Chapter 52
Chapter 52
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Miracle
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Lizard King, who had lived for countless ages, remembered it well.
Humans.
In the Lizard King’s childhood, they had been weak.
Nothing more than a delicious “delicacy.”
The days when they managed to catch a human and share it were pure festival atmospheres.
In this world full of tough, hard things, such tenderness!
Warm, moist blood and frail voices begging for mercy.
Chewing that softness while listening to those delicate voices made his cold blood heat up and strength surge through him.
But one day, everything changed.
Humans, protected by massive steel giants called Giants, turned the tables and ravaged the Lizardmen.
The Lizardmen fought bravely and all died.
Cowardly humans.
Yet the Lizard King survived.
He survived by any means necessary, time and again, learning how to fight Giants.
And one day, as if by fate, he obtained this crown.
After that day, the world looked different.
All Lizardmen knelt before him.
The Lizard King shared his wisdom with the Lizardmen, and over long years, they hunted Giants one by one. Many Lizardmen died each time, but their deaths were not in vain.
Felling one Giant yielded countless weapons, making them stronger.
Even so,
They could not defeat every Giant.
The Lizard King had to flee south with his kingdom, ever southward.
And then he found another Giant.
It was weak. Easy enough to devour.
The Lizard King sensed that the time for war had come once more.
The experience of this war and their weapons would make his kingdom stronger yet again.
Strong enough to restore everything to how it once was.
“Kirruk. Now is the time to end your era.”
In the creature’s eyes were seven Giants. One was fearsome, another annoying, and the remaining five feeble.
To the Lizard King, they were mere stepping stones to a new era.
* * *
“Raphael Black.”
At Kang Geohan’s call, Raphael responded immediately.
-I’m listening.
“The Lizardmen are wary of you, Black, but they’re ignoring me.”
-Yes. They always have.
“I’d like to use that.”
-Use it how?
“Yes. Draw the enemy’s attention, Raphael Black. While they’re all focused on you, I’ll take the Lizard King’s head.”
Raphael Black’s Giant glanced briefly toward Femoral.
The Lizard King was protected by all the Lizardmen.
No matter how much Raphael Black drew their eyes, it wouldn’t make him an easy target for Kang Geohan, a mere White Knight.
Even so, anticipation laced Raphael Black’s questioning voice.
-……Can you do it?
“I can.”
-Understood.
The plan was set in an instant.
-Raphael and Kang Geohan will take the Lizard King’s head. Everyone else, protect us. Minimize interference from the other Lizardmen. There’s no place to retreat. Fight with the resolve to die here.
The decision was made.
“Understood.”
Even Loen White, who had advocated retreat all along, replied with grim determination.
The Lizardmen struck first.
Shaaaaak!
The Lizard King’s roar echoed. Steam billowed from the crown atop its head like clouds.
A nearby Lizardman handed the Lizard King a harpoon attached to chains.
As the Lizard King assumed a throwing stance and countless Lizardmen swarmed to push from behind,
Paaaaang!
The harpoon, far exceeding the speed of sound, tore through Kang Geohan’s group’s formation.
Kwaang!
-Ugh!
Harkrux White’s groan rang out. The harpoon embedded in the Giant’s left shoulder. The long chain connected to it swayed once, then,
Piiing-!
Snapped taut.
Shaaaaak!
Thousands of Lizardmen moved as one. Swarming in droves, they formed waves and tidal surges.
Countless Lizardmen grabbed the harpoon lodged in Harkrux’s Giant like a tug-of-war and pulled.
Harkrux couldn’t withstand the weight and staggered, dragged along.
-Tch! It starts right away! Kang Geohan! I’m counting on you!!
Raphael Black roared and charged at the Lizard King. Sonic boosters on its back spewed fire, accelerating in an instant. But the Lizard King chuckled kirik-kirik and slowly retreated.
Shaaaaak!
An entangled wave of Lizardmen. The massive surge, over five meters tall, engulfed the Lizard King, hiding it in a blink.
Even the Giant’s vaunted SPU sensory prowess struggled to pinpoint it amid the infuriatingly numerous Lizardmen; the Lizard King was completely obscured.
-Hraaaah!
But Raphael Black did not stop.
Ignoring defense, wielding two shockwave-etched flails, it plunged into the Lizardmen tidal wave.
Pbeong!
Puuuung!
Green blood rained down. But the effect seemed minimal.
Since the Lizard King appeared, the Lizardmen’s movements had grown even more agile.
The tangled Lizardmen writhed, dodging Raphael Black’s flails, sometimes blocking with oversized Giant shields.
Like the sea, no matter how many you smashed, more Lizardmen filled the gaps.
Raphael looked like a savage futilely bailing the ocean.
And the Lizardmen weren’t just taking hits.
Kwajijik!
Armor plates tore from Raphael’s Giant. A hook-spear jabbed opportunistically had finally ripped one free.
Kwang! Kwaang!
The Lizard King, vanished among the Lizardmen, occasionally hurled harpoons.
When a harpoon struck a Giant, the tug-of-war began.
Each time Raphael’s Giant reeled, more hook-spears flew in. Raphael severed harpoon chains, shattered hook-spears, and desperately swung its flails forward, ever forward.
Like a coal miner enduring falling debris to keep digging.
Kaaaang!
Helena cleaved the harpoon biting Harkrux with her greatsword and shouted.
-Push! Gerot White on the left of Sir Raphael Black! Harkrux White on the right! Loen White on support! Form ranks and push back the Lizardmen! Ease Sir Raphael Black’s burden even a little!
-Uwaaaah! Charging!
The trainees surged forward.
They couldn’t match even a fraction of Raphael’s prowess, but their bravery was undiminished.
They tenaciously held against the Lizardmen tidal wave, gradually expanding Raphael’s room to maneuver.
But each time, the Lizard King’s harpoon unerringly targeted gaps.
Kwang!
Kwaang!
“Kuuh!”
Gerot’s Giant, harpooned in the leg and dragged, flailed its arm.
Kwajik!
An axe burst from the Lizardmen, biting the arm. Sparks and smoke trailed as the Giant’s arm spun through the air. Gerot’s Giant staggered, one arm lost.
“Gerot! Gerot!”
Loen White screamed and charged, severing the harpoon holding Gerot.
Kwang!
Kwa-kwang!
Then the Lizard King’s harpoon targeted Harkrux. As he pushed Lizardmen with his shield, momentarily separating from it, a harpoon struck like lightning at the cockpit hatch.
Kwaduduk!
The chain pulled taut, ripping the hatch free. The cockpit exposed, revealing Harkrux’s grimacing face.
A foul stench wafted in.
A flickering tongue before his eyes, weapons raining down.
One blind strike could end him, but Harkrux didn’t retreat.
“Uwaaaah! I’ll do my part! My role…… I’ll fulfill it!”
Even with the hatch torn, Harkrux swung his shield and axe.
“Harkrux! Harkrux!”
Loen shrieked, hurling javelins, nets, flames to support and protect Harkrux—but with the cockpit exposed, he remained precarious.
“Loen White! Stay calm! Don’t worry! No one’s dying! Absolutely! No one dies!”
Helena thrust her spear.
Whoong-! Whoong-!
Kwaaaang! Kwaaaang!
Helena’s spear accelerated. Until it broke the sound barrier with sonic booms.
One boom, but the spear struck twice each time.
Lizardmen charging Harkrux were skewered one after another, thudding to the ground.
“Harkrux! Don’t lose heart! I’ll die before they touch you!”
Steam jetting from eyes, nose, mouth, ears, Helena whirled her spear in a trance.
As everyone fought desperately,
Kang Geohan held back alone.
Moving minimally to avoid notice, he maxed out his SPU.
He pierced every detail, ready to count each rippling Lizardman individually. He relentlessly tracked the Lizard King flickering in and out of view.
Many moments tempted him to charge.
When the harpoon hit Gerot, when it tore Harkrux’s hatch,
Kang Geohan twitched, nearly leaping out.
But he soothed his surging heart, waiting for the moment.
Now?
No.
Now?
Not yet.
The Lizard King was cunning. A sloppy attack wouldn’t land.
One strike with every drop of mana squeezed out. Fail, and there was no future.
Like intercepting a continental ballistic missile in its terminal phase.
Like NASA launching a rocket at perigee.
Kang Geohan waited and waited for that single perfect instant.
And finally, it came.
Kwaaaang!
As the Lizardmen parted, the Lizard King briefly exposed and its harpoon flew at Harkrux once more,
-Kraaaah!
Just as Helena’s Giant spewed steam from its whole body, thrusting to deflect the harpoon,
‘Overclock.’
Kang Geohan moved. The goblin oil housing the Giant heart bubbled furiously.
‘3RM!’
He twisted his mana core. Once, twice, three, four times. A new personal record. He poured all that amplified mana into just three movements.
Pussssh!
Femoral’s feet glowed red-hot from the Giant Stride, venting steam.
Kwakwakwa!
Berserker packs at wrists, ankles, elbows, knees spewed flames.
And,
Kiiiiing!
Finally drawn, the Giant Slayer hummed ominously, glowing.
‘Once!’
Kuaaaang!
Kicking off, waves surged skyward, exposing the swamp floor.
The distance closed in an instant, like teleportation.
Femoral rocketed like a shell at the Lizard King’s brief opening.
Lizardmen to left and right crumpled under the force.
Nose-to-nose with the Lizard King, Kang Geohan locked eyes.
In that instant,
Shaaaaak!
The Lizard King gaped wide. Lizardmen hastily raised Giant shields.
‘Twice!’
The Giant Slayer fell atop them.
Jjeeeng!
Sparks erupted like a volcano; the reinforced Giant shield crumpled and tore.
Lizardmen holding it flew like bowling pins.
The Lizard King exposed defenseless. Shock in its eyes.
“Three! It’s over!”
Kwaaaang!
The Giant Slayer descended, far beyond sound speed.
But,
This time, the Lizard King’s crown moved.
Wires and chains dangling behind rose, catching the axe blade.
Charararak!
They halted the Giant Slayer at the Lizard King’s nose.
That was it. Power fell short.
[Mana: 0/93]
Mana maxed then drained. No strength left.
Chik! Chiik…….
Femoral wobbled, venting feeble steam.
Sensing it, the Lizard King’s eyes curved like crescent moons.
-Kiririk. Close, human. Kirik.
Kang Geohan gritted his teeth.
At his limit. No mana left to fight.
So close…… right there!
‘No. Not yet!’
Kang Geohan shook off the weak thought.
‘It’s not over!’
In his past life, each time he shattered a PR, he’d thought the same.
‘Is this truly my max?’
Like the mother lifting a car to save her child, or the athlete clinching victory in a hopeless final,
Humans sometimes surpass limits.
Knights first lift the mana core stone with zero mana. Yet they do. Why?
The power to exceed limits. Miracles born of human will.
‘Four…… times!’
Kkigigigi!
The Giant Slayer, caught in chains, trembled.
[Willpower: 89/183]
[Willpower: 31/183]
[Willpower: 2/183]
Kang Geohan’s willpower plummeted. Nape burning. Vision aflame.
Burning willpower yields
A miracle come once in a lifetime.
Chiiiiiik!
Femoral vented powerful steam.
Despite exhausted mana, Kang Geohan boosted output once more.
The stalled Giant Slayer moved again.
Jjeong! Jjejeong!
Chains snapped, wires severed; the axe blade finally kwaduduk! into the Lizard King’s chest.
Kyaaaaak!
The Lizard King screamed, tumbling onto the swamp.
Chiiik!
Femoral, steaming, dropped the Giant Slayer atop its neck. Just the finish left.
Then, the Lizard King raised its head, pleading desperately.
-Kiririk. Human. Wait. Just wait! Kirik! Sp-Spare me. Kiririk. I’ll be your slave. Kiririk. Serve you. Kirik. I’m different! Kirik. From other Lizardmen! Kirik! Can’t die like this…… Kirik!
It was different, indeed. A monster begging for life.
But to Kang Geohan, it was laughable.
“Spare you?”
Well,
The Lizard King was strong.
A king, after all. Ruler of thousands, tens of thousands of Lizardmen.
A hero who’d mastered fighting Giants.
How strong, then?
How much dark mana did it hold?
“There’s only one thing on my mind right now.”
End this fight, devour you,
“How much further can my mana core grow?”
Jjiik!
The Giant Slayer severed the Lizard King’s neck. Its head, elongated tongue lolling with green blood, spun across the swamp.
Thud!
Femoral extended a hand, catching the falling steel crown.
Shaaaaaaaak!
Every Lizardman gaped and screamed.
The disciplined Lizardmen wave collapsed like a sandcastle.