7.

There were many reasons why the war with monsters is scary. The strength of monsters that transcended common sense was one of the reasons, and their behavior that could not be measured by common sense was also a scary reason. One of the reasons is that surrender did not work. Against monsters, no matter how hard they shook the white flag, and even if they cried and begged for mercy, it did not work.

Woo-oh-oh-oh!

The fact had not changed in the battlefield that was now centered around the Main River.

"Ugh…" The moment the Hrungnir's fear hit the battlefield, the Crusaders were virtually incapable of combat. It was natural.

'Why, why did this happen to me even though I have a relic…'

The fear of a dark blue-grade monster was not something they can tolerate just with the power of a relic. Only the combination of the help of a legendary relic and an Awakener with a high Energy rank could gain the qualifications to face the dark blue eyes. Of course, most people didn't know this because they died when they encountered a dark blue-grade monster.

Koowoowoo!

'I, I must avoid…' No one could avoid the huge stones being hurled while nearly incapacitated by the fear.

Bang! A stone smashed a tank and the men within.

"Uggggggggh!"

"My, my legs, my legs!"

As screams burst out, trams were crushed, and human bodies splattered, the Giants who were once smashed apart beyond the Main River like corpses, moved once again.

Eueoeo… The leg-cut Giants crawled, wielding their arms like whips and hammers using their remaining power.

Whack! The Giants' arms struck the bodies of those who could not even stand properly because their legs were trembling.

'If Rodin had seen this scene in his lifetime, perhaps the door of hell would have been like this.' Jang Sung-hoon, who looked at the scene from a distance, closed his dry mouth.

His thoughts as he looked at this scene of hell were not pleasant. However, he did not let his personal feelings color his decisions.

What Jang had learned from Kim was that "the more fierce and desperate the war is, the colder and more calculating his action should be."

It was still true. From the cold viewpoint of Jang, there would be nothing to change now even if the special forces that Jang and Kim brought were put into the battlefield. They could save a few more people, but it was not profitable when he checked the situation. Above all, Kim had not intervened in the battlefield yet.

'As the boss said, they placed too much confidence in the effects of the relics, and they were overconfident about their abilities. I suppose why this situation happened was that they were so irresponsible that they thought God would do it all.'

They could not win a war without a leader. Therefore, without a leader, they must not fight. It was a core rule.

So, Jang waited, and the men who had followed him waited without turning away from the scene of hell in front of them. They saw that a sword passed through the center of a Giant's chest as it was walking toward the Main River, where the sound of artillery could no longer be heard.

Thump! They saw that Giant with its heart pierced by the sword falling forward.

Jang opened his dry mouth at the scene. "Now, we begin the operation called 'Gleaning'."

8.

Faith is proportional to betrayal. And betrayal makes humans miserable.

That was why the vicinity of the Main River in Frankfurt was filled with misery.

"Lord…" The only thing that survivors in the southern Main River, which was now the stage of the Giants, could look for was not a fellow or a boss, but God.

Woo-eo-eo-eo! But it was the Giant's huge hands and feet that came to them.

Bang, bang! The God they cried and sought did not answer them.

"Ah…" By the time those who were looking for God in front of the fact began to shudder at the unspeakable betrayal, the Giant, who had carried out the massacre that made the betrayal more miserable, fell down. Thump!

That was the beginning. Thump! The Giants who were advancing to cross the Main River grabbed their chests and fell forward, or began to fall back. The huge Giant's bodies crashed against the ground, shaking the already gruesome land.

'What's going on?' Everyone was captivated by the fact for a moment.

"Oh, God!" Some found the God that they had been crying for. They truly believed that God had finally begun to save them. Of course, it was not God who saved them.

---

"Hoo!" A man was breathing somewhere away from the Main River, where he had piled up more than a hundred spears and swords. He was Kim Tae-hoon, the main character of the miracle that took place around the Main River.

The way he did the miracle was simple. He measured the distance to the target, once he activated the Eyes of the Black Snake and the White Snake at the same time. Then he turned his gaze toward the swords and spears piled up behind him.

==[Oliver's Sword]

- Relic Grade: Grade 1

- Relic Value: Special

- Relic Effect: It is the sword of Olivier, one of the 12 Paladins of Charlemagne. Its strength and sharpness are extraordinary.]==

He picked up one of them and threw it without a ready posture as if he throwing a javelin. With all his power, he threw it at the chest of a Giant who seemed to be too close to him, although it was far away.

Whizz! The sword that flew out like that pierced through the Giant's heart in a flash.

That was the background of the miracle that had happened on the Main River. But this miracle was not free.

'Nineteen.' Kim was calculating the number of Giants he had killed correctly, and of course, he was calculating the price of killing the Giants. Furthermore, he was going to receive the price of their lives from those who survived here today. If they would not pay for it, he would force them to pay out, and he was going to get paid in some way. That was the background of winning the war that Kim Tae-hoon had thought would be impossible.

Kim never suffered a loss in any battle, and, he received the cost of his wounds in some way through the war to match the risks he took.

'The remaining Giants number one hundred and seventy-seven.'

However, Kim's dark eyes turned black like a lens and looked at the Huge Giant Hrungnir.

'No, I'd rather kill a big one first.' At that moment, Kim no longer turned his head to the pile of swords and spears.

Cheu-cheu-cheu! Instead, the swords and spears themselves approached Kim as if they were alive, and began to hover around him like satellites. He picked one of them.

'First, I will go with the Sword of Goujian.'

9.

A man was stumbling as if he was drunken. Stomp, stomp… When the man's weak steps stopped, there was a battlefield before the man. No, it was more like a grave than a battlefield. There were huge fallen Giants all over the place. There was a huge hole in the chest of every dead carcass. The man, Johann Gabriel, was distracted for a moment.

'Is this really real?' But in front of this absurd sight, he did not look for God as always.

'He really did this…' Instead of looking for God, he thought of a man. 'Kim Tae-hoon.' He remembered the man's face, which he had no choice but to call a devil, and then he closed his eyes.

"Hey! Take that! The bell!" John Gabriel could hear a language unfamiliar to him, and he turned his head. Then he saw the men in black and red leather, and pure white feathers, moving briskly around a head-sized bell which was shining with brass.

Some of them laid down the fallen people in one place, and some moved to take the bell. The sight frightened Johann Gabriel because the bell was not a normal one.

'The, the Bell of Jerusalem?'

The Bell of Jerusalem was literally a bell of the Holy Land with the dignity of God. It was indeed a tool that could make God's voice.

"Oh, no!" Of course, John Gabriel ran away, screaming. It was unacceptable, either by instinct or by reason, to be robbed of the Bell of Jerusalem by those who he did not know the identity of. But his run did not last long. Bloosh!

"Ugh!" In the state of being exposed to the fear of Hrungnir, in the situation where he had lost his fighting spirit, his body, which was still frightened by Kim Tae-hoon's appearance, fell to the ground after taking a few steps.

A man stepped toward him after he had fallen, stomping the ground. The man was unique in many ways and he had many accessories; the fingers of both hands all had gold rings, stone rings, and jade rings, and on his neck, there were three necklaces, such as a Buddhist rosary, a gold necklace, and a cross necklace made of silver. There was no sense of unity in the things he wore. The man held out his hand to the fallen John Gabriel.

"Are you all right?"

"Who, who are you?"

Of course, John Gabriel did not accept the favor. Even though everything was broken, he gave out the greatest sense of anger that he could.

"Oh, you didn't hear the explanation from the boss." The man who held out his hand to him took it back and smiled. "I'm Jang Sung-hoon, and I belong to the Mac Guild."

The Mac Guild, the words shook John Gabriel's eyes again. It was words he heard today for the first time, but it was words that John Gabriel would remember as clearly as his name for the rest of his life. Of course, it was not remembered in a good sense.

Jang smiled at the reaction of John Gabriel because the reaction was the most obvious evidence that he had met Kim Tae-hoon. He said with that smile, "For reference, I'm in charge of the appraisal of the relics in the Mac Guild."

"The appraisal of the relics?"

"You heard it from the boss, didn't you? He'll get paid for killing monsters since it's not free."

"Well, that's..."

"You accepted the offer, and you can see the Giants dying here." Jang, who was speaking, pointed to the Bell of Jerusalem behind him with his thumb.

"And what good are the euro, the dollar, and the gold in this age? It's obvious, isn't it?"

"You'll get relics in return?"

"We're taking relics." At that moment, Jang said carefully, with his mouth at the ear of John Gabriel in a very low voice. "Not only relics but historical art, even if they have not become relics, can be also paid the price. For example, the Mona Lisa. I don't think it's a relic since it's not here. Where is it?"

At the whisper of Jang, John Gabriel could see again.

"I'm the second-in-command of the Mac Guild, and if the boss is in charge of the actual fighting, I'm in charge of the practical affairs. If you have a close and intimate relationship with me, you'll have nothing to lose. Oh, of course, I'm not asking for bribes, just because I'm interested in art. I dreamed of decorating the house with the Venus De Milo and the Nike of Samothrace. Oh, I'm not asking you to give them to me, but I'm just saying it's my simple dream."

John Gabriel could see that the Mac Guild was a devil's den.

Then, one of his men approached and told Jang. "We found the Nike."

"Oh, really? Was it there?"

"Yes, it's a first-grade legend."

"What's the effect?"

"It enhances combat capability."

"Take it carefully, because it should be displayed at the Mac Guild Museum later."

The conversation between his subordinates and Jang proceeded in Korean, but it was not difficult for John Gabriel to gauge the words. He did know what the word Nike meant.

'Oh, no.' The Nike of Samothrace was a valuable Vatican relic, as valuable as the Bell of Jerusalem, and at the same time, a human treasure that showed that mankind had built a brilliant civilization in this land. It was a treasure of treasures that could not be measured!

'We have to stop them.' So, John Gabriel tried to overcome the situation by making an armed demonstration, if necessary. Bloodthirstiness and fighting spirit began to grow in the eyes of John Gabriel.

The fact was caught by the subordinate who was reporting to Jang. It was meant to be caught. 'He's dangerous.'

The special forces Jang brought were those who would sacrifice on behalf of Kim Tae-hoon as needed. In other words, it meant that they were good enough to replace Kim Tae-hoon for a while. Of course, they were much better than the elites of the Crusaders. They were different from experience.

They did not survive in the war against the monsters with the help of relics; they had climbed from the bottom and gained the power of their own. Assuredly, none were weaker than John Gabriel, even if he was ready to fight. Of course, as soon as John Gabriel started to attack Jang, at least one of his limbs would be cut off.

Fortunately, no such thing occurred.

At that moment, there was a huge boom of thunder, and everyone turned their heads in the direction of it. They saw a blue flash of light cut the sky and stick into the chest of the Huge Giant. The Spear of Indra, Vasavi Shakti, had pierced the heart of Hrungnir!