Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Rave Reviews
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Muscles.
They're easy to mistake for being solid as rock because of their firmness, but in truth, muscles are made up of 70 percent water.
Muscles store glycogen, the fuel needed to exert force, and that glycogen bonds with water for storage.
That's why your chest muscles swell bigger than usual during push-ups.
Blood rushes to the muscles loaded with glycogen and water to supply energy, causing them to pump up.
That's what they call pumping.
That was the state of Kang Geohan's demonic muscles, fundamentally transformed after devouring the Balrog's core.
They weren't just more flexible—they could now achieve explosive pumps.
Crunch-crunch-crunch!
The moment he thought to flex them, the light mana stored in his body surged into his demonic muscles.
The demonic muscles expanded. No, expanded wasn't the right word—it was an explosion.
Like the universe that had been expanding nonstop since the original Big Bang, his demonic muscles swelled. His mana snowballed, growing exponentially.
Power overflowed. An omnipotent sensation washed over him, as if he could uproot mountains and lift the heavens, sending thrilling vibrations through his lower abdomen.
Rumble!
The Giant Slayer was engulfed in flames.
As if it had been misused until now, the ax handle shuddered violently, flaunting its maximum output.
The Femoral's frame trembled and shook, unable to fully contain the massive power surging out.
Black smoke billowed thickly, like gasoline had been poured on a fire.
"Wh-what the hell is that? What kind of Cyclops...!"
Drek von Rad's voice trembled at the end as he sensed the unnatural power.
He had already stowed his warhammer in his main armament slot and drawn an 8-meter-large shield and a 5-meter sword instead.
Pure instinct had put him on the defensive.
Thanks to that, he didn't lose his life in vain.
Boom!
The Giant Slayer plunged down like lightning.
"Grk!"
Drek reflexively crouched and raised his shield to deflect it. The shield was so massive it easily covered his body.
But the Giant Slayer didn't fall straight.
Using the Lizard King's SPU to read the enemy's intent in advance, Kang Geohan activated Inertia Control, twisting the Giant Slayer's trajectory mid-flight.
Like a UFO, the massive ax carved an impossible path through the air.
"Grah! You bast...!"
Drek blocking that strike was half luck and half thanks to his masterful shieldwork.
He shook his body in an instant, using the momentum of his shifting center of gravity to yank down the raised shield.
He successfully covered the Giant Slayer as it veered sharply from the side.
Crack!
With no time to redirect the force, he took the full brunt head-on, and the shield split halfway.
For a split second, the afterlife flashed before his eyes. Drek retreated, dripping cold sweat.
"Inertia Control? You're using an advanced ability like that? You're not even a Revaim or a Titan—you're just a Cyclops?"
The smug superiority that had laced his voice was gone.
Thud!
Seeing Kang Geohan charging without pause, Drek screamed like he was in a nightmare.
"Protect me!"
Kang Geohan charged madly at Drek, while the four freshly arrived Bayabas rushed to block him.
Harkrux was still out of commission, turning it into a one-against-five fight.
'The tables have turned?'
Not long ago, he'd charged five-to-one against a Revaim with Inertia Control. Now he was the lone one facing five.
'But I'm way more disadvantaged.'
That Revaim back then had been top-tier.
In contrast, what Kang Geohan piloted was a Cyclops—a trainer at its core, even after a Yotun-level upgrade.
Two whole classes below, the absolute bottom rung. And objectively speaking, his skills as a rider were probably lacking too.
So,
'Ride this initial momentum for all it's worth...!'
The enemy Bayabas had just arrived and were disoriented.
Before they could form up and counter systematically, he had to sow maximum chaos.
To do that,
'Squeeze out every ounce of power.'
He pumped his demonic muscles once more.
Like jumping straight into the next set without rest.
A sharp pain and heavy, waterlogged-sponge dullness radiated from the unrecovered demonic muscles, but thanks to the Balrog's core rebirth, they overcame the fatigue and squeezed out more mana.
"Hoo...! Set two!"
Crunch-crunch-crunch!
He huffed the crushing pressure out through his chest's demonic muscles, then yanked it straight into his arm's demonic muscles.
A truth he'd learned through training.
Focusing power in the chest demonic muscles boosted mana output, while the arm demonic muscles sharpened control precision.
Empowered by fiercer, more precise mana, the Femoral swung the Giant Slayer.
'Come on, guess! Will the ax drop left or right!'
The vertically plunging ax abruptly shifted to a left horizontal slash under Inertia Control's influence.
Crack-crunch!
One Bayaba blocking the path swung its arm desperately to retreat, but its right arm caught on the ax and tore halfway off.
"Everyone, watch out! It's Inertia Control!"
Drek shouted, but Kang Geohan had no intention of giving them even a fingernail's worth of time to regroup. He pressed forward relentlessly, forcing choices.
'Come on! Block it! Left? Or right?'
The Giant Slayer dropped vertically once more. The Bayaba dead ahead froze.
Unable to predict the turn—left or right—it crouched low, guarding both sides.
Seeing that, Kang Geohan smirked and tightened his grip on the ax handle.
'Not changing it this time!'
Crack-crunch!
The Giant Slayer fell straight down, as if to cleave its skull.
Another Bayaba yanked it back from behind in a panic, but the Giant Slayer grazed its shoulder and chest, shredding armor plates.
Sparks flew, steel exploded.
Multiple choice—no, a trilemma of left, right, or straight—forced on them as the Femoral advanced without mercy, leaving the enemies' minds blank for a moment.
Unable to predict where or how the Giant Slayer would fall, their hands flailed, feet only retreated.
Kang Geohan alone was driving five Giants back.
"Grk! Get it together! It's still just one! We have the advantage!"
Unfortunately for him, Drek von Rad snapped out of it soon enough.
He drew a lance over 15 meters long. Using the Bayabas covering his front as shields, he thrust relentlessly.
Whoosh—!
Swish—!
The supersonic lance tip bent sharply, aiming for the Femoral's limbs.
Masterful technique reminiscent of Helena's ghostly spearmanship!
It was prowess that forced even Kang Geohan's charge to falter.
"Attack! Push him! Keep pressing so he stays on defense!"
Drek's lance spat fire, and the Bayabas' axes, shields, warhammers, and blades rained down.
'Damn...!'
Kang Geohan was too busy dodging and blocking to find an opening for counterattacks.
The momentum flipped in an instant.
Kang Geohan stumbled back, frantically parrying enemy strikes.
His breath rose to his throat, his body heavy as waterlogged cotton.
And rightly so.
He'd sprinted full-tilt here, then fought at max output without rest.
'But... if I give ground here, it's over...!'
Kang Geohan gritted his teeth.
Using even his full-body mirror ability, he crammed mana from his body into his demonic muscles.
Explode the demonic muscles once more.
'Set three...!'
Inhale! Clench the glutes! Brace the core! One edge faster, stronger than the enemy—just one edge!
The storm-like Giant Slayer batted away the enemy attacks in one go.
And the Femoral seized the opening to counter.
"Come on, guess! Right or left!"
A blow piercing four Bayabas to strike the Titan behind.
"Grk...! Damn it!"
Drek hurled his lance in panic and flung himself right.
But the Giant Slayer curved after him like a guided missile, snagging one arm.
Crack-crunch!
His right arm tore free amid flames.
"Wrong! Go right and you get hit like this!"
Kang Geohan taunted triumphantly, and Drek roared in fury.
"You fucking gearhead! Fight without Inertia Control and you'd be kissing dirt in under a minute, you cheating bastard!"
But those words only lifted Kang Geohan's spirits. Weren't insults from the enemy the highest praise?
"Thanks for the rave reviews!"
Flipping the enemy off to the end like that, Kang Geohan wiped the sweat pouring down his face.
In truth, the situation wasn't great.
He was playing it cool verbally to mess with them, but his body and demonic muscles were at their limits.
He was desperately trash-talking to hide it while wringing out every last drop of strength.
Without the Balrog core's overwhelming recovery boost, he'd have collapsed ages ago.
But Kang Geohan held out till the end.
He never showed weakness, successfully overwhelming the enemy.
"Kang Geohan! Thanks. I caught my breath thanks to you. Let's fight together now."
In the meantime, Harkrux had recovered and stood. Now it was two against five—much easier.
And that wasn't all.
Roooar!
In the distance, golems charged with roars. Kang Geohan's three golems led, followed by his comrades'.
His allies had finally arrived.
The Blood Golems' muscles rippled visibly even from afar.
Now Logot's side was desperate.
"Damn... enemy reinforcements! Retreat! Retreat! You bastards...! We'll meet again!"
Drek's frantic order.
But,
"Sorry, late? We took the long way to cut off your retreat."
Helena appeared, blocking their escape.
Up front, eight golems plus Kang Geohan and Harkrux held firm; in the rear, Kaltz, Helena, Gerot, and Loen barred the way.
The encirclement, completed while Kang Geohan kept the enemy pinned, was airtight.
Kang Geohan bared his teeth in a grin.
"Ah, perfect timing."
Hiss—
He released the power from his demonic muscles, forcibly bloated with mana. Steam vented from his whole body, hot gusts whipping his head.
A pleasant dizziness.
"Now, let's wrap this up."
From here, he just had to hold position without overdoing it to win.