Chapter 41 –– Gargantuan & True Human
Meanwhile, back at the Temple, an S-class gargantuan appeared at the Temple. Its size was nothing like they’d ever seen before–– a giant with 120 feet tall. It defeated the Sacred Guards guarding the front gate on its way in in just one attack.
Having their plan intercepted by Yara who came as a reinforcement on the day of the Lantern Festival, Four planned in advance to keep the rest of the members remaining at the Temple occupied by sending an S-class gargantuan there, so they wouldn’t come to the Royal Residence as support. By keeping both places occupied, they could maintain control of the battle.
Four members of Garuda Squad who remained at the Temple–– Yara, Bing, Dasom, and Kogane–– tried to fight against the humongous enemy. This was the first time they encountered an S-class monster, let alone fight it.
Dasom led the group staying at the Temple while other members of Garuda Squad were at the Royal Residence. The other members nodded to her instruction.
“Resisting is futile.”
The members of Garuda Squad were surprised to hear the monster speak. This was the first time they encountered a monster who was able to communicate using human language.
Aside from its extraordinary size, the gargantuan emanated corrosive liquid from its skin that could melt anything it touches. This gave more complication to the team that was trying to dispel it, as they couldn’t get any closer to it.
As a long range fighter, Yara shot a light arrow towards the gargantuan. She missed the shot terribly. Having her bow changed just recently, she was still trying to adapt to the new bow she just had someone custom-made it recently.
The gargantuan kicked Yara with its giant foot. Fortunately, Yara was able to dodge it, despite its corrosive liquid got splashed to Yara’s clothes. Yara could have died if the liquid touched her directly.
“That thing...that’s....”
Yara was horrified with what happened to her clothes. A sleeve from her shirt just melted and almost touched her skin. This gargantuan felt impossible to defeat.
Although it could cause destruction everywhere it went, due to its size, the gargantuan was moving very slowly. It also had a hard time aiming its opponents accurately, since Garuda Squad members all moved super fast.
Dasom then attacked the gargantuan’s leg using her whip. She managed to land a hit and slashed its skin quite deep, giving a dent to its leg. Turned out, Dasom’s attack was more effective than she initially thought.
Dasom used a whip as her main weapon. Her fyx skill was “Cutthroat.” Once she imbued her fyx energy into her whip, any attack that she sent could cause a dent to whatever it touched due to an additional shock wave.
“Kogane! Call the exorcists!” Dasom shouted.
Kogane immediately did as he was told. Meanwhile, Yara, Dasom, and Bing tried to prevent the gargantuan from moving anywhere further to reduce more damage that it cause around the area.
After getting used to the new bow, Yara sent another arrow towards the monster. This time, the aim was more accurate. She managed to land a hit on the gargantuan’s torso and sent an electrical current through her arrow. However, the gargantuan didn’t seem to be affected by her electric fyx energy texture.
Bing also tried to attack it using his spirit, Dentou. He used Dentou’s Portable Form as a bazooka and shot the gargantuan with it. Bing made some significant damage towards the gargantuan that it aggravated it.
While waiting for reinforcements from the Exorcism Regiment, the three members of the Garuda Squad fought against the gargantuan as best as they could. While they were at the vanguard, Kogane supported them by healing them using his medix.
“How do we dispel it!?” Bing asked while shouting.
“I don’t know!” Yara shouted.
With no experience in dispelling a monster, none of them knew how to defeat the gargantuan. All they could do right now was limit the gargantuan’s movements while waiting for the exorcists to come.
Suddenly, someone came approaching them.
The mysterious person touched one of the gargantuan's legs with their bare hand, despite the corrosive liquid coming out of the gargantuan's skin. All of a sudden, the gargantuan's leg that was touched became all limp and made it fumble, falling to the ground. Garuda Squad members immediately ran away as far away as they could to avoid the gargantuan that was falling right in front of them.
The person then punched the gargantuan who was lying on its stomach right on its head. Just one punch from them, the gargantuan's head immediately exploded and smushed into bits, splashing corrosive liquid everywhere.
The gargantuan then slowly vanished into thin air, dispelled by that person. Turned out, its core was inside its head.
“Are you an exorcist? Thank God, we were––”
Before Dasom could finish her sentence, the person leaped towards her to send her a punch. Dasom reflexively dodged it on time. She was surprised to get attacked from them.
Being up close with them, Dasom could see the face hiding under the hood they were wearing.
“You’re not an exorcist.”
Noticed that Dasom already saw their appearance, the person then decided to open up their hood, showing their face to Garuda Squad members.
“You’re not human.....” Yara exclaimed in fear.
The person then showed their true self to their enemies.
“No, on the contrary. Unlike you, I am the true human.”
The person appeared in front of them had a humanoid appearance, yet very weird physical traits. They had mouths on the palms of their hands in addition to the one on their face, three eyes with another one on their forehead, and a tail behind their back. Their skin was pale like a corpse and their bangs covered their eyes. No matter how one looked at it, that was definitely a monster.
“Who are you!?” Bing shouted.
The four remaining members of Garuda Squad stood in front of them vigilantly, watching their every move. Seeing that person dispel an S-class gargantuan so easily, Garuda Squad members were in fear for their lives. The four of them couldn’t even dispel that gargantuan even if they worked together. Meanwhile, that person just came and immediately dispelled the monster so easily in a few minutes.
“I am Fallacio. I am the true human, born out human fear towards failure.”
The four of them felt shudders down their spine. They immediately got into their fighting stance, en garde.
Fallacio was not a monster sent by the Stainless Syndicate. They came all by themself, representing their own self as an individual.
Unlike any S-class monsters that had appeared in the world, the International Exorcist Association had not registered Fallacio on their list of encountered monsters. This was the first time they appeared in public.
Right when Fallacio was about to massacre all of them, reinforcements from the Exorcism Regiment arrived at the Temple. Sensing a lot of medix energy coming from the exorcists approaching Fallacio, they decided to withdraw and escape from the Temple. Unable to stop Fallacio, Garuda Squad members let them go. The exorcists searched around the Temple for Fallacio, but they were long gone.
That was the first time one of them appeared in public.