Chapter 54: Face Me! Scum!

Duncan needed two days to recuperate.

Although he hadn't been seriously injured in the battle against the giant sea-serpents, triggering his berserk state had plunged him into a prolonged period of exhaustion and fatigue that lasted a full day and night. Furthermore, he had sustained a minor injury around his waist and abdomen; by the time he made his way back in the middle of the night, the skin at his waist had been chafed raw, requiring some ointment and proper rest.

Reality, after all, was not Valhalla.

The lingering side effects of Duncan's berserk state were quite severe, directly plunging him into a reckless condition completely devoid of any concept of fear.

He dared to face anything, dared to slash at anything.

Fighting two against one to take down two giant sea-serpents had certainly been somewhat risky, but once the berserk state was activated, there was no turning back—he had only to carve out a bloody path. Fortunately, his strength performed as expected; the two two-star silver-gray giant sea-serpents were no match for him, and he had even retained enough stamina for another round.

"My lord is injured?"

Galavan's expression shifted when he saw Duncan returning while supporting his waist. He hurried forward to steady him, asking, "Did my lord engage that giant in combat?"

Galavan and the others held certain opinions regarding Duncan's insistence on coming to Scandinavia to slay monsters.

The North Germanic peoples held personal valor in extremely high regard. If someone were to slay a legendary monster, it was exceptionally easy to earn the reverence of Germanic warriors, and even attract numerous followers and challengers. According to Germanic tradition, slay Beowulf, and you become the next legendary hero. Bards would spread your deeds to the four corners of the earth, and gradually, legendary status would transform into influence, capable of swaying kingdom-level politics in reality.

If Duncan acquired the prestigious reputation of a legendary hero in the Scandinavian region, it would become much easier for him to recruit the barbarian foreign legions in the future.

His fame alone would make many barbarian warriors submit and follow him.

Legends from other places might not travel so far, but monsters slain right here were heard directly in the ears of the barbarian warriors.

Galavan felt that Lord Duncan was plotting on a grand scale.

"It's nothing."

Duncan shook his head, signaling that he didn't need assistance, and said in a deep voice, "That giant was fast asleep in its cave. When I went to scout the coast, I encountered two giant sea-serpents."

"I simply killed them along the way."

"Go find some men, drag the corpses of the giant sea-serpents back, and see if they can be of any use."

"Oh, and by the way."

"Use my alias here—let's go with Beowulf."

Give the younger generation a little taste of shock.

He would reveal his true name only when leaving the Scandinavian region; for now, it was best to remain a bit cautious.

Giant sea-serpents?

His lordship went looking for a troll and casually butchered two legendary sea monsters?

Galavan wore a look of profound shock, harboring not a shred of doubt. He had seen Duncan slaughtering his way through vast armies with his own eyes. For such a ferocious man, strolling down to the coast and casually slaying two sea monsters in Germanic legend was practically nothing.

Even if he were to see a Valkyrie from Norse mythology personally pouring wine for his lord one day, Galavan wouldn't be surprised.

The small fishing village was in an uproar.

When dozens of adult men dragged the dozen-or-so-meters-long corpses of the sea monsters onto the shore, the rumor spread like wildfire in all directions. The people were jubilant, feeling as though a hero from the mythological age had returned, and the giant that threatened mortal lives would surely be slain by him very soon.

Duncan stayed in the village for only a single day before heading into the forest on the second.

There was no helping it.

The Germanic women were far too passionate and bold, and he had already drawn too much attention.

Each of the two giant sea-serpents had yielded a special ability.

——"Serpent Blood - Toxin Immunity (Special Ability): You are immune to all conventional natural toxins. Only hypernatural poisons have any possibility of taking effect on you, yet you still retain a certain degree of toxin resistance."

——"Gaze of Dread (Special Ability): This is a special ability belonging to monsters. When you fix your gaze upon a target, any living creature may feel terror and trembling. It is treated as a hypernatural ability. When used against certain creatures, the effect is equivalent to top-tier dominance within the food chain, causing the target to completely lose the will to fight back or even flee in a rout."

One of the giant sea-serpents had been one-eyed, and its head had been smashed to a pulp at the time, so he hadn't inspected it carefully.

Once Duncan's berserk state was triggered, even his sense of pain had been heavily dulled.

"Hypernatural creatures really do provide more abilities."

His legendary status remained unchanged.

It must be because the standing of the giant sea-serpents wasn't high enough; whatever meager legend they possessed probably resided entirely within the sirens, failing to crystallize into true, enduring legendary status. In the Scandinavian region, a fierce warrior slaying a few sea monsters wasn't really a big deal and was easily confused with tall tales told inside taverns.

A day passed quickly.

After sleeping for a full two days, the giant entrenched within the subterranean cave finally emerged. Its bald head was completely hairless, and it looked somewhat like a massive, hunchbacked cave-dweller, standing roughly four meters tall—not nearly as massive as the giant encountered by the second human avatar.

Yet it likely did not possess pure giant blood, because its skin had a cuticular, scale-like texture, suggesting it belonged to the hybrid offspring of some kind of monster.

Its cave was extremely gloomy, littered entirely with the skeletal remains of cattle, sheep, horses, and humans.

This monster preferred to operate after dark.

Emerging from the cave, it moved along a path drawing close to the human settlement. Though it looked rather lumbering, it traveled at a great pace, its walking speed exceeding the running speed of an ordinary person.

"Huge size, fast running speed."

"Plan change."

"Though the target isn't agile, its straight-line sprint shouldn't be slow."

Duncan widened the distance, observing through the God's-eye perspective as this creature headed straight in the direction of a certain village.

Scandinavia in the Middle Ages was still quite desolate, filled everywhere with dense forests. Combined with the Germanic peoples' poor land development and sparse population, many areas could be said to be wilderness zones, easily breeding and harboring hypernatural monsters.

The place the monster was heading toward happened to be the village where Duncan was staying. It seemed rather sensitive to sound; the boisterous, celebratory noises of the people had drawn it in.

Looking at it this way, it somewhat resembled Grendel.

"How many children did that monster's mother give birth to? Could there be other hybrid giants besides Grendel, and might this be one of them?"

Never mind that.

Think of a way to hack this thing to death first.

The giant headed straight for the village, and soon, shrill screams of women echoed through the night sky.

Ah!

A man who looked like a fisherman was grabbed directly by a single hand, swung by one leg, and smashed onto the ground. *Plat*, life extinguished in the blink of an eye. The giant ignored the counterattacks of the ordinary villagers; even barbarian warriors found it difficult to pierce its skin, as though it were clad in heavy armor. Charging back and forth in a rampage, it felt like an adult beating up a kindergarten, effortlessly routing everyone present.

This was true giant strength.

The monster swept through the entire village in the span of just a few minutes, killing over a dozen people. Holding the corpse of a fat man in its right hand and crushing a calf to death with a fist in its left, it slung the calf onto its back, stamped out a burning campfire with a single foot, and turned to vanish into the shadows of the night.

All of this seemed to it like a routine hunt.

"If every monster were like this, humans in the mythological age certainly had a hard time of it!"

Duncan had already caught up. Standing atop a treetop, he nocked an arrow and drew his bow, loosing a shot that struck the monster directly in the head. The giant's head had a diameter of thirty to forty centimeters, making it not particularly difficult to aim at—except that its skull was exceptionally thick, and even when an armor-piercing arrow struck home, it didn't seem to deal much damage.

"Who?!"

"Who ambushed me?!" (Giant language)

Stung by the pain, the monster let out a furious roar, tossing aside the human corpse in its hand.

*Whoosh!*

An arrow cleaved through the air.

The next second, it clutched its eyes and let out a shrill, miserable scream: "Ah!... My eyes... Despicable..."

This single blow inflicted severe injuries upon it.

Yet by this time Duncan had already exposed himself. He had originally anticipated a fierce battle, but to his surprise, after the giant cast a single glance at him, it turned tail and ran.

Visible to the naked eye, the monster's depleting health bar began to slowly, incrementally regenerate. Although the speed wasn't fast—recovering merely a sliver at a time—this was also the first time Duncan had ever witnessed someone regenerating health in the middle of combat. If it were allowed to rest for a night, there was no telling if even its heavy injuries might heal completely.

What the hell?

It actually ran away?

Duncan had already been ready to draw his Valian throwing axes. The giant had charged quickly at first; he had planned to loose at most three consecutive shots before immediately switching to the throwing axes, followed instantly by triggering his berserk state, drawing Oathkeeper, and engaging the giant in a direct, head-on clash.

However, the creature turning around and fleeing was not part of Duncan's plan.

Weren't giants supposed to be rather reckless?

"Could my legendary status be too high?"

Duncan landed and gave furious chase.

In truth, that wasn't the case at all. Rather, there was a lingering scent of the giant sea-serpents clinging to his body. The giant had caught a faint whiff of another monster's scent—and moreover, the scent of one that had died not long ago, mixed with a hint of siren odor.

This caused it to feel uneasy and afraid; the opponent did not seem to be a mere mortal.

Something was wrong!

It wasn't running in the direction of its own cave; it was fleeing toward a certain lake.

Not good!

This monster was looking for backup.

Duncan truly hadn't expected that he could scare it into running away. His stamina bar had also consumed quite a bit during this frantic chase, but fortunately he had the God's-eye perspective, allowing him to take shortcuts. The monster possessed a massive physique, which instead became an inconvenience once it entered the forest, and he gradually caught up to it.

Looking back, the giant saw Duncan closing in at blinding speed like a ghost in the dark, and the next second, it actually let out a terrified shriek!

The dynamic had completely reversed.

Just how fierce it had been while slaughtering the village earlier was just how frightened it appeared now.

*Don't come over here!*

Snatching up a boulder, the giant hurled it backward. It possessed almost no combat technique, relying entirely on instinct and sheer brute force.

*Whoosh!*

Duncan changed his tactics, picking up Noden's Bow, drawing an armor-piercing arrow, and shooting straight for the enemy's knee.

Under these circumstances, crippling its legs first was the priority.

Originally, his combat plan had been to close the distance and hack at the enemy's thighs and knees with his Valian throwing axes.

*Thud.*

Stumbling with one foot, the giant took an arrow to the knee. The armor-piercing arrowhead drove deep into the joint of the bone, causing it to howl in such agonizing pain that one had to wonder if it had even reached adulthood—after all, dwarf legends stated they only reached adulthood at fifty, and giants likely required many years as well.

"MOM!..."

Uttering a strange, indistinct syllable, the monster snatched up a small tree and charged toward Duncan, wielding it as a weapon.

Realizing it couldn't escape, it prepared to fight Duncan to the death.

That's more like it!

How could it be so ferocious against mortals earlier, yet turn and run the moment it met him?

Come and fight!

Face me! Scum!