Seeker 287

Test

Chapter 287. Hill Giant

I hold my divine spear and shield, gazing up at the towering figure before me.

Hill Giant.

It's a monster in the form of a giant.

To give you an idea of how huge it is, even standing on the other side of a single-story house, its chest and above are visible.

Right now, it's standing arrogantly in the town street.

Swinging the enormous club in its hand could easily demolish surrounding houses.

Indeed, collapsed buildings can be seen here and there.

"──Grrrrrr!"

It looks at me and roars.

Raising its club, it thunders towards me, shaking the ground.

"──Whoa!"

I also charge towards the giant.

The proximity of both parties immediately leads to close combat.

The reach advantage is overwhelmingly in its favor.

The giant's club, shining with the brilliance of skills, strikes down at me first.

I didn't even consider being squashed flat by such an attack from such a giant body.

At this point, my strength shines so brightly that I hardly fear the giant before me.

I brace myself and intercept the giant's enormous club with my shield held overhead.

There's a loud crash, and I feel the weight pressing down on me.

But that's all.

The defensive capabilities of my shield, armor, and my own body suppress the impact to insignificance.

Using only my strength, I deflect the giant club and slip into its guard.

At that moment, I hear Gelzer's voice from behind.

"Tch, taken by surprise, huh...! But that's just the incompetence of shallow thinking! What's the point of challenging the Hill Giant alone, you idiot!"

Upon hearing those words, I think. 

"Well, that's what you'd expect from your assessment."

As one can tell by looking at its colossal size, the Hill Giant is a monster with considerable power.

For an average adventurer to challenge it one-on-one would be suicidal.

Even if you manage to engage first and gain the right to acquire magic stones, if you lose the battle, death awaits.

Well, Gelzel is generally correct in what he's saying.

That is, assuming there are no mistakes in the premise.

Diving into the giant's guard, I hold my divine spear with skillful brilliance in my right hand and leap toward the giant.

"This is how it's done──[Triple Thrust]!"

The magical flames-clad divine spear pierces the giant's chest three times in an instant.

The impact sends the Hill Giant's massive body flying, and it collapses with a ground-shaking thud.

However, it doesn't disappear.

The Hill Giant, emitting a vast black mist from its chest, shakes its head and tries to rise with an expression of rage.

As I land, I rush towards the fallen giant.

It seems it won't be defeated with just one blow. Tough one.

"What!? What power is that!?"

I hear Gelzer's astonished voice. But for now, I can ignore the spectators.

The Hill Giant, in the process of getting up, launches an attack with its club in a precarious position.

I block the incoming attack horizontally again with my shield.

After forcefully repelling the club, I leaped towards the Hill Giant.

"[Three Strikes]!"

I repeatedly strike the kneeling giant with three fiery thrusts from my divine spear.

Even the Hill Giant succumbs to it, disappearing, leaving behind a large magic stone on the ground.

Phew... Well, considering my current strength, this outcome seems about right.

The boost from the equipment's performance seems quite significant.

And now, the usual "Ping!".

───────────────────────

Mission: Defeated one Hill Giant completed!

All party members gain 10,000 experience points!

New Mission: Defeat 4 Giants (earning 40,000 experience points)!

Current Experience:

Musou Daichi... 151,6614/1573489 (Next Level: 56875)

Kodachi Kazane... 1374746/1417965 (Next Level: 43219)

Yuzuki Hotaru... 1450071/1573489 (Next Level: 123418)

───────────────────────

Oh, a new mission came up?

If Giants of any kind count towards the defeat tally, then this is quite profitable.

I hear voices from behind while picking up magic stones and casting healing magic on myself.

"Wh-What...!? The opponent is a Hill Giant, you know!? There's no way it could be defeated so easily──N-No, wait. Could it be? That this Hill Giant was already damaged before the fight? Maybe infighting among monsters or something. I see, haha. I get it now. You lucky bastard. But luck won't last forever."

"...Sigh."

I involuntarily sigh.

Once you've underestimated your opponent, you can't correct that assessment.

But Gelzel should have felt uneasy about not recognizing our strength if he had been more cautious.

I turn to Gelzer and speak.

"Anyway, we've acquired the first Hill Giant's magic stone. If you intend to win the match, you'd better hurry and find the next one, don't you think?"

"G-Grr, you...! Even if you're a loser, remember, the match will be decided by acquiring the magic stones! Don't forget the promise when you lose!"

"Even if I were a loser, as you say, the match will be decided by acquiring the magic stones. Please don't forget our agreement."

"T-This brat...! Remember this! I'll make you howl in due time!"

Gelzel spits out his final words and looks around desperately.

Then, spotting a Hill Giant's head beyond some distant buildings, he dashes towards it.

"Well, I suppose I can give him one."

Muttering to myself, I run toward a different direction.

Knocking down a group of Ogres on the way, I head towards another Hill Giant I had previously located.

From what I saw in the sky, there were three Hill Giants in town.

Since I've defeated one already, there should be only two left, one that Gelzer went after and the other I'm heading towards.

"Now, if only Kazane and Yuzuki can manage it well──"

I look up at the distant sky after collecting the magic stones from the defeated Ogres.