chapter 122
It was a coincidence that I found shining eyes among the all-black swarms.
If I hadn’t been looking there at the right time, I wouldn’t have known of its existence at all.
Because, as soon as the creature noticed Abel’s gaze, it crouched down and assimilated into its surroundings.
However, if it had been before he noticed it, he couldn’t avoid Abel’s eyes, who had been looking at him all along.
-excuse me… … !
Abel tried to shout something, but bit his lip.
I realized that even if I said it now, no one would listen to it.
Everyone was engrossed in dealing with the maddening swarm.
‘I don’t think I should leave it alone.’
Abel thought to himself, not taking his eyes off the place where the unknown creature was hiding.
Somehow, right after I noticed its existence, I felt an ominous feeling.
Abel first stabbed some of the swarm with a spear, and then came to a conclusion.
‘It’s crazy to run out on your own.’
If you did that, you could endanger your life, let alone pay for it.
As the name suggests, each black wave is weak, but when many gather, it exerts tremendous power.
‘you can do it.’
Abel made up his mind and gripped the spear tightly.
Even in this situation, there were some guys who rushed at me, but I ignored the slightest attack.
Quadduk-.
Abel, who had gripped the spear enough to make a rough sound, at one point raised his mana as if it exploded and threw the spear away.
Rurrr
Then, with a thunderous thunder, light flashed and the spear cut through the air.
The creature with twinkling eyes belatedly tried to fly away as if it had sensed the danger.
but… … .
Kwajik!
It was faster for the spear to pierce his body.
It trembled for a while before collapsing.
-Abel! What!
A beat later, Kaul asked Abel.
At that, Abel came up with an excuse he had thought of beforehand.
-One guy tried to hang on to his spear, so he just threw it.
It wasn’t a great excuse, but Kaul was too busy anyway.
-The next time you throw, give a warning first before throwing!
-yes!
Appropriately warned, Kaul focused on slashing the attacking guys again.
As Abel did, he took out a spare spear and stabbed it again silently.
Although he killed the strange creature right away, there was no noticeable change.
However, the strange anxiety that plagued Abel completely disappeared.
‘What was that?’
While thinking about that, Abel looked at the place where the strange creature had been, but the corpse was already covered with other objects and was nowhere to be seen.
* * *
-Kiyaaa!
A scream of pain echoed through the narrow cave.
The creature with a dark grayish white body struggled on the floor for a long time before barely getting up.
It lifted its head, and one of its pupils had red thread veins.
– Hoo-wook, Hoo-wook.
Shaking its head, it staggered and moved its body.
It almost fell over several times, but it came out of the cave and looked down.
A bright light was dotted there. And towards that light a black wave was advancing.
It looked there for a long time before turning its attention to one spot.
It was the place where his ‘eye’ was destroyed.
There were still several eyes left, but it bothered me that one was empty.
In particular, the image of Gigant throwing the spear while looking directly into his eyes was clearly imprinted in his mind.
Kkadeudeudeuk-.
It gritted its teeth roughly and stared at it for a long time before shaking its head violently.
It bothered me, but now was not the time to act impulsively.
Swoop-.
It closed its eyes and raised its hand.
Kugoong-!
Then, a huge figure appeared in the distance.
It was still a long way from the front line, but it giggled contentedly.
Then staggered back and crawled into the cave.
Meanwhile.
– Wipe it all out!
The center of the defensive line with the 1st Corps as the main axis was successfully driving the swarm.
As befits the name Black Wave, the swarm pushed in endlessly, but the strength of the 1st Legion easily exceeded it.
Kwagwagwagwa!
In particular, Gigant, who modified both hands like a chain saw, performed tremendously.
Basically, the 1st Corps was specialized in subjugation of colossi and fragments.
This kind of swarm is a collection of veterans who have faced several times.
-Let’s wipe everything out and rest until the sun rises!
They swept all over the waves of swarms made by thousands of them, even pulling the wires forward.
The regular soldiers and Tito Riders, who made up most of the corps, silently did their part.
-uh?
However, it was only a few hours later that a change occurred on the battlefield that seemed to be going smoothly.
The swarms that had flocked in gradually decreased in number and dispersed rapidly.
By the time the soldiers on the front line had enough time to take turns resting.
Whoops-!
With the sound of heavy footsteps, a huge figure appeared from beyond the ridge.
– Colossus! A giant appeared!
It was the appearance of a giant.
It wasn’t even one.
A similar alarm went off virtually throughout the defenses spread over the Delkan Mountains.
– The appearance of the giant! At least eleven!
The report was also passed on to the cadets through the Ranger.
Of course, Abel heard it too.
“Eleven. It’s on an unusual level.”
-That’s a lot.
Rufus immediately agreed with Abel’s murmur.
However, when Abel said it was unusual, it meant more.
‘There is no reason for eleven giants to appear in a place like this… … .’
Although Abel always complained about random events, not all conditions were truly random.
It means that there is a certain framework.
In that respect, this situation where swarms and even giants appeared in large numbers was by no means an ordinary case.
‘There are two possibilities.’
The first is that a wave has occurred.
Wave, as the name suggests, means a colossal rush of giants and their fragments.
The scene I saw in the Red Hall is also a kind of wave.
But for some reason, Abel remembered the shining eyes he had seen earlier.
‘second is… … .’
Although the odds are very low, there was one more possibility.
It is the intervention of mutant species.
The other day, Abel had encountered a mutant at Hena’s villa.
The mutant ‘Naga’ who spoke and acted like a human.
‘But mutants are just names that appear on the system.’
In this world, mutants were more commonly referred to by other names.
It’s called the top class.
This is because there is one aspect that clearly has a comparative advantage over the existing giants or their fragments.
First of all, the outgoing intelligence that Abel faced was clearly on the high side.
It can be seen from the fact that instead of attacking blindly, he forcibly pulled Abel out and tried to deal with it quietly.
‘But he’s a mutant… … . That’s why it’s a rare case even among the higher species.’
In general, the most widely known case among the higher species is separate.
It is a species commonly referred to as a ‘commander’.
The giants who move according to their original instincts and those who control their fragments.
The colossus that Abel defeated in Red Hall was also the Commander line.
But the problem was that there was no such unusual guy in the visible position right away.
Then I can think of another possibility.
‘It might be a guy with a higher rank in the Commander line… … .’
There may be instances with formidable abilities, capable of observing the battlefield and issuing orders from a distance.
Of course, that was just an unreasonable guess mixed with a few speculations.
There was also a chance that a difficult battlefield was created simply by coincidence.
‘But if there really is a commander… … .’
This battle will never be solved easily.
Abel looked ahead with a worried face.
Whoops-!
A giant was walking from far away.
For now, defeating that thing was the priority rather than thinking about the future.
Then, Kaul shouted.
– Attention everyone!
Caul raised his sword and pointed at the approaching colossus.
-From now on, I will show you how to deal with the giant, so watch and learn!
The attention of the cadets, who were confused by the sudden appearance of the giant, immediately turned to Kaul.
Kaul stood still and took a breath.
The size of the colossus was even larger than that of a centurion-class cowl.
It was truly enormous.
It is still unknown what kind of ability it possessed, but in general, the size of a giant was proportional to its strength to some extent.
– This should be enough.
However, Kaul murmured in a voice without any worries and moved slowly as if going for a walk.
thump, thump, thump.
At first, it seemed like a light walk.
thump, thump! thud-!
At some point, it started to accelerate rapidly.
Of course, the distance with the giant was narrowed in an instant.
When they got close enough, the colossus suddenly pulled back one arm.
‘Is it a combat type?’
Even from a distance, the giant’s forearms were incredibly thick.
If you hit it with your forearm and fist like that, it will have more destructive power than if you hit it with a blunt weapon.
Kaul did not avoid it even after seeing it, but instead jumped higher.
The giant swung his fist at the jumped cowl.
Whoa!
Kaul jumped up and swung the sword as it was with his gaze fixed on the fist.
aaang-!
A roar rang out.
Surprisingly, the fist of the giant was intact even after receiving the sword from the front.
It wasn’t just thick leather at that level.
Requilas, who was handling the remaining swarms on this side, saw it and secretly put an arrow on the string.
But the arrow never fired.
It was because Kaul swung the sword again without panic even though the sword was blocked by his fist.
Wow!
The giant, who had just retrieved his fist, hurriedly blocked the sword again.
However, Kaul swung his sword again.
Kwaaang!
It looked like he was wielding a sword-shaped blunt weapon rather than cutting.
The giant, as if embarrassed by the reckless attack, retreated hesitantly, defending itself.
And, Kaul began to show his ability in earnest.
bang! bang! bang! Quaang-!
At some point, the sword of the cowl began to move so fast that only afterimages could be seen.
It was like the first time I ran to the giant.
It seems very slow at first, but as it starts to pick up speed, it becomes so fast that it is difficult to keep up.
Abel easily recalled Kaul’s abilities.
‘pickup.’
Gigant was no joke with his enormous muscles, but Kaul was surprisingly a man who competed with ‘speed’.
It can be seen just by looking at the description of the cowl in its heyday as ‘moving fast enough to be invisible to the eye’.
-Gwoaaa!
The colossus, who appeared confidently, was gradually injured by the sword swinging at an invisible speed.
The wound healed in real time, as if it had strong defense and resilience, but it was of no use.
It was because the wound was growing faster than the speed of recovery.
When Kaul’s sword-wielding speed reached its peak.
aaagh-!
With a roar, the giant’s head exploded.
Blood and something grayish white and sticky were splattered in all directions.
Cowl clicked his tongue, swung his sword once, and spoke loudly.
-This is how you deal with the giant. Got it?
Of course, no one answered that they knew.