Book 1 Chapter 295

295

Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!

The faces of the guards on the battlement of Guardstone's walls turned pale.

Before their eyes was a colossal giant, taller even than Guardstone's famously high walls.

"G-Giant King… Gias!"

With a trembling jaw, they uttered the monster's epithet.

The Age of Calamity.

Anyone who had once fought in the war against Tartarus could not avoid encountering a Legion Commander.

But no one here had ever actually seen the Giant King.

Not even the Commander King, Tartarus's supreme commander and Erebus's most powerful subordinate.

Not even the most cruel and murderous Queen of Monsters.

They always left survivors.

But not Giant King Gias.

He was the Legion Commander who absolutely never left survivors.

That meant he was a symbol of absolute death.

At the appearance of Giant King Gias, who had brought complete death to anyone he met on the battlefield, the Guardstone guards felt terror.

Thump-! Thump-!

Step by step, his colossal body approached, and the guards instinctively recoiled.

"Everyone, maintain formation."

A firm voice was heard.

At that voice, everyone snapped to attention.

"This is Guardstone. No matter how powerful the Giant King is, he cannot overcome this impregnable fortress."

"Yes, sir!"

At Dweno's words, everyone found their courage.

Watching them, Runia murmured.

"As expected of Sir Dweno. To make soldiers gripped by fear regain their senses with just one word."

Runia admired him, feeling the gravitas of a great hero, and Driana crossed her arms, a smug expression on her face.

"Of course, it's Sir Dweno after all."

Next to Driana, Ar also crossed her arms with a smug look.

"Now Sir Arion will step forward and boost the soldiers' morale to the maximum."

At Ar's words, Dweno sighed deeply.

"Unfortunately, he cannot."

"What?"

"I don't know what illusions you have about Arion, but Arion is a terrible coward."

Leaving those words, Dweno stepped onto Guardstone's wall and crossed his arms.

He was a small dwarf, but his back looked incredibly huge.

Most were too terrified to even go near the walls.

At Dweno's words, the party members, except for Leo, looked at Arion with shocked expressions.

Arion was hiding behind his disciple, Berkhia, with his eyes tightly shut, trembling.

"B-Berkhia. How is it? Is it big?"

"It's immensely big."

Berkhia, standing on tiptoes to see the Giant King beyond the wall, answered with a nervous voice.

Arion let out a terrified whimper.

Seeing Arion whimpering like a frightened puppy, Kal's mouth fell open.

"I-I can't believe it. Sir Arion was such a coward…"

Kal was also feeling an oppressive presence from the mere existence of the Giant King, making it hard to move properly.

But the sight of him with his eyes closed, trembling behind his disciple, was certainly shocking.

Especially the fact that [The Brave] Arion, praised as the bravest among the great heroes, was like this, was bound to be shocking.

Children of this era grew up hearing stories of [The Brave] with indomitable courage from a young age, so it was even more shocking.

"How disconcerting."

Runia murmured with a bewildered face.

Ar, in particular, seemed deeply shocked, slumping down and clutching her head.

"Waaah- Sir Arion! He's so different from the Sir Arion in the stories!"

Leo grabbed Ar by the scruff of her neck and forcibly pulled her up.

Then he turned his gaze towards Giant King Gias.

"The actual appearance of great heroes might be different from what we know."

At Leo's words, Runia recalled Luna's appearance.

Luna, the progenitor of the nebula, who was always depicted as pure, gentle, and benevolent in countless history books and fairy tales.

But her real self was a vibrant, spirited, and immensely curious young lady who loved flowers.

Dweno, the divine blacksmith, solemn and upright, who made weapons for the world.

But deep down, he was a perverted old man, busy praising beauty.

Berkhia, the Fairy Knight, renowned for leading the elves with impartiality, fairness, and an all-encompassing charisma.

In reality, she was a mischievous girl who often lied and acted spitefully.

They had only lived together for ten days.

But their true selves, unrecorded in history, were far from the flawless great heroes they were depicted to be.

'We laughed and chatted happily, spending our days together.'

Perhaps it would be the same if they met Lysinas, Kyle, or Luna, whom they hadn't met yet?

'If it's Lady Luna, it would be.'

Runia placed a hand on her own shoulder.

She recalled Luna, who had smiled brightly, unhesitatingly linked arms, and enjoyed herself.

"Leo is right."

Runia smiled brightly.

"They might be different from what we know, but… they are Sir Dweno and Sir Arion… and Sir Berkhia."

The party members looked at Runia.

"They are still the ones who achieved great feats that saved the world."

Rather, they drew courage from their ordinary appearances.

'They are not so different from us after all.'

…That thought.

The thought that they were people just like them, yet accomplished those great deeds, gave them a sense of familiarity and courage.

Listening to Runia's words, Ar, who had been hanging her head, looked at Arion.

And clenched her fist tightly.

"That's right! Sir Arion is Sir Arion!"

She sprang to her feet and puffed out her chest.

The fact that she was a descendant of the great hero remained unchanged.

Ar snorted indignantly and climbed onto the wall.

"Let's see the face of this so-called Giant King!"

With eyes narrowed and ears and tail stiffly erect, Ar bravely climbed onto the wall.

And as soon as she saw Gias, her ears and tail drooped, and she hastily climbed back down.

"W-What is that big!"

"It's really as big as a giant mountain."

"That's the Giant King… Then that rumor was true?"

Before entering the Hero's World.

Remembering why they had come to investigate the mysterious giant, the party members broke into a cold sweat.

Thump-! Thump!

The ground continued to rumble.

No one dared to stand proudly on the wall like Dweno.

Clatter-!

Someone stood proudly next to Dweno.

White hair fluttering in the wind.

At that, the party members and the guards protecting Guardstone thought Arion had bravely stood by Dweno.

But it was none other than Leo who stood next to Dweno.

"He really seems fearless."

"To face the Legion Commander's fear head-on…"

Runia clicked her tongue in amazement, and Driana gasped in admiration.

"As expected of Sir Leo."

"Ugh! If the black rabbit can do it, so can I!"

As Eiran admired him, Ar seemed to get stubborn and lifted her head.

The fear emanating from the Legion Commander.

That alone made living creatures afraid.

To overcome the fear, one had no choice but to generate mana and resist it.

But Leo and Dweno showed no such signs.

They were simply calmly enduring the fear emanating from the Legion Commander.

Their composed appearance gave courage to those who saw their backs to confront despair.

Dweno opened a subspace and pulled out a battle axe.

Leo, with his arms crossed, watched the Giant King approaching, shaking the ground.

'Originally, the invasion should have started tomorrow morning?'

The Giant King's appearance at Guardstone was much earlier than the actual time.

'That means…'

Leo narrowed his eyes.

'It's the Giant King of this era.'

Currently, there were two Giant Kings in the Hero's World.

The Giant King of the past.

And the Giant King of this era, who had invaded to burn down the Hero's World.

The Giant King before their eyes was indeed the Giant King of this era.

"You were right."

Whoosh-! Roar-!

"Giant King Gias is here."

As he swung the battle axe in his hand through the air, powerful winds scattered.

Thump-!

He slammed the battle axe onto the ground.

Dweno's mana spread throughout the entire wall.

Along with it, the soldiers on the wall regained their courage.

Dweno's mana had pushed back Gias's fear.

"Now, do we just have to cut off that giant's head?"

At Dweno's words, Leo drew his sword.

"It's better not to move rashly. His legion isn't here yet."

"Hmm. That's certainly true."

"And."

"And?"

"There might be two Giant Kings."

Dweno's eyes twitched.

"Indeed."

Dweno, who had already noticed that Leo came from the future, understood those words at once.

"What happened to us in the original battle?"

"…We won. Though we suffered heavy casualties."

"I see."

"What are you two talking about like that? I want to hear…"

Grooooaarrrrrr-!

"Eek?!"

Ar, who had bravely tried to climb onto the wall where Leo stood, screamed at Gias's roar, tumbled to the ground, and landed on her bottom.

There was still an immense distance before Guardstone's wall and Gias would meet.

But because of his colossal size, Gias's movements were visible at a glance.

Whoosh-!

The Giant King drew a huge greatsword from a subspace.

A greatsword with a reddish-black blade, covered in bits of flesh.

Seeing it, Dweno narrowed his eyes.

"This dark magic…? Is it a greatsword made from the spine of Jormungandr? I thought it would take hundreds of years to complete…?"

Jormungandr, whom Kyle and Lysinas had subjugated.

And it was none other than Giant King Gias who had recovered Jormungandr's corpse.

He had fashioned a wicked demonic sword from his comrade's corpse.

Gooooooohhhhh-!

An ominous surge of dark magic swirled.

The corpse sword of Jormungandr, having absorbed the Giant King's dark magic, writhed.

CRASHHHHH-!

Blackish-green dark magic was unleashed.

The wicked dark magic of Jormungandr, the Gluttony King, revealed its terrifying form.

A colossal mass of blackish-green dark magic devoured everything around it and flew towards Guardstone's wall.

Everyone who saw it wore expressions of horror.

"D-Dangerous!"

"Black Rabbit! Get out of the way!"

Ar urgently shouted.

But Leo didn't even bat an eye.

Dweno was the same.

If it hit directly, it was a dangerous attack even for Dweno.

For the current Leo, it was an attack that would certainly lead to death.

Many felt fear at the terrifying dark magic that seemed capable of devouring the wall and utterly destroying it without a trace.

But Leo knew.

The coward who was always so afraid that he was the last to appear on the battlefield.

But even so, the moment the signal flare for battle was shot.

Thump-!

The coward who ran forward first.

White hair fluttered.

Whoosh-!

The beast-man youth who stepped on the wall leaped high into the air.

Before him was a mass of dark magic, greedily devouring everything.

Shing-!

Arion drew his sword.

The sword, Brave, which would later be called the symbol of the brave.

Golden aura surged from the sword.

Flash! CRASHHHHH!

A sword strike, emitted from the sword, soared upwards as if ascending to heaven.

Along with it, the mass of blackish-green dark magic vanished without a trace.

Whoosh-!

Thump-!

WHOOOOOOSH-!

Wind howled.

Everyone held their breath as they looked at Arion's back, his white hair fluttering, his sword hanging low.

That unwavering back always conveyed immense courage to the great heroes.

'This is… the Brave.'

'The person with the strongest courage in the world…!'