242. Giant (5)
242. Giant (5)
Whoooosh—
Ominous, jet-black clouds began swirling in the sky.
BOOOOOM—!!!
Then, a black beam of light shot down from the heavens toward the castle of the Raitel Kingdom.
"Wh-what is that...?"
"It's ominous."
"Is the Demon King descending or something—?"
At that sight, everyone on the battlefield stopped fighting and looked at the sky.
"At last, at last...! He is coming! My master descends—!!!"
Dikrain clasped his hands together, his face filled with ecstasy.
Granted, nothing in his initial plan had gone smoothly.
But he had played the extreme card of offering the entire Raitel Kingdom.
In the end, he had succeeded in summoning his lord.
BOOOOOM...
The sky opened, and the black beam that had poured down from that spot gradually lost its force.
And in its place, the demon revealed itself.
A massive, black body.
Eight arms.
Magnificent horns sprouting from both sides of its head.
Six eyes glowing a vivid yellow.
"Ahhh... Master. Lord Baal."
Dikrain stared at the summoned demon with a rapt face, overwhelmed by ecstatic emotion and a shudder that pierced his entire being.
Truly, was this not a mighty form befitting the title of 'Absolute One'?
All beings in this land would bow their heads before his name.
But soon, Dikrain had no choice but to stiffen his expression.
"You insolent wretch... how dare you summon me in such a filthy manner...?"
Because that vivid fury was directed at none other than himself.
"I-I am—"
He prostrated himself and tried to make an excuse.
"Grrraaaaarrrgh—!!!"
CRAAASH—!!!
His voice was drowned out by the giant's fist, which came flying in out of nowhere.
The giant's meteor-like fist slammed into the demon's face.
"L-Lord Baal!!!!"
Dikrain cried out in bewilderment.
But even after taking a fist to the face, Baal didn't budge, his head merely turned slightly to the side.
He shot a sidelong glance at the giant and spoke in a leisurely tone.
"You... Heh, a creation of that insolent bitch. A mere lifeless puppet like you... dares to strike me?"
THWACK—!!
This time, the demon's fist slammed into the giant's face.
"Ugh!!!"
Unlike when the demon had been hit moments ago, the giant was sent sprawling backward.
CRACK! SNAP!
A row of trees were crushed under his rear as he fell.
"As expected of Lord Baal...! A giant like that is no match for him!!!"
Dikrain's face filled with rapture as he watched.
Because a mere giant seemed to pose no obstacle whatsoever before his master.
"Keuh-heung! Demon!! Is that all you've got!!"
The giant wiped the red blood flowing from his nose and let out a hearty laugh as he charged at Baal again.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Their fists were driven into each other's bodies,
and each time, a massive shockwave rippled outward.
It looked as if two colossal monsters were waging battle against each other.
* * *
THWACK!!
Hit by Baal's fist, the giant was sent flying once again.
'Hm, the giant is definitely losing ground right now.'
I watched the scene from atop the ramparts of the Raitel castle and nodded.
The giant monster showdown route, which only occurs when you keep the giant in peak condition.
Demon Baal vs. The Giant.
Right now, the fight between the demon and the giant was the main event in this route.
If you only look at it this way, you might think a Player can do nothing but cheer them on. However, they are influenced by the momentum on the field.
In other words, the structure is that the stronger side in the surrounding battle gains power, and the losing side loses it.
Right now, Baal was dominant.
That was because the number of skeleton soldiers was still overwhelmingly greater than on our side.
However.
"Area Acceleratioooon!!!"
CRACK-A-CRACK-CRACK—!!!
That wouldn't last much longer.
Right now, weren't the skeleton soldiers being cleaned up without a fight by Ichika and Im Ga-eul's joint attacks?
And the Lilliput soldiers' morale was soaring thanks to their excellent efforts.
"You goddamn counterfeit shit!!!"
You could practically feel the giant's attacks getting stronger in real time.
'That is, if Dikrain doesn't step in here.'
So, my job was to handle that guy, Dikrain.
Dikrain's expression was changing by the second, as if he could also feel the battle slowly tipping the other way.
Step.
Step.
I deliberately made my presence known as I approached him.
His head slowly turned toward me.
"Hey there, mastermind."
I slightly raised my hand in greeting to Dikrain.
At that, his face crumpled instantly.
"You bastard..."
"We saw each other not long ago, right?"
Dikrain, who had been staring right at me, slowly raised one corner of his mouth in a nasty grin.
"Yeah, I really did suspect it. That you and the Minister of Magic might side with the giant. It seems my hunch was correct..."
"Well, that's right."
"But! Ultimately, it didn't matter whether you lot attacked the giant or not! Because my goal was to summon the Lord Demon from the very beginning!"
"Oh."
"Thanks to you and the Minister of Magic being absent, I was able to summon the Lord Demon without any interference! My success is entirely thanks to you bastards being gone!!"
Hmm. This scene was a cutscene of sorts, so I was going to humor him, but I guess not.
'Actually hearing it, that yapping is incredibly loud.'
I picked my ear with my pinky finger, wearing an indifferent expression.
"Yeah, don't state the obvious. I did it on purpose because that was the fastest way."
"...What? What in the world do you mean by that—"
"I don't plan on explaining it to you, so don't bother asking."
"!"
"So, aren't you going to fight? Those skeleton soldiers down there are all dying off, you know?"
I glanced toward the bottom of the ramparts and taunted him.
"You little rat...!"
He ground his teeth, which was just like his emotionally transparent self.
Flutter—
He threw back his robe and stretched both hands toward me.
"Proud knight of darkness who stands by death's side! Answer my call! Death Knight!"
Whoooosh—
As Dikrain chanted his spell,
a space like a black hole opened in front of him.
Clip-clop. Clip-clop. Clip-clop.
Two Death Knights clad in heavy black armor and riding black steeds appeared before him.
"Keuhehehe, despair before the knights of death, you whelp—"
Slice———
"...Huh?"
The Death Knights' heads were lopped off the instant they appeared.
Even both heads were cut off at once.
Thud.
Thud.
"...Wh-what is this! D-Death Knight!?"
He raised his voice, but the fallen Death Knights remained silent at his call.
I aimed the treasured sword I'd stripped from the Lilliput Kingdom at him.
"Sorry, but that sort of thing won't work."
At that, his face, which had been hanging open, turned red in an instant.
"Don't make me laugh—! Horrific soul Wizard! Lich!"
Dikrain frantically moved his hands again, summoning another undead.
A skeleton draped in a robe, a Lich.
Whizz—
Shatter!
"Kyaaaaahh—"
The Lich, its forehead jewel shattered, let out an eerie scream and scattered into a ghostly form.
"Assassin who dwells in the underground, Phantom!!"
This time, a centipede-like creature with wide wings and hundreds of legs, a Phantom.
Rip—
"Keeek!"
Its wings were torn apart in an instant, and the Phantom collapsed to the floor, spilling its internal organs.
"...G-guardian who watches over the gates of hell, Cerberus!!"
Slice—
Slice—
Slice—
Three heads were lopped off in succession.
Dikrain stared at the dead Cerberus as if he couldn't believe it.
By this point, his face was scrunched up beyond description.
"...Wh-what are you?"
"Me? An existence you can never defeat."
'There's a reason I called this route a total honey trap.'
Dikrain is a pain in the ass if he meddles in group fights,
but if you approach him and beat him down before he starts meddling, he's really not much.
The undead he summons are 3-star, and from my standpoint of having reached SS-ranked swordsmanship, they were nothing more than light snacks.
"This... this is absurd..."
Thud.
He felt the difference in our ranks and collapsed on the spot.
Actually, I could have dealt with this guy at any time from the start.
The reason I didn't.
I shifted my gaze to look at the giant monster brawl.
BAM—!
BAM—!
BAM—!
BAM—!
Over there, the giant was now unilaterally pounding the demon.
'Even now it's that one-sided, so if I kill his summoner Dikrain, it'll end way too fast.'
And if that happened, I could lose the chance to snag the last hit.
The last hit.
Yep. I planned to take down that demon the giant was fighting myself.
"You, you goddamn! Worthless lifeless puppet!!! This is preposterous, absolutely preposterous!!!"
Baal was obviously flustered, as if he'd never imagined he would be beaten so badly.
"Hahahahaha!! Demon, is this really the best you can do!!!"
Now full of energy, the giant relentlessly hammered on Baal's body.
And then.
BOOOOOM—!
The giant's fist struck Baal's chest like a cannonball.
Plop!
At that moment, the skin covering his chest shattered and tore away.
"GRAAARGHH!!!"
The instant the bastard let out that horrific scream.
I steadied my eyes.
'Now.'
"...How could Lord Baal... be like this...?"
Slice—
"!?"
I lopped off the head of Dikrain, who was kneeling in front of me with a hollow expression.
As soon as I finished off Dikrain,
I could see pitch-black energy draining out of Baal's body.
"Ichika."
I called Ichika's name in a calm voice.
As if she had been waiting, a foothold formed in front of me.
Tap—
I stepped on the foothold Ichika had created and launched myself forward.
Toward Baal, who was kneeling with his bright red heart exposed.
"Preposterous, no, this is preposterous! My power—my power!!!!!!"
The bastard was denying reality, unaware that I was even approaching him.
Thump-thump—
A deep blue aura coalesced at the tip of my sword.
I extended my blade toward Baal's grotesquely beating heart.
A blue trajectory flew toward the heart.
Squelch—!
With my sword driven into his heart like that,
I detonated the Mana I had been gathering.
BOOOOOM—!!!
Unlike the time I had stunned the giant before, this was an explosion concentrating all my Mana.
Only then did Baal seem to recognize my presence.
He glared down at me with his eyes.
"You... you goddamn...! To think that I... by trash that isn't even that bitch Rina...!!!"
Heh.
'Easy-mode route complete.'
Right after I burst the demon's heart.
Flash—
My vision went white.
"...H-hoobae?"
"Benefactor?"
The two of them looked around in confusion, flustered by the abruptly changed scenery.
Yeah, this was the library, the same place where we had first entered the book.
"Yes, it's all over."
I smirked and spoke to them.