Chapter 73
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Weak Point Assault (3)
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Shwaaak!
The silver longsword thrust forward.
Immense power was loaded into the blade.
The grip clutching the sword.
Mana was infused through the hand.
It wasn’t ordinary mana spewed from the Mana Heart.
It was mana carrying far more explosive and destructive force.
Kiiiiing-!
The three Mana Circles surrounding Haviel’s heart spun at high speed.
They twisted under the rotational force pushed to its limit.
One circle enveloped the heart.
The other two collided.
It triggered a violent explosion.
The explosive force raced through his blood vessels.
It surged from his torso, past his shoulder, down his forearm.
It leaped from his fingertips into the sword hilt.
It amplified further through the blade.
Finally, it shot out.
Toward Gigatitan’s most fatal weak point.
The connection between armor plate 11 and plate 12.
Boom-!
Blasting struck the weak point.
At that instant, Haviel’s blue eyes flashed.
‘Success.’
The twenty-year-old genius silver-haired knight was certain.
It was a perfect blasting execution.
The explosive force transmitted precisely.
The stabbed spot and angle were spot-on.
All those conditions matched exactly the essential elements of weak point assault that Lloyd had told him about.
Soon, the explosion erupted.
Kaboooom-!
Destructive force swirled between Gigatitan’s armor plates.
It shredded everything in the blast radius, including the plates themselves, slicing and tearing.
And it burrowed in.
Grraaawr!
Gigatitan let out a scream.
Its massive body twisted in agony.
At that moment, the blasting’s explosive force relentlessly burrowed between Gigatitan’s armor plates. It ravaged. It charged. Toward the spot that would deal a mortal wound. Smashing its way in.
And then it stopped.
Just 5 centimeters short.
It had pierced the shell but fallen 5 cm short of the flesh beneath.
Leaving exactly that much thickness behind.
The explosive piercing power dissipated.
‘Huh?’
Haviel’s eyes widened in shock.
At the same time, recoil surged toward his shoulder.
The price of failing to fully penetrate the shell.
Thwack-!
“……!”
The aftermath of the explosion poured out.
It returned intact through the narrow hole blasted open.
“Urk!”
Haviel’s sword bounced back.
His upper body shook violently, exposing his right shoulder gripping the sword.
His other arm fared no better.
His left hand, clutching the shell protrusion, loosened for an instant. It slipped.
His body plummeted downward.
No, the recoil hurled him downward like a shot.
‘Damn…….’
Grit!
Haviel clenched his teeth.
The ground rushed up fast.
Why his blasting had failed.
Why he couldn’t pierce Gigatitan’s weak point.
What condition for weak point destruction had been missing.
Only then did he have a faint idea.
‘All conditions were perfect. The spot, the angle—spot-on. Just one condition short. My power was lacking. I was exhausted without realizing it.’
His guess was spot-on.
Lloyd had run the blasting simulation based on the peak performance Haviel could achieve.
Naturally, the weak point destruction conditions he’d shared with Haviel assumed that.
Using blasting infused with maximum power.
That was the condition for weak point destruction.
Yet he hadn’t met it.
The reason was simple.
‘My stamina was this low?’
He’d already been facing Gigatitan alone for over twenty minutes.
He’d dashed around nonstop against the colossal beast, no time to rest.
Sprinting at full speed, changing direction, leaping, swinging his sword.
Buried under countless rock fragments, taking hits.
His guts churned endlessly from successive shockwaves.
He’d endured all that abuse and damage, fighting alone, fighting on.
Of course he’d be exhausted.
‘But that’s no excuse.’
Grip!
Power entered Haviel’s hand clutching the sword.
He couldn’t end it with one failure.
‘Lord Lloyd believed in me.’
He’d shared Gigatitan’s weak point.
That wasn’t all.
To let him strike the weak point.
He was drawing Gigatitan’s attention, risking danger himself.
So he had to live up to that trust.
He wanted to.
‘One more time!’
Whirl, thud!
Just before hitting the ground, he flipped in midair.
Haviel’s two feet smashed ferociously into the earth, burrowing in.
He kicked off with all his might.
Boom-!
He soared through the shattering rock fragments.
A flash gleamed in his eyes.
That light targeted one spot alone.
The weak point where penetration had failed, leaving just 5 cm of thickness.
The hole blasted there.
‘One more stab!’
He was sure he could pierce the shell completely.
Pierce the monster’s heart protected inside.
‘Just once more!’
Kwaaa-!
Gigatitan’s massive foreleg club came crashing down on Haviel.
Haviel sensed the crisis instantly and swung his sword, but it was nearly useless.
The sword clashed with the foreleg club.
Fierce sparks flew.
The sword was pushed back.
His body was pushed back.
Utterly relentlessly.
An unstoppable force surged in.
“……!”
Thud-!
Gigatitan’s foreleg club.
Haviel, grazed by that ferocious blow, went flying.
His consciousness had already cut out.
He plummeted like a puppet with severed strings.
Past the rocky coastal zone.
He crashed into the shallow seawater at the edge of the opposite sand beach.
“Eek?”
Lloyd, watching, let out an involuntary yelp.
‘He’s not dead, is he?’
His heart sank.
He’d tried so hard to keep the guy alive.
Risking this unwanted danger.
‘He can’t die!’
His heart pounded.
Blood drained from his body.
But the situation worsened.
Grraaawr!
Gigatitan, having swatted Haviel away with its foreleg, roared.
Then it took unyielding strides.
Toward the sand beach where Haviel had fallen.
The intent was clear.
‘That thing’s going to finish Haviel off for sure.’
Haviel had failed, but he’d nearly pierced Gigatitan’s weak point in one blow.
No, if that second, somewhat reckless attempt had succeeded?
He probably would have pierced it clean through.
That seemed to be why.
‘Right now, it sees Haviel as the biggest threat. It’s trying to eliminate that threat.’
He didn’t even know how badly Haviel was hurt yet.
Dead or alive.
But if he was alive?
It seemed the beast wanted to erase even that possibility.
‘No. I have to tie its feet down.’
Lloyd swallowed hard.
He patted Ppoding’s back even more urgently.
“Ppoding! Run faster! Come on!”
“Ppoding!”
Ppoding, who’d witnessed Haviel’s plight, seemed to think the same.
At the urging, it sprinted at its limit.
It dashed right under Gigatitan’s head.
The tied cart rattled even louder.
Causing a commotion in the most visible spot.
But Gigatitan didn’t even glance their way.
‘Damn!’
It seemed the mermaid statue no longer registered in its eyes.
No, rather, eliminating Haviel took priority.
In short, the aggro it had on them had fully shifted to Haviel.
‘What do I do?’
Lloyd’s mind raced.
The conclusion was one.
“Ppoding! Let’s save Haviel first! Hya!”
“Ppoding!”
“Then I’ll cut this now!”
“Ppoding!”
Lloyd grabbed his shovel. Swung it.
Creeeak!
The rope linking Ppoding and the cart shook from the shovel’s hit.
Lloyd swung the shovel more furiously in succession.
“Come on, break! Break already!”
Creeeak! Tssk! Snap!
Repeated strikes severed the rope bit by bit.
Finally, it snapped.
Thud-!
With the shock of the break, the cart carrying the mermaid statue was left behind.
Ppoding’s sprint lightened considerably.
“Go! Ahead of Gigatitan!”
“Ppoddododong-!”
Pabababam!
Ppoding’s full-speed dash, unburdened.
It overtook Gigatitan by far.
Leaping rocks, descending cliffs like the wind.
Crossing the coastal sand beach.
It brushed past Haviel, sprawled by the water’s edge amid shallow waves.
Lloyd, hanging from Ppoding’s side, reached out.
He successfully grabbed Haviel’s collar.
“Got him!”
He yanked hard.
Pulled the guy onto Ppoding’s back.
Haviel still hadn’t opened his eyes.
Lloyd checked his breathing first.
“……He’s alive!”
“Ppoding!”
Fortunately, Haviel was breathing.
And visually, nothing seemed majorly broken.
Considering the impact he’d taken, it was a miracle.
No, probably thanks to his skill.
‘Likely, the moment he got hit by Gigatitan’s foreleg, he swung his sword against it to disperse the shock. He avoided a direct hit, taking it as a glancing blow.’
Anyway, impressive guy.
At least that was a relief.
No major injuries, so some rest and he’d recover smoothly.
‘He’ll suffer for a few days, but he’s got triple circles.’
Like when he fought the beast ants.
He’d recovered as if nothing happened.
Probably the same this time.
“So let’s get out now. Ppoding, run!”
He felt they’d done more than enough.
With even Haviel down.
He didn’t want to tussle longer with that building-sized monster.
‘We’ve bought nearly thirty minutes already. The city should have some preparations against Gigatitan by now. So let’s bail. Hide until the chaos settles and Gigatitan’s gone.’
He’d nurse Haviel in the meantime.
Then, once all disasters ended, grab what he could and head back to Frontera Barony.
Lloyd thought that as he patted Ppoding’s back.
“Let’s get off the beach first, Ppoding. To the forest!”
The dense trees there would help hide from Gigatitan’s sight.
But then.
“Ppoding…… Ppong! Huff huff!”
Ppoding’s response sounded off.
Lloyd’s heart sank.
“Ppoding?”
“Ppong? Huff huff huff!”
“No way, you’re tired?”
“Ppoding, heek heek!”
“…….”
No wonder Ppoding’s pace had slowed from before.
He’d thought it was the sand.
But now its breathing was ragged too.
‘It’s worn out.’
Of course.
It had dashed pulling that heavy cart and mermaid statue.
Just now, it sprinted at max speed to reach Haviel ahead of Gigatitan.
Even as a summon, it was an animal—fatigue was natural.
And to make matters worse, Gigatitan following them showed no sign of slowing!
‘Damn!’
Lloyd ground his teeth.
‘Just need to escape.’
But that seemed impossible.
Ppoding’s breaths grew shorter.
Its running speed clearly slowing.
Meanwhile, Gigatitan approached steadily with its lobster-like gait, untired.
‘At this rate, it’ll catch us in minutes.’
Five minutes tops.
Crisis stabbed at his heart.
Lloyd’s mind spun fast.
‘What then?’
He ran through every possible scenario.
Enlarge Bangul and switch rides.
Block sight with volcanic eruption skill and flee amid it.
Or have Hamang drink seawater and escape toward the ocean, etc.
He came up with options.
But he soon shook his head.
‘No. It’ll fail.’
Bangul was only fast during volcanic eruptions.
Its short, plump body crawled slowly otherwise.
Even banana-boat style on water like before.
In water, Gigatitan would be faster.
Same for Hamang.
‘No escape. Can’t break away. Unless we abandon Haviel, it’ll catch us for sure.’
Pessimistic certainty set in.
His gaze shifted to the unconscious Haviel.
‘Abandon him?’
He hesitated briefly.
Even now, Gigatitan targeted Haviel.
Ditch him, and they could escape safely for sure.
But Lloyd shook his head.
‘Then Haviel dies. Can’t do that.’
The guy was meant to become a Swordmaster and support him in the future.
Lose him here?
Too big a loss.
‘Sure, for immediate safety, ditching makes sense…… No. Long-term, it’s bad. Feels too off.’
He didn’t want to sacrifice future gains for short-sighted judgment.
That left one option.
‘Guess it’s role swap after all.’
Bait and blade.
Him drawing aggro.
Haviel targeting the weak point.
Time to switch roles.
‘Damn, that’s why I said hide, not fight!’
Grit!
Lloyd slapped the annoying cheek of the unconscious Haviel once.
Then he opened the system window.
To prepare a weapon against Gigatitan from now on.
‘My abilities can’t touch it. To hurt it, I need to strike the hole Haviel’s blasting left.’
His means to precisely strike Gigatitan now.
Blasting was the only way.
‘And to use blasting, I need at least three circles.’
Two to collide.
One more to protect the heart from the shock.
To gain those three circles, Lloyd resolved.
‘Let’s do it. Got enough RP.’
Resolved, Lloyd selected the skill menu.
The skill he’d created long ago in that desperate ant cave, Asrahan Heart Method.
The time had come to finally upgrade it to triple circles.