Chapter 402

Chapter 402

“Okay, let’s take a breather. You’ve had a hard day.”
“Heeeeeeeee–lived.”
Letancier hesitated.
The wind from beyond the clouds was stealing my sweat.
We were sitting on a destroyed cradle.
No more giants were born from the hexagonal pillars whose souls had been drained.
The portal to the next point was right in front of us, spewing light.
“How many times do we have left. Two?”
“I don’t know–I don’t know anything else, but I do know that we’re very close to the source.”
Abel grunted.
His color had changed, like he’d been covered in blue paint.
Not only that, but so did everyone else in the group.
During the destruction of seventeen cities, we slaughtered more bald heads than we can count.
“I wonder what it looks like on the ground.
It looked like paint on drawing paper, and it was pretty.
The king still hasn’t shown up.
The silence while my men were dying like this made my ass feel pretty heavy.
With each giant slain, city destroyed, and portal passed, I was getting closer to the Source.
“It’s like the past. It’s starting to feel a lot like when I used to walk up to it.”
“Yeah, I think I know what that means.”
I agree.
The density of the air was completely different.
The shimmering mana of the original world paled in comparison.
With each inhale and exhale, I could feel the particles that were the source of the giants’ power seeping into my body.
Letancier said.
“There seem to be fewer and fewer giants, so maybe they’ve given up? Or maybe they don’t have any more troops left—.”
“No way. If they’ve shrunk this much, they’ve just changed their strategy. They’re probably huddled in one place, waiting for us to come. We’ve already made plans for when that happens, so why get our hopes up?”
“Ugh–I guess so.”
Letancier bowed his head deeply.
She used her magic to create a small bonfire in the center of the group.
The warmth thawed my chilled body.
I shifted my gaze to the two hulks rubbing their hands together by the fire.
“How about you guys. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. If anything, it’s getting better.”
“Holy shit–what the hell is in your blood?”
Fantasia nodded.
Orsay seemed to be in good shape, judging by his usual twitchy behavior.
It should be.
How hard I worked to donate blood.
“I’m glad the medication is working. Judging by the fact that your hair isn’t falling out, it doesn’t seem to have any side effects.”
“But we don’t need it anymore. Power not earned will one day bring anger, and you must stop bleeding for us.”
Fantasia’s gaze lingered on my forearm.
A dirty bandage was wrapped around the spot where the blood had been drawn.
The battle with the baldies was much longer and more intense than I expected, and I gave each of them a potion made from a dilution of my own blood (it’s not really a potion, it’s just water).
It worked for Abel, so I gave it a try, just to see what would happen, and before I knew it, all three of them were noticeably better.
The same goes for lethansi, which I used to drink in small sips.
Is it because it’s thicker?
“I wasn’t going to give you more anyway, man. Do you think my blood is some kind of nutrient?”
“I don’t care. The more you give me, the more I get for my money. If you give me a bottle of just the undiluted stuff—boom!”
I jammed my fist into Abel’s bullshit statement.
Muttering a curse word, he leaned forward.
Honestly, it wasn’t a bad idea, but there was no telling what shenanigans my parallel-world uncle would get up to once he regained his powers.
“——.”
Soon there was silence.
We glued our eyes or stared into space, savoring the drought-like respite.
We don’t know if it was part of a nefarious plan or just to keep us off guard, but it was assumed that if we gave it time to rest, it would.
Suddenly, as he stared into the fire, Letancier spoke up.
“——If we kill the king of the giants and crush the source, will there be peace?”
“Maybe. Though we’ll have to take down that Akasha or something.”
“Sorry.”
“Suddenly?”
“It’s just, I regret it so much.”
His voice was low.
Staring into the fire, she turned her head toward me.
“Hey Ronan. I’m honestly a little happy right now.”
“I could see it coming. You like to get hit, don’t you?”
“Man, I know it sounds weird, but how can I not be happy just to be alive and breathing, to be able to be grateful for such a simple thing as being human, and what did my past self do to deserve such riches, and what is eternal life anyway—.”
He seemed to regret his evil deeds as Nebula Clasier.
Next to him, Fantasia pursed her lips in bitterness.
After staring at her in silence, I held out my hand.
“Letancier.”
“Mr. Ronan—.”
Letancier gave an awkward smile.
By the look on his face, he thought I was going to pat him on the head.
Well, it was close.
My palm, which was headed for her crown, turned into a fist.
Bam!!!
I gave a snap of my wrist and punched Letancier in the crown of his head.
Her eyes closed, she screamed and spun around.
“Ouch!”
“Did you know that? Someone’s a villain. It’s quick to feel guilty.”
“My, my head, my head is splitting!”
“Don’t be pitiful. You’ve come too far to regret the misdeeds of the past. Don’t drown your sorrows in useless regret, think only of what you must do now.”
Regrets don’t help in this situation.
I opened my collar and pulled myself up.
Letancier rolled over and glared at me.
Yeah, that’s exactly what I needed right now.
“You’re all sons of bitches anyway, except for Orsay, and all you can do when you’re already a dog is cover the shit you’ve spread with dirt. The happiness, the nabal, the main dish, is after you’ve cleaned up.”
“That’s a fair point.”
Fantasia raised a brow.
One by one, he and the others rose to their feet.
After a short break, I felt much better.
I dried my face and stepped toward the pillar of light.
“Come on, let’s get to the finish line.”
****
We traveled through five more portals before reaching our destination.
Walking through the portal of the giants felt different from the spatial travel magic.
It’s a bit like going white before your eyes.
But as soon as you step into the pillar of light, an indescribable sensation engulfs your entire body.
It’s like falling into a bottomless abyss, or soaring to the heavens.
Unintelligible whispers echo in my ears.
Surprisingly, it doesn’t make me nauseous.
After such a bizarre time, you suddenly realize that your vision is clear.
Staring straight ahead, I whistled.
“——You’ve finally arrived.”
Each component of the landscape was evidence that this was the end of the journey.
In the distance, a flurry of light, presumably from a source, raged.
The white, glowing cluster pulsed like a creature’s heart, spewing glowing mana.
“What’s beyond that is the source, right?”
“Yes. I’m sure.”
Abel nodded.
Breaking that thing was the end goal of our squad.
From the looks of things, it wasn’t going to be easy.
The second piece of evidence was the swirling sky overhead.
Unlike before, the spiraling, howling clouds reminded me of a typhoon from the sky.
A giant shadow appears and disappears with each flash of light.
It was like something bitchy was going to jump out at me.
Le Tansier sighed softly as he stepped through the portal for the last time.
“——ah.”
“Surprisingly, you didn’t scream. I thought you were going to pass out right away.”
“—I would have done it if my head didn’t hurt so much.”
She bit her lower lip.
His big eyes filled with water.
The third piece of evidence was also in the sky.
It was a moment that brought the whole group together.
“Did you… think you could get away with it?”
A booming voice rang out.
I wanted to find out who said it, but it wasn’t easy.
I flicked my bangs and smirked.
“There’s a lot of them.”
“Arrogant mortals.”
It was so shiny it hurt my eyes.
The flapping was so loud I thought my eardrums would burst.
I slowly looked around.
Sideways, up, and down.
There were winged baldies everywhere the eye could see.
An unfathomable number of smooth scalps were shining in our faces.
I’m not kidding, it was like all the giants in the stars had gathered.
Except for one.
I glared at a random bald guy and opened my mouth.
“Where’s your king?”
“Woe is me, for He does not feel worthy to deal with the unworthy.”
“Mimul—I can’t believe you’re still saying that.”
I chuckled reflexively.
A white-faced Letancier looked at my giggling like I was a madman.
Abel, Fantasia, and Orsay were also nervous.
She flicked her bangs and spoke.
“Hey, isn’t this fun?”
“Interesting?”
“Yes. You’ve always been a trampler, destroying other stars when you’re bored, plucking the souls of the dead so they can’t rest—that’s how you’ve kept your race thriving. You’re so hard-wired, you’ve never felt a crisis, and in fact, I think I know why Abel’s eyes went out.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m enjoying this whole situation, this reversal of roles. How does it feel to be robbed in reverse by mortals who used to think you were nothing more than a bug?”
I’d like to say that I’m being a bit dramatic, but I can’t manage my facial expressions.
An immediate rebuttal came back.
“This is an aberration, and you will never be a threat to us.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“It’s a pity you’re running your mouth to prolong your meager life—cease and desist, and meet your end in due course.”
He sounded almost sympathetic.
The faceless bald man finished his sentence.
The giants that surrounded us all stretched out their arms in unison.
White particles gathered from all directions and began to clump together in their hands.
Some with spears, some with thunderbolts.
Weapons were being made in real time to dismantle us.
Abel said in a whisper.
“Hey, man. Are you sure you want to go with that plan?”
“Of course. What else is there to do in this situation? You were right on the money.”
“You’ve gone round in circles, you’re a madman.”
Abel shook his head, fed up.
Even at this point, my plan didn’t seem to be working.
Of course, with the die cast, there was nothing he could do about it.
The giants have returned.
“Meet the Apocalypse.”
“Meet the Apocalypse.”
“Meet the Apocalypse.”
It had so many mouths, it was like the world was talking to it.
We figured we’d better get started.
Glancing back, Orse growled like a beast, waiting for the right moment.
I laughed and stopped them in their tracks.
“Go fuck yourself. I’ll warn you in advance, if you don’t stop us, you will perish.”
“Poor thing. To still believe such a miracle could happen–”
The giant was speaking.
Orse’s body exploded as I leaped.
Kaaaaaah!
In an instant, he transformed into a black dragon and spat fire into the sky.
【Go away! You scum!】
“Me, I don’t know anymore!”
The sky turned red.
Giants writhing in flames.
The rest of the team jumped into action.
Letancier’s telekinetic power burst forth in all directions, shaking the battlefield.
“Mui profit!”
Fantasia threw the axe.
His double-edged axe, which had grown larger with his body, cut through the giants in a wide arc.
My blood-doped blows were strong enough to cut a four-winged behemoth in half in one fell swoop.
In a matter of moments, dozens of giants were dead or incapacitated.
“Futility.”
But there was no stirring in the enemy camp.
This was due to the sheer number of absolute giants.
Against everyone’s best efforts, the retribution began.
“The starlight shall consume you.”
“Keep attacking!”
The giants threw down their weapons.
It rained spears and thunderbolts.
Letancier’s shields blocked some, but were heavily overloaded.
A spear slipped through her armor and was about to hit her as she cast a spell.
Snap!
The two splintered spears scattered into thin air and vanished.
The same was true for the incoming projectiles.
The lightning and light weapons shattered before either could reach the group.
Abel disappeared for a moment, then reappeared, breathing harshly.
“Huh—you son of a bitch—, I will not forgive you if you fail!”
His role was to intercept and defend.
Abel was moving at an unrecognizable speed, parrying a barrage of attacks like a roadblock.
He gritted his teeth as he sliced through twenty-one projectiles in less than a second, all of which were destined to end up in Orse and Fantasia’s bodies.
“Damn, we’re not there yet!”
I didn’t answer.
His words were a bit far off.
Even though it seemed like it would be here soon.
“Okay, okay, hang in there.”
“Wait. You.”
The giant flinched.
Instead of answering, he swung his sword.
The headless body crashed downward.
I weaved my way through their ranks and made my way toward the source while the group watched.
Out of nowhere, a bald, six-winged creature flashed a look of embarrassment.
“The other one is—?”
“Asshole. I know it when I see it.”
The stupid bastard had finally figured it out.
I ignored it and kept moving forward.
With each leap, the gap to the source was closing.
“Let’s speed things up.”
“Ugh—!”
My thighs are bulging.
Kwaah!
The giant’s shoulders slumped.
The wind roared in my ears.
He turned his head in surprise, but I had already moved in front of him.
It went something like this.
They were moving so fast they didn’t even realize it.
It was a trick that was only possible because they were so densely packed.
“Kuck—!”
“What.”
Giants that bothered me were cut down on the spot.
Blue blood splashed.
Before I knew it, the source was within three hundred paces.
The pulsating cluster of lights was getting closer and closer.
It’s safe to say that this was an unstoppable stretch.
An urgent cry rang out from behind me.
『Cheat! Stop him-!!!”
At that moment, all the bald heads turned to me.
All the attacks that had been targeting my teammates began to be directed at me.
But shooting me down was no easy task.
On such a complex battlefield, there was nothing that could stop me from advancing, ducking and weaving between behemoths much larger than me.
There was an explosion, a loud boom.
One giant after another fell after being hit by an Ovaltan.
The end came quickly.
Scoop!
The source emerged from the back of the giant that had been slashed with a single blade.
“Arrival.”
“No!”
A scream erupted.
I swung the sword, or not.
The crescent moon that shot along the sword path was the car that was about to bisect the source.
Suddenly, the hairs on my body stood on end.
Sensing life, I looked up at the sky.
Kaaaaaaaah!
A greatsword, larger than any building, tore through the clouds and descended.
It was a close call.
My sword chi blocked behind me, causing an explosion.
“You’ve finally arrived.”
It didn’t break the root, but it didn’t hurt.
This was expected.
My heart is about to explode, and I’m not going to pay for it.
There was only one guy dealing with this kind of ignorance in the first place.
I sneer, my gaze shifting to the air.
“I guess he didn’t want to die looking like that. King subject.”