Chapter 177
Chapter 177
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 177
Chapter Title: Forest of the Profane (2)
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The group looked around. Tall trees with long leaves obscured the sky.
From above, it might have seemed impenetrable, but light squeezed through the slightest gaps to illuminate the world. Moss and mushrooms grew in the shade, and the soil felt damp with moisture.
Despite this, it didn't feel similar to their original world.
The secret to the feeling that time had stopped lay in the size of the rocks.
The age of a place can be determined by the weathering of its rocks. But here, the rocks were of all different sizes. There were small pebbles, but also countless boulders as large as houses. It was an impossible sight unless someone had moved them.
"The material might be different from where we lived. For instance, they could be durable enough not to erode over time."
Canis's words made sense.
Ancient artifacts were made of minerals that didn't exist in their world. And the very term 'ancient artifact' meant an object from before recorded history. If this was Heaven, rocks that had endured eons were living proof.
"So, this is Heaven after all?"
"Let's check the Spirit Zone first."
At Amy's suggestion, they each checked if they could cast magic. The Spirit Zone was an omnipotent domain, but they felt a flicker of anxiety that their omniscience might falter in a physically separate world.
Fortunately, their magic was working normally.
"So this really is Heaven? Well, we've had a good look. Should we go back now?"
Everyone stared at Tess. Not expecting to be the center of attention, she gave an awkward laugh and waved her hands.
"Ahaha, ju-just kidding."
"No. I was seriously considering it myself."
If even Rian was saying such a thing, it was easy to imagine how tense the others were.
As if to prove it, Shirone's group hadn't moved a single step from where they had arrived.
Shirone took a small but great step forward and said.
"Let's get moving. Whether we fell from the sky or space was warped, we saw a city. Shouldn't we head in that direction? At least it means there's civilization."
Where there was civilization, there was law. Of course, whether that law aligned with common sense was unknown, but it was a more realistic choice than spending the night in a forest where anything could jump out.
"But how do we find the city? We don't know the direction."
"I can do that."
Amy's eyes turned red. Reading the information stored in her eidetic memory, she pointed in the direction where Rian was standing and said.
"Directionally speaking, the city should be over there."
Amy's eidetic memory could perfectly restore a specific point in time. It was the same even after traveling an astronomical distance.
This was based on the fact that her ability wasn't mathematical. Just as a compass points north regardless of its location, she possessed a kind of internal magnet that could find its center despite any variable.
Following Amy, the group listened intently to the sounds of the landscape. They heard insects chirping and birds singing, but for some reason, nothing was visible.
Just as they realized this was a phenomenon they couldn't ignore and stopped walking, they heard the sound of rustling grass from the forest.
Tess, her senses sharp, drew her saber and turned. Rian stood beside her, his hand gripping the hilt of his greatsword.
"What is it, Tess?"
"I don't know. It sounds like someone is coming this way."
Amy asked with a tense expression.
"Are you sure it's someone? Not something?"
Tess couldn't answer. The breathing sounded human-like, but she couldn't be certain.
There was no guarantee that people even lived here in the first place.
Not knowing what kind of monster might emerge, the group's tension rose to its limit.
*Rustle! Rustle!*
The sound of rustling vegetation grew closer and faster. Tess was certain it was heading straight for them.
The mages entered the Spirit Zone, and Rian drew his greatsword, holding it low. Whatever it was, he planned to swing upwards the moment it burst from the woods.
Taking a deep breath as he waited, Rian wore a puzzled expression.
Judging by the frequency of the sound, it should have arrived by now. But there was still only the rustling; the opponent hadn't shown itself.
"Rian, you should back away."
Tess's voice trembled.
In her mind, there was only one possibility. The sound was coming from much farther away than they'd thought.
As Rian, still poised to swing his sword, took a step back, *Thump! Thump!* The ground shook.
Finally, it broke through the undergrowth and revealed itself.
"Wh-what is this?"
Shirone looked up, cranking his head back as far as it would go.
It was a giant.
An eight-meter-tall giant, at that. It was naked, but scraps of cloth were draped over it here and there.
Its beard reached its chest, and its face was hideously wrinkled. In contrast, its body was as sturdy as a young man's.
Tess, with the strategic intent of finding a weak spot, glanced at its groin. It was smooth. The face looked male, and the chest was flat, but it had no reproductive organs.
"Um... something bad has come up."
Arin said. Tess, leaving the giant to Rian, turned and asked.
"What is it? Is it worse than our current situation?"
"I don't know which situation is worse, but this is a first for me."
Shirone also turned to Arin. How was her clairvoyance perceiving the giant?
"I can't read its emotions. Whether it's angry, laughing, or sad. It's all a jumbled mess."
The most surprised person was Canis. Harvest, materialized behind him, also tilted his head and studied the giant.
"Arin... can't read emotions?"
That couldn't be. It was theoretically impossible.
The power of clairvoyance brought all the characteristics of creation down to an equal level.
Even if it blocked its emotions like Sakiri of the Magic Association, her clairvoyance should at least perceive that.
Being unable to read the giant's emotions was certainly bizarre.
"Those who come to purgatory... You who have denied God..."
They couldn't understand the giant's words. It didn't seem like they could find a translator, either. The only person the group could rely on was Arin.
But once again, she shook her head.
"I don't know. I can't decipher it."
Not only her clairvoyance but even telepathy didn't work. Arin was as good as blind. Unable to even read its expression, she had to borrow Canis's eyes.
"Canis, does that giant seem hostile?"
"I'd say... it looks like it."
Did this mean Arin, who specialized in telepathy, couldn't even sense killing intent? The reason they had stepped into this unknown world, even with the Metagate, was because they trusted Arin's ability to neutralize the unknown.
Arin. Without Arin, it was impossible. Amy must have thought the same, as she left the final judgment to her.
"Arin, what should we do now?"
"Wh-what do you mean? We have to run, of course!"
As Arin scurried away, Amy was dumbfounded.
Canis chased after her, and the others also began to retreat.
Amy, who was the last to react, looked back at the giant. It had pulled up a sapling nearly two meters tall and was chasing them.
"Graaaaaah!"
The giant's roar was comparable to a sonic cannon. In a daze, Amy belatedly threw herself aside.
The roots of the sapling swung by the giant grazed her collar.
"It's huge, so it won't be able to keep up! We have to run for now!"
"You should have said that sooner!"
Amy, catching up to Arin with Schema, shouted. She had thankfully dodged the blow, but if her reaction had been even a little slower, her back would have been split open.
"Sorry! I didn't know it would be like this either."
Arin didn't shy away from responsibility.
Now that they were in Heaven, they were a team. As a non-combat mage, her contribution to the party was to discern the enemy's disposition, objectively analyze the situation, and report to the leader. With that function paralyzed, all she could do was apologize.
They were all in the same boat, so no one blamed Arin. However, they were worried about what lay ahead.
Arin's psychic abilities were a huge advantage. It was too early to jump to conclusions just because they didn't work on one giant, but it was true that their journey had gotten off to a rocky start.
Hearing the ground tremble, Shirone looked back. The assumption that it would be slow because of its size was a misjudgment. The giant was right on their heels.
Tess's voice came through Arin's mental channel.
-Shirone, give the order. Shouldn't we just teleport away?
-That's dangerous. We still don't know where we are. If we run into an even greater danger, we'll be wiped out.
-But we can't keep running forever, can we? To be honest, I can't even see what's around us right now.
-...That's true. Then let's fight here. I think taking down the giant first is the right order of business.
Once Shirone chose to fight, Rian and Tess turned and shot toward the giant.
Amy and Canis took positions to the left and right of Shirone, with Arin providing support from the rear.
Rian, as the vanguard knight, initiated the attack.
Fighting an eight-meter-tall enemy involved many unpredictable variables. It was difficult to anticipate attacks coming from high above, and conversely, the only parts they could aim for were below the knee.
Rian aimed for the Achilles tendon.
The moment he swung his greatsword, the giant swung its tree trunk. The weapons collided mid-swing, and the tree trunk was torn apart as if ripped.
It wasn't a situation you could call a clean cut. The giant's strength was so immense that its own weapon had been destroyed.
The force of the blow sent Rian flying three meters. He barely managed to land, but his feet still dragged on the ground.
Feeling a tremor in his right arm, he gripped the blade of his greatsword with his left hand and took a combat stance.
The giant's strength was incredible. But what was more surprising was its speed.
"How is this possible? It defies the laws of physics."
For an eight-meter-tall creature to support its body, it would need muscles hundreds of times stronger than a human's.
He had thought just standing was amazing, but its combat movements were comparable to those of a wild beast.
Spewing unintelligible words, the giant threw the broken sapling at Tess.
The moment the one-meter-long sapling slammed into the ground, Tess kicked off the earth and launched herself into the air.
The giant, still in its throwing stance, followed through with a punch. It seemed there was no way for Tess, suspended in mid-air, to dodge.
In that instant, her body shot forward as if defying inertia and landed on the giant's fist.
It was External Gravity.
She charged up the giant's forearm, slashed its left eye with her saber, and jumped off. As the giant covered its eye and reared back, she shouted to the group.
"Now!"
Shirone fired a Photon Cannon. Considering the monster's size, this was no time to conserve mental energy.
A ball of light, comparable in size to a cannonball, struck the giant's abdomen directly.
As if embracing the Photon Cannon, the giant's body bent backward, its legs lifting off the ground.
The sight of the giant being pushed back was hard to believe even seeing it. Canis, who had once been hit by the same technique, winced, feeling phantom pain.
Shirone's group thought it was over. But the giant's legs, which had been parallel to the ground, came down, and its feet slammed into the earth, bringing it to a halt.
Everyone was speechless.
It had taken the Photon Cannon with its body. Wasn't that the spell that had produced a destructive force close to 5,000 in the Room of Achievement and Sacrifice? It was one thing for an iron door, but for a creature of flesh and blood to withstand it was absurd.
"My god... how can it be fine after taking a hit like that?"
The giant's expression was contorted. Its face, with its deepened wrinkles, was bizarrely terrifying.
In that moment, Amy's fireball flew in from the side and set the giant's face ablaze.
Amy's judgment was effective. Fire was the natural enemy of cells. No matter how strong its muscles were, it was useless if they were roasted.
The giant, its beard also on fire, clutched its face and staggered.
When they saw the giant's face engulfed in flames, a chill ran down their spines. Beneath the melting, dripping skin, new skin was regenerating.
Tess muttered in disbelief.
"That's Schema, isn't it? How can a giant use Schema?"