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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Stitched-Mouth Giant
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Chapter 16
Kim Bong-gu swallowed dryly and began to slowly organize his thoughts.
*‘Was that monster looking for Kang-jun all along?’*
Just then, the ‘Frost Giant Hrimthurs,’ who had been studying the faces of his brethren, let out a heart-wrenching cry.
*“B-Brothers—!”*
They had all once been proud warriors of the Yotun tribe.
They should have met a warrior’s end, fiercely fighting against ‘■■■’ who had invaded their sanctuary as their mission dictated.
But now?
Forced back to life by necromancy, they had been reduced to mindless puppets, stripped of their very selves.
“Grrrr….”
Their deathly pale skin, devoid of any sign of life, and their eyes, pupils vanished leaving only the whites, were all the proof he needed.
All of it was evidence that his brothers were being controlled by mere necromancy.
*“Brothers, why do you raise your gleaming axes against me, the leader of our clan?”*
*“Why do you treat me with such hostility, the apostle of the ‘Stitched-Mouth Giant,’ the god of all Yotun, the omnipotent giant!”*
As the Frost Giant Hrimthurs’s roar echoed, the blizzard that had been raging across the snowfield began to intensify.
*“■■■, you have used your crude necromancy to condemn my brothers to a fate where they can never find eternal rest—!”*
With those words, the Frost Giant Hrimthurs charged toward Kang-jun at lightning speed.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The very earth shook violently each time the giant, large enough to blot out the sky, stomped on the ground.
The blizzard, growing fiercer in tandem, made it impossible to even open one’s eyes properly.
Kim Bong-gu whipped his head around and shouted urgently at Kang-jun.
“S-Sir! You have to run—!”
The Frost Giant was a terrifying monster that had snatched Chu Ji-hun, the S-rank Hunter ranked 10th known as the ‘Swift Sword,’ as if swatting a fly, incapacitating him in an instant.
He judged that no matter how strong Kang-jun was, there was no way he could fight and win against such a creature.
“Why run? This is where the fun begins.”
Kang-jun replied curtly, leaping lightly from the head of a Yotun soldier to land on the ground.
He let out a smirk as if amused and muttered in his characteristically flat tone.
“■■■, huh….”
It was something like a name he had long since forgotten.
No, that wasn't quite right.
It was more of a moniker than a name….
“Do you know me?”
The moment Kang-jun’s chilling question dissipated into the air, the dozen or so Yotun soldiers standing guard behind him suddenly charged toward the Frost Giant Hrimthurs.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Soon after, the Frost Giant Hrimthurs and the group of Yotun soldiers clashed violently….
KABOOOOM!
BOOM!
KABOOOOM!
Every time the Frost Giant Hrimthurs swung its fists without restraint, the Yotun soldiers were sent flying helplessly.
The Yotun soldiers were easily three or four times larger than a grown man, and the Frost Giant Hrimthurs was two or three times larger than them.
There was an immense disparity in their weight classes from the start.
The Yotun soldiers who took a blow to the face from Hrimthurs’s massive fists had the impacted areas cave in and gruesomely crumple as if they were made of tin.
Like a savage wolf dropped into a flock of sheep, Hrimthurs rampaged, taking down the Yotun soldiers one by one.
*“■■■, how could I not know you? Even the god all Yotun serve, the ‘Stitched-Mouth Giant,’ has his eyes on you!”*
Hrimthurs answered, his voice brimming with fury, as he grabbed the last remaining Yotun soldier by the scruff of its neck and lifted it high into the air.
At the sight, Kim Bong-gu let out a low groan. “Haaah….”
With all of Kang-jun’s Yotun soldiers defeated, he believed the tide had turned completely in Hrimthurs’s favor.
On the other hand, Kang-jun remained as carefree as ever, as if he had an ace up his sleeve.
“A god, you say….”
Hrimthurs violently slammed the Yotun soldier he had lifted high onto the ground and replied again.
*“He is certainly not the only one watching you! All the gods are watching you, who dared to covet the right of ‘■■■’ and ultimately seized it for yourself!”*
At those words, Kang-jun nodded once and asked back.
“In your opinion, do you think a god is stronger than me?”
Hrimthurs’s veins bulged in his neck as he roared.
*“■■■, you are dim-witted and arrogant! Do you now dare to speak blasphemy against a god in the presence of an apostle of the ‘Stitched-Mouth Giant’—!”*
Kang-jun had pondered the existence of omnipotent beings called ‘gods’ for a very long time.
*‘When did it start?’*
It was probably after he had witnessed, on numerous occasions, those who called themselves the supreme beings of their respective worlds die without lasting more than a few exchanges with him.
The dragons that had plunged the entire Anux Continent into fear, the so-called Heavenly Demon of the Murim dimension.
Even the Spirit King of the Spirit Realm and the Demon King who ruled over all of the Demon Realm and its devils were no match for him.
It was around that time he began to feel a profound weariness with his inexplicably eternal life.
And so, Kang-jun prayed and prayed that beings who dared to call themselves ‘gods’ actually existed.
It was because of a sliver of hope that such omnipotent beings could finally be a worthy opponent for him.
“Tell your god…”
Kang-jun finished, then added in a tone that seemed to brim with something akin to anticipation.
“I’ll kill him on sight.”
At his words, Hrimthurs shrieked again as if having a seizure, “You baaaastard—!” and was about to charge at Kang-jun.
But then, Kang-jun extended his palm toward the corpses of the Yotun soldiers lying on the ground….
SWOOOOOSH—
A dark, ominous energy, black beyond description, began to seep from Kang-jun’s palm, enveloping the bodies of the Yotun soldiers.
Soon, from within the thick black mist surrounding the corpses, a bizarre, skin-crawling sound began to echo.
Krrrrrk—.
Krrrrrk—.
Krrrrrk—.
Kim Bong-gu, who was staring blankly at the scene, unconsciously muttered, “What in the….”
He could vaguely make out what was happening beyond the dense fog.
The corpses of the Yotun soldiers were gathering and merging into one, as if they were made of clay.
Bone and flesh mashed together into a viscous amalgamation, forming a sphere, which eventually… took the shape of a grotesque patchwork golem that dwarfed even the Frost Giant Hrimthurs.
*“W-What is this….”*
The Yotun Patchwork Golem lifted its massive palm high into the air for a moment.
Then, it brought it down with all its might upon the stunned Frost Giant Hrimthurs.
WHOOOOSH—!
Hrimthurs desperately crossed his arms, barely managing to block the attack, but…
*“H-How….”*
Seemingly unable to overcome the overwhelming difference in power with the undead giant, his stance began to waver precariously before he finally started to collapse.
Strictly speaking, it was merely a ‘patchwork golem’ created by fusing the corpses of Yotun soldiers.
If it had been an ordinary patchwork golem, overpowering the Frost Giant Hrimthurs would have been absolutely impossible, but…
“Well? Still think your god is stronger than me?”
*“You bastard…!”*
“I asked if you think your pissant god is stronger than me.”
It had been created using Kang-jun’s dense and pure dark magic as a medium, possessing a power that far transcended so-called ‘standards.’
KRAAAASH!
Thrown off balance by the patchwork golem’s ferocious attack, Hrimthurs was ultimately crushed under its massive hand and driven deep into the ground.
How much time had passed?
Kim Bong-gu, who had been watching the unbelievable sight with bated breath, swallowed dryly and muttered under his breath.
“Is… is it dead?”
Kang-jun, startled, scolded him.
“Hey, why would you say something like that?”
“Huh?”
“That’s a phrase that could bring the dead back to life!”
At that, Kim Bong-gu swallowed the words he couldn’t say out loud.
*‘Bringing the dead back to life is your specialty, though…?’*
Just then, Kang-jun muttered, “Making things unnecessarily creepy…,” and with a light flick of his hand…
The giant Yotun Patchwork Golem clenched its two fists and began to relentlessly pound the Frost Giant Hrimthurs, buried deep in the cold snow.
KRAAAASH—!
CRASH—!
KRAAAASH—!
CRASH—!
The violent pummeling continued for dozens of blows, and just as the intensity of the raging blizzard began to slowly subside…
“Seriously, it’s always the weak ones who talk the most. Can’t even take a few hits before dying, so what’s with all the chatter….”
As soon as Kang-jun finished his grumbling remarks, the giant patchwork golem suddenly began to melt away.
Kim Bong-gu pressed his lips together and stared intently at the corpse of the Frost Giant Hrimthurs, buried deep in the snow, now dead.
*‘That… that monster is dead?’*
He turned his head again, his eyes filled with awe, to look at Kang-jun’s profile.
The Frost Giant Hrimthurs was a monster that had effortlessly subdued the S-rank Hunter ranked 10th, ‘Chu Ji-hun of the Swift Sword,’ as if killing a bug.
*‘S-Sir Kang-jun is… just what….’*
What was his true identity, and what kind of life had he lived?
Just how powerful was he to have overwhelmed that monster so completely…
And how in the world could one become that strong?
Meanwhile, Kang-jun was preoccupied with staring at the empty air before him.
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
[ You have leveled up! ]
For a moment, several status windows with the message, ‘You have leveled up,’ which had appeared each time he defeated a Yotun soldier, popped up in succession.
[ You have defeated the Guardian of the Yotun Sanctuary, ‘Frost Giant Hrimthurs.’ ]
[ The Gate ‘Sanctuary of the Yotun’ will collapse in one hour. ]
[ A-Grade Achievement, ‘The One All Giants Fear,’ is now unlocked. ]
[ Hrimthurs’s Patron, ‘The Stitched-Mouth Giant,’ is now hostile toward you. ]
[ All gods of the Constellation ‘Asgard’ are now hostile toward you. ]
[ Your presence as ■■■ has become more distinct. ]
Kang-jun smirked after reading the contents of the subsequent status windows and muttered.
“Hostile, my ass. If they’ve got a problem, they can man up, come find me, and we can have a proper fight….”
With those words, he swiped away the status windows filling the air before him as if shooing a bug….
“Huh?”
Then, his eyes widened like saucers as he read the contents of a new status window that appeared.
[ The summoning conditions for your familiar, ‘Iriel,’ have been met! ]
[ You can now summon your familiar, ‘Iriel.’ ]
