Magic arrows rained down like a storm, striking the giant's massive frame—but none of them mattered. Every arrow that touched its body dissolved into harmless sparks of mana, exactly like the demon sword's attacks earlier. Even the explosive arrow aimed precisely at its burning purple core only smothered the creature in blue flames and black smoke.
But behind the mask, I could feel the truth.
It survived again.
With a roar that shook the battlefield, the headless giant burst from the smoke and swung its massive club. A creature with no mouth somehow cried out with rage.
I stepped forward and raised the Dwarven Blade. The giant immediately sensed my magic and turned toward me, its purple core blazing hotter.
The pain in my forehead returned—sharp, cold, relentless. The giant's skin was an impenetrable shell that ignored even enchanted weapons. But nothing in this world was truly absolute. There had to be a weakness.
Kyle's voice echoed through the mask.
This is only a skirmish. Save your strength and look for the weak point. The bead replacing its head is the most likely target.
Five meters tall. To reach that core, I'd need an enormous leap—and it would never give me the chance.
I prepared to test its legs first—
—and my vision suddenly went white.
A vision unfolded.
The giant swung its club.
I slid beneath it, cut at its leg.
The blade bounced cleanly off.
A moment later, its kick shattered my ribs and sent my body flying.
"What—?!"
Is it a vision? Kyle asked.
But why? My past vision had shown my victory. Did that mean… no future existed where I defeated it?
The giant's club came crashing down on me.
"Hmph!"
My body moved on instinct, slipping aside with speed I never possessed before. But no matter how many times I dodged, no answers came. No path forward. No winning route.
Why can't I attack?! I'll never win like this!
Because I saw a vision of you dying the moment you struck its leg! Kyle snapped.
Then attack somewhere else! Not the legs!
Before he could finish—
The shadow of the giant's club swallowed me.
And then I saw it.
"HUP!"
A three-hit flurry, clean enough to leave afterimages.
The giant's club shattered into splinters.
"What—?!"
I thrust the blade toward its exposed fingers, channeling all my strength into a killing strike—
—but the sword bounced away effortlessly.
My heart sank.
The giant, enraged at losing its weapon, reached for me with hands like tree trunks.
Another vision flashed—
Dodge the hand.
Dash inward.
The other hand crashes down.
Block with the sword.
Lose the power struggle.
Get crushed.
Death again.
So that was the rule.
I couldn't overpower it.
I couldn't pierce it.
But that didn't mean I could stop.
Teeth gritted, I tore myself from its grasp and launched another attack.
And another.
And another.
Every strike was futile, but I kept pushing—because if the blade wouldn't cut, I would keep swinging until it did.
I seized the opening and unleashed the eight-hit combo that once sliced through spider-silk defenses—
Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng!
And the blade bounced off every time.
Still no damage.
Still no progress.
And then—
A strange discomfort crawled up my spine.
The force that pushed the blade aside didn't feel like a hard surface.
It didn't feel like armor.
It didn't feel physical.
Something wasn't right.
I leapt back and aimed for the core. My forehead tingled violently—another vision.
Strike the giant's hand.
Ride the recoil.
Leap into the air.
Land on its arm.
Run straight toward the burning core.
"Now!"
As soon as the vision ended, the giant's hand surged toward me. I met it head-on—letting the bounce send me upward—and landed on its arm.
Kyle cried in my head:
This is your chance!
"I know!"
I sprinted along the giant's arm as it flailed awkwardly in panic. The core drew closer, a pulsing purple sun.
"Let's see if this thing can deflect this too!"
I swung the Dwarven Blade with all my might.
The blade cut through the flames—
Reached the core—
And—
Shattered.
"…?!"
Fragments spun through the air like pieces of a dying star.
My thoughts shattered with them.
The Dwarven Blade… forged by dwarves… broke?
Kyle's voice shouted my name—
—and then the giant's fist slammed into me.
Pain tore through my body. My vision blurred. The mask on my face cracked and began dissolving into mana. I rolled across the dirt, breath crushed out of me.
Somewhere far away, Lanius screamed my name.
Explosions rattled the earth.
The giant roared and hurled a massive boulder. Lanius dodged, but the projectile destroyed one of his mechanical wings. He spiraled downward.
"Kyle! Lanius!"
Don't move! Kyle commanded. I'm healing your injuries—if you move, it'll slow the regeneration!
"How am I supposed to just lie here—?!"
"Connor!"
Professor Master Muscle landed in front of me, both tonfas drawn.
"Leave this to me!"
"Professor!"
He charged the giant.
The giant swung.
The professor met the massive fist with a tonfa.
The collision didn't budge either of them.
Their strength… was equal.
"You can't win!" I shouted desperately.
"What does that matter?!"
"…!"
"Winning or losing isn't important! What matters is—"
He pushed the giant's fist back with sheer will.
"—that I protect my students!"
With a roar, he broke the monster's stance and sent it stumbling.
But his right arm hung limp—bone broken.
He couldn't hold out much longer.
Think, Connor.
Why didn't the sword work?
The core wasn't too hard.
The skin wasn't too dense.
The blade remained perfectly intact… until the moment it tried to cut the core.
It wasn't failing.
It was being nullified.
"…it's abnormal."
A force that denied all damage.
A force even the demon sword couldn't break.
A force beyond reason—
"…absolute?"
No. There was one thing in this world that could be absolute.
"Gift."
At that word, the broken mask whispered fragments:
—Gift.
—Meteor.
—Curse.
—Meteor with a Gift.
A chilling realization struck me.
The reason no attack worked—
The reason even famed weapons failed—
"…that giant's Gift is 'immunity to all damage not containing Earth magic.'"
Kyle's shock reverberated.
What…?!
My regeneration completed. I stood, strength returning as the Earth's mana seeped through my limbs.
The professor faltered.
His defense was crumbling.
"…Professor. I told you I didn't want to regret things twice."
I gripped the broken sword.
Kyle hesitated.
Connor… what you're thinking—its second form… if your theory is correct, it might work.
"Then let's do it."
Earth mana surged up my legs.
Tattoos identical to Kyle's spread across my arm.
Stone beads formed around my wrist like a rosary.
The broken blade reformed—
layer by layer, scale by scale—
into a serpent-shaped edge forged from the Earth itself.
Kyle's voice echoed like an ancient chant:
Earth that sustains the world—open your eyes.
Your fangs pierce all things.
Your scales never break.
The new blade glimmered with overlapping geologic scales.
Type 2 — The Serpent Sword.
I raised the weapon of the Earth.
And swung.