“Strange…” I muttered.

The number of monsters in the air was increasing. They were desperately trying to stop us. Even though the giant tuna Aikan had become an undead monster with its power as a guardian intact, it could not continue to march forward freely with so many monsters blocking the way.

“Oppa, is Uruto gone?”

I said flatly, “Uruto is dead.”

“Uruto…”

Plus, after finding out that a friend had died, the children’s mood and morale had turned for the worst. They cried in Ren’s, Lebuik’s, and my embrace. They had lasted this long in such a hopeless situation, but after finding out that a friend they had talked and laughed with had been a bug the entire time, the shock caused them to lose all of their energy.

I had told Ren and Lebuik about the truth before, so they weren’t stunned, but they seemed worried about the enervated children.

Should I have done it differently?

I could have easily killed the fake Uruto when the children weren’t looking. However, I didn’t because there was valuable information to obtain, like how the El Patiz operated.

Perhaps, my thoughts flowed into her while I wasn’t paying attention as Daisy discovered what I was thinking instantly and consoled me, “It’s more shocking when someone disappears suddenly. That was the Book Walker’s method. Once we woke up from sleep, our friends would be gone. One by one, it was terrifying.”

“Mm… It’s a bit different in our case though.”

With a wry smile, I held up my spear and swept away dozens of monsters with a swing.

“We’ve come far. We should be able to bring the children to safety soon.”

“About that, there’s something…”

Daisy slid next to me and whispered something in my ear. It was rather simple.

“The skill point I have left, if I use them, I can bring two people. To Earth…total of six people.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not enough.”

She persisted, “Just one, we have to give up.”

“I’ll get mad, you know?” I warned her.

“That might be…less sacrifice. We don’t know…what will come…Kang Shin might live, but the children, all might die.”

Seeing Daisy’s serious expression, I flicked her forehead. She took a few steps back with a surprised look. With how big Aikan was, just taking a few steps back still put us on the same level.

I grinned. “Don’t worry, I won’t let any of them die.”

She protested softly, “But you only have talent…for fighting.”

I rolled my eyes. “I have elementals! Ren and Lebuik are trying hard too. So Daisy, please.”

She looked at me and then shrugged. “Then, fine. You’re the guild master, I’ll respect your wishes.”

“I know you came to help me. Thanks.”

She said bluntly, “To save our worlds. We are in a contract.”

“Right, contract.”

I grinned after hearing her excuse. Perhaps it was because I had refused her offer, but her cheeks were puffed up. She looked incredibly cute.

Of course, with the situation being what it is, there was no time to leisurely stare at Daisy. The sky was practically covered with monsters that were attacking us from all directions.

“Aikan’s secret skill, Beam!”

“Is that what it was trying to use before!?”

While I asked in surprise, Aikan opened its mouth and gathered mana. It had an immense suction power, and the monsters that were pulled inside all disintegrated from the high density of mana.

[Guaaaaaaaaa!]

Soon, a mana wave thick enough to envelop a whole building shot out from its mouth. The path taken by the mana wave shone like a white slate.

To our dismay, however, the area swept by the mana wave was filled up with monsters again twenty seconds later. They kept coming and coming like homework. Daisy seemed to be thinking the same thing.

She sighed. “…More coming, I’m tired.”

I asked, “Can’t you use those tentacles?”

“Spines. Once per day.”

She was still insisting on calling those things ‘spines.’ While Daisy sulked that nothing had changed even after Aikan’s mana wave, I thought about what I could do. I looked back at Ren and Lebuik. Ren was focused on taking care of the children, while Lebuik was focused on shooting down monsters with her crossbow. With that, a thought suddenly flashed across my mind.

I muttered half to myself, “Hmm, I really didn’t want to do this, but it looks like I have no choice…”

Daisy looked at me curiously. “What?”

I explained, “It’s a bit disgusting, so close your eyes. Gigant Time!”

Thankfully, Sky God’s Play was still in effect for another ten minutes. Before that, however, I used Gigant Time. Without this skill, what I was about to do would have no meaning.

After I used Gigant Time, I closed my eyes and imagined the form I would take. As I had practiced many times before, I could soon feel my transformation.

“Kyaaaa.”

Daisy must have been extremely surprised as she exclaimed softly. But since she screamed, it meant that the transformation was a success. I opened my eyes.

Then, feeling dizzy from the 360 degrees vision, I almost vomited.

Lebuik turned around to look after Daisy’s scream and asked with her eyes wide open, “What did you do!?”

I replied bluntly, “Can’t you see?”

She sputtered, “I can’t! That’s why I’m asking! W-What is that disgusting…”

My original pair of eyes were located further up than normal. With Sky God’s Play, I transformed my body into a thirty foot tall giant. Even Aikan probably found it hard to carry me. However, at this size, fighting would be more cumbersome than usual even though I would be able to move freely with my high stats. Of course, I didn’t become a giant simply to fight the monsters one on one.

After all, what I had gigantified with Gigant Time wasn’t my weapon, arms, or legs, but my eyes. I was thankful that everything went as I imagined.

I shouted, “Everyone look here! Come if you want to defeat me!”

[You have used high-rank Provoke! All enemies burn fiercely with hatred and hostility towards you!]

It was worth holding in my urge to vomit and shout. The El Patiz were controlling their bodies, but they were still monsters. Monsters were weak to provocation. They didn’t hide behind bigger monsters to dodge my Evil Eyes. Instead, they simply charged toward me with piercing killing intent. Of course, I couldn’t help but sweat with so many of them around.

One second later, a countless number of rocks fell to the ground.

“Come! Come!” I continued to shout.

[You have used high-rank Provoke! All enemies burn fiercely with hatred and hostility towards you!]

Rocks rained down. There were even monsters that lost their lives after being hit by them.

“Come!”

“So you transformed into that disgusting appearance on purpose…!”

I pretended not to hear Lebuik. Hundreds of eyes covering my body blinked repeatedly as they aimed at more targets.

“This is the combined power of the mythical Argos and Medusa!”

Argos was the thousand-eyed giant that was ordered by Hera to watch over Io and slain by Hermes. With eyes covering its body, it had no blind spots. It was the perfect appearance for my Evil Eyes!

“Come! Come attack me!” I shouted triumphantly and blinked once again. Monsters closing in on us all turned to stone, and only monsters with abnormally high resistances survived. Lebuik then commented on my appearance, “Eyes all over the body… gross.”

I shrugged. “I can’t maintain it for very long anyway.”

Zeus had ordered Hermes to slay Argos. As the holder of Zeus’ true name, it was a bit ironic that I took Argos’ form.

The monsters filling up the sky visibly decreased. By the time Gigant Time ended and it became hard for all of the eyes to have an equal effect, only a few powerful monsters were left.

[Gaoooooo!]

[Kuaaaaaaaa!]

Feeling satisfied by the monsters roaring after losing their friends and subordinates, I returned to my original appearance. Sky God’s Play should have lasted a couple more minutes, but it had ended prematurely. Perhaps taking Argos’ form used more energy than I thought, or perhaps it was because I had strengthened the power of my Evil Eyes with it.

Regardless, I was satisfied as I had obtained the result I wanted. There was some hope now. With a sigh of relief, I took out a mana potion from my inventory.

There really were only a few left. Realizing this, Daisy ordered Aikan in a cool pose, “Aikan, forward. Crush everything.”

[Uoooooong!]

Although it was an undead monster, Aikan intelligently responded with a roar and charged forward. The few monsters that were left had no chance against it.

Ren urged, “Just five miles more, Crown Prince!”

“Ren-nim, calm down! Look forward!”

“Ugh, how can I calm down, Lebu…ik?”

Aaah, though it was a difficult journey, everything would be over once we arrived at the coast…Eh?

“As expected…there’s an army.”

Of course, I’d somewhat expected it as well. I didn’t think they’d try to stop us with just those monsters. However, the army standing by the coast like beach lifeguards seemed to surprise Ren and Lebuik more than me or Daisy.

“How dare they…!?”

“Dear God…”

Ren and Lebuik exclaimed simultaneously. Did they know someone? I surveyed the ground. Though there weren’t as many as the monsters we faced in the sky, the refined spirit and keen killing intent of the soldiers radiated out. Of course, with most of them being men, there really wasn’t a reason for me to keep staring at them. After all, I couldn’t be certain how strong they were before I fought them.

Other than the army, I focused my attention on…the commander. Right, the strength of an army really was in the hands of its commander. I looked at the man standing in the front. He had golden hair like a lion’s mane, deep wrinkles across the forehead, and brilliant golden pupils. In addition, he had a firm, strong muscular body and a set of jet-black armor. Finally, there was a large claymore in his hands.

He was too similar to someone I knew. In fact, they almost had the same face. No matter how dense I was, it wasn’t hard to figure out who he was.

“Your…Highness…!” Lebuik said, completely shocked.

Ren gasped, “Ughhh, Father…!”

“…”

The last trial was now awaiting us at the coast. We had to face off with none other than the Panan continent’s Hero, and the world’s enemy.