Chapter 676

A gigantic body.

It was about the same size as the sand golem that had just been destroyed.

That was why he had been able to destroy the sand golem in a single blow.

However, the fight was not over.

Whoooooosh!

A raging sandstorm.

It gathered before Su-ho’s eyes and soon formed a gigantic humanoid figure.

It was the sand golem.

A sand golem far larger than before.

As expected, there was nothing like a core.

It was merely an infinite practice dummy prepared to face Su-ho.

Su-ho immediately took his stance.

Then, without either of them needing to go first, they swung their fists.

Booooom!!

Once again, fist collided with fist.

His fingertips tingled.

It felt like striking steel with his bare hand.

However, in the end, the one that was destroyed was the sand golem.

He followed with a low kick, and the creature’s leg was destroyed.

It lost its balance and collapsed.

He struck the fallen golem repeatedly, and it was destroyed once again.

It felt refreshing.

It felt as though blocked meridians had been opened.

Gigantification, which had only lasted for brief moments before, was now being maintained firmly throughout his entire body.

Whoooooosh!

The sandstorm blew once again.

The creature regenerated.

He destroyed it the moment it regenerated.

It did not matter.

What mattered was drawing out the time.

The creature would grow larger no matter what, and he only had to enlarge his own body to match it.

He did not think it would be easy.

However, rather than simply following the natural course of things, he should relieve some of his stress as well.

The sand golem that had been destroyed midway regenerated far away this time.

It seemed afraid that it would be destroyed immediately if it regenerated right in front of him.

A snicker escaped him.

Its body had grown even larger.

It was fine.

Because in the end, he would be the one to win this fight.

Thump!

Su-ho charged at the sand golem.

***

How much time had passed?

Darkness had fallen over the desert.

Night?

No.

At that moment.

Paaang!

An explosion rang out.

At the same time, light burst forth, and the morning sunlight illuminated the world.

The darkness had been a shadow.

More precisely, the shadow of the sand golem.

And Su-ho’s shadow.

At some point, the two of them had grown large enough to cover the desert.

It happened then.

[ The trial has ended. ]

[ You have completely absorbed the Rune of the Giant. ]

[ You have fulfilled the conditions. ]

[ Congratulations. You have been granted the qualification to proceed to the next trial. ]

Several lines of system notifications.

At the same time, Su-ho’s body shrank, and the desert sunlight that Su-ho had been blocking illuminated the entire world.

Poof-

Su-ho landed lightly on the sand.

The sand was truly soft.

The sand he had felt when he first arrived here had seemed like iron sand, but now it felt like the sand in a playground that children played with.

His face was also filled with composure.

Although he had been unable to eat, sleep, or drink for three days, he was full of vitality.

It was vitality born from the satisfaction of having completely conquered the Rune of the Giant.

Su-ho spread both palms wide and then clenched them.

Gigantification, which he had only been able to use in the past by activating the Gigantification skill, could now be used as naturally as breathing.

That made him feel proud, but at the same time, it also made him slightly tense.

Because he wondered what kind of trial could possibly require this kind of training.

‘Whatever it is, it will probably be beyond anything I can imagine.’

[ You will be moved to the next trial ground. ]

His vision changed completely.

What appeared before his eyes next was the ruined city he had seen when he first came to Apophis.

The city remained unchanged.

Almost all the windows had been shattered, and the signs hung loosely from electrical wires, half torn away.

Rusted cars had been abandoned carelessly across the roads, and the crosswalks that must once have been filled with people were so cracked that even their white lines could no longer be recognized.

Whenever the wind blew, a low, drawn-out whistling sound came from between the ruined buildings.

There was nothing alive.

At the center of those ruins, in the middle of a cracked intersection, Su-ho stood alone.

[ The next trial will now begin. ]

The system’s guidance.

And.

“......?”

There was no further notification.

What was this?

Had some kind of error occurred?

Just as he thought that, darkness suddenly fell over him.

Darkness?

He raised his head.

It was not darkness.

It was a shadow.

The shadow of an enormous existence.

Its size was almost identical to that of the final sand golem.

At that moment, thunder rang out.

“Hello?”

Rumble-

He had thought it was thunder.

It was a greeting.

Ah.

So that was why they had made him absorb the Rune of the Giant in the previous trial.

Su-ho sighed as he looked at the nameless, colossal giant whose head he could not see even after craning his neck.

If this was the attitude here, he would match it.

But before that.

Thump-

He stomped the ground once.

Then mana surged, and a warm energy wrapped around Su-ho.

His power had returned.

Ah, it had only been three days, yet he was this glad to have it back.

It was enough that they had been reunited.

At that moment, a welcome voice reached him.

- You have become even stronger.

It was Jack.

Su-ho smiled faintly.

“That trial was seriously fucking awful.”

- At this point, it was not even a trial. They were just throwing you around however they pleased.

“I think so too.”

- Do you have to deal with that thing now?

“I don’t know. But since there is no further guidance, I am going to try making eye contact first.”

- Good idea. But.......

Jack also looked up at the nameless, colossal giant and spoke.

- Master, you should treat that Sword Demon fellow well.

“Why?”

- At that size, even if I gathered all of my shadows and all the blood you possess, it would be difficult to make even one sword that fits. Frankly, I do not even know if I could make a dagger.

“That is true too.”

A swordsman was nothing without a sword.

However, if the body itself could be used as a sword, that swordsman would become an eternal swordsman.

Those were Sword Demon’s words.

And now, Su-ho was experiencing those words with his entire body all over again.

- Buy him a box of red ginseng later.

“You know about red ginseng too?”

- I saw it in dramas. It seemed essential.

“The place that man lived in was the martial world, so would it not have to be something like ten-thousand-year ginseng?”

- True.

Their joking lasted only briefly.

Su-ho spoke.

“I’ll be back.”

He began preparing.

In truth, there was not much to prepare.

He raised his head and looked at his target.

Fwoooosh!

His body swelled in an instant and began growing gigantic all at once.

Sssssss-

Smoke rose from his body.

He did not know whether it was steam or smoke, but whenever he suddenly enlarged his body to an extreme degree, white smoke poured from it.

It had not happened before, but it had begun once he crossed a certain threshold.

His continuously growing body finally began to slow once he could see the other party’s proper face rather than only dense darkness, and he was only able to stop when their eye levels became equal.

His height had become truly immense.

From here, Apophis below looked like a miniature ruined city.

After matching eye levels, Su-ho tilted his head slightly to one side.

It was a gesture asking whether this was enough.

Then the other party chuckled.

“Excellent.”

A voice that rang thunderously.

That was by the standards of others.

To Su-ho, whose height and size had become equal to his, it was merely an ordinary volume of voice.

Su-ho spoke.

“Are you satisfied?”

“For now?”

“It seems there is another stage after this.”

“Of course there is. The trial is not over yet. In any case, it is good to meet you. I am Hyman, the one in charge of this trial.”

“My name is An Su-ho.”

“Hoho, I already know your name. Moreover, everyone is greatly looking forward to this. It has been so long since a new candidate for Giant King appeared. Everyone is praying for your success.”

“Thank you.”

“My introduction was late. I am a has-been.”

“A has-been?”

“I was once called the Giant King, but I have stepped down now, so I am a has-been.”

“Ah.”

A snicker escaped him at the modest introduction.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.

“There is something I am curious about.”

“What is it?”

“How many Giant Kings have there been throughout history?”

“Well, I did not count those who came after me...... so I do not know exactly how many there were. But one thing is certain. We only hold the title of Giant King. We are not the real one.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It would not be fun if I told you already. I will tell you when the time comes.”

“Understood. Then what is the content of the trial?”

At those words, Hyman raised both fists.

“Defeat me. That is the entirety of this trial.”

“Easy.”

Simple and clear.

It was not particularly new either.

In truth, he had expected that the next trial would also consist entirely of fighting to the death.

Hyman gave a faint laugh at Su-ho’s fighting stance.

“Does it truly look easy?”

“Is it not?”

“Hoho, you will know once you experience it yourself.”

He spread his legs and took a proper stance.

“If you equate me with the sand doll you faced just before, this will probably become a very difficult trial.”

“I have never thought that.”

At that moment, Hyman opened one hand and beckoned with his fingers.

A light provocation.

It was not enough of a provocation to irritate him, but out of respect for his senior, Su-ho decided to go first.

Barehanded combat.

He lowered his body with practiced ease and threw a jab.

Whoosh!

At that moment.

Paaang!!

Hyman violently slapped away the incoming jab.

At the same time, Su-ho’s eyes widened.

Because the moment Hyman knocked aside his fist, Su-ho’s fist shattered and exploded into pieces.

Seeing that, Hyman grinned.

And then.

Whoooooosh!

The sound of air being cut.

This time, Hyman’s low kick struck.

Paaang!!

Sure enough, just as with his fist, the area around Su-ho’s kicked shin and calf was completely destroyed as though it had exploded.

Patpatpat!

Chunks of flesh and blood fell upon Apophis like a disaster.

At the same time, Su-ho momentarily lost his balance and began falling sideways.

Whoooom!

Hyman did not miss that opening and immediately threw a punch, striking the face of the falling Su-ho.

Paaaaang!!

A tremendous explosion.

And Su-ho’s entire face burst like a balloon.

Riiiiiiing-

A deep ringing filled his ears.

His consciousness faded.

Through his fading consciousness, he saw Hyman’s smile.

The man moved his lips as though saying something.

What was he saying?

Su-ho could not tell.

At the same time, Su-ho’s vision went dark like a fuse box after the breaker had been pulled.