Chapter 42:

Chapter 42:

A gigant was walking toward the cadets, the moonlight glowing on its back. The ambushers, fiercely wielding their swords a moment ago, scattered as the Gigant approached.

Thud, thud, thud

Abel thought as he watched the approaching gigant before entering the forest. He had quite a few plans in his head. Some of them were complicated, and he was initially more inclined towards them.

This was because he knew there would be an ambush waiting for them on their way to their destination. However, once he saw the faces of his team members, he immediately changed his mind.

Did they need an elaborate plan? If the goal is to take down all the ambushers, then all we need to do at this stage is to board the gigant within the theoretical time. More importantly, everyone didn’t need to arrive at the destination.

‘This is because even if one got on the gigant, the prepared trap would become meaningless.’

Even if a huge rock blocks the road or trained hounds chase after them, even if the ambush assistants come swinging their swords, all traps become meaningless the moment a gigant appears. So Abel deduced a straightforward plan. He sends Daniel, the fastest and with the best stamina, out first, and the rest of the group will hold out till he returns. And Abel’s plan worked perfectly.

Kuoong!

The gigant approached the right distance, then carefully bent over and held out his hand.

“Let’s go.”

After exchanging glances with the others, Abel climbed onto the palm of his hand.

Regardless of believing in Daniel, it took a lot of courage to move while riding on Gigant’s palm. Abel was the first to climb aboard and looked at the other cadets.

“Come up carefully.”

May climbed up, too, without saying a word, and Kalian followed right behind, as if he didn’t want to be the last.

“Darin.”

Finally, Darin, who had a frightened look on his face, climbed up with the help of May and Abel.

Woooo-

Daniel maneuvered the Gigant very carefully to lift them, then started walking back to the other side again. The cadets in the palm of his hand could see their destination, hidden by the trees.

‘There it is.’

The destination was closer than he had thought. A red flag was planted in the middle of the clearing, and the giants were right there.

‘They’re all low-end machines.’

Abel thought. He would have to go up close to see, but he could guess just from the appearance. That there was no high-level aircraft dedicated to each cadet. Of course, he already knew this, but he couldn’t help but be disappointed because it was true that he had high expectations. But Abel quickly calmed the disappointment deep in his heart.

Kuoong, kung!

The gigant moved all the way forward. Unlike when they were moving alone without the gigant with a heavy sense of tension, the scenery they saw from the Gigant’s point of view was very refreshing. Not long after, Daniel stopped at their destination and placed his hand on the floor as carefully as before.

“Whoa.”

The cadets sighed in relief as they landed on the floor.

“There are only Gigants”

Abel said, looking around. In the clearing they arrived at, four gigants lay side by side. There may have been others here before. Abel was convinced by the footprints left behind.

‘I guess it hasn’t been long since they withdrew.’

Maybe they’ve been watching the clearing from around here. Not that it matters.

Abel spoke again, “There doesn’t seem to be much difference between the gigant, so we’ll start from the left and work our way up.”

“Okay.”

‘We’re safe until we get out of the woods. There’s no ambush, no traps, but......’

The moment they get out of the woods and onto the plains, their training will begin in earnest. Gigant combat practice.

Kung, kung , coo-

The five Gigants with the Cadets soon reached the outskirts of the forest. Abel said to the other cadets before heading out of the forest.

“My guess is that there’s a good chance we’ll have a full-scale battle from here on out. It’s been so quiet up until now, hasn’t it?”

The cadets nodded, though they didn’t have a clear idea on what is to come next. Abel then continued.

“I’ll move forward first and check for any other signs. In the meantime, everyone should keep vigilant on both sides and behind.”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Alright.”

“Mm-hmm.”

After hearing everyone’s answers, Abel stepped onto the plain ahead of the others. The plain was silent. He couldn’t hear any other Gigants footsteps, no sounds from the fragments of the gigant, and the silence made him feel even more uneasy.

‘It’s quiet,’

Abel thought as he strode forward, his sword, his basic weapon in his hand. The plain was littered with giant footprints. There were so many of them that it seemed quite difficult to distinguish the important ones, but Abel did it without difficulty. This was because he studied related knowledge for ‘survival’ even before entering the academy.

‘The only recent traces are the footprints of a Tito-class gigant.’

Naturally, Abel thought of the Tito, who had left the cube earlier. Of course, the gigant belonged to the Academy. So, the presence of Tito’s footprints in the area meant that there was a high probability that something was not far away, most likely a fragment of the gigant. But it was impossible to determine exactly what species it was.

‘Even in the game, it was random in which fragment would appear.’

Regardless of the route, the fragments of the gigant that were available were randomized. This maybe because the game was basically designed for the assimilation of many rounds. It would be boring to have to take the same route and deal with the same monsters over and over again, which was, of course, an annoying factor for Abel, who entered the world of such a game.

‘At least we’re not all underpowered, so we shouldn’t have too much trouble at this stage,’

Abel thought, and continued to walk forward. The distant horizon began to slowly brighten as if the morning sun was about to rise.

‘Hopefully, we’ll be able to fight after the sun has risen.’

The moon was bright enough to provide some visibility, but there was still a big difference between the morning sun and the moonlight. Especially since most of the gigants’ fragments had bright night vision. But Abel’s wish was not granted.

Dueddddddd-

Suddenly, the ground began to vibrate. The eyes of the cadets, including Abel’s, turned to a single point.

“It’s not just one!” Kalian shouted in a loud voice, and true to his word, a single creature could not have caused the earth-shaking vibrations.

Abel could see what appeared on the horizon as the others quickly formed into battle formation.

“A pack of Ironwolves!”

A pack of silver-shining wolves were furiously charging towards them. Although, the power of each one was far inferior to that of a bladed tail. However, their danger was incomparable. Ironwolves, as the name implies, have characteristics and appearance similar to that of a wolf, meaning they are species that hunt in packs.

“It’s dangerous from the start.”

Abel raised his sword and stepped forward. It was clear that this was not going to be an easy battle. Excitement overcame nerves as he approached the battle, and at the same time, the pattern engraved on his chest flickered lightly.

“Let’s go.”

Abel raised his sword and shouted without realizing it.

[To be continued.]