Explosions rang out continuously inside the cave.
It was the mana bombs that Zeke had ordered the ghost troopers to plant in various spots, and they detonated one after another.
Zeke issued a command to Kaiman's unit, which he had stationed outside.
"Kaiman, draw the hunting dogs' attention by killing monsters."
"Understood, Master."
While the hunting dogs were distracted, he planned to uncover the true nature of this place.
At that moment, a burst came from behind him.
The head of one of the hunting dogs accompanying the wizard exploded.
The Wizard of Narak gnashed his teeth as he looked at the dead hunting dog.
"Damn it! A mage! A mage has infiltrated and cast spirit magic!"
It seemed the Wizard of Narak had mistaken Zeke's Blood Eye for spirit magic.
The Wizard of Narak bit his thumbnail, his face etched with anxiety.
"Spirit magic? Could the Scorpion bastards have betrayed us? Or did someone from the
Magic Tower's secret reserves slip in? Or maybe Nirvana's involved..."
The Wizard of Narak, gripped by extreme unease, muttered to himself while scratching the back of his hand.
Zeke noticed that the wizard's symptoms were signs of Soma addiction. He recalled that Soma temporarily boosted mana, but addiction brought on severe anxiety.
The wizard bit his nails harder as he stared at the massive block of ice.
"Damn it, just a little longer and we could've excavated that thing. Damn it, damn it!"
Zeke, who had been concealing his presence with the Will of Concealment, felt the strain building on his body as time passed.
He released the Full Power Technique and swiftly moved behind the Wizard of Narak.
The moment Zeke dropped the Will of Concealment, the Wizard of Narak spun around and shouted.
"You're there!"
His sensitive nature seemed to come with exceptional detection of presences.
Crunch!
The space where Zeke had been warped with a deafening roar.
Zeke marveled at the incredible power. Was it enhanced by Soma?
Even as Zeke was surprised, he immediately extended his chains to capture the wizard.
Clatter!
But before the chains could wrap around him, the wizard's body turned to smoke and vanished. He reappeared in midair, casting magic toward Zeke.
Crunch!
The space where Zeke stood warped again.
He twisted his body with Illusion Step, dodging the spell just in time.
It was tricky magic to handle.
Not only was its power immense, but its reaction speed was fast, with no telltale windup, making it hard to predict.
The wizard, his eyes transformed into an Evil Eye, pointed his staff at Zeke and swung it.
"Die!"
Crunch!
The entire space around Zeke began to distort.
He quickly activated the Scabbard Spiritualization Skill.
Vanishing into a dimensional rift, Zeke disappeared without a trace.
The startled wizard scanned everywhere with his Evil Eye.
"Damn it! Where are you?!"
At that moment, Zeke emerged from the dimensional rift behind the wizard.
Slash!
Zeke attacked the wizard with Dragonʼs Claw.
"Argh!"
Black smoke rose from the wizard's body where Dragonʼs Claw struck.
Zeke immediately bound him with the Soul Confinement Technique.
Clatter!
The wizard, chained, slammed into the staircase.
As Zeke pressed his foot against the wizard's throat, the wizard glared up at him and said.
"You... you're Zeke Draker..."
Zeke's expression hardened upon realizing the Wizard of Narak knew his identity.
It seemed inevitable that information had leaked despite his caution, given the ongoing clashes with Narak's faction.
As Zeke prepared to probe the Wizard of Narak's memories using the Authority of
Shadow Domination—
[The designated extermination target detected the dragon's aura from the user.]
[The dormant designated extermination target began reactivation.]
"What?"
Rumble—
The entire cave shook.
Zeke turned in surprise to see cracks forming in the block of ice embedded in the wall.
Crack!
A massive hand from the being trapped inside the cracking ice block burst forth.
Crack!
The ice shattered completely, and the entity within awakened.
The Wizard of Narak, bound in chains, saw it and burst into mad laughter.
"It's awake! It's really awake! Success! Ahahaha! Now, His resurrection is near!"
Zeke tried to grab him, but the Wizard of Narak had already dissolved into a puddle of blood and vanished without a trace.
"Tenacious bastards."
Zeke retracted his chains and examined the awakened colossal being.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The colossal being rose, swinging its limbs.
Whoooosh—
With a roar that shook the earth, one wall collapsed entirely.
At the same time, a passage leading out to the ravine was revealed.
"This is insane..."
The colossal being stood tall and charged at Zeke.
It swung a massive fist.
Boom!
The spot where Zeke had been crumbled away.
He summoned Bucephalus in midair and flew straight outside.
"What the hell is that thing?"
From atop Bucephalus, he saw that one side of the ravine's cliff had completely collapsed.
And from the hole, the colossal being emerged.
Now Zeke could finally see its form clearly.
It wore a black mask over its face, and bizarre patterns covered its entire body.
With long arms dangling at its sides, it walked slowly, resembling a humanoid golem.
"But it's too fluid in its movements for a golem... What is it?" It was so enormous it felt like a mountain was moving.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Zeke sensed the grotesque entity approaching him.
At that moment, the barbarians atop the ravine shouted down at him.
"Big Bro Zeke!"
Zeke turned and flew toward them.
The barbarians pointed at the grotesque entity and said.
"Big Bro Zeke, that's a giant!"
Zeke looked incredulous at their words.
"Aren't the giants supposed to have all vanished long ago?" The barbarians nodded.
"Yeah, the giants all disappeared ages ago; none left now."
"Then what is that?"
The barbarians shook their heads.
"We don't know either. That's why it's weird."
What the Imperials had been excavating was none other than a giant from ancient times, long vanished.
"These mad bastards... Trying to use giants in the war too?"
Giants were originally sacred beings who guarded forests and mountains, a race close to spirits.
The once-peaceful giants grew furious when humans destroyed forests and slaughtered forest folk, cursing humanity. They began mercilessly killing any humans who entered the woods.
Hero King Kaisir sought out the Giant King and won a wager, earning humans the right to clear land for use.
Though Kaisir had wagered for humanity's sake, he strove for coexistence with the giants. But the Giant King, unwilling to deal with humans anymore, led his people deep into the Giant Mountain Range.
Then, as the Demon King revived and invaded the Phenomenal World, the demons of the Demon Realm sought to subjugate the giants as minions.
The giants resisted, but some fell under demonic control and were forced into the war.
After the war between the Chronos Allied Forces and the Demon Kingʼs Army ended, giants vanished entirely from the Phenomenal World.
As Zeke pieced together his knowledge, the giant charged at him.
Roooar—
"Big Bro Zeke!"
Zeke shouted for the barbarians to fall back, then flew up on Bucephalus and unleashed the Chamber of Wind Power toward the giant.
Whoosh!
A massive storm surged at the giant.
Boom!
The giant staggered back from Zeke's Storm Sword.
But it quickly regained balance and swung its long arm at him.
Swoosh!
Zeke retreated while slamming down the Mace of Light on the giant.
Boom!
The giant staggered again from the Mace of Light but seemed largely unscathed.
The barbarians shouted to Zeke.
"Big Bro Zeke! You can't take down a giant with normal attacks!" Zeke asked them.
"What do you mean normal attacks don't work?"
"Giants are sacred; only heroes' power can fell them, or so we've heard!" Few legends spoke of heroes defeating giants. "Hero King Kaisir, my master, and... one more." Something flashed in Zeke's mind.
"War God Tyr!"
Tyr's legend surely included slaying a giant.
Zeke drew the Giant-Slayer.
He recalled that when clashing with Tyr, the Giant-Slayer had emitted a holy light akin to Rubern's light magic.
Zeke checked the Giant-Slayer's info via the system again.
—Giant-Slayer Info—
Description: A custom weapon made by the Great Sage for War God Tyr
Unique Abilities: Indestructible / Spiritual Power Boost Special Notes: Dealt double damage to colossal foes.
Since it wasn't his main weapon, he hadn't focused on its stats, but it had indestructible property and spiritual power boost.
It had extra damage against colossal enemies. No wonder it had felt handy against big monsters.
Now he understood the name Giant-Slayer.
Zeke gripped the Giant-Slayer and flew at the giant.
Focusing his spiritual power, the Giant-Slayer flashed with the same brilliant light Tyr had wielded.
Swoosh!
Zeke swung it, striking the giant.
Boom!
Unlike before, the giant staggered noticeably from the hit.
The attack worked. It was the spiritual power boost. It was useful with Full Power Technique.
Zeke charged again with the Giant-Slayer.
"Haaah!"
Summoning the Will of Strength, Zeke transformed into the Body of Strength and swung the Giant-Slayer.
The Full Power Technique-infused Giant-Slayer smashed into the giant's body.
Boom!
The giant, struck squarely, staggered back farther than before, clearly taking damage. As Zeke prepared to charge again with the Giant-Slayer— Thud!
The staggering giant steadied itself and faced Zeke head-on.
Suddenly, the massive crystal on its chest glowed.
Grumble—
At the same time, a flash erupted from the crystal.
Boom—
Like Zeke's Dragonʼs Roar, a colossal beam of light poured from the giant's chest.
Boom!
Everything the giant's light touched was obliterated.
Trees turned to ash and scattered, the ground split, and cliffs crumbled.
Rooooar!
The giant roared, devastating the ravine surroundings.
As the light faded, Zeke reappeared in the air.
Riding Bucephalus, he circled the giant while drawing the Green Sword from his inventory.
"Arataso, what the hell is that giant? It's nothing like what I read in books." Arataso, observing the giant, swallowed hard before replying.
[I never imagined one of those would still linger in the Phenomenal World.]
"You know what it is?"
After hesitating, Arataso answered.
[Yes, that's called a Colossus Engine—a war weapon.]
"Colossus Engine? Different from regular giants?" Arataso spoke gravely.
[It's what the demons turned your so-called giants into for warfare.]
"What? They weaponized giants? Not with something like Soma—how?"
Grumble—
The giant's chest glowed again.
It unleashed light at Zeke flying overhead, who dodged on Bucephalus, seeking an opening.
After pondering, Arataso continued.
[Giants were originally guardians created by the Earth God. Being sacred, they lose their essence upon corruption.]
"The Earth God—the one the elves worship?"
[Yes, the Earth God, tasked with protecting this land from the Phenomenal World's creation, first molded the giants from clay.]
"Like golems made directly by the Earth God?"
[You must view them differently from human artifacts. They're closer to the Nephilim born from constellations' Sacred Blood.]
It meant the sacred giants, handcrafted by the Earth God, had been twisted into the Colossus Engine before Zeke's eyes.
The barbarians likely inherited distorted tales about them.
Tyr had fought in the Demon War. This weapon might have been specialized against Colossus Engines like that.
Now the name Giant-Slayer made sense.
Zeke gritted his teeth, watching the Colossus Engine spew light. "Imperials... You bastards thought of unearthing even this as a weapon." Zeke gripped Bahamut as the Colossus Engine continued firing at him. "I want to learn more, but the situation's bad—gotta take it down now."
Zeke reignited the Full Power Technique.
Since it wasn't fully passed down from his master, it strained his body more than other skills.
"I'll end it in one go." Whirr!
Zeke leaped from Bucephalus, flying at the Colossus Engine with the GiantSlayer raised.
"Haaaaah!"
Full Power Technique
Double Spell
Will of Piercing
The Will of Piercing infused the Giant-Slayer.