Chapter 318: The Cure

"E grat tha prenc!" (I greet the prince!)

The kneeling man spoke a language that Rion didn't know, but that wasn't the main disparity.

'So this is a giant?' Rion asked himself.

The man was as tall as a two-story building, his shoulders were wide, his arms as thick as tree trunks, and his body was gloriously muscular. He wore a flowing white robe that hid most of his legs, and golden tattoos covered his arms and chest.

Even Rion couldn't ignore the uncanny resemblance between the tattoos of this man and the Dhaevrak tribe.

<Yes...> Noir mumbled in his head.

'What is he saying?'

<He is greeting us,> Noir explained, though his voice had a hint of confusion.

Noticing his confusion, Rion's brows rose, and he asked, 'What's wrong?'

Noir stayed silent for a long while and whispered, <... It's nothing.>

Rion knew something was bothering him, but he didn't press further and focused on the giant kneeling before him.

He couldn't gauge how strong he was or what stage of aura he had, but just from his appearance and his massive body, he believed he was at least as strong as a group leader.

"You may stand," said Rion.

The giant nodded and slowly rose to his feet.

His gargantuan shadow dwarfed Alex, and his muscles, which seemed to be carved by some heavenly sculptor, twitched as he turned around.

"Fillie... ma."

<He is asking us to follow him.>

Rion nodded slightly and followed behind the giant with excited eyes.

It was finally here. He could now obtain the cure for Dora's curse and maybe obtain some answers to the questions he had been plagued with for years.

Though he was still slightly worried because his Zone was not functioning in this place, and even the system hadn't notified him of anything.

The ground shook with each of the giant's steps, and after walking for a few minutes, they appeared before a gigantic mountain whose peak pierced through the clouds.

The giant knelt before it and roared, "E huv brogt tham hara!" (I have brought them here!)

The words echoed throughout the area.

Rion raised an eyebrow and looked around, hoping to see more giants, but there was no one else.

Suddenly, a crack resounded throughout the area like a thunder strike.

Rion's eyes grew as wide as saucers as he watched cracks widening on the surface of the great mountain.

The cracks continued to widen like the branches of a giant tree.

Rion's breath caught in his throat, and he mumbled in an awed tone, "What is happening?"

"We... finally... meet."

An ancient voice rolled across the vast grassland, and the cracked stone fell like meteors, shaking the ground and revealing a man as big as the mountains themselves sitting in a stone throne.

The man appeared similar to the one from before, but looked much older and was much bigger.

Heck, even his hair was as thick as the trunk of a young tree, and his enormous eyes were barely open.

This giant had an air of unfathomability and vastness around him, yet he didn't feel threatening; instead, he felt like a mountain that provided food and shelter to its inhabitants.

'I should've expected this after seeing his skeleton!' Rion remarked inwardly, his mouth agape.

He shook the surprise off his head and asked, "Are you the Great One?!"

His aura-infused voice boomed across the area, and the Great One lowered his gaze to him.

Even though Rion was being directly looked at by such an entity, he felt nothing, which was jarring because no matter how strong or weak someone was, he could feel their gaze.

"The world... once... called me that." His words were slow and heavy with ancient power, booming across the vast grassland like thundering clouds.

Rion peered into his immense eyes and noticed something strange.

'He is blind...?'

<I heard he went blind after seeing too much.>

Rion frowned. 'What do you mean?'

<The Great One is the first ancient giant and wields the Mind of Destiny, allowing him to see anything there is, was, and will be.>

"What... is it... that... you seek... from me..." The Great One asked.

Rion's thoughts turned complicated for a moment. He had various questions in his mind, yet he understood what was most important to him as a person.

"How can I cure someone who has fallen prey to a cursed prophecy?"

The Great One stayed silent for a long while and then said, "You... cannot."

"What?" Rion's face instantly darkened, and he shouted, fury running in his veins like blood, "Is it impossible to cure?"

'How could a being that knew everything from past to future not know the cure to a mere cursed prophecy? There must be something that he wants from me!'

He gritted his teeth, waiting for the giant's answer.

'No wonder most seers are hated.'

"There... is a cure..." the Great One stated.

A wide, bestial grin appeared on Rion's face, and he asked loudly with his beating in determination, "What is it? What must I do for it?"

Suddenly, golden tattoos covering the Great One's chest and arms glowed brightly, filling the place with pure white.

"Blasted hell!" Rion placed an arm before his eye and heard a rumble above his head.

He lowered his arm and looked at the sky.

"What the hell...?" He whispered as he stared at the gigantic circular gate in the sky.

The gate was bounded by a rusted chain, and seeing that, Noir mumbled in a somber tone, <Brother...>

"Huh?" Rion's expression turned dumbfounded.

'Why are you calling that chain your brother? Didn't I tell you that I have already killed him?'

<I thought so too, but it seems you only met his avatar.>

"What?"

"Those gates... lead to Celestia... open them and... you will have the cure," the Great One's voice traveled across the grassland, and the bright world changed.

The grassland became barren, and the figure sitting on the gargantuan throne vanished.

Some distance away from it was a skeleton kneeling.

Rion blinked. "How would I even do that?"

[Ding!]

[Sign in at <The Great One's Tomb>?]

[Yes / No]