[The Titan's strength is being restored!]

[He who inherits Fenno's will, Paul Zero, has revived the Titan!]

The Giants were in high spirits. Once Lee Shin-Woo emerged with the Titan's Heart—or the Titan Bone Core—it made stronger all the Giants spread out across their domain. Of course, there was no way to get an exact number, but it seemed like they'd gotten about 20% stronger than before.

And if I manage to install the core into a Golem... At the very least, they'll be stronger than they are now.

If he could manufacture a Golem to amplify and refine the core’s energy, the Giants should be strengthened even further. He had only one reservation: the Golem would come with an inherent shortcoming.

It cannot unleash heat nonstop. However, it will condense heat almost to its very limit and then release it for a limited duration...

Despite the design flaw, though, the core was level 8, and Lee Shin-Woo couldn’t help but think of the Golem as a weapon of mass destruction. The only issue lay in its inability to run for long and the significant recharge time that would follow…

[We'll follow Paul Zero's orders! Become a wild ice storm and push the enemy back!]

[The returned Titan's Pride! Let's show them the strength of the Titans!]

[Uoooooooh!]

"Good. Follow your order, everyone! This is all there is for now. I’ll leave the rest to you."

"Ah."

Once he ordered the Giants to move out, Lee Shin-Woo turned around and passed the core to Kratia. While the core was indeed fully restored, there was still much they needed to find out before they could use it to manufacture a Golem. That was something Lee Shin-Woo couldn’t do by himself.

"Are you really leaving it with me?"

"I'm going to be busy commanding, so I don't have the time to do a thorough analysis. Plus, you're the only one who can protect it and analyze it at the same time."

"...Leave it to me. We'll make an amazing Golem together."

Kratia stared at Lee Shin-Woo in a daze before letting out a snort. With a nod, she accepted the core along with his trust.

They had made it seem so trivial—Kratia said she could do it, and Lee Shin-Woo put her in charge of the core with no hesitation. However, her mission was actually incredibly important. She wouldn’t have the luxury to stay in one place and focus on analyzing the core; instead, she would be moving along with Lee Shin-Woo while analyzing and protecting the core so that it would eventually strengthen the Giants further.

Moreover, she would have to use her magic as well when she could afford to. For anyone else, it would be impossible, but it was possible for Kratia since she could use Catalyst Magic with her orb.

"Do you think we'll be able to make a Golem before we face off Metafel?"

"That'd be the best outcome, but remember, we came here ready to win without this thing."

Lee Shin-Woo had given Kratia the core for her to analyze 'just in case'. If Metafel hadn't had the strange skill that allowed him to call troops to him, Lee Shin-Woo wouldn't be forced to prepare for the worst case scenario.

But as the saying went, a rotten herring was still an herring. Metafel had shown what he was capable of, and Lee Shin-Woo had to do what he could—and a bit of what he couldn’t do, too.

"Still, it's a relief that we were able to obtain the core early on. That brought us some great reinforcements along the way."

"That's... Yeah, you're right."

Once Lee Shin-Woo and Kratia got on his back, Jin ran to the top of the hill and nodded at the two Giants jumping down from the cliff into the tail of the enemy forces. They were none other than the two elite level 7 Sealed Titan Zombies who had once been heroes, Ellata and Arogan.

"Remember, hit and run!"

[Of course. Hit...!]

[Hit!]

Lee Shin-Woo’s High Rank Command allowed them to hear him even from afar, and the two Giants enthusiastically nodded in response.

Although they were level 7 elite Giants, the pair had no chance of defeating Metafel and his subordinates if they showed up. Therefore, Lee Shin-Woo had ordered them to adopt a hit-and-run tactic, and they seemed to be following his order without question. As expected of Giants who were so loyal to the Titan's Heart... That was what he had thought, but they soon proved him wrong.

[Hitttttttt!]

The two undead heroes stuck their hands into the ground and flipped it, crushing hundreds of soldiers underneath. Then they picked up the unearthed land and hurled it in another direction, killing the other section of the army. They had instantaneously annihilated the squad.

[As you've commanded, Sir Paul Zero, we'll withdraw now!]

[Victory for the great Titan!]

It wasn't even a matter of 'hitting and running' anymore. With the much too powerful 'hit', the Giants had destroyed the entire squad, leaving no more enemies to kill! They weren’t running from enemies, but running to find more targets!

There had to have been a few level 5 knights among the troops, yet they had died without even putting up a fight. Lee Shin-Woo had to laugh at the turn of events.

"They're quite dependable."

Nice. If they kept doing that, they would be able to cut down the enemy force's numbers faster than he'd anticipated. Even so, Lee Shin-Woo ordered them to keep their guard up. He then gave orders to his other troops.

"Break that side!"

[Understood!]

There were other Giants who fought at the forefront other than Ellata and Arogan, but most of them would either break the dangerous terrains or shake the mountain paths to sow chaos amongst the enemy ranks.

With their size, the Giants could easily break a single hill to crush the enemy forces under the rubble, or to isolate the unit from the main force!

[Hey... A rock's coming your way...!]

[A rock? Wait, it's a boulder... A boulder!]

[I-It's the Giants! The Giants have ambushed us and are throwing boulders at us!]

[What the hell are you talking about... Kuhahk!?]

[General!]

Rem had been keeping track of the enemy's movements, and once Lee Shin-Woo had gotten its report, he ordered the Giants accordingly. They were disrupting the army at the right place and the right time, so even Metafel's ability wouldn't be enough to help him assemble all his troops.

[Kuhaa. Who are you so desperately looking for?]

[Keok!?]

[It's a monster!]

What arrived first weren’t the giants, but the Paul Corps. After all, Lee Shin-Woo could relay his intent to them much more quickly.

Among them, Shino Rendu stood out in particular. It might have something to do with his Avenger’s karma; all of his abilities had increased exponentially when facing not only Metafel, but his subordinates as well.

[Kuaaaaaaaaaaah!]

[Kahk!]

[Kii...!]

Shino Rendu swung his gigantified, reinforced right arm with the skill the goddess bestowed upon him, bringing about unbelievable miracles much like the two Giants. Whenever his giant, reddened arm created a shockwave, the Empire's troops would be ripped apart and scattered.

Because of him, the Empire's troops faltered, and the Pauls he led merely had to strike and take down the stragglers. Actually, around half of them had already died and turned into loot.

[Paul Zero has given the order. The greater our resolve, the faster the Titan's resurrection will be!]

[Uooooooooh! The Titan's Pride!]

[The Titan's Pride!]

"Did you say something like that?"

"Well, I lied."

"You're so cool."

The Giants from all across the mountain range cried out, and Lee Shin-Woo continued to give out orders.

They would throw boulders, shatter cliffs, break roads, and even upend snow banks that had accumulated for years to hurl at the Imperial Army. It was shiver-inducing; their attacks so much like mother nature's fury.

[Now is the time! While they're floundering around, let's give them a spear to the face!]

[For Paul Zero!]

[Carrying out Master's command.]

Shino Rendu wasn’t the only one attacking the confused Imperial Army. Bisher Moon, Chi Paul, and even the Erems were also launching a surprise attack. Lee Shin-Woo could see the number of enemy forces dwindle substantially.

Similar to the way one ate cheese, they started from the outside, making one small nibble after another. By repeatedly dividing and isolating the enemy troops, Lee Shin-Woo's corps were able to quickly cut down their numbers. Actually, they might have been making progress faster than the first day. After all, the Giants had grown significantly stronger, and their attitudes had changed as well.

[I'll kill you...for the Titan's Pride!]

[For Paul Zero!]

[Dear Titan, please watch over me!]

Yesterday, they fought because they had to. Now that they bought into the possibility that the Titan would return, they fought like there was something awaiting them beyond death. There was no way they wouldn't be stronger as a result.

[Metafel... I'll kill you myself!]

[These abhorrent remains of the Empire... Let's bury them uneder the cold earth!]

[Uooooooooooh!]

The Paul Zero Corps had absorbed 13,000 bones in a single day, so they had become significantly stronger as well. Moreover, the level 7 elite bone Chi Paul had absorbed had a greater effect on it than Lee Shin-Woo had expected. Determined to get stronger, the Paul Zero Corps were more proactive in the fight than before.

"Good. They've killed about 10,000 of them."

Lee Shin-Woo nodded as he muttered, having figured out how many they'd killed through Rem. Jin yelled in astonishment.

"Already!? It hasn't even been two hours since the battle started...!"

"We do have to take them down even quicker. After all, I don't know how long we'll be able to maintain our advantage."

"But couldn't you just take your elites and fight Metafel directly? If you take down the leader, his subordinates will fall apart and run away. Isn't that your usual plan?"

"No way. We can't."

Lee Shin-Woo firmly replied. If he could one-shot their leader and disorient the enemies, he would of course do that. However...

"With Metafel, we must take out all the undead around him first."

"Right… Since he’s a Ghoul."

Even while giving orders to his subordinates nonstop, Lee Shin-Woo hadn’t taken his eyes off Metafel Rerdan, who was in the very heart of his troops. That was how much of a threat the general was in his eyes.

Metafel hadn’t become hurried even as his soldiers died around him, and his eyes shone ever brightly as he surveyed the battlefield. Following his order, Setoin, who seemed to be Metafel’s aide-de-camp, shot an arrow at someone in the rear, killing them swiftly.

"...He's looking for me."

"There are two hills between us. Do you think he can find us?"

"He'll never be able to find us. The fact that they’ve been looking tells us that they don't know about Rem. If only they knew... Too bad."

But right as Lee Shin-Woo finished, Setoin immediately shot an arrow into the sky. Thinking it odd that Lee Shin-Woo was able to command his troops while tracking their movements from afar, Metafel and Setoin had soon come to the right conclusion. Moreover, they quickly figured out exactly where Rem was and hit it! Setoin definitely had some kind of sniping skill.

[Master, I've sustained damage.]

"Return. That guy's a pain in the ass."

[I understand.]

Lee Shin-Woo knew that he'd eventually be exposed as the battle went on, but it happened much too soon for his liking. He recalled Rem and healed it, clicking his tongue as he said, "Change of plan. There’s no telling if we can deal with Metafel quickly enough now."

"What about firing a huge spell at them and putting Rem back into the air?"

"We can't use Rem anymore. However, firing a huge spell sounds like a good idea… It seems that Setoin is moving to take down the Giants. Break that cliff over there. With that, we'll be able to hold him back. I think it’s time to go after the command."

"Okay."

Kratia briefly passed the core to Lee Shin-Woo and began casting her spell. Once it was fully healed, Rem was about to jump onto Lee Shin-Woo's shoulder, but then it stopped and focused on the core.

[May I help with the analysis as well?]

"Ah, now that I think about it, Golems are your specialty. Can I leave it to you?"

[Of course.]

Who would’ve thought Rem would be so helpful both in the sky and on the ground? What a lovable Golem. I should reward it once the battle ends, Lee Shin-Woo thought as he continued to order his undead. But then...

"Shin-Woo!"

Kratia called out sharply. Lee Shin-Woo looked up to see Kratia’s spell trigger a great explosion. She had used the cliff to attack Metafel and Setoin in particular. With her Catalyst Magic, she transformed the crumbled icy hill into hundreds of thousands of ice spears. It was quite the memorable spectacle.

"What's that? It's perfect."

"That's not the problem here! That guy! The moment I cast the spell, he figured out where we were!"

"...He's pretty good. Was Hansen the only half-wit amongst the twelve generals?"

Due to Kratia’s large-scale magic, Lee Shin-Woo was now able to see Metafel from beyond the broken cliff. The problem was that Metafel had located them when Kratia activated the spell...

[Keuk, Kuhaaaaaaaa!]

Right after he'd ascertained their location, Metafel let out a bizarre scream. If Lee Shin-Woo still had eardrums, they would’ve burst then and there. The scream sounded like a warning, telling them that he was now onto them. Lee Shin-Woo decided to take him on, matching him with Instigate.

[Kuhaaaaaaaa... Kuwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!]

Metafel suddenly widened his mouth further mid-scream.

And ate the nearest knight.