Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Piercing the Giant Horde
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During the march, the ongoing chat had informed viewers of the 'Survival' stage's contents.
Pelius mistaking the Giant Tribe chieftain for being alone.
The villagers and accompanying players moving to capture that chieftain, facing their survival trial.
That was the core of this stage.
Persuasion was impossible. Stopping Pelius and the villagers, who had steeled themselves for death, wasn't an option available to a player.
To clear the 5th stage, they had no choice but to come here with Pelius.
Crunch-.
Thud-.
Trees toppled behind them. At the same time, giants that had been flattened asleep on the ground began to reveal themselves one by one.
Pelius's face filled with bewilderment at the sight.
"Wh-what is this......"
"Giants."
"I-I know that. I know, but......"
Pelius's mind went blank.
He quickly counted the giants.
Just the ones coming into view numbered over dozens.
Could they handle it if each person took one?
No, that assumption didn't hold.
They had mobilized solely to capture one Giant Tribe chieftain, himself and the soldiers included.
"Run away."
Instead of the panicked Pelius.
Lee Soo-hyuk spoke, Giant's Heart in hand, Thunderclap equipped on his body.
"Pull yourself together."
Grip-.
The grip on his shoulder snapped him back to reality.
"R-right."
Grind-.
He bit his lip until it bled. Pelius shouted to the soldiers who followed him.
"Flee down the mountain! Hurry!"
And at that moment.
Roooaaarrr-!
The giants bellowed as if the mountain itself were shaking.
"R-run-!"
"Hurry!"
"Uwaaaah-!"
They were soldiers who had come prepared to die for the village from the start.
But being prepared to die didn't mean they came to die.
If there was even the slightest chance of victory in the fight, maybe.
But from the moment that chance hit zero, the soldiers had already surrendered to the terror of the giants.
Grip-.
"Benefactor, run too! Hurry!"
Pelius clutched his shield tight.
Resolved to death, he stood alone to block the giants.
But.
"That's my line."
Shing-.
Regardless, Soo-hyuk drew his sword.
It was a sword with a red impact effect.
"Not going?"
"Y-yes... Huh?"
"You run first, then I can move."
Not wanting to drag it out, Soo-hyuk drove the point home.
"Don't want to? Then we both die here."
"......"
Pelius pondered briefly, then lowered his shield.
"Tha...nk you."
"No problem."
"Let's survive and meet again. You and I."
Whoosh-.
Pelius turned and began descending the mountain. Soo-hyuk was the last one remaining.
He had sent even the stubborn Pelius down.
Now, only one task remained.
Thud-.
Giants chasing the soldiers down the mountain.
Slash-.
Soo-hyuk thrust his sword at one of them.
Puuk-!
Roooaaarrr-!
The giant with the sword in its thigh screamed.
The giants' gazes converged.
Thanks to that, the giants pursuing the soldiers halted momentarily.
Over a hundred giants.
Soo-hyuk taunted them all, as if he planned to face every one.
His goal was obvious.
The survival of Pelius and the soldiers descending below.
50 soldiers.
Including Pelius, ensure all 51 survive.
That was Soo-hyuk's 'first' goal when planning this trial.
True to its name, the fifth stage's rewards scaled with the number of survivors from the giants.
But.
Roooaaarrr-!
Watching the giants charge at him, Soo-hyuk adjusted his thinking slightly.
Puuk-.
Slash-!
He stabbed and sliced the giants' arms and legs.
He handled the charging giants while slowly drawing on the demon sword's power.
'Manageable.'
He had wondered, just in case.
If he had been intoxicated by the demon sword's power and the sweetness of Selfish Sacrifice, leading to poor judgment.
He had doubted himself once.
Still, the conclusion remained unchanged.
Drip-.
He stepped on a tree and leaped up to the height of a giant's head.
And at that moment.
'Let's do it.'
The decision was made.
Vmmm-.
The demon sword in his hand took on a deeper red hue.
He felt his stats filling his body to the brim.
As he drew more on the demon sword's power, the sword's speed and power enhanced accordingly.
Thus.
Slash-.
Such feats became possible.
Thud-.
A Giant Tribe head fell to the ground.
This one was a smaller fragment than the fragments.
A lower-grade giant than the one felled in the fourth stage.
The issue wasn't the giants' level, but their numbers.
Squish-.
Soo-hyuk stepped on the body of a still-standing giant.
Pop-.
And from then on.
The giants' bodies served as footholds for his leaps.
Grroooaaar-!
Grrrooo-!
Soo-hyuk flew over the giants' heads.
As he flew, he slashed obstacles in his path or pierced heads for instant kills.
Slash-.
Stab-, puuk-.
Messages rang out in succession.
The giants bared their teeth and swung thick wooden clubs.
Occasionally.
Their clubs grazed past Soo-hyuk's body.
It was a heart-stopping scene even for the broadcast viewers.
Guts twisting, can't watch ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Me too 2222222222
In that razor-edge situation where a single slip could end it all.
Calmer than the viewers was Soo-hyuk, breaking through the giant horde.
Messages resisting the demon sword popped up repeatedly.
Trusting them, Soo-hyuk unleashed the demon sword's power to the max.
'Stamina... still plenty left.'
The ring on Soo-hyuk's finger sparkled, catching sunlight through the shadows.
'Giant's Heart. +2 Stamina means dozens more seconds.'
2 stats.
A small variable.
But in this tightrope trial, 2 stats made an enormous difference.
Whoosh-.
A giant's club whistled past Soo-hyuk's head.
Close enough to ruffle his hair with the wind. But instead of retreating, he beheaded the giant.
'Getting closer.'
Soo-hyuk's pupils reflected the Giant Tribe chieftain like a mirror.
'Bit by bit. Bit by bit......'
Flash-.
Before the severed giant fell, he leaped off its body again.
'Closer.'
He had thought it from the moment he stepped onto this stage.
5th stage, Survival.
Just survive the giants.
He was confident in the trial's given mission alone.
If Soo-hyuk had no further ambitions.
If he were an ordinary player, he'd be content perfecting the assigned trial.
Perhaps that's why.
The moment he faced the Giant Tribe chieftain, Soo-hyuk thought.
'What if I take you down.'
Time to flip the board.
Capturing the Giant Tribe chieftain was the stepping stone.
"Curious, aren't you? You too."
Had he gotten too immersed?
The mutter slipped from beneath his mask.
Now even it seemed to grasp his intent, sneering mockingly from afar.
Cheers and jeers mixed.
The acrobatic leaps across giants' bodies drew awe.
But breaking through that number to reach the chieftain looked impossible.
The distance closed.
The real problem started here.
Roooaaarrr-!
Grrrooo-.
Giants encircling the chieftain protectively.
Unlike the start, density increased nearer the chieftain.
No wonder viewers called it suicide.
Thud-.
For the first time, Soo-hyuk leaping across giants' bodies touched solid ground.
The tightrope walk ended there.
The giants' gazes shifted downward from above. They judged with their dim wits that they finally had him.
That instant.
'Now.'
Snap-.
Soo-hyuk snapped his fingers.
'Thunderclap' used.
Thunder's roar spreads across the battlefield.
Kaboom-!
A deafening roar exploded, fit to burst eardrums. It originated from the armor Soo-hyuk wore.
Kruuooo-!
Uwooo-!
The giants dropped their clubs and clutched their ears.
The shock shook their ears, plunging them into brief chaos. That short gap was the move Soo-hyuk aimed for.
Giant's Heart.
And Thunderclap.
Soo-hyuk used the two items as if crafted for this exact moment.
Dash-.
While the giants reeled.
Soo-hyuk wove through them, reaching the Giant Tribe chieftain.
"-Didn't think I'd make it, huh?"
The one sneering at him from afar.
It too clutched its ears, suffering from Thunderclap.
Vmmm-.
The red effect deepened to an unprecedented intensity.
Drip-.
Drawing the sword's power until blood trickled from one eye, Soo-hyuk climbed atop the Giant Tribe chieftain's head.
"I've arrived, you arrogant bastard."
Puuk-.