CH 202

Gigas

***---***

On the day of the decisive battle, a strong west wind was blowing in Leinef early in the morning.

A large brown mass sat in the center of the city, which had turned into rubble and dust, as if it didn't feel the wind.

The sun had just finished rising, and the blowing wind mercilessly tried to steal our body heat, but the Barshanian soldiers lined up were staring at today's enemy with a firm expression.

Today, Barshania planned to put all their strength into a short-term decisive battle.

At the moment when the Slavery Bolas got entangled, they would attack in one fell swoop and finish it off.

The knights who normally fought with swords and spears were under the command of the magician squad today to attack with compound magic, after damaging the hard outer skin it seemed they would transition to a double-sided attack of physical and magic.

If the Slavery Bolas were effective, the magic armor should be peeled off, the damage should be easier to pass through, and the speed of regeneration by strengthening the body should be slowed down.

If they could damage the hard skin with compound magic, it might be possible to damage it with the swords and spears of the knights.

If that didn't work, it would be my turn.

There were three types of spear golems for attack, large, medium, and small.

I could also change the damage dealt by the size of the spear and the height at which it was dropped.

This time, I assumed that there would be Barshanian soldiers around the Gigas, and if I didn't think about the strength of the attack, there was a risk of it becoming friendly fire, so I had to make my choices carefully.

Emperor Constant and the First Prince, Gregory, stood at the rearmost position of the battle line and glared at the Gigas.

The Third Prince, Nicolae, who lead the magician corps, should be standing on the front lines and taking command.

From the base to the front line, there should have been more than 20,000 Barshanian soldiers, but there was a tense atmosphere.

"Good morning. My genus have also finished preparations, so it's okay to give the signal at any time."

"I see. Today's battle won't be able to get drunk on the delicious liquor of victory without your efforts. I'm counting on you."

"Yes, I'll do my best. I'll be waiting in the shadows, but please give instructions assuming I'm here."

It was too windy and too cold outside.

In the shadow space, I would wait while leaning against Nero.

"Today, Nero has a turn, nya?"

"If everything goes smoothly, you won't have a turn, but if something goes wrong, you will play an important role, so keep that in mind."

"That's fine, nya. Nero is always ready, nya."

I stroked him behind the ears and Nero purred at me gleefully.(TN:I'm just gonna go with male for Nero since it's a male name, and is used for male pets in every novel I've read. If it turns out to be wrong later, then I'll switch it at that time, but until then, he's male.)

Usually I get sleepy when I'm leaning against the fluffy Nero, but today I didn't feel sleepy at all, probably because I'm nervous.

Today's goal was to subdue the Gigas without incident, and if possible, have no one injured.

About an hour after the Barshanian army finished their preparations, the Gigas began to move, as if it had finally felt the warmth of the sun.

It released its defensive posture from during sleep, and I could see its ugly face.

Outside the area lined with earthen domes, the Barshanian soldiers prepared to attack all at once, but the Gigas didn't even seem to care.

Probably, it had decided that they were not a presence that posed a danger to itself in the last battle.

In the shadow space, Reinhardt and Fred began preparations to toss the Slavery Bolas, but there were no instructions from Constant yet.

Looking closely, the Gigas was still staying still.

It didn't seem to care about the Barshanian soldiers either, so it turned its back and stared at the sea for a while.

Finally, the Gigas turned its gaze back towards the land and stood up.

"Kent Kokubu. Get ready ..."

Hearing Constant's words, Reinhardt and Fred started brandishing the Slavery Bolas.

The whistling sound of the wind echoed through the shadow space.

Just when the Gigas stood up and stretched out its hand towards the earthen dome that was its food.

"Now. Kent Kokubu, throw it!"

At the same time as Constant's signal, I put out shields of darkness on both sides of the Gigas.

Reinhardt and Fred immediately threw their Slavery Bola, and the Gigas' thick arms were entangled in the chains.

At the front line, a knight in armor riding a horse raised one hand, and wind and fire chanting erupted from among the soldiers.

"Mana, oh mana, oh mana that governs the world, gather, gather, gather in my hands and become the wind ..."

"Mana, oh mana, oh mana that governs the world, gather, gather, gather in my hands and become a flame ..."

The wind created by each person was combined into one, and the air current transformed into a tornado that contained the Gigas.

The flames created by each person were combined into one, and a huge fireball was created and thrown into the tornado.

The moment the fireball was taken in, the tornado turned into a huge pillar of fire, blazing, and with a thunderous roar 'Go~o~o~o', the flames scorched the Gigas.

"Booouooo!"

The Gigas let out an anguished groan and thrashed its body, making the ground tremble just by stepping with its feet.

I was worried that the Slavery Bolas might come off, but they were wrapped around the burnt skin and showed no signs of coming off.

Occasionally, the strong west wind swayed the whirlpool of flames, but the magician in charge of the compound magic was desperately suppressing the turmoil.

If the vortex weakened, they added wind magic, and if the fire weakened, they added a fireball.

Struggling in the vortex of flames, the Gigas curled itself up into a defensive posture similar to when it was asleep.

Usually, when it slept, the Gigas unconsciously deployed attribute magic to solidify its defense, but it couldn't use magic now.

Even after it rolled into a ball, the sizzle of meat and the smell of burning protein wafted through the air.

"There's no time to rest! Squeeze out your magic power! Maintain your magic!"

"Mana, oh mana, oh mana that governs the world, gather, gather, gather in my hands and become the wind ..."

"Mana, oh mana, oh mana that governs the world, gather, gather, gather in my hands and become a flame ..."

Despite being exposed to the heat of the vortex of flames, the soldiers of Barshania desperately tried to maintain their spells, but the force of the fire seemed to be gradually weakening.

The Gigas' body surface, which was burned by the flames, was charred black, and transparent liquid was dripping here and there.

If it were a human, they would die if they received such serious burns unless they received very advanced treatment.

"Reinhardt, do you think they can beat it like this?"

[ So far, it looks fine, but don't let your guard down. ]

The chants continued to echo on the battlefield, but the turbulence of the vortex of flames continued to grow.

[ Compound magic puts a heavy burden on the magician who puts together the magics, so it will be difficult to maintain it any longer. ]

Just as Reinhardt said, the whirlpool of flames that had become disfigured was blown away by the occasional gusts of wind.

"Everyone, start attacking! Let's goooooo!"

"Uooooooooh!"

Upon the command of the Third Prince, Nicolae, the Barshanian soldiers charged towards the Gigas.

"Mana, oh mana, oh mana that governs the world, gather, gather, gather in my body, return, return, return and become my power, strengthen!"

The knights, who cast body strengthening magic, concentrated their attacks on the Gigas' thick ankles.

They must have thought that if the ankles were cut off, no matter how much it strengthened its body, it would not be able to recover, and if it was unable to walk, they would be able to prevent damage to other villages.

"Mana, oh mana, oh mana that governs the world, gather, gather, gather in my hands and become water, dance, dance, dance oh water, and become a lance!"

The water-attribute mages, who did not participate in the compound magic and had spare strength concentrated their attack magic on the Gigas' head and neck.

Whether the attack to the head was successful or whether it didn't have the strength to move, the Gigas remained curled up and didn't move.

Spears, swords, and attack magic pierced it, and fresh blood splattered out, and I thought they would be able to keep going.

[ Kent-sama, it's bad ... The Slavery Bolas ... ]

Water-attribute attack magic splashed on the place that had been burned by the vortex of flames and it became brittle, shattering the Slavery Bolas.

"Boooooooohh!"

With a roar, the Gigas raised its right arm and swung it down at the knights attacking its ankle.

The knights of Barshania seemed to anticipate a counterattack of this magnitude, so they jumped back quickly and none of them received a direct hit.

The Gigas' movements were sluggish, and many thought that this was the moment they would be able to finish it off.

"Gyaaaaa!"

Screams echoed across the battlefield, and the strong winds sprayed blood.

Countless spikes with sharp pointed ends protruded from the ground and skewered the Barshanian soldiers.

The thickness of the base was more than 10 centimeters, and the length likely exceeded 2 meters.

A forest of spikes suddenly appeared, and the battlefield froze in silence as the comrades were ruthlessly pierced from their feet to their heads.

The spikes protruded from the area where the earth domes were lined up, and the distance between the spikes was less than 30 centimeters.

The water-attribute magicians who were attempting to attack from close range also fell victim.

I could hear groans, so there must be some people still alive, but I couldn't even go help them.

"Boooooooh!"

The Gigas roared in anger, glared at the Barshanian soldiers, and stepped towards the base.

"Nero, attack from the sea side and attract its attention."

"Alright, nya, leave it to me, nya."

"An attack may come, so be careful."

"Roger, nya."

Nero jumped out of the shadows and swung his claws at the Gigas' back.

"Buoaaaaaah!"

Surprised by the sudden attack from behind, the Gigas turned around and glared at Nero, picking up an earthen dome and throwing it at him.

Of course, there was no way Nero would be hit by such an attack, and he lightly took steps in the air to avoid it.

Furthermore, when the Gigas stamped its left foot, spikes were shot out from the ground, but Nero easily dodged them as well.

I dropped a spear golem from the air while the Gigas' attention was drawn to Nero.

Since there were still many Barshanian soldiers left behind, I chose the smallest size spear.

In the unlikely event that it could not be caught by the shield of darkness, the spear was dropped over the sea so that there would be no damage.

"Kent Kokubu, I ask for you help!"

When Emperor Constant gave a painful shout, the spear golem dropped from about 1,000 meters above in the sky was safely captured by the shield of darkness.

A spear golem was summoned and shot out from the shield of darkness placed 30 meters above the Gigas' head.

"Goooaaaaaah!"

Just before it hit, the Gigas leaned slightly and the spear hit its right shoulder.

Its right arm was torn off and the right half of its body was destroyed up to its groin.

Losing support on its right leg, the Gigas roared on its side, groaning in agony.

"Guuuuhuuuu ..."

"Reinhardt, finish it off!"

[ Alright! Zuryaaaaa! ]

When Reinhardt jumped out of the shadows and slammed his beloved sword Gram into the Gigas' neck, blood and pieces of meat exploded, but it couldn't be separated with a single blow.

[ Doryaaaaa! ]

Two more blows, and finally the Gigas' head rolled away from its torso and the Gigas was completely silent.

Reinhardt raised his blood-stained sword aloft, and cheers erupted from the Barshanian soldiers.

"Nero, you can go back.

"Is it already over, nya? It's not enough, nya."

[ Buhahaha, as expected of Kent-sama, it was tremendous power. ]

I'm telling you, you're covered in blood and I'm scared, so hurry up and take a bath.

[ Kent-sama ... I collected the magic stone ... ]

"Uwaa, big!"

The Gigas' magic stone that Fred had collected was so large that I could not lift it without holding it.(TN:Guess he means with just using his arms.)

[ Even I have never seen a magic stone of this size. I can't even imagine how much it would cost. ]

"I will hand over this magic stone to Barshania."

[ Why ... The Gigas subjugation was due to Kent-sama ... ]

"Maybe so, but a lot of people died in this battle, so I thought I'd use it for the bereaved families ..."

[ Are you sure? ]

"Well, if I take Seraphima as my wife, then the Imperial Family of Barshania will also become part of my family. Rather than that, I'll go help the injured."

It seemed that the containment of the wounded who were imprisoned in the pincushion hell created by the Gigas was difficult because of the dense spikes.

"Break the spikes! Proceed straight to the wounded!"

It seemed that the Third Prince Nicolae was commanding outside the range of the spikes and was not injured.

An engineer unit rushed over and joined the rescue, but it seemed that the strength of the spikes was higher than expected, and the work was slow to progress.

"Fred, cut off the base of the spikes."

[ Kent-sama ... If it's about destroying the spikes, even the Kobold Corps can do it ... ]

"I see, everyone, split up and break the spikes."

"Wafuu, understood, Goshujin-sama."

Fred wielded his pair of jet-black swords, and the Kobolds used earth-attribute magic to break the spikes.

"Nicolae-san, my genus will break the spikes. Please carry out the injured and the corpses."

"Muu, Kent Kokubu. Thank you for your cooperation."

"I can also use healing magic. Please let me treat the injured."

"I'm sorry. Please ..."

More than 1,000 Barshanian soldiers were trapped within the range of the spikes, but it seemed that less than a tenth of them survived.

Many of those who survived were severely injured, and treatment was a matter of seconds.

I tried to stop the bleeding and seal the wounds, trying to save as many lives as possible, but there were quite a few people who died while waiting for their turn.

The more Fred and the Kobolds struggled, the more injured people were rescued, and the treatment could not keep up.

At this point, I was starting to think that I might run out of magic and collapse before I could finish treating everyone.

"Nushi-dono, something is coming from the sea."

Hearing Zeta's sudden warning, the Barshanian soldiers around me all turned their gazes to the point where the sea surface began to rise.

"Boooooooh!"

It was another Gigas that emerged from the surface of the sea.

"Buooooooh!"

Another Gigas raised its head from behind.

When Gigas woke up, it stared at the sea for a while, probably because it noticed these guys approaching.

The Barshanina soldiers groaned in despair.

"Nero, stop them so they can't get on land!"

"Leave it to me, nya!"

As Nero rushed across the path, the two Gigases stopped in the water up to their waists.

"Fushaaaaa!"

"Buuoooooh!"

The Gigases prepared themselves for battle as Nero threatened them with his hair bristling all over his body.

"Nicolae-san, please have the soldiers retreat now."

"Understood. Please buy me some time. Everyone, retreat! Hurry up!"

When I interrupted the treatment and tried to go defeat the Gigases, my knees suddenly lost their strength and I put my hands on them.

It seemed that the treatment consumed more magical power than I thought.

I took out the medicine that helped restore magical power from the shadow storage and threw it into my mouth.

"Ueeh, bitter! ..."

Thanks to the bitter taste of the medicine, I felt like my head was a little clearer.

Because there was some distance from the Barshanian soldiers, I chose a medium-sized spear golem and dropped it from above.

"Nero, come back!"

"Understood, nya!"

I dove into the shadows while calling Nero back, and set up a summoning shield of darkness about 10 meters above the Gigas' head so that I didn't miss my aim.

The speed of the spear golem was so fast that it landed as soon as it was seen.

The earth trembled differently from with the previous small spear golem, and the Gigas turned into a piece of meat and was blown away along with the seawater and sand.

The other fell on its back due to the shock of the impact, and initially sank into the sea, but it got up with its limbs fluttering and looked around.

I guess it didn't understand the situation when its friend suddenly disappeared.

I immediately dropped a medium-sized spear golem on the Gigas, and when the Gigas noticed the summoning shield of darkness, it looked up and the spear golem hit it directly.

The second Gigas was also blown away as a piece of meat.