Gigas Core

After waiting for an hour, "Rustle... rustle..." a sound came from the bushes. Rai turned around, then stood up, looking at Erin still inside the cocoon.

"Shraak!" Three adventurers emerged from behind the bushes. Rai's face immediately twisted into annoyance as he saw who had arrived.

"Great. Now we have trespassers. They must have come because they saw the pillar of light in the forest," he muttered to himself.

The three adventurers, who turned out to be Brody along with his two companions—a female dark elf archer and a human man dressed like a wizard—walked towards Rai, looking around cautiously and preparing their weapons. Standing in front of Rai, "Clang!" Brody slung his large axe onto his shoulder and glared at Rai with an arrogant, bear-like face.

"Well, well, if it isn't the no-job guy. What are you doing here, huh?" Brody asked arrogantly.

"None of your business, Brody," Rai replied, irritated.

The dark elf archer immediately spotted the light cocoon behind Rai. She started walking towards it, but Rai instantly stopped her.

"Don't get too close, Mirena," Rai warned.

"Huh? What business is it of yours to stop me? The three of us have a mission from the Guild Master to investigate the red pillar of light that just appeared," Mirena said, ignoring Rai and walking closer to the light cocoon.

"That's right. Please, adventurer with no job, don't interfere with our business," the human man, dressed like a wizard and carrying a staff, said arrogantly, walking to catch up with Mirena.

"You don't know what you're doing, Godwin, Mirena," Rai said, turning and trying to stop them.

"Tap!" Brody grabbed Rai's shoulder from behind, then leaned down, bringing his face close to Rai's.

"Don't interfere, no-job, or we can make sure you never return to the city," Brody said in a hoarse voice.

"Huh? Are you threatening me, Brody?" Rai asked, turning his head.

"Gyaaaaaaaaah!"

Rai turned at the scream. A vine-like tentacle emerged from inside the cocoon and wrapped around Godwin, the wizard. Mirena leaped back, drawing her bow and getting ready. Brody pushed Rai aside, then prepared his large double-bladed axe.

"Aaaaaaaaah... he-help... aaaaaakh!"

The black, tentacle-like vine tightened its grip on Godwin and emitted purple smoke. Godwin's body, which had previously looked a bit plump, gradually became thin and finally turned into a mummy, as if his life essence was being absorbed by the tentacle. Brody and Mirena watched helplessly as their friend turned into a mummy in an instant and was still being absorbed by the mysterious black tentacle. They were stunned and looked wary, though their faces clearly showed fear.

"Huh... I told you so," Rai said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning casually against the woven bamboo hut.

"Shut up, no-job!" Brody yelled.

"W-we have to report this to the Guild Master!" Mirena stammered.

"Right, we have to go back now!" Brody replied.

"Sorry, but I can't let that happen," Rai interrupted.

Brody and Mirena turned to look at Rai. Both of them looked shocked, seeing Rai's large and terrifying arm.

"Huh... wh-what... what kind of creature are you, no-job?" Brody asked in a hoarse voice, indicating his shock at seeing Rai with a large, monster-like arm.

"Creature? I'm a human being," Rai said.

"Crrrp!" Rai caught Mirena's body and threw her towards the cocoon. A black tentacle emerged from inside the cocoon and immediately wrapped around Mirena's body.

"Aaaaaaaaah... gyaaaaaaaaaah!"

Mirena screamed in pain as the tentacle wrapped tightly around her body. "Crack... crack!" The sound of Mirena's bones crushing was heard. Mirena's face looked like someone experiencing immense terror, and tears streamed down her face. Brody, who's seeing Mirena's fate, immediately braced himself to face Rai.

"What are you doing, no-job?!" Brody yelled angrily.

"Hey, hey, Brody. I can make sure you don't return to the city, isn't that how you threatened me just now?" Rai mocked.

"You bastard! Die!"

Brody immediately raised his axe and swung it at Rai. "Clang!" Rai casually caught Brody's large axe, then pulled it until it was ripped from Brody's hands.

"Huh... you bast..."

Before Brody could finish cursing, he was hit squarely by Rai's hand and sent flying towards the cocoon. "Thwack!" Brody's body slammed into the cocoon, but before he could fall to the ground, his back stuck to the cocoon. Two tentacles emerged from his left and right. Brody, who was still conscious and saw the two black tentacles ready to bind him, immediately panicked.

"N-no... don't... don't!" Brody screamed.

Without mercy, the two tentacles immediately wrapped around Brody's body and squeezed tightly until Brody couldn't scream. Slowly, purple smoke emerged from the tentacles wrapping around Brody and Mirena. Then, slowly, the tentacles pulled the bodies of the three adventurers into the cocoon. Rai walked closer to the cocoon and raised his palm to touch the cocoon after the three adventurers were absorbed inside. He smiled and stroked the cocoon.

"Uuuuuuung," a faint sound was heard from inside the cocoon.

"Sreet!" Several large and monstrous like tentacles came out from inside the cocoon and attacked Rai. "Braak!" Rai transformed both his arms into Raigan arms and allowed some of the tentacles to wrap around his arms.

"I know who you are, Erin. In your previous life, you were also my and Reidan's younger sister, Kiko, a kaiju shaped like a little all-black girl with many tentacles. I hope when you come out of this cocoon, you don't go berserk, otherwise I'll be in trouble," Rai thought to himself.

"Uuuuuuung," a faint voice was heard again from inside the cocoon as if it understood what Rai had said earlier in his thought.

******

Meanwhile, at the Adventurers' Guild, "Click!" Trisha closed the door after entering a room. Then she walked to a table. Behind the table, she saw a large, furry man like a tiger. The man was bald and had a tiger tail. He wore a blue guild uniform like a soldier's uniform. He was standing with his back to the table, facing the window to look towards the distant forest, with his arms crossed.

"I've already asked Brody and his team to investigate that pillar of light, Master Saber," Trisha said.

"Good. We'll wait for the results of their investigation," Saber replied.

"What exactly was that red pillar of light that just appear, sir?" Trisha asked.

Saber turned and sat in his chair, then rested his chin on his hands, looking at Trisha.

"Ten years ago, that pillar of light appeared on the southern continent, and after it appeared, the human kingdom called the Hestalia Kingdom was annihilated in just one day," Saber said, a crisscross scar visible on his face.

"Is that true, sir?" Trisha asked.

"Yes. Let's hope nothing happens to our city," Saber replied.