Alex's gaze locked on the towering figure ahead. Above the monster's head, glowing text pulsed in crimson letters.
The color was new to him. He had already pieced together the system's color scheme—white for weak, orange in its shades for manageable to dangerous. But red… red was different. It screamed one thing.
Deadly dangerous.
Even the system itself was warning him to back away.
But Alex didn't move.
His grip tightened around the hilt of the S-rank sword, the blade thrumming faintly with restrained power. He wasn't arrogant enough to think this would be easy. He wasn't delusional enough to believe he could stand against an A-rank monster without risk. He had already made his choice—if things spiraled beyond control, he would use magic to escape.
It was the smart option. The perfect fallback.
Except for one problem.
High above the cliffs, drones drifted in steady patrol, lenses glinting coldly under the sun. One of them had already fixed squarely on him.
If he cast magic—especially dark magic, the kind that should not exist in his hands—every hidden watcher would see. His secret would unravel here and now.
That left no room for hesitation. No missteps.
The Hill Giant shifted, dragging its massive club along the stone. The sound grated like boulders grinding together, each vibration rolling through the earth, crawling up Alex's boots and into his bones. Its beady eyes narrowed, locking onto him.
Alex drew in a single breath, deep and steady.
Then he surged forward.
----------------------------------------------------
[Hill Giant]
[Rank: A]
[Description: Towering nearly twenty feet tall, the Hill Giant is a brute force of nature—its colossal frame a grotesque blend of corded muscle, scarred flesh, and stone-like callouses that serve as crude armor. It wields a weapon more akin to a felled tree than a crafted club, one end stripped of bark and sharpened into a crude, lethal point. True to their name, Hill Giants make their lairs among rocky highlands and rolling hills, using the natural slopes to ambush prey and hurl boulders from above. Though not sophisticated thinkers, they possess a crude cunning, turning the landscape itself into a weapon. Though daunting in size and strength, their sluggish movements and simple-minded tactics often betray them.]
[Abilities: Titan's Strength, Boulder Throw, Hill Ambush, Monstrous Endurance]
[Weaknesses: Slower reaction speed. Poor coordination. Easily baited or distracted. Vulnerable to magic and ranged attacks.]
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In the system's description, the Hill Giant had been labeled "sluggish in movement"—but Alex quickly realized that was only sluggish by A-rank standards. Compared to B-rank monsters, its swings were frighteningly fast, each one capable of flattening him if he mistimed by even a heartbeat.
That was why Sherry's role was clear from the start.
Her job hadn't changed much since their last battles, but the stakes were leagues higher now. First, she needed to stay well out of reach, ready to retreat if the fight turned against them. Second—and just as vital—she had to command Gleam and Bellio with precision.
Her two summons darted in relentless rhythm. Gleam's crystal body flashed like a streaking comet while Bellio's water stream hammered from the opposite side. They never struck together. Instead, under Sherry's sharp coordination, their assaults alternated, forcing the giant to pivot, stagger, and defend without pause.
It was a strategy they had studied only the night before.
An obscure online article had outlined a "sure-to-win" method for hunting Hill Giants. The advice was simple: never let them breathe. Never let them plant both feet and regain balance. Keep them turning, stumbling, off-rhythm—until the crushing weight of their own bulk betrayed them.
Now, Sherry followed that strategy to the letter, her crisp commands cutting through the clearing as her summons pressed the attack.
And in that space they created—Alex moved.
He unleashed everything. Every shred of speed, strength, and technique he had honed until now. His active skills stacked one after another, layering until his body blurred with unnatural momentum.
The Skybound Boots propelled him forward and upward. Sunlight caught on the blood-red steel of his S-rank sword, a flash of lethal brilliance.
His first strike carved deep into the giant's right Achilles tendon. The blade bit through flesh and tendon alike. The monster's roar tore across the valley, its massive leg buckling under its own weight.
Alex landed hard, boots skidding across stone and dirt, only to launch again. His next slash raked across the giant's left knee.
Hot, thick blood fountained, spraying over rock and earth in steaming arcs.
The Hill Giant staggered, half-kneeling now, bellowing rage loud enough to shake the valley walls.
And Alex felt it—an unsettling resonance. The sword in his grip pulsed faintly, almost alive, its edge thrumming with hunger. With every drop of blood it drank, its aura thickened, its lethality sharpened.
Each strike wasn't just cutting the Hill Giant down.
It was feeding the weapon.
Alex knew the moment had come.
The Hill Giant's legs finally gave way, one knee slamming into the dirt as its hulking frame swayed. Its crude club slipped from its grasp, crashing into the earth with a thunderous impact that sent dust and pebbles billowing through the clearing.
The S-rank sword in Alex's hands pulsed again. A blood-red aura rippled along its edge, sinister and alive, as though it breathed in time with his heartbeat. The weapon was feeding—hungering.
Alex gathered the last scraps of strength in his weary body and moved.
He sprinted forward, Skybound Boots igniting with a burst of power. His foot struck the giant's bent knee, using the monster's own body as a springboard. With a surge of force, he launched skyward, the wind screaming past his ears.
The blade spun in his grip, slashing in a spiral arc as he ascended. Each cut carved fresh crimson lines across the giant's chest and throat, blood fountaining in jagged streaks.
And then—
The sword drove straight into the Hill Giant's eye. For a heartbeat, the world held still. Then the blood it had drained surged back in a brutal release.
An eruption of blood and searing energy detonated from its edge, ripping apart more than a quarter of the monster's skull. Bone shattered, flesh vaporized, and the Hill Giant's roar choked into a wet, gurgling silence.
The colossal body toppled backward, crashing into the valley floor with earth-shaking force. Dust plumed skyward, stones skittered loose from the cliffs, and for a terrifying instant Alex thought the shockwave would swallow him too.
But the danger had already passed.
He was falling now, every muscle screaming, his body limp as gravity reclaimed him. His vision blurred. He hit the dirt hard, the S-rank sword slipping from his fingers and embedding itself upright in the ground beside him.
His stamina was gone—utterly spent. His endurance wrung dry.
Ironically, his mana reserves still full. But his body was so drained, so wrecked, that even if he wanted to cast a spell, his limbs refused to respond. He couldn't move. He couldn't even lift a hand.
Flat on his back, chest heaving, Alex let out a shuddering breath.
The Hill Giant was dead.
But so too, for now, was his strength.
He remained sprawled across the dirt, lungs dragging in ragged breaths, when the system notification blinked into view.
==============================
[The Host has killed a A rank Monster]
[+150000 XP and +20000 SP]
==============================
He blinked once. Then again. And as the words registered, a wide grin tugged at his lips.
The rewards for killing an A-rank monster were everything he'd hoped for—and more. The flood of points, made the exhaustion in his bones almost feel worth it.
But the points weren't what made his chest swell. It was the thrill. His blood still raced with the fight's echo, adrenaline singing through veins burning with fatigue. It had been terrifying, reckless—and utterly exhilarating.
With a trembling hand, he lifted his arm toward the burning golden sun above, curling his fingers as if he could seize it.
'I did it.' He had killed an A-rank monster.
Not alone. He knew that. The S-rank sword had been the deciding edge, its hungry power pushing him through. And without Gleam and Bellio striking from both sides, keeping the Hill Giant staggering, he never would have landed the final blow.
The battle had lasted only minutes. To an onlooker, it might have looked like a clean, one-sided slaughter. But Alex knew better. Sherry knew. Aurora knew. Only those caught inside the storm could understand how razor-thin the margin had been—how close victory had come to disaster.
Above him, Aurora drifted down, her form limned in sunlight, her glow faint but steady. She tilted her head, lips curving into a sly smile.
"Well, you're alive. Barely. I'd call that a win… though next time, try not to give me a heart attack."
Her tone was teasing, but beneath the lilt ran something quieter. Relief.
Before Alex could reply, another voice rang out.
"Alex!"
Sherry's footsteps pounded across the dirt. She had watched the Hill Giant topple, had seen Alex collapse with it—and her heart had lodged in her throat until now. She skidded to her knees beside him, eyes wide with fear and worry.
Alex turned his head toward her, still grinning despite his drained body. "Relax… I'm fine. Just… out of stamina."