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!"
The Giant is transforming! Run!
No, no he is not... False alarm, folks!
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Gerald began beating the Giant even stronger and faster, but it was no use. The damn beast even seemed to be mocking his futile attempts at extinguishing its life.
It couldn't see for it had no eyes, it could not smile or curse, for it had no mouth, and it quite certainly didn't care to listen to his orders being shouted. It just continued doing... whatever it was doing.
Realizing his efforts were in vain, and that time was running out, Gerald quickly tried to fly away. But then he remembered the King lying on the ground not far away and wanted to curse. Trying to keep someone else safe in such a situation was such a pain in the ass!
He quickly used some Earth manipulation magic and reformed raised the ground around the giant at an angle, making it into a bowl shape. It took him only a few seconds to do so, hoping it would be enough. Then he quickly ran and jumped over the King, making a fissure in the ground, and tossed him in, before jumping down himself.
Lastly, he took the Titan's Bulwark and stuck it into the walls above him, closing them from the outside world.
"What's... happening?" the King asked weakly.
Gerald didn't answer, but instead nervously took out a few spell scrolls and tore them apart, activating them. Sound Barriers sprang to life, layering themselves one on top of the other.
He then looked through the ground with Magic Eyes, silently cursing as the core of the Giant shone brightly like the sun.
"Hold tight," he said and cast Iron Body.
A powerful tremor was suddenly felt, shaking their little hidey-hole, making Gerald lose his footing while rattling the King in his armor. Dust and debris fell from the walls as the ruck and dirt around them cracked from pressure.
The earthquake traveled through the ground and weaker echoes came traveling back for at least a few seconds before everything went still again. During the entire ordeal, there was no sound due to Gerald's magic, making the entire event even more bizarre.
"What's happening?!" the King shouted, or at least tried to. His voice was frightened and anxious, while also being incredibly weak at the same time.
"That slimy weasel actually did it! The coward!" Gerald barked and pulled back the Titan's bulwark, revealing the bright sky.
Or, actually, no. A cloud of dust was currently hanging above them, something that wasn't there a minute before. The sounds of battle were nowhere to be heard. Even birds and insects quieted down, making the place feel like it just experienced the apocalypse.
Gerald poked his head out of the grown with a cautious frown and looked around. He did not like what he saw.
Not wasting any time, he grabbed King Robart III and pulled him out of the hole, patting the dirt off his face and armor, and placed him in a sitting position on the soil.
"By Innos! What... happened?!" the man exclaimed, mouth and eyes opened wide like those of a dead fish.
The mound of dirt Gerald made was gone. The Giant was gone. The grass was gone, heck, even the top layer of soil was gone! They were currently standing/sitting on the edge of a massive 100-meter crater!
The Giant disappeared from the place it was previously at, and could now be found on the battlefield. Actually, it was all over the battlefield. Small chunks of flesh and bones, as well as drops of blood and fat, covered the surrounding land in a thin layer for at least a few kilometers from the center.
"What do you think?" Gerald sniggered and looked around with squinted eyes.
"He... self-detonated?" Robart gasped in disbelief. His head started to spin and he laid down on the ground, losing the ability to even sit straight. "He... detonated…" he murmured quietly.
Gerald was also shocked, though he was holding it together better than the King. He had no idea the damn bastard could even do that until the Mana started going haywire. He wanted to curse so badly, but there were no words to express his displeasure.
The Giant alone was a literal treasure trove, not to mention the spirit of such a powerful beast! It was such a waste! Just thinking about the things he could have done with the skin alone, Gerald's blood boiled. He squeezed his fists in frustration, but there was nothing that could be done.
If he knew the Giant could do such a trick, he would have made better preparations to kill it rapidly. Self-detonating was such a dick move! It's like destroying your own items in an online game just so the enemy couldn't get them.
Fucking pathetic!
Gerald grumbled in displeasure for a long while, when the sounds of battle came back to life. It seemed that the massive explosion and the following blast disrupted the rhythm. Both humans and monsters were knocked down, blinded, deafened, or straight-up killed by it.
Now that some of them recovered, they started killing each other again.
Actually, now that the Giant was gone, some Orcs and Ogres showed some hesitation in continuing with the fight. Despite their bloodthirsty nature compelling them to kill, they weren't completely brainless after all.
Betting pelted by arrows and lances from the wall while fighting tamed beasts and humans on the ground, the monsters were about equally matched. And now that they lost their ace, those more evolved started hesitating.
"They did it! The Giant is no more!"
"Kill them all!"
It was unclear who shouted first, but soon the news spread across the human army. The morale skyrocketed as hope was born in the hearts of men. The battle then quickly turned in their favor, with more and more monsters deciding to abandon the hopeless slaughter at the same time.
***
Gerald carried Robart back to his palace to recover. However, Shadow Guards quickly came and took care of it, carrying their King to the infirmary.
Gerald was allowed to tag along by the King's order and was then given permission to enter the library. Since he was the only one that managed to hurt the Giant, as well as being the one to save his life, King Robart III didn't think it was necessary to keep the man waiting any longer.
He has done enough, and even though the war was still going on, they were now able to manage it by themselves.
Gerald gladly accepted the opportunity, and just went to notify his team before disappearing into the library for a few days. Toby, unfortunately, wasn't allowed to join him, but the Warg preferred to remain at home anyway, getting fed and pampered by the girls being one of his favorite new daily activities.
Next Chapter: The Library!
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