Chapter 71
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Weakness Assault (1)
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[Scan initiated.]
‘Huh?’
Lloyd’s eyes widened.
He stared at the message floating before him with the wide eyes of a startled rabbit.
He’d had a hunch.
It worked.
It really worked.
‘Whoa, this actually works.’
But this wasn’t the time for admiration.
Nor was it the time to question why it worked.
He could marvel later.
He could analyze the reason later.
‘Right now, I need to make use of this.’
Questions could wait.
Exploitation first.
Lloyd focused on the content of the message hovering in front of him.
His eyes darted busily.
Tssst-tssst-tssst!
Wherever his gaze touched, his vision shifted like augmented reality.
The massive body of the Gigatitan thrashing wildly to catch Haviel.
Every corner of that body was analyzed, data popping up in droves.
It felt like peering into every single pore of the Gigatitan with a map hack.
Thanks to that, he could uncover the secret behind its tremendous defensive power.
‘Survey results show its carapace composition... Hmm, chitin mixed with ivory.’
And not just mixed together simply.
They were intertwined in a triple honeycomb structure at the molecular level.
Those triple honeycombs layered and woven into a spiral structure.
It was practically like a cutting-edge Kevlar fiber bulletproof vest.
‘And that’s an average thickness of one meter.’
A full meter-thick state-of-the-art biological bulletproof vest.
But the secret to its defense wasn’t just that.
‘The entire surface of the carapace has fine wave patterns etched in a uniform direction.’
Those wave patterns converged, flowing overall toward the forehead.
And on that forehead rose a massive horn like a spike.
Lloyd’s gaze sharpened.
‘That horn isn’t just for show.’
His gaze grew sharper.
The horn where all the wave patterns converged.
Yet that horn was hollow inside.
There had to be a reason for it.
‘It’s not mere decoration. Then... could this work too? Design!’
Lloyd activated his Design skill.
He triggered the skill’s option function.
Ding-dong.
[Design Skill Option ③: Simulation Mode activated.]
[Geographical data from Survey Skill designated as simulation target.]
Flash!
The background of the virtual design space lit up.
Countless points and lines appeared.
They connected.
Like graphics made of polygons, a massive shape materialized.
It was the Gigatitan’s body, just scanned.
‘Good, it works.’
Lloyd’s gaze flicked briefly.
The Gigatitan rampaging to grab Haviel.
That form matched perfectly with the one in the simulation mode window.
‘Perfect.’
Lloyd raised both hands.
He manipulated the simulation mode, stroking the air.
‘What I want to know is the relationship between those wave patterns on the carapace and the hollow horn.’
He zoomed in.
Focused on one plate of the Gigatitan’s back carapace.
Curled his finger.
‘The test physical impact force... Hmm, let’s say 30 tons.’
Snap!
He flicked his finger.
The tip of his index finger struck the Gigatitan’s back carapace in the simulation.
Then the 30-ton impact he’d set was applied to the back carapace.
Kwaaaang-!
The path of the force from the impact.
Thanks to simulation mode, that path was visualized.
A red wave generated from the impact point.
But the shock didn’t penetrate inside the carapace.
Instead, it flowed along the countless wave patterns etched on the surface, converging.
And rushed into the horn shaped like a spike.
That was the moment.
The empty space inside the horn resonated.
‘That’s it. It’s diverting the impact into the horn’s internal space and resonating it. That’s why most of the damage is canceled out as vibration and scattered.’
Lloyd’s eyes gleamed.
An exclamation escaped him naturally.
It felt like witnessing one of nature’s wondrous mysteries, the more he saw.
‘But now’s not the time for admiration.’
He wasn’t surveying and designing just to satisfy curiosity.
Right now, he needed to find the monster’s weakness through this.
His gaze grew even busier.
More persistent.
‘Hold on just a bit longer, Haviel!’
If Haviel weren’t buying him time like this, he’d have no chance.
Knowing that well, Lloyd experimented relentlessly on every part of the Gigatitan.
He tested countless physical properties and durabilities.
Finally, he found it.
‘There.’
Lloyd narrowed his eyes, focusing on one spot.
It was the joint between the 11th and 12th abdominal plates where the Gigatitan’s chest and belly connected.
‘It’s not exactly a chest and belly since it’s not an insect, but anyway, that’s the weakest point relatively.’
The experiments confirmed it.
The carapace there wasn’t thin.
If anything, it was thicker than the back.
But if two conditions were met?
It was the one spot with any chance of destruction.
‘The horn, and the strike angle. Those two are key.’
Those were the conditions for penetrating the weakness.
First preparation: remove the horn.
‘That way, we eliminate the shock dispersion effect.’
He couldn’t erase the fine wave patterns on the carapace surface.
But he could remove the horn.
If the horn was gone?
The impact flowing along the wave patterns wouldn’t resonate through the horn.
Without resonance, it would rebound back along the path it flowed.
‘And the second condition is the angle.’
The joint between the 11th and 12th abdominal plates.
Strike it obliquely from tail to head direction, precisely at a 45-degree angle.
Of course, a weak thrust wouldn’t even come close.
‘But if Haviel uses Blasting, it’s plenty possible.’
He tested it three times with that setup.
All results: success.
Blasting that could split granite bedrock.
When the weakness penetration conditions were met, it pierced the carapace smoothly.
It could penetrate the ventral nerve cord and surrounding tissues all at once.
‘That should be enough for a fatal blow. He can do it.’
Lloyd closed simulation mode.
He looked up.
He gazed at Haviel, still being pushed back by the Gigatitan’s onslaught far away.
He ran toward him.
From about 200 meters away, he shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Hey! Can you hear me!”
No response.
Seemed like he couldn’t hear.
‘Ah, damn it.’
He didn’t want to get any closer.
But if he stayed put, Haviel really might die.
Lloyd bit his lip hard.
‘Ugh, that nosy hero complex idiot! This is why novel protagonists suck. Zero sense of reality.’
What the hell made this guy think of facing that monster head-on?
Was he resolved to step up for total strangers?
Honestly, he had to admire it.
On the other hand, the fact that such a hero was his bodyguard filled him with espresso-dark melancholy.
‘Argh, seriously!’
Steel-ing his resolve, Lloyd charged forward.
150 meters, 100 meters...
He closed the distance to Haviel.
Finally, he entered the shadow cast by the Gigatitan’s massive body.
From there, he shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Hey! You idiot!”
Only then came a response.
As if using mana to send his voice, a calm tone rang clear without him even raising it.
“Lord Lloyd?”
“Yeah! It’s me, you idiot!”
“Are you planning to fight alongside me?”
...Why did that voice sound glad?
Lloyd snapped back, trembling with irritation.
“Fight alongside? Like hell! Why would I do that crap!”
He yelled.
“You’re in a bind right now! No matter how much you slash and stab, you can’t even scratch that thing’s carapace, and it’s frustrating the hell out of you, right?”
“No.”
“No?”
“Yes.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m targeting the horn first.”
“...What?”
Lloyd instinctively looked up.
The Gigatitan casting its shadow over him.
Beyond its massive bulk, he glimpsed its head.
And that horn—it was already half severed!
“This is just a hunch, but it seems that horn disperses impact. So I plan to cut it off first.”
“Whoa.”
Haviel’s calm voice carried over.
In stark contrast, his silhouette leaped like a gale.
Watching that, Lloyd realized.
‘So that’s what a genius is.’
Indeed, the one who’d become the first and only Grand Master in history.
The Gigatitan weakness he’d analyzed with even Survey Skill.
Haviel seemed to have grasped it intuitively just from clashing directly.
“Then you’ve figured out there’s a weakness around its solar plexus too!”
“No, I hadn’t.”
“That’s why I came, you idiot!”
Right now, only Haviel could pierce the Gigatitan’s weakness.
So he had to relay the info.
That was the way to save Haviel—and himself.
Thinking that, Lloyd shouted.
The reply came immediately.
“I’d like more details.”
Whirr, thwack!
Haviel landed right beside him in an instant.
He reached out without warning.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“Huh?”
Grab!
He seized the back of Lloyd’s neck.
Then kicked off the ground.
From there, it was like riding a bare-bodied KTX high-speed train.
“Wh-what the—!”
Fwoooosh-!
Lloyd’s eyes bulged.
The moment his feet left the ground.
The terrain shot past below.
Typhoon winds battered his eardrums.
The headwind was so fierce he could barely lift his head.
On top of that, the Gigatitan’s attacks rained down in real time from above!
Screeech, kwaaaang-! Krunch!
Coastal rock cliffs shattered and crumbled in real time.
Rock dust and debris poured like a shower.
Haviel dashed through it like a gale.
Lloyd, suddenly dangling like an ice cream bar from Haviel’s grip on his neck, yelled.
“Y-you bastard! Got a grudge against me or something?!”
“Yes. Obviously.”
“......”
“Tell me in more detail. The monster’s weakness.”
“Ugh! Can’t you let go and I’ll tell you?!”
“I’m doing this because I’m worried I’ll miss details if we’re too far apart.”
“Gaaah! Damn it!”
Sharp turns and acceleration.
Amid it, Lloyd fought nausea and shouted.
“Just like I explained! The spot where its chest and belly meet, between the eleventh and twelfth abdominal plates! See it?”
“Yes, I see it.”
“The center there, from tail to head direction! Oblique at 45 degrees! With Blasting!”
“That’ll do it?”
“Probably? But cut the horn first!”
“Understood.”
No question of how he knew.
No time for pointless doubts.
Now was the time to trust each other.
“Then stay here.”
Thud!
Haviel landed and finally released his grip.
Lloyd’s neck was freed(?) at last.
Then Haviel leaped again.
Flash!
And so Lloyd was left in a crevice of the coastal cliff rocks.
He watched Haviel’s back as he charged back at the Gigatitan.
And thought.
Haviel’s combat always looked like art, no matter how many times he saw it.
Shooooosh! Kwaang-!
One of the Gigatitan’s feet slammed the ground.
A stomp aimed at the charging Haviel.
But by then, Haviel had already leaped.
No—he was ‘flying’ through the air, kicking off the Gigatitan’s pillar-like legs in succession.
Tadak-tadak!
Kicked the column-like legs.
Surged up like a beam of light.
Slashed the blocking leg joint with his sword.
Let his body ride the rebound of the sword aura.
Flew horizontally, then fired Blasting downward.
Twisted his body obliquely upward in rotation.
Dodged and parried the five incoming auxiliary legs.
Finally, he stood atop the monster’s carapace.
And charged.
Thwish!
Like a gale given life and sprinting.
Like an arrow of light itself.
Haviel’s lightning charge hurtled toward the Gigatitan’s head.
Before the Gigatitan could even shake itself, he leaped.
Poured the charge’s momentum fully into his sword.
Rotated rightward in midair, adding rotational force.
Swung the sword.
Slashed.
The spot already struck dozens of times from the same direction and angle.
The coldly gleaming blade dug precisely there.
Just after grazing past the horn.
Shlick!
The Gigatitan’s forehead horn was severed.
Grroooowl!
The enraged Gigatitan hurled its entire body at Haviel.
But by then, Haviel had already landed and pivoted.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-!
The monster’s furious charge upturned the earth’s surface wholesale.
Haviel slipped the assault by a hair’s breadth and charged on.
Stepped only on the peaks of the upheaved earth.
His eyes flashed like bared fangs.
‘Right there.’
He locked onto the weakness Lloyd had indicated.
Slipped like wind into the Gigatitan’s massive embrace.
‘Got it.’
From here, obliquely toward the head at 45 degrees.
Recalling those words, he angled his sword tip minutely.
Clashed mana circles and thrust.
Blasting.
But just as that Blasting’s momentum was about to pierce the weakness.
Fwoooom!
“......!”
Suddenly, a tremendous gust assaulted Haviel from the left.
The Gigatitan’s club-like foreleg.
“Tch!”
He reflexively redirected the Blasting.
Thrust it at the oncoming foreleg.
The massive foreleg club.
The Blasting’s sharp momentum.
The two forces clashed in midair.
Boom!
With the explosion, Haviel’s body bounced away.
No—slammed toward the ground.
“Urk!”
Kwachak!
His feet dug into the rock.
But no time to falter.
Fwoooosh!
The foreleg club descended with even fiercer momentum than before.
Haviel instantly hurled his body aside.
Rock exploded outward.
From the shower of debris, Haviel counterattacked.
Ferociously targeted the weakness.
The Gigatitan stubbornly defended its own weak spot.
The silver-haired knight on the cusp of Swordmaster realm and the building-sized monster.
The two threw everything into fierce collision.
And from 100 meters away, watching the clash, Lloyd thought.
‘Ha, at this rate, he’s in trouble.’
If he left it like this, Haviel might actually die.
So now, backing out was getting tricky.
He’d have to do something to let Haviel assault the weakness stably.
‘Guess today this body’s role is tanking aggro.’
Aggro.
Or baiting attention.
What stunt would work best for that?
Lloyd turned his head.
Scanned the surroundings.
Then, his eyes caught Creemo City in the distance.
In the corner of its plaza.
The mermaid statue embedded in the steeple flickered into view.
‘The Gigatitan started rampaging because of that earlier, right?’
Even after, it had landed onshore to attack the mermaid statue that flew into the city.
So, what if that mermaid statue right in front of it suddenly jigged around, doing the seven-star conger eel ascension dance and popping hula?
How would the Gigatitan react?
‘Haviel wouldn’t even register.’
Lloyd smirked.
And recalled one absolute law learned body and soul from Korea’s online gaming world.
To pull aggro?
You had to piss off the opponent properly—until they screamed, “Let’s play a game, you bastard.”