My whole body trembled like a corpse just before death.
Nonetheless, I was still clinging to the forehead of the Corpse Giant. In fact, I even put more strength into the hand gripping the giant’s head.
I couldn’t let it slip away like this.
I had to see it through to the end.
Thus continued the stubbornly fierce axe chopping.
Thwack, thwack, thwack.
Each chop sent blood splattering, soaking my flesh.
Before long, silver cracks were spreading across the giant’s head.
Initially, they were just small fissures, but as time passed, the number and depth of those cracks increased.
The Corpse Giant was not just waiting for its end.
The monster desperately raised its head again, attempting to drive it into the ground.
It was a splendid judgment.
Even I knew that if I allowed it one more blow, I would have to prepare for death.
If no one was charging in at that moment, the Corpse Giant would have surely achieved its intent.
Blue hair dashed forward, leaving a trail of blue aura.
The Lady Knight immediately burrowed into the embrace of the Corpse Giant. Moments later, her sword swam through a halted time.
A blue trajectory was traced like a comet across the sky.
The aftershock was astonishing.
The ground burst apart, and the air tore under the shockwave of the sword strike breaking the sound barrier.
It was as if a natural disaster had been recreated by a sword strike.
As far as I knew, there was only one person capable of using such a technique.
“……Master!”
Airen Rufemyon.
She, who had taken it upon herself to guard Liya, had finally joined the battlefield.
Of course, I still hadn’t quite adapted to calling her ‘Master.’
However, the timing was indeed appropriate, forcing the Corpse Giant to experience another fall.
It was because Lady Airen’s ambush had shattered its waist.
The body of the Corpse Giant lurched involuntarily.
With no way to stabilize itself, it was impossible to slam its head into the ground.
Seizing that opportunity, I struck down the axe with all my strength.
And finally, there was a loud squelch.
The head of the Corpse Giant was soaked in a halo of silver light.
Kreeeeeeeeeeek!
It was the most dramatic response I had seen thus far.
The head of the Corpse Giant twitched wildly, and even the screams it emitted turned to light.
Boom! It didn’t take long for the head of the Corpse Giant to explode.
The shockwave sent my body flying along with countless heads.
For a while, I tumbled on the ground, gasping as I drove the axe into the earth and lifted my body.
The body of the Corpse Giant, having lost its head, showed no movement.
It merely fell forward with a thud.
Confident of victory, Lady Airen dashed over to me in delight.
“Mas-Master! Did you see?! The technique you passed on to me, I executed it even more perfectly than I practiced…”
Of course, this was merely Lady Airen’s hasty judgment.
If it was truly over, my future self would not have been so wary.
Amidst the scattered corpses, a smaller Corpse Giant appeared.
It happened instantaneously, like shedding several layers of an overcoat.
I immediately spat out a curse.
“Damn… Lady Airen, get back!”
Lady Airen’s gaze turned vacantly backward upon hearing my warning.
But it was already too late.
The Corpse Giant was already throwing a punch.
It was as swift as its reduced size.
Thud! Lady Airen was struck directly by the mighty fist of the Corpse Giant and let out a crumpled scream.
“Gwaaaaah!”
Creating a fissure, she rolled across the ground several times.
I immediately gripped my sword instead of the hand axe.
Once a towering height of several dozen meters, the Corpse Giant was now reduced to just a few meters.
Still imposing, but far more manageable than before.
I flashed a taunting smile at the Corpse Giant.
“Let’s see how small you can get.”
The Corpse Giant did not respond but kicked off the ground and charged.
The speed was terrifying.
My battered body, even on painkillers, couldn’t adequately respond to its onslaught.
Instead of swinging its fists, the Corpse Giant delivered a kick.
Just before it buried its foot into my abdomen, my sword intercepted it.
However, I couldn’t prevent my body from bending forward.
The Corpse Giant seized that moment.
The giant’s remaining leg kicked me into the air.
Thump! My body rose high into the sky.
It was disastrous.
Although I absorbed most of the shock, I was chained in the air and unable to move freely.
On the other hand, the Corpse Giant standing on the ground had infinite options available.
Moreover, I had to notice a far more dreadful fact.
The giant’s body was bubbling and boiling.
It was a precursor to regeneration.
It meant that it could revert to its previous size at any moment.
It was truly an adversary fit for the term ‘immortal.’
That was why it had to be disposed of.
The territory, the hundreds of lives, and even my sister.
The Corpse Giant was preparing for victory and had been readying itself.
Its stance revealed a semblance of martial arts training.
It was absurd.
Could a monster learn martial arts?
Perhaps it was absorbing the memories of the dead.
‘Defeat,’ those two characters rose to mind naturally.
But I still had one trump card left.
As my gaze soared high into the sky, it was drawn to a certain place.
A hooded hat visible even from afar was positioned there.
The moment I met the gaze of the girl with blue eyes, I shouted a name.
“Senior Elsi!”
That was the signal.
Senior Elsi was a capable battle mage.
She was surely preparing a secret weapon to link this golden opportunity to victory.
That was the role of a mage.
Whether that expectation was met or not, Senior Elsi had Reynolds at her back.
It suggested they were scheming something.
Mr. Reynolds quietly rested his hand on Senior Elsi’s back.
The girl’s bright declaration soon echoed across the battlefield.
“……The Thunderstorm’s Truth!”
The atmosphere roared with a rough cry.
A violent wind surged and a whirlpool formed. The wind spiraled up like a geyser.
At the very heart was the Corpse Giant.
Boom! The thunderclap shook the world.
Only then did I realize why the Rainelle Clan’s magic troops were maintaining a thunderstorm.
It was a ruse.
By maintaining a mere distraction of electric magic, they had ensured the Corpse Giant remained oblivious to the cloud of danger.
What they were truly preparing was to be revealed by Senior Elsi’s hand.
Right now.
Dozens of lightning bolts poured down at once.
Golden beams of light indiscriminately struck the center of the truth.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
The explosions echoed in succession, drowning out the cries of the Corpse Giant.
It was a sight to behold as dozens, no, hundreds of beams of lightning struck a single point.
The residual electric current dried the blood throughout the area, creating a deep, deep pit around the center of the truth.
It was barely a matter of seconds.
In that brief moment, the concentrated destruction and violence were enough to bring even an immortal to its knees.
I withdrew my axe instead of my sword.
It was more suitable for concluding the end.
The descent came with a booming sound.
Boom! The violent shockwave swept the surroundings.
The body of the Corpse Giant was already in tatters.
It had still powerful arms as if it were hiding one last trick up its sleeve. The gauntlets that had earlier gripped my ankle were plentiful.
But it was a futile endeavor.
Applying strength to the hand gripping the hand axe, I recalled the echoes of unfamiliar memories.
To burst me was ‘Resolution.’
Silver cracks coursed through the entire body of the Corpse Giant.
And inevitably, boom! Its body exploded.
Within, another smaller Corpse Giant remained.
The regeneration speed of the bubbling flesh was horrifying.
So, I moved even more violently.
It shouldn’t be able to move any longer, it shouldn’t be able to accelerate further.
The intervals at which the silver trajectory was drawn grew shorter.
The silver aura flared into an ever-clearer light.
The sword strikes continued, tearing through time.
Acceleration, and acceleration.
Bang, bang, bang!
When I burst the smaller Corpse Giant, an even smaller one emerged.
And when I burst that even smaller Corpse Giant, an even tinier one appeared.
The Corpse Giant that had reached several meters in size soon shrank to the size of a child.
No longer did it bear the gruesome appearance of corpses clinging together.
The essence of the Corpse Giant revealed was that of a child.
Presumably an orphan by its pitiful appearance.
In such a ragged state, I couldn’t even tell whether it was a boy or a girl.
Breath held tight, the little one suddenly opened its eyes.
It looked around, then gazed up at me with terrified eyes.
“W-where’s the headmaster? If I fainted again, would I be punished…?”
It was dark humor.
Once again using the corpse of an orphan for an act, I spotted something in front of my eyes.
There was a nameplate hanging from the chest of the little one.
I stared vacantly at the letters inscribed on that nameplate.
‘Miltram.’
The child clung to my knee, pleading.
“I-I’m sorry… I’m sorry for sleeping for three hours yesterday and being a parasitic worm that can’t do anything. Please, please don’t let me go to the punishment room…”
I took a moment to breathe in deeply and exhale slowly.
Then I slowly opened my mouth.
“……Child.”
The clear, innocent eyes gazed up at me.
That cruel Dark Priest must have once had such a face.
Thus, with deep emotion, I could only spit out one word.
“It’s my fault.”
No, perhaps it was ours.
In that moment, when the child’s eyes widened at my incomprehensible words,
Suddenly, the sword in my hand pierced the child’s heart.
The child momentarily looked as if it couldn’t believe it, feeling its chest hesitantly.
Then, seeing the blood-soaked hand, it smiled.
“……Finally.”
With a thud, the child’s body, displaying a face of relief, crumpled away.
“Now I can finally rest…”
The blizzard ceased, and the sun rose.
Sunlight poured down like a curtain.
I stood for a long time facing the sun.
The end of the story was approaching.
