Breathing steadily, I surveyed the battlefield. The scattered Meteors had hesitated the moment the earth-forged power gathered around my sword. Professor Master Muscle stood barely upright, battered and bleeding. And before me, the headless giant—now wary—advanced with slow, heavy steps.
Without the mask, my stance faltered slightly, my limbs no longer guided by perfected instinct. Yet the weapon in my hands told me I no longer needed technique.
The earth itself trembled in my grip.
The giant roared and pressed forward, trying to crush me beneath its palm. It was the same crushing shadow I had seen so many times in my visions.
But this time, no vision came.
My Gift screamed that I didn't need to peek into the future anymore.
The palm reached me.
I swung the earth.
A crackling burst of mana exploded where the blade met flesh. Through that brief shower of sparks, I saw the giant's purple core quiver in unease.
Then the blade pushed upward.
A single heavy thrust—
and the giant's hand severed cleanly, as if sliced through warm clay.
The monster recoiled in shock. For the first time since it had appeared, it felt pain.
I stared down at my transformed arms—black flame-like tattoos running from wrist to elbow, stone prayer beads clattering around both wrists. It was the manifestation of the Sword of Death: the power to shape earth's mana into a weapon, even bare-handed.
"Anything born from the earth," Kyle reminded me. That was the limit—and also the same as saying the limit didn't exist.
But unlike the Demon Mask, this form consumed the body's strength directly. Even one strike made my muscles tingle painfully. If I kept swinging, my arms would fail.
This battle had to end quickly.
The giant, regaining its senses, uprooted a nearby tree and hurled it. My forehead tingled—but no vision appeared. So I simply stepped forward and split the trunk in half with a downward strike.
Pain flared sharply in my forearm.
The giant swung its fist. I twisted my body and slipped past it, letting instinct carry me into its shadow. The massive leg filled my sight.
"Let's make this even!"
As I rushed past, the earth blade swept out. The giant's heel burst apart like soft radish. It collapsed onto one knee, purple fire erupting violently from its core.
Before I could savor the advantage, agony surged through my arms. With how quickly they deteriorated, I had maybe two swings left.
Then the Meteors began to move again—those same wild thugs, screaming fiercely as they rushed to defend their leader.
"Why now!?"
They sense their leader's danger, Kyle warned. They'll throw their lives away for him.
The Meteors charged from all directions—
—until a thunderous crunch signaled their interruption.
"Leave it to me!"
Professor Master Muscle burst through their formation, his tonfa caving in a Meteor's skull like a ripe fruit. One arm hung broken, his armor crushed, and one eye swollen shut—but his fighting spirit only blazed fiercer.
"Go! Finish it! Only you can!"
"Professor—your body—!"
"I won't die first! Not before my students!"
His conviction struck me harder than any blow. Even wounded beyond reason, he created a path for me.
I ran.
The giant struggled to stand, one leg already severed and the other failing beneath its weight.
"Stay down!"
I leaped, stepping onto its lower back, and plunged the blade into its spine. Then I ran forward, carving a long, deep path through its body. The monster toppled, bleeding black-purple mana.
Reaching its neck, I pulled the blade free—just as the pain in my arms hit its limit. My grip faltered. The sword began to fall.
"No. Once is enough!"
I forced my trembling fingers to tighten again, driven by stubbornness more than strength. The blade steadied.
Reverse grip. Final strike.
"It's over!"
The serpent-shaped edge plunged into the core.
A sharp crack echoed through the silent battlefield. The purple flame sputtered—then vanished entirely.
The giant collapsed.
The tattoos and prayer beads dissolved from my arms.
The earthen blade crumbled into motes of mana.
The remaining Meteors shrieked in panic and fled in all directions.
I stared at the fallen titan.
"I… really did it."
But Kyle's voice kept me grounded.
Celebrate later. Check on the others first.
"Right—Professor!"
I sprinted toward him. He lay battered on the ground, nearly unrecognizable under all the blood and dirt. I reached to stop the bleeding—
He grabbed my wrist.
"Take care of Lanius first," he said, even now placing his students before himself.
I didn't want to leave him, but his grip assured me he still had strength left.
"I'll be back!"
"And try not to shout—your voice carries too far," he muttered dryly.
I ran toward where Lanius had fallen. A broken tree led me to him, buried under bushes, mechanical wings shattered, armor dented.
"Were you hiding?"
"Affirmation…" he rasped.
He tried to sit but couldn't. I reached to remove his helmet to check for bleeding—
—and froze.
The pale, smooth skin of his neck was nothing like the image he normally projected.
"Don't… look…"
His hand grabbed my wrist desperately.
"I get it. I won't."
I let go immediately, though the image lingered stubbornly in my mind.
We eventually returned to the village. Everyone—Myael, Lug, Whipney, Anastasia—welcomed us with relieved faces. The wounded were given emergency care so we could return to the Academy as soon as possible.
Village Chief Rob bowed again and again, thanking us until his back nearly folded.
I watched the group: Anastasia fatigued, Lug supporting Lanius, Whipney yawning half-asleep, the professor on a stretcher still trying to joke with us. We all looked worn down, but alive.
Myael handed me the return stone. "We're ready."
The mission was officially over.
Mysteries remained—the gifted giant, the unusually large Meteor forces, my shattered dwarven blade—but those questions would wait.
"Thank you," I told Myael.
Just before I activated the stone—
"Brother!"
Johnny, the boy who started all this, ran up and shouted with all the sincerity in his small body:
"Thank you for protecting our village!"
I smiled back.
"And thank you for believing in us."
The return spell activated, carrying us home.