Chapter 88: Chapter 88: The Unfinished Fifth Level
BOOM—
A massive impact smashed through the ceiling. Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, a thick tree trunk swept toward Ron’s party. Aive, at the forefront, took the full force of the blow and was sent flying.
"Damn it, that bastard actually got a giant to be his master?!" Sera cursed, then hoisted her axe and charged.
"And a Hill Giant, no less," Ron said, identifying its race. "Ming Datiss, I never thought you’d sink this low! A Hill Giant?"
"Spare me your mockery," Ming Datiss said coldly. "He’s not my master. We’re merely partners."
"The Ghouls here were stealing its food every night. I helped it get the food back, and in return, it helps me."
"Since you’ve already dealt with the culprits, it’s a shame... that you’ll have to be the ones to face its wrath!"
"As for me... I’ll see you after you revive! Hahahahahaha!"
"Don’t you run!" Victoria immediately began Casting a spell to hold Ming Datiss in place, but the Hill Giant’s attack was already upon them, forcing her to interrupt her own spell and roll aside to dodge the massive tree, which looked as if it had been casually yanked out of the ground.
"Thieves!"
The Hill Giant roared in broken Common Language, completely unafraid despite being outnumbered six to one.
"Hey, you big oaf!" Delaford leaped directly onto the Hill Giant’s shoulder and started relentlessly attacking its neck and face. Against such a clumsy and slow opponent, characters like Sera and Aive were at a disadvantage. It was Delaford who could truly run circles around it.
However, the giant’s wild, patternless swings made things miserable for the others. They were forced to constantly dodge, terrified of being hit by the immensely powerful tree trunk. A direct hit would be no laughing matter.
"Hey! You’ve got the wrong people!" Ron yelled, trying to make himself heard. "We aren’t the thieves! That Elf tricked you!"
"Lies...!" Enraged, the Hill Giant slammed its tree trunk into the ground, creating a huge crater. "Elf, good! You, thieves, bad!"
The giant was a classic example of how raw power could overcome any disadvantage. Even though the space was a bit cramped for it, a single casual swing of its weapon posed a lethal threat to Ron’s party.
Perhaps it was getting irritated by Delaford’s harassment, or maybe it was just frustrated that its attacks weren’t landing. In any case, after another one of its swings hit nothing but air, the Hill Giant began to frantically stomp its feet and pound the ground with its massive club.
"What... is it doing?" Aive asked, panting.
’Is it throwing a tantrum? Or is this some kind of innate Magic?’
"Hill Giants have no affinity for Magic," Silvia murmured. "But don’t you remember? That diary written in the Dwarf Language said this mine had an unfinished fifth level!"
"Stop it!"
But it was futile. They could keep the Hill Giant from hitting them, but they couldn’t stop it from smashing the very ground they stood on!
With a thunderous crash, the Hill Giant smashed through the stone floor once more. No one was spared; all of them plummeted downward.
"Ugh..." Ron groaned. He had landed on something hard and hurt his back.
"You landed in a skeleton’s lap," said Sera, who had crashed down beside him. She glanced at Ron. "Looks like that ’Old Hammer’ fella got picked clean."
Ron pressed a hand to his back as he stood up. The floor was littered with bones. Not far off, a large cauldron with its bottom broken through sat on the ground. A skeleton was draped over its edge, seemingly frozen in the act of crawling out.
Just then, the giant leaped down after them and immediately resumed its indiscriminate assault.
’This is going to kill us...’ Ron muttered, flipping open his Weaving Introduction. He slapped a hand on Sera’s shoulder. "Enlarge!"
"I need you to hold it off for a bit! I need to check the area!" Ron yelled to the rapidly growing Sera, then dashed toward the pile of bones.
"Leave it to me, Chieftain!" Sera boomed with laughter. Her clothes and weapon expanded with her, and she soon towered at roughly the same height as the Hill Giant.
"Hey! Now let’s try this again!"
The Hill Giant’s main advantage was its sheer size and the reach of its weapon. Faced with an opponent on its own scale, the skill-less giant quickly found itself at a disadvantage.
While Sera and the Hill Giant were locked in a fierce battle, Ron jogged to the other side of the chamber. There, he could see handle-less pickaxe heads and shovels, along with clear signs of excavation. The bizarre mutation must have started right here.
However, by the time Ron reached the spot, there was nothing left.
’Holes...’ Ron said, pulling on his gloves and covering his nose and mouth with a cloth before cautiously reaching out. He brushed away a few loose pebbles, revealing a series of round openings, each about the width of a little finger.
"And traces of a Spiritual Light from some kind of Energy," Victoria said, turning around after confirming Sera didn’t need any support. "For the traces to remain after all these years... you can only imagine how big whatever they dug up was."
"Abyssal Energy... How did it leak into this place?" Silvia frowned. "The first Ghouls must have been infected right here."
"Look over there," Aive said, pointing into the darkness. "The path down to this level is blocked by rubble. They must have put in a tremendous amount of effort to dig their way through."
"Ordinary people could never have done it. They only gained that kind of Energy and strength after becoming Ghouls," Silvia observed, looking around. "Damn it all... They just wanted to make it back alive, but instead they brought more death to the surface!"
"And they couldn’t escape that fate themselves."
Ron scanned the area. It seemed there was nothing else to find. Old Hammer and his crew seemed like practical men, not the type to keep diaries.
Meanwhile, the battle between Sera and the Hill Giant was coming to a close.
"Had enough? I asked if you’ve had enough!"
The giant-sized barbarian straddled the Hill Giant’s back, pummeling it repeatedly with the handle of her axe. The latter could only cover its head with its hands, letting out pathetic whimpers and groans.
"I... I yield! I give up!"
The Hill Giant cried out. Sera had already chopped its tree-trunk club into three pieces and was now pinning it to the ground, beating it senseless. Hill Giants aren’t a particularly stubborn race, and this one was quick to surrender.
"You gonna try that again?"
"I wouldn’t dare!"
"And you still gonna call us thieves?"
"N-no! You’re not thieves!"
"And do you still want your food back?"
"No! I don’t want it anymore!"
Ron shouted, "Sera, hold on! What the hell do you mean you don’t want it?! We never stole your food to begin with!"
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