The moment Giantification activated, Su-ho poured in true demon horse power without holding back and rapidly expanded his body.

He wasn’t afraid of the risk.

Now that he had obtained the Titan Body, the risk of shrinking in size was gone.

Before long, Su-ho’s bulk didn’t just grow—it grew to the point where he was looking down on the Shadow Giant, and Su-ho grinned down at it.

“How does it feel?”

A voice that boomed and reverberated.

It wasn’t like he’d deliberately made his voice louder.

He’d simply made himself bigger than the Shadow Giant, and with a larger resonating chamber, the whole area rang with that booming echo.

The Shadow Giant looked up at Su-ho.

And the blue gaze that had flickered like a disaster a moment ago had now become like a lamp in the wind, ready to go out with a single puff.

“Goodbye.”

Shiiiiiiii!!

Su-ho raised his fist and brought it down on the Shadow Giant.

The Shadow Giant belatedly crossed both forearms to block—

KWAaaaaang!!

But the fist that fell like a sledgehammer wasn’t something it could stop, even if it was the king of the shadow divine beasts.

And as a bonus, it couldn’t recover from it either.

It was right after the Shadow Giant crumpled down like a block tower collapsing.

'Looks like it’s over.'

It was loaded with countless debuffs.

Skill restriction based on rage, recovery disabled, even Weaken.

In this state, what more could it possibly do?

Astonishingly, it could do something.

The shattered scraps of its body seeped down beneath the Shadow Land, then surged up again like a waterspout, reconstructing the Shadow Giant’s flesh.

It was ridiculous.

With Seal of Pain in effect, shouldn’t it be unable to recover?

But the Shadow Giant regenerated right in his face—and unbelievably, the moment it regenerated, it grew even larger than before.

To the point that it was now at the exact same eye level as Su-ho.

The Shadow Giant, now bigger, flashed its distinctive blue glare.

Then it swung a fist at Su-ho.

Whoooing!!

It’s coming.

That massive fist of its.

Su-ho saw it and immediately set his stance, starting to move in earnest.

'If you thought all I can do is swing a sword, you’re dead wrong!'

Hoooooong!!

Weaving.

A boxing technique where you duck your upper body and sway your head and torso left and right to avoid the opponent’s attacks.

Then, when you see an opening, you snap a sharp punch in.

The stance Su-ho took was, unbelievably, boxing.

KWAaaaaang!!

Su-ho’s counter landed beautifully.

The second round began like that.

After taking Su-ho’s counter, the Shadow Giant looked like its head was about to shatter, but it surged up again like a waterspout and regenerated its head, and even though several punches missed and its skull burst apart, the Shadow Giant still didn’t give up, calmly swinging its fists to the end.

And after countless exchanges like that—

KWAaaaaang!!

At last, the Shadow Giant’s fist also detonated against Su-ho.

“Wow, you finally land one?”

Ptooey.

Maybe because he’d been hit square in the mouth, the inside of his mouth was completely torn up.

Su-ho immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and swung his fist again.

KWAANG! KWAANG! KWAaaaaang!!

A slugfest.

On the summit of Demon King Mountain, monsters as huge as Demon King Mountain itself tore into each other with ruthless blows.

Neither side had any intention of backing down.

No—they were both convinced of their victory.

For Su-ho, that was even more the case.

Because even though it had turned into a manly, straight-up brawl, the more they traded fists, the more certain Su-ho became.

Unlike him, that thing didn’t have any proper punching technique.

'If the strength is similar, the technician wins in the end!'

After a few more booming exchanges, Su-ho decided to push for a final spurt.

[ Blessing is activated. ]

[ Rage Mode is activated. ]

[ Foxfire is activated. ]

Final armament.

And then—

Whoooing!

He evaded its punch.

This time, instead of aiming for the head, he targeted the torso.

[ Point is activated. ]

Point of Vacuum Style First Form.

After concentrating the strike point into the torso, Su-ho fired a powerful right punch.

KWAaaaaang!!

It landed clean.

And it was also the first time he’d hit somewhere other than the head after striking nothing but the head until now.

Maybe that was why.

The Shadow Giant’s torso, taking tremendous damage from that devastating punch, sprayed away the shadows that formed its body the instant the right punch detonated, leaving it in a pathetic state with only the lower body below the solar plexus barely remaining.

Su-ho didn’t miss that moment.

The instant its upper body flew away, he sharply reduced his giantified body.

Thanks to the body shrinking in midair, he ended up in a flying state—boong—and in that state, he activated skills one after another.

[ Summoning Hercules’s Club. ]

[ Blood Armor is activated. ]

[ Paladin is activated. ]

[ Divine Aura is activated. ]

[ Mana Detection is activated. ]

[ Enhancement is activated. ]

[ The Wildsmith’s Eye is activated. ]

[ Sword Aura is activated. ]

Su-ho didn’t wait for it to regenerate.

He immediately summoned his sword and gripped it.

The reason he’d bothered shrinking his body to summon a blood sword was that to create a blood sword matching that size, he needed that much blood—and unfortunately, his Blood Jade didn’t contain that amount.

So to create the maximum-size sword he could make, he adjusted his body size.

[ Leap is activated. ]

Su-ho leaped one more time, soaring higher.

Then he pressed the sword to his waist and focused.

In an instant, his vision inverted into black and white, and things that hadn’t been visible began to appear.

They were rings of runes tangled together in complex knots like bundles of nerves.

But to Su-ho’s focused eyes, it was visible.

Among the countless rune rings tangled like nerve fibers, a single existence—one single thing shining gold.

'Found it!'

Su-ho swung his sword.

[ Soul Cut is activated. ]

[ Enhancement is applied. ]

[ Soul Cut’s power becomes even stronger. ]

As if firing a shot, the blade burst out.

His body falling like scattered blossoms added gravity, strengthening Su-ho’s slash even further, and the sword he swung—

Srrrk!

—created the biggest slash of Su-ho’s life, and successfully cut the target.

[ Giantification is deactivated. ]

Around then, Giantification also deactivated.

He’d poured too much energy out in a short span, and he no longer had the stamina to maintain that enormous body size.

“Cheolma!”

“Neighhh!”

The quick-witted Cheolma managed to safely catch its falling master onto its back.

In that moment, blue light began to pour out from the Shadow Giant’s body, which had been reduced to nothing but its lower half.

Piiiiing-

A wind-like whine, the kind you hear right before a bomb goes off.

At the same time, the light exploded, and Demon King Mountain was covered in a flash.

'Did I finish it?'

The extermination effect is way too flashy.

So it’s ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) the kind of flag you’re never supposed to raise, but without thinking, I ended up chanting the resurrection spell.

That was when—

- Kahahahahahahaha!!

Laughter, coming from somewhere.

At that laugh, Su-ho turned his head.

Because it was an unfamiliar voice.

'Damn it, I knew I shouldn’t be chanting something like a resurrection spell!'

Sure enough, the Shadow Giant’s lower body—which he’d been certain he’d properly cut down—was still there.

But he’d already said it.

He couldn’t take it back.

Then did my finishing blow fail?

Just in case, he looked toward Umbra’s avatar, thinking it might be the avatar—but unfortunately, the owner of that laughter wasn’t Umbra’s avatar.

It was still standing high and mighty in the air, maintaining its silence without even a twitch.

That was when—

[ Giant Sense is activated. ]

Out of nowhere, a skill automatically activated.

It was Giant Sense.

The moment it activated, an orange outline wrapped around the Shadow Giant’s entire lower body, and he could tell that the laughter from earlier had come from the Shadow Giant.

Because Giant Sense instinctively lets you detect the presence of nearby giants, and makes mental communion with those giants possible.

Su-ho narrowed his eyes and sent a thought.

- What are you?

- Heh heh heh, what do you think? Exactly what you’re feeling. I never thought some bastard would actually smash the shell and drag me out.

He hadn’t misheard.

That hearty, ringing voice really did belong to the Shadow Giant.

It laughed in that distinct, cheerful tough-guy voice and sounded impressed.

It continued.

- Since you can commune with me, you must be a real giant, not some fake that’s only got a shell.

- ...Then are you a real giant too?

- Of course. The name’s Shadow Giant—did you think I went to some naming shop and paid cash for it? Kheh heh heh.

- It’s nice that you’re in such good spirits. But you do realize we’re in the middle of fighting right now, yeah?

As he said that, Su-ho summoned his blood sword again and gripped it.

A tiger goes all out even when hunting a rabbit—if there was one thing Su-ho had learned through the latter half after the Great Cataclysm, along with what he realized when he first tackled and cleared the first Big Gate, it was this: no matter what happens, don’t let your guard down.

'After clearing all those Big Gates, I still got betrayed by the comrades I trusted, and died.'

In other words, keep work and personal separate.

At that, the Shadow Giant laughed cheerfully again.

- Hahahaha! The more I hear you, the more I like you!

- You can’t talk your way out of this with compliments. No means no.

- That’s a good mindset. That’s how a warrior should be. But for now, you’d better sheath that sword.

The Shadow Giant advised him firmly.

At the same time, at the center of the lower-body-only flesh, a small, black human silhouette appeared.

It was made of broken flesh and black lines running through its body, and when Su-ho saw it, he rode Cheolma up to match eye level.

- What is that?

- What do you think—my real form. Did you seriously think all of this was the real me?

- You said you were a giant. That’s not it?

- I am. It’s just a little different from the common sense you know. Anyway, I admit defeat. I ran the numbers, and even if we drag this into a long fight, I think I’d lose.

- You give up fast.

- Stubborn fighting spirit is a good virtue, but being able to admit defeat is an even better virtue for a warrior.

- Or are you just dressing it up now that you’ve already lost?

- Heh heh heh. History is written by the victor. Think whatever you want. If that makes you feel better. Isn’t that right, Umbra?

At that moment, Umbra’s avatar, which had been far away, moved over to the Shadow Giant’s side.

- Looks like it’s settled.

Umbra agreed.

At that, Su-ho narrowed his eyes and asked.

- If you say so... then do you fully recognize me?

- Yes. You drove my final weapon—the shadow divine beast king, which is the essence of my shadow magic and could be called the condensation of my power—into this state. It’s certain you’re a Player more outstanding than me. Therefore, I recognize your ability.

That was when—

[ You have succeeded in receiving recognition from a superior for the first time in human history. ]

[ You have achieved a truly tremendous feat that no other Player has ever managed. ]

[ The system acknowledges your supreme achievements and gifts you 30 bonus stats. ]

[ You have succeeded in resolving the second special quest. ]

[ The third special quest is generated. ]

Su-ho had finally been able to complete the second special quest.