Chapter 118: Giant Slayer (3)

[You damn rat bastard.]

Moritz is my comrade.

He was my first Saint Knight, and my brother.

When I saw him caught in the grip of Kalgos, it felt as if my heart would stop.

The sight of him being slowly swallowed whole by Kalgos, every moment etched into my eyes.

“Saint! Don’t do it!”

“If you leave the ranks now…”

The frantic shouts of Aaron and Gide didn’t even reach my ears.

“Hor, please…!”

Only Kalgos’s depraved laughter and Moritz’s resigned prayers could be heard by me.

And when I finally regained my senses, I had already thrown myself into Kalgos’s gaping maw.

Before my eyes, Moritz, blackened by the Plague, appeared.

He prayed with his eyes closed.

It was a benediction that served only as a final farewell.

How dare you decide to die on your own terms.

“Yeah. Hor will save you.”

Moritz finally opened his eyes and began to fuss loudly when he saw me.

I blocked the Giant’s fangs, standing between them and Moritz, and placed Moritz onto a star above.

“What are you doing, you idiot!”

Crunch—

Kalgos’s fangs pressed down even heavier.

My knees began to buckle against my will.

“Hey, Richard!”

Moritz’s voice rang out, almost a scream.

Outside, Aaron, Gide, and Sig’s urgent voices never ceased.

“Sorry.”

The star carrying Moritz escaped Kalgos’s mouth.

I saw my brother’s face, growing smaller and distant, dazed and blank.

A parade of emotions flickered across his face.

I never expected things to come to this.

Yet I had no regrets.

I was simply dumbfounded and amused at myself for making such a choice.

So I, even someone like me, know how to make sacrifices.

Tap.

At some point, my knee was pressed against the Giant’s molar.

The space I was standing in closed rapidly.

Through that narrowing gap, I saw Alan, standing there with a bizarre look on his face.

‘Saint of the South. You are the hope of this war.’

As if mouthing those words, Alan’s eyes widened.

Soon, light began to bloom around him.

I poured all my Faith into him.

‘This is all I can do for you.’

Crack—

***

Moritz rolled onto the ground, gasping for air.

From his lips came sounds closer to groans than breathing, flowing out endlessly.

“This can’t be… It shouldn’t be like this…”

He lifted his head.

His gaze, trembling uncontrollably, was fixed on the Giant.

『Ha, ha…』

Kalgos, with eyes rolled back in ecstasy, smiled maniacally.

The blood dripping from his lips radiated an eerily holy aura.

Holy Blood.

From the maw of Kalgos, who had swallowed the venomous apple, acrid smoke poured out.

“Aaaaaah!”

A heart-wrenching scream erupted from Moritz, whose mind was clouded.

Aaron, whose lord had died, let out a wail.

“Saint, Saint… Lord Richard…”

The veteran wept.

It was a voiceless mourning.

「To die so vainly.」

「Is there any death more pathetic, like a dog’s death?」

『Is this truly your end, Father!』

Kalgos laughed, weeping tears of blood.

“N-no way… The Saint…?”

Chaos spread among the defenders of Riot Castle, grappling with the Plague Monsters.

Even under the command of the Lord of Riot Castle, who barely maintained his composure, the chaos couldn’t be calmed.

The battlefield began to freeze over in shock.

Kalgos stood still, as if the fight was over.

No matter how much magical bombardment rained down, no matter how the knights’ desperate swords slashed—

He simply poured out insults at the father, using the vile mouth that had swallowed the Saint.

“…Is he really dead?”

After a long pause, Alan asked Mar.

Mar, pale as a sheet, only bit her lip.

That was answer enough for Alan’s question.

“Why…?”

Alan looked up at the sky.

A rival who had taken Hor’s beloved.

To him, Richard was always an eyesore.

Yet Richard’s death brought no joy.

It was as if—

“Hor, what is this feeling…?”

—as if he had witnessed the final moments of Hor.

A tremendous sense of loss tormented him.

It was difficult to remain calm.

If he didn’t keep his mouth tightly shut, he felt like he might scream like the knights at the front.

Saaa—

Then, light began to radiate from Alan’s body.

It was the power of Hor, which Richard had transferred to him before dying.

Kalgos’s gaze turned to Alan.

“Heretic…”

Alan also stared at Kalgos.

All doubts and confusion were buried deep inside.

The war was not yet over.

***

Light exploded over the battlefield, saturated with despair.

It was the Faith bursting from Alan.

“Hor… Hor, please…”

Moritz, who had been lost in despair, cried out in anguish.

All those who had shared joy and sorrow with Richard did the same.

Please, bring him back to life.

That was our only wish.

We offered desperate prayers, but the Saint of the North did not return.

“Get a hold of yourselves, you fools.”

Only Alan’s sharp sarcasm, cloaked in light, came back to them.

“If you’re truly knights, then take revenge on the Giant who killed your lord.”

His voice rang out from the Magic Alliance’s fortress, brimming with Faith, almost reminiscent of Richard’s.

Even the light that illuminated the chaotic battlefield felt the same as what Richard used to wield.

And so, the knights rose again.

Gripping sword and spear, they faced the Giant.

Beastly roars burst from their mouths.

At that moment—

CRACK!

A massive tree root wound itself around Kalgos’s leg.

“Kalgos… Kalgossssss!”

The World Tree Adele of the North.

She erupted with primal fury.

Then another tree root bound the Giant’s arm.

It was from the Southern World Tree, Mar.

“Now! Slay these monsters and avenge the heavens!”

The Lord of Riot Castle shouted, eyes bulging.

A battle once begun out of noble duty had now become a grim tale of revenge.

***

The knights launched a fierce assault on the bound Giant.

Powerful magic ceaselessly bombarded the Giant’s head.

The red skin, once impervious to even blades, split and cracked.

“Die—!”

Moritz stabbed his dagger wildly, like a madman.

Disgusting, foul blood splattered everywhere.

『So you finally wail.』

In an instant, the Giant was drenched in blood, lips curling into a grotesque smile.

His insides were in ruins, torn to shreds.

It was the price for swallowing the venomous apple known as Richard.

Moreover, the light that Richard had transferred to Alan weakened Kalgos even further.

Even so—

Kalgos remained composed.

CRUNCH, CRACK—

The roots that had bound his limbs rotted and crumbled away.

New roots struck at him, but all were severed by the Plague Greatsword.

『Adelgarten, Mar Garten… my siblings.』

『You have received much of Father’s influence.』

Ignoring the knights clinging to his body and tearing at his flesh, Kalgos turned his gaze back and forth between the two World Trees.

「Such lovely garden flowers.」

『You can never survive the winter.』

The Plague Greatsword swept through the air.

Aaron rolled on the ground, barely escaping the arc.

But the slash from the greatsword mercilessly tore through the distant Magic Alliance fortress.

Screams and groans erupted everywhere.

The fortress, painstakingly built by renowned mages, was like paper to Kalgos.

The two World Trees gritted their teeth.

Drawing upon the essence of life, they unleashed roots in a desperate flurry, but all were cut down in a single stroke and rotted away.

CRASH—!

At that moment, white flames fired by Alan engulfed Kalgos’s body.

It was an ultra-high-temperature fire, usable only by those of archmage rank.

Empowered by the special force of Faith, even Kalgos couldn’t ignore it.

BOOM!

Kalgos raised his energy.

At the same time, the Plague energy swirled, sweeping away the white flames from his body.

“Guh, kah…1”

The vile aura of the Plague engulfed the battlefield.

It was so virulent that even the mages in the collapsed fortress saw their skin rot and fester.

Alan, frowning hard, shone his light even brighter, but the infection had already spread to everyone.

“Damn it.”

Defeat.

Those two syllables drew ever closer, carving themselves deep.

***

In a daze, I blinked.

No, I tried to blink.

Strangely, I felt nothing in my body.

It was as if I had no body at all.

“I… should be dead.”

Everything was hazy, except for that final agony—clear as day.

The terrible pain of my body being crushed in an instant.

Yes. I was swallowed by Kalgos.

It was strange that I could still ‘think’ in this state.

‘…What about them? What happened to the battle?’

I worried about my comrades.

Then something strange happened.

Though nothing appeared before my eyes, the state of the battlefield was projected into my mind.

Though nothing reached my ears, despairing shouts echoed as if battering my mind.

To call what I saw a battlefield was generous.

Whether this was reality or mere illusion, I did not know.

But—

The pain and emotions I felt were real.

Moritz, who never ceased to scream.

Aaron, whose face was scarred deeply.

Gide and Sig, coughing up blood, looked as if they would collapse at any moment.

No…

Soon, the soldiers of Riot Castle who had defeated the Plague Monsters joined the standoff with Kalgos.

The mages of the Magic Alliance poured out concentrated attacks on Kalgos.

Alan, who had accepted all my Faith, fought and fought again.

Yet not a trace of their original color remained on any of their skin.

I despaired.

With a single sweep of Kalgos’s sword, knights who tried to block with their shields were cut down, and dozens were sent flying by his kicks.

Elves vomited dark red blood from mana reflux.

This was no longer a battle.

It was a massacre.

I struggled.

With hands and feet that no longer existed, I thrashed with all my might.

“I’m not dead…”

If I truly was dead, how could I have thoughts and feelings like this?

Then,

Saaa—

A single ray of light bloomed in the pitch-black darkness.

It was not Faith.

It was a light even nobler and holier.

That was… Divine Power.

‘Hor.’

『I grant you revelation.』

『A soul bearing light has finally taken on the proper vessel.』

「By sacrificing myself, I have truly come to bear the light.」

Divine Power spoke to me.

That awe-inspiring presence gradually drew closer to me.

At that moment, he touched me.

「From the Sacred Talisman,」

「Through the Spirit,」

Thump—

[Divine Power’s intervention upon the soul.]

[The soul’s intervention upon Divine Power.]

[The intervention of body, soul, and Divine Power.]

A system window appeared.

Sensation began to return to my body.

[Transcendence – Incarnation]