Chapter 21

[ Rosseweisse POV ]

"Mama, what are you making?" Artom asked as he watched me chop boar meat and separate the fat.

Igor was also there standing on his toes to get a glimpse of what I was doing. " Well, I'm making dinner for you all. "

" What kind of dish is it? " Igor asked as he eyed the components of the dish, " Aren't those the special ingredients Papa said that we can only use for special occasions? " he commented as he saw the canned vegetables.

" Well today is a celebration, I even asked your I

Papa for these ingredients for tonight's dinner. " I remembered the look on his face when I asked for them, his beaming smile was quite a sight.

" I'm making German Goulash. " I said as I saw the confused faces of the twins.

" German Gou-lash? " Artom asked, " Is it tasty? "

Tasty? It's more than tasty! It was heavenly. My German father made the tastiest goulash I had ever tasted in my life, and he needed only very few ingredients to make it taste so good.

Although now, I need beef for the dish, the boar meat will have to suffice... Mashed potatoes would be good as well.

"Mama," said Igor with an excited smile, "can we help too?" Artom also chimed in, excitedly exclaiming, "Me too!"

Well, if I accept their help, it wouldn't really be a thank-you dinner, but seeing their excited and eager faces, I couldn't really deny their request.

" I could use some extra helping hands. "

" YES! " " ALRIGHT! "

" You can start by peeling the potatoes," I said as I passed them a bowl. They immediately sat down on the ground and summoned their pitch-black knife, peeling the potatoes very carefully.

I wonder what Nikolai is up to?

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( Somewhere in the middle of the Forest )

When facing opponents three times your size, you must question your life decisions; however, if the opponent is on the offensive, it's crucial to utilize your surroundings.

The three giants were still chasing him; he turned to see their ugly faces. The combination of their ugly faces and the maggots crawling on them made things even worse.

He grinned as he saw the very thing he was running towards. One of the giants was faster than the others and was quickly closing in on him, which was a good sign.

Leaping across a remarkable distance of twenty feet, Nikolai then spun around and summoned his great sword.

The giant increased its speed and was approaching him at an alarming rate.

" I hope that thing works. "

The giant's foot stepped on the ground, which seemed to sink deep into the earth. 'It worked!'

Nikolai had prepared a deep pit trap a month ago to hunt bears; though he had not caught one yet, it had proven to be useful in this situation. Now, due to the momentum of the giant's charge and the misstep it took, it caused it to stumble forward, falling into the pit trap set by Nikolai.

DIE!!!

With a roar, he swung his massive blade and cleaved the giant's face, instantly killing it. "One down, two more to go."

One of the remaining giants leaped high and slammed its club down at Nikolai, but he simply jumped away to safety. The club embedded itself in the ground; Nikolai placed his palm on it and cursed it.

" Curse Magic: Grip "

The giant tried to lift his weapon, but he could not even make it bulge; it seemed as if it were rooted to the ground.

Nikolai immediately summoned his bow and aimed, "CURSE MAGIC: GRIP". He released the arrow and it flew straight towards the giant. It struck its hand that was holding the club, impaling it, and the curse was placed. The giant tried its hardest to part from the club, but it could not do so.

One more to go. His gaze was fixed on the last giant, the same went for it. They circled each other, looking for an opening to attack. Despite the stereotype of undead or zombies being mindless, this particular one seemed more sentient.

The giant began muttering in a language he could not understand, its body emanating a greyish aura around itself, and to his shock, its muscles seemed to bulge out, increasing its already large size. It set its gaze on him, its maggot-infested face staring directly at him.

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It smiled at him. A nightmarish smile adorned its face.

Nikolai was utterly bewildered by this development; he had no idea what was going on, but one thing was certain – this fight just got a lot more interesting.

He summoned his chains on his right hand and his shield on the left.

" Let's do this! " On cue, they both dashed towards each other; the giant swung his club, only for Nikolai to dodge it by a hair's width. It had gotten faster than before.

He swung his chain on its dominant hand, wrapping it tightly.

" CURSE MAGIC: GRIP! "

The giant grabbed the chain to pull it away from its hand, but its efforts bore no fruit. It then tried a different approach by trying to pull the pesky human towards it. However, Nikolai resisted and used his strength to counter the strong pull.

The giant's body suddenly started to bulge again, and it began to laugh maniacally. All of a sudden, Nikolai found himself being overpowered; the giant slowly dragged him towards itself as it continued laughing.

' It has gotten stronger all of a sudden! CYKA BLYAT! '

Its strength was slowly and surely increasing, and if it continued, Nikolai was sure the outcome would not be something he would like to see.

' I got to stop it! '

Instead of resisting the pull, Nikolai went along with it and dashed toward the creature. He jumped above the giant while wrapping the chain around its neck.

" CURSE MAGIC: GRIP! " The giant was chained and restricted.

He landed on the ground and immediately summoned his trusty sledgehammer, breaking both its legs and forcing it to fall face-first to the ground.

The giant tried to get up, but its body refused to do so. It looked up to see a pitch-black hammer coming down on its face.

CRACK!!!

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( Nikolai POV )

Man, I love this sledgehammer! Sure stabbing, piercing, and slashing an enemy was a good option, but nothing beats the good old-fashioned hammering to the head.

Now, it's time for the trophies. The mangled body of the giant was quickly devoured by the mist.

[ ITEM DEVOURED ]

[ DIGESTION TIME: 1 WEEK ]

Alright! A new ability is on the way, YAHOOO!

There was still the last giant, trapped there by my curse magic. I didn't feel like going for a melee execution for this, so I chose the most humane way I could kill it.

" FIRE MAGIC: FIRE BREATH "

I took a deep breath and exhaled a torrent of fire that immediately lit the giant ablaze. It thrashed about in agony, and I turned away from it.

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GROWL!

That was not the sound of a wolf or any animal.

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That was my stomach blyat!

I can't wait to get back to the cabin and taste Rose's cooking. The sky was already starting to darken; I should hurry up.

I asked her what she was going to make, but she said it was going to be a surprise.

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{ Author's notes }

Thank you for reading my story, do continue to support as it gives me motivation.

I will see you all in the next chapter.