novelraw Chapter 146: Mutant Cyclops
Chapter 146: Mutant Cyclops
Back at the western gate, the ground quaked again as the colossal monster finally stepped into full view. In that moment, I realized it was a cyclops, and a mutated variant at that, standing well over fifteen meters tall. Its single yellow eye burned with killing intent, and its muscles bulged like twisted tree trunks beneath coarse, rock-like gray skin. Jagged bone-like plates jutted from its shoulders, spine, and arms, forming natural armor tougher than steel. It seemed to have once been chained and broken loose, as evidenced by the crude metal shackles dangling from its limbs.
[Mutant Cyclops – Lv.168]
A colossal mutant variant of the cyclops race, enhanced through forbidden rituals using monster blood and ancient relics. Its monstrous physique grants it overwhelming strength capable of pulverizing fortress walls in mere seconds. Its single eye can focus mana into a destructive beam that vaporizes anything in its line of sight.
Threat Level: Extremely High
“Holy shit!” I grimaced.
It raised its massive club—a thick log reinforced with steel—and let out another thunderous roar as it swung downward.
BOOOOM!
The reinforced log struck the earth, sending chunks of stone and dirt exploding upward. It didn’t care in the slightest that several goblins and gnolls were directly beneath the impact—its own allies were crushed without hesitation.
Boris, still outside the wall, looked up at the towering monster and grinned like a madman. “Hahaha! It would take even me a lot of effort to take down a monster of this size if it’s even possible!”
Just then, the cyclops bent down and scooped up several of the shattered stone slabs created from its own strike with both hands. Its massive hands clenched, turning each piece into deadly projectiles.
“Oh, no. It’s going to—”
With a violent twist of its torso, the cyclops hurled the boulders toward the wall with a brutal overhead hurl. The chunks of broken ground soared like artillery shells.
“Duck!” I shouted.
Several guards dove behind the battlements just before impact, and then the boulders crashed against the wall with loud crashes and booms. The wall trembled violently as fractures spiderwebbed across its surface. One massive block the size of a carriage punched straight through the battlement entirely, tearing a gaping hole and sending several defenders screaming as they toppled from the ledge.
Michelle had actually blasted some of the incoming debris mid-air with explosive arrows, but it was far from enough to stop everything. Worse still, not all the boulders struck the wall—a few overshot it and slammed into the houses behind us, toppling rooftops like flimsy cardboard. Panicked screams rose from the streets as dust clouds billowed upward.
“Damn it…” I clenched my teeth. “Even one attack is doing this much damage?”
Lucian’s face paled. “If it keeps this up… the walls won’t last!”
In the nick of time, Lucian had cast a large mana barrier that protected the guards on the battlements from further debris. But even I could tell that it had taken everything he had to secure just this section of the wall from collapsing.
“I’m sorry. I can’t stop all its attacks,” Michelle said, crestfallen, guilt written all over her face.
“No! It’s not your fault.” I shook my head sharply. Then I turned toward Boris below, tightening my grip on the Meteorite Spear. “Boris! We need to deal with that thing together! The others will hold the line!”
Boris cracked his neck, muscles bulging as a wide grin spread across his face. “Heh. Finally!” he shouted back. “Thought you’d never ask!”
The cyclops scooped the shattered stone slabs again and clenched them with both hands, compressing the fragments into a massive boulder, clearly intending to launch it at the wall and destroy it once and for all. If that attack landed, the wall wouldn’t be able to last!
“Michelle!” I called. “Aim for the eye! Don’t let it throw the stones!”
“Got it!”
“Lucian, Tuilë, cover the wall! Don’t let anything else reach the town!”
“Naturally,” Lucian replied, already preparing another spell.
“Aye, sir!” Tuilë saluted briskly, with Bernardo actually mimicking her.
Without hesitation, I vaulted over the battlements and landed in a crouch beside Boris. The ground cracked beneath my feet from the impact.
Boris slammed his fists together with thunderous enthusiasm. “Let’s crush this big bastard!”
“Mhm.”
The cyclops didn’t wait and reared back to hurl the boulder straight toward us and the wall, but Michelle’s arrow reached it first. The projectile struck directly into its eye and exploded. Immediately afterward, thorny vines erupted from the blast and wrapped violently across its face and eyelid.
“GROOOOOUAAAAARRR!!”
The cyclops staggered, clutching its face in rage as the vines constricted with both hands, thus releasing the chunks it was holding.
“Time to move!” I shouted.
Boris charged forward with a booming laugh, and I followed right behind him—both of us rushing straight toward the titanic monster that could shatter a fortress with a single attack. Any creature foolish enough to stand in our path was reduced to meat and rubble in an instant. Boris bulldozed through ogres and gnolls alike with brute force alone, while I thrust and swept aside anything he didn’t flatten. With him clearing a path and me covering every gap, nothing could slow our advance.
You have hunted [Gnoll Berserker Lv.127].
You have gained 494 EXP.
You have hunted [Gnoll Rider Lv.80].
You have gained 140 EXP.
You have hunted [Gnoll Warrior Lv.66].
You have gained 126 EXP.
Dexterity has increased by 1.
You have hunted [Goblin Archer Lv.44].
You have gained 64 EXP.
…
As we closed the distance to about twenty meters, the cyclops finally tore away the vines clinging to its face. Its lone, blazing eye glared at us with malice. With a roar, it raised its massive steel-reinforced log and swung it downward, clearly intent on turning Boris into paste.
“Steel Form: Shield!” Boris bellowed.
Boom!
The earth quaked as the impact cratered the ground around him, dust erupting outward in a shockwave. Despite that, Boris stood firm, his arms having morphed into a massive steel shield that absorbed the full force of the strike while only caving a meter into the earth.
“Urgh! This overgrown freak hits really hard!” Boris gritted his teeth—yet somehow still grinning like he was having the time of his life despite the struggle of not being crushed into meat paste.
I couldn’t help but be impressed by what he’d just done, though there was no time to admire him. Seizing the opening, I dashed up the cyclops’s leg and drove the Meteorite Spear into its thigh with all my might, activating Heavy Stab. It pierced deep, tearing muscles and causing blood to splash down like a burst pipe. However, the cyclops didn’t even flinch. To it, my attack was no different than being poked by a toothpick.
Instead, it raised its massive club again, ready to smash us into dust.
“Boris, we need to topple it so I can deal proper damage!” I shouted.
“Lad, you must be out of your mind! This monstrosity must weigh over thirty tons! Its mass is comparable to a damn whale!” he retorted.
“Don’t worry about it. I have a method!” I said quickly, channeling mana into the spear for my next move.
Boris let out a booming laugh. “Gahaha! Fine! I’ll trust whatever crazy plan you’ve got!” He dug his heels into the ground, muscles expanding. “Let’s bring this giant down!”
I touched the comm-link, inputted mana into it, and told Michelle to shoot her strongest attack when I gave her the signal.
Moments later, Boris launched himself upward and slammed his fist square into the cyclops’s knee with such force that the giant staggered. But even that wasn’t nearly enough to topple something this enormous.
No choice. I opened my status screen mid-battle and dumped the remaining nineteen unused points into Strength.
Strength: 461→ 480
Not stopping there, I activated Grant Plausibility to enhance my power beyond my limits.
You have used Grant Plausibility.
You have greatly enhanced your combat capabilities for fifteen minutes.
You have greatly enhanced your skill proficiency for fifteen minutes.
A total of 240 Plausibility has been consumed.
An immense surge of power coursed through my limbs, making me feel like I could topple mountains with my bare hands. The spear in my grip was suddenly light—almost too light—as if it were begging to pierce something colossal. Just perfect. I kicked off the ground as I propelled myself skyward until I was level with the cyclops’s hideous face, spear pulled back for a killing thrust.
“Don’t you dare blink,” I muttered, fully intending to end this monster in one blow. But when I thought that victory was within reach, the cyclops’s single eye suddenly flared with an ominous crimson light. Mana surged violently inside it, building at a terrifying pace. A cold dread ran down my spine.
“Oh shit—!” I knew exactly what it was trying to do: fire a goddamn laser at me.
Before the cyclops could unleash it, a green-tipped arrow whistled past my cheek and exploded against its eyeball. Flames and thorny vines burst outward, disrupting the unstable energy.
“GRUUOOOAAARRR!!”
The laser discharged prematurely—missing me by a meter and straight up into the sky in a wild, distorted blast that shattered the clouds above. The cyclops howled, clutching its face as vines clung to its eye socket like barbed chains.
Taking advantage of the opening, I drew in an even deeper breath, channeling everything into the spear. My mana and energy flooded through the Meteorite Spear, distorting the air around the tip with crushing pressure.
“Falling Star!”
The spear thrummed with explosive power as I thrust forward with all my might. A straight beam of meteor-force shot outward in a straight line straight into the cyclops’ eye—the weakest point of its entire monstrous body. The giant realized its doom too late, roaring in panic as it swung a massive palm to swat me out of the air while the other arm shielded its head.
Because I was in midair, I was unable to dodge and could only cast {Mana Shield} as the massive palm loomed toward me. Still, its blow landed before my attack fully tore through its skull, and I was sent flying to the ground.
As I crashed down, the mana shield shattered into fragments of light, and the impact forced the air from my lungs. Through the ringing in my ears, I still saw the devastating result of my strike—bone fragments and gray matter erupted from the side of the cyclops’s skull as its massive body lurched backward.
“Ugh! Die already!” I snarled, despite my ribs screaming in agony.
With what little mana remained, I cast {Mass Alteration}, doubling the cyclops’s weight. The giant completely lost its balance and toppled backward like a falling tower.
Its body hit the ground with a deafening crash, flattening dozens of monsters beneath it as a shockwave spread across the entire battlefield. Luck must have favored me, as the cyclops’s skull struck a jagged boulder, finishing what my spear had started.
You have hunted [Mutant Cyclops Lv.168].
You have gained 576 EXP.
You Strength has increased by 1.
Your Dexterity has increased by 1.
Your Stamina has increased by 1.
Your Magic Power has increased by 1.
You have earned a new title: Cyclops Slayer.
Before I could even breathe a sigh of relief and celebrate, static suddenly crackled in the comm-link, and a strained, panicked voice came through:
“This is Erika! Liora and Arlen are dead! And… something terrifying just appeared!”