The First Hunter

Chapter 50. The Giants, Part I

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

1.

Thump! It was a Giant with a huge body, about twenty meters tall and so big that it was impossible to estimate its weight. At the same time, it was a walking disaster. The huge thing moving was a disaster itself and it was not possible by physics.

Thump! Furthermore, the physical impact of such an enormous body could not even be imagined.

Thump! Thump! Thump! The Giants did not number one, but crucially, hundreds.

At a glance, it was hard to even estimate the whole number of Giants who were crossing the river like a stream, and just strolling over a small hill as they advanced. The most overwhelming of them was the biggest Giant at the back. It had a huge body, with a height of about a hundred meters, which made the previous giants look like nothing.

With its advent, this monster Hrungnir had made the land beyond the Baltic Sea, the land that had once been considered the best place to live, an uninhabitable land. It looked down at Frankfurt, the center of Germany, with the dark blue eyes of its huge body from on high.

Wooohohoh! At that moment, the Giants with the green eyes, the green Jötuns everywhere, opened their mouths and let out a howl of domination. The cry shook Frankfurt. The cry and the advance of the Giants started to turn over Frankfurt.

The ground began to emit the sound of thunder. It was like the sky and the earth were upside down.

“Lord.” The moment they saw it, they could not help, but seek God on the spot. “Please look over us who follow and love you…”

In front of this scene, the image of those who prayed for God, transcending everything, was not at the cliff of despair. Rather, it was the opposite. “Fill our minds and bodies with the Holy Spirit…”

There was no sign of terror on their faces and bodies, or anywhere else, as they recited prayers. The clothes of those who were decisively looking for God, were not the typical attire of those who desperately prayed. They were wearing armor instead of priestly robes, and they were holding a sword instead of a cross, and a shield instead of the Bible. “Let us be the swords and shields of the world.”

They had the eyes of fierce beasts hungry for battle. Of course, when they finished their prayers, they did not run away. They did not turn away. Everyone looked straight ahead. Among them was a man with a long head like a horse.

John Gabriel was the head of the Vatican City State, and he was leading the Crusaders to prevent the invasion of the Giants. At the end of the prayer, he opened his eyes and looked at the sight he had to face. Now he remembered a man’s face, not the Giants who had just made Frankfurt a city where nothing existed.

‘Mao.’ Mao Spencer demanded that John Gabriel lead the Crusaders to fight the Giants, in hope of a terrible defeat.

John Gabriel accepted that demand, which was bound to be bloody. But it was not a declaration of surrender to the Six Snakes. On the contrary, when he heard the proposal, he was going to stab a dagger in the Six Snakes.

‘You won’t have the chance to be a Messiah.’ By victory, not the defeat, he intended to block the opportunity for the stage Mao wanted to come out. There was nothing wrong with it.

Even if Mao just wanted them to lose, he did not tell John Gabriel to be defeated on purpose.

Even if he won the war against the Giants, it was never a breach of their agreement.

That was why John Gabriel did not argue about the deal in vain. Of course, there was a requirement for that: to kill Hrungnir.

‘We will kill the Huge Giant Hrungnir. We’ll kill a dark blue-grade monster for the first time.’

The Vatican had never killed a dark blue-grade monster. It was not that they avoided hunting because they lacked confidence. The Crusaders had already succeeded in hunting more than ten blue-grade monsters, and through the hunting, they had gained experience, won monster stones, and were able to get powerful relics and items. Their faith grew stronger.

‘Today we will change history.’

Due to the belief that God’s grace protected them, John Gabriel, who was about to fight the Giants, could shout more confidently than ever. “Today we will prove that the Lord’s will has descended here!”

The Crusaders shivered at the cry and the glory it promised.

“Ring the Bell of Jerusalem!”

Ding-dong! When the very clear sound of the Bell began to ring, there were no more people who shivered.

Whoo! There were only fanatics who were not afraid of death.

2.

Kkureung! The Giants’ footsteps were like thunder as they raced across the Main, the river that was not going to stop their passage south.

Boom! The sound of cannons from those who wanted to stop the Giants from moving south beyond the Main was also like a thunderstorm. That was about it. The battle on the stage of Frankfurt was different from the sound. Of course, the landscape of the battlefield was also different.

Boom! Boom! A number of mortars, including the Leopard II tanks and their cannons, which represented Germany and its tanks, spewed shells, and the Giants marched through the baptism of shells.

Keueoeoeo! When the Giants who had reached the main body of the Crusaders beyond the Main River repeatedly roared out, the Awakeners of the Crusade who were waiting began to work on the Giant’s bodies with their weapons, clinging to them as they moved.

“Attack!”

“Eyes! Aim at the eyes!”

“Cut the ankles! Break it down!”

A tram was crumpled like a soda can by the feet of a Giant who went on the rampage, and the Giant’s body collapsed under the attack of the ant-like Crusade, falling to the ground and creating an earthquake. The sight of a hell, which humanity had never experienced or imagined before, was unfolding around the Main River across Frankfurt.

Ding-dong! The so-pure and beautiful sound of the Bell ringing in the scene made Frankfurt’s stage an unrealistic stage that could never be understood by reason.

“Boss, the Crusaders are more powerful than we’ve heard from Miss Emma, and are not getting over the Main River.” Jang Sung-hoon, who used a telescope to confirm the fact next to Kim Tae-hoon, was calm in front of this unrealistic scene.

“If they go this way, the Crusaders will win.” It was a sight he was familiar with. “Then your plan is going to go wrong, isn’t it?”

Rather, Jang had a sense of crisis at the combat ability of the Crusaders. “I don’t think there’s any chance of the Six Snakes coming out here.”

Kim Tae-hoon, who was looking at the battlefield with his black Eyes without a telescope, said, “They’re stronger than I thought.”

“So does the boss see it? Right? Some of them are not Awakened, but they fight well in front of the fear of a Blue-grade Monster. I think their relics are not normal. Needless to say, as they’ve plundered human history, it would be odd if they didn’t have that many relics.”

“It is just what you say. The relics are powerful.”

“What?”

“That’s all.”

Kim Tae-hoon, who spoke out the words, once again looked at the battlefield wide. The power of the Crusaders who built the final defense line at the south of the Main River and the Giants trying to cross the Main River to somehow crush the Crusaders was visible. It was simply chaos, and there was no proper order anywhere.

“They have strong relics, but their skills at using them are no better than the hunter-applicants of the Mac Guild.”

“Ah.” Then Jang could understand Kim’s intention. “Well, they don’t have the concept of tactics or strategy, as the boss says. They just fight with strength against strength. To fight with just strength against strength… even animals will not do that.”

It was just as Jang said. The Crusaders were powerful, but that was all. They were fighting a power-to-power battle against the Giants, over just a river called the Main.

‘Man cannot win against a monster by using power against power, and even more so if it is the dark blue-grade.’

Kim Tae-hoon, the Mac Guild, and Korea could feel the fact that it would never be an answer in the fierce struggle to survive against monsters. In other words, the Crusaders were not aware of it as they had not had to realize it.

“They’ve crushed the monsters only with the power of their relics… in that sense, it’s natural.”

When most people tried to survive in the war against monsters, the Vatican did not have to make such an effort. The relics that Europe had were plundered from the world over the years, including the Louvre Museum, gave Europeans the power to fight monsters. It was like teaching a child how to hold a gun and use it. Anyway, if a child knew how to shoot a gun, he or she could kill a beast with violence. In other words, the child who grew up like that did not have an opportunity to learn other ways to kill a beast.

The Huge Giant Hrungnir would give a great lesson to the Crusaders, which they had not learned.

It would teach them so intensely that they would never forget it again, and it would be imprinted in history beyond the level of imprinting on their mind.

‘Mao would have expected this, too.’ Mao, the head of the Six Snakes, would have made the same prediction as Kim Tae-hoon.

‘And he would set the stage to take advantage of this situation.’ That was why Kim was here. He predicted Mao’s aim in front of the collapsed Red Square in Moscow.

‘He wants to be a Messiah.’

He predicted that the Six Snakes that had been trying to become the reality in the darkness came out under the bright sun and wanted to be the Savior. Of course, it was not to be a holy martyr who sincerely burned everything for the world.

Mao and the Six Snakes would not burn themselves for the world, but would they burn the world for their own benefit?

‘Their purpose is to use Europe as a shield.’ What they wanted was a scapegoat. The fanatics of God had secured all the power of Europe in their own hands. Therefore, if they could be a Messiah to Europe, Europe would do anything to protect their Messiah. If someone were to target the Messiah, they would block anyone who threatened the Messiah without a moment’s hesitation. They would do anything for the Messiah. They would gladly be a shield to protect the Messiah.

‘A shield to stop me.’ The shield was what the Six Snakes wanted. Through the shield, the Six Snakes were trying to stop the crazy monster Kim Tae-hoon. Of course, he did not intend to let the Six Snakes have shields.

At that moment, Kim’s eyes stopped in one place. He found a group of about a hundred people gathered there, just a little distance away from the battlefield where the fierce battle took place. He found two women in front of them, twin sisters with the same appearance.

“I found her.”

“Yes? Who?”

“The bitch who killed me.”

3.

“Sir, the number of the Giants crossing the Main River is decreasing.”

Half a day…

The fight against the Giants stopped for a while after a time, like watching a movie. The world’s most horrifying long film has stopped.

“The Giants are not heading south now. They seem to be getting their breathing.” But at that fact, Johan Gabriel did not express his joy.

“Sir, God has taken care of us, and we will win if we continue on this way.”

In contrast to the bright voice that came out of the bright expression of his subordinate, his face was stiffened as he looked at the battlefield.

‘The battlefield has collapsed.’ There were certainly no living Giants on the south of the Main River. There were only the dead bodies of the Giants who were attacked by repeated bombardment and the Crusaders around the Main River. There were about two hundred huge dead bodies dominating everything.

An enormous number of Giants’ dead bodies lay all over the place. It was similar to the image of the city center, whose buildings had all collapsed. That was the first reason to make John Gabriel’s face hard.

‘It will be hard to bomb from the banks of the Main River anymore.’

It was crazy to fight with tanks and artillery in the middle of a city where the buildings had collapsed. The mobility of the tanks was secondary, and it was difficult to secure the launch angle for the shooting. In other words, the tanks and artillery that made the greatest contribution to the collapse of the Giants were now unable to exert their power.

Of course, they have not lost yet. The damage to the troops was not serious, and the munitions to continue the battle were still overflowing. They had planned on a long fight in the first place. The use of Frankfurt as a battlefield was to occupy the advantageous ground. But it had not provided a basis for overcoming the current situation, even if it might be comforting. Above all, John Gabriel was feeling a clear limit as he commanded the battle.

‘The huge Giant has not moved yet.’

Although the Crusaders did not bring out all their power, John Gabriel more than anyone else could see that it was the same for the Giants. He had never forgotten that the Huge Giant, Hrungnir, who could change the situation of the battlefield at once, was still watching the battlefield from the back. Above all, he could not think of what tactic to use next.

‘How do we fight next?’ They had never been in this situation. The Crusaders had always won a simple and light victory with powerful relics. This tough fight was not suitable for the Crusaders. In other words, the Crusaders had never had such a hard and difficult fight.

Then the dark clouds overhead began to let out the faintest raindrops. It didn’t seem like heavy rain. But there was great anxiety in John Gabriel’s heart.

Then, a sound began to come down from above. Woo-oh-oh!

“Huck!” The man who was reporting grabbed his chest and fell on the ground and began to shake like an epileptic.

Ugh! So did John Gabriel. He had to take two steps to the side to regain his balance.

‘What the hell is it?’ John Gabriel looked up at the sky in surprise.

Woo-oh-oh! Woo-oh-oh! It was then that John Gabriel could see that the sound was not coming down from the sky, but from the mouth of the Huge Giant, who seemed to reach the sky.

‘Ah.’ And he realized that this sound, which made the reason in the head white even though it was only heard, was not at the level that a weak human being could fight against with a spear and sword. He also realized that he was so full of faith in God that he could not make a rational judgment for a while. But the nightmare was not the end, it was the beginning.

‘Oh, my God!’ Some of the Giants’ dead bodies lying on the battlefield began to move.

“Giants are moving!”

“The dead bodies are moving!”

The heart that had stopped, or the Giants who were barely breathing, began to move at the sound of their leader. Some of the fallen Giants were not dead, but waiting for their bodies to recover. It was a failure of the Crusaders. They did not know that a monster was not dead until its heart was crushed.

Whoo-woo-woong! At the same time, huge stones began to fly over the Main River.

“Get, get away!”

Boom! Boom! The Giants who they thought would no longer cross the Main River began to throw the stones they had collected instead of charging ahead.

“Aaaaargh!”

The three elements were enough to break down the front line beyond the Main River, which had been victorious: Waking dead bodies, the stone-throwing of the Giants, and the fear of Hrungnir! The three things erased the word victory in everyone’s mind.

‘The front line is collapsed.’ It was the same in John Gabriel’s mind. The moment the word victory disappeared, John Gabriel was already running to the place where the Six Snakes’ soldiers would fight against the Giants on behalf of the Crusaders anytime.

‘I need the strength of the Six Snakes.’

When he went there, it was the twin sister who welcomed John Gabriel first. One of them smiled at John Gabriel, who appeared, and said on behalf of everyone. “Here you are, you idiot.” The smile spread to the mouths of a hundred people waiting behind her, like an epidemic.

Then when Johan Gabriel stood before them, he heard a voice. “Is this all?”

Everyone looked up in the direction of the voice. Everyone looked over their heads. John Gabriel also raised his head and looked over his head. They could see a man who was looking down at them from the sky, which was dulled by the dark clouds. Of course, most of them were not able to grasp the identity of the man at once.

Only one of the twin sisters who had just smiled, Lin Siyi, identified the man. “The dragon slayer?”

Of course, the man did not answer. Instead of answering, he waved his right hand toward the ground as if he were greeting them.

Whizz! Dozens of swords began to fall from the sky like a shower.

“Get out of here!”

The battle had begun.