Chapter 173: Settle the scores (9)

The giant loomed over the forest like a living mountain, his body transformed into a massive bulk of tightly packed muscle. A thick, hardened layer covered his skin, and enormous bone protrusions jutted out from his shoulders, back, and joints.

His shadow stretched across the battlefield until the ancient trees beneath his feet looked like tiny weeds, barely visible.

The giant raised his head and unleashed a colossal roar that shook the forest.

Graaaaaaaaaah!

Then he lowered his head, fixing his eyes on Lilith’s six copies, who looked like tiny black dots at the bottom of the crater to him.

He slowly raised one of his feet, revealing its massive sole, before bringing it down toward them with crushing force. The massive foot blocked out the sky above the six copies, and the air around it rushed downward under the pressure of its movement, while the ground began to shake as it approached.

But the six copies did not move an inch. They simply kept their eyes on the descending foot. Then, their smiles widened in unison, revealing their sharp fangs.

"So... you like things big?"

Boooooom!

Purple mana erupted from all six copies at once.

Their forms began to fade into the rising light before converging at a single point and merging into Lilith’s original body. As soon as the copies disappeared, an enormous surge of purple mana burst from her body, sweeping violently across the bottom of the crater.

The mana didn’t spread through the air like a cloud of energy. Instead, it compressed around her slender body and began taking shape at a frantic pace.

A massive black skeleton formed around her, its enormous bones creating a colossal frame. Dense layers of intertwined muscles followed, wrapping around the skeleton like throbbing black ropes, before dark demonic armor plates sealed over them.

And in the moment the giant’s foot was about to crush her...

Claaaaaaaaaang!

The sole of his foot struck something solid!

The massive foot stopped in its tracks, and a circular shockwave burst outward from the point of impact, sweeping across the bottom of the crater and pushing clouds of dust and debris away in all directions.

The giant was no longer the only colossal figure on the battlefield.

When the dust cleared, Lilith appeared in a giant demonic form, fully armored, standing tall beneath his foot and blocking it with her massive arm.

Her black wings stretched behind her back, each one now the size of a giant tree, while dark armor covered her body from head to toe.

In her other hand, she held her massive black whip, now transformed into a thick metal cable as wide as a tree trunk. Prominent black rings ran along its length, and its end was lined with enormous blades as large as spears.

Lilith raised her head toward the giant, a broad smile plastered across her massive face.

Her massive arm remained raised, her open palm pressed directly against the sole of the giant’s foot.

The ground sank beneath her feet, her body sinking deeper into the crater, but she didn’t retreat a single inch.

Then, she let out a demonic laugh that shook the forest and twisted her massive wrist.

The next moment, her cable-like whip shot out like a deadly serpent, wrapping tightly around the giant’s ankle.

Lilith braced herself in midair and pulled her arm back with all her might.

The cable snapped taut, its metal blades digging into the giant’s flesh. His massive leg was yanked off balance, throwing his entire body off its center of gravity.

He couldn’t resist the pulling force.

The entire moving mountain collapsed backward!

Craaaaash!

The giant’s back slammed into the ground, crushing a vast stretch of the forest. Trees were uprooted beneath his body, and rocks and debris scattered in all directions.

The earth shook so violently that Malrik, standing farther back, had to drive his spear into the ground to keep his balance.

But the giant didn’t surrender that easily.

Before Lilith could pounce on him, he suddenly rolled his massive body to the side, then slammed his fists into the ground and hauled himself out of the crater.

He rose again amidst a thick cloud of dust and roared with blind fury.

Then he charged at her like a raging mountain, the earth crumbling beneath his steps.

He raised his massive fist, its knuckles lined with sharp bone protrusions, and swung it toward her face with all his might.

Lilith raised her armored arm to take the blow.

Doooooom!

The fist collided with the demonic armor, and a massive shockwave erupted around them. Gale-force winds swept through the forest, and the clouds above their heads tore apart from the force of the impact.

Lilith was forced one step backward by the force of the blow, her foot sliding across the shattered ground. But she quickly regained her balance without losing her smile.

"Is that all you’ve got?"

The next moment, her cable whip shot out and wrapped around his extended arm.

Lilith tightened her grip and yanked the whip violently, its massive blades digging into the giant’s flesh and tearing off large chunks of it. Blue blood burst from his wounds, but the giant paid no heed to the pain.

Instead, he used the pulling force itself.

He lunged forward, driving his massive body toward her as he lowered his bone-plated head and rammed it straight into her chest.

Craaaaack!

His head smashed into her demonic armor, spreading cracks across its surface at the center. The force of the impact threw her backward, her body tearing through several layers of rock before stopping amidst the shattered rocky hills.

Lilith’s rage flared, a murderous glint burning in her eyes.

She flapped her wings violently, launching herself from the rubble like a black projectile, heading straight for the giant.

This time, she didn’t use her whip.

She clenched her right fist, and searing purple flames ignited around it, while her left hand was surrounded by tangled arcs of purple lightning that danced around her fingers and stretched along her arm.

In the blink of an eye, she had reached him.

She unleashed a brutal flurry of punches against him.

The fiery fist slammed into the giant’s jaw, twisting his head violently and sending fragments of bone flying from his armored jaw. Before he could regain his balance, the lightning-charged fist drove into his chest, unleashing a purple bolt of lightning that shook his entire body.

The strikes continued relentlessly.

Punch after punch, the flames tore through his bone armor, while the lightning surged through his body with every impact, spreading glowing cracks across his protective layers.

But the giant didn’t retreat.

Despite his shattered jaw and burned chest, his massive hands suddenly shot out and gripped Lilith’s wrists with crushing force, halting her strikes mid-attack.

The giant let out a deafening roar, one that sounded less like the cry of a living creature and more like the scream of a beast on the verge of death.

Then something changed.

The dark blue blood coating his body began to boil.

Steam rose from his wounds as the blood evaporated, and a dark crimson aura began seeping from the cracks in his flesh. Within moments, it had spread across his enormous body.

The giant’s muscles convulsed violently. His already swollen veins bulged beneath his skin, and the crimson aura grew denser with every passing second.

At the same time, the pressure around Lilith’s wrists intensified.

Creak! Creak!

The demonic armor protecting her wrists began to buckle under his grip. Fine cracks spread across its surface as the giant’s strength continued to rise.

Lilith glanced down at her wrists, then slowly raised her eyes toward the giant.

She could feel it.

His power was growing at an alarming rate, but the life force within his body was rapidly fading.

For a brief moment, her expression changed.

Then her eyes narrowed in disgust.

"You’re burning through his life to make him stronger?... How disgusting."