Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: I'll Make the Finishing Blow.
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Moonlight poured down on the night.
Uwooooooh!
The three Blood Golems that had entered the Mad Moon's Domain all looked up at the full moon and let out roars in unison.
-What's gotten into them all of a sudden?
Roen asked in a startled voice.
Zaksen Gold answered nonchalantly.
-Didn't they say the souls of direwolves are inside them? This is a land where the moon's power is amplified several times over. It's only natural for them to get riled up. It's fortunate for us. They'll get even stronger.
Zaksen Gold was right.
Kang Geohan, connected to the Blood Golems through their souls, could clearly feel it. The golems were excited, and the power surging from deep within them was raging wildly.
[Willpower: 500(+500)/500(+500)]
The golems' willpower, which had been stuck at 500, had surged by a full 100 percent to hit 1,000.
-Kang Geohan. Can you start identifying our friendly units yet?
"Yes! It's a custom Gigant. On the shoulder... it says 'Fenrir'!"
Kang Geohan blurted it out, then jolted in surprise. Wait, Fenrir? Where had he seen that before?
Zaksen Gold gasped over the comms.
-What? Fenrir?! Are you sure?
"Yes."
-It's His Excellency the Count's Gigant...!
Only then did Kang Geohan realize.
Ah, he'd seen it at the send-off ceremony. But the Count was here?
Grind!
The sound of Zaksen Gold grinding his teeth came through the comms.
He spoke in a grim voice.
-Forget what I said earlier.
He meant the order that in any situation, the White Knights should prioritize securing safety.
-We're commencing the rescue operation for His Excellency Count Kali Stehold. Even if we all die, we must complete the mission...!
* * *
The closer they got to the enemy, the more pessimistic the situation looked.
They had the numerical advantage, but in terms of combat power, they were at a disadvantage.
Logot's Gigants were all top-tier machines worthy of the title.
One custom Gigant named Perseus.
Two high-end Leviheims.
On their side, they had one mainline Yotun and seven advanced training Cyclops units.
The performance gap between the machines was extreme.
And yet... this was a battle they couldn't back down from.
They couldn't lose the Count here.
"I'll take the custom! Kaltz and Rapal, you handle the Leviheim with the spear. The rest of you take the Leviheim with the shield!"
Zaksen Gold assigned their targets, then hesitated for a moment.
He pondered whether to say it or not, but decided there was no time to waver and finally spoke.
"Kang Geohan! Somehow take down that shield. It's ridiculous, I know... but do it anyway."
He was a White Knight,
a rookie,
but Kang Geohan, who always created variables. Kang Geohan, who had achieved the impossible.
"That's all I can count on right now."
That desperate plea weighed heavily on Kang Geohan's heart.
"Understood."
Zaksen Gold's Yotun stared at Kang Geohan's Femoral for a moment. Then it turned away and drew its greatsword.
"Everyone, be careful! This is the Mad Moon's Domain! The moment you lose your cool, you'll be consumed by bloodlust in an instant. Don't get excited! Stay calm until the end!"
Even as he spoke, the battlefield rapidly drew closer.
They could see Fenrir slumped over.
Eleven Gigants lay fallen just in sight. How many had he smashed on his way here? But the great hero of the kingdom could no longer move, helplessly watching the approaching enemies.
Fortunately, the group wasn't too late.
Kwaaaang!
Zaksen Gold's Yotun soared into the air.
It shoved aside the custom Gigant—Perseus—that had been closing in on Fenrir.
Kaltz and Rapal's Yotuns followed. They pushed back the Leviheim with the spear.
The remaining one, the Leviheim with the shield, was for Kang Geohan and the others.
"We'll engage the enemy with mid-level tactics."
Helena's voice followed as the main order-giver and dealer. The anger in her voice seemed to ripple under the bright moonlight.
But she reined in her fury.
"Everyone... stay sharp and calm. Sir Kang Geohan White leads the vanguard. Sir Gerot White!"
Right after she called the two names, Gerot White's Gigant placed a hand on Femoral's back.
Kang Geohan felt the sensation and steeled himself.
'This is my first time facing a proper Gigant Rider head-on.'
The Logot Gigant he'd fought one-on-one before was Bayaba. It had only been an advanced training model piloted by a candidate. The custom Gigant he'd luckily landed a hit on had been a surprise attack.
So, clashing head-on with a top-tier Leviheim would surely bring a strength he'd never experienced before.
Even so,
he charged forward, trusting in himself.
Gerot pushed hard on Femoral's back.
Whoosh-thud!
Boosted, Femoral took to the air.
And then,
Creeeeang!
Femoral flew backward even faster than it had launched.
'Urk...?! What?!'
Kang Geohan couldn't grasp the situation for a moment.
He'd clearly charged at the enemy.
He'd even read its intent with SPU.
'It plans to shove me with the shield.'
So he'd prepared to swing Giant Slayer a beat faster, but the next instant, he was rolling on the ground.
Kwarararak!
Kang Geohan scraped the ground with his hands to barely halt the bouncing Femoral. Five deep furrows were carved into the moonlit plain.
When he raised his head, he saw his comrades tumbling like paper dolls.
Kwaaang!
Gerot, struck by the flaming greatshield, rolled across the ground,
Kwajik!
Harkrux knelt as its knee was smashed by the shield's edge, which had whipped around as if ignoring inertia.
The ground shook, and dirt piled up.
The shield had seemed to pull back, but suddenly it was in front, and the one he'd thought was ahead spun around to expose its vicious edge.
The shield's movements were unpredictable. Even reading its intent with SPU, it moved faster than anticipated and stopped sooner.
-Ha? You brought a training model to fight me with?! You look down on me!!
The Leviheim's rider with the greatshield bellowed through the external speakers.
Affected by the Mad Moon's Domain, it wasn't a calm sneer. It was more like an outburst of uncontainable boiling rage.
-The shield's movements are weird!
Roen shouted.
It was just as he said. It moved unpredictably like a UFO, ignoring inertia entirely.
Helena calmed Roen's agitation.
-Stay calm! It's an ability. Probably 'Inertia Control'!
Ability. A Gigant's special power.
Kang Geohan's ability to read enemy intent through SPU was one such ability.
But the situation was one-sided.
His ability to read intent couldn't fully track the shield's inertia-defying movements.
Helena summed it up.
-The Leviheim's Gigant Heart uses a 3-core 6-thread setup. That's why it can wield such advanced abilities freely. Our Cyclopses are 1-core 2-thread... we can only manage basic tempo control by ramping output up and down. If we fight sloppy, we'll lose for sure.
Not just the difference in Gigant Heart output, but also the qualitative gap in the miracles they could produce with it.
That was why Kang Geohan couldn't track the shield's movements.
No way could a 1-core 2-thread ability parse the sophisticated output of a 3-core 6-thread one.
-Stay calm! Don't charge blindly! Maintain formation with mid-level tactics and wait for an opening!
Gerot and Harkrux, who'd been getting brutally beaten, finally snapped to and backed off while wary of the shield Leviheim.
Thud! Kwaaang!
They still got hit by the swinging shield, but by retreating bit by bit and taking the blows, they didn't go flying like before.
-Sir Roen White! Push! Sir Kang Geohan White! While Sirs Gerot White and Harkrux White hold it, we need to land some real hits somehow!
Helena thrust her spear. Boosted by Roen's push—kwaaaang!—and borrowing the thrust of her new Sonic pack from her back, she cleaved through the dark night with flames.
Kakakang!
But Helena's spear glanced off the greatshield and slid away harmlessly. Still, she didn't panic.
As if she'd expected it, she calmly stepped forward one more time, recovered her spear, and thrust again. Her martial prowess shone through.
Whoosh-thud!
Kakang!
Whoosh-thud!
Tiiing!
Her spear tip darted like a sly serpent between Gerot and Harkrux, appearing and vanishing.
It was martial skill worthy of admiration, but not a single attack landed.
The shield Leviheim was an iron fortress.
They had to breach that castle.
Kang Geohan activated overclock and rose to his feet.
Steam rose from Femoral's entire body.
Flames from the Berserker Pack spurted at every joint, and the Giant Steps began thundering into motion.
'Golems!'
The three soul-linked Blood Golems responded to Kang Geohan's call.
Uwooooooh!
Mouths agape wide and red, they roared at the night sky and charged.
Leaping on two legs like wolves, pounding the ground with their arms, they raced like the wind, leaping over Gerot and Harkrux and swinging their greatswords and maces.
The Leviheim's greatshield whipped left, then snapped right.
Two golems' attacks were lightly blocked,
And zwip!
A lightning-fast kick dove low, shattering the jaw of a golem mid-swing with its greatsword.
Kuuguung!
The 5-meter golem tumbled across the ground like a doll hit by a dump truck.
Kang Geohan didn't miss the gap and charged in.
Boosted by Roen's push, accelerating with Giant Steps that cracked the earth.
Flash!
Acceleration so sudden it was like stars in his eyes.
Giant Slayer dropped faster than sound, trailing fire.
But,
Sudden!
The greatshield slammed into Femoral's front.
Kwaaaang!
Femoral tumbled across the ground once more.
Creeeejang!
And a loud crash echoed. At first, Kang Geohan thought something had gone wrong with his Gigant. But after looking around, he realized it wasn't.
Thud!
A massive arm crashed to the ground.
Rapal Black's Cyclops, battling the spear Leviheim, had a long spear lodged in its left thigh. It had switched to a greatsword, and its left shoulder had just been severed.
Defeat loomed.
Zaksen Gold was being overwhelmed by the custom Perseus, and Rapal Black and Kaltz Black were getting torn apart.
Gerot White screamed like a banshee.
-Uwaaaah! Hit something already! You bastard!
Anxiety over allies falling.
Rage at the impenetrable shield.
All those negative emotions shook his composure.
Gerot was slowly succumbing to the madness of the Mad Moon's lands.
-Stay calm! You have to stay calm!
Helena White shouted repeatedly.
In truth, she was more panicked and furious than anyone, but as main order-giver, she desperately suppressed her emotions.
Her calls for calm were as much self-suggestion.
But calm alone couldn't break the shield Leviheim. Its shield wasn't a shield—it was a surging wave.
Roen's thrown javelins and nets bounced off the subtly angled greatshield.
Helena's spear tip was forced into the ground by the downward sweep.
Then a sudden thrust shield battered Harkrux and Gerot.
Golems flew back, and between shield swings, a 5-meter blade stabbed out suddenly, forcing them to roll away pathetically.
Forget winning—they could barely hold on.
'At this rate... we'll all die!'
Kang Geohan remembered Zaksen Gold's order. Take out the shield first somehow. It meant kill the shield, then aid the others. Either way, they were losing.
But the shield Leviheim showed no openings. The more they hunted for gaps, the more their own flaws showed, letting it counter and pile on damage.
'Then instead...'
Kang Geohan flipped his thinking.
'I have two variables I can use.'
One was the madness from the Mad Moon's lands.
-Kraaaah! Come on!
Harkrux's voice growing hoarse.
-Faster! Faster! If we don't kill it, we're all dead! Hurry!
Roen, impatient and rushing attacks.
-This... damn...!
Gerot, spewing curses, forgetting his tank role and attempting reckless strikes.
-Everyone, stay calm! Get a grip!
And Helena, her voice heated but somehow holding the formation.
The madness's encroachment was powerful. His inexperienced fellow riders couldn't resist it easily.
Meanwhile, the shield Leviheim seemed excited but hadn't lost its final composure.
Watching Kang Geohan's comrades self-destruct bit by bit, it methodically racked up gains.
'But it's tired too.'
The second variable. Count Kali Stehold hadn't fallen easily.
He'd toppled countless Gigants and fought fierce battles against these, including the one before them. No veteran rider could be fresh.
Especially as a tank position. As the frontline fighter against the Count, it had to be the most fatigued of the remaining three Gigants.
'In that case...'
Kang Geohan bit his lip.
"Helena. Listen carefully."
-Yeah?
"If we keep this up, we're all dead. You agree, right?"
-...No. Stay calm, Sir Kang Geohan White. An opportunity will come.
"No. Let's not stay calm."
-Wha...?
"You're angry too. Your breathing's completely off. You're telling everyone to stay calm while swinging your spear recklessly."
-But...!
Helena's voice carried grievance. Then what? Pretend to go mad and charge to die together?
Kang Geohan nodded.
"Yeah. Get even angrier. Infect them with that madness."
-Infect them with madness...?
Kang Geohan steadied his breath. It was reckless and insane, but... it was their only option.
"Yeah. Charge like maniacs and rile up the enemy. Cling even if your arms or waist get severed."
-....
"That'll be enough. I'll make the finishing blow."
Kang Geohan paused to catch his breath, then added.
"...Don't die, no matter what."
Helena's Cyclops turned its gaze to stare silently at Femoral.