Lee Shin-Woo had bought a level 7 elite bone from the Secret Shop and absorbed it before. The original owner of that bone had been Fennos, a Giant who lived within the Giants' domain.

According to Fennos' memories, the Giants' domain hadn't been snowy fields like this. Though it was a rugged area where only the toughest could survive, the hills had been all rock back then, and the Giants used the rocky mountains as their base.

[The Titan's...Pride...?]

"That's right. Have you not heard of me before?"

[Who the hell is that guy!?]

[Are there other troops from the Imperial Army aside from us here? Does Sir Metafel know about this?]

In the past, the Giants were so powerful that no other tribe could influence them, and they treasured their distinct culture. Fennos was the progenitor of the Giants and the one closest to being a Titan.

Even now, Lee Shin-Woo couldn't forget Fennos' strong will.

[I'm the descendant of the Titans, Fennos!]

A Titan. It was the magic word that could bring all Giants together, and it was their ardent wish to bring their ancestors back. However, they ultimately failed... And the moment they realized this, the tribe began to decline.

Yes. Before the curse had even overtaken the Empire, the Giants were already walking on the path to ruin. Only one Giant tried to get stronger until the bitter end, but in the process of doing so, he drew the ire of monsters and too many of the other tribes. In the end, he lost his life fighting a fierce battle. And in time, he had been resurrected as an undead...

There aren't a lot of memories about this place. I'm absolutely sure that Fennos fought one of the heroes and died, and at the time, he was already outside of the Giants' domain...

But those living memories were plenty for the current situation. Knowing what the Titans were and what they meant to the Giants alone gave Lee Shin-Woo opportunities to gain their favor!

"I'll say it once more. I am Paul Zero... The one who holds the Titan's Pride!"

[Kuhahk!]

Lee Shin-Woo shot out a fully charged Breath of the Lightning God as he repeated his declaration. Shockingly, the sword changed midair into a ridiculously large, 4 meter wide and 10 meter long thick bone shield. It was none other than the Titan's Pride, which he'd gotten from the level 6 Steve!

[That's...!]

Seeing that, the undead Giant's eyes lit up, and it yelled out loud. As Lee Shin-Woo expected, the undead Giant recognized the shield! With a satisfied smile, he maintained control over the Titan's Pride.

With the lightning and speed of Breath of the Lightning God, the shield swept away Metafel's troops, cutting knights and soldiers alike. Lee Shin-Woo could now combine weapons’ effects with Bone Armory to this extent!

[How can this be... Kuhahk!]

[He has the same build as us, so how can he... Kek!]

With its sheer size and weight, the shield's destructive capability was exceptional. Moreover, because of Rule of Bone, Lee Shin-Woo could effectively move any bone with low mana cost whenever he wanted so long as the bone belonged to him, and no matter how heavy it was, he could shoot it almost as quickly as the Breath of the Lightning God. As a result...

"I think this is enough for a finisher!"

"Wow. There's a shield breakdancing in the middle of enemy territory. Ah, a windmill. A backspin."

The shield had become a giant weapon of mass destruction and swept through the battlefield, instantaneously annihilating the elite troops, with the higher leveled knights not faring any better.

Lee Shin-Woo then used his lightning charged shield to kill the last standing level 5 Elite Elder Knight Ghoul. After that, he surveyed the battlefield through Rem. Fortunately, it seemed like there weren't any reinforcements.

"Brother, are you alright?"

[Ah, Ouuu...!]

Lee Shin-Woo changed the shield back into the Breath of the Lightning God, collected all of the bones, and turned to the undead Giant. It said [Lv5 Sealed Titan Zombie] above its head. Not 'shield', but 'seal'.[1]

[How did you... Brother...?]

It was natural that the Giant wasn’t responding to Lee Shin-Woo as he would like him to. At the very least, Lee Shin-Woo had managed to eke some reaction out of the Giant by mentioning Titan and summoning Titan’s Pride.

Lee Shin-Woo sighed. This matter wouldn't be resolved easily. Meanwhile, having witnessed all this, Jin was simply astounded that Lee Shin-Woo had gotten this much of a reaction from an undead he'd never encountered before.

"It seems that enemies from the outside had daringly intruded upon Giant Tribe's territory and attacked us. I'll protect you. Let's go to the village together."

[I...got it...]

In what world would they both be part of the Giant Tribe? And yet the Giant meekly nodded at Lee Shin-Woo's words and turned to leave. However, this was only a start. Not all of the Giants would have a screw loose like this one did.

"What are you going to do? Are you going to bring that Giant along and try something? Will the other Giants trust you?"

Jin hesitated even though Lee Shin-Woo had given him the signal to follow the Giant.

Until now, there had always been a chance that he could talk his way out of the situation, but Lee Shin-Woo couldn't disguise himself as a Giant yet, so Jin had no idea what made Lee Shin-Woo so confident. However, Lee Shin-Woo wasn't really thinking about all that.

"Well, I showed them that I'm fighting the Imperial Army in an attempt to make it look like we're on the same side. It went better than I'd expected, so there's a chance to form a united front with them. Or it could become a three-way fight... Even my daughter-in-law doesn't know how things will turn out."

"Daughter-in-law!?"

Was Lee Shin-Woo old in his world? That word was enough to make Jin forget about the issue with the Giants altogether, plunging him into deep thoughts. Lee Shin-Woo let him be and absorbed all the bones he'd gathered.

In the past, he would have to separate the information individually when absorbing this many bones, but it was different now.

[Overlapping and absorbing the Lv3 to Lv5 bones of Lv7 Metafel Rerdan's troops. Extracting intersecting information and absorbing complete memories.]

Nice. He succeeded, just like he thought he would! In an instant, he had analyzed the overwhelming information that flowed through his brain. The message that popped up as soon as he used the skill confirmed that the trespassing undead were indeed Metafel Rerdan's troops.

In fact, they were a sort of reconnaissance unit. It seemed Metafel had sent a few units like them to scout before he and his troops went deeper into the mountain range. Their goal was definitely the Giants; they had come into this mountain range knowing that the Giants were here.

I need to piece together the right memories before then. Figure out how Metafel's troops got into the mountain range, as well as how they are receiving their orders.

If something went wrong, his undead seniors in the Giants' domain would face one of the twelve generals, Metafel, before Lee Shin-Woo even got a chance to do anything.

He ordered Rem to scout in a wider area, while he diligently analyzed the memories. Fortunately, by fusing together the memories of the level 5 Elite Knights, he found something useful to him.

[General, it's open. We've secured a path! The Archmage said that if we go this way, we won't get lost!]

A magical device! It's definitely some sort of magical device!

It was a circular gemstone so large that it looked as though it needed to be carried on a wagon.

It was a dozen times larger than a compass from Earth, but it didn't simply point towards the same cardinal direction; instead, it analyzed the flow of mana that manipulated space and pointed its user to wherever they wished to go with its own magic.

It was at least a level 6 artifact... And given its function, it had to be somehow related to the Archmage, Feotane Von Seldin!

I've gotten over the biggest hurdle for now. Feotane Von Seldin isn’t personally involved!

Lee Shin-Woo shuddered when he suddenly remembered Feotane Von Seldin's might. He had grown stronger since then, of course, both in terms of his level and stats. He'd also found a way to resist spatial magic on top of that.

Even so, he knew he would be no match for the Archmage. He was way out of Lee Shin-Woo’s league. If Feotane Von Seldin showed up, Lee Shin-Woo would immediately run away.

[The forgotten Giants' domain... Keuk, that sounds nice. I've been curious about this place since a while back. This time... Very good.]

Was it really a coincidence that Metafel had only now found the Giants' domain? Lee Shin-Woo didn't think so.

It could be connected to Lee Shin-Woo and his party overcoming the training facility, or perhaps it was a result of what another hero had been doing… Someone like Ethan Cruz, specifically. The clouds of war that his seniors had seen were likely emerging when the Empire made moves like this.

[General, what are you going to do? We've been ordered to take everything hidden inside, but...]

[Why do you think his Imperial Majesty sent me here in person? It's because he's aware of all this. That I become stronger the more I eat...]

The Mercenary King was a Ghoul. The more corpses he ate, the faster his body strengthened and recovered, and when he ate the corpse of a powerful individual, he experienced unbelievable growth. Lee Shin-Woo looked through the memories and gained a rough idea as to what Metafel was planning.

[We'll do exactly as he wishes. Obviously, we have to present the Frozen Titan's Heart to his Majesty, but everything else is mine. With that, I'll be sure to reach it... Level 8...!]

[Is it true that we may be going to war...? I will always follow you, General, no matter what!]

The Frozen Titan's Heart. Lee Shin-Woo sure had gotten some great information out of this... The wind grew harsher as he followed behind the Giant, and he smiled inwardly. He'd come to a great place at a great time. But at this rate, he'd need to make some preparations...

"Shino Rendu."

[Yes, did you call for me?]

Lee Shin-Woo communicated with Shino Rendu telepathically despite the great distance between them. Nowadays, he had become quite comfortable handling the darkness element, so this wasn't an issue for him at all.

"It seems like the day of your vengeance will come sooner than you expected."

[Huh...!?]

Shino Rendu reacted quite dramatically. Lee Shin-Woo could almost tell what expression was on his face based on only his voice. With a chuckle, he said, "I'll give you a chance to kill Metafel personally. However, the region's extremely cold. Will you be ok?"

[I have High Rank Ice Resistance. As for the rest... I'll be able to do it so long as I don't give up.]

"Good. I'll send you some Pauls with Ice Resistance. Come to the location I will tell you shortly. It's a bit difficult to enter the area, but... Well, I'll get you a magical device that should help you get here quickly."

[I understand! Thank you very much!]

Once Lee Shin-Woo was done conversing with Shino Rendu, he gave out detailed instructions to the Pauls. At the same time, he contacted the Chi Pauls and Bisher Moon. All of Paul Zero's elite troops currently in the level 4 danger zone would be coming! And last but not least, Lee Shin-Woo was going to talk to Kratia.

"Shin-Woo, you're not..." Jin muttered.

"Of course I am."

Ethan Cruz was now running around looking for one of the twelve generals to kill—nothing but an excuse to get the heroes together, of course. But with that in mind, this mountain range, which only a small handful in the Empire knew about and were gathering in...

"I'm taking the Titan's Heart and killing one of the twelve generals."

"Jeez..."

Lee Shin-Woo declared firmly, and Jin simply sighed, knowing full well how he did things. At that moment, the Giant entered a hole within the crevice of the cliff. Lee Shin-Woo and Jin followed.

The crack in the space immediately sealed, and a new subspace was revealed. It was a vast, icy plain.

[Welcome to the Giants' village... Perlin Elta.]

The Giant sounded as though he had regained some of his intelligence. However, Lee Shin-Woo didn't get the chance to reply.

[Who...is this!?]

[He's not a Giant. How did he get in here!?]

Because dozens—no, hundreds of undead Giants were now staring down at him.

1. T/N: Shield and seal sound similar in Korean. ☜