NOVEL WEB Chapter-73 Headless Giant
[Astylind Name: Headless Giant]
[Astylind Level: Level-7]
[Astylind Grade: Grade-B]
[Anima Affinity: Dark]
[Gender: Male]
[Description: Natives of Yurnawa. They live in the shadows, Dark-Anima heeds their call (Favored-level). Their large bodies give them a steep advantage in brute melee combat, but they can also employ spells for support.]
……
Ewan grabbed Nana and bolted past the black patch on the ground, thrusting their sprint with Ryvia. The giant was Level-7 and a Grade-B, even Frost at Level-5 couldn’t contest him. The only plausible action for survival was fleeing, and Ewan chose it.
The Headless Giant climbed out and roared, flailing his hands, his mouth between his shoulders spewing slimy strings of saliva in the air. The trees cracked and snapped from his outrage; flocks of birds fluttered away in panic after the rude awakening. Ewan looked back, even from afar, the giant still looked huge, too huge to fight back. He must be about three- or four-times Ewan, not someone he could kill with their numbers given the level and grade difference.
The giant stopped bellowing and dashed after them, each hammering thud of his footfall shrinking a good chunk of distance Ewan had gained. His weight quaked the ground, trees lost their leaves and some their lives as he bulldozed past them.
Ewan cursed and sped up, revving his Ryvia to the max, racing past any obstacles, dragging Nana and the wolf in her arms as the gust of the forest streamed against his face.
The giant scooped the soil, dirt and pebbles slipping away from his fingers, and hurled at Ewan. The makeshift bullets obliterated all in their paths, flashing to the running couple in a moment. Ewan’s Ryvia blocked the majority, they rained down on the defense, but the attack surpassed his limits. A pebble zipped past Ewan’s left temple, leaving a bleeding cut; another punctured his left shoulder, through and through; and a jagged twig gashed Nana’s waist as she hugged Xylla hard, protecting her from any harm.
“Don’t scream!” Ewan said, stumbling from the impact, wincing from the stinging pain, the fog in his mind convulsing. He lugged Nana with him again and sprinted, covered in dirt soil and dead leaves, while casting <Ember> to cauterize his shoulder wound. Blood loss would be a big problem in their current predicament. If he fainted, none of them would survive. The wincing agony and the foul stench from burning his own skin and flesh could come later, they weren’t his priority.
The attack dwindled his hopes of survival and killed any lingering intention of fighting back. A simple toss of stones and soil could do that much damage, he didn’t want to test the giant for any other moves. If things continued, he would lose his life, and Nana wouldn’t survive either. He needed something, anything, to divert the menace.
Xylla…
He looked back at the wolf and met her beady eyes; they held the naivety and the innocence of a child. Nana would be devastated if Xylla died, she’d been her support for too long—the fog churned and validated his decision.
Anyone else…
Ice Daggers!
He cast the spell only to enhance his Ryvia. He stretched it afar, removing the defense. The next attack could end them both in one shot, he had to find something or someone to distract the giant by then.
The Headless Giant pursued them relentlessly, flattening everything in his path. He howled, his feet glowed an obsidian tint, and he launched up.
Fuck!!
Ewan halted and dove to the right, hugging Nana, rolling a distance. The giant crashed where he was, exploding the ground, blasting the soil and the trees away. The trembles spread far, instilling a deathly silence in the forest. Yet, faint shallow pants splintered the quiet with their rapid and rough rhythms. Ewan held his own grunts and heaves for a moment, omitted Nana’s too, and made sure. Someone was hiding nearby, and more than one. This was the chance he was looking for.
The giant flung a tree at them, Ewan parried with a pointy Ryvia, barely succeeded, and bolted towards the breathing sound source with Nana.
“Shit! He’s coming here,” someone ahead whispered in alarm. A vile smirk sneaked up on Ewan’s face, his countenance tired but hope and savagery burned ever-so bright in his green-glowing eyes.
“Help,” he said, quiet enough to not trigger the giant, and separated the bush hiding them with a wave of his hand from afar. One girl, and two boys; they looked almost the same age as Ewan.
“What the fuck did you do!!” the girl shrieked. The two boys pulled her back and broke into a run, almost dragging her with them.
The girl had screamed, Nana hadn’t, they could survive this… The giant bawled at the new guests, his howl rocking the forest again, his splattering saliva wetting the ground around him. The soundwave shook Ewan’s heart, it skipped a beat. They might be the giant’s initial target, but he shouldn’t ignore the new prey now, he hoped. The only requirement now was to race faster than them, and his Ryvia gave him an edge in this.
Seconds after finding the three, Ewan and Nana darted past them, leaving them behind for the giant’s judgment.
“I’ll kill you!!!” the girl shrieked and shot a fist-sized fireball at Ewan.
Ewan smothered it on the way, the embers tracing his Ryvia before dying for good; the attack was far too weak. Then the giant crouched, his feet glowed obsidian again.
Shit!!
Ewan stopped and turned, he needed to see the giant’s jump to know the landing point.
“Please help us!!!” one of the boys hollered, tears and snot covering his face. The other boy pointed at Nana and cast a spell. A seed hovered before his palm, and soon broke into a vine, slithering on the ground.
The giant had Ewan’s full attention, and by the time he noticed the sneak attack, the vine had swiped Nana’s leg. She tumbled with a squeak, Xylla fell off her arms, rolling on the ground. Ewan grabbed Nana’s collar and propelled back with Ryvia, soaring an inch above the ground, for the giant had already jumped. The strain on his spirit could be a problem of tomorrow, tonight they had to survive.
“No!! Xylla!!!” Nana screamed.
Ewan had to prioritize, and he picked Nana’s life over her emotions.
Yet, the occurrence deviated…
