but due to its massive size, it just came off as an unrecognizable roar to you.

The other giants glanced at the shouting giant and then pointed at you with their fingers.

Some of the giants were laughing heartily.

It appeared they were mocking the shouting giant.

They approached you slowly, swinging their thick limbs as if they were about to kick you.

When you dodged to the side, the giant twitched its eyebrows and then attempted to stomp you with its shoe.

You rolled aside to evade it.

Then, you dove behind and slashed at its heel with your sword.

-◆◆◆◆!!

The giant, now with its Achilles’ tendon cut, clutched its leg, rolling on the ground.

A strange sense of discomfort washed over you.

It felt like your expectations and actual sensations were out of sync.

You had been avoiding using your sword energy until now.

Since you didn’t know when you’d reunite with the witch, you needed to conserve magical power.

Moreover, the Tin Knight’s instincts suggested that a giant’s body shouldn’t be so easily cleaved.

It was that odd feeling of walking onto what you thought was a staircase only to find it was flat ground, creating a bizarre jolt in your chest.

-■□◇◆◇!?

-◇◇◆◆■!

The giants yelled in a uproar.

It seemed they finally recognized you as a threat.

Boom!

A rock roughly the same size as you plummeted nearby.

The giants, who had been watching you closely, picked up nearby boulders — or what they considered pebbles — and hurled them.

Some were even flinging gravel and dirt around irresponsibly.

Swoosh!

The merciless onslaught came at you like a shotgun blast.

After just one attack, your body was riddled with countless scratches.

Deflecting the most dangerous and lethal attacks with your shield, you charged at the giants tossing stones and sand at you.

And you slashed at their ankles.

Swoosh!

Screams echoed, and the blood erupted from their heels, staining you.

You didn’t stop swinging your sword.

As you took down one, then two, then three giants, one of them turned to flee.

The others followed suit, bolting away.

You watched them go.

An odd sense of deflation washed over you.

For some reason, the fight felt strangely unexciting.

But the reason for that eluded you.

Was it because of the pressure of calculating magical consumption?

Or after experiencing an intense battle with the witch, did all other combat feel dull in comparison?

Suddenly you glanced around.

The giants you had injured were still alive.

They were crying and writhing in pain, clutching their ankles.

Normally, you’d finish them off without a second thought, but for some reason, you didn’t feel inclined to do so this time.

You convinced yourself that there was no need to waste your magical power unnecessarily.

Leaving the giants behind, you looked at your wrist.

With no will from the enemies to fight, you thought it was better to join up with your other comrades than to bicker over silly things.

As you pondered which direction to take among several options indicated by the golden thread bracelet, it happened.

-■■■■■! !

With a fearsome roar, something powerful tore through the air toward you.

The instincts of the Tin Knight shouted that now wasn’t the time to hold back on your magical power.

You fortified your shield and body with magic, thrusting your shield forward.

Clang!

You were propelled through the air, landing heavily.

However, despite the flamboyant arc you took, the actual damage was almost none.

You absorbed most of the shock.

As you fell toward the ground, you caught a glimpse of what had just hurled you.

It was a pillar.

No, it appeared to be a pillar, but in reality, it was closer to a spear-like object.

Crafted from several woods, the spear stood about 15 meters tall, with a blade size larger than your whole body.

The one who hurled it at you was, of course, a giant.

But this giant was notably larger and more muscular than the others.

He was fully armored and you could sense a fierce will like a raging fire in his eyes.

You instinctively recognized him as the leader of the giants.

The fact that he could accurately throw a spear at you, who was hardly the size of a mouse, indicated he was quite skilled.

Surrounding the Captain Giant were nine other giants, all evidently well-armed.

Your eyes sparked brightly like twinkling embers.

If you’d had a mouth, you might have grinned widely.

Yes.

You preferred straightforward obstacles like this over pesky foes that brought a gloomy mood.

-■■■! !

-■!

The Captain Giant roared, drawing his sword from his waist.

The other soldier giants charged in response to their commander’s call.

You couldn’t let that happen.

You raised your shield eagerly, provoking them.

[“The Tin Knight shouts: Come at me as much as you want!”]

Your words didn’t reach them.

None of your comrades were here to hear your voice.

Thus, you didn’t speak in words but let your blades tell the tale.

Rumble!

The soldiers with large rectangular shields charged at you, dragging their feet along the ground.

From your perspective, it was like a wall was rushing toward you.

There was no denying this attack was hard to evade or block.

But you didn’t feel scared.

As the bottom of the shield neared your face, you jumped back and released magic forward.

After a brief delay, your legs landed on the surface of the shield.

You began to run up it.

The opponent was pushing the shield forward, making your maneuver possible.

In an instant, you reached the end of the shield and, with a kick, jumped onto the giant soldier’s forearm.

The soldier finally realized you were there and attempted to swipe you away, but you were already too close to the giant’s neck.

You slashed where the throat meets the neck, circling swiftly.

With a tremendous spray of blood, the giant soldier collapsed.

You leaped onto the falling soldier’s helmet, bouncing off it and landing on another soldier’s face.

You stabbed the soldier’s eyes with your sword, and he covered his face with his hands, screaming mindlessly.

Of course, you had already jumped off long before he covered his face.

Just as you were deciding on your next target, you suddenly realized that the sky had darkened.

The last soldier, brandishing a massive shield, was about to slam you down with his entire weight.

You had to admit that was a very effective tactic.

Drawing your sword energy once more, you swung it with precision.

Swoosh! The shield split in two.

The giants’ weapons might have been decent enough, but they were hardly high-quality items.

At best, they were rocks with mindless mass, but leather and ironbound shields, especially ones lacking magic, were easy pickings for your blade.

As the shield cracked, the giant behind it also suffered a deep gash in his belly, spilling his insides.

To avoid being crushed by the giant’s body, you dove into his innards.

You had intended to slice through his side and escape, but the enemies reacted faster.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several swords and spears swiped at you, aimed to finish you off.

It looked like they weren’t even shy of attacking their allies to take you down.

You instinctively understood that if you slipped out through the side or beneath his belly, you would be attacked immediately.

Crack!

A giant spear whistled past your side.

You rammed your sword into the spear shaft.

When your sword got lodged firmly into it, the soldier yanked with all his strength to retrieve it.

It was difficult to pull out thanks to you being in the way, but as the soldier strained, the spear was wrenched free — along with you.

Using the giant’s momentum to your advantage, you retrieved your sword and flew toward the giant’s torso.

Then, repeating what you had done several times before, you climbed up, slashing at his neck.

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