Chapter 73
Chapter 73
Chapter 73 Jormungandr
Power overflowed through my body.
Not only had I simply become stronger, but I could feel that even the aspects I had found troublesome when facing the Gigas earlier had been absorbed into me.
I immediately checked the information.
[Giant God (S): The divine body of the Giant race, one of the four Transcendent species. Born with a powerful physique from the moment of birth.
① Innate Strength: Strength, Agility, and Stamina increase by 20. Receives the highest level correction for all actions involving physical control.
② Unbreakable: An indomitable body like steel. The body becomes tougher and harder over time. All types of resistance increase in proportion to the body's hardness. Hardness additionally increases in proportion to the Stamina stat.
③ Gigantification: Can use gigantification to increase the size of body and equipment by consuming mana. The maximum possible size is proportional to the Strength stat.]
The first effect was the first among all the traits I had acquired so far to directly increase raw stats.
Since it raised the stats themselves, it synergized with various correction traits and Primordial Blood, greatly increasing my abilities beyond the simple numerical value.
If earlier I would have been sent flying pathetically after taking a direct hit from the Gigas, now I felt I could withstand it to the extent of being pushed back significantly.
The second effect possessed the ability to grow stronger just by breathing, like the Master of Black Magic or Master of Spirit Arts.
Moreover, unlike the other two abilities that improved skills in specific fields, this was an effect that strengthened the body itself, with unmatched versatility.
Similarly, while my arms and ribs that had snapped like corn stalks when hit by the Gigas earlier would now be able to withstand it at the level of just getting cracked.
'Now I'm not just a cockroach, but an Adamantium cockroach.'
A crazy body with high defense due to Unbreakable, and even if barely injured, instant recovery was possible through Immortality.
I couldn't say for certain unless the opponent had both penetration-type abilities and recovery-suppression abilities, but if they had both of those, it would be difficult to face anyone.
I decided to try out the third effect since I couldn't get a feel for it.
'Gigantification.'
When I decided I wanted to use gigantification, my body began to increase in size along with the equipment I was wearing.
When I increased the size to the maximum possible, I could grow to about 20m.
Also, my strength and stamina seemed to increase more than when I was small, proportional to the size increase.
[Everyone in the Pantheon and Pandemonium is shocked.]
They couldn't help but be surprised since I suddenly used gigantification.
"The mana consumption is quite high though."
Maintaining this state required quite a lot of mana, not as much as manifestation but still considerable, so I reduced the size while finding an appropriate compromise point.
The most efficient was about half the maximum size.
The rate of strength and stamina increase according to mana consumption was just right.
'I wonder if partial gigantification is possible too?'
I tried to see if it was possible to enlarge only specific parts of the body like I had seen in manga, and it was definitely possible.
I tried extending my fist forward while enlarging only my arm, and it succeeded immediately.
However, in this case, the equipment didn't grow along with it, so the arm portion of my clothes was completely torn.
It was a technique that could only be used on parts not wearing equipment or when completely naked, so I probably wouldn't have occasion to use it.
After that, time flew by as I moved around to adapt to my changed body.
There was so much to confirm: how strong my body had become, how hard and tough it was, what level the increased resistance was at, and how to use gigantification efficiently.
Additionally, since Spirit Arts had reached intermediate level, I needed contracts with intermediate spirits.
Since lower-grade spirits were able to have a meaningful impact on the Gigas earlier, how much stronger would intermediate spirits using the same magic be?
[Time remaining until Gigas corpse collection: 0 hours 0 minutes]
When I finished contracts with intermediate spirits of each attribute and felt that the Giant's power had become familiar to my body, the time ended.
And a new message appeared.
[Please select the target for the next mission.]
Once again, it showed me the list of Constellations showing interest, but I had already decided on the Constellation to choose second.
[Would you like to select Odin as the target for the second mission?]
[Yes / No.]
The second god who had been active in the massacre of Earthlings, Odin.
I decided to accept his mission.
I pressed yes and a portal appeared, and this time too I could see messages from the transcendents.
[One of the gods in the Pantheon breathes a sigh of relief.]
[Some of those in the Pantheon and Pandemonium are dejected.]
'Are they really making bets?'
There was no other way such reactions could occur.
It's not like I threatened them to make bets, so surely they wouldn't hold a grudge against me as a result.
With the thought that transcendents wouldn't be that petty, I threw myself into the portal.
The setting was an endlessly spread ocean.
I was on a small boat about 18m in length floating on top of it.
"This is the first time the setting has been an ocean... what exactly are they trying to make me do."
Just as I was thinking whether I might have to engage in underwater combat, a message appeared in front of me.
[Odin's Mission.]
[Defeat Jormungandr.]
Jormungandr was definitely the name of a giant serpent from Norse mythology.
As I looked around wondering where it was, the boat began to shake slightly and the water surface started bubbling up.
SWOOOOSH!
And a snake so enormous that I thought it could swallow the Gigas I had met earlier in one bite emerged from underwater.
'What, they want me to fight something like that?'
I honestly thought the Gigas was already unreasonable, but Jormungandr was simply beyond specifications.
So much so that I wondered if a creature larger than that could even exist.
Since I had to do it if told to do it, I first used blood magic and bone magic to reinforce the boat.
The moment this boat collapsed, there would be nowhere left to stand.
And since it was an environment with a lot of water, I summoned intermediate water spirits en masse through regular contracts.
I let the spirits act on their own and first tried casting curses and debuffs on the opponent, but while the effects weren't nonexistent, they seemed meaningless due to its enormous size.
Its pure specs themselves were overwhelmingly superior, so even without special resistance, it rendered debuffs meaningless.
'It's not particularly hard, but chip damage is meaningless.'
I tried throwing poison-coated bone daggers for probing or firing offensive black magic spells wildly, and while they stuck well to its body, that wasn't meaningful damage.
From Jormungandr's perspective, it would be like mosquito bites.
And it definitely had poison resistance, as it wasn't getting poisoned at all.
So just as I was about to launch a proper attack, it opened its mouth wide and shot out something like a breath attack.
I immediately countered with Black Dragon Breath, but since the mouth sizes were different, the attack ranges also differed greatly.
I succeeded in defending my body and its surroundings, but the parts I couldn't block fell onto the boat and began melting it.
"That's deadly poison...?"
Moreover, it wasn't ordinary poison but deadly poison imbued with mana.
At the same time, the smoke rising from there became a poison mist trying to poison me.
I could avoid the poison mist if I withdrew right now, but I didn't do that.
'It's about time I started working on resistance training.'
I had been disappointed by the lack of opportunities to train resistance since the 6th floor, but Odin had thoughtfully provided one.
"This level has a decent taste."
Supreme Comprehensive Resistance plus Unbreakable.
Despite possessing truly absurd levels of resistance, Jormungandr's poison was damaging my internal organs.
A poison more threatening than the one used by Tang So-so of the Tang Family.
Of course, the recovery speed through Immortality was faster, so there was no problem at all, but my resistance was increasing.
[Everyone in the Pantheon and Pandemonium asks if it's starting again.]
'Shouldn't everyone be used to it by now?'
Resistance training was essentially my fundamental content.
[Superior Comprehensive Resistance level increases.]
As I stood still savoring the poison like that, it seemed to think I was completely poisoned and tried to destroy the boat using its tail.
"Oh no. That won't do."
A tail with overwhelmingly massive volume and mass.
However, for me, who had gained enlightenment about nothingness through sparring with the Emperor on the 8th floor and obtained a near-perfect body by absorbing the Gigas, it wasn't particularly threatening.
Since the boat might be damaged, I lightly used gigantification to about 5m and struck with full force, sending the tail flying outward.
'If I'm this strong now, after receiving the 10th floor reward and getting back limit-breaking stats...'
I couldn't predict how strong I could become.
And when Jormungandr failed at tail-whipping, thinking the poison was insufficient, it sprayed poison breath even more enthusiastically.
This time, I didn't even think about responding with breath attacks and took it all with my entire body.
Of course, since the boat couldn't be damaged, I used all my mana to repair the boat with bones and blood, and took the poison purely with my bare body alone.
Even my skin, strengthened by Unbreakable, was gradually melting under the continuous poison breath due to the pressure and concentrated poison, but that was actually good.
The poison was penetrating better and my resistance was growing even more.
Whenever it thought I was completely poisoned and attempted head-butts or tail strikes, I continued deflecting the attacks, only allowing it to hit me when it attacked purely with poison.
[Everyone in the Pantheon and Pandemonium says what a truly tenacious bastard.]
'Ah. Good. This is what living is about.'
Regardless of what the transcendents said, Han Yeong-min was in a good mood from resistance training after such a long time.