Ch.194Chapter 194 – The Tree Giant

‘What is this?’

As the ground suddenly began to rumble, the Gigas momentarily froze.

While fending off the Lich that had been flying around attacking him, the warrior clinging to his body swinging weapons relentlessly, and keeping an eye on the elf archer preparing something dangerous, he had been steadily breaking through their defensive line when the ground started shaking, putting him on alert.

‘Are they trying to collapse the ground to make me fall?’

This was a battlefield with not only the Lich currently burning his skin, but also a skilled human mage and elf mages.

It wouldn’t be strange if they had devised a strategy to dig up the ground with magic to make him fall.

However, considering the Gigas’s size, that didn’t seem like a tactic that would work well.

Unless a pit suddenly appeared while he was running, there was little chance he would lose his balance and fall while standing still to attack and break through their defensive line.

‘Have they become that desperate?’

The Gigas thought they might be attempting something reckless out of desperation, since he had been easily shattering their defensive line with each swing of his arm.

After the continued battle, what appeared to be their final defensive line was almost completely destroyed, so from the enemy’s perspective, they would want to try anything to stop him.

Therefore, the Gigas decided to ignore the current ground tremors.

‘Just a little more effort…’

And he could summon the Demon Lord.

With that fact in mind, the Gigas pushed his already exhausted body forward, swinging his fist at the enemy’s defensive line and targeting the elf archer.

-Kugugugu

But even then, the ground tremors showed no sign of stopping.

At this point, it wasn’t just magic causing an earthquake.

‘What on earth is this?’

As the sound grew louder, the Gigas felt he had made a grave mistake.

But it was too late.

With the continued tremors, a massive tree grew before his eyes.

[What?]

Looking up at the tree that kept growing in front of him, the Gigas instinctively took a step back.

And then he realized.

‘I have to look up?’

The suddenly grown tree was a head taller than the Gigas.

He was even more flustered because he rarely had to look up at anything.

As the tree continued to grow, its form began to change.

Smaller trees rose like stems to form arms, and created parts that looked like a body and face.

The mineral-like face took the shape of a wooden helmet, with large yellow gems glowing inside like eyes.

It had no lower body. It was firmly attached to the ground.

However, judging by the movement of what appeared to be roots, it didn’t seem to be a type that couldn’t move on land.

While the Gigas hesitated, a tree giant was born.

‘Such a secret weapon…’

He hadn’t underestimated the elves’ strength.

However, the Gigas never imagined they would have such a weapon in reserve.

‘I made a mistake…’

Regret washed over him—if he hadn’t let his guard down when the ground started shaking and had quickly found and destroyed the cause, this giant wouldn’t have appeared.

[…I won’t lose!]

Thinking he needed to seize the initiative quickly, the Gigas swung his fist.

And the tree giant slowly raised its fist as well, then threw a punch.

-Kuwoong!!

A loud sound of heavy objects colliding rang out, and the Gigas stepped back once more.

‘That hurts.’

Pain rose up, something he had rarely felt since returning to his original form.

And with that single exchange, the Gigas acknowledged it.

This tree giant surpassed him in both size and strength in his current state.

‘If I had known such a creature remained, I would have conserved more energy…’

The Gigas regretted using too much power.

But the milk was already spilled.

He had to find a way out of this situation somehow.

[Damn it all!]

The Gigas raised his fist once more and shouted.

+

The Gigas and the tree giant began exchanging punches.

“What is that thing?”

I was dumbfounded even as I gripped the Gigas’s body tightly to avoid falling.

‘If they had such a secret weapon, they should have used it earlier.’

I felt a bit resentful toward the elves for holding back such a weapon until now.

‘It seems to be some kind of golem.’

That was my assessment, as the tree giant moved somewhat slower than the smoothly-moving Gigas.

‘Whoever you are, I’ll definitely find you.’

I made a mental note to identify the golem controller who had remained silent until now, only to bring out the golem at this point and make things unnecessarily difficult.

And then I heard someone calling me.

“Keeeeey!”

“Sera, why are you there?!”

Looking toward the voice, I saw Sera riding on the head of the tree giant.

However, she seemed to have almost slipped, as she was bracing herself with her arms.

“What are you doing there?!”

“Um, please help me!”

Hearing Sera’s somewhat urgent voice, I quickly ran across the Gigas’s body and climbed onto the tree giant.

The tree giant then blocked the Gigas’s punch with one arm while using its other arm to lift me onto its head.

I quickly got down onto the head and pulled up Sera, who had almost slipped and fallen.

“Huh, huh, I’m saved…”

Just as Sera sighed in relief, the giant’s head shook violently with a tremendous sound.

Given the Gigas’s weight, it seemed inevitable that even this giant would shake from the impact.

After holding Sera tightly to withstand the shaking, I quickly looked at her and asked:

“Sera, why are you here?”

“Ah, well… you see…”

It seemed she was still a bit shaken by the sudden events.

Fortunately, she soon calmed down as she looked at me.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes.”

“So, why are you here? And what is this?”

In response to my question, Sera smiled and said:

“It’s a golem I summoned.”

Sera gently stroked the giant’s head as she spoke.

“It’s a child I summoned by activating Grandmother’s core.”

The golem controller had summoned the golem at a perfect timing.

They hadn’t made any mistakes at all.

Who was I to criticize them?

While I was momentarily escaping reality, another exchange of blows must have occurred, as the giant’s body shook violently again.

“This is…!”

Now seemingly having gotten the hang of it, Sera stuck her staff into the golem’s head and spread a magic circle on her arm.

As she manipulated something, the tree giant became more agile than before, throwing punches at the Gigas’s body and delivering an uppercut that forced the creature’s guard upward.

Then Sera shouted loudly:

“Straight!”

With that command, the tree giant drove its fist into the exposed stomach of the Gigas.

-Kuwoong!!

“It worked!”

Sera said with a bright smile.

“It moves well.”

“Yes! It’s moving just as I thought it would!”

Sera said with a smile.

I unconsciously patted her head as she displayed a genuinely joyful smile.

And, as if having seen our interaction, the Gigas roared in anger.

[You dare mock me…!]

The Gigas’s mouth opened wide, and a heat ray extended from within, striking the tree giant’s body.

Sera quickly moved her arm to block the heat ray.

“…As expected, given the material, it seems weak against fire.”

Sera muttered quietly as she looked at the giant’s arm that had started to burn.

The next moment, the Gigas leaped up and climbed onto the tree giant’s body.

[I’ll tear you apart!]

He tore off the half-burned arm and swung it like a weapon, striking the giant’s head.

-Teoeoeoeng!!

The head shook dangerously from being struck with the massive arm.

I quickly pressed Sera’s body down to secure her on the golem’s head.

-Taaack!

“…Right, why didn’t you do this from the beginning, Ddakddak!”

I grumbled as I saw Sera’s golem using its body to prevent Sera and me from falling off the tree giant’s head.

However, despite Ddakddak securing our bodies, I could feel Sera and myself being lifted slightly.

“We’re falling over!”

“Grit your teeth and hold on tight!”

As I shouted, an enormous impact sound spread around us, and the tree giant collapsed.

“…It should have controlled the direction of its fall better.”

I muttered as I saw that the defensive line, which had barely been maintained, was almost completely destroyed due to the impact of our golem falling.

The elves and demon tribe members seemed to have evacuated in time, as there appeared to be no casualties beneath us.

And I could see that Sera’s golem, which had been protecting us, was shattered.

“Your sacrifice will not be forgotten, Ddakddak.”

If it weren’t for this fellow, Sera and I would probably have been pulverized.

While I was mourning Ddakddak’s sacrifice, Sera shook her head and regained her senses.

“Ugh, what should we do now?”

Sera asked me as she controlled the golem to stand up again.

‘This doesn’t look good.’

The Gigas was using the torn-off arm as a weapon to attack the golem, and with only one arm left and being pushed back in attack range, the golem started failing to block all attacks.

‘It’ll be hard to defeat him in this state.’

At the very least, if both arms were still attached, it would have been fine.

However, due to the mishandling of the Gigas’s heat ray, our side was at a significant disadvantage.

‘Plus, the other side’s movements are more agile, which is a problem.’

Although our side had gotten faster as Sera gained more control, the other side was using its own body from the start.

There was a difference in reaction speed, so our attacks tended to come a bit later.

Fortunately, the Gigas also seemed tired, as his attacks gradually slowed down…

But it was still the same—one more mistake and we’d have no second chances.

‘How do we defeat him?’

I thought about ways to take down the Gigas as he continued to attack the giant’s body.

We couldn’t deliver a decisive blow with just this golem.

Even as I was thinking, the tree giant took another hit from the Gigas and shook slightly.

“This creature alone isn’t enough.”

Having reached that conclusion, I looked at Sera and said:

“But this isn’t our only card, right?”

Sera had been momentarily disoriented as the golem shook violently.

But she clearly heard my words, as her eyes immediately lit up.

“…Yes, that’s right!”

Sera promptly controlled the tree giant.

And the Gigas addressed us as we did so.

[Whatever trick you try, it’s over now!]

The Gigas threw the arm he had been using as a weapon and swung his fist again.

We barely deflected the arm, but the tree giant shook greatly after being hit by the following punch.

The Gigas’s smile was visible, as if he had seized the advantage.

And Sera and I…

We were making our final preparations.

“Key, I’m ready!”

“I’m counting on you!”

“Yes!”

Responding to my voice, Sera controlled the golem to throw a punch.

And as the Gigas moved to counter the punch, he said:

[I cannot lose here!!]

“Neither can we!”

The golem’s fist collided with the Gigas’s fist, and another loud impact sound spread around.

And the golem’s fist began to disintegrate.

[I’ve won….]

For a moment, a smile of victory appeared on the Gigas’s face.

But the next moment, the Gigas’s eyes widened.

[…Damn it, get off!]

As the giant’s arm decomposed into tree stems, they began to entangle the Gigas.

In an instant, the Gigas’s arms were covered in sturdy tree stems.

And the stems continued to spread across his upper body, extending toward his other arm.

“By focusing the golem’s energy on growing the trees, this becomes possible.”

Sera smiled as she held up what appeared to be the golem’s core.

“Isn’t it amazing? The power of life.”

My eyes widened slightly as I realized what powered this golem after seeing the Yggdrasil seed contained in the core. Meanwhile, the golem’s body had merged with the Gigas.

With more than half his body buried in tree stems, the Gigas struggled.

[Damn it, let go!]

“Would anyone actually let go when told to?”

“Of course not.”

I lifted Sera’s body and jumped off the golem’s body.

“We’ve bought enough time, right?”

“That’s right.”

Together, we turned our heads.

Above the ruins of the defensive line, we could see an elf enveloped in bright light.

“Finish him.”

I felt a sense of buoyancy in my body, perhaps from someone’s magic.

As Sera and I slowly landed on the ground, I could see the light around Pine growing stronger.

+

‘To hide something like that until the end, that’s too much, everyone.’

Pine quietly complained as she looked at the giant tree golem.

But at the same time, she smiled.

“Now there are no more obstacles.”

Pine aimed at the Gigas’s body with her bow, which had grown larger than usual, and drew an arrow.

And she whispered softly:

“‘As a friend of the spirits, I beseech my friends.'”

Slowly, Pine opened her mouth.

“‘Great soul of the forest, become the power to protect the forest based on the sacrifice of our friends.'”

The next moment, the arrow she held began to glow.

And the spirits Pine had summoned began to be absorbed into it.

“‘All is one, and one is all. Life circulates, and souls go round and round, accumulating karma. Friends, laugh, cry, and sing as you return the karma you’ve accumulated to the world.'”

The spirits were absorbed into the massive arrow as if dancing, adding their light to it.

“‘Carrying noble sacrifice, judge the enemy of the forest.'”

The various colors of light contained in the massive arrow grew stronger.

‘Preparations complete.’

All that remained was to hit the target.

Pine drew the arrow.

“I won’t miss.”

The target was already completely fixed in place thanks to the tree giant that had appeared earlier, and unable to take a defensive stance.

“After everyone else has done this much, I would have no face to show my mother and the spirits if I failed.”

With one eye smiling and the other shedding tears, Pine shot the arrow.

The released arrow transformed into an increasingly massive light as it flew toward the Gigas.

[Damn it…!]

The Gigas desperately twisted his body and struggled, but it was in vain.

The tree stems would not release him.

[Damn it all…!!]

The Gigas shouted as he watched the approaching arrow.

The spirit arrow pierced straight through the Gigas’s body.