This was the very edge of the battlefield.
"Haa, this is something else."
The red-haired man let out a sigh.
"Are we really supposed to just stand here and wait?"
The white-haired boy wore a troubled expression.
"I'm a little uneasy too."
The black-haired woman glanced around with the same feeling.
"Since An said it and left us here, there must be some other plan. I don't really get it, but I'm sure he's thinking of something."
The smallest girl in the group added the reason again, almost defensively.
Even so, the unease on everyone's faces refused to fade.
It was hardly strange. Their entire future was on the line in this fight, and yet they were being told to do nothing but wait.
Anyone would feel anxious.
"I'm sorry, Ryuu. You came all this way to help us."
"Not at all, Cranel-san."
Meanwhile, the masked woman stood apart, lost in thought.
Bell, the white-haired boy, apologized to her and thanked her for coming with them all the way here.
But that was not what mattered to her right now.
"More importantly, there's something I'd like to ask. What do you think of that man, the mage?"
"You mean Hans-san? Hmm..."
Bell thought for a moment at her question.
Fortunately, it did not take him long to answer.
To him, it was not something especially important or remarkable.
"I think he's a good person."
"A good person..."
"I didn't know it back then, but ever since I first became an adventurer, he's helped me a lot with items, potions, and all sorts of things. Not long ago, he even taught me a little about fighting."
"That man did?"
"Yes. Even if that started because of Lady Hestia's request, he's kept helping us afterward without asking for anything in return, so I don't think he's a bad person. I've also heard Lili has gotten a lot of help from Hans-san over the years."
"I see. Understood. Thank you for answering, Cranel-san."
"No, it was nothing."
It was a simple exchange, almost trivial.
And yet, for some reason, Bell found her reaction afterward strangely unsettling.
When she spoke about the mage, her expression had looked almost...
"Ryuu, have you known An for a long time?"
"Lili?"
"I wasn't trying to hide it or anything... Yes, that's right. He and I are acquainted."
"Oh, I heard from Lady Hestia before that Hans-san was always going out to eat, and she was worried about him. Were you a regular customer there?"
"That too, yes. But we also know each other personally."
"Though it's not exactly a pleasant connection."
With that, she turned her gaze away.
At the same moment—
"Huh? What's this...?"
The ground suddenly began to shake violently.
And over there, beyond the distance—
"Eh? A giant?!"
The forgotten legend of the surface had descended once more into the present world.
*
Changing perspective, we return to the center of the battlefield.
There stood a being looking down at an old castle whose only remaining traces were the marks of time.
- U...
It was, quite simply, a giant.
The disaster itself.
Before that massive body, the world was nothing more than a miniature garden.
Compared to it, the castle before its eyes looked no different from a pile of toy blocks.
- Guuuuu...
"Ah...! Ah...!"
- Uwaaaaaaaaah!
"Hiiiiiik!"
The same was true for Apollo Familia inside the castle.
The archers on the walls had long since dropped the bows and arrows they had been aiming, letting them fall to the ground.
Whether Level 1 or Level 2, everyone had been robbed of speech by the giant's overwhelming presence.
The pressure radiating from that sheer size was already that of a floor boss.
No, something even beyond that.
"What is that...?"
Their captain and Level 3 adventurer, Hyakinthos, was no different.
He had already stood up and, through the tower window, confirmed that monstrous presence, his face hardening.
But being a second-tier adventurer and the captain of a mid-sized Familia was not something he had gotten by luck or for show.
As if to prove it here and now, he hurriedly issued orders to his members.
There was no room for the luxury of standing around like idiots and staring.
"Damn it, what are you all doing!? Move it, now!"
"C-Captain..."
"You fools! What are you so afraid of? All that's changed is that our job went from defense to offense! There's nothing to worry about!"
"B-But that thing..."
The surrounding members looked on with frightened expressions.
It was not just that they were intimidated by the giant's size.
In truth, size was not the real issue.
That alone was nothing.
Compared to the terror of the Dungeon beneath the earth, it was nothing special.
It was bigger than the Goliath on the 17th Floor, but that was all it was: big.
But this giant was different.
They could feel that difference, however vaguely, through the instinct unique to adventurers.
Hyakinthos felt it too.
Because he was stronger than anyone here, that sense of wrongness felt even greater to him.
"Hmph! So what if it is!"
Still, he forced himself to act haughty and urged his members on.
What was needed now was the captain's composure and the members' high morale.
If even that basic condition was not met, the battle could not even begin.
"It is certainly surprising, but that thing and the giant on the 17th Floor are basically the same! Just another brute with great strength and sluggish movement! An easy opponent, just like always! We'll take it down the same way we always have!"
That was why he put on the act.
But unexpectedly, it worked well enough.
Hyakinthos kept comparing the giant before them to the floor boss of the 17th Floor, belittling its presence and its majesty.
Not only did it calm his members, it also deceived his own unease.
As a result, the members slowly raised their heads, their confidence and courage returning.
"Remember this! We are the proud children of the great and noble Apollo! We've hunted floor bosses so many times we're sick of them! How many Goliaths have we killed already? There's no reason to be afraid!"
"R-Right! There's no reason we should lose!"
"Long live Apollo! Follow Hyakinthos!"
"Front line, move up! Even if you die behind the gate, stop it from getting in!"
"Take out every magic sword we brought! Hurry!"
"Archers, assemble! Fire every last arrow you have!"
"Mages, gather up! Prepare your chants! We'll hit it with one big shot to start!"
"We're hunting a floor boss!"
At last, Apollo Familia's battle spirit began to ignite as well.
As if watching the scene, a voice of admiration followed from the mage.
No, perhaps it was just mockery.
[Oh? Still decent, even if it's rotten. So you really are a captain of a Familia, huh? Not bad.]
"Tch, arrogant bastard. You seem to have some strange tricks, but that's all. It's just a giant lump of dirt with a big body. We'll crush it soon enough."
[A spirited answer. I look forward to the result.]
And with that, the conversation between both sides ended.
All that remained was to smash the cards each side had revealed with everything they had.
[Now then, let the curtain rise. Keter Malkuth, supreme golem, primordial human Adam—show us your power here!]
- Uwaaaaaaaaah!
Thud!
One step.
The giant stretched a foot forward.
With that, the castle wall drew ever closer.
"I-It's coming!"
"Everyone! Prepare for battle!"
Matching that movement, Apollo Familia burned with fighting spirit.
But before that, the giant made another move.
As it stepped forward, it placed a hand on the rocky hills around it.
And then—
"Huh? What's that?"
"A sword? Don't tell me it's a nature weapon?!"
"It's a monster for real!?"
The rocky hills that had been standing there just moments ago vanished in an instant.
In their place appeared a single crude, black giant sword, primitive in form and gripped in the giant's hand.
- Uwaaaaaaaa!
Then the giant—
"Eh?"
"What...!"
Set its stance and swung the arm holding the sword.
It looked exactly like the act of throwing something.
In other words—
"Aaaaaah!"
"D-Down!"
A stone sword larger than one or two ordinary houses came flying toward the wall.
Boom!
"Ghk!"
"The, the gate...!"
Needless to say.
With that single blow, not only the gate but the surrounding walls were all smashed apart and collapsed.
The front-line adventurers stared blankly at the now wide-open entrance.
The fact that, surprisingly, no one had died or been badly injured brought them no comfort at all.
- Guooooooo!
"It's here!"
"Damn it, nock your arrows! What are you doing, archers!"
"Shoot! Shoot!"
Taking advantage of the confusion, the giant closed in on the wall completely.
The archers waiting atop the walls quickly came to their senses and loosed the arrows they had prepared all at once.
Whooshhhhh!
Hundreds of arrows flew at once, launched by the trained hands of adventurers.
Fortunately for them, the giant was so enormous that not a single arrow missed.
But unfortunately—
No, naturally—
Those tiny arrows could not leave so much as a proper wound on the giant's body.
Only heroes of legend could manage that.
"Tch, as expected, arrows don't even leave a mark."
"Figures the archers would be useless."
"We're firing too! Mages, are you ready?"
"Yes!"
"Good! Fire all at once! Give it one proper hit!"
At the shout of the officer Daphne, yellow flames burst up in unison from the staves of the mages who had been preparing their chants.
After all, in hunting a large monster like a floor boss, the most important role—and the greatest thrill—was the powerful bombardment support from the rear-line mages.
As if to prove it, the fierce storm of flames unleashed by multiple mages at once instantly swallowed the giant's upper body whole.
The sheer heat and power brought relief to everyone on their side.
"Yes!"
"Did we get it?!"
Ah.
They really should not have said that.
One of the gods gathered to watch let out an involuntary sigh.
Well, it would not have changed the outcome anyway.
Whoosh!
- Guuuuu...
The fierce storm of flames looked as though it could burn down an entire mountain.
But the giant simply swept it away and extinguished it with a single wave of its arm.
In its rough, massive hand, another stone sword had already appeared.
"What...!"
"No way! It didn't even get a scratch?!"
Apollo Familia was shocked, flustered, and then plunged into despair before that unbelievable, impossible reality.
- Uuu... Guooooooo!
"I-It's coming!"
"Everyone, brace for impact...!"
Bang!
Roaring fiercely, the giant swung its stone sword toward them.
Immediately afterward, most of the archers on the wall were blown into the air, unable to withstand the impact.
The wall beneath their feet was shattered to pieces as well.
"Aah...!"
"The wall...!"
With the walls collapsing again and again, Apollo Familia was left speechless.
As if to deepen their despair even further, the giant stomped down with its bare foot and destroyed the intact section beside it even more violently before stepping into the castle.
"Ha, hahahaha..."
Someone's hollow laugh echoed through the communication channel.
From the very beginning, the castle walls had been no more than a flimsy wooden fence to the giant.
Human-made structures stacked one layer at a time could not stop even a single step of its advance.
Truly, a hopeless reality.
Then the giant—
"Huh?"
"What's it doing now...?"
Assumed a stance.
"W-Wait...!?"
"Don't tell me...!"
"No! Run aaaaaaah!"
And once again.
It delivered them even greater despair.
Thud.
The giant leapt into the air and came crashing down.
There was nowhere to escape to in the first place.
Crash!
There was nowhere at all.
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