[It’s coming.]
The visual of the giant mass of snow hitting the hastily erected defenses is stunning despite the lack of sound sapping some of the impact. As I thought, the walls aren’t enough to stop the unusual attack, plenty of the stuff going over their tops. Enough that I have no doubt a good portion of the armies would have been drowned in it if they hadn’t acted quickly.
I don’t have the luxury of admiring the sight for long. Near the center of the defensive line, Geneva becomes a blur as she grabs three casters, one unfortunate knight being yanked by her tail wrapped around their throat and pulls them to the side. A moment later, the stone is shattered, the titan bursting through the wall along with a wave of snow.
Alana told me about these creatures. Titans are not one type of monster. The word is a classification of gigantic manabeasts only seen in the north. She tried to warn me how very different they are from other manabeasts. How they can’t be measured with the same scale the kingdom weighs other threats. Even right before this fight, she tried to give me the proper perspective of the enemy we faced. I still underestimated the word titan. In my defense, it’s impossible to understand until you see it.
If the smallest titan is twice the size of the average residence, then, thankfully, it’s on the small side. It’s taller than our manor at the Hall by at least one floor. My estimation that it was humanoid is correct but I missed the second set of arms extending from its incredibly wide chest. What isn’t covered by thick, white fur is pale blue muscle. A ridiculous amount of it. One of its limbs is as thick as I am tall.
Its mouth opens in a silent roar, exposing sharp teeth as long as daggers. Honestly, it’s intimidating, but I don’t have time to hesitate. I understand why the others were worried. That thing could crush the vulnerable casters holding up the wall if it sneezes too hard and I can’t imagine a fire arrow or a sword doing much of anything to it. I’m not sure I can do anything about this monster. But, secure in my ability to survive and lacking the time to second-guess the plan, I charge forward.
Seeing as this titan is many, many times larger than me, I don’t have a lot of places to target. I throw my full force into colliding with the creature’s leg. The equivalent of someone kicking it in the shin. A pitiful attack strategy. Thankfully, I have a body that makes it ridiculous.
I knock its foot from underneath it and it loses its balance, dropping to a knee. Day becomes night as a giant palm appears above me. No hope of dodging, not even with my speed. Instead, I throw myself into a gap between the fingers, thanking the saints I gauge it correctly.
[Onto its hand, Lou!]
I leap onto the back of its hand. Just in time as the titan presses its fingers together and then sweeps the ground, tossing up snow and earth as if it’s loose sand rather than hard stone. I grip the white fur tightly to avoid being tossed off. I’m supposed to control this? How in the—
I’m suddenly thrown off as the titan flings out its arm. Careening through the air, I see the giant manabeast slap a hand to its face as it staggers backward. Dropping a ‘film’, I see a green blur zipping across the white fur of its chest for a split second before spinning ass over end.
Hitting the ground like this is going to hurt.
[Fly!]
Right. Flying form. Something big.
I don’t have time to sort through all my forms with wings so I grab one of the first on my instinctual list. My limbs lengthen, fingers changing to talons as brown fur erupts over my skin. My large wings strain painfully to slow my momentum, a screech escaping my new beak from the pain. I do stop, a reflexive motion of my wings pushing me into the sky.
I dive at the titan frantically slapping its body to remove the green annoyance likely causing it no end of distress. I don’t know how long it’s going to take the knights to take this thing down. My job is to keep it away from the overhang where the armies are taking shelter. Suppose the only option is to push it further down the pass. Going to need a lot more mass.
Another cry draws the titan’s eyes to me. It ignores the little annoyance in favor of the loud, obvious prey, a large hand reaching toward me. A strong beat of my wings sends me above the grasping palm and then I draw on my largest form.
As usual, the most I can conjure of the leviathan is a single limb and it causes a strange pain somewhere deep inside me. I only need it for a second, slapping the creature in its face before reverting back to my prime form.
A large tooth flies through the air as the titan stumbles backward and falls, throwing up a large wave of snow as it falls on its back. I land on its chest and sprint toward its head. Normally, running at my full strength can pulverize weak stone but I can’t even feel the titan because of the thick fur covering it. No wonder the knights aren’t confident in bringing this thing down before it hurts someone. It’s tough. Horrendously tough.
The creature is starting to rise. Two angry blue eyes glare at me as its busted mouth sneers. Is that…blue blood staining its fur? Saints, why is its blood blue?
No, not the time. Its eyes are glowing. Of course this thing is a caster. Lucky, this isn’t my first time dealing with an opponent I don’t have confidence competing with physically. No matter how tough it is, it shares the common weaknesses of most creatures. Like the need to breathe.
Once I reach its neck, I throw myself at its head, shifting to my original form. I think I recognize genuine surprise on its face as I spread my ooze to cover its face, engulfing its head. I feel the vibration of its roar against my surface as its large hands attempt to claw me off.
Haha, this brings back memories. Unfortunately, just like the trolls from the beginning of my new life, its brute strength means nothing against my…hm?
I feel…cold. I haven’t felt cold in a while. My prime form is resistant to changes in temperature, leaving me comfortable even in blistering or freezing temperatures. My original form doesn’t feel anything. Or at least, it didn’t. I sure feel it now. And it’s getting worse.
[It would seem you are not entirely immune to magic.]
Damn. And from the continuous scraping of the titan’s fingers, it’s not losing strength anytime soon. I don’t think I will win this battle of endurance. The parts of me that feel cold are quickly becoming numb. Is this damn thing freezing me? This…is a blow. If I stay put, can this thing…kill me? I can’t risk finding out.
[No need. Your role is complete. The knights are ready to end the threat.]
I throw myself off the titan, shifting to my prime form before I hit the snow and sprint away. A hand holds my chest where the cold lingers, my lips twisting into a frown. I was cocky. Too cocky. I actually thought I was immune to magic. Not even the dragons have such a blessing. Apparently, it just takes a certain type of magic. Or a strong enough spell.
I wince as another skull-pounding roar bludgeons my restored ears. A blinding flash of light adds to the sensory assault, whiting out my vision. The roar suddenly cuts out, leaving behind a poignant silence followed by a soft whump as something heavy hits the thick covering of snow.
After several minutes of blinking away dancing black spots out of my vision, I look at my surroundings. The knights are swarming around the fallen titan that is no longer moving. Blood and brains paint the white field, spilling from a long, vertical gash in its head.
A second. One attack and that monster of monsters is gone. They were not kidding and these people are scarily effective.
The knights of Victory…are not to be underestimated.
[It’s coming.]
The visual of the giant mass of snow hitting the hastily erected defenses is stunning despite the lack of sound sapping some of the impact. As I thought, the walls aren’t enough to stop the unusual attack, plenty of the stuff going over their tops. Enough that I have no doubt a good portion of the armies would have been drowned in it if they hadn’t acted quickly.
I don’t have the luxury of admiring the sight for long. Near the center of the defensive line, Geneva becomes a blur as she grabs three casters, one unfortunate knight being yanked by her tail wrapped around their throat and pulls them to the side. A moment later, the stone is shattered, the titan bursting through the wall along with a wave of snow.
Alana told me about these creatures. Titans are not one type of monster. The word is a classification of gigantic manabeasts only seen in the north. She tried to warn me how very different they are from other manabeasts. How they can’t be measured with the same scale the kingdom weighs other threats. Even right before this fight, she tried to give me the proper perspective of the enemy we faced. I still underestimated the word titan. In my defense, it’s impossible to understand until you see it.
If the smallest titan is twice the size of the average residence, then, thankfully, it’s on the small side. It’s taller than our manor at the Hall by at least one floor. My estimation that it was humanoid is correct but I missed the second set of arms extending from its incredibly wide chest. What isn’t covered by thick, white fur is pale blue muscle. A ridiculous amount of it. One of its limbs is as thick as I am tall.
Its mouth opens in a silent roar, exposing sharp teeth as long as daggers. Honestly, it’s intimidating, but I don’t have time to hesitate. I understand why the others were worried. That thing could crush the vulnerable casters holding up the wall if it sneezes too hard and I can’t imagine a fire arrow or a sword doing much of anything to it. I’m not sure I can do anything about this monster. But, secure in my ability to survive and lacking the time to second-guess the plan, I charge forward.
Seeing as this titan is many, many times larger than me, I don’t have a lot of places to target. I throw my full force into colliding with the creature’s leg. The equivalent of someone kicking it in the shin. A pitiful attack strategy. Thankfully, I have a body that makes it ridiculous.
I knock its foot from underneath it and it loses its balance, dropping to a knee. Day becomes night as a giant palm appears above me. No hope of dodging, not even with my speed. Instead, I throw myself into a gap between the fingers, thanking the saints I gauge it correctly.
[Onto its hand, Lou!]
I leap onto the back of its hand. Just in time as the titan presses its fingers together and then sweeps the ground, tossing up snow and earth as if it’s loose sand rather than hard stone. I grip the white fur tightly to avoid being tossed off. I’m supposed to control this? How in the—
I’m suddenly thrown off as the titan flings out its arm. Careening through the air, I see the giant manabeast slap a hand to its face as it staggers backward. Dropping a ‘film’, I see a green blur zipping across the white fur of its chest for a split second before spinning ass over end.
Hitting the ground like this is going to hurt.
[Fly!]
Right. Flying form. Something big.
I don’t have time to sort through all my forms with wings so I grab one of the first on my instinctual list. My limbs lengthen, fingers changing to talons as brown fur erupts over my skin. My large wings strain painfully to slow my momentum, a screech escaping my new beak from the pain. I do stop, a reflexive motion of my wings pushing me into the sky.
I dive at the titan frantically slapping its body to remove the green annoyance likely causing it no end of distress. I don’t know how long it’s going to take the knights to take this thing down. My job is to keep it away from the overhang where the armies are taking shelter. Suppose the only option is to push it further down the pass. Going to need a lot more mass.
Another cry draws the titan’s eyes to me. It ignores the little annoyance in favor of the loud, obvious prey, a large hand reaching toward me. A strong beat of my wings sends me above the grasping palm and then I draw on my largest form.
As usual, the most I can conjure of the leviathan is a single limb and it causes a strange pain somewhere deep inside me. I only need it for a second, slapping the creature in its face before reverting back to my prime form.
A large tooth flies through the air as the titan stumbles backward and falls, throwing up a large wave of snow as it falls on its back. I land on its chest and sprint toward its head. Normally, running at my full strength can pulverize weak stone but I can’t even feel the titan because of the thick fur covering it. No wonder the knights aren’t confident in bringing this thing down before it hurts someone. It’s tough. Horrendously tough.
The creature is starting to rise. Two angry blue eyes glare at me as its busted mouth sneers. Is that…blue blood staining its fur? Saints, why is its blood blue?
No, not the time. Its eyes are glowing. Of course this thing is a caster. Lucky, this isn’t my first time dealing with an opponent I don’t have confidence competing with physically. No matter how tough it is, it shares the common weaknesses of most creatures. Like the need to breathe.
Once I reach its neck, I throw myself at its head, shifting to my original form. I think I recognize genuine surprise on its face as I spread my ooze to cover its face, engulfing its head. I feel the vibration of its roar against my surface as its large hands attempt to claw me off.
Haha, this brings back memories. Unfortunately, just like the trolls from the beginning of my new life, its brute strength means nothing against my…hm?
I feel…cold. I haven’t felt cold in a while. My prime form is resistant to changes in temperature, leaving me comfortable even in blistering or freezing temperatures. My original form doesn’t feel anything. Or at least, it didn’t. I sure feel it now. And it’s getting worse.
[It would seem you are not entirely immune to magic.]
Damn. And from the continuous scraping of the titan’s fingers, it’s not losing strength anytime soon. I don’t think I will win this battle of endurance. The parts of me that feel cold are quickly becoming numb. Is this damn thing freezing me? This…is a blow. If I stay put, can this thing…kill me? I can’t risk finding out.
[No need. Your role is complete. The knights are ready to end the threat.]
I throw myself off the titan, shifting to my prime form before I hit the snow and sprint away. A hand holds my chest where the cold lingers, my lips twisting into a frown. I was cocky. Too cocky. I actually thought I was immune to magic. Not even the dragons have such a blessing. Apparently, it just takes a certain type of magic. Or a strong enough spell.
I wince as another skull-pounding roar bludgeons my restored ears. A blinding flash of light adds to the sensory assault, whiting out my vision. The roar suddenly cuts out, leaving behind a poignant silence followed by a soft whump as something heavy hits the thick covering of snow.
After several minutes of blinking away dancing black spots out of my vision, I look at my surroundings. The knights are swarming around the fallen titan that is no longer moving. Blood and brains paint the white field, spilling from a long, vertical gash in its head.
A second. One attack and that monster of monsters is gone. They were not kidding and these people are scarily effective.
The knights of Victory…are not to be underestimated.
