Tap! Tap! Tap!
In three powerful jumps, the King arrived in front of the massive humanoid monster that was threatening his kingdom.
The Giant looked massive from where he was standing, taller than a tower, its limbs thicker than centuries-old oak trees, and the stench… Rotting corpses smelled pleasantly in comparison to this abomination.
But King Robart III did not care. With a silent prayer to Innos on his lips and a fire in his heart, he jumped at the colossus, arriving at eye level in a single leap, and swung his hammer with both hands, giving it his all.
"For Myrtana!"
BOOOM!
The Warhammer struck Giant's upper cheek, producing concentric ripples on the flesh at the point of impact, and knocking his head backward, nearly pushing the beast off balance.
Thud!
The Giant took a step backward, producing tremors in the ground, and stabilized himself. As he straightened himself, a small stream of blood dripped from his cheek wound. Ten seconds later it already stopped.
Barrel-like Giant's white orbs turned downward, as the Giant's sight focused on his attacker on the ground.
"Shit!" the King cursed with gritted teeth, realizing just how massive the difference in power was. Despite it being seemingly hopeless, he knew he couldn't just give up. His generals gave their all to lend him their power and were counting on him.
His commanders, his soldiers, his citizens, they were all counting on him. He couldn't give up!
"AAAH!" He roared, psyching himself up as he prepared for another jump.
He crouched slightly, bending his knees and feeling the pressure in his muscles build up like a volcano before erupting. He jumped!
That's when the slow-moving Giant reacted. His body moved, bending forward slightly, with a fist cocked back in preparation for delivering a devastating punch.
Robart's eyes opened wide in shock as he saw the fist rapidly approaching. Everything happened in an instant.
His life flashed before his eyes, realizing he might lose it despite the ancient armor and increased power. The feeling of mortal danger flooded his brain and he subconsciously lifted his hands to protect himself.
At the same time, his armor started to glow, forming a thin blue membrane around his body.
BOOM!
The fist connected fully, and the King was blasted towards the ground like a cannonball. His body created a crater upon impact, and then helplessly bounced up as he spat out blood.
Despite being protected by the barrier, the armor, padding, and defensive Combat Arts, the sheer amount of acceleration and deceleration happening in the blink of an eye produced such forces that a normal person's body would be partially, if not totally, liquefied.
And then, as if that wasn't enough, the Giant's leg came rushing at with a rumbling sound as the air was pushed aside, kicking him like an athlete would kick a football, full force and in a straight line.
Like a cannonball, the King flew across the battlefield, crashing back down like a meteor on top of a group of soldiers, killing many on impact as their entire bodies exploded, as well as wounding many others.
He then skidded across the ground, tumbling and rolling, until he eventually came to a stop in the soft mountain of corpses that surrounded the city wall.
He remained there for quite a while, with the barrier around his body deactivating on its own, bloodied, and unmoving.
"Oh, fuck..." Gerald sucked in a cold breath of air, eyes wide open. His eyes darted from the King to the Giant, and back in rapid succession. He quickly flew closer, but upon noticing the King's Aura rapidly diminish, he made a decisive 180.
The man was quite obviously dying. It was actually surprising he wasn't dead already, because Gerald was 100% sure he wouldn't be able to survive that.
"Nope! Fuck that, I'm out of here!" Things didn't look good, and he wasn't going to risk his life for a doomed kingdom he barely knew.
Now he just had to go pick up Toby and disappear. Oh, and the girls too. He should probably take them as well. He had already started making plans...
Who knows, maybe the Empire would accept him with open arms if he migrated there. And even if they wouldn't, he was sure he could have an easy life with the fortune he amassed in the short time living in Auralba.
"Cough, cough!"
He suddenly stopped in his tracks as the weak coughing sounds reached his ears.
"Don't tell me…" Gerald slowly turned around, half expecting some miraculous stunt that would reignite the King's life force.
But nope! The man was coughing up a piece of his lung and blood, choking on his own bodily fluids. He seemingly tried to move, but judging from the twisted limbs, many bones in his body were broken. Only one hand was partially working, and even that was slow and weak.
"Yeah, no… What the hell was I expecting, this is not some fantasy, this is real life! People die when they are killed, not gain some magical buffs!" Gerald scolded himself. The battle was over before it even started.
But just as he tried to leave, he noticed a vial appearing in King Robart's hand. It might have been something impressive, seeing a man struggle to fight even on his deathbed if he didn't at the same time pathetically struggle to uncork the tiny bottle.
The mighty King didn't even have enough strength to pull off the cork covering the mouth of the vial, what did he even expect?! He even lost his hammer somewhere, and his armor lost its luster. He should just give up and die already.
Gerald mentally sighed seeing him struggle so much with such a simple task, so he decided to do one last good deed before leaving. He sent a strand of his magic, utilizing Telekinesis to open the vial.
The King noticed the action and looked up at the sky where Gerald stood, gratitude clear in his bloodshot eyes.
He then quickly downed the potion and closed his eyes with a raspy sigh… Before entering another coughing fit.
"So stubborn," Gerald said and shook his head, "Almost as much as me."
Time was running out. The Giant has long since ignored his dying opponent, stomping out the soldiers underneath his feet, as a person would do with bugs.
"I'll remember your help, thank you."
"Hmm?!" Gerald jerked his head around, focusing back down at the King. The man was now standing straight like an old oak tree, all traces of death long since gone. He was on fire!
And by that I mean, he was literally burning! The flesh underneath Robart's skin turned white from heat, akin to molten rock from an active volcano!
"Oh, shit! That was the Elixir of Life?!" Gerald realized all of a sudden, completely disrespecting the potion by calling it by its shorter name. If the grand Royal Alchemist Bob heard him, he would probably try to pick a fight with him or something.
"I have lost my hammer, but no matter!" King Robart III announced as hate welled up within him. His bones snapped back in place, and his injuries burned off as he became a living torch in a suit of armor.
"Thirty minutes of immortality, huh? My Soul, my life, and my cultivation… I'll give it my all to defeat this abomination!" He roared and exploded from the spot once again. His Aura rose to the peak for the second time as he fully recovered in less than a minute.
"Huh? What the hell is this lunatic doing?!" Gerald shouted. "Are you crazy?! You're clearly no match for the Giant!"
But his screams were ignored as Robart III rushed with all he had, striking one of the Giant's legs with his fists.
Boom!
As if on queue, the man came flying back a few seconds later and crashed into the ground at full force. The only thing was… He freaking stood up just a moment later!
"Hahaha! So much pain!" the King laughed as his broken limbs snapped back in place, and his molten body began glowing even brighter. "If that's what it takes to kill you, I'll gladly take it all!"
The madman then materialized a battleaxe in his hands, and would you know it, he attacked again!
Boom!
Gerald looked at another fresh fissure in the ground, and at the laughing madman standing back up from it. He facepalmed.