Chapter 48
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: The Gigadeus Emerges
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The battle that had begun with a surprise attack ultimately ended in a perfect victory for the cadets.
Once the fighting was over, Hena regained her composure and spoke up.
"How's everyone's damage?"
"I'm fine."
"Me too."
"My arm took a bit of a hit, but it won't affect my mobility right now."
Fortunately, the damage wasn't too severe.
Only two machines had parts damaged that affected their mobility. The rest had just minor breaches in their outer armor.
Meanwhile, Abel—who should have been helping Hena assess the situation—was lost in deep thought.
'What was that just now?'
The bodily change that had occurred near the end of the battle, along with the hazy figure he'd glimpsed from afar, was something he couldn't ignore.
First off, the pattern etched into his body only heated up intensely in two cases.
When facing a Gigadeus Fragment. And when killing one.
But even then, it didn't happen every time.
'Was that humanoid figure a Gigadeus Fragment?'
Abel furrowed his brow.
He knew every Gigadeus Fragment that appeared in the game, and none of them matched that.
There were plenty that resembled humans in form, but they were all much larger.
But 'that thing' had clearly been about the size of a person.
Even from a distance, he was certain of it.
'I should check the area nearby on the way.'
Fortunately, the direction it had appeared in aligned with their path, so Abel quickly made up his mind.
He didn't have time to leisurely mull it over.
"Alright, let's move first and rest after."
By then, Hena had finished assessing the situation and gave the order.
Abel followed her lead without argument and began moving out.
As they traveled, Abel thoroughly scanned the area around where it had been, but found nothing.
'No traces at all.'
There weren't even幻觉-level signs—it was as if he'd imagined the whole thing.
Abel pressed on, a nagging unease in his gut.
After that, they kept moving, alternating between battles and rests.
There were a few close calls, but with their increased numbers, they navigated the crises relatively smoothly.
Time flew by.
A few hours later, they arrived before a vast forest.
'Found it.'
It was the forest Abel had been searching for—the one slumbering with ruins inside.
"The marker's pointing toward this forest. What do we do?"
Hena turned to Abel for input, as one leader to another.
A Gigant's combat effectiveness was limited inside a forest. Visibility was poor, and obstacles abounded.
That was likely what was worrying Hena.
But Abel's answer was already decided.
"We should go in. We don't know exactly where the outpost is. It could be inside the forest."
"Hmm. You're right."
Hena nodded, clearly having considered that herself.
Abel turned to her.
"Let's check with the others too."
"Sure."
Abel and Hena consulted their squad members, and soon enough, they reached a decision.
"Alright, let's move in carefully."
They would enter.
* * *
A forest wears many faces.
When sunlight filters warmly through the leaves, it's cozy beyond measure. But wandering a dark wood alone demands great courage.
It's a cradle nurturing myriad lives, yet also a stage for the food chain's brutal dance of predator and prey.
Thud, thud-!
Now, uninvited steel giants strode through this forest of many faces.
As Abel walked, he thought to himself.
'Come to think of it, all the trees here are enormous.'
Ten massive Gigants were on the move.
Yet they navigated the forest without much issue.
The trees were gigantic to begin with, and spaced widely apart.
It wasn't ideal for combat, but if the woods had been densely packed with saplings, they wouldn't have even attempted entry.
'Well, most of the forests we've seen so far have been like this.'
That said, not all trees or forests in this world were like that.
Generally, areas with high concentrations of Gigadeus and their fragments featured everything on a massive scale—plants and beasts alike.
The exact cause was unknown, but scholars speculated it was due to mana density.
Places where Gigadeus lingered tended to have thicker mana concentrations.
"It's so quiet."
Lost in his thoughts, Abel heard Daniel's voice.
"Yeah. Unnaturally quiet. It didn't feel this still when we first entered."
Hena, walking ahead, responded.
The forest was indeed eerily silent.
Even riding Gigants, some ambient noise should have filtered through.
"Maybe all the creatures fled at the sound of our Gigants powering up?"
One cadet offered an opinion, but Darin promptly refuted it.
"That doesn't explain it... I can't sense any lifeforms even beyond our line of sight."
Darin had superior detection abilities compared to most.
The others had learned this through battles on the way here, so they couldn't dismiss his words lightly.
Sensing the mood grow heavy, Abel spoke up.
"Well, nothing we can do about it now, right? Let's just stay alert and cautious like always."
"Yeah, true. We can't turn back now."
The outpost marker still pointed deeper into the forest.
Plus, they'd already been inside for two hours—retreating wasn't an option.
Their immediate goal was to find the outpost by nightfall, reset the time limit upon entry, and rest.
Agreeing with Abel, they pressed on into the forest depths.
Meanwhile, Abel thought to himself.
'Getting close now?'
It was a realization sparked by the cadets' unease.
The game had similar descriptions.
As they neared the ruins, cadets felt growing discomfort and anxiety.
The reason: an aura emanating from the ruins that repelled ordinary lifeforms.
'Things are about to pop off.'
But the description didn't end there.
While the ruins repelled normal creatures, they attracted abnormal ones.
Given that, a fight could erupt at any moment.
Abel gripped his weapon tighter and forged ahead.
The deeper they went, the sharper everyone's nerves became.
When that tension peaked—
Rumble-!
The ground suddenly shook.
Fresh from a prior ordeal, the cadets startled and looked to the earth.
But the surface showed no change.
"Darin!"
Hena snapped to attention and called out.
Darin replied in a panicked voice.
"Something huge is coming!"
"Huge?"
Hena's tone turned grave.
Meanwhile, the tremors intensified.
As Hena opened her mouth to speak again—
Boom-!
With a deafening roar, part of the ground erupted upward, and something burst into view.
'What is that...?'
It was so enormous, their Gigants looked like toys by comparison.
Clang-.
The sound of metal clashing rang out, and Abel's expression hardened.
Enemies around the ruins were 'random.'
Not completely so—they spawned from a fixed pool of candidates.
The problem: those candidates varied wildly in strength.
From pathetically weak to absurdly powerful. The gap was immense.
And the one that had appeared now was the latter.
Absurdly powerful.
"Ah... ahh..."
A voice trembling with terror echoed.
Even Hena, who'd been keeping the cadets in line, could only manage those shaky words.
"Giga... deus!"
Gigadeus.
Humanity's enemy. An object of terror.
It was at least three times larger than their Gigants, its body sheathed in silver metal.
If likened to a beast, it resembled a serpent—but truly, it evoked a dragon from legend.
The long body, the legs attached to it, the glowing red eyes.
Thump-.
What jolted Abel from his momentary stupor was the violent pounding of his heart.
Thump, thump, thump-.
His heart raced fiercely.
At the same time, intense heat surged from the pattern like flames.
Normally, the pain would have made him writhe, but in his half-dazed state, it actually helped.
Using the sharp agony to snap to his senses, Abel assessed the situation.
The Gigadeus that had burst from underground wasn't attacking—it was looking down at them.
Abel thought fast.
'We can't take it head-on.'
They had ten Gigants, but it wasn't enough against a Gigadeus.
Typically, engaging one required at least ten Miles-grade Gigants, fully armed.
Piloted by veteran riders.
But here were rookies barely getting the hang of Gigants.
With only basic armaments on supply-model frames.
'Reinforcements will take time.'
A Gigadeus sighting would surely draw academy support.
Hard to compare directly to the game, but if similar, it'd be around ten minutes.
"Ten minutes."
Abel spoke up.
"We just need to hold out ten minutes! Reinforcements are definitely coming!"
He shouted loudly, ensuring the half-stunned cadets heard him clearly.
Some snapped to and looked up, but most remained frozen.
So Abel tightened his grip on his sword and stepped forward.
Heavy steps toward the Gigadeus.
But he didn't stop. He accelerated, breaking into a run.
Whoosh-!
The Gigadeus saw Abel charging and flicked its tongue, shifting its body slightly.
The silver scales slithered with a rasp, exuding intimidation on their own.
Abel gritted his teeth and sped up.
Whoosh!
In that instant, the Gigadeus raised its tail high.
Boom-!
A roar followed, dust exploding upward. The onlookers paled.
But when Abel emerged unscathed far from the dust cloud, their expressions flipped.
Of course, the assault didn't end there.
The Gigadeus swung its tail repeatedly to crush him.
Each time, Abel dodged by a hair using Shadow Step.
The distance closed in a flash, and mid-movement, Abel activated another skill.
[Overflow]
His body heated up, senses expanding.
Like revving an engine to its limit, but Abel ignored it and raised his sword.
Rasp!
The Gigadeus twisted in apparent rage as Abel closed to point-blank range.
But Abel didn't retreat.
Now was the time to advance.
Hum!
Then, faint light began emanating from the pattern.