章 325: Hammer Time!

Gerald noticed the drastic changes happening to King Robart as the short boost in power was running out.

At the same time, the Giant managed to get one of his hands off the ground, and despite having hardly any chest muscles left, he lifted it up in an attempt to strike the assailant and kill him once and for all.

Having noticed the danger, Gerald quickly descended and grabbed the King, pulling him away just as the Giant fist struck down. The massive beast grunted in pain as well as anger upon noticing their escape.

"Gerald," Robart quietly addressed him, "You need to finish it. We can't let it recover. A monster of that caliber has a near unending vitality." He spoke in a whisper, barely even moving his lips. His skin turned gray like stone and started to crack, while at the same time he completely lost any strength to move.

"Don't worry about it, I'll finish the job," Gerald answered with a smirk. "Give me five minutes and I'll be right back," he said with a cocky undertone. "Just don't die on me in the meantime, okay? You still owe me."

"Ha… ha…" the King chuckled sarcastically. "I'm in perfect health… just incredibly… tired."

Having left the King laying on the ground some distance away, Gerald took his Orc Slayer and went on the offensive.

But first, just to be sure, he manipulated the ground, making stone cuffs and locked all four Giant's limbs to the ground. The beast struggled, but it had barely any strength left so this action was possible.

Then, after making sure it was safe, Gerald went ham! He empowered his body with magic and swung his sword at Giant's flesh, slicing and stabbing like a madman!

Stab! Slash! Poke! Kick! Bite!

It didn't fucking work!

Even the exposed flesh was invulnerable! It was like trying to pierce a massive truck tire with a butter knife. No matter how strong or fast his attacks were, the weapon simply bounced off the bleeding muscle.

He was already covered in blood and having a Giant produce gurgling sounds as it choked on it, left him no choice but to reconsider his approach.

He flew a few meters in the air and started blasting flames out of his palm. The Giant almost immediately started twitching in pain, but that was about it. Even after five minutes of this, the damage done was minuscule!

Gerald couldn't believe it. He used hundreds of MP, and barely fried the surface. He was actually doing the damn Giant a favor, cauterizing his wounds!

"God, damn it!" he cursed. "This is ridiculous! I'm trying to kill you, for fuck's sake, stop resisting!"

He tried a few more things, such as firing his cannon and using Earth magic to skewer the damn beast, but it was all useless! Everything just bounced off or barely left a scratch on his tough flesh.

Even super-enhanced Wind Blades hardly left a mark.

It was more likely he would die from old age than kill the Giant in this way.

The only thing that could hurt him was an explosion from a metric ton of black powder, or a special magical weapon that could disregard the Mana enhancement currently granting him protection.

"Oh, of course!" Gerald slapped his forehead and ran off.

"I'll be borrowing this if you don't mind," he said as he grabbed the Sacred Hammer from King's hands.

"Hey…" The King tried to shout in protest, but he could barely even keep his eyes open, so he just sighed and let him do whatever. "At least let me tell you how to use it," he said in resignation.

But Gerald was already gone, running back towards the Giant. "No need, I'm sure I can figure it out!" he shouted back.

The hammer was quite massive, weighing at least as much as Gerald himself, with a handle about a meter long and wrapped in some expensive-looking leather. The head was covered with golden Runes, going down the handle and wrapping around it before coming back up.

The three flat faces that weren't used for striking were also covered with geometrical shapes such as squares, circles, and triangles, one inside the other. It was quite a peculiar decoration.

As Gerald held the Sacred Hammer in his hands, he felt some sort of attraction towards it the longer he looked at it. He had to shake his head to get the hypnotizing feeling out of his mind.

But one thing was for certain. The weapon was speaking to him, asking to be fed. And the food was all around it, but it couldn't take it by itself.

Mana. That's what it wanted, and so Gerald obliged.

First, he absorbed enough to refill himself, and then sent a powerful burst of Mana into the hammer.

"Uff!" He immediately felt the power inside the weapon awaken its destructive tendencies as it searched for a target to destroy. "Such power!" Gerald gasped. The feeling of strength that welled up inside him was overwhelming! It was like holding an armed grenade in his hands, one that was seemingly alive.

But as he held the Sacred Hammer for a while longer, he realized he was mistaken. The feeling of life was just an illusion as the hammer remained unchanging. It was only giving off one emotion; Destroy!

"Sure," Gerald grinned, "Destroying stuff is fun!" He turned his gaze towards the Giant underneath his feet.

Almost as if feeling his intent, the colossus shuddered and started struggling even more. But it was all futile. He was too damaged to be of any concern to Gerald any longer.

He empowered the Sacred Hammer even more and lifted it up above his head. "Elemental Avatar," he whispered as Mana empowered his body as well.

Boom!

The beast shook as the strike landed on its ribcage, the shockwave traveling through flesh and shaking the heart beneath. The flesh on top was torn where the hammer struck, but the bones remained unchanged.

"Woah! Such… What do I even call this? The feeling is so strange!" Gerald exclaimed. He felt like his strike traveled through the Giant, unconcerned for the physical barriers that stood in place. "That could work! Hehe, ready for another one?"

He said the last part to the beast underneath, but it was unclear if he was heard, since, due to the powerful explosion most likely rupturing its eardrums, the Giant was probably deaf as well.

Boom!

The powerful strike shook the Giant and made him spit out blood. Each second that went by was accompanied by ever-increasing damage to his lungs and heart!

But then, just as Gerald thought he had it, the Mana inside the Giant started acting unnaturally. It changed from going outward to defend, into getting sucked in, straight into the core.

"Wait, what's happening?" Gerald frowned, his strikes never pausing for a second.

The core of the Giant, where the Ether Crystal resided near the heart, started glowing under the gaze of his Magic Eyes. It was getting brighter and brighter with each passing second, creating strong vibrations that were affecting even the Mana outside.

"Oh, you son of a bitch!" Gerald cursed with eyes wide open in realization. "Stop that! Stop that right now!"