STGB Episode 526

Giant(5)

A portal stone in the inside of the cave.

As soon as I spotted it, I approached it and placed my hand, but the monument remained unresponsive.

Well, I had expected as much.

It was the same when we came to this floor—there were special conditions to open the portal. There must be something we need this time as well.

Swoosh.

I checked where the stone met the ground, and there were already signs of digging around it.

‘This time, there’s no inscription underneath…’

Tsk. So we just have to keep fumbling in the dark? For now, I started interrogating Wyatt, who first discovered it.

“Have you checked the stone daily?”

“Yes. Since its discovery, I’ve come here every day and touched it, but there was no response.”

In other words, it’s not something that only reacts on a specific date.

“Is there anything else unusual you should mention?”

“No.”

“If you found the portal stone, why were you so skeptical before?”

This question had just occurred to me.

When he first saw me earlier, he expressed his fear and doubted whether there was really a way to escape.

So, why was that?

“…I don’t know.”

He replied cautiously.

“We don’t know if the place beyond this stone leads outside or not.”

“Ah…”

Come to think of it, that was exactly what I had wondered the moment I saw the monument.

Since this was the first time humans had set foot in this floor, nothing could be certain.

If we managed to activate this portal monument—

It might open a portal leading back to the 1st Floor or the city, as we hoped…

But there was also the possibility that it could lead to a completely different space.

‘Like the Basement Floor 2nd, for instance.’

Still, figuring out how to activate this monument is the top priority.

For an explorer, there’s only one way to find the answer—

Try interacting with it in every possible way.

“How many people know about this monument?”

“Everyone who lived here with me knows about it.”

Hmm, then there’s no need to keep it a secret.

“Let’s head back.”

I finished my investigation of the monument and returned to where my companions were. Then, I shared the details about the monument with everyone, including the Armin Expedition.

This is the kind of thing that requires collective intelligence.

“A monument that could lead anywhere… But at least we’ve finally found a clue, right?”

“So, everyone, speak freely. What do we need to do next to activate this monument?”

“…Maybe if we capture that 40 meter tall giant, something might change?”

“Or perhaps there’s something at the end of the bookshelves in that library…”

Once I set the topic, a flood of opinions poured out, starting with Versil’s, and I carefully took note of each one.

“Um… What about the village chief? Could he know something?”

Yeah, that’s a good idea too.

Myul Armin, who had been listening to the discussion, asked me in a cautious tone.

“Who… is the village chief?”

“I’ll explain when we visit that island.”

“Understood…”

After the brainstorming session ended, the mages of the Armin Expedition and a few others left to investigate the monument further, while the rest stayed in the cave to rest.

Time passed, and the next day.

After I finished assigning roles to the twelve newly unpaid workers, we resumed our exploration.

We didn’t have much time left.

‘It’s already the 9th day…’

Well, if counting from the day I started the expedition, it would be the 59th day—but based on the timeline of the newly opened labyrinth, it was the 9th day.

Either way, the rainy season would begin after the 14th day, so we had to explore the island as much as possible before then.

‘The rainy season is going to be troublesome…’

Just thinking about being stuck for another week made me feel like time was already slipping away.

Not just a week.

Right after the rainy season, the monsters would be everywhere, making normal exploration difficult, and right before that, we’d have to move to a safe place to wait it out, stopping our progress.

“Jandel, what’s the plan for the next rainy season? Are we going to stay in that cave they found earlier? Or return to the village?”

“I’m thinking of returning to the village. We have questions for the chief anyway. And if the Silver Lion Clan is still there, we might be able to recruit more manpower.”

“Then we’ll have to leave the island in three days. We’ll need time to get there, after all.”

We have three days to explore the island.

It’s tight, but with more people now, the exploration was much faster. It felt like we were  on automatic hunting mode.

“On the right, a group of trolls!”

“Teirun Erbuias!”

Boom-!

Monsters of level five or lower didn’t even need me to step in; they were wiped out by a concentrated fire from our long-range dealers before they could even approach, turning into light and disappearing.

For this reason, explorers almost always travel in clans from the upper floor onwards.

The more people you have, the easier it is to explore.

The downside is that you have to share the profits.

“Sheritton, how’s the map coming along?”

“Yes. Would you like to see?”

For the record, I don’t do cartography anymore.

There’s an archer from the Hex Clan who’s far better at it, so I just let them handle it.

I’ve also formed a scouting unit.

I assigned several people to Mikhail Rectors, a former member of the Royal Investigation Bureau, and they move around us, bringing back intel like this:

“Baron, there are three Nelpardons in ambush three minutes ahead. How will we proceed?”

Hmm… What to do

[Nelpardons using Gigantification], and there are three of them?

“If we try to avoid them, do we have to take a big detour?”

“Not necessarily.”

“Then let’s just go around them.”

Since the Nelphardons didn’t drop anything essential, and we had already gained enough experience from them in the library, I decided to skip them.

By choosing our battles and avoiding unnecessary conflicts, we were able to explore much more efficiently and cover a larger area.

And as a result—

‘The southern region is pretty much done.’

Having covered over 90% of the southern area, we expanded to the eastern region.

And before long—

Just as I was starting to think about returning to our hideout or setting up a campsite here to rest—

“Baron.”

Mikhail Rectors, who had been out scouting, returned in a hurry.

“About four minutes ahead—a Hipramagent. That giant is sleeping alone.”

Hmm… How should we handle this?

***

Hipramagent

The monster we’d met on our way to this island, the one that had called his friends and forced us to flee in a hurry.

According to the village chief’s book, when it was first discovered, half of its body was submerged in the sea.

So I’d assumed it was purely a sea monster.

‘Guess it doesn’t only appear in the ocean.’

Seeing it here on land, it must be an amphibious creature that can move freely in both water and on land.

In any case, that’s not the main point right now…

“It’s alone?”

“Yes, for now.”

Search the area around him as carefully as possible without provoking him.

There might be his friends nearby, like last time. We’ll decide what to do when we know more.

“Understood.”

First I ordered Mikhail Rectors to conduct a detailed search, then I collected my thoughts while waiting for his return.

After learning that Hipramagents leave their corpses behind, my excitement had cooled considerably – but I still wanted to take it down at least once.  As long as we remained on this floor, we’d inevitably run into it again someday.

“It would be good to gain some experience by defeating it when it’s alone.”

What are its passives? Were there any unconfirmed active skills? once we know all that, we can come up with proper countermeasures.

“There are no monsters within a 2 km radius.”

As soon as I received the report from the scouting team, I began preparing for the raid.

We reorganized our battle formation and prepared for the possibility that the creature might flee mid-fight, just like before.

And then…

“Alright, let’s go.”

All that was left was execution.

“W-Wait, already?”

“He might wake up. Or his friends could return.”

Since it seemed to be a level 2 monster, some of them didn’t seem to be mentally prepared yet. But it would be pointless to waste more time here.

We moved as stealthily as possible to where the giant was and spread out to surround him.

However, just as the ranged dealers, led by the mage, were preparing a ‘very strong first strike’.

[Uuuh……?]

The giant, curled up like a shrimp while sleeping, raised its head and looked at us

We’d blocked sound with magic, so it couldn’t have woken from noise…

‘…Did it sense our mana?’

Whatever the case, since he was already awake, there was no more reason to be cautious.

[The character has activated [Gigantification].]

I immediately linked it with [Transcendence] to increase my size.

“Bethel—RAAAAAAAH!!”

Before he could fully stand, I slammed my hammer down on his shin.

KWAANG-!

It wasn’t enough to break bones, but it was sufficient to disrupt his balance as he was trying to stand.

KUUUOOONG-!

The giant fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust that obscured our view—a minor but common issue in battles.

SWOOOOOSH—!

The mages waiting in the back quickly used wind magic to clear the dust, and as soon as visibility was restored, I rushed in and smashed my hammer into the giant’s jaw.

And at that moment—

[UUUOOOOOOOOH—!]

He roared directly at me.

The sound was so deafening I could feel the air vibrate.

‘Damn, that startled me.’

I felt a momentary goosebumps all over my body, which kind of bruised my pride.

So—

“Raaaaaaaaaahhhhh—!!!”

I roared right back at it with all my might.

I didn’t do it deliberately; it just came out. But surprisingly, it helped boost morale.

“What are you all standing around for?! Attack already!”

“Stay calm, follow the plan!”

Wyat Hex and Myul Armin began directing the team. Soon after, long-range attacks rained down.

Arrows, offensive abilities, and more.

Most of them couldn’t deal as much damage as my hammer strikes, but…

They still bought us time.

「Charlotte Amblet has cast Level 2 attack spell [Spear of Annihilation].」

A combined spell cast by the three mages of Armin’s expedition team

The combined magic of the three mages of the Armin’s expedition team who had spent a long time in the Labyrinth.

THUD-!

A massive white spear lodged itself deep into the giant’s lower abdomen.

I was a little surprised.

‘It didn’t even pierce through?’

Just how high was its magic resistance?

I was curious about its base stats, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.

“Barbarian, don’t go wild this time—take it slow—”

Starting with Aynar and Amelia, the melee DPS aggressively closed in to attack.

Their main target? The giant’s ankles.

This was part of my earlier orders.

After all, this thing had a habit of running away before we could do anything.

We needed to cripple its mobility first—

“He’s getting up!”

“F-Fall back!”

We tried our best to interfere, but eventually, he fully rose, planting both hands on the ground before standing up on two legs.

[UUUOOOOOH—!]

He began sprinting in the opposite direction.

‘What’s with this cowardly bastard?’

It was ridiculous, but I wasn’t going to let it happen again.

This wasn’t the open sea like last time.

[Erwin Fornacci di Tercia has summoned [Dark Spirit King Dichloe].]

A barrage of dark orbs rained down like missile strikes.

Surprisingly, the giant tanked the hits with his bare body as he he ran frantically, but even he had his limits.

THUD, THUD-!

I sprinted forward and clung to its back as it staggered, slowed by its injuries.

BOOM! KABOOM! CRASH-!

The Spirit King’s bombardment continued, but it wasn’t a problem for me at all.

You know, after raw stats, it’s all about the gear, right?

No.12 Trust.

Among the Double Numbers, this item ranks at the very top.

[The damage has been inflicted by an ally in a bonded state]

[The light of Trust protects the character from the damage.]

With this, such a strategy becomes possible.

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