Chapter 198
[11th Round] Who Is It?
After that, everything happened at lightning speed.
As soon as Thief E came in after washing up in the oasis, I shouted, ‘Let go!’ and left the log cabin.
Confused, she was about to say something, but the situation was immediately settled when Shadow A responded. “Son-in-law, please take care of my daughter.”
“What happened while I was washing up…?”
“We made a good deal.”
“Meeeee~”
Riding the Medusa, Thief E and I went down south.
The effect of killing the Ice Dragon King Sleyas, the main culprit of global warming, and destroying her nest was already becoming apparent.
The terrible heat of the desert had gone down, and it had reached a level that could be withstood. In just one shivering night, the geothermal heat would cool down, and it would turn into a more livable continent by tomorrow.
“I’ve never seen this kind of weather in my life on the Southern Continent.”
She expressed her appreciation as the cool breeze hit her face.
The First Spirit responded with an uncle-like expression.
“The Southern Continent was much cooler in the old days, young elven b.u.mpkin girl. This desert used to be a fertile land full of earthworms. I still vividly remember the elves gathering and sharing those insects here.”
“b.u.mpkin girl? What…?”
We continued to go south, chatting about various things until we saw an active volcano with gray smoke coming out on top of it.
“This is my second time seeing this volcano.”
I felt a little nostalgic.
Was that how it felt to meet a childhood friend for the first time in 60 years?
Phoenix of the Five Great Disasters.
I remembered the hardships I had to endure while luring out a giant that fought using lava cowardly.
Phoenix belonged to the giant race.
Because of their great appet.i.te, they couldn’t satisfy their hunger unless they ate large monsters or dragons.
Therefore, they mainly lived along rivers.
After all, while dragons were the only creatures cla.s.sified as a large species on land, there were huge monsters like sailboats in the sea.
But Phoenix was an exception.
“He killed the 1st Elf King, the founding father of the elves, and devoured his treasure and body to gain the power of fire and eternal life. That’s why Elfheim and I collaborated with the First Hero. We had to recover the treasure called the power of fire.”
It was as the First Spirit explained.
Phoenix, who became a fire giant, didn’t have good compatibility with water.
As a result, he couldn’t get along with other giants living along the coast and ended up living alone.
But that only lasted for a moment.
Phoenix started a family and gave birth to numerous children, becoming the founder of a new race called the fire giants, which were now widely distributed in the volcanic regions of the Southern Continent.
When volcanic activity ceased, it became difficult to eat flames, so most of their days were spent stimulating and digging up the ground.
People were divided into two main categories.
Those who challenged Phoenix.
And those who obeyed him.
He was able to create fire on his own thanks to the swallowed artifact, making him nothing less than a G.o.d to the fire giants.
Should I say that he could give bread and wine to the hungry indefinitely?
Therefore, some followers worship the power of fire, but others envied him instead, seeking to take his abilities away.
“In the first round, I threatened those challengers, but…”
“Drug Hero, why did you threaten them instead of persuading them?”
“Why should I persuade them?”
As the righteous hero, I didn’t compromise with villains.
Giants were a race as vicious as goblins. Not all giants were like that, but I was certain that 100% of their fiery kind were.
“Threatening the mighty fire giants… I can’t even begin to imagine it.”
“The principle is simple. I fight power with power.”
At that time, I had already defeated the Great Disaster of the Northern Continent and had acquired the super-large bomb called the ‘Essence of Ice,’ the heart of Frost Queen Elsh.
That made it easy to threaten them, who were weak to it.
I also ignited the resentment of the natives who had lost their wives, daughters, and sisters.
I cut down the sweet talks of the natives that were saving their family and got revenge on the giants who would give them a modest reward and urged them to fight together.
There was a bit of fuss in the process, but the righteous and fair hero ended it by attacking like a cowa- making the right judgment.
Even the Medusa proved useful.
I grabbed the head of the named monster called the Serpent King and turned weak giants into stone with his petrification ability.
Long-term war would’ve proven difficult because we were up against fists that burned crops, destroying our sources of food. Even if it was a little too much, I had to finish it in a day.
From there, the true value of heroes was displayed.
I reached the front of Phoenix with courage and sacrifice, not an absurd vain emotion like love and friendship.
This time, the process was omitted further.
“… Who the h.e.l.l are you?”
The giant, whose lower body was immersed in the hot lava flowing from the volcano, looked down on me with narrow eyes.
If the average height of a giant was three stories tall, he boasted an unusual size that would be about twenty stories tall.
That was due to his race’s nature.
Giants grew until they died.
Children born by crossbreeding with a female human became a giant if it was a male and a human if it was a female.
At first, there was no difference regardless of gender.
Such traits would only be noticeable from the age of 20 or so. Their daughters would stop growing as humans did, but their sons would continue to do so.
People with gigantism couldn’t live long on Earth, my home planet, since their weight pressed their organs. Their bones couldn’t withstand it, causing them to break.
However, the giants of the Fantasy Continent were different.
Their body became infinitely stronger in proportion to their growing size. Their bones also became harder, and their muscles more developed.
The only exception was their genitals.
Those didn’t get any bigger than human size.
The Fire King Phoenix, who grew infinitely after eating the 1st Elf King and gaining eternal life, was no exception. It didn’t matter if his size was equal to 50 stories or 100 stories. That size of his … would remain…!
Anyway.
I gave him a brief answer.
“I am a hero.”
“Hero? How did a hero get here without any companions?”
I was asked a similar question in the 1st Round.
What did I answer?
“Fire King, is there any law that states that a hero must get help from his companions? Listen well. A true hero, the incarnation of justice, does not depend on the power of despicable friendship!”
“Drug Hero, you can’t just leave me out.”
“Yes, yes! Me too, your fiancée!”
“Meeeee~”
The First Spirit, Thief E, and the Medusa sneaked towards me.
“…The MAX-Cla.s.s hero is giving great lines, so don’t be too surprised that the extras are removed from the scene.”
There were no fire giants that stood in my way since I had the cooperation of the universe.
I didn’t know about the Fire King Phoenix, who spent his time growing indefinitely like a zelkova tree while stuck in this volcano. However, everything underneath the volcano had been swept away by an unexpected tidal wave.
The poor prisoners who forcibly gave birth to the giant’s children had probably returned home safely with its help.
▶ Difficulty: Wouldn’t that be a bit hard?
‘Miss Trainee Teacher, you’re pretty, but you lack intelligence!’
I wasn’t a dreamer who fell into a vain idealism like Senior 1. I was a rational hero who could see the reality.
A little sacrifice was inevitable.
I couldn’t save everyone.
“… You d.a.m.n spirit. I am having a serious conversation with the villainous boss. Don’t pull my armpit hair like crazy.”
The water spirits blessed the women, allowing them to flow to a nearby village without drowning, but I didn’t think all of them would be able to return home alive.
Too many prisoners had been released for that.
If they were unlucky, they might fall on a rock and die.
I didn’t have enough free time to take them all home either.
▶Smile: The seniors detest you, but you’re the best trainee I know, cadet Kang Han-soo.
‘Miss Trainee Teacher, you’re also a sweet talker, huh?’
“A hero? I can’t wait to see what kind of power I’ll get from eating you.”
When the Fire King Phoenix slowly raised himself, he looked at me with eyes filled with greed.
He was already huge while just sitting down and with his lower body buried in the lava. It was no surprise that he was even more colossal when he stood all the way up.
No weapon in the world could suit his physique.
Flash!
Except for his ‘Fire Spear,’ created with the power of treasure.
Flames were wrapped around a long and heavy polearm that could even cut through the highest mountain with pure physical power.
“That’s bigger than the first time.”
That was natural.
His ability had been boosted by at least a hundred times, after all.
In the 1st Round, he was just a big jerk, but now he was absurdly strong like other fire giants.
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▷ Race: h.e.l.lfire Giant
▷ Level: 9999+
▷ Job: Hermit (Secluded → Experience ↑)
▷ Skills: Overpower ZZZ, Fighting ZZZ, Flame ZZ, Explosion ZZ, Volcano ZZ…
▷ Status: Holy Relic, Eternal Life, Growth
However, he was weaker than the Great Disaster of the Western Continent.
In the 1st Round, Fire King Phoenix was stronger. But that was the power of being so-called ‘overgeared,’ caused by the treasure of the 1st Elf King.
That was the cause.
Although his abilities had been amplified, the item’s performance remained the same. That was why the Phoenix’s fighting power was lower than Shakespeare’s, which was strengthened only by pure abilities.
The same applied to the remaining Five Great Disasters.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter.”
I didn’t care about any of them except for my dear comrade Noebius, the Dragon King. The others were just a nuisance.
Shriek, shriek.
I created the wings of the righteous hero.
Wings that had been strengthened by the true education of the great Master Mollan. It worked well against vampires. I took this opportunity to test how well it worked against giants.
“Are you not a hero but the Demon King…?”
Seeing my dignified wings, the Fire King Phoenix murmured.
“If you thought you could shake the upright heart of this MAX-Cla.s.s hero with such a lie, you would be greatly mistaken!”
“I’m being serious right now..”
I jumped up without further responding to his nonsense.
The fire giant, who read my movements, swung his spear.
“In life, everything is decided by one blow.”
“What-?!”
The Fire Spear quickly lost its power, my manipulation ability making it difficult to control it.
▷ Race: h.e.l.lfire Giant
▷ Level: 9999+
▷ Job: Hermit (Secluded → Experience ↑)
▷ Skills: Overpower ZZZ, Cold ZZZ, Flame ZZ, Overloaded ZZ, Snow Mountain ZZ…
▷ Status: Holy Relic, Eternal Life, Confusion, Rage
There was a new fact that I learned this time.
In addition to the first skill that determined the nature of his soul, I could not touch the perfect skill.
Like the Flame Skill.
I took notes and made a list whenever I discovered something new.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Shriek!
The wing of the righteous hero easily struck his neck.
Fire King Phoenix’s power had been neutralized due to the skills ‘Cold’ and ‘Snow Mountain,’ reverting him into nothing more than a big giant.
“W-what the h.e.l.l is this…!”
Slash! Slash! Thud!
He seemed to have many things he wanted to say, but unfortunately, I couldn’t hold on for long because the manipulation ability wasn’t an omnipotent ability.
I summoned Boris and Shadow A to clear things up.
The two cut across the 6th and 7th cervical vertebrae of the Fire King Phoenix from either side as I pierced through his large Adam’s apple with the Holy Sword Nucleon from the front.
In the end, I kicked his chin with all my might.
Bam-!
The giant’s head bent upwards and fell backward uncontrollably until it was completely detached from his body.
Plop!
It fell into the lava, his expression seemingly finding the whole ordeal unfair. His headless body soon crumbled away and followed it.
I hadn’t been able to fight properly.
“That was too easy!”
Praise the great Master Mollan!
All the evils in the world would be conquered under his soft, true education!
“Just now, I thought I saw my mother…?”
Thief E seemed to be more concerned about the sudden appearance of Shadow A than the Fire King Phoenix of the Five Great Disasters, who fell in vain like nothing but a side character.
However, since she quickly completed her duties and hid back into my shadow, her daughter didn’t get to see her properly.
With this, I had subjugated two of the Great Disasters.
“I’ll double-check as a precaution.”
I looked at my mission to see if there was a possibility of a lame rematch.
▷ Disaster of the Eastern Continent: Defeat the Cursed King Malfart (1/1)
▷ Disaster of the Northern Continent: Defeat the Snow Queen Elsh (1/1)
▷ Disaster of the Southern Continent: Defeat the Fire King Phoenix(1/1)
▷ Disaster of the Western Continent: Defeat the Phantom King Shakespeare (1/1)
▷ Disaster of the Central Continent: Defeat the High Dragon of Oblivion Noebius (0/1)
… Something was off.
Elsh in the Northern Continent and Malfart in the Eastern Continent had been beaten even though I hadn’t dealt with them yet.
How did that happen?
“Let me explain that, Kang Han-soo.”
“Huh? You are…”
She seemed to know me very well from the look on her face and gaze, but I wasn’t sure who this woman pretending to be smart was.
Where did we meet?
“Fufu! How does it feel to be reunited with your girlfriend after three years?”
“Girlfriend…? Ah! Stick girl!”
“I’m not ‘stick girl’! You just swung me around like a stick!”
I remember now.
The student council president of the secondary education curriculum, who proudly called herself my ‘girlfriend’ again, shouted as she blushed.