Chapter 133 - Giants

In the desert of the barren lands, a man lazily lay on a soft sofa. His two swords neglectedly rested on the floor beside him.

"Guy sure was very serious about this time's invasion."

"Maybe you should be too, Dino."

He jumped from the sofa, grabbing his swords. He unsheathed them and took a stance, the sudden intruder catching him off guard. His eyes, which had been half-lidded moments ago, now opened wide, prepared for battle.

"Feldway? Why are you here?" Dino asked, still cautious, slowly lowering his swords. One of the original angels, a Seraphim similar to himself, stood before him. What's more, it was the angel at the top of the hierarchy, or so some thought.

"I have something for you to do, Dino." Feldway walked toward him, his eyes stern as he knew the personality of the fallen. "You and the other two will be doing something for me."

Dino recalled Gracia and Pico, who were still out in the cardinal world, observing things incognito. He was supposed to be one of them as well, but he mostly did his 'work' lounging around in Dagruel's territory.

As the giant and fallen were friends, he was lucky enough to get refuge and live for thousands of years for free in the giant's city.

"And why should we do anything for you?" Dino reverted to his lazy personality, sheathing the two swords now attached to his waist. "Aren't you supposed to be watching-"

"Dino," Feldway interrupted, his expression dark. "We found a way to revive Veldanava-sama."

Dino's expression shifted to one of displeasure. The ambiance of the room grew tense. His eyes glared at the Seraphim before him, his mana flaring in the room.

"Don't joke with me, Feldway."

Feldway crossed his arms, unperturbed by the shift in mood. "Do you really think I would joke about something like this, Dino?"

Gritting his teeth, Dino continued to process Feldway's words repeatedly in his mind. The thought of their creator's revival, the possibilities, the implications, and whether it was even right to force it. He had always thought of waiting for Veldanava to show himself again in the future.

He was waiting, unlike Feldway, who thought they were abandoned. Dino believed that Veldanava simply needed time for his revival. He respected his creator's wishes and chose to guard his daughter while waiting.

'But what if it's real? What if Feldway truly has found a way to revive Veldanava?'

"What do I need to do?"

Feldway nodded, acknowledging Dino's cooperation.

In a different room, a different conversation was unfolding.

Dagruel was staring at his brother, someone who was supposed to be bound in the Tower of Heaven for his actions.

"Fenn... how are you here?"

"Hello too, Brother." Fenn, one of the Demon Lord Dagruel's brothers, stood before him with a smirk on his face. "Feldway let you go, didn't he?"

The old giant sighed, seeing his brother free of his chains. Actually, the chains still existed, coiled around his arms, but they were more like weapons for him now than the things that had locked him in the Tower of Heaven.

"I miss you too," Fenn didn't answer, his tone sarcastic. "You used to be so cool back then; whatever happened to that big brother of ours?"

Dagruel frowned at the green-haired giant. "That was before we were defeated by Veldanava-sama. Not to mention, weren't you almost beaten by Lait?"

Fenn clicked his tongue, recalling the blonde Seraph who had fought him when he went on a rampage. The fight had been close to a draw, with Fenn ultimately coming out on top. Though the fact that the battle had even come close to a draw left a bitter feeling inside.

When it became too dangerous for the angel, Veldanava had finally intervened and sealed Fenn in the tower with the chains, Gleipnir.

"That woman..." His tone darkened. Dagruel felt satisfaction in pushing Fenn's buttons and scrambling whatever he was plotting. "Whatever, I have something planned for her later."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Dagruel smiled wryly, seeing that Rimuru was attached to the angel and had even left this world with him to fight the cryptids.

Cracking his knuckles, Fenn lunged forward toward Dagruel. "Enough talking, let's fight!"

Dagruel nodded. While he was much calmer now than in the past, he was still someone who enjoyed a good fight. With his fist clenched, he swung at Fenn. Both of their fists made contact with each other's faces, sending both giants flying and slamming into the walls. The tower shook from the force.

Dagruel stood up, wiping the dust from his body much like Fenn, who was grinning.

"Looks like you didn't get any weaker."

"Same to you!"

Their battle continued as their fists slammed into each other's bodies. Fenn ducked as Dagruel's fist barely missed his head, while simultaneously kicking the blue-haired giant in his side.

While Fenn had the advantage of being faster and more agile due to his lean body, Dagruel was built of pure, heavy muscle that could block and defend against almost any attack.

Fenn's kick barely made Dagruel groan as the giant grabbed Fenn's leg and slammed him into the ground. With Fenn lying on the floor, Dagruel looked at his brother with something similar to pity before raising both hands.

"This is over, Fenn."

As his hands swung downward, Fenn raised both of his hands, and Gleipnir made its move. The chains, like living snakes, began to slither through Dagruel's arms, binding them together.

With both of his arms suddenly chained, Dagruel couldn't react to Fenn slamming his head into his in a brutal headbutt.

Dagruel felt dizzy as Fenn's soul began to interact with his own. He fell to his knees as his eyes closed from the sudden surge of pain in his head.

"You are right, it is over, brother." Fenn wiped the blood from his lips as he saw Dagruel begin to open his eyes. Gone were the calm and almost gentle eyes of the Demon Lord Giant. His eyes were now filled with conviction and hidden wrath that could barely be contained.

Fenn grinned as he removed the chains. Dagruel stood up, holding his arms, which had previously been bound, and looked outside the tower.

"Welcome back."

....

Hinata took a deep breath as she stood atop the wall separating the barren lands from the Western Nations. Behind her stood the elites of the Holy Knights, the captains, as well as their paladins, standing in formation, ready to lay down their lives against the forces looming to come.

Luminas stood beside her. The vampire princess took her right hand's warning of the wave of invading giants to heart and had made sure to prepare hundreds of years before this day would come.

"It took me, you, Granbell, and Razul to take them out."

Rimuru's warning in their previous chat had left Luminas overly cautious of the Land God.

"And that is why you are here too, Granbell." Luminas smirked, seeing the blonde hero with his Insectar friend looking over the horizon. "Good to know that Rimuru smashed some sense into that brain of yours."

Granbell glared at the female vampire. "Just because I am here to protect humanity does not mean you and I are allies. I am only here to continue my purpose as a hero."

Hinata couldn't help but wear a wry smile. She had heard that same line before, in the past timeline. Right before she was 'killed' and teleported far away into the past, Luminas and Granbell had formed a shaky alliance to preserve the humans they protected, albeit with differing reasons.

"Is it even possible to defeat the Wicked Land God?"

Granbell looked behind him to see the Holy Knights, the surmounters of the vampires, and even the illegally summoned otherworlders he had control over, all present. The force was more than enough to take over the entire Western Nations by force in less than a week.

Yet-

He couldn't see them all defeating the giants that had been battling at the walls through skirmishes. The only reason they had even managed to maintain the wall was because the giants, and Demon Lord Dagruel, did not take the invasion seriously and only engaged in small-scale assaults.

There were times when desperate giants left Darmagian, disobeying Dagruel's orders to finally break free from the barren lands. Even just those runaway giants had dealt a heavy blow to the walls a century ago.

Granbell couldn't even imagine if the official army of the giants had been the ones invading that day.

This time, he frowned as a cloud of dust rose high into the sky. The sand of the barren lands flew into the air as a large stampede dashed past them.

"They are here," Razul, Granbell's friend, finally spoke, a sharp glint in his eyes as he observed the walking bipedal behemoths approaching to destroy the wall.

"Everyone, get into position!" Hinata barked orders.

The Holy Knights saluted before preparing their magic. The vampires also made their move as they stood atop the walls, forming the first, and hopefully final, line of defense.

"Not yet..."

The giants, with their own varying appearances, ran with their weapons held tightly. It was finally time for the Promised Land to be opened to them, no, they were going to forcefully open it.

After thousands of years in infertile land, they had done nothing but remain patient and persevere. Their king, Dagruel, had sworn that someday the lands they stood on would be fertile. Whether this promise meant the barren lands would flourish, or they would migrate to a new home, was left to their own interpretation.

Dagruel was fine with that. As long as he could keep them in check and hopeful, the giant race would live on for a long time.

Then, as he looked up into the sky, a few small dots could be seen, obscured by the rays of the sun. Thankfully, with Magic Sense, he could fully perceive the threats diving down at them.

"Golems?"

Five golems landed in front of the long wall. Their appearance was strange, even for the already uncanny humanoid golems made by Demon Lord Kagali. These ones looked akin to insects, their limbs a fusion of flesh and machine.

Their limbs were asymmetrical, some longer than others, seemingly taken from different insect species. The number of limbs on their bodies was unnaturally high, far more than the common golem, which typically had only two arms.

The sight of the five golems was so surreal it took him some time to fully process the threat. Then, as if pulling him away from his thoughts, the ground began to move, and the land in front of the insect golems cracked open.

The very front of the giant army began to fall into the large pit, as deep as two hundred meters. The second wave of giants halted, but the majority were still pushed by the third and fourth, forcing a fraction of Dagruel's forces to quickly be captured and incapacitated.

"A simple yet effective plan," Granbell commented as he watched the giants continue to fall into the massive fissure in front of the wall. "What are those golems though? I have never seen such an unusual golem variation."

Hinata ordered the Holy Knights as they aimed the ballistic weapons placed on the walls. The large steel arrows with magisteel imbued on the tip were fired from the crossbow-like weapons, twice the size of a person.

"I had Rimuru bring a few here," she finally answered Granbell's query. "It seems that Citadel is also very busy, so he only approved five. But still, they are the most modern version and are Special A."

"Special A!? Those things?" Granbell couldn't help but exclaim, pointing at them.

As the giants stopped falling down the crack in the ground, three of the insect golems jumped down into the pit, while the other two rushed forward into the center of the remaining army of giants.

"Don't fall behind," Hinata shouted, as ballistic arrows rained down on the giants, impaling their tough skin and lodging their bodies into the ground. Some unfortunate souls had their heads exploded from the speed of the steel arrows.

"This is harder than I thought."

Dagruel frowned as his giant army was already losing about half its original numbers in just a few minutes since the battle began.

While it was a large drop in numbers, the overall strength of the army barely changed. The ones who died easily were the weaker and newer ones in the army. The more experienced veterans were able to escape the pit before fully falling, and dodged or blocked the arrows showering the area.

The giants sent retaliatory projectiles at them. Slamming their hands on the ground, they grabbed large rocks and hurled them at the walls, specifically targeting the Holy Knights firing ballistic weapons.

Some giants who held spears began throwing them like javelins, damaging both the wall and the forces within it.

"Only using physical attacks," Glassord said, cutting an arrow flying toward him. The metal projectile fell in front of his feet. "Demon Lord Luminas has prepared well for our inevitable invasion."

"Hm. Even with this resistance, they won't be able to defeat elder brother," Fenn scoffed, as he threw a rock as large as a person's head, destroying another ballistic weapon atop the wall.

"Have the Hecatoncheires take care of those weird golems. We will advance forward with the Cyclops. Have the Great Ogres keep throwing rocks at them, the remaining greenhorns can join them in the back."

Finishing his words, with a single step of his large frame, the tide of battle changed

A/N: I wonder if I should finally start wiping finishing the multiverse plot.