Chapter 167

The sword slid in without much resistance.It went in so easily that it felt like stabbing soft pudding with a fork…

Of course, that was an exaggeration.

Still, it was much easier than when I attacked its ankle.

When I drove the sword into its now-shrunken eye, violet energy burst forth like a flood.

For good measure, I twisted the sword once, and the unpleasant sound of the eyeball being crushed accompanied an even stronger surge of energy.

“Yap.”

I quickly leapt away to avoid the shadow that loomed behind me.

The giant reached out to grab me midair, but its aim was off, so it wasn’t much of a threat.

That made it easier to counter.

As its fist brushed past me, I deliberately brought my sword to meet it.

The moment the sword clashed with its fist, I tilted the blade slightly to deflect the force.

There was no real impact transferred, but the strength in its punch sent me flying backward through the air.

Thanks to that, I managed to retreat to a spot well beyond its reach. Landing lightly, I focused my gaze on the giant.

It was clutching its eye with one hand in obvious pain.

The other hand groped aimlessly in my direction, but I was already too far away to be caught.

Instead, it left random craters in the ground as it clawed about.

I couldn’t help but wonder how many people it would take, and how long it would take, to repair all this damage.

“…Hmm.”

A rather unpleasant memory surfaced for a moment.

I didn’t mind the Royal Knights boasting about increasing their ranks.

But to demand the training ground we were already using, and then expect us to build a new one ourselves?

It was clearly a tactic to break our spirits.

So, in my own way, I retaliated by storming the Royal Knights’ headquarters and turning the place upside down.

As a result, we managed to keep our precious training ground…

Our precious…?

Anyway, we held on to our training ground.

As a bonus, I thoroughly wrecked their buildings and training areas. Watching those so-called noble knights sweating on construction sites due to their “manpower shortage” was a uniquely satisfying memory.

Both infuriating and amusing at the same time.

“Oh.”

Before I knew it, I had gotten lost in thought.

It felt like revisiting an old, faded photograph. I quickly stowed the memory back in its mental box.

Perhaps it was because I was back in a place where I had spent a lot of time. These stray thoughts kept creeping in.

Of course, the old sights were nowhere to be found, but just standing in the same space gave me a faint sense of nostalgia.

“If this were the old days, I might have cheered them on…”

The thought of messing with the Royal Knights, who cowered behind their walls and pretended to be superior, was tempting.

I wouldn’t have stopped them, and I might’ve even lent a hand.

But, unfortunately, the Royal Knights had long since disappeared.

And it was this very giant that had wiped them out.

Which meant there was no reason to overlook its atrocities any longer.

“It’s time for you to leave. If you leave quietly now, I’ll spare your life. How about it?”

But the giant didn’t respond.

I wasn’t even sure if it could understand me in the first place.

It looked like a brute who refused to leave the stage voluntarily.

Guess I’d have to kick it out myself.

As I prepared to aim my sword—

The giant’s hand began to move.

“…?”

Contrary to my caution, the massive hand didn’t even try to reach me.

Instead—

It grabbed one of the many scattered debris pieces and shoved it into its mouth.

And then—

It began to chew.

“…What the hell is this?”

Was that not debris but a snack instead?

That’s how it looked as the giant busily chewed away.

It was so ridiculous that I just stood there watching. The giant finished chewing and swallowing the debris and then reached for another piece.

Once again, it shoved it into its mouth.

“What is this, seriously?”

In a world with so much to eat, why choose to eat that?

Could it be that buildings are actually delicious?

‘There’s no way.’

I shook my head vigorously, pushing away the ridiculous thought. There was no way it was eating like that out of sudden gluttony.

Observing its actions closely, I finally found the reason.

“It’s healing its wounds.”

Though it was subtle and hard to notice, every time its throat bobbed, the injuries healed little by little.

As proof, the violet energy that had been pouring out of the eye I gouged earlier had visibly decreased.

So this is what it means to devour dimensions?

“The ones I’ve seen before weren’t like this.”

Maybe it was because they died too quickly, or perhaps only certain ones possessed this ability.

In any case, watching a creature recover its strength by eating debris was a first, even for someone like me who’s seen it all.



“If I kept it at home, I wouldn’t have to worry about trash.”

The problem would be that it might eat the entire house.

And this is just a guess, but I don’t think it limits itself to eating debris.

Animals, monsters, demons…

Humans.

I had a strong feeling that living beings weren’t excluded from its menu.

If such a creature had fallen into the densely populated capital, wouldn’t that have looked like a feast to its eyes?

Even if it got injured, it could just shove whatever was nearby into its mouth and recover again.

“That must’ve been tough to deal with.”

If there had been fewer people, they might have been able to kill it somehow.

But for it to land here, on the vast Ardina Continent, of all places…

If it was deliberate, it was clever. If it was a coincidence, then it was just bad luck.

Anyway, I’ve seen enough now.

At first, the giant had been cautious and occasionally tried to keep me in check. But since I wasn’t approaching, it stopped paying attention and focused solely on eating.

Though it occasionally rolled its eye to look at me, it wasn’t really on guard anymore.

‘Careless.’

And stupid.

Did it forget that I was the one who severed its ankle and gouged out its eye?

Even though I’d stopped attacking for now, I could strike again at any moment. Yet it let its guard down completely, focused only on eating.

Edel had told me to get used to their tactics, so I tried to approach this with care…

But any anticipation I had quickly deflated.

“Boring.”

I thought there might be another hidden trick, but I guess this is as far as it goes.

As my interest waned, so did my enthusiasm.

Still, I had a job to do.

I raised the arm I had been keeping idle.

The sword in my hand followed the movement of my arm and pointed to the sky.

The giant, which had just turned its eye toward me, flinched at my sudden motion.

Its busy chewing paused for a moment.

But when I remained still with my arm raised, it resumed its chewing with ease.

“You’re just a pig, aren’t you? Go on, squeal for me.”

Who knows? Maybe I’ll let you live.

The giant didn’t respond.

“So noisy, causing a mess everywhere. Can’t even do tricks, yet wasting food as well.”

Alright, I’ve decided.

“Goodbye.”

I pretended to ponder dramatically while speaking, but my sword had already reached the giant.

It was a simplified version of Wind Cutter, the technique I used to kill Krumo’s Shadow.

But while the technique was simplified, its power wasn’t diminished.

As the blade slashed downward, two clean lines appeared on the giant’s body.

It was so preoccupied with eating that it didn’t even realize what was happening.

If it had run away, it might have survived, as the simplified technique didn’t fully lock space.

But even as its body split into three sections, the giant didn’t stop chewing.

The faintly glowing crimson blade of the sword disappeared back into its sheath.

There was no sound of the massive body hitting the ground.

The moment it split into three, the giant’s body turned to dust and scattered.

The lonely sound of the core hitting the ground echoed faintly.

For a creature that had destroyed an entire nation, its end was surprisingly anticlimactic.

“Hmm…”

So anticlimactic that it even felt unsettling.

Scratching my mask, I muttered to myself.

“Is it over?”

I waited for a moment, but the giant didn’t reappear from the scattered dust.

Even after I recited a resurrection spell I found on the internet, nothing changed. Looks like this is really the end.

How disappointing.

Letting out a short breath, I looked around at the ruined surroundings.

No one lived here anymore, but…

If someone decided to settle here in the future, they’d have a hard time leveling the ground.

Avoiding the various craters, I approached the core.

“What did Edel say again?”

Something about it acting as their heart… but there was something else she mentioned.

I couldn’t remember, probably because I didn’t pay enough attention.

“Whatever.”

I’ll just ask her later.

Setting aside the vague memory, I lifted my foot.

And stomped down on the core.

The core, larger than the average adult head, shattered without resistance.

At the same time, the ominous glow swirling around it faded.

With that, Edel’s task was complete.

She would handle the dimensional barrier that had confined the giant, leaving me with nothing more to do here.

“…Wait.”

There was one thing left.

I turned my head.

Far in the distance, Yuki was approaching. She had managed to survive despite the injuries inflicted by an opponent far stronger than herself.

Even amidst the chaos, where the ground trembled as if struck by a meteor, she had endured.

What should I do?



As she walked toward me, I briefly pondered.

It wasn’t a long time, but by the time she reached me, I had made my decision. Sёarch* The novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

—

Click here ->