Ch.15852. Who Would Use the Term Original Enemy?

“That was a close call.”

Zora exclaimed with a gasp, letting out a sound that wasn’t quite a gasp.

I released her shoulder and turned my gaze.

Where we had been standing just moments ago, something massive had burst through the doorway.

If our reaction had been even slightly delayed, it would have been the end of us.

When it first shot out before my eyes, there was no time to question what it was.

It was just an enormous, pitch-black object filling my vision.

Before I could even process it, my body had already grabbed Zora and pulled her away from that spot—the best course of action at the time.

And even now, observing from a distance, I still wondered what exactly I was looking at.

“It’s a hand. A hand.”

Only when Zora mentioned it did it become clear.

A massive, blackened dead hand.

I belatedly noticed that the pinky and ring finger had been severed.

There were no fingernails, and the fingertips were so mangled that at first I doubted they were fingers at all.

…But there was no mistaking it.

The thrashing hand began to grope around the entrance.

Due to its enormous size, even a slight sweep cleared the ground, stirring up the accumulated dust.

And still it continued, groping around as if searching for something….

“Is it unable to come out, or just not trying?”

The doorway itself was enormous, but the sheer size of the hand and arm, which filled nearly half of it, made it easy to guess that whatever the hand was attached to had a body too large to easily exit.

However, given the strange nature of this space… if it could somehow reduce its size… it might be able to burst out without much trouble.

“Are we just going to watch?”

“What else?”

I couldn’t offer a definite alternative to Zora’s question right away.

If it continued like this… eventually I’d have to make a decision.

But not yet.

Rushing in blindly would be the worst strategy, regardless of the situation.

I calmly observed, formulating alternatives.

If this were a moment requiring quick judgment and action, I wouldn’t hesitate to charge in.

But now… well.

Just to be sure, I asked Zora.

“Is a giant’s skin normally that color?”

“How would I know?”

“Judging by the hand’s structure, it’s not normal.”

Far from being intact, it was almost completely…

“If it were an old corpse, it might be in that state. And didn’t you say earlier it wasn’t dead but sealed? We already have our answer.”

“…You’re right.”

It’s not a difficult deduction.

“Do you know how to kill something that can’t die?”

“Purification?”

“According to the Irenis Church, they use divine power to eliminate half-undead beings, right? Even outside the Irenis Church’s influence, methods vary… but that probably wouldn’t work against truly undead beings like that thing.”

“So there’s a specific way to deal with them?”

“If we borrow from mythology, it’s written that to defeat those who cannot die or disappear, an appropriate countermeasure is needed. But the approaches vary across different mythologies.”

In that sense.

“Shall I give you an example from the demon realm?”

“……”

“Your reaction is so boring.”

Zora continued, grumbling, though we both remained acutely aware of the giant hand thrashing about.

“The methods vary, but what’s generally accepted is the separation of body and soul.”

“Body and soul?”

“Just as a human dies when missing either the heart or brain, that’s the principle they target.”

The problem is…

To do that, one must understand the existence of the soul, grasp its nature, and possess a definite technique to influence, extract, or otherwise affect it.

“It’s complicated, but assuming that’s possible, would that really be the end?”

“……”

“Souls instinctively try to return to their original bodies. That’s why it’s crucial to imprison the soul.”

And the methods of imprisonment have been maximized through various techniques and methodologies.

“Some occultists have been known to seal souls in stone fragments, then break them and scatter the pieces in different locations.”

“…Is that possible?”

“That’s why I called it occult arts. There were many trials and errors, apparently. At first, after imprisoning the soul and breaking the stone, the soul would return intact to its body, causing trouble… but they say they started by experimenting with plants, animals, and beasts to establish the technique properly.”

“……”

“Why do you think I’m mentioning this particular occult art now?”

“Are you saying that giant might be a soulless corpse?”

“Not a corpse. Since it’s not dead.”

“……”

However, even if it’s not dead, it’s only natural that without proper maintenance, its body would deteriorate, rot, and crumble.

Being undying doesn’t mean being perfect, flawless, or immune to decay and degeneration.

Perhaps such beings exist, but…

“A body without reason retains only instinct.”

Only those deeply ingrained, primal instincts.

Only those would guide an empty body.

It could be hunger, the need for sleep, or sexual desire.

Or perhaps destructive impulses, or reactions to stimuli.

“And in such a state, wouldn’t it seem quite easy to manipulate for those with certain intentions?”

“……”

“Just saying.”

Zora shook her head after reading my expression.

The red and blue butterfly hairpin attached to her silver-white hair fluttered faintly and slowly.

“It’s neither alive nor dead. Your mysterious ability probably won’t be enough to kill it.”

This is a ruin that’s at least ten thousand years old.

That means the unidentified giant before us has endured in that state for at least ten thousand years and remained intact.

“If we don’t know a definite way to deal with it, the best we can do is just repel it.”

“……”

I wasn’t in a position to be concerned about saving or killing anyone, given our current circumstances.

“That’s actually fortunate.”

“Is it?”

He must have known this and mentioned it as a conclusion at the end.

“Treat it like the monsters you cut down without hesitation. Otherwise, there might be an accident.”

“I’m not the kind of person who’s considerate enough to care about others.”

Did he think I’d feel burdened or indebted about dealing with that thing?

…What does he take me for?

“Will you come with me?”

“No. I’ll check it out first.”

“That’s fine by me. While I may seem immortal and eternal, it would be extremely inconvenient if my body gets shattered or broken.”

Oh, one more piece of advice.

“That thing’s very existence might be divine in nature, so be careful.”

“Divine?”

“In a sense, isn’t it a god too? Or just a giant? A divine giant race? Something like that?”

“……”

I don’t know.

…How could I, without confronting it?

But what’s certain is… my future prediction ability isn’t working well.

It’s just prediction, yet its range is limited and extremely minor.

As if the world itself doesn’t easily permit such things.

In this case, I’d have to observe by comparing with myself.

But that’s problematic.

It might lead me to repeat the mistake Grandeus made.

So unless it’s absolutely urgent…

“I’m going.”

“Alright. Don’t die on your own. It would be lonely to go back alone.”

A well-wish that wasn’t quite a well-wish.

It would take a while to walk there, but if I moved my body lightly… soon enough.

What’s certain is that my mobility had already reached a realm separate from that of humans, even without manipulating mana.

It’s not just about riding the wind or going with the flow.

Rather, I pull the flow toward me.

Thus, the path of the wind now provides a downhill-like propulsion rather than just a path.

As my body has changed to not only adapt to nature but also achieve a degree of unity with it, such things became possible.

This is also the secret to how I can move faster than Zora, who transforms into a bird and soars through the sky.

As soon as I quickly reached the giant’s hand, it reacted.

Like swatting away an insignificant fly, its sweeping motion came at me with the force of a projectile from a siege weapon, covering my entire body.

And barely slipping between the giant’s fingers, I rode along its blackened wrist, following the arm, and threw myself inside the entrance, where darkness greeted me conspicuously.

It was truly vast and boundless, with no visible end.

It felt like an infinite abyss with no bottom or limit.

But suddenly, the giant hand and arm that had been filling half the entrance were hastily withdrawn inside.

And immediately began to lunge toward me.

The sight was truly like the sky, the ceiling, collapsing and pouring down.

====

“Huh, he’s just going in?”

What the…

Wasn’t he going to fight with that giant’s hand?

Zora blinked her eyes, which had a faint blood-red tint, stupidly at the unexpected development.

“Is he being brave or foolish?”

So what’s he going to do in there? Face off against a fully intact giant?

What if it’s not alone? What dangers could be inside?

“…I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.”

====

Relying on vision has its limits.

But perceiving danger and responding with other senses is another matter entirely.

Ultimately, one must train senses beyond the five senses… for there to be a next step.

And this… without proper methods and mastery,

is an unfair talent granted only to those with innate awareness, talent, and aptitude.

And when that talent crosses into the realm of ability,

you hear things like:

“Do you have eyes in the back of your head?”

I instinctively perceive the approaching threat and launch my body vertically.

Essentially stepping on thin air.

But with thin atmospheric layers in the void, and a body increasingly attuned to nature,

moving a few times isn’t impossible.

Compared to using mana to form walls in the air to step on, grab, or hold for movement, this is much better.

I’ve devoted considerable effort to leading, moving, and transporting my body.

Even Ases said that of the 500 movements of the Dragon God Sword, most of the systematized movements were about how to lead the body.

How to move, how to step.

Handling the sword is just one aspect.

The point is this:

Even as I learned Grandeus’s sword techniques and formations, I realized that

the repetition of those tedious, boring movements ultimately emphasizes movement itself.

The stationary is dead, and the moving signifies life.

So all the techniques we learn, master, handle, and use

are assertions and appeals of life itself.

BOOM!

A sound like smashing through a wall erupted, but

the colliding wall and pillars somehow remained intact.

…Well.

Just as humans can’t easily destroy buildings with bare hands, perhaps the same applies to giants?

After several such evasions, I finally landed on the floor

and faced the approaching hand head-on.

First…

I draw out a sword wrapped in pitch-black darkness as if extracting it from the void.

But midway, feeling an ominous premonition, I immediately spread the blackness covering the sword wide like a tent roof.

THUD!

…I deflected it.

Had I received it head-on, my body would have been shattered.

‘This is…’

If it were simple physical force, I could have deflected it.

This is something I’ve experienced countless times when facing giant magical beasts.

But from this giant, swinging its arm or leg? instinctively without reason, there was something else ominous beyond the irresistible physical force.

-That thing doesn’t have mana, just like you.

In the darkness,

the golden girl visible only to my eyes, the Demon King, suddenly said such a thing.

‘What?’

But there was no time to respond.

The giant arm, like a building pillar, swung widely, cutting through darkness and even shaking space itself.

As I barely avoided it by a hair’s breadth, the aftermath swept me away like a gust of wind.

Like an insect avoiding a swinging palm only to be tossed about in its wake.

-Forget about trying to use the opponent’s mana against them or twisting their center of force. Well, if you were at Grandeus’s level, you might use it differently… but you’re not that refined yet, are you?

Clinging to me as my body flew uncontrollably, spouting such nonsense—I felt like rebelling,

but in this harsh experience of avoiding follow-up attacks and flying like a fly through the void, even venting was difficult.

“Ha!”

Is that all I can manage, a sigh?

Still, my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, allowing me to respond more skillfully than before.

Also, as experience accumulated, my prediction range expanded, making it easier to respond to simple, repetitive attacks without needing to predict the future.

In other words, I was starting to adapt to evasive maneuvers.

Now I needed a decisive strike to neutralize the opponent.

But…

‘What am I supposed to do?’

I was used to countering by using an opponent’s strength against them.

But an opponent where that’s impossible?

Especially when the physical and ability gap between us is as vast as heaven and earth?

Is this telling me…

to just run away instead of fighting?

-Why do you think giants and divine giants were the ancient enemies of the gods?

The abilities you wield are graces and protections from the gods, derived from the world they created.

-But not these beings.

These are beings that are like worlds unto themselves.

…Some know this well, while others throw tantrums like children without understanding.

“……”

I can barely hear what he’s rambling about.

How can something so massive move so fiercely? Even wild beasts don’t act this vigorously.

What’s more frightening was that these explosive movements seemed to be continuing, with signs of prolonged activity.

‘Come to think of it…’

Is there any need to fight and win against something I can’t kill anyway?

What was my purpose for coming here?

“!!”

I barely swing my sword, and as soon as it makes contact, I throw my body forward, letting the flying sword lead me.

Then I retrieve the sword in mid-air, twist my body again, and form a wind path to reverse direction.

I landed on the high ceiling.

Simultaneously, I wrapped my one-handed sword in darkness again and tried to embed it in the ceiling, but.

Thud!

…As I had observed when the giant struck without effect, it might be impossible to even embed a sword in the wall with ordinary strength.

Even now, it’s more like I’ve attached it rather than embedded it.

…Normally, my body should fall due to gravity, but for now, I’ve temporarily suppressed the force acting on me.

Otherwise, how could I possibly hang upside down from the ceiling?

“So the conclusion is that at my current level, I can’t use its force against it? Even if that were possible, since it has no mana, I can’t use that either.”

If it had mana, I could use that to counter, but without it, I’m simply overpowered.

…But it’s not just about strength—the physical disparity itself is absurd.

-Right. To use force against it requires a minimum level, which is beyond your current capabilities.

“…Will there come a time when this becomes possible?”

-If you can form your own world like that being.

“……”

-The important thing is that you understand this.

It probably doesn’t appreciate its own nobility because it’s innate.

The Demon King sneers mockingly.

Regardless.

My eyes, now accustomed to the darkness, begin to outline its form and shape.

It is indeed a giant.

Skinny, looking like it might collapse at any moment… a wretched body.

But recalling how threateningly it lunged at me just now… this is surely a calamitous being.

And it can’t die?

…This isn’t just about physical size, is it?

“Huh?”

I noticed the giant crouching its lower body with a staggering motion.

‘No way.’

It can’t be?

As it kicked the ground with its foot,

its massive body flew toward me like a projectile.

‘What the…’

Impossible…

I launched myself from the ceiling, but the giant collided with it instead.

However, as soon as its upper body hit, it pushed off with its arm and accurately threw itself toward me again.

‘Is it really mindless?’

It seems too… intelligently persistent for that?

Convinced that simple movement wouldn’t be enough to evade, I tried to use shadows to transfer my body, but.

“?!”

For some reason, it didn’t activate.

And I immediately understood why, even without being told.

‘World?’

This place where the giant exists.

And the area within its sight.

All of it originates from the giant itself.

In other words, this isn’t my domain.

From beginning to end, it was its domain.

…And it…

is a being capable of this just by existing and breathing.

‘What kind of…’

No, this makes sense.

That’s why…

…even gods openly expressed hostility, calling them ancient enemies.

Who would use the term “ancient enemy” for someone who isn’t even a match?

‘This is just…’

Was I too complacent?

—!!

It felt like heaven and earth were shattering.

I thought true death had struck my entire body before I could even perceive it.

“……”

Light piercing through darkness, blooming, rising, surging.

That light was somehow clearly blocking the giant’s fist.

-I’ll lend it to you.

A sudden deep voice.

A voice I had heard before.

The god who identified himself as Zefs.

And the one who claimed to be the chief deity of the current Pantheon.

It was definitely his voice.

-You’re throwing the Aegis here?

…This was the Demon King’s reaction.

A dry response, as if a single drop of water had fallen on parched earth.

Meanwhile, I had nearly died…