Monster Soul Online
/ Monster Soul Online Chapter 238: Animosity That Lasts Through Time
Sila didn't know what he was supposed to do as many players had disappeared from the scene, leaving only those who were confident enough in their abilities that they could oppose the White Giant to some degree before fleeing when things got more serious.
Sila heard the bell ringing three times from somewhere. It seemed someone rang it to inform others about the White Giant's arrival.
The remaining players were Sila, Fallun, Skyless, and Tsunji. As for the monsters, they were only Asura and Lookhin. In any case, the ringing sound of the bell brought forth another two players to the scene. Both of them stopped their feet next to Fallun while staring at the White Giant.
“The White Giant? With our numbers, how long can we last? Well, I need to fine-tune my part first,” Said one of the men who just arrived as he kneeled down and inspected his legs.
The man's name was Earthy. He had prosthetic legs, representing his affiliation with the android race. As he inputted some commands into his legs, they illuminated as their appearance started to transform. For the record, Earthy's legs could change into several forms, though they took time for the customization to finish.
The other man was wearing dark grey wizard clothing. In his hand was the Dark Soul Mage Staff, which had a blade attached to its tip. His feet always hovered ten centimeters above the ground. Although his facial features looked like those you would find on a savage bandit, his expression was gentle. He was one of the most important figures in Belacia City who lived without a title. His name was Balaz.
Earthy and Balaz normally didn't engage in worldly matters. However, they always appeared without fail at the place where the bell rang three times. They were the two dependable men who always showed up in a crisis.
“Balaz and Earthy... So it's six versus one now,” said Skyless.
“Who is that girl? Why is she here at such a dangerous place?” Balaz pointed at Lookhin as he asked with concern.
“All I know is her name is Lookhin. She is Sila's companion.” Fallun pointed at Sila who was very close to the White Giant.
“Is he good?” asked Earthy. He meant Sila who was standing next to the most terrifying monster in Belacia City. In fact, he was too close to it. They wouldn't be able to help him in time if the White Giant took action.
“He is strong, maybe too strong, even. Well, his raw strength is still below the White Giant, especially when fighting in its territory,” Tsunji answered.
“Although his overall strength is inferior, there are many other factors in a battle,” argued Fallun.
“Hey, this is the White Giant we are talking about,” Skyless retorted.
“You have a point. We won't be able to kill it. Nevertheless, I don't think we will die or lose too badly if we join forces.”
As the five of them were discussing how they'd face this threat, the oppressive might from the White Giant had calmed down. Sila probed the boy with his profound sense and found out an unexpected truth. As it turned out, the boy in front of him was magic-type. More importantly, his magic power was domineering and exceptionally powerful, more so than everyone Sila had encountered.
“What is your name, kid?” asked Sila.
The others swallowed their saliva. Who in their right mind planned to talk things through with a boss-level monster?
“I don't remember,” said the boy, which prompted the five players to fall into silence. The White Giant always took action without any delay. Everyone thought he couldn't talk. Today marked the first time they heard his voice.
In that second, Fallun sent a sound transmission to Sila to tell him everything they knew about the White Giant, most of which consisted of warnings.
Upon realizing that the boy was magic-type, Sila quickly contacted Sebastian—who possessed a vast knowledge regarding magic—and prompted him to come over. In any case, he would have to stall for time before the butler arrived.
“Where did you come from?” Sila continued his question despite sensing the White Giant's power surging.
“I'm... someone who belonged to somewhere... the time passed is long... too long... I can't remember my past. I can't recall anything no matter how hard I try...”
An intense magic power emitted from the White Giant, so powerful that Sila had to take a step back. Sila wondered what the boy's magic capacity was for him to be able to continuously unleash his magic power as if he was throwing it away.
“I smell the devil who appeared that night. The smell of the devil who destroyed the Sunless City...”
'The Sunless City? Isn't that a place in the Monster Realm?'
A new theory formed in Sila's mind. Maybe the White Giant wasn't just a monster who was affected by being near the Monster Realm's junction; he could be a monster from the Monster Realm.
The White Giant's energy type and rank were the same as Ballock's, but the differences in the pressures they gave off were worlds apart.
With his rank being Lord, Sila had believed he could resist the pressure generated by Lord Rank monsters. However, the White Giant proved that his belief was presumptuous. The boy's tyrannical aura was so great that it made Sila think he was drowning despite being on land. His movements became slightly sluggish due to the density of mana.
This showed the absolute difference between the monsters of the Monster Realm and the monsters living in the New World. They were on totally different levels.
The players began to take action. They spread out to surround the boy without dealing the first blow, As Sila was asking them through sound transmissions to hold off for him.
Despite their feeling of skepticism over Sila's request, they didn't oppose the idea of stalling for time. In fact, it was their original goal. Every time the White Giant made an appearance, he only lingered for less than ten minutes before he left. As such, their only duty was to stall for time and prevent the boy from invading the city for ten minutes.
The White Giant didn't particularly mind that he was being surrounded by six humans. His sad gaze only locked onto Sila.
“It's just a faint smell... You aren't him but you're related to him... Who are you?”
“My name is Sila.”
Sila stated his name at the same time Sebastian arrived. Witnessing the White Giant, the butler stared at him for a short while before shaking his head, indicating that he didn't know about the boy.
However, the same couldn't be said for the White Giant.
“I have seen you before...”
Sebastian's arrival called for the White Giant's first action. He leaped toward the butler. The boy's speed was fast, but not too outstanding. Sila, who was standing between them, decided to obstruct the boy's path by boosting his speed through qi.
Attribute of Metal — Wind God's Body.
Unexpectedly, Sila wasn't the only one who could accelerate his speed. The White Giant used his magic as he saw Sila on the move.
“Raidho (Ride).”
There was a certain strange letter on the White Giant's skin. Once his magic power concentrated on it, the letter glowed as the boy's speed shot up. He vanished from Sila's line of sight and suddenly reappeared in front of Sebastian. With the boy's transcendent movement speed, only Zero would be able to catch up to him.
Sila now understood why the White Giant didn't feel pressured even when being surrounded. It turned out that the White Giant could exit the encirclement at any time according to his will.
The boy's sad, gloomy eyes inspected Sebastian from up close. Sila intended to come help, but the butler signalled at him to stop. With Sebastian's gesture, the others also decided not to take action. At the very least, the White Giant had yet to attack anyone.
“Where have I seen you? Surely, I must have seen you before,” muttered the White Giant.
Sebastian explained to the White Giant with a voice loud enough for Sila and the others to hear him, “I have never seen you before, sir. Nevertheless, it's possible that you have seen me. Previously, I was unsure what kind of magic ability you possess. However, seeing your magic just now, I immediately realize that you are a member of the ancient golem race—the race that went extinct thousands of years ago during the invasion directed by the Devil Prince from Hell, Mammon.”
“The ancient golem... You're right... That's who I am. How do you recognize me?”
“I know every kind of magic in existence, sir. Only a member of the ancient golem race can utilize Rune Magic, one of the great Ancient Magics,” replied Sebastian.
Rune Magic was the magic exclusive to members of the ancient golem race, similar to Orbiting Cosmos which was exclusive to slimes.
For the record, Rune Magic consisted of twenty-four runes, with each of them possessing a powerful ability. The greatest benefit of this type of magic was that the user didn't need to spend time casting an incantation; they could engrave the rune in preparation and only needed to inject their magic power into it to invoke its ability.
Still, there were several downsides. First, the user was unable to learn other types of magic. Second, the letter could be easily damaged. Third, the user could only learn up to three runes. Lastly, it required an enormous amount magic power to activate the rune's ability.
“You must have seen me when my master descended to seal Mamon... erm, I mean the Devil Prince Mammon, sir.”
“Yes... yes... You're right. The Sunless City was being sieged by an army of devils. Alone, I...”
“Maybe I should inform you that the Sunless City wasn't destroyed, sir. However, its ownership was transferred. The battle between ancient golems and devils ended up with both sides losing. Ultimately, zombies seized the chance to invade and conquer the city without much difficulty. Well, I thought the ancient golem had already gone extinct. Unexpectedly, there is still one remaining.”
Sila felt less tense as the battle didn't occur. He interrupted. “Wait? Even if they died, they could respawn, right? How can they be extinct then?”
“When ownerless monsters kill each other, they won't return to life, sir.”
What Sebastian said was a trivial fact that most players in Monster Soul didn't know about nor care about. It was natural though. No one would care what would happen to a monster after it dies.
In the Monster Realm, the ruler of the territory could grow stronger and have more subordinates according to the size of their territory and the time they spent living there. As such, invasions were a common sight.
“In any case, this place isn't the Monster Realm, sir. I don't know how you arrived here.”
Nevertheless, the White Giant was no longer listening to Sebastian's words. He held his head tightly as he unleashed more magic power. His lost memories began to return to him in a form of blurry puzzles with no clear connections.
“You made me wonder what kind of urgent matter is unfolding. It turns out that it's just a mere golem making a fuss.”
A disgusting voice came from the sky. Everyone raised their heads and witnessed another boy who was casting his disdainful gaze downward.
“Mister Mamon!” exclaimed Sebastian. Unfortunately, Mamon chose the worst timing to make an appearance. Unbeknownst to him, the fact was Mamon intentionally selected this exact time to show himself.
The boy in the sky descended down and landed next to the White Giant. Their heights were about the same. Mamon's nauseating psychic power came out and clashed with the White Giant's almighty magic power.
“Your appearance has changed... but I will never forget you... MAMMON!” the White Giant let out a thunderous roar.
“I didn't expect you to still be alive, Clute.”
The White Giant's eyes flashed with madness. His greatest nemesis was standing in front of him. There was no way he would let this chance slide.
“This is the day you die, Mammon!!”
The White Giant removed his fur cape for the first time since he had donned it. In the past, no matter how battles became intense, he had never removed it. In fact, this cape was the reason the boy was called the White Giant by the citizens of Belacia City.
“You're wrong... rather, this is the day the ancient golem race will truly go extinct,” Mamon said slowly.
The players here didn't know Mamon's identity. In any case, they still deemed the White Giant as the most dangerous threat. The five players, excluding Sila, charged at the White Giant.
Still, they were a step too late.
“Othala (Homeland).”
The White Giant engraved a letter on the snowfield, deep into the stone underneath. Suddenly, everyone except himself and Mamon was blown away. A transparent barrier was formed, caging both of them within.
Sila felt uneasy. He threw a punch at the barrier, but it didn't work.
“It's even sturdier than Ramiel's barrier.”
Sebastian was sent flying the furthest. He hurriedly returned to Sila.
“Rune Magic has a clear weakness that the spell will lose its effect if the letter is even slightly damaged, sir. If Mister Mamon scratches the letter on the ground, this barrier will be undone.”
“Mamon! Damage the letter on the ground!” shouted Sila.
Mamon naturally heard what Sila was saying, but he pretended he didn't. He stared at the White Giant. “Blame your own misfortune for meeting me today.”
“Why did you need to invade and destroy our Sunless City...?”
“That place has no sunlight. It's the second-best place next to the inner region of Hell for devils to assemble. I could use that location as my next base to conquer the Monster Realm. Unexpectedly, those zombies ended up reaping what I sowed.”
“Just for that reason... We never harmed anyone.”
“So what? Doing so, you just declare yourself as a weak race. Who in their right mind would choose to raid stronger opponents? Stupid! You are still as naive as ever, huh Clute.”
“Who is Clute?”
“You can't even remember your name? Well, I remember it so well. Actually, it's because of me that you are here. At that time, I found you unpleasant as you always used yourself to protect others, so I used the Hell Jade to trap you between the two worlds, forcing you to witness your friends dying without you being able to do anything. After that, the Sealed One suddenly appeared and sealed me inside a card. I guess you went through space and came out on the New World's side at that time.”
Mamon's words eventually unlocked all of the White Giant's lost memories. The events of that fateful day returned to him like a movie flashing before his eyes.
The devil army marched into the Sunless City before the ancient golems could put up a proper resistance. He tried his best to help his friends from losing their lives in the war.
Soon, the Devil Prince Mammon arrived and looked at him with contempt. When the Hell Jade in Mammon's hand shone, his body became transparent and was unable to touch anything. He continued to try helping his friends, but his hands could no longer reach them.
Mammon let out a loud and evil laugh as he saw the sight of the boy striving for help change to crying, then begging for mercy, and finally cursing at him.
Back then, as well as presently, the boy's gentle eyes were replaced by the eyes full of irreconcilable anguish. They were the kind of eyes that Mamon loved to see the most.
“Only you do not deserve to live!!” the White Giant, or rather Clute, roared.
“How about you wait until the end of this battle and tell me again who won't be living?” replied Mamon.
Mamon's body enlarged and he became a young man with black hair thanks to Lucifer's Hidden Gift. He emitted purple psychic power out from his body. It was, by far, the darkest and evilest psychic power Sila had ever sensed.
Mamon gave off a different vibe compared to the time he fought Zazae in the Single-Horned Dragon Forest. Sila considered the change and finally noticed what it was. The difference was Mamon's vile psychic power and depressingly fearsome mental oppression. Prior to this moment, Mamon had never shown his own psychic power in any fight.
“Mannaz (Mankind).”
In a similar manner, Clute's body enlarged and the boy became a young man with golden hair. His body was covered in scars. However, those who were used to fighting like Sila could tell that all of the scars were in places where the boy received attacks to protect others. The rune engraved on his chest gently shone a white, pale light.
The two eternal enemies who couldn't bring themselves to breathe the same air were about to have a deathmatch. The process and the result of this battle would impact heavily on Sila's view of the world.
That was because... Sila was seeing himself in Clute and Montra in Mamon.
Even though Mamon was on his side, at that moment, Sila truly wished for Clute's victory.
Chapter end
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