Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 409: Eighty-Ninth Floor, Demigod (2)

[Assist the Giant Resistance in creating a homeland for their people. Time remaining: 25 hours 21 minutes.]

Although the plan—to sneak through the tunnels and strike the inner citadel—sounded absurdly simple, that didn’t mean the giants weren’t prepared.

Before my arrival, their strategy amounted to little more than a willingness to fight and die. With my inclusion, however, everything had changed.

I would enter the city first and draw the controlled giants’ attention from the opposite side. While they were distracted, the resistance would emerge from the tunnel and make a swift advance toward the citadel.

After subduing the approaching giants with lightning, I would regroup with the resistance to directly engage the tinies.

The entire strategy hinged on my presence. Without me, it couldn’t even begin. The Giant Resistance had placed its trust in me.

Though they had shown their resolve, they still needed to show me their capabilities. To be honest, the plan didn’t require the resistance’s inclusion—there were barely a hundred giants in it.

We will have to face tens of thousands of enemies.

Even so, leaving them behind wasn’t an option, and not merely for the sake of faith.

Since I didn’t like needless sacrifices, I had tried to argue that I could handle everything by myself, but Kireing and the resistance had strongly opposed the idea. They had declared that freedom gained without bloodshed meant nothing.

Though I didn’t entirely agree, I empathized with their determination to fight. After all, this was their war, and I was only here to help. In fact, I wondered if they would feel empty if they weren’t included.

A heart and mind stuck in the past weren’t so easily freed.

I can’t imagine living a life where I am still conscious yet unable to control myself.

That kind of torment was beyond my understanding.

Many giants were abused, both physically and sexually, during the so-called “breeding” process that the tinies used to increase the giants’ population. Every member of the resistance had experienced having their very existence trampled upon.

Before long, we approached the end of the tunnel, the same place Tiring had entered with me. After two days, it felt like I had come full circle.

Tense giants groaned nervously in the darkness, their jaw muscles twitching ever so slightly.

Their steps, heavy from the weight of their mission, remained soft but deliberate.

Even I have to admit that they are impressive.

If I were in their place, I wasn’t sure I could summon the same resolve.

Well, I didn’t know what it was like to be consumed by such burning hatred.

These people were fully prepared to die. They would have gone into battle even if I hadn’t arrived. Even if their hopelessness had turned into resignation, it remained remarkable.

Most who give up rarely choose to fight.

I studied the faces of the giants. They were unfamiliar, but I made an effort to commit each one to memory.

I wanted to remember those willing to lay down their lives, the ones I had come to save.

Even after fighting for others so many times, it still hadn’t become second nature. Each time carried a new weight.

The giants’ gazes gradually shifted downward to meet mine. Though they appeared imposing at first glance, I could sense that they were relying on me.

Kireing, who was far taller than the others, bent his upper body to meet my eyes. “I’ll open the gate.”

“Thank you.”

Kireing stepped forward.

His hunched posture didn’t look pitiful or servile in the slightest. At times, he showed signs of weariness, worn down by the years he had spent leading the resistance. Even so, he was unmistakably a giant in more than just size.

Despite it being foolish to judge someone after only a couple of days, I had gained a decent sense for reading people through the trials.

With a soft clank, the iron gate creaked open.

“Then, I will begin.”

The gathered giants nodded silently.

I quietly stepped out of the tunnel and made my way to the opposite side of the city. Shrouded by Shadow Veil, nothing could detect me—unless someone was hyper-focused, which wasn’t likely. The controllers wouldn’t feel threatened in their own city.

The controlled giants continued living much as they had before. Everything appeared the same as the last time I had snuck through the city.

We agreed on meeting up thirty minutes after I cause a disturbance.

I would be signaling them, so there was little risk of miscommunication.

Doppy, Yoonie, and Ryun would remain inside the tunnel even after the fighting began. Though he wouldn’t like it, Doppy wouldn’t be able to safely join the battle.

The tinies weren’t the issue, but rather our allies; the giants were ten times Doppy’s size.

Instead, he would support the resistance by applying buffs as they emerged from the tunnels.

Doppy came here for what happens after the battle.

Even if we had to fight them, the controlled giants were fundamentally allies. He was here to heal them. In terms of wide-range divine spells, Doppy surpassed even me.

In any case, I wasn’t worried about him.

The tunnels were secure. No enemy would think to head there during the chaos, and if something happened, Ryun would protect him.

Ryun has grown much stronger since climbing with me, after all.

While I was lost in thought, I arrived at the city’s far side. The edge of the outer wall was also filled with worn-down, abandoned buildings.

This was also due to the tinies.

According to the captured giants, most giants now slept in the central barracks. Along with the controlled giants, if any giant didn’t currently have a controller, they were kept there as well.

A prison.

Which meant that the buildings the giants had once called home had become empty shells.

Hmph.

However, one thing still didn’t make sense to me.

Why do the tinies live in the giants’ bodies? Even if they are trying to conquer the world, wouldn’t it be uncomfortable to inhabit someone else day in and day out?

Well, I would probably learn the answer eventually. Now was the time to act.

A simple display will do.

I raised my right arm toward the sky. From my fingertips, mana flared and disturbed the atmosphere.

Rumble—

It took less than a second. Despite the clear sky, a bolt of lightning split the air and struck a vacant building. The brilliant flash painted the city in shades of black and white. Thunder followed, crashing over the buildings.

Boom!

The eerie stillness brought on by the first bolt didn’t even last two seconds before dozens of additional lightning strikes rained down in rapid succession.

The tinies would be able to tell that this wasn’t a natural phenomenon.

I stood atop a building with a clear view of my surroundings and watched nearby giants approach.

Task one complete: draw maximum attention without utilizing lethal force.

Since I didn’t intend to hide, I unleashed the mana swirling violently within me. The more obvious I was, the more enemies I could draw.

As expected, the giants’ eyes locked onto me. They began to enter the building, but that wouldn’t be necessary. I kicked off the roof and leapt into the air.

***

It had been twenty-five minutes since I had created a disturbance. Since then, the city had erupted into chaos. Shouts rang out across the streets, and controlled giants were rushing at me from every direction.

To move more freely, I had stored my axe inside the mimic. There hadn’t been any real need for it.

I launched myself off the building and took to the air, leaping from wall to wall and crossing the cityscape with ease. Every step from a giant as much ground as seven of mine. I needed to get creative if I wanted to keep ahead of the giants.

“Don’t let him get away!”

A giant drove a massive spear at me, so I kicked off the wall.

Impressively, they tracked me through the air with a spear. Along with the spear, a giant fist and blade came flying toward me.

Lightning form.

Accelerating in an instant, I slipped between them. Half a breath later, I directed a burst of lightning into the space I had just occupied. It arced out, striking seven giants and rendering them unconscious, including the controllers inside their heads.

A group of that size was still well within my control.

Something is wrong, though.

I had already knocked out several hundred giants, yet not a single controller had appeared. It wasn’t as if I had killed the ones inside the unconscious giants, either. They seemed afraid of exiting the giants.

Kireing’s words suddenly echoed in my mind.

He said they used to live underground. Do they despise sunlight? Is that why they hide inside giants’ heads?

If so, then their dependence on giants made some sense. Even with an unnatural aversion to light, parasitizing the giants opened up an entirely new world for them.

It was akin to humans wearing spacesuits to explore outer space.

Of course, unlike a spacesuit, giants were living beings, and my theory was far from confirmed.

Still, it felt plausible.

Until now, I had only seen a couple of tinies that we had extracted from captured giants. They walked on two legs, but didn’t fully resemble humans. If anything, they looked more like mollusks than people.

Their arms resembled tentacles. Tendrils extended from their hands that could take control of a giant’s brain.

The one I had captured had taken its own life before I could interrogate it, so I hadn’t learned anything useful.

Clearly, something was going on, though. Despite the massive disruption I had created, the situation hadn’t changed in any meaningful way. The creature Kireing had referred to as a demon hadn’t shown itself either.

As I sped through the city, I kept my guard up. Spotting the tallest structure in the vicinity, I decided to scale it.

Once I reached the top, I got a better sense of the situation within the city. On the opposite side, near the tunnels, there wasn’t a single soul in sight.

I immediately sent a signal to Doppy through the transmitter.

We had planned for thirty minutes, but I had done more than enough. Now came the important part, which was preventing attention from shifting to the opposite side.

Rumble—

The quiet sky lit up again without warning. A colossal bolt of lightning tore down from the clear blue sky, illuminating the city once more. More quickly followed.

Boom!

Thunder pounded deafeningly across the sky above me, drowning out the shouts.

This should be more than enough to allow them to move freely.

It wasn’t time to knock out all the giants just yet. Thanks to my earlier distractions, they were still scattered.

I needed to herd them first.

Beneath the flickering sky and the relentless thunder, I guided the giants. My timing had to match that of the resistance.

After several minutes, once I felt the moment was right, I released the lightning I had been storing up.

Rumble— Boom!

Thousands of bolts rained down on the half of the city I was in. The roaring thunder became so overwhelming that it paradoxically dulled every noise. With each lightning strike, the world blinked in and out like a broken transmission. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

On the city floor, still shimmering from the countless streaks of lightning, thousands of giants collapsed. Unfortunately, not a single controller had emerged yet.

What are they thinking? Well, if they are going to keep hiding, that just makes things easier for me.

Without delay, I turned and began heading toward the resistance. The lightning hadn’t taken down every last giant.

As I cut across the city in a straight line, I struck down any giant I could see or sense with just enough lightning to render them unconscious.

When I reunited with the resistance, their expressions were blank with disbelief. They clearly couldn’t comprehend what they had just witnessed.

They weren’t the first to react this way. I had told them what I planned to do, but they likely hadn’t imagined the extent of my abilities. There was a massive difference between hearing about thousands of lightning bolts and actually seeing them.

Even so, now wasn’t the time for reflection.

I met Kireing’s eyes. “Let’s go.”

“Right.”

Though I was much smaller than the giants, I led the charge.

To keep pace with the resistance, I had to leap ten meters with every step. Unlike in the tunnels, the giants didn’t make any effort to remain silent. Their footsteps created a heavy, raw, and pounding rhythm.

This was the sound of those running for their right to exist and for the survival of their kind.

Fwoom!

A sudden ripple tore through the air. In that instant, the lightning raining from the sky vanished. So did the light.

Darkness swallowed the world.