Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Lower Body and Core Are Weak
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Rogot's Titan slams into Linekar's Jotun, knocking it down.
A wolf leaps onto the fallen Jotun's chest, biting the Titan's wrist as it charges and shaking its head viciously. The rigid magisteel alloy tears with a grinding screech.
The Jotun rolls to its feet, exposing the wolf's back, and smashes its spine with an iron mace before charging forward to smash the Titan's head once more.
Even as it crumples, the Titan's head caved in, it lashes out with a kick to the Jotun's chest.
Boom! A gale erupts, sparks fly, and the wolf's blood soaks the ground.
Rogot and Linekar forces tangle with the wolves in a hellish melee.
Countess Kali Stehold, the kingdom's Pioneering Sword, stands at the forefront of the chaos.
She carves through Rogot's Gigants like stacks of hay, on the verge of breaking their lines.
Amid the Gigants, something resembling a massive chariot from Charon's myths flickers into view—a huge transport vehicle.
A feral smile curls across the countess's lips.
"Found it...!"
A black hemisphere the size of a three-story building loaded on the transport.
The countess's eyes narrow.
'The Hemisphere of the Void...!'
The body that encases the Origin Crucible. The core component capable of containing near-infinite mana and heat.
Without it, there's no Origin Crucible, no Gigant factory. It was a target that absolutely had to be destroyed.
'Right in front of me...!'
Countess Kali Stehold ramps up output, poised to leap over the Gigants blocking her path in one bound. But just as she kicks off the ground,
Kwaaaang!
A custom Gigant rockets toward her Fenrir with a sonic boom shattering the sound barrier.
Bronzes is etched on its shoulder, its hands enormous—each half the size of its body. It carries no separate weapon.
The countess swiftly maneuvers Fenrir, yanking a shield from the main armament bay to brace for impact.
Bronzes's massive fist crashes down onto the shield.
One strike!
Paring!
Thunder roars and flames erupt. The air around them ripples like waves, deafening the ears.
Ziiiiing—
'Urk! My body...!?'
The countess hurries to prepare for the follow-up, but her body trembles uncontrollably, slowing her reaction.
The shockwave embedded in the shield propagates through Fenrir's frame, striking even her in the cockpit.
-Roar!
Bronzes's rider shouts as its right fist thrusts out.
Two!
Crack!
A simple one-two combo, but its destructive power is immense.
Kwaaauuung!
The thunderous boom makes the hearts of nearby Gigant riders sink.
For the countess, who took it head-on, words like "immense" fall short.
Wauuung, wauuung—!
The twelve-meter-tall behemoth Fenrir rings like a bronze bell. The shockwave makes its outer armor undulate like waves.
"Guuh...!"
In the cockpit, the countess reels from the colossal shockwave.
Her eardrums burst, blood streams from her ears, and burst capillaries weep bloody tears from her eyes.
Her body shudders, and damaged organs force bloody foam up her throat.
The countess grits her teeth.
"An Ability!"
The shockwave defies logic.
Gigants use different materials by section, and the shield is composite-designed to block shockwaves.
For it to pierce through regardless, only an Ability could explain it.
Bronzes's rider admits it readily.
-That's right. Ability 'Absolute Resonance.' Tops the charts in Gigant-vs-Gigant combat. Consider it an honor. Experiencing a unique Ability crafted just once from a chance-found Op Arts relic.
Absolute Resonance.
An Ability worthy of claiming supremacy.
Riders are flesh and blood, after all. No matter how tough the Gigant, pulverize the rider inside, and it's over.
-By the way, you're Kali Stehold, right? The kingdom's Pioneering Sword? I'm Count Raguna von Herris. One of the Empire's Five Heroes. They call me Thunder's Bronzes.
Kugugung.
Finishing his narcissistic introduction, Bronzes raises its massive fists high.
-Curious, Kali. Just how strong are you inside that Gigant? How much can you take?
Grinding her teeth at the taunting tone, Countess Kali Stehold glares.
Similar clashes erupt everywhere.
-Your Excellency!
-Where do you think you're going? You're with me.
Rogot aces block the path of Luke Heyend and the Nephilim, who followed the countess in piercing the enemy lines.
In the chaotic melee of Rogot, Linekar, and wolves, the true clash of the two kingdoms' elites unfolds.
* * *
The black Titan blocking Kang Geohan's path speaks.
-You're outclassed. You lot play in the boonies of a puny kingdom. We're the Empire's top elites.
Then it declares.
-I'll grab you quick and toss you to the wolves. Know your place, you sneaky bastards.
Kang Geohan brushes off the provocation and swiftly assesses the battlefield.
'Definitely... elites. Quick responses.'
On the outskirts, the melee unfolds as the countess hoped.
Rogot fails to leverage their numbers, caught between wolves and Linekar riders in disarray.
But the center differs.
Kang Geohan confirms that his side's elite riders, led by the countess, have all stalled.
Despite the surprise assault and wolf incursion, Rogot reacts nimbly, blunting their momentum.
Kang Geohan grits his teeth.
'Can't get held up too long.'
Summoning the wolves was a gamble to survive and retreat after completing the mission.
The goal—destroy the Origin Crucible or its components—must be achievable without the wolves' wildcard.
'Break through as fast as possible!'
Kang Geohan hefts the Giant Slayer.
Using Giant Steps simultaneously, he closes the distance.
His right foot explodes off the ground, the left strides forward, shattering earth. Dirt erupts.
Kurrr! Bang!
Flames spew from the axe's back, and the Giant Slayer cleaves down like parting the sky.
'Intent read.'
Using the Ability in his SPU, he predicts the enemy's defense.
'Inertia Control.'
The moment he predicts, he twists the axe's trajectory to bypass the defense.
In that instant, parts and Abilities link seamlessly.
The overloaded core heats up, shoulders crushed by suffocating pressure.
Kang Geohan forces his buckling legs straight, completing the perfect strike.
Kududuk!
The diaphragm squeezes the axe haft like it'll snap it, shifting the vertical drop to a horizontal sweep.
Until then, the black Titan's arms remain raised skyward. It fails to track the drastic trajectory change from the brace removal.
"Bye!"
Kang Geohan is certain of victory.
But,
Pakang!
The sweeping Giant Slayer bounces off.
"What?"
The unforeseen event startles him, shoulders flinching.
-Phew... Inertia Control? A Jotun wielding some high-end Ability?
Two new arms sprout from the black Titan's back.
With its original two plus the spider-leg-like pair from behind—four arms total, each gripping a blade—it faces Kang Geohan's diaphragm.
-But my Ability's pretty high-end too.
Kang Geohan narrows his eyes.
Four arms surprise him, but more so that Intent Read missed the new arms blocking until they repelled the Giant Slayer.
-Axe your main weapon? Perfect for devouring.
Kwaang!
This time, the black Titan moves first.
Kwaaaang!
Amid the sonic boom's roar, four arms swing blades at absurd speeds like bullets.
Four blades too fast for one Giant Slayer to block.
In an instant, shoulder plating rips, knee joints damaged. Relentless sonic booms shroud the two Gigants in white vapor.
Only after the damage does Kang Geohan grasp the enemy's Ability.
"Acceleration. And disruption?"
Speed defying explanation without an Ability.
But even at max, it's not beyond Lizard King's SPU to read.
Yet Lizard King's SPU repeatedly fails to read attacks. It must have an Ability disrupting the SPU.
The black Titan says leisurely.
-Inertia Control. Nice Ability. But balance matters. Wielding such a brute weapon leaves you wide open to counters. Unthinkable idiocy in the Empire.
After one clash, the black Titan is convinced it has Kang Geohan pinned. It strides forward confidently.
"Ha..."
Kang Geohan exhales, a hollow laugh mixing in.
"Do Rogot knights learn trash talk before fighting?"
Kang Geohan thrusts the Giant Slayer high.
"Sever the neck to win. Let's go all the way."
Kwaaaang!
The Giant Slayer spews flames once more.
-Useless, I told you.
The black Titan raises one blade in guard.
Wung!
Simultaneously, Kang Geohan activates Inertia Control, twisting the Giant Slayer to bypass. But the enemy has four arms.
Kaaang!
Another blade rockets out at insane speed, intercepting perfectly.
The axe blade veers toward the ground, missing the enemy.
The black Titan swings its remaining two blades at the diaphragm's arm joints.
Wung!
Kang Geohan activates Inertia Control again.
He redirects the ground-bound axe's inertia toward the body.
The diaphragm lurches sideways, the enemy's blades merely shredding outer armor instead of joints.
Damage to Kang Geohan. But,
"Hup!"
He doesn't stop.
Deep breath in, then kwaang! He surges, swinging the Giant Slayer again.
-No matter how many times!
Same pattern repeats.
Giant Slayer intercepted, outer armor shredded, Kang Geohan takes damage.
With each exchange, the diaphragm frays more.
Inertia Control overuse minimizes key damage, but grazes accumulate inevitably.
Output drops, reactions slow bit by bit.
-Futile struggling.
The black Titan mocks.
But Kang Geohan attacks relentlessly like a machine, identical strikes over and over. Blocked, counterattacked, blocked again—unchanging.
Bang! Bang!
After twenty more exchanges,
The black Titan's rider grows irritated.
'Such a pathetic fight. First time.'
What is this petty brawl?
Clinging despite certain defeat, draining stamina in the mud. A slog never seen against Empire elites.
-Know when to quit!
Even though you're done!
Chijijijeng!
Irritation peaking, the black Titan ups tempo, flailing four arms wildly.
Blades stab and graze the diaphragm repeatedly.
Torn plating and shattered joint shards rain down with sparks.
No negligible damage.
But in that moment,
Kang Geohan bares his teeth in a grin.
"My mistake?"
Kung!
Kang Geohan pours more mana into the tattered joints, stomping forward mechanically, unyieldingly like a massive tree, without tremor.
This level of damage? Covered by Jotun sync. Nothing compared to fighting with unstable Cyclops.
The enemy, however...
Kang Geohan swings the Giant Slayer again.
"Your breathing's off, isn't it?"
-What?
Until then, the black Titan's rider hadn't noticed its own slowing reactions.
That's why.
Kwajijik!
For the first time, the Giant Slayer rips the black Titan's frontal armor, leaving a gash.
-Kuh...! What?!
The black Titan reels, spewing sparks.
To the flustered foe,
Kang Geohan whispers.
"Tired?"
That's all because your lower body and core are weak.