Piercing the Cannibal's Eye
Of course, the cannibal giant Thematos flew into a rage at my words.
"What did you say? You'll kill this body? Krahahaha! Have you all lost your minds?!"
He seemed unable to contain himself as he raised me high, ready to smash me into the ground.
Whoosh! But at that moment, something pitch-black shot through the air and seized the giant's wrist. Looking closely, it was a thick vine. Writhing like a living thing, the vine was incredibly tough—even the cannibal giant couldn't snap it easily.
"Such pathetic weeds!"
Struggling against the vine clearly wounded his pride. Veins bulged on his forehead as he poured all his strength into it. But the vine was undoubtedly enchanted; it refused to break.
"No chance!"
Instead, with Python's confident shout, the vine began to squeeze the giant's wrist tighter.
"Grraaagh!"
The cannibal giant screamed in agony, his grip weakening. This was the perfect chance to escape. I twisted my body with everything I had.
"Uwaaaah!"
A shout bordering on a scream burst from my lips. And somehow, I wrenched myself free.
Wobble.
Great, I'd escaped—but I'd twisted too hard and now I was toppling headfirst. This could cause a concussion. Terror gripped me as I fell, but with no way to recover, I was helpless.
Splat!
Suddenly, leaves erupted from the ground, cushioning my fall like a mattress. The sound was just like popcorn popping as thick foliage formed beneath me.
"Idiot! Get up!"
Python's urgent cry rang out. She was locked in a tug-of-war with the giant using her vines, looking strained. Yet even amid the struggle, she extended one hand toward me, casting a spell.
Zing.
A strange hum filled my ears, and green light enveloped me. It was that same power from before—the restorative force drawn straight from nature itself. It had once mended a fatal wound from Artemis's Arrow in an instant. Now, my battered body from the giant's blows healed rapidly.
"Incredible!"
"No time for admiration! This body is dying here! Hurry!"
Snap! With a sharp crack, the vine finally broke.
"Kyaa!"
The tension released, Python let out a small scream and tumbled backward. The cannibal giant, deeming her the greater threat over someone like me, lunged after her, hand outstretched.
Dangerous.
-Give it!
My short cry conveyed everything. The Secret Book spat out Artemis's Arrow from its mouth. I snatched it midair, nocked it to my bowstring, and shouted.
"Thematos!"
The giant, reaching for Python, whipped around in shock.
"No! That's—!"
"Recognize it?"
Artemis's Arrow was beautiful with its white goose feathers—anyone with discernment would know it. And sure enough, the giant identified it instantly.
"The Huntress Goddess Artemis's arrow? How does scum like you have such a divine relic? Don't tell me—you're under Artemis's patronage?!"
What a delightful misunderstanding. Far from patronage, we were at each other's throats.
"No point knowing when you're about to die! You know its power, right?"
"Grk! Damn you!"
Just aiming a single arrow shifted the atmosphere. True epic gear was terrifying. The giant, who had rampaged without fear, hesitated and took a few steps back. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
But he bellowed defiantly.
"This body is a descendant of the outlaw Menoitios! Think I'll fear that puny stick?!"
"I see fear in your eyes— that's why you're talking big!"
I couldn't shoot recklessly while threatening him. Ideally, I'd make him back off out of fear. Hitting the eye precisely was no easy feat.
-What a shame, Peleus. With a better bow, you could hit anywhere.
-Yeah. For a target that huge, even a newbie could nail it.
I bluffed outwardly while bantering inwardly with the Secret Book. But the giant was cunning, as expected.
"Heh, looks like you've got a problem, Peleus."
"What?"
"I get that you have Artemis's relic. But it's just the arrow, right? Items like that come in pairs. Arrows fletched with geese raised by Artemis unleash their full might from her bow. Or from the bows granted by that wretched goddess to her chosen huntresses. But you!"
The giant pointed straight at me with his index finger, advancing. His confidence surged.
"A plain bow like yours can't even muster a fraction of its power!"
Spot on. This giant... was he secretly a strategist? Sharp mind, vast knowledge. From today, I'd ditch the stereotype of giants as dimwits. No more judging by looks.
"Oh ho? Krahahaha! I see. You're aiming for this body's eye? Sure, a weak spot like that might work. Go on, shoot! If you can!"
He pried open his eyelids with thumb and forefinger, mocking me. As if I'd never dare.
But then, a massive snake appeared, biting the giant's face and swiftly coiling around his neck.
Whoosh! It was Python. Desperate, she'd reverted to her true form: a colossal serpent.
"This body will buy time—shoot now!"
Her thick coils tightened around his neck. The giant dropped his club, both arms clawing at her to pry loose. A perfect opening—his eyes exposed.
"Thematos!"
I nocked the arrow and aimed. Drawing the bowstring sent immense pressure into my shoulder. Even dismissed next to the relic, it was no ordinary strongbow. This would pierce his eye for sure.
"Grrk... grk! No way!"
Foam-flecked saliva dripped from his strangled mouth, yet he swung a hand at me like swatting a fly.
Thwack!
I dodged by a hair, but his palm clipped the arrow and bow, sending them flying.
"No!"
I cried out in feigned despair as the giant, gasping, grinned viciously.
"Krahaha... grk!"
His right hand tugged at Python, while his left reached for the fallen bow and arrow.
"It's over! Grraaah!Peleus!"
His massive fist crushed them with terrifying grip strength. A brief crack, and they splintered. Hope shattered.
But that was exactly what I'd planned.
"Hah!"
With a sharp shout, I leaped onto his outstretched left hand, scrambling up his arm.
"You— what?!"
Startled by me climbing him, the giant faltered. Our eyes met for a split second, and he spotted my right hand.
Pity he didn't have time to laugh leisurely. Because my right hand gripped Artemis's Arrow.
It had been a ruse from the start. Simple, yet devastatingly effective.
When Python coiled his neck for the opening, I'd drawn a fake arrow—not the real one. I'd aimed with desperate theatrics, screaming convincingly as he swatted it away.
But the true Artemis's Arrow had been hidden at my waist.
Strangled and frantic, he hadn't noticed the feathers weren't white. Desperation clouds judgment—we all knew that.
Thanks to his mistake, opportunity struck. Arrows didn't have to be shot; just used.
He realized the trick too late—I was already on his shoulder. His mouth gaped, words forming hastily.
No time.
"Die!"
All my fury poured into the shout as I drove the arrow—gripped reverse—into his eye with every ounce of strength.
Pfshk!
The arrowhead pierced the eyeball effortlessly. It burrowed through the pupil, shattering the lens and spraying clear fluid in a misty burst.
"GRAAAAAHHH!"
The giant's earth-shaking roar of agony hurled me into the air. Python uncoiled, catching me mid-flight.
No time for thanks.
BOOM!
Like thunder crashing, Artemis's divinity detonated inside him. A brilliant white spark exploded.
I knew this from experience. He'd endure, but the god's fearsome power would lance from crown to toe. Without Zeus's divinity, he'd be pulverized.
How would Thematos, Titan heir, fare?
"GRRAAAAAHHH!"
True to his lineage, he didn't explode into chunks like a mortal. But Lichtenberg scars—lightning's fractal burns—crisscrossed his body. Soon, viscous blood oozed from them.
"This can't... no way... grrr... Descendant of the outlaw... this body..."
Thud.
The colossal giant dropped to one knee, mumbling incoherently. Massive brain trauma, clearly. Blood streamed from mouth and nose as convulsions wracked him.
"GRAAHH... krrraaah..."
Each ragged breath sprayed blood, drenching the surroundings. When he finally collapsed sideways with a boom, his unpierced eye rolled white, limbs flailing like a dying beast.
-Gruesome...
-Like a butchered pig, right, Peleus?
-Saw one just like it at a village feast.
-Death is like that. Even a great Titan's heir ends no different from slaughtered swine.
-...
Thought-provoking words.
-You'll look the same if you die. Death isn't noble or beautiful. It's ugly—just meat spilling blood. So don't die, Peleus.
The giant's vitality kept him clinging to life in a coma, body twitching wildly, clawing the earth.
"No time for cool lines."
"What lines?"
The girl's voice came from beside me. Python had reverted to human form, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, gazing at the giant.
"He put us through hell, so I wanted to end him with something epic. 'Farewell, to the hell prepared for you!' You know."
"Kyahahaha!"
She laughed heartily, chiding me for too many epics.
"You're better suited as a poet than warrior. Fights have no romance."
She was right. No room for flair. My feet stuck in his reeking blood; he still thrashed. From cunning brute to this pathetic wreck... Victory stirred pity more than joy.
But one good thing: it wasn't me.
If not me, death was someone else's problem.
-Secret Book.
-Yeah?
-He's a descendant of the great Titan outlaw Menoitios. Human sacrifice him, and we'll get a nice payout, right?
I had urgent questions for the Secret Book. Anticipation building, I asked—and its black maw split wide.
-Of course. Krahahaha.
Suddenly, tentacle-like tongues lashed out, wriggling grotesquely with eagerness. Appetite-killing sight.
What can I say? This thing wasn't normal either...