Every Man’s Weakness

Noticing Xaren darting towards the giant from his blind spot, Carack roused his flames and unleashed a searing wave of fire to keep the giant's furious attention focused solely on him.

It worked, but as he glanced toward Xaren, his eyes widened in shock, realizing where the grey-skinned demon was aiming.

'If you're a man, then this is surely a weakness!!!'

With a gravity-enhanced slash, Xaren brought his Runeblade down with all his might, slicing cleanly into the soft, vulnerable spot between the giant's legs.

The giant's scream of agony was immediate and deafening, echoing off the stone walls of the fortress.

His roar shook the air, his legs trembling violently as he instinctively moved his hands to cover the grievous wound.

But Xaren wasn't finished.

With a swift pull, he yanked his blade free, blood splattering across the floor. Before the giant could react further, Xaren thrust his hand forward and used magic.

"Fire Magic: Fire Lance!!!"

The fiery spear materialized point-blank, slamming into the back of the giant's hands with a searing burst of heat. The impact forced the giant hands away and Xaren pressed the attack, stabbing again with his gravity-enhanced sword, driving it deep into the giant's flesh.

This second strike caused the giant's remaining strength in his leg to buckle, and his massive form began to sink toward the ground.

As he keeled over, the giant clutched at his ruined groin, but Xaren's brutal attack had already ensured that any hopes of mating with a female giant were gone forever.

The giant dropping to his knees brought his head lower, and seeing the opportunity, one of the hammer-wielding demons leapt into the air and swung his weapon down with reckless abandon.

The hammer shattered on impact, but the blow drove the giant's head down even further, his neck now exposed.

Xaren seized the moment, jumping high with his sword raised overhead. He plunged the blade into the giant's neck, burying it deep into the thick, muscular flesh.

He tried to twist the blade, but the giant's skin resisted, too dense for a clean cut. Gritting his teeth, Xaren pulled with all his might, wrenching the sword free.

The force of the pull sent him tumbling backwards, landing hard on his backside, but the wound he left behind was catastrophic for the giant.

Blood erupted from the gash in the giant's neck, spurting like a fountain, and before the giant could react, a bolt of lightning struck the open wound. The electricity sizzled through the exposed flesh, worsening the injury, and the giant's body shuddered violently as his strength faded.

As Xaren caught his breath, the faint sound of footsteps behind him made his ears twitch. In a flash, an elven soldier lunged from behind, blade gleaming in the low light.

However, Xaren quickly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. Dirt scattered beneath him as he completed the dodge, coming up just in time to see the elf recover and prepare another strike.

Without hesitation, Xaren extended his hand and used gravity attraction, sending a surge of dark red gravitational power from his palm. The elf's body was caught in the invisible force and pulled violently toward him.

Springing to his feet, Xaren met the elf's momentum with a swift slash of his Runeblade across their chest. The elf gasped in pain, but before they could react, Xaren followed with a powerful kick to their stomach, sending them stumbling backwards.

He advanced, his sword cutting through the air in a diagonal arc. Two more strikes tore through the elf's defences, and the body collapsed lifeless to the ground.

[Level Up]

Xaren flicked the blood off his blade, turning his gaze back to the giant, whose body still shuddered from the brutal wounds.

He saw that the demon who attacked the giant at the cost of his hammer had torn the giant's skin and cracked his skull.

Xaren locked onto that point and he crouched low before leaping towards the humanoid behemoth.

His body cut through the air and he soared toward the spot where the hammer-wielding demon had struck, the fracture in the giant's skull still faintly visible.

Mid-flight, Xaren channelled every last bit of his demonic energy into his blade, feeling the heat surge through his veins as he reached beyond his current limits.

The gravitational force around him multiplied fourfold, and his body, along with his sword, became impossibly heavy.

With a bone-jarring impact, Xaren's Runeblade plunged deep into the giant's cracked skull. The immense gravity-enhanced weight of his sword didn't just pierce the skull—it tore through it.

The blade carved a vicious line across the giant's forehead, slicing down through the bone and splitting halfway through its face. Blood poured out in a grotesque torrent, pooling on the stone floor as the giant's body trembled one last time.

The enormous figure swayed, its legs giving out as it collapsed forward with a deafening crash.

The final, twisted expression frozen on the giant's half-severed face was one of agony, its fiery red eyes dimming as death claimed it.

Xaren tumbled to the ground, his body heavy and trembling from the effort. He gasped for air, his breath ragged and pain rippled through his chest as he spat out blood onto the dirt-streaked floor.

It shouldn't be forgotten that Xaren had taken two serious hits from the giant, and his tenacity skill had kept him moving, kept him fighting when his body was reeling from the damage.

But now, as the rush of battle faded, Xaren felt every bruise, every cracked rib, every strained muscle.

"Still alive…"

He muttered, his voice hoarse as he wiped the blood from his lips.

[Level Up] x6

"…and stronger."

Despite the pain, a small smirk tugged at the corner of Xaren's mouth. Him receiving the EXP confirmed the giant was dead and no witchcraft was bringing it back.

'haha…'

That thought reminded him of when he and his squad had barely managed to defeat a dragon in his past life, only for it to come back right after as an undead.

'Horrible memories should stay buried deep.'

As he thought that, the demons who had finished killing off the other elves rushed to deal with the wounded while some came over to help Xaren.

"Oy! Grey guy. Don't go dying on us now!"

"…it's Xaren…"

"The fact that you have the strength to correct me means you're not dying. Good."

The demon spoke as he inspected Xaren's wounded body, passing him a potion vial. It was the lowest type of potion, but not many Unranked demons even had the luxury of seeing them, much less owning one.

"Drink it. The battle isn't over yet."

True. The sounds of fighting could still be heard all over the fortress and Xaren had to gulp down the potion from the demon who said he'd take one of Xaren's coins as pay for it.

Xaren nodded, accepting the potion from the demon who had agreed to trade it for one of his coins. The bitter liquid burned down his throat, and he winced as he sprinkled the remaining potion on his wounds.

He then raised his eyes to the broken door, where he saw elves and demons fighting at the end of the hallway.

Suddenly, the elves in the corridor seemed to be cut by an invisible force and Xaren blinked in confusion, trying to make sense of what he was witnessing.

Xaren's eyes caught sight of something 'black' and then he saw it—a Runeblade similar to his own sliding elegantly out of a sheath.

As elven heads flew through the air and wind whipped against his face, the silhouette of the figure behind the sudden decapitations became clear.

Ilya stepped into the room, her eyes widening at the sight of the giant's massive corpse.

Her shock intensified when she noticed the blood pooling around the giant's groin, and her gaze swept over the demons present, all of whom were male.

"...you guys could actually do that...?"

The realization seemed to hit her hard, and the remaining conscious demons immediately turned to Xaren.

Ilya quickly grasped that Xaren was the one responsible for the brutal attack on the giant's vulnerable spot and she couldn't hide her surprise as she addressed him.

"You're a lot more ruthless than you look, grey demon."

Xaren sighed, a hint of exasperation in his voice as he corrected her.

"Again. It's 'Xaren'."

◇　◇　◇

[BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!]

A booming laugh echoed through the sky, emanating from the orb clutched in the grasp of the High-Rank demon, Naephas.

[HE ACTUALLY STABBED THE GIANT IN THE DICK!! I'M ROLLING ON THE FLOOR HERE!! KAHAHAHAHA!!!!]

The holographic image of a four-horned demon clutched his sides, laughing uproariously, and Naephas, the High-Rank demon generating the hologram, couldn't help but chuckle along.

"What do you think about him, Lord Xynax?"

[What do I think?! Bring him, Naephas!

THE INSTANT YOU NOTICE HIS LEVEL SURPASSES 100 AND HE CAN USE AURA, I WANT HIM BROUGHT STRAIGHT TO ME!]

'Lord Xynax' instructed Naephas, the High-Rank demon in charge of this continent's battles on Planet Zorix 1I, and Naephas nodded in affirmation.

"Is there anyone else you're interested in, Lord Xynax?"

[Hmm…there are some; like that girl using wind magic. I'd like to study that Unique Skill of hers.

Add her to the list for now.]

Naephas acknowledged the directive, and Xynax scanned the battlefield silently for a few moments before speaking up.

[That's all for now. Don't forget that grey demon! HAHAHA!!]

With that final, booming laugh, Xynax's voice faded, and the hologram flickered out of existence.