Chapter 74: Keep 'Em Coming!

The [Skeletons] charge at Saiba, screeching with their bones rattling. Saiba jumps up in the air as the horde collides with one another.

As Saiba is falling, he sticks his leg out, knocking a skull off of a [Skeleton] and slices through the body of another. Both fall back and turn to dust leaving two more.

As Saiba touches the ground, one [Skeleton] swings its claws at him, but Saiba expertly dodges. He counterattacks with a swipe of his sword, however, the [Skeleton] wobbles to the side, making Saiba miss the attack.

Quickly thinking, he rotates his blade ninety degrees to where it is behind the [Skeleton] and pulls back toward his body, slicing through the monster's rib cage. He thinks,

"I can thank Rose for that one!"

Desperate, the final [Skeleton] recklessly runs towards Saiba. In return, Saiba grabs its wrist, twists it, and yanks its whole arm off causing the [Skeleton] to stumble backwards and turn to dust.

As the skeletal arm disintegrates, Saiba holds it while hesitantly thinking,

"I guess I can thank Gram for that one..."

With a light pant and a little sweat dripping down his forehead, Saiba puts on a brave face and shouts,

"Keep 'em coming, miss!"

She claps her hands as now, surrounding Saiba, three towering giants stand. They have thick dark beards, their skin is dyed a navy blue, their eyes are red and bloodshot, and their teeth are open for viewing as they wear wide grins.

Saiba clenches his sword as he readies himself. Wasting no time, he activates [Crimson Flash] as a red explosion emits from his weapon.

The light fades which reveals the giants standing. They seem unfazed, standing in the same pose. Saiba wears a frustrated glare.

Suddenly, the giants roar as multiple wounds open on their bodies. Blood sprays out, soaking the giants with it. Saiba mumbles,

"I guess the [Blood-Soaked] lived up to its name..."

Enraged, the giants slam their fists down in unison. Saiba barely manages to roll out of the way.

In return, he leaps into the air and lodges his sword in a giant's thigh. The giant screams as it wiggles its leg, frantically trying to make Saiba let go. Saiba shouts,

"Crimson Slash!"

A crimson wave travels from his leg up to his torso, leaving a deep gash. The giant cries out, but it is still able to move.

Quickly, Saiba shouts again,

"Crimson Strike!"

Another wave flies out, travelling through the wound and up to the giant's head. The giant falls backwards and lands with a loud thud as Saiba pulls his sword out.

He exhales and shouts,

"One down! I'm not doing so bad yet either!"

With the little time he has, he quickly checks his [SI]. He checks his [Skill Energy] as it reads,

[Skill Energy: 23/69]

He mumbles,

"That's less than half... I can't use Crimson Flash anymore and it's only enough for three Crimson Strikes... I won't have enough time to regain any Skill Energy, so I have to make my attacks really count!"

Running towards a giant, he watches its fists. Once one comes diving down, Saiba jumps onto it and digs his blade into its flesh.

He runs up the giant, towards the head, slicing a line from its fist to its neck. He stands under its chin as he swings his sword at it and shouts,

"Crimson Strike!"

It cuts through, but not all the way. Pushing his sword into the slice, he shouts,

"One more! Crimson Strike!"

It slices through as the giant's head rolls off of its body, turning to dust on the way. Saiba gets on the ground as only one more giant stands.

Very angry, the giant swings both of its arms at Saiba. The giant misses as Saiba ducks, but as he is evading, a giant foot comes flying at him, throwing him in the air.

As he is elevating, the giant reaches out to grab him. Frustrated, he sends out his last [Crimson Strike], cutting through the giant's fingers.

Thinking he's safe, the giant instead grabs Saiba by the leg with his other hand. Saiba swings his sword, however, he is unable to reach the fingers grabbing him.

The giant changes his grip by trapping Saiba in his fist. Saiba wriggles and squirms, but he stays put, quickly losing air. The giant continues to tighten its grasp and Saiba continues to lose consciousness.

Finally, when all seems lost, the giant lets out a painful cry as Saiba drops to the ground.

Panting and vision still blurry, Saiba looks up to see the giant missing an arm and grabbing the empty shoulder with its remaining palm.

Flying in the air, a black figure stands with both arms on its hips. Out of breath, Saiba calls out,

"R-Roman!"

Roman looks down and replies,

"Heya master! Long time no see! And it looks like we're fighting these big boys again! I'll take care of them, so you sit, okay!"

Out of Skill Energy and real energy, Saiba lies while thinking,

"I guess two is my limit, huh... I mean that's better than last time, I guess..."

He hears a loud explosion as the giant's torso gets completely blown out and Roman's fist is bloodied with steam seemingly coming off of it.

Roman flies down as Saiba says,

"Thanks Roman... I guess I owe you double now..."

With a big smile, Roman responds,

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, master! It's my job to protect you!"

A little pouty, Roman suggests,

"You know, master... You should really summon me when you need help..."

Saiba asks,

"But you can get here just fine, can't you?"

Roman answers,

"Summoning only takes 5 mana, but me coming here uses all your remaining mana! And since you didn't have much, I can't stay here for too long!"

He suggests,

"I'll just summon you now then!"

He realizes while thinking,

"Oh right, I'm out of [Energy]..."

Roman starts to fade as he waves and says,

"Oh! I gotta go now! Call me when you need me! I'll beat up any bad guys, no problem!"

He punches the air playfully. Saiba frantically shouts,

"Wait I still have questions! What's mana!? What does my energy have to do with you being here!? Tell me!"

Right before disappearing, Roman points to the ground in front of Saiba. Saiba looks over and sees some bloody writing. It reads,

"Mana is the magic thingy that lets you do skills. I think it's called energy here. Also, I have to use your energy to force myself over here so it depends on how much you have. I can stay here for as long as I want if you use your skill though."

Seeing the message, Saiba thinks,

"Do little kids do this, nowadays..?"

Taking a deep breath, Saiba lies on his back, very tired.