Chapter 7: Giant Slaying

The Sargon Empire, a once powerful empire that resided in the Sargon Rainforest.

As the Khagans pillaged the entire Terra, they've set their sights on the eldritch creatures of the Foehn Hotlands. To contain these said creatures, they allied with the Sargon Empire.

One of the legends about them is when they brought down a magma giant that is hundreds of meters tall. They used Originum Arts to completely destroy it by making its volatile structure collapse by itself.

"Showering them with much Originum Arts is impossible. We're lucky that what we're facing right now is a defective product."

"If it's the real thing, we won't be able to deal with it easily.", she said. The real demons are terrifying, since they'll become stronger just by more people knowing them. That's the reason why the highest authorities of Terra kept it from the public, just like how the magi on the Fate World kept magic from the normal populace.

"Wait... Is it just me, or is it coming towards us?"

Rumble-! Rumble-! Rumble-!

The magma giant made the land quake with each of its steps. The air seems to distort with the sheer temperature that it emitted.

"Great. It's really moving towards us."

"..."

Kal'tsit's eyes twitched as she saw how carefree he is. He might be just as carefree as the other guy in the chat group. Moreover, she was also reminded by another friend of hers, one that can join the list of "carefree" people in the world.

She summoned Mon3tr out yet again as Shiro rode its back again.

"We meet again. Let's do our best this time too."

"Growl..."

It let out a low growl as if it understood him. Shiro looked interested, but he decided to focus on this quest first.

Due to their previous cooperation, their speed became faster this time. There's not much delay too, hence they easily got into the proximity of the giant swiftly.

As they got closer to the magma giant, it threw out a punch toward them.

"Projection Magecraft."

3 slightly large black blades appeared on top of its arms before it dropped. Then, the right arm that got hit cracked visibly. Even though the Mechanical Blade that he got as a reward is only a replica, its weight didn't differ much from the real mechanical blades from Aegir.

Only, its control-related aspects and something else are missing.

Bam-! Bam-! BAM-!

3 more mechanical blades appeared on top of it, dropping towards its right arm yet again.

"Growl!!!"

It blocked the 3 blades with his right arm, though it crumbled into pieces as a result.

"Temperature Control."

With his magic spells, he managed to alter the AoE effect for a moment. The heat that the giant had emitted disappeared. For a moment, the temperature became normal again. Then, he tried manipulating the volatile source through his Originum Arts, which allows Mon3tr to collapse it more easily.

"Here you go. Good luck!", he said as he patted its head as he encouraged it.

"Growl..!"

Mon3tr replied to him as if it understood him before it went inside the center of the magma giant, the location of its core. Surprisingly, Mon3tr melted upon contact with it.

Shiro wondered how it could've done that, but running away from here is much more important.

Shiro hurriedly boosted himself with Wind Runes and dashed away. Since his every step is boosted, he travelled more than 2 kilometers in just 5 seconds, reaching the van that she was driving.

He didn't hesitate as he jumped inside it.

"Whew. This van has a couple nitrogen boosters? No wonder you are confident in escaping this place."

With the help of those, they managed to get away from its blast radius before it exploded.

Boom!

In the radius of 10km, the temperature rose up abnormally high. After the flames disappeared, the land were charred black. There's even a large crater where the magma giant stood earlier.

At the same time, a green crystal quickly flew to Kal'tsit's side before attaching to her back.

[Quest Complete. Reward settlement...]

[+7,500 Soul Points]

[The Fusion Function has been unlocked.]

[+2 Archive Sigils]

Just as he was about to check his rewards, another prompt immediately appeared in front of him.

[Official Quest: Alien God (1)]

Detail: Rhine Lab's archeological team went on a trip to the Sargon Rainforest to unveil the mysteries surrounding one of the alien gods. However, they didn't know just what kind of entity they are about to unveil.

Objective: Arrive in the rainforest 3 days before the team reaches the tomb of the Sargon Empress. (7 days remaining)

Reward/s: 2,000 Soul Points, 1 Weapon Enhancement Card

"Well, thanks for your help. Never knew that killing that thing would be easier than I thought." He said as he disregarded the new quest for a while.

He thought that he would've stayed by its side to collapse it with his Originum Arts before bearing the brunt of its explosion nearby. Thankfully, Mon3tr helped him in this regard as it is the one who made it self-destruct.

"Mn. I need to investigate who's behind this incident."

"You're sharp. But, you don't need to investigate further. I know who's behind this." Shiro replied.

"You know?"

"Yep. There's this convenient quest-giving prompt that gave me enough information for my next actions, you see."

Hearing this, Kal'tsit is not that surprised since there's the Chat Group. It housed the most valuable function, in her opinion, which is the store.

There's even a cure for oripathy on it! That's why she's saving her points to buy that one first. Though, she didn't expect that Shiro would also have something similar to it.

"It's an institution called Rhine Labs. I don't know much of them, but they sure are shady as heck."

"Them? I see..."

"Well then, would you like to come to the rainforest with me? The info says that the one behind this went there, and not for a good reason too."

He started explaining stuff about them wanting to unearth some secrets related to an alien god. Kal'tsit then mentioned that these alien gods are the ones behind the demons in Terra's borders, so they are extremely dangerous.

"Let's go."

She stepped on the accelerator as they went in the direction of the rainforest.

*****

"He died."

"As expected of her. Did you get the perimeters?"

"Yes, director."

Knowing that the subject this time will be quite different, they added something to the injection beforehand. They were proven right after Director Ferdinand Clooney saw the result after Mon3tr made the Balrog IV collapse.

"How many ruins are left?"

"Three, Director."

"What about the thief?"

"She escaped."

"Find her! That sword is essential for my plans!"

The man in white coat left and relayed the Director's orders to the Blacksteel soldiers that were contracted by them.

'Gods... What wonderful existence are they.', he thought. He looked at the files in his temporary desk with satisfaction.

"Soon... Their secrets would be unraveled by me."

*****

[Edited]