238. Giant (1)
238. Giant (1)
Huff— Huff—
I exhaled roughly and wiped the sweat pouring down my forehead with my forearm.
A little while ago,
when the minions of the Demon gathered their comrades and talked about retreating, I let them go without dealing with them.
And where they gathered, there were about a hundred of them.
Normally I could've leisurely picked them off one by one and still had time to spare.
But that giant was going berserk, drunk off Ga-eul sunbae's Acceleration, so I had no choice.
"......Hah, I'm gonna fucking die."
I pushed myself a little too hard trying to deal with the minions of the Demon as fast as possible, and now I was drenched in sweat.
'Still, I wiped out everyone I spotted.'
Now all we had to do was retreat.
Thinking that, I looked toward where the captain, Elena, was.
But the woman who was supposed to give the retreat order had actually put down her spear and was slumped there with a dumb look on her face.
'What the hell is that idiot doing right now?'
At this rate we were all going to die, and she was just going to leave it at that?
This was a problem.
If our side got wiped out, I could end up branded a deserter even if I made it back alive.
I had to get that woman to issue the retreat order, even if it meant smacking her upside the head.
I strode right up to Elena and grabbed her by the collar.
"Get the hell up!"
When I snarled at her, the words that came out were priceless.
"......We are already defeated."
'What obvious bullshit are you spouting?'
I put on a dumbfounded expression.
Did she seriously think we could win against that monster?
This was already the face of someone who had given up on everything out of despair.
'Ha, goddammit, Chairwoman Rina. Did you really have to make these Mana Puppets so uselessly realistic....'
I gritted my teeth.
"So what! Defeat is defeat. The people who can live still have to live, don't they! If you're the captain, shouldn't you at least give a retreat order!"
"......Re, treat?"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Then I felt the vibrations of the giant running toward us from the other side.
'This woman can't die.'
Fine. In the end, I have to step up.
"I'll hold off the giant! So you hurry up and give the retreat order!!"
I said that and dashed out toward the giant.
"......J, Jin Yu-ha!? Yu-ha hoobae!?"
As I approached the giant, Ga-eul sunbae, who was hanging onto his shoulder, shouted out with eyes as wide as lanterns.
"G, Giant! Stop! S, stop it! Stop!!!!"
"Uwaaaaaah! How dare you! Do not stand in my way!!!"
She pulled on the giant's ear and yelled, but it didn't seem to reach his ears, already consumed by the frenzy of battle.
'Tch, normally the giant isn't an opponent you fight....'
Since the objective in the game was also to catch the minions of the Demon while avoiding the giant's attacks,
the giant was set up to be unbeatable in the first place.
"He really is disgustingly big."
I stared up at the giant blankly, then let out a hollow laugh and gripped my sword's handle.
"Well, it's not like there's no way."
Right then.
"Acceleration!!!"
The buff from Ga-eul sunbae settled over my body.
"Slowww!!!"
And a debuff was cast on the giant's body.
The ironic situation of a queen supporting the enemy and hanging her own allies out to dry in the heat of war.
Heh.
A laugh escaped me.
'The timing's good too.'
Fwooosh─
The slowed giant's fist hurtled toward me.
It was like a giant meteor falling right before my eyes.
Tah!
I kicked off the ground and launched myself upward.
SHUNK!
Then I stabbed the giant's finger with my sword and used it as a lever to climb up onto his fist.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!
I ran straight up the giant's arm like that.
The giant's left palm came crashing down over my head like he was swatting a bug, maybe annoyed by me running over his body,
but with Im Ga-eul's Acceleration on me, I managed to escape getting crushed to death by his palm by a hair's breadth.
After that desperate sprint,
I finally succeeded in climbing onto the giant's shoulder.
'This method should be enough to stun him for a while.'
I'd already burned a lot of Mana catching the minions of the Demon,
but if I scraped up everything I had left, it seemed like I could manage one more shot somehow.
On the opposite shoulder, I could see Im Ga-eul looking at me with a worried expression.
I flashed her a grin, then stabbed my sword straight into the giant's ear canal.
SHUNK—!
"Khuooooar!!!"
The giant let out a monstrous scream the moment the sword was driven into his ear.
Hummmmm—
I pulled up my Mana without hesitation.
Fwooosh!
Blue-burning Mana flared up around my body like an aurora.
I forcibly gathered the Mana that was trying to discharge wildly and guided it to the tip of my sword.
"Grrrrrrk─!"
It felt like my head was burning white-hot from the overloaded Mana Circuits,
but the more it hurt, the more fiercely I circulated the Mana.
Finally.
BOOOOM!
A Mana explosion erupted from the tip of the sword.
Clang!
Since it was a shabby old iron sword and not my real sword Moonlight,
the blade shattered, unable to withstand the Mana explosion.
Still, the effect of directly attacking the cochlea must've been definite.
"......Uuuur."
The giant's mouth gaped open.
He just stopped right there in that posture.
"Haa......."
Overwhelmed with the sense of accomplishment, I plopped down on the giant's shoulder.
Then, from beside me, Ga-eul sunbae leaped over the giant's head and ran toward me.
"J, Jin Yu-ha!!"
I glanced back.
Luckily, it seemed Elena had pulled herself together and issued the retreat order;
I could see the Raitel Royal Army fleeing.
'I should follow right away too, but....'
I probably had time for a quick talk.
"Ga-eul sunbae."
I looked at Im Ga-eul and smiled.
"Y, Yu-ha hoobae. I, I didn't know. That we'd end up meeting as enemies...."
She spoke in a trembling voice.
She was afraid that she might have made a mistake.
At that, I shook my head firmly.
"No. You did amazingly."
"......Huh?"
"We're supposed to lose here. And things worked out really well because Ga-eul sunbae brought the giant right away."
"......I, I d, did well? Really?"
"Yes, couldn't have asked for more."
Even after I said that, Im Ga-eul still had a look of uncertainty on her face.
I reached out to gently pat her on the head, then hesitated.
'Hm, is patting sunbae's head a bit out of line?'
Gently.
Instead, I just gave her a light hug.
Im Ga-eul's eyes grew round as saucers as I held her.
"Thank you."
"Y, Yu-ha hoobae......?"
Leaving just that one word,
I kicked off the giant's head and retreated, mingling among the fleeing allies.
* * *
"Yu-ha hoobae......."
Im Ga-eul stared blankly at his retreating figure.
"Hoobae said...... thank you to me......."
She could hardly believe Jin Yu-ha had been the one to hug her first—was it really not a dream?
The sight that entered Im Ga-eul's eyes as she stood there dazed for a moment.
The soldiers of Lilliput were chasing the retreating enemy, driven by madness.
'Right. The war is over now.'
It was a little bitter to meet hoobae as an enemy.
But because of that, there was one thing left that she could do for him.
As she steeled her heart, she clenched her fists tighter.
She rose from her spot.
Hoooooh!
She took one deep breath.
"STOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!"
She shouted at the top of her lungs across the battlefield.
Then.
Flinch.
The Mana of Slow, spread out with her voice, cooled the heat of the battlefield in an instant as if dousing it with cold water.
The Lilliput soldiers chasing the Raitel Royal Army halted in their tracks.
Everyone turned their heads toward the source of the sound.
And there was the Queen of Lilliput.
Their monarch, standing proudly on the giant's shoulder.
Jzzzzzt.
A chill that scraped down their spines.
"The battle is now over."
She spoke in a voice full of dignity.
"Everyone sheathe your swords. This war...... is our Lilliput's victory!"
As Im Ga-eul thrust her fist into the air and declared victory,
Clink.
Clink. Clink.
Clink. Clink. Clatter.
Ting.
Clunk.
One by one, they dropped the weapons in their hands to the ground.
Then, one soldier raised both hands to the sky and shouted.
"Lo, Long live......!"
That voice spread through everyone on the battlefield like wildfire in a field.
"Long live! Long live Her Majesty the Queen!"
"Long live! Long live Her Majesty the Queen!"
"Long live! Long live Her Majesty the Queen!"
"Long live! Long live Her Majesty the Queen!"
Voices praising Im Ga-eul resounded noisily across the battlefield.
Just then, the giant, who had briefly entered a stunned state, opened his eyes and pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Huuh....... What exactly just happened? My friend......? I am certain, a black-haired warrior......."
Then the giant opened his eyes wide as if in realization.
"D, does that mean...!? I was defeated by him!?"
Thwack!
Im Ga-eul kicked his chin from atop his shoulder.
"No!!!"
"......What?"
"He's not our enemy!!"
"What? H, however, he was clearly wearing the enemy's......."
"H, he, he's a spy! A spy for our kingdom! I told you over and over not to fight him! Why did you fight him and make such a scene!"
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Im Ga-eul fumed and took her frustration out on the giant.
Under her abuse, the giant scratched his head as if sheepish.
"So, sorry, my friend. When I am engrossed in battle, I cannot see what is around me......."
Even that sight appeared awe-inspiring to the soldiers of the Lilliput Kingdom.
"......Our Queen truly rules that great giant completely."
They had just personally experienced the giant's power up close a moment ago.
Im Ga-eul, who stood on that giant's shoulder, lashing out with kicks and expressing her anger, could only appear to be an even greater being.
"Long live! Long live Her Majesty the Queen!"
Once again, the cheers praising Im Ga-eul rang out even louder than before.
"Long live! Long live Her Majesty the Queen!"
"Long live! Long live Her Majesty the Queen!"
"Long live! Long live Her Majesty the Queen!"