Chapter 141
Chapter 141
The Giant and the Thunderbolt
A sudden, violent tremor spread across the ground in the middle of the night, continuing with an unbelievably rapid cycle.
"What, what the hell. An earthquake?!"
Nora, who had just stuffed a piece of lokum into her mouth, sprang to her feet and shouted.
"Does an earthquake even feel like this?"
Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
The unrelenting shockwaves didn’t feel natural—they had an artificial edge to them.
"The ceiling."
Irena pointed toward the office ceiling in panic.
"Goddammit. How long has it even been since we leased this place?"
The sight of the cracked ceiling, crumbling to dust instead of bleeding, pained Kairus deeply.
"Aaaaaaaaah! Ah! Ah! Huaaah! I’m! Fucking! Aliveeeeeeeee!"
At the booming scream, Kairus threw his gaze outside the window. People were fleeing, screaming as they ran.
And then—
"What the fuck is that."
There stood a man, massive beyond words. Easily over two meters tall, probably weighing more than 200 kilograms.
He was a slab of muscle covered in pulsating veins, clad in chunks of thick metal plating. But there was one thing that stood out more than anything else.
"A jackhammer?"
Also known as a jackhammer or a pile driver.
It had many names and was usually found at construction sites or mines...
But now, it was attached in place of the giant man’s right arm.
"Wait, is that... a battle gear?"
Irena stared, dumbfounded, at the man with the jackhammer. A madman who had replaced his entire right hand with a jackhammer-type battle gear was smashing everything in sight on the street where Kairus’s office was located.
"Was hoping to get some rest."
Kairus took a deep breath and assessed the man.
"What kind of psycho is that strong?"
It was obvious at a glance—he looked like he’d just been released from the correctional facility. There was a pressure in the air, making his skin prickle.
Whoever shared a cell with that bastard must’ve had a rough time.
Watching the chaos, Kairus suddenly grabbed a book from inside the office and hurled it at the man.
The flying book struck the safety helmet on the man’s head. Thwack! With that sound, the jackhammer—which had been driving up and down with joy—paused.
The giant's eyes followed the path the book came from, landing on Kairus, who was now leaping out the window.
"Let me fucking sleep, asshole. What the hell are you doing in the middle of the night?"
"Fuuuuuuuuuuuu."
The man, who had briefly paused, let out a long, heavy exhale. A thick cloud of white breath surged from his mouth.
"Get lost."
The man casually pointed the tip of his jackhammer at Kairus.
"Or else, that’s what happens."
Kairus briefly shifted his gaze toward the wall. The bodies of people, smashed beyond recognition, were stuck together in a mangled heap.
They looked like tomatoes thrown against a wall. Without replying, Kairus drew his Flicker and spoke.
"Drop everything you've got and leave."
He needed money to repair the office, and considering the shock he'd just suffered, some emotional damages were in order too.
Hearing Kairus’s response, the giant’s lips twitched slightly.
"Fucking weakling."
Before he even finished speaking, the giant charged.
One step. The ground shattered, and chunks of stone scattered in every direction.
Two steps. The wind shrieked as it fled from the charge of the writhing mass of muscle.
Three steps. That arrogant, yapping rat in front of him would be turned into a bloody smear.
"Urgh... gah..."
The jackhammer’s piston-led charge slammed into Kairus.
It felt like being hit by a speeding train. Kairus's body was driven backwards in a straight line.
The soles of his shoes, dragging along the ground, began to smoke as friction wore them down.
If I try to block that again, I’m dead.
Every joint rattled. His startled muscles spasmed violently.
Just one blow was enough for Kairus to be absolutely certain of that fact.
And the charge didn’t stop. Everything in the straight path between where the giant stood and his target was about to be obliterated.
"Kairus!"
Irena and Nora joined in, slashing their swords at the giant.
?!
The yataghan and stained glass swords, swung with full force, couldn’t pierce the metal plating covering the giant's body.
And so, the rampage continued. It wouldn't stop until Kairus was reduced to pulp.
"What about Swift Blade?!"
"I'm using it now!"
Irena shouted back at Nora's question. The strong wind generated to stop the charge was already slamming into the giant with all its might.
It just wasn’t strong enough to halt him.
"Hah! Hahahahahaha! Break!"
The monstrous jackhammer on his right arm roared in a violent piston motion as he swung it down.
Kairus narrowly dodged the blow, but sadly, the ground wasn’t something that could dodge.
With an explosion, the road shattered, and a massive pillar of dirt shot toward the sky.
The broken road exposed buried water pipes that burst and began spilling water, while gas pipes connected to street lamps ruptured and started spewing gas.
"This crazy bastard."
Seizing the moment, Nora rushed in and jammed her yataghan into a gap between the metal plates. Clang! A metallic screech echoed as the blade scraped against steel.
"Clang?! This isn’t a goddamn joke!"
That wasn't the kind of sound you got from stabbing human flesh. Realizing her attack had failed, Nora immediately retreated. The spot where she'd been standing a second ago was smashed by the jackhammer.
"...."
That raging bastard needed to be stopped, like a bull gone mad after being jabbed in the ass. Kairus quickly swung his sword, manipulating the wind. He drew the gas leaking from the ruptured pipe and concentrated it around the giant.
If he inhaled, gas would fill the giant’s lungs instead of oxygen.
"Hraaaah!"
With a roar, the giant slammed the ground. The shockwave exploded out like a disaster, blasting away the gas surrounding him. His charge followed instantly, hitting before Kairus could once again flood the area with gas.
Like a bowling ball crashing into pins, Kairus’s body flew through the air with a sonic crack and slammed into a wall. With a thunderous crash, the wall caved in around him.
Even then, the force hadn’t been fully spent. Kairus’s body smashed through the collapsed wall and only came to a stop after colliding with the outer wall of a building.
"Ugh."
Kairus shuddered and retched from the gut-churning impact.
He had no idea where this monster had come from, but at this rate, they didn’t stand a chance.
No reinforcements were coming.
Even with Kairus, Irena, and Nora attacking at once, not only had they failed to subdue the giant—they were the ones getting beaten to a pulp. Unless the Operations Committee sent someone, nobody else would be foolish enough to step into this mess.
"Anyone who jumps in now would end up like crushed potato chips under a truck."
Who the hell would show up? Kairus held onto his dizzy consciousness. He needed to think straight.
If Nora’s yataghan couldn’t even pierce the flesh, then neither could the stained glass blade nor Flicker.
It had to be an ability granted by that insane jackhammer-type battle gear. Hardened skin alone wasn't some groundbreaking power.
In fact, without such reinforcement, replacing a right arm with that vibrating jackhammer wouldn’t even be feasible.
If I can just hold him down, even for a moment.
He didn’t need much time. Just long enough to stab Flicker into the jackhammer and eject it.
Once ejected, that rampaging locomotive would turn into nothing more than a massive, dumb hunk of muscle for fifteen seconds.
Cloud Seizing Art...
Condensed clouds could become cumulonimbus clouds. Then, using Swift Blade to stir up moisture inside those clouds, you could create a lightning strike.
Kairus was still in the process of learning Cloud Seizing Art, so he couldn't reach the actual sky. But by using Swift Blade and temperature differentials, he could simulate a similar environment on a small scale at ground level.
Would it be safe to use?
Nora had experienced a similar attack before. Back then, it was a fluke—a lightning bolt that struck by coincidence. But this time, he'd turn that coincidence into certainty.
It should be fine. No one would suspect him.
While he was in the labor correctional facility, the Emperor had erased all records of Kairus. Technically, even if he used Cloud Seizing Art, it could be brushed off with something like, "It's a technique derived from insights gained while studying Cloud Seizing Art."
And even if that didn't work—he was about to die anyway.
Kairus came to his own conclusion and pushed his output to the limit.
"Irena, Nora! Stall him! Just… thirty seconds!"
There was no need for a "Why?" Neither Nora nor Irena hesitated. Both charged at the giant to buy Kairus the time he needed.
If Peerless Wind was the foundation of Swift Blade, then cumulonimbus clouds were the foundation of Cloud Seizing Art. Not the soft, puffy white clouds—he needed the dark, heavy kind that came before a storm.
Kairus pulled out his hip flask. The vapor it released saturated the air with moisture.
As he moved his sword, cold wind and hot wind began to swirl, carrying the mist.
The mist riding the cold air turned into fine ice particles. The mist riding the hot air lost its form and became damp, heavy air.
Clash.
Two opposing air masses collided. A massive amount of cloud condensed thickly around the giant.
The cloud that Kairus created and controlled didn’t cover a wide area, but it rose high—forming a pillar around 30 meters tall.
He didn’t yet have the mastery to expand its breadth, so he focused on maximizing its height and density.
It was enough. That alone was sufficient to generate an artificial thundercloud.
Rise and fall.
Now, inside that pillar-shaped cloud, air began to circulate. Water droplets clashed and rubbed against each other.
Not just moisture, but dust from the shattered ground swirled into the cloud and mixed in.
"Raaaahhhh!"
The jackhammer slammed into the ground again, releasing violent shockwaves. The cloud, about to disperse under the pressure, pulled itself back together under the control of Swift Blade.
The more that happened, the better. The clouds created through Cloud Seizing Art had to remain unstable. Shockwaves stirred the air and droplets inside, breaking and grinding them.
Every single one of those actions brought the lightning strike closer.
"Now get out of there!"
At Kairus's shout, Nora and Irena swiftly withdrew.
The 30-meter cloud pillar flashed with a blinding pale light and released a deafening roar.
"Graaaaaaaaaah!"
A scream. Scattering clouds. The giant, frozen in place.
Kairus ran. Flicker connected with the jackhammer.
The spread of mosaic. The disappearance of both blade and jackhammer.
"Let’s see how much dust you can kick up in the rain."
And then came the beatdown.
Kairus, pushing Flicker's remaining output to the max, slammed a fist into the giant’s face.
Dooonnnng. A deep gong-like echo rang out. But it didn’t end with one strike.
Kairus’s flurry continued, each blow ringing out like a bell. Blood and spit leaked from between the metal plates covering the man's body.
For fifteen seconds—the window of time Flicker granted—Kairus battered the giant like he was playing a xylophone.
"Khak! Hhagh… fuck, bastard…"
After fifteen seconds, Flicker and the jackhammer returned to their original forms.
With the giant now limp, Kairus quickly disarmed him and threw the jackhammer far away.
"Got him."
The victor of this late-night battle was Kairus. After binding the man's limbs, he finally turned to check on Irena and Nora.
Neither of them was in good shape. Dark bruises had spread across their bodies, and Irena’s arm was broken.
Of course, Kairus wasn’t in perfect condition either.
"Good work. First, let’s get to a hospital."
"Where should we go?"
Nora slumped as she asked, her face weary. At a time like this, there was only one place they could go.
"Tanya’s ER."
Once they arrived, Tanya would give them emergency treatment, write up a medical report, and send them to a proper hospital.