The woman stood with her back to them, her white robe adorned with intricate gold trim, a clear sign of her noble standing. A pristine white hood thoroughly concealed her features, making it utterly impossible to discern even a hint of her face. Ped drew his long saber, his gaze fixed on the woman’s retreating back. He felt as though he stood before a formidable foe.
“Who are you?!”
This secluded spot, deep within the forest west of Pad City, was a secret Ped believed only he knew. The sudden appearance of a stranger, a woman no less, immediately signaled ill intent.
Her presence could only mean she, too, sought the clues to the Hero’s Sword; no other reason could explain her unexpected arrival.
Could she be a minion of the Evil God, Beacai?
A fine sheen of sweat coated Ped’s hand as he gripped his saber. He knew, with chilling certainty, that if his suspicions were true, they would be utterly outmatched by this woman.
Anyone dispatched by the Evil God to investigate the Hero’s Sword would be anything but incompetent or weak.
Nona and her four companions, much like Ped, felt an immediate sense of dread. The moment they parted the foliage and glimpsed the woman, an undeniable danger registered within them, sending their hearts into a frantic rhythm.
Nona, in particular, possessed an unnervingly accurate intuition for danger. Confronted by the white-robed woman, she found herself paralyzed, unable even to muster the courage to reach for her weapon.
Against her, they stood no chance.
As Nona and her companions wrestled with their individual anxieties, hesitant to advance, the white-robed woman slowly turned. Her gaze now fell directly upon them.
The hood was drawn so low that Nona could only glimpse the woman’s chin. Just as she prepared to inquire about her identity, the woman extended a hand, and a golden scepter materialized within her grasp.
Then, without a single incantation, the woman gracefully ascended into the air, hovering above them as she looked down. Simultaneously, an intense wave of dread surged through Nona’s very core.
“Be careful!”
No sooner had Nona’s warning escaped her lips than the earth beneath them began to tremble violently. The ground beneath their feet fractured into countless fissures, and a gaping pit yawned open directly before them.
The earth’s convulsions made it nearly impossible to maintain their footing. Before they could even attempt to flee the perilous area, a colossal head, formed of mud, erupted from the pit, shattering the already fractured ground into fragments.
As the monstrous head breached the surface, a titanic humanoid mud beast clawed its way out from the depths. The ground was instantaneously ripped apart, flinging Nona and her companions skyward before they plummeted back towards the earth nearby.
Thankfully, Hia maintained her composure amidst the chaos, deftly casting flight magic to suspend Nona and the others mid-air. While the fall might not have been fatal, it would undoubtedly have left them gravely injured.
Once they regained their balance, they looked up at the colossal, sky-obscuring giant. A torrent of shock surged through them, particularly Hia, who found herself utterly astounded.
This mud giant, forged by an unknown magic, was a spectacle few could truly comprehend. Yet, Hia, a noble mage herself, recognized that to manifest such a colossal creature demanded an exceptionally profound understanding and mastery of magical energies.
Few, if any, humans possessed such formidable capabilities.
Moreover, if her eyes hadn’t deceived her, the white-robed woman had conjured this very mud giant without uttering a single incantation…
Hia hastily scanned the area around the behemoth. Upon confirming the white-robed figure was nowhere in sight, she exhaled a profound sigh of relief.
Had the woman remained, none of them would likely survive the day. It seemed she considered the mud giant alone sufficient to ensure their demise, hence her departure.
This, at least, offered them a chance at survival.
“Hia!”
“Ah, I understand!”
Responding to Nona’s urgent call, Hia closed her eyes and began a soft incantation. Moments later, her eyes snapped open, and with a swift flick of her staff towards the giant’s chest, a prodigious fireball hurtled forth from her very being!
Boom—!
True to its destructive nature, the fireball slammed into the giant’s chest with immense force. Yet, after the inferno subsided, it merely stirred a few heatwaves, leaving the colossus entirely unharmed. This stark realization instantly etched a look of grim resolve onto everyone’s faces.
The assailed mud giant retaliated by swinging its massive arms, as if intent on pulverizing Nona and her companions into a bloody pulp. Though its attack methods were rudimentary, its seemingly indestructible form and astonishing speed commanded unwavering respect.
Having narrowly evaded a crushing blow from the giant’s fist, Ped wiped the mud from his face. Before he could even register a moment of relief, he spotted the stone platform—the one holding the clue to the Hero’s Sword—perilously close to the giant’s foot.
If the giant were to step on it, the platform would undoubtedly shatter, wouldn’t it?
“The platform! Protect the platform quickly!”
Ped brandished his long saber, weaving magic to divert the mud giant’s attention, hoping to lure it away from the precious stone platform. Meanwhile, Nona, who had been meticulously observing the behemoth from afar, drew the iron sword she had acquired at the outpost days ago. Taking a deep breath, she sprinted resolutely towards the colossal foe.
She had pinpointed its vulnerability: the magical core that animated the mud giant resided within its skull. A single, decisive thrust of her iron sword through its head would be enough to extinguish its life.
However, piercing its colossal skull would be no simple feat.
The mud giant registered her frantic sprint, unleashing a massive fist aimed at flattening her into a pulp. Yet, Nona deftly used the force of the blow to leap onto its arm, then swiftly surged towards its head.
Observing this, the giant’s other arm did not remain idle. It swung down at Nona with brutal force, as though swatting an irritating insect, but she evaded the strike with a remarkably agile dodge.
What she hadn’t anticipated, however, was the sudden emergence of a *third* arm from the giant’s chest, which shot out with blinding speed, snatching at her!
No escape!
The thought flashed through her mind, and she gritted her teeth, bracing herself to endure the blow. Yet, Hia, anticipating her desperate move, instantly cast a short-range teleportation spell, whisking Nona into the air and away from the fatal grasp.
Meanwhile, Olivia drew her bow, an arrow transforming into a tangle of vines that swiftly coiled around the mud giant’s three monstrous arms. Fely, in turn, imbued these bindings with divine magic, enhancing their durability and simultaneously granting Nona crucial moments.
The Hero’s team moved with a coordination that was not only incredibly swift but also utterly seamless, leaving Ped, who watched from the sidelines, utterly mesmerized.
Perched atop the mud giant’s head, Nona wasted no time. She raised her iron sword and plunged it downwards, only for it to strike with a sharp *clink*. The blade failed to pierce the giant’s skull; instead, the impact jolted her hands, leaving them numb.
Common weapons proved utterly ineffective against the behemoth. It was little wonder the white-robed woman had believed the mud giant alone sufficient to ensure their demise.
Retracting her iron sword, Nona then produced the wooden sword her mother had bequeathed to her. Though she remained ignorant of its composition, its proven ability to deflect a mace blessed by a goddess left no doubt that it was an artifact of extraordinary power.
Yet, whether it possessed the power to pierce the giant’s head remained a significant uncertainty in her mind.
Thus, grasping the hilt with both hands, she raised the wooden blade high. With a silent prayer echoing in her heart, she plunged it downwards with sudden, decisive force.
Shhh—!
To her utter astonishment, with virtually no resistance, the wooden sword plunged effortlessly into the giant’s skull, churning the magical essence within.
Roar—!
The mud giant tore free from the restraining vines, its massive body reeling backward uncontrollably. Simultaneously, it clutched its head with both hands, writhing in unimaginable agony.
With its magic core in disarray, the giant should, in theory, have simply disintegrated. Yet, this time…
Perceiving the magic within its skull rapidly compressing, Hia’s pupils dilated in alarm. She screamed a desperate warning to Nona: “Get away, quick!”
“It’s too late…”
Clutching the wooden sword to her chest, Nona gazed at the mud giant, now a ticking bomb of imminent magical explosion. A whisper of despair escaped her lips, her eyes wide with resignation.