Chapter 100
Chapter Title: Gigantes
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“Grwoooaaar!”
“That ogre is throwing a boulder! Take it down first!”
Watching the ogre roar as it hurled a chunk of the castle ruins with both hands, a knight student shouted urgently at a magic student.
Just as the magic student was about to hastily cast a spell.
Fwoosh-!
Perched atop the castle wall, Celia assumed a thrusting stance.
Phoenix Breath—Flame Wing.
A flame that spread its wings like a bird shot toward the ogre at incredible speed.
Shunk!
“Guh?”
The ogre tilted its head as the wing of fire grazed past it.
A moment later, the ogre's head fell from its neck.
The intense heat had cauterized the wound, preventing even a drop of blood from flowing.
Stagger-! Thud!
The ogre's massive body collapsed, crushing the monsters around it.
But Celia's attack wasn't over.
The Flame Wing, which had soared into the sky like a gliding bird, now swooped down toward the ground.
Boom! Fwooooosh-!
The aura's flame exploded, sweeping through the nearby monsters.
Watching the monsters scream as they burned, Celia took a deep breath and sheathed her sword.
The magic student who saw this wore a look of utter astonishment.
“Seriously. How is an aura skill's firepower stronger than magic!”
Meanwhile, on the opposite wall, Duran was in action.
“More coming from the sky!”
Flying monsters, man-eating crows, were swooping in.
Seeing them, Duran used Aura Step to ascend to the top of the inner castle's watchtower.
He then raised his sword to the sky.
Flash! Bzzzzzt-!
Golden electricity erupted from Duran's sword, instantly roasting the flock of man-eating crows that had been targeting the ground.
Watching this, Karl, who was in the same group as Duran, was left speechless.
‘He's a jerk, but I have to admit he's got skills!’
With that thought, Karl supported the students around him.
Karl's abilities, specializing in support, were shining brightly in this situation.
He quickly supplied potions and identified priority targets for the students.
He was also the first to run to any student who needed help.
He had literally created a situation where Duran and the entire group could focus solely on combat.
‘Hmph. Useful for a commoner.’
Duran scoffed and descended from the watchtower.
The Lumerne students were brilliantly fending off the massive monster offensive.
Meanwhile, Emio's group was active at the front gate.
An hour had already passed since the battle began.
The Lumerne students were repelling the monster onslaught so effectively it could be called overwhelming.
“See! I told you it was nothing!”
Emio, looking triumphant, conjured four large magic circles in the air.
Emio was a versatile mage who could freely wield the four elemental magics.
Emio's magic swept away the monsters approaching the castle gate.
Thump-!
Propping a foot on the wall, Emio slung his staff over his shoulder with a bored expression.
“Fighting mere monsters from behind a wall is boring me to death!”
“Emio! Should we go out and take care of some monsters?”
A knight student, fired up, asked as he readjusted his grip on his bastard sword.
“Should we?”
The battle was so one-sided that some of the first-years were even starting to feel bored.
Just then, Chloe, a member of the same group, spoke up.
“Our objective is to defend the wall, nothing more.”
“Chloe, I'm the group leader. Are you giving me orders right now?”
“How is this an order? I'm telling you to stick to the plan.”
“I make the plans! You follow my orders!”
Chloe's expression turned cold.
Emio flinched and took a step back at Chloe's icy demeanor.
But he bristled at the fact that he'd been intimidated.
“What are you so scared of that we have to hide? If we fought outside the walls, we would've finished off all the monsters by now.”
“Not a single demonic beast has shown itself yet. Don't you know what that means?”
“Hmph. As if we should be scared of a few wild demonic beasts...”
Vwoooom-!
Just as Chloe and Emio were arguing in front of the gate.
A massive summoning circle began to form in the sky.
The first-years flinched and looked up at the sky.
“Wh-what is that?”
“A summoning circle that big? What in the world is being summoned?”
“Maybe the academy is finally here to rescue us?”
Everyone nodded at the student's words.
“Well, it has been an hour.”
“I wanted to rack up a few more achievements, though.”
Some students even expressed disappointment, jumping to conclusions.
Whoosh-!
A hideously shaped, massive, dark-blue arm burst through the summoning circle.
Bam-!
The giant hand snatched up the monsters on the ground.
Squish!
The squeezed monsters were reduced to a bloody pulp.
The unidentified giant hand returned to the summoning circle.
A moment later, a massive head emerged from the circle.
The inverted triangular head had horns.
Its enormous mouth, taking up half its head, was greedily chewing on the monsters it had just snatched.
Crunch- crunch-
The creature's face turned toward the monsters filling the castle grounds.
Grin-!
The hideous face twisted into a grotesque smile.
Soon, the giant demonic beast stepped through the summoning circle, revealing its full form.
A giant-shaped demonic beast with smooth, dark-blue skin.
The Lumerne students had learned about this beast.
A top-tier demonic beast from Tartaros.
“A Gigantes?”
***
After the anomaly occurred.
Lumerne announced the situation to the audience, promising to rescue the students as quickly as possible.
Until then, the outsiders...
...especially the parents, were in a somber mood.
Some were wailing, begging for their children to be saved immediately, while others shouted they would go rescue them themselves.
The situation worsened as the atmosphere grew serious and out of control.
But...
“Ooooh!”
“They're doing great!”
Now, an hour later, everyone was cheering.
Watching this, Elena twisted a strand of her hair with a listless expression.
‘They were in an uproar just a moment ago. The crisis hasn't changed, so what are they so excited about?’
The anomaly was still ongoing, and Lumerne had yet to rescue the first-years.
However, once the first-years began properly defending against the monster onslaught, the mood instantly shifted.
‘What's so impressive about that, anyway? For a Lumerne student, that level of skill should be expected.’
Elena rested her chin on her hand, looking bored.
‘Ah, this is boring.’
A look of tedium filled Elena's eyes.
“Senior! *Pant! Pant!* There you are!”
“What is it, Ril?”
“Senior. The professors are looking for you.”
“Mm, okay. Tell them I'll go if they need me.”
Elena was a dungeon conqueror.
She was reserve personnel, ready to be deployed as additional support.
“What? You're not going to the waiting room?”
“If I go to the waiting room, I'll end up fighting with Senior Hark. Are you okay with that?”
“Uhm! Er, I think it's better for you to stay here, Senior Elena!”
Ril said hastily, looking at Elena's mischievous smile.
“Anyway, the first-years are handling it well.”
“That's the bare minimum for a Lumerne student.”
“That's true.”
The audience might be impressed by the first-years, but from the perspective of the two Lumerne upperclassmen, it wasn't much to write home about.
“In any case, I was worried at first, so this is a relief.”
“Oh? You think this incident will end just like this?”
“Huh?”
“The enemy was audacious enough to cause an incident of this magnitude during an official Lumerne event. And the first-years in Neigrang are still isolated. This is definitely not on a scale that will end here.”
Crossing her legs and resting her chin on her hand, Elena smiled sweetly.
“In the worst-case scenario... all those first-years out there could die.”
Ril felt a chill run down their spine at her words.
Just then, the magic projection captured the image of a massive summoning circle forming.
Uwooooooo-!
Seeing the giant demonic beast reveal itself, everyone's face turned pale.
“A G-Gigantes!”
Everyone was aghast.
Only Elena, who had foreseen this turn of events, spoke calmly.
“See? The real show is just beginning.”
***
Thud-! K-thoom-!
Uwooooooooooo-!
At the roar of the giant, which stood about eight meters tall, the monsters on the ground began to flee in terror.
The Gigantes, one of the highest-ranking demonic beasts, was a terrifying monster that struck fear into all living creatures.
The Gigantes chased the fleeing monsters, indiscriminately stuffing them into its mouth.
The appearance of a terrifying demonic beast that unilaterally preyed on monsters, creatures that threatened humans, filled the entire first year with terror.
Watching the beast greedily devour the monsters, a few first-years covered their mouths and gagged.
As the entire first-year class held their breath, praying that the despair-inducing beast wouldn't notice them...
It froze-!
The Gigantes, which had been devouring monsters indiscriminately, stopped moving and began to sniff the air.
Swish-!
The Gigantes turned its head toward the inner castle, blood and saliva dripping from its mouth.
Seeing this, the first-years all had the same thought.
‘It's coming!’
Uwooooooooo!
The Gigantes tossed aside the monster in its hand and charged forward with a roar.
Thud- thud- thud- thud-
As the ground trembled from the Gigantes's charge, the entire first year was frozen stiff.
Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-shatter-! Skewer-!
A massive ice spike shot up from the ground.
Impaled by its own momentum, the Gigantes's body gushed blood.
Uwo! Uwoargh!
Yet the horrific beast paid it no mind.
Instead, it began to punch the ice piercing its body, trying to shatter it.
Amidst the chaos... Chloe, standing on the wall, staggered, breathing heavily.
It was the price for forcibly casting such a massive spell.
Gritting her teeth, Chloe steadied herself and shouted.
“What are you all doing! Get ready to fight!”
“What?”
“You're all terrified just because it's a Gigantes! But look closely! That Gigantes isn't fully grown!”
Chloe was right.
A fully grown Gigantes reaches nearly fifteen meters in height.
Compared to that, this one was definitely smaller.
“If we work together, we can defeat it! We are students of Lumerne Academy! Have you forgotten our school's motto?!”
Her cry snapped the students to their senses.
Surpass your limits.
It was the one value emphasized to every student at Lumerne.
But the students who had collapsed to the ground didn't even think of getting up and just shouted back.
“H-how are we supposed to beat something like that! It's better to run!”
“That's right! We should scatter and wait for the rescue team, not fight!”
Chloe's group members, who had been so confident just a moment ago, had completely lost their will to fight.
”Do you think you can survive by running?”
The students flinched at Chloe's cold words.
If they ran, they would surely be picked off without being able to do a thing.
But even so, no student could readily muster the courage.
It couldn't be helped.
Humans were infinitely weak creatures in the face of despair.
Chloe knew this as well.
“I'm scared, too.”
She stood tall, but her voice trembled faintly, and the hand gripping her staff shook.
“But someone taught me. That a hero is someone who stands tall and fights in a moment of crisis.”
That sight of his back had saved me.
‘If I break from fear here... I'll never be able to dream of being a hero again.’
“So, no matter how desperate the situation, I will fight.”
With a determined expression, Chloe turned her body.
K-krack!
“Grwoooaaar!”
After destroying the ice spike that pierced its body, the Gigantes's wounds began to heal at an incredible rate.
Once healed, the Gigantes neurotically lifted a chunk of the shattered ice and hurled it toward Chloe.
The chunk of ice, empowered by the Gigantes's strength, transformed into a mass attack with terrifying destructive power.
“Aaaah!”
“Dodge it!”
The surrounding students scattered in terror.
‘It's too late to dodge!’
Channeling her magic, Chloe quickly recited an incantation.
K-wham-!
The piece of ice, blocked by the shield magic Chloe created, shattered into pieces.
Having defended against the attack, Chloe was about to cast her next spell.
Just then, she saw a crimson flame flicker in the distance.
Fwoosh-! K-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-krakoom!
The flame quickly became a sword strike of immense size, mercilessly slashing the Gigantes's back.
Kuaaaaaaaah!
The Gigantes let out a scream and collapsed to the ground.
The smell of burning protein from the flames searing the Gigantes's flesh spread everywhere.
Crash-! Thud! Thud!
The castle grounds were instantly devastated as the Gigantes thrashed around in agony.
Everyone's gaze turned toward a high point on the outer castle wall.
In contrast to the fiery sword strike that seemed hot enough to melt steel, his gaze was utterly cold.
A boy with white hair fluttering in the wind and red eyes.
Fwoosh-!
Flames could be seen flickering on the arm that held the sword.
The moment she saw him, Chloe felt the last vestiges of fear in her heart melt away like ice.
Her trembling hand grew still.
A smile unknowingly gracing her lips, Chloe spoke his name.
“Leo.”