Somewhere in Myard territory..... In a place that looks like a village with a large farm, there were farmers gathering wheat, and the sun was shining strongly on them.
As soon as the farmers saw an army, they thought it was their kingdom's army. But when they saw the giant and the black armor they wore, they realized it was not their kingdom's army.
They all dropped their tools and ran, but it was too late when they did that.
As soon as Hysin's army entered the village, they looted everything. They took the food, broke into the warehouse, and burned buildings as they entered. They looted the storerooms and left nothing.
The farmers tried to resist, but as soon as they saw the giant, they immediately turned and ran outside, and were quickly killed by a fat man riding a horse.
"Hurry up, you fools!" Edmund shouted from his horse while slaughtering another villager.
"Zander, damn it, from one fight to another, doesn't it ever end?" Zander spoke tiredly while killing another soldier.
Atlas was watching what the army was doing, and his feeling of regret increased with every second he saw this. He felt his choice was severely wrong, but he clung to it.
"Zander, what's the reason for what we're doing now?" Atlas asked.
"It's war," Zander replied.
"But I don't see the point in this?" Atlas asked.
"This is war, boy. Do you think war is just invasion and destruction?"
"Haha, war is something far, far worse," Zander spoke in a serious tone.
"How so?" Atlas asked.
"War is considered one of the worst things we've had to do in our few years," Zander spoke.
"Killing, looting, burning... all of this isn't even a small part of war."
"War has dimensions, Atlas, and I personally don't know the furthest extent of what war can do, because I'm afraid to find out."
"And also, they most likely didn't know about our invasion of the fortress, otherwise they would have implemented a scorched earth policy."
"Where they would have burned this farm to the ground from the start," Zander spoke, pointing to the farm.
"But now they certainly know we've entered their land, and they will definitely strike us. I wonder what Julius is planning," Zander spoke as he moved.
"After all this is over, won't people remember what we did?" Atlas asked in a low voice.
"That's the point of war," Zander spoke in a sad tone.
"War is written by the victor."
"Always remember that."
"I do," Atlas spoke in a calm tone.
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After the looting, Hysin's army stopped at a specific hill, a high hill where you could see everything around you. Julius was standing in a different spot so the entire army could see him.
"Listen to me well. We will set up a temporary camp here until we meet our forces in the east. We will stay here," Julius shouted.
"Understood!"
Hysin's army moved quickly. They set up tents, cut down trees, and quickly formed a temporary camp.
"So all we have to do is wait for support?" asked a soldier.
"Isn't this too easy?" asked another.
"No, you fools, quite the opposite," Zander spoke with a worried expression on his face.
"What do you mean, Sir Zander?" a soldier asked anxiously.
"We are in their land, Myard's land, and you say we just have to guard. But do you know what I see in this?"
"....No," a soldier replied.
"I see that we have walked with our own feet into their territory, into a high place. It's a strategic area, I admit that, but from another perspective, it's the worst possible situation."
"Because throughout our wait for the forces, we will have to resist all their attacks, from gang raids, to provocation, to burning our supplies, and every possible strategy against us, while we have to stay in place. They are sharpening all their weapons against us."
"Damn."
"Isn't this extremely bad!?" a soldier asked worriedly.
"The worse thing is that we let some villagers escape, and with the fact that we invaded the fortress and reached here..."
"They will probably send their strongest army against us, for the morale of their people."
"Oh my God."
"But we have Atlas. He can protect us from this, right?" a soldier asked.
"Yes, I hope so," Zander spoke.
Hysin's army had already built a camp and a small wooden fence. Time had passed, and Julius was waiting and standing somewhere, with Edmund nearby.
"What's the matter, Julius? Is something wrong?" Edmund asked.
"It's too easy," Julius spoke tensely.
"Perhaps, because those peasants didn't expect our attack, and they thought we would just defend. That was their mistake. It will be easy," Edmund spoke arrogantly.
"Yeah, I hope so," Julius spoke with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Huh, why is the sky? It suddenly became cloudy. Is it going to rain?" a soldier asked.
They saw the sky around them had suddenly clouded over.
Suddenly, something like a meteor shot out at high speed towards a specific direction and hit.
"Arghhhhhh!" Atlas screamed as he fell to the ground forcefully.
"Atlas!" Zander shouted.
Atlas fell hard and rolled twice, creating a shockwave. This scene left everyone bewildered by what they saw and made them panic, raising their shields.
"It's an enemy attack!" a soldier shouted.
"Damn it, protect me, you peasants!" Edmund screamed in panic.
"Where is the enemy??" Julius asked in horror while calming his horse.
"He's in front, he's.... someone.... is there someone standing in the distance?" a soldier spoke with his binoculars.
"What? Where? Give me that!" Edmund shouted, taking the binoculars.
"Tell me, Edmund, what do you see?" Julius asked.
"It's an old peasant from the countryside. Why is a country peasant here?" Edmund asked mockingly.
"An old peasant? What could he possibly- Oh wait.... Give me that quickly!" Zander shouted in terror.
"Hey, how dare a country bumpkin like you-"
"Damn it, he's a Grand Sorcerer!" Zander shouted.
"Who cares? And how dare a country bumpkin like you-"
"Are you sure about this, Zander?" Julius asked worriedly, pushing Edmund out of his way.
"Yes, when I was young, I met one. I can recognize them just by seeing them."
"Damn," a soldier replied in panic.
"Seriously?" a soldier spoke worriedly, looking around.
"He dealt with the giant in one blow!"
"He's just a sorcerer!? Why are you worried!? We have sorcerers too!" Edmund asked.
"He's not just a sorcerer; he's a Grand Sorcerer."
"Excuse me, Master Julius, but what's the difference between them?" Edmund asked suspiciously, feeling he had missed something but not knowing what.
"It's a rank among sorcerers. They are considered the highest. I heard Myard has one. Did they send him just to deal with us?" Julius spoke worriedly while giving a slight smile.
"So what do we do, Master Julius?" Edmund asked.
"Isn't it obvious? (Turning to the soldiers) Everyone retreat!"
"Wait, but what about Atlas!?" Zander shouted.
"Clearly, he's finished. He's no longer useful. We must retreat as quickly as possible," Julius spoke while moving from his horse.
"What, but?!" Zander complained.
"Or do you want to carry him with you? Did you forget he's the size of a tower? You can try if you want, but I won't take excess baggage."
"Don't worry about me."
Atlas stood up, and his face had a slight bruise on his head.
"Atlas!" Zander shouted joyfully.
"You survived?!" Edmund shouted in shock.
"Yeah, it was small. Good thing it wasn't big," Atlas spoke as he stood up.
"Great," Julius spoke in a cold tone.
"Now, so this person is a Grand Sorcerer?" Atlas asked.
"Yes, Atlas, be careful," Zander spoke worriedly.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Atlas spoke as he left, heading towards the direction.
"No... it's a battle between two people with the power of two armies," Zander spoke, watching from afar.
Atlas advanced slowly towards the sorcerer. The sorcerer was an old man with a long white beard, wearing a dark blue robe, with large wrinkles covering his face.
When Atlas advanced and stood in front of the sorcerer at an acceptable distance, the size difference was clear. From an ordinary person's perspective, a mouse cannot defeat a lion, but with magic, it's possible. And they were witnessing that now.
The sorcerer looked at Atlas with a thoughtful and comfortable expression, as if he were on a stroll.
"It seems you survived that. That's noteworthy. Nothing has survived my Meteor spell before," the sorcerer spoke arrogantly.
"Yeah, that was really a surprise," Atlas replied with a cold expression.
"Well, it's a pity Hysin found you first. I wanted to make you my lab rat. But truth be told, let's finish this quickly."
As soon as the sorcerer finished his sentence, he cast different spells at Atlas - fire, lightning, wind. More than twenty spells were cast simultaneously towards Atlas.
Atlas rolled to the right and ended up in a completely different place. The ground shook when he did this. The sorcerer continued casting more spells while Atlas rolled and managed to hit him four times, but it didn't have a major effect. Atlas grabbed a piece of earth and threw it at the sorcerer. It was the size of a large boulder. The sorcerer formed a light defensive shield and blocked it easily as if it were nothing.
"Interesting. You don't rely entirely on overconfidence in your body, unlike what I expected," the sorcerer spoke, looking at Atlas as he approached.
"But let's raise the level a bit?"
While Atlas was moving, he suddenly felt the ground become sticky and realized the earth had turned muddy and started pulling him down. The sorcerer had cast a spell that could bury soldiers, but the most it could do was slow Atlas's movements, and the sorcerer knew this.
He cast many spells towards Atlas, and this time Atlas couldn't dodge them. He decided to do something he had seen on television.
He raised both hands and stood firmly. The sound echoed throughout the area, even reaching Hysin's army.
"Oh, my God!" Zander shouted while Julius and those around him took cover.
"Oooohhh! Now you're doing something! But show me more! Show me your despair!"
This time, the sorcerer cast powerful spells. Each spell took on a beastly shape and moved as if it were a living creature moving with its own will towards Atlas.
Atlas blocked them with his gauntlets while moving towards the sorcerer. He was attacked intermittently and was slowly approaching him.
"Hmm, it seems your body has some immunity to most magic, but not completely. Or is it because of your thick skin?"
"Let's test something big."
This time, he cast a spell and formed a large piece of magma, throwing it directly at Atlas. As soon as Atlas saw this, he immediately knelt and dodged it by ten meters.
"Don't dodge. I want to see how you'll survive, my big rat," the sorcerer spoke.
The sorcerer brought out chains of light and bound Atlas. They were like thin threads to him, but there were a large number of them.
"And now, let's test now."
While the sorcerer was speaking, Atlas kicked the mud, and a part of it flew towards the sorcerer's shield dome.
"Hmm? A desperate move, huh? So even a giant like you will___?"
As the mud slid off the sorcerer's shield, Atlas disappeared from his line of sight. When he searched for him, he saw the sky had suddenly darkened, and when he looked up, he immediately discovered that Atlas had jumped and was now above him.
"Wait a minute!"
Booom!
A shockwave was released when both his feet landed on the shield dome. The light shield was cracking at a rapid pace. The sorcerer was clenching both hands while supplying the shield with magic.
"You big bastard!"
The sorcerer moved and flew at a low altitude to avoid being smash under Atlas giant foots, but Atlas lunged and punched him powerfully with his gauntlet.
"Oh, you think I'll let you?!" the sorcerer asked arrogantly.
The sorcerer launched ice spears at Atlas, but Atlas charged quickly and shattered them with the force of his body's movement. While more spears were heading towards him, both were fighting with all they had, and the army watched the scene in shock.
"They're destroying everything around them."
"Oh my God."
"Yeah! Giant of Hysin,show him power our kingdom!"
"Is this the power of a Grand Sorcerer?! They can destroy an army with power like this!"
"Yeah! Giant of Hysin, move here and there!"
The soldiers were cheering as if they were a distant audience. Zander was clenching his hands in worry, while Julius was lost in his thoughts.
"Damn, they're monsters!" Edmund screamed in terror.
"What is this?" Julius thought.
Julius was born with a silver spoon. When he was young, he felt like a king. Everything went as he wished. If he wanted something, he got it from his father. And any problem, no matter what, could be solved with money. But as he grew older, he realized there were things that money or power couldn't obtain, and that was Recognition.
He always wanted to prove he was the best. He received the best education and trained in the art of sword fighting. When he went to the arena, he thought he would rise easily, but reality was harsh.
In his first challenge, he faced a tough opponent and was easily defeated. He became the laughingstock of the nobles. He couldn't even scratch this duelist.
He felt inferior. He felt weak. He wanted to prove to everyone that he was the best. And when the war broke out, he thought it was a golden opportunity. But when he saw he was only playing the role of an observer for a giant weapon, he felt humiliated and insulted.
And during the confrontation, he thought that with the presence of a Grand Sorcerer, he would surely die. But seeing that their battle changed the geography of the place, a new feeling grew within him.
"What is this horrible feeling? I am not weak! I..."
He continued watching the fight and realized what the feeling was. It wasn't weakness, but smallness. He felt the smallness of his existence upon seeing the battle of these two monsters....
Hooofffff... Hooofffffg
Haaahhhh..... Haaaahhhh
They both looked at each other, panting in exhaustion.
"Damn, I wanted to see more, but my magic is starting to run out."
He formed something like a giant thunder spear and aimed it at Atlas with all his strength. Atlas saw this and narrowed his eyes.
"This is my strongest spell, Heaven's Punishment! It's the pinnacle of what I've achieved!"
The sorcerer threw the spear. It flew as if it could pierce everything. The soldiers watched in horror as it arrived.
But Atlas moved and grabbed the spear firmly with his hand. When he caught it, he began to be pushed back slowly while being electrocuted.
"Arghhhhhh!"
"You fool, why resist? Just surrender."
"Why am I resisting?" Atlas muttered.
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.
.
.
"Isn't it obvious?(Turning to the soldiers) Everyone retreat!"
"Wait, but what about Atlas!?" Zander shouted.
"Clearly, he's finished. He's no longer useful. We must retreat as quickly as possible," Julius spoke while moving from his horse.
"What, but?!" Zander complained.
"Or do you want to carry him with you? Did you forget he's the size of a tower? You can try if you want, but I won't take excess baggage."
"Excess baggage."
"Leech."
"Useless."
"No....."
"No... No.... No"
"I am not useless. I don't want to be like this. I don't want to be a burden to anyone..... Please....."
Whoosh
"Impossible!" the Grand Sorcerer screamed in shock while continuing to pour his magic.
Atlas moved while holding the magical lightning bolt, feeling pain in every atom of his being.
"Just..... look....at..me.....just."
"accept me!"
Atlas changed the direction of the lightning bolt towards the sorcerer. He saw the sorcerer's eyes flash yellow before an explosion occurred.
Booom!
The lightning bolt exploded and released a large storm of smoke upon detonation. Hysin's army took cover.
"Damn! It destroyed my shield! But good thing I have a Teleport Scroll!"
And as the sorcerer was opening the scroll, a fist appeared from within the smoke and crushed his right arm.
"Arghhhhhh! My arm!" the Grand Sorcerer screamed while preparing a spell.
Another hand appeared, grabbed the sorcerer, and tore his arm off completely. When the smoke cleared slightly, Atlas appeared, holding the sorcerer as if he were a rag doll.
"You barbaric bastard!" the Grand Sorcerer screamed in pain.
Atlas grabbed his arm as if it were a doll's arm and tore it off completely, without any effort.
"Arghhhhhh! You dirty slave!"
Atlas placed two fingers on the sorcerer's head, which was like a small candy compared to his massive fingers.
"Hey..... Hey, wait, please!___"
Atlas pressed with his fingers, crushed the sorcerer's skull, and it came out cleanly from all its orifices. He died in the end.
Atlas lifted the corpse of the sorcerer he had killed, and Hysin's soldiers cheered happily.
"Yeeaaaaaahhhhhhh!"
"That's it! That's Atlas!"
"Long live the Giant of Hysin!"
"Our giant who defeated Myard's Grand Sorcerer!"
"Long live Atlas, the Sorcerer Crusher!"
Zander looked at Atlas and sighed in relief while clapping. Edmund felt pride, as if it were nothing significant. And Julius was grinding his teeth while watching this.
"Recognition..... always goes to someone else and not me.... Why... Is it your large size that makes you special?.... Atlas!"
Julius looked at him with pure hatred while thinking.
"I will get the recognition, and in the end, you will be the dead one!"