"On your left!"


    "I know!"


    Nylon and Elliott were currently fighting a horde of corrupted beasts. Compared to the usual rabble, they were more fierce, and smarter.


    "I never thought I''d see some corrupted arachnids around here."


    Said Elliott in a low voice. They were fighting swift and deadly tarantula-like corrupted that moved around like water striders.


    Fighting in the snow, they were in a slight disadvantage over the long legged creatures. Not only did the spiders attacked relentlessly in their blind spot, they also left them opened for sticky webs assaults.


    The only good thing about the webs was that they froze quickly and broke rapidly.


    Elliott focused on his surrounding and waited for the next attack.


    "!"


    One of the spiders crawled behind him and tried to bite into his flesh. Rather than the taste of blood, its jaws were met with the blade of Vanitas.


    He inclined the sword, which made the spider slide down toward the ground. Before its body could touch the ground, he stepped on its thorax and stabbed his sword into its back, piercing the dark core in half.


    The spider stopped moving, but the fight wasn''t over yet. He jumped away from the big spider and watch two threads of sticky web fall where he was previously.


    His feet slid in the snow and stopped when his back touched Nylon''s.


    "There''s no end to these guys!"


    "I agree with you here, these spiders are an eyesore."


    Nylon and Elliott both dodged opposite to one another and watched two spiders pierce each other with their sharp legs. They both fell to the ground, but quickly return to the chase.


    Elliott rapidly dispatched the wounded spider by slicing it in half, while Nylon pierced its head with one iron claw, and its back with the other.


    The young beastman ripped the spider in half and threw its parts on the sides before evading another volley of webs.


    *Crack*


    With the ground completely littered with frozen webs, it made it difficult for both of them to keep their balance.


    Nylon stepped on one frozen web and slid a little too much on the left. One spider took this opportunity to attack him from the side, while another threw webs at him.


    "Kh! Fucker!"


    He used the lack of friction to power up a back kick after rotating his body once. The kick landed on the attacking spider''s head and like a watermelon, it exploded into many pieces.


    Nylon grabbed the leg of the spider, pierced its back with his right claw, and threw the body toward the web.


    The corpse ended up being enveloped in the sticky web instead of him, before falling into the snow.


    Blood was splattered everywhere in the snow, making it a surreal view for anyone who would dare come into this wretched place.


    Green, gooey snow. This truly was a disgusting scenery. Spider organs were spread here and there, with pieces of legs and split bodies rapidly freezing in the landscape.


    After an hour of intense fighting, they finally came to see the end of it.


    ...


    "This area seems to be rather packed with dangerous beasts, don''t you think?"


    Nylon said while removing what seemed to be spider bile off of his right arm.


    "We''re getting closer to the place father began his experiments. I was expecting the center of the corruption spread to be well guarded."


    "Is that so? I thought we would encounter more dangerous giants near the center?"


    "There''s also that. But you''ve got enough experience to fight comfortably now, am I wrong? You should be fine fighting the next giant."


    For the first time, Elliott acknowledged Nylon''s strength. At first, he was simply hoping that the man would try to not get in his way, or to not become a burden.


    But Nylon showed that he had the guts to stand and help in dispatching the giants and the random attacks of beasts.


    For that, Elliott was grateful. Because of the lethargy caused by the two thousand years of being sealed, he realized that he wouldn''t be able to do it by himself without putting his life on the line each time.


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    Nylon made it easier to complete his goal without doing that. At the same time, this also gave him chances to recover his strength over time.


    Elliott was strong, but he was not at its peak. Most of his skills were sealed away, and some were locked after his fight against Orion.


    "I try to be useful. If you say I will be fine, then you''re most likely right."


    During the past month, they were beginning to understand each other. They both were oblivious to it, but friendship was starting to form between them.


    They had each other''s back in all situations.


    "We should continue. I don''t know how far we are to the old kingdom."


    Elliott stretched and kicked the leg of a spider out of the way, before continuing in the direction opposite the footprints they had left behind.


    "I''ll follow you."


    On the road again, even if that same road was covered in snow, the two continued their journey.


    ...


    "This is it."


    Two weeks later, Elliott finally found the building he was looking for.


    "Eh? This is?"


    Nylon blinked, watching the dilapidated building in the distance. The moment the building crossed the barrier blocking the bad weather, Elliott instantly recognized it.


    "This is the place. Where our kingdom was razed to the ground, where father changed and where he began to control me."


    "..."


    In Elliott''s eyes, the scenery was completely different. He still saw this place as a green area, with the city walls erected and the castle in full view.


    "Elliott."


    Brought out of his illusion, Elliott looked at Nylon, who looked rather perplexed.


    "What?"


    He asked, before Nylon pointed at something further left of the building.


    "Is that what I think it is?"


    Elliott looked at the thing half visible, with the other part past the barrier''s border. In the storm, a bright red hue glimmered, which gave a sense of extreme danger.


    Three spider legs, frozen in place, indicating by their size that it was a beast way larger and way different than the tarantula''s they fought in this area.


    "I had my guesses about the corrupted giant of this area, but now I''m certain of it. I hoped it had died a long time ago... but here we are against it."


    A mix of frustration and worry appeared on Elliott''s face.


    "Judging by your words, this might sound like a tough opponent. Are we going to fight it?"


    Nylon looked at the red hue, which seemed to move slightly.


    ''Is it my imagination?''


    But Elliott immediately confirmed its question.


    "This monster... is on another scale compared to the other. It was the masterpiece my father created. I don''t think it has ever went into hibernation compared to the others we fought. It''s awake, and it knows we are here."


    "Fuck..."


    "It''s also the one creating the beasts we fought on our way here. Some of its body might be free of ice."


    *CRACK*


    A loud ice cracking noise echoed from the giant, which made the two of them jump and be on high alert.


    "If possible, I would like to return another time. I don''t think we are remotely ready to fight this thing. Without my skills available, we won''t have a chance."


    Nylon smiled dryly and glanced at Elliott.


    "The great human hero is going to avoid a fight? That''s a first."


    "Even I cannot do much against it in this state. I am not almighty anymore since I freed myself from the corruption."


    In the great coldness of the Frigoria Plains, for the very first time, Elliott chose to avoid a fight.


    "In terms of power, what does it do? You do have an idea if you refuse to engage it."


    Elliott nodded.


    "First of all, this isn''t going to be your usual two-against-one. This monster is a mother, as you might have noticed from the many spiders we''ve encountered."


    "This is going to be a messy fight, where you won''t be able to protect against the smaller ones and the biggest one at the same time."


    He turned around, and just like he said, began to walk away. Nylon followed him while listening to his explanation.


    "Then, we have to deal with its height. From the height of the red hue, which was its eyes, it was laying down. You can expect it to be at least fifteen meters high."


    Nylon opened its eyes wide and looked behind him, seeing the building and the spider legs being swallowed by the storm.


    "It''s tall... How are we going to attack it then? Target its legs? Climb on them?"


    With a nod, Elliott partially agreed with him.


    "This is the idea. The problems come after you''ve began climbing. This is why I said it was troublesome, this one''s smart. It uses water magic to make it impossible to do so. While climbing, you will suddenly find yourself sliding off to the bottom, where the smaller ones patiently wait."


    "If you manage to hold on... in this area, you will probably froze to death before making progress. It also spits an acidic mixture that melts iron easily. I heard father speak about its prowess times and times again."


    Understanding the dangers around the creature, Nylon acknowledged Elliott''s worries, yet, he asked another question.


    "Why don''t we cut its legs then? If we make it crash down, it will become easier to kill, right?"


    "It is a good idea, only not against this one. It moves fast, and will stop your strike with its magic before you can make a dent to it. I could probably do it, but I don''t want to bet on that at the moment."


    Elliott looked around, and stared toward the north.


    "We''ll prepare for this fight, and then, when we are ready, we will fight it. For now, let''s get rid of the other giants."


    "Keeping the advantage makes the fight much easier, was it?"


    He nodded.


    "Having a worthless death while you can avoid it would be stupid. Since it can''t move, we have all the time we need before dispatching it."


    After saying that, he smiled dryly and added.


    "The only sad thing about not killing it is that next time we return, more spiderlings will have propagated in the area."


    "Right. But by then, we should be stronger. No problems then."


    "Hahaha~ You''re right. Alright, let''s move north. The next one shouldn''t be that far."


    With Elliott and Nylon avoiding the great corrupted spider, they returned on the path north, in search of the next giant.


    Only three days later did they ended up finding the next giant.


    ...


    "That was fast."


    Said Nylon, impressed by Elliott''s intuition in finding the giants.


    "There''s this awful stench coming from the corrupted cores that I can''t seem to forget. It somehow draws me to it."


    He said while tightly grabbing Vanitas'' handle.


    "Alright, let''s get to work. We have storm to clear!"


    In the distance, a pile of rock encased in ice waited to be awakened, which was exactly what Elliott did.


    He stabbed his sword in the ice, and twisted the blade inside it. Moments later, a loud rumble echoed, and the ice casing exploded in pieces everywhere.


    "A golem? Wait... slime?"


    Nylon watched as a red liquid rapidly attached to many rocks, forming a humanoid shaped golem. Inside the liquid, five cores appeared to move in various location, hiding behind and between the rocks.


    "This is going to be fun."


    Elliott drew his sword and rushed toward the golem.


    The fight had only just begun.