Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Touchdown
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I've always thought so.
'I can do better.'
Harklux White was a serf in the Ericton Barony. From a young age, he had been clever and quick on his feet, and at seven years old, he happened to catch the eye of the baron's eldest son, Sam Ericton.
From that day on, Harklux commuted to the baron's castle every day and attended to Sam Ericton.
What he mostly did was get beaten.
Thwack!
Punches and kicks rained down on his stomach, cheeks, everywhere without mercy.
"How about that? Can't block it, huh? It's a new technique I just learned."
As befitting a knightly family, young master Sam Ericton had trained in martial arts since childhood and was always eager to test what he'd learned.
Harklux was the perfect 'toy' for that.
Harklux took beatings all day, and when he got home, he swung his own fists and feet, recalling the techniques of the young master who had hit him.
In his imagination, he always pictured driving his fist into the smug chin of Sam Ericton looking down on him arrogantly.
At ten, thirteen, sixteen— as the years passed, Sam Ericton's punches grew heavier and more ferocious.
From age ten, when he began cultivating mana, even if Sam held back, his punches were too much for Harklux to endure.
The pain that used to last half a day now lingered all day. Eventually, even on days he wasn't hit, his whole body throbbed and ached.
Yet Sam Ericton never let Harklux go.
By then, the gap in their levels was so vast that he probably couldn't even savor the thrill of hitting him anymore... but he kept seeking out Harklux like a comfort doll.
"You little shit. You're still the best feel. Seeing that cheeky glare of yours just gives me energy."
It was because Harklux's eyes still burned with life.
With no mana of his own, with his body aching and throbbing, Harklux somehow reacted to Sam Ericton's attacks.
He twisted his body to deflect blows just a little less painfully, and tensed up at the moment of impact to endure.
Even so, he never once averted his gaze. He stared down the fist right up until it met his cheek.
Harklux still swung his limbs at home, reviewing the techniques Sam Ericton had shown him.
It was when Harklux was eighteen that he saw the announcement recruiting Giant Rider candidates.
The moment he read it, his heart pounded fiercely.
Could he become a knight? Escape this suffocating barony? Make his parents free citizens? Was it those conditions?
No. His heart was racing for a slightly different reason. But even Harklux didn't yet know why it beat so hard.
On test day, while everyone else failed to lift the mana stone and collapsed, Harklux alone raised it high.
Then, a thrilling surge rose from deep in his gut.
That's when Harklux realized.
'Ah... I see.'
Why his heart had raced so, what he truly desired.
Harklux ground his teeth.
'Sam Ericton...'
Because the chance never came, because the starting lines were different, because he never even got the signal to run—he had to take the beatings one-sidedly.
But finally, he was given a starting line.
The starting signal rang out.
'I can do better!'
If he could just learn properly, if he could throw punches too, he was confident he could master those martial techniques that had beaten him his whole life better than anyone.
Harklux White had believed that unwaveringly, from that first day he got beaten by Sam Ericton at seven years old, right up to now.
* * *
Crack.
Gerot White clenched his fist menacingly.
"So, I just have to knock you down here?"
Harklux White shook his head.
"No. We're not settling this with pure fighting skill. We're deciding the main tanker spot."
"And?"
"We test it. Board the Giants and do touchdown. Best of three, two wins."
Touchdown.
A match where two Giants use every ounce of their power to break through the opponent and touch the goal point for a score.
Block with all your might, breakthrough with all your might—the best way to gauge Giant Rider prowess.
"Fine."
Gerot White accepted the challenge.
Rumble.
While workers maneuvered cranes to reset the firing range, Gerot and Harklux selected their Giant gear.
The tanker position used the most diverse equipment of any role. So many choices, and balance between them to consider.
Harklux White decided.
'I have to maximize my strengths to beat Gerot. Even if it strains things, equip the best mobility device possible.'
He thought of Kang Geohan. The man who handled even the colossal Giant Set weapon effortlessly.
'I may not match that...'
But he wanted to show something he wouldn't be ashamed of.
"Ah, 'Sonic' is a high-end mobility device. Too demanding for a White Knight to handle. Plus, it's a tanker loaded with weapons— that'll be a heavy burden. Take the standard Speed one here instead."
"No. Even if I downgrade the armor specs, I'll use Sonic."
Despite the technician's dissuasion, Harklux chose the Sonic mobility device.
Then he selected armor, heavy weapons, light weapons, general weapons, special weapons in order.
By the time Harklux finished arming, Gerot's selections were done too.
Unlike Harklux, who prioritized mobility, Gerot went with a textbook tanker setup.
The two boarded their Giants and glared at each other.
-For a tanker, that armor's way too weak, isn't it? Can a flimsy tanker hold the enemy line?
Harklux responded calmly to Gerot's taunt.
-Worry about yourself instead of others?
-Tch... You're really pissing me off.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The moment the start signal dropped, Gerot's Giant charged forward, pressuring Harklux's.
One hand held a 3-meter sword classified as a light weapon, the other a 5-meter-diameter medium shield—standard tanker armament.
But Gerot wielding those plain weapons was anything but plain.
Crash!
The 5-meter shield smashed mercilessly into the head of Harklux's Giant. Then a blade came whistling down.
Clang!
As Harklux swung his shield to parry the sword, crash! The shield smashed his head again. The fight was one-sided.
Roen said in a bitter voice.
"...The gap in basic martial skill is too wide. Keep taking hits like that, and he'll be groggy soon."
But Helena saw it differently.
"No, he's holding up surprisingly well. I've thought it before... Sir Harklux White has oddly good movement."
Crash! Boom! Crash!
Just as Helena said. Despite Gerot's storm of attacks, Harklux didn't fall, stubbornly weathering them.
Fwoosh! Boom!
Each time, the Sonic mobility device spewed flames and smoke from Harklux's legs and back.
Kang Geohan, watching intently, muttered.
"...Deflecting the impact point?"
Helena agreed.
"Yeah. Sir Harklux White... knows how to take a hit. At the moment of impact, he moves brilliantly to reduce the shock. I was puzzled when he downgraded armor for an upgraded mobility device, but now it's clear—perfect setup. He's a natural tanker."
Then Gerot White's face twisted too.
Harklux deflected lethal blades like magic even while eating shield bashes—it grated on him.
-You bastard!
Boom!
Gerot's Giant belched thick steam. A gust whooshed through the onlookers.
He swung the shield with full force down onto Harklux's head. A direct hit would shake the cockpit for sure damage.
But,
Screeech-!
The Sonic, used only in short bursts to deflect until now, roared with flames.
Harklux's Giant rocketed upward like a sudden burst, clinging tight to Gerot's chest.
Thud!
Steel plates ground together, sparking wildly,
Boom! Boom!
Harklux's Sonic exploded from legs and back, maxing output.
Grind!
With the screech of crumpling metal, Gerot White's Giant lifted off the ground. Harklux had uprooted the massive thing.
-W-What?
Overpowered by the high-spec output, Gerot White was slammed down like discarded trash.
Kablooey!
The ground quaked, sand erupting skyward like a shell blast.
Boom boom boom boom!
Harklux burst through the dust, slapping the goal point.
Meanwhile, Gerot White barely struggled to his feet.
"Touchdown! Harklux White wins 1!"
Saxen Silver, watching as judge, raised his hand.
Harklux popped the hatch with a refreshed face and shouted.
"That's why pampered young masters like you can't cut it! No matter how much you have, you nitpick and play it safe. How can you bring your full power like that?"
Hearing that, Gerot White ground his teeth in the cockpit.
Before the second round, they swapped gear.
Gerot White, face boiling, pointed to new equipment.
"I request the special weapon Shock Wave."
"Hey now. For a White to use a special weapon here..."
"Didn't you see? That bastard used Sonic! I'll adjust other gear if needed, just give it to me. Shock Wave."
"Uh, alright. Got it."
Cranes hustled to reconfigure Gerot's gear.
-Your shield got smaller?
This time Harklux spoke first.
-Yeah. Realized a big one ain't needed for trash like you.
-Hmph!
They clashed again. Buoyed by confidence, Harklux pressed early with Sonic's speed.
But,
Thud!
Shock Wave on Gerot's right fist slammed into Harklux's chest. Harklux twisted with Sonic to deflect,
Booooom!
But couldn't shed the powerful shockwave.
-Kh... Ugh!
Harklux briefly lost control in the shaking cockpit.
Gerot exploited it, bashing relentlessly with the 3-meter small shield.
Crash! Crash! Boom!
Smashed nonstop into the dirt, then Gerot slowly drove forward, touching the goal.
"Touchdown! Gerot White! 1 win each! 1-1!"
The arena heated up.
Descending from their Giants, Gerot and Harklux glared, then hurried to new gear setups.
Watching the fervor, Roen said.
"This is pretty... insightful, huh?"
Hearing gear explained was one thing; seeing them clash live with all sorts was totally different.
Now he got what crafting your own style meant.
Kang Geohan agreed.
"Giants... truly endless."
Gear swaps flipped combat styles on a dime.
Infinite possibilities lay open before him.
Yeah,
It was really fun.
Then the third round.
Gerot and Harklux clashed fiercer than ever.
-You with so much to lose wouldn't get it! How far the ones with nothing can go!
-Bullshit! You're clueless down there! How ruthless the haves can get!
Sonic spewed fire, Shock Wave shook the air, light weapons chained attacks, heavy weapons blasted foes away—the back-and-forth raged.
And at the end,
-Today! I win!
Harklux led with a 2-meter dagger, Sonic bursting for supersonic thrust with a roar.
Screech!
Gerot's Giant shrieked like it might snap from overstrain, but too late. Failed to shield-block.
But textbook defense meant the dagger pierced only the thick shoulder plate.
The instant it hit, Gerot charged forward.
-I! Won't lose to you!
Counter.
Gerot realized dodging was impossible, so he conceived taking one to land one.
Before the dagger pulled free, Gerot's fist smashed the cockpit.
Crash!
Then Shock Wave hammered it.
Rumble!
-Hk! Grh...
The massive shockwave rocked the cockpit; Harklux bled from ears and nose, passing out.
Whirr... Thud!
His Giant slumped like a marionette with cut strings.
Gerot's victory. But he looked down at Harklux with complex eyes.
-Damn... You've gotten insanely strong.
His gaze shifted to Kang Geohan. The reason his once-pathetic Harklux grew this fast... could only be him.
"Hoo..."
Gerot sighed, opening the hatch and stepping out.
And,
Twitch.
Saxen Silver, who'd watched it all, smirked. He forgot to declare victory, stroking his chin.
"Mid-level tactics... surprisingly workable?"
He'd worried if rookie Whites could handle mid-level tactics.
But today proved no need for worry.
Saxen shouted cheerfully.
"Touchdown! Gerot White wins! Main tanker's yours, Gerot!"
And so, all positions were set.