Chapter 667

[ The minimap expands into a world map. ]

[ The senses of the Giant Hunters and the Giant Slaughterer become sharper. ]

[ The Giant Hunters and the Giant Slaughterer will target the giant with the strongest scent of Giant Hunter blood first. ]

Additional notifications.

At the same time, Su-ho furrowed his brow.

“Hey. How many Giant Hunters have you killed so far?”

“I have probably killed more than you.”

“So how many?”

“I do not know. When you eat rice, do you count the grains of rice as you eat?”

“Ah, seriously.”

This was driving him insane.

What was wrong with that bastard? Did he have eighth-grader syndrome or something?

Su-ho shouted.

“You lunatic! Didn’t you see the system notification? The Giant Slaughterer seems to be the key to this trial, and it says that bastard will target whoever killed the most Giant Hunters first! Including the ones I just killed, I’ve killed more than a hundred hunters today alone.”

“I see.”

At Su-ho’s words, Graul thought for a moment.

Then he launched steel at Su-ho in a surprise attack.

Booom!!

An enormous mass of steel comparable to a meteor.

When Su-ho split it apart with the Blood Sword, Graul was nowhere to be seen.

“That lunatic!”

He immediately opened the minimap, which had become a world map, and checked it. Graul was already fleeing far into the distance.

- Kahahahaha!

Jack, who had been watching from beside him, clutched his stomach and laughed.

It was worth laughing at.

After striking every arrogant pose imaginable, the choice he suddenly made was to run away, so how could it not be funny?

Jack wiped away his tears and spoke.

- Seeing that bastard run away, it looks like you’ll be the target of this trial, Master.

“I know. I haven’t met the others yet, so I don’t know, but after me, that bastard Graul seems to be the strongest.”

- So, what’s the plan now?

“Hold on.”

He examined the world map.

Once the minimap, which he had only been able to see partially, became a world map, far more things became visible.

Apophis was vast.

Far larger than he had thought.

The fortunate part was that the giants were gathered in clusters here and there.

But the problem was that Giant Hunters were distributed near them, so it seemed physically impossible to save them all.

In particular, there was one red dot that was much darker and denser than the others.

Presumably, it was the Giant Slaughterer.

It was quite far away from Su-ho, but perhaps its detection range was certain, because it was closing the distance while heading precisely toward where Su-ho was.

“It really is approaching me as its target.”

- The Giant Slaughterer?

“Yeah. Since things have turned out this way, I need to gather our people and move them away from the Slaughterer. They already struggle against even one or two hunters, and now that all the hunters have been strengthened, everyone except those in my class will die a dog’s death.”

- I don’t know who designed the trial, but they structured it with cruel precision. They filtered out more than two thousand people in the first trial, and in the second trial, they are trying to filter them out even more thoroughly.

“Is this the time to admire it?”

- I can admire it. I already know you’ll win, Master. Then let’s move.

“We should...... Huh...... Wait a second?”

He had been about to shrink the world map and head toward Ruin’s location.

At that moment, a sight unfolded that made him doubt his own eyes.

The giants, who had clearly been scattered here and there like separate cells, had suddenly begun gathering into one.

Had he seen it wrong?

How was this possible?

While watching, he noticed something strange.

‘They aren’t suddenly gathering. One dot keeps moving around and collecting the scattered giants?’

Who was this?

While he was thinking, a possible candidate came to mind.

‘Graul?’

It was possible.

That bastard could use movement magic like teleportation.

‘But he’s using it this quickly?’

The speed was astonishing.

That was because not long after he reached the scattered giants, the giants disappeared and the dots began gathering into one.

Jack, who had been watching with him, spoke.

- It’s that bastard Graul.

“You think so too?”

- Graul is the only one we’ve seen, so I can’t be certain, but among those who used magic, Graul is the only one capable of producing firepower on that level. By the way, that bastard is gathering the giants into one place. Not bad, is it?

“What are you talking about? Why is that not bad?”

- We’ll have to see it ourselves to know for certain, but the first thing that comes to mind is that he is currently gathering the scattered giants into one place and building his own faction. Whether they are submitting beneath him like they did beneath you, Master, or whether it is more like a temporary alliance is something we’ll have to see for ourselves, but in the current situation, staying gathered together is the best option. Because.

Jack raised a finger, pointed at Su-ho, and spoke.

- Right now, you are the hunters’ and the Slaughterer’s first-priority target.

“So...... while all the aggro is focused on me, he’s building up his faction?”

- He must have his own ideas. In any case, although he acts arrogant, that bastard also entered the Giant King Tournament to become the Giant King, so isn’t his ultimate goal to become the Giant King? And judging by what he said to you during the previous trial, he already sees all giants as being beneath him. But he does not seem like a tyrant either. Because he told you to survive, Master.

Only after hearing Jack’s speculation did Su-ho understand to some extent.

Now that he heard it, everything fit together perfectly.

While all the aggro was currently focused on Su-ho, instead of simply wasting time, gathering as much of his own faction as possible was the wisest choice Graul could make right now.

“He really does choose only the most irritating things to do.”

- He may be irritating, but he knows which actions will benefit him. So you should hurry as well, Master. You may be somewhat behind in numbers for now, but the moment you defeat the Giant Slaughterer in front of everyone, all his behind-the-scenes maneuvering will become meaningless, and everyone will have no choice but to acknowledge you.

“That’s what I’m going to do.”

One way or another, there was no choice but to break through head-on.

[ Shadow Movement is activated. ]

Whoosh!

When he used the skill, he arrived at Ruin’s location at once.

When Su-ho suddenly appeared, the gathered giants were startled.

“Ooooh!”

“He’s here!”

“You’ve arrived?”

They had all seen the trial notification.

So they had been conflicted over what they should do, and Su-ho had arrived just in time.

Su-ho briefly explained the situation, and Ruin, who understood, summarized it.

“So what you’re saying, Commander, is that because you’ve become the first-priority target, we should separate from you for a while?”

“Yeah. We don’t know how much stronger the hunters have become or how strong the Slaughterer is, and with two whole days still remaining, this is the only way for all of you to survive.”

“Instead of that, couldn’t we simply fight alongside you, Commander?”

Ruin’s eyes shone.

It was not social maneuvering.

He was sincere.

And the same was true of several of the giants.

Uven, who had been listening, spoke.

“I feel the same way. No matter how important my life is, I cannot throw the person who saved me into a deadly situation just so I can live.”

“That is right.”

“Exactly.”

Several giants agreed with Uven’s words.

But not all the giants agreed.

“I-I’m against it. No matter what, I want to preserve my life.”

“That’s right! I only came under the Commander in the first place because he said he would protect us!”

“I don’t want to die!”

Their opinions were divided.

Before their voices could grow louder, Su-ho, who had been listening, spoke.

“Everyone, quiet.”

He did not use Dragon Speech, but everyone fell silent and listened to Su-ho.

“I’m grateful that you’re willing to stay with me. But speaking coldly, I’ll refuse. To be honest, if all of you, who had difficulty handling even ordinary Giant Hunters, join the battle, then you really will do nothing but die a dog’s death. So trust me and wait. I’ll also leave some forces behind to look after you in the meantime.”

“Commander.......”

“Follow my words. That’s how all of us survive. In any case, if I die, all of you will die as well. So shouldn’t we increase our chances of survival even a little?”

“Ugh...... Honestly, I can’t argue with that.”

Uven, who had been listening, admitted it.

In truth, Uven knew as well.

Even if they tried to help Su-ho now, once the battle actually began, they would become nothing but burdens.

Uven furrowed his brow.

“Our ancestors really are something. This is only the second trial, yet they’re already trying to filter out the riffraff like this.”

“Rather than calling it filtering, let’s say it’s to find the jewels.”

After finishing his words, Su-ho snapped his fingers.

Then some of the Shadow Knights and vampires emerged and began escorting the giants.

“Then I’ll see you later.”

After assigning escort forces, Su-ho immediately left the area.

He did not tell them not to fall for Graul’s temptation if Graul came.

If they were people who valued loyalty, then no matter what Graul said, they would remain by his side.

With this, the moving dots on the world map were broadly divided into four groups.

The Giant Slaughterer and the hunters.

The giants on Graul’s side.

The giants on Ruin’s side.

And Su-ho alone.

Among them, the ones closing the distance toward each other were Su-ho and the Slaughterer’s side.

Graul’s side and Ruin’s side were trying to move as far away from those two as possible.

......Kuhuaaaaaang!!

The distance narrowed.

A tremendous roar sounded from far away.

It was not an explosion, but more like a howl.

It was probably the Slaughterer’s howl.

Before long, what had looked like a dot gradually came into view.

It was approximately ten meters tall.

Unlike the Giant Hunters, it did not walk on four legs. It stood on two feet, and in one hand, it held an enormous weapon that could have been either a sword or a club.

It wore a purple hood over its head, and perhaps because it had no blood, the color of its entire body was pale.

Its mouth had been sewn shut with thick thread.

But as it tried to force its mouth open, the inside of its mouth could occasionally be seen through the gaps between the sturdy threads.

It was the Giant Slaughterer.

“What a vicious-looking appearance.”

Hundreds of Giant Hunters could be seen around it.

As proof that they had become even stronger, the color of their entire bodies had grown even darker.

Jack spoke.

- Let the leaders fight each other. We’ll take care of the rest.

“I’m counting on you.”

- Of course.

At that moment, as though they had agreed without anyone needing to go first, Shadow Soldiers and vampires began pouring out in front of Su-ho.

“Let’s begin.”

With approximately two days remaining until the end of the trial.

Su-ho chose to bring it to an end rather than merely survive.