[Most gods cover their faces and groan!]

[Most of the demons enjoy your shenanigans and slap their thighs!]

[A few gods look at the descendants of their enemies with pitying eyes for the first time.]

[A small number of demons feel a strong sense of danger from you.]

[Some gods wonder if they should bestow you with divinities related to ‘ill temper’ and ‘deception’.]

[Vimalacitra bitterly laughs.]

[Cernunnos shakes his head.]

The gods and demons who observed Yeon-woo’s actions gave out long sighs. For the first time, the gods felt sympathy for the half-giants while the demons mostly found Yeon-woo’s actions curious and funny. What Yeon-woo did was so wicked and underhanded that even the demons would not undertake anything similar.

Who would ever consider something so distasteful as exposing someone’s weakness publicly? It would shame even those with the most hardened of hearts. Although Valdebich dutifully followed Yeon-woo’s order, he could not hide his regret for his actions against his own people. However, in any case, he had agreed to the plan.

Valdebich saw Nohite turn his head towards him and smile. Although Valdebich was grateful that at least one person was smiling, he also worried about what would happen to Nohite later on. Nohite was his biggest ally and helper in carrying out this work, and since he was the only child in the village, he had everyone’s love. His close relationship with everyone was the reason why he knew so many secrets, including the locations where they hid their diaries. That was why he found and took them without much trouble. Essentially, Nohite had taken advantage of the half-giants’ goodwill.

Valdebich had no idea that the half-giants would react so quickly. Their hopeless passivity had not wavered in the face of Shanon’s intimidation, Yeon-woo’s instillment of fighting spirit, or even from fear of death. If it was something that they could easily overcome through embarrassment, no one would have worked so hard to change them in the first place.

Yeon-woo and Valdebich aimed to instigate intense emotions in the half-giants, churn them into a frenzy, and convert those frenzied emotions into action. No matter how unmotivated the half-giants were, their emotions could still fluctuate violently.

As Yeon-woo had previously instructed them to do so, the bewildered gods and demons who were on standby outside the region began loading buffs, blessings, and even curses upon the half-giants.

…

The godly powers and abilities that the gods and demons bestowed upon the half-giants mainly dealt with altering one’s psyche, and they all had one thing in common: making one go berserk.

Yeon-woo was trying to use the same method that Valdebich had used when climbing the Tower in the past. At that time, Valdebich was not much different from these half-giants. He was good-hearted, but he also suffered from passivity. He detested fighting to the point that it was difficult for him to even lift a sword, afraid that he might harm his opponent.

However, Valdebich was able to compensate for his weakness by using a Berserker skill which greatly increased his aggression while making him go half insane. He used it to compensate for his weakness, and by the time Arthia was famous, he even terrorized the other players in the Tower as Sword Yaksha.

Yeon-woo now thought that Valdebich’s Berserker skill had probably aroused a fighting spirit that was already hidden inside him. The traits that had been passed down from Valdebich’s ancestors, the giants, had not entirely disappeared into the ether. Thus, Yeon-woo thought that this was probably the case with these half-giants as well.

However, unlike Valdebich, who possessed the abilities and skill to bring out Berserker, the half-giants had to be externally given this quality. The highest gods and demons’ buffs, blessings, and curses would hopefully give the half-giants the opportunity to do so. In the end, their already heightened emotions fluctuated even more wildly according to the influences of the gods and demons’ spells, paralyzing their thoughts.

The power that Agares had bestowed on them made the half-giants raise their heads up, their aggression amplified. Agares’ buff, which was filled with his divine powers, concentrated madness and destruction. It was such an effective buff that Yeon-woo had used it often himself until he read the revelations.

Boom! Boom! Boom! For the first time, the eyes of the half-giants, which had always been clouded over with a sense of helplessness and apathy, gained strength and grew bloodshot from the blood that rushed throughout their bodies. Their blood vessels started bulging along their taut skin as if they were about to burst out at any moment.

“Grr…” Some of the half-giants even started drooling like wild beasts that were mad with hunger. For the first time, Yeon-woo’s property of fight, which had been instilled in them when they entered a contract with Yeon-woo, started to rear its head. As fight started to take hold, the half giants’ consciousness was dampened, leaving only bestial instincts that thirsted to fight. The scorching aura of heat emitted by the half-giants spread in all directions.

After seeing their transformed attitude, Valdebich shouted out, 「Let’s go my brethren!」 Valdebich raised his sword high into the air. His eyes were also showing signs of madness as it had been a while since he last activated Berserker.

In response, the half-giants roared altogether. Roar! Growl! The half-giants who had already lost their reason bounded forward.

“Boo, open it.” At Yeon-woo’s command, a large portal opened in front of the half-giants. Beyond it lay an area similar to the one Yeon-woo had seen when he first arrived at this hidden stage: a forest of giant corpses of varying sizes. The auras of different otherworld gods swarmed all over the place. It was a terrifying sight.

Usually, the half-giants wouldn’t even consider entering this territory, much less raise their heads to challenge the inhabitants. However, aside from losing their reason and sanity, they were completely overwhelmed by Yeon-woo’s fighting spirit. The maddening desire to crush anything in their path made them unaware of their location or destination. Anywhere was fine as long as they could fight.

Just then, there was a big commotion inside the forest, and a strange creature that looked like a large salamander jumped out. It was an otherworldly god with much less divine power than the Crawling Chaos, but it still exuded enough to easily overcome most transcendent beings.

The feelings of the gods and demons who followed the half-giants across the portal hardened. The power of disorder and chaos that the large salamander exuded was so antithetical to their nature that just looking at it disgusted them.

Not caring about any of that, the large salamander showed an incredible agility as it leaped over the entire forest in one bound and rushed towards the half-giants, its huge shadow looming over their heads. The eyes of the half-giants turned to the salamander, and with twisted faces, they were about to confront it when Valdebich jumped in front of them.

Bam! Valdebich’s greatsword Valdebich slashed into the otherworld god. The difference in their power pushed Valdebich straight back, but his stance did not break. Using his strong legs like pillars, Valdebich pushed the salamander to a standstill with the trembling greatsword, which didn’t chip or crack.

‘I can…do this!’ Valdebich widened his red eyes. It was the first time he had been able to stand up like this after clashing directly with an otherworld god. After coming down to the hidden stage, he had tirelessly trained to protect his kin against the otherworld gods, so he had developed enough power to contend with them to a certain extent. However, it was only enough to protect his own life in the end. The otherworld gods could probably capture and kill him if they really wanted, but they would probably find it too annoying to do so. To the otherworld gods, his existence was too insignificant.

However, things had changed, and he now had the confidence that he could defeat an otherworld god. Perhaps, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The three Cyclops brothers had armed everyone with weapons made of Blood-Tear Stones and Blood Essence, and many gods and demons had enhanced these weapons with their powers. This was more than enough to strengthen them many times over, but more than anything…

「Trust me.」

He now had a purpose to strive for.

「Pray faithfully.」

He would be under the protection of a god.

「Then, I shall save you.」

He would not allow himself to lose ever again.

「You will become my second child. You’ll open up a path and realize my goals.」

Valdebich was accepting this battle with the otherworld gods as a holy war. Beyond saving his race, he would show the world the greatness of his god. That was what Valdebich faithfully believed he had to do as a second child.

‘Second…’ Valdebich had already been officially appointed as Yeon-woo’s second Apostle and the Great Warrior who would lead the half-giant race. Even though he had to share the power he received from his god with Doyle, the first child, it was enough to awaken his latent transcendent powers. Valdebich started moving forward.

Bam! Raising his magic power, he sharply deflected his opponent’s blow and brought his greatsword down. Valdebich’s greatsword sliced the otherworld god’s forehead open, and the otherworld god’s blood splattered into the air. Seeing his opponent in such a state, Valdebich put more strength in his legs, slamming his feet into the ground as he sprinted forward.

It was said that the god he worshiped walked two paths: ‘One is the path of fight. The other is the path of death.’ Fight was a path taken to prove oneself while death was a path to guide the enemies to their demise. Walking both paths at the same time was the proper way to follow his god’s will!

Valdebich was going to prove himself by defeating the otherworld gods—whom he’d once thought he could not overcome—through fight, and at the same time, he would lead the immortals to their death and show the will of his god to all.

Crack! His intense prayers and aspirations would become faith, and that faith would provide him with even greater strength. The black and red flames that erupted from the greatsword flashed like lightning and severed the otherworld god’s right foot. Crack! Gush!

Valdebich had used sword energy. Although it couldn’t compare to Yeon-woo’s sword energy, it was close enough to Wave of Fire. Just being able to use it was proof that Valdebich had already become a faithful servant of Yeon-woo. Valdebich’s heart was already filled with a sincere faith in Yeon-woo. Thanks to this, as the battle went on, his sword energy grew more powerful and destructive.

This. Useless. Insignificant. Being. For the first time, a look of bewilderment appeared in the otherworld god’s eyes. It never thought that it could be harmed by an insignificant insect that was so easily trampled. Not only that, the salamander was being forced to push its power to its limits to heal itself. However, its recuperation stalled as death infected its wounds and spread throughout its body, eating away at its existence. For the first time in its life, the otherworld god felt a sense of crisis—the very feeling he thought only mortals could feel!

Whack! Bam! Bam! Valdebich had no intention of giving him any room to breathe, swinging his sword relentlessly and pushing the otherworld god around. Each time the dark red flames flashed, deep wounds appeared on the salamander’s flesh, and the forest was engulfed in flames.

The thought that he could win, the feeling of gaining the upper hand, and his strong faith in Yeon-woo combined together to raise Valdebich’s confidence. He wanted to destroy his opponent once and for all. The more faith he had as he swung his sword, the more his confidence grew, and the more the legends of fight and death shone.

Furthermore, Valdebich’s fighting spirit was naturally transmitted to the other believers, the half-giants, through their connection of faith.

「It is losing.」

「We can…win.」

「We can win!」

「Advance forward, brethren!」

「Let’s fight!」

「Death to our enemies!」

The half-giants burst into shouts and rushed the otherworld god. The weapons they possessed resonated in unison and activated the magic inside. Soon, dark red flames, which symbolized Yeon-woo and his power, blossomed on their weapons. As the effects flashed, the otherworld god was almost entirely consumed in red flames.

The half-giants piled onto the salamander, the combat techniques that Shanon had taught them or any tactical strategy completely disappearing. They simply ran with crazed ferver, waving their weapons haphazardly. However, that was already enough. It was a sign that the traits they inherited from their ancestors, the giants, were beginning to bloom.

[The abnormal status has passed a manageable limit.]

[Warning! ‘Excitement’ has exceeded acceptable risk limitations. If the current status continues, there may be more negative consequences afterward.]

[Warning! ‘Madness’ has exceeded acceptable risk limitations. If the current status continues, a strong penalty may be incurred.]

[You have been given another warning.]

…

[The number of status abnormalities has exceeded the restriction levels.]

[The hidden condition has been broken.]

[A part of the latent traits will be released.]

[The giant trait, ‘Collective Will’ has awakened.]

[The giant trait, ‘Tactical Group Fighting’ has been awakened.]

[The giant trait, ‘Indomitable Spirit’ has been awakened.]

…

[The ancestral characteristics are awakening.]

[They are becoming more aware of their ancestors’ powers.]

[The legend for the god they worship is being created!]

The half-giants were still unaware of the fact that they were natural fighters even though they instinctively fought and moved as a group. Shanon’s combat training was meant to bring these qualities out, but the moment they were awakened, the half-giants didn’t need the training after all. All they had to do was wield their weapons and fight instinctively. After that, victory would follow.

These. Useless. Insignificant. Beings. The otherworld god uttered its last words as it died, still filled with exasperation and disbelief that it was being killed by such insignificant beings.

「Ha! Did you think we’d leave you alone forever?」 Valdebich snorted and raised his greatsword, whose reddish-black flames burned more splendidly than ever before. 「There will be no more defeat for our people!」 He lodged his greatsword firmly under the otherworld god’s chin. 「For the sake of the god we serve, we will always win!」

Smash! Valdebich twisted his greatsword horizontally and beheaded the otherworld god. Blood and flesh scattered in all directions as if a bomb had exploded. The other half-giants jumped into the fray to stab and burn the rest of its body.

Boom! Boom! Boom! There was a chain of explosions, and trails of flame spread in all directions. In the middle of all this commotion, the half-giants, including Valdebich, roared loudly to the sky. These were the shouts of those drunk on victory.