Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 186 - The Augury Tower (13)
186: The Augury Tower (13)
186: The Augury Tower (13)
Turning my head instinctively towards the direction it felt like the shaking originated from, a blast of freezing wind hit me.
“Gh…?!”
Crossing my arms in front of me to block the sudden gust, it only blew me back a short distance, but even that was enough to shoot my alertness up to full.
It was still impossible to see through the dense, white blizzard, but I could sense it.
Something was moving through the air…
something huge.
Rumble~!
The moment it impacted the ground again, another powerful shockwave was sent out alongside a second gale even fiercer than the first, their combined force knocking me to the ground.
“Ngh…!”
I could already sense it, but feeling the vibrations directly from the ground, it became even more clear to me.
That time, whatever it was…
It was closer.
‘Shit…!’
Gritting my teeth and scrambling to my feet, I didn’t even bother summoning the Holy Sword―against that thing, I instinctively felt there was no use fighting it.
Pushing my feet off the ground as hard as I could, I sprinted forward, away from the mysterious, tremendous force at all costs.
More so than an endless wave of undead, this thing was infinitely more terrifying.
I didn’t even have to know what it was to realise that.
Rumble~!
The earth quaked again, sending ripples through the snow beneath my feet that caused me to trip, but I didn’t fall, swiftly regaining my balance and continuing to scamper as fast as my legs would take me.
Just after, a third gale hit me from behind, more powerful than even the second and sending me flying forward.
“Tch…!”
Barely recovering without being knocked down again, I could tell by the gradually increasing force of each impact that it was getting increasingly closer despite my efforts to escape.
And then.
While I was running.
While I was bracing myself for the next impact.
I noticed it.
“…!”
Beneath me, the snow was quickly growing dark.
In fact, not just the snow but even all across my own body, similar to…
similar to what would happen if you entered the cool shade on a sunny day.
Being suddenly reminded of riding a train that entered a tunnel, I heard my heart thump loudly in my chest, and at that moment, the world perceived before my eyes slowed down in real time, my brain moving at lightspeed once again.
I perceived the ground and my own self growing increasingly dark, whilst the snow just a short distance away was the same, pristine white as usual.
Right at that moment, floating just above my head――was death.
“…”
But, before I could think, before I even had the chance to think of a plan, my body acted seemingly on its own.
Interrupting my own sprint, I jumped to the side.
Landing on the soft snow and continuing to roll just a few metres, I immediately lifted my head up to see, realising I was no longer in the shade―
RUMBLE~!!
―Just in time to not get crushed by the colossal object that abruptly slammed down.
Burying my head into my arms and covering myself protectively from the immense storm that proceeded to beat upon me, I waited for the violent winds and tremors to subside, subconsciously activating Sneak while still laying on the ground.
Waiting just a few moments, there was another impact further ahead, far weaker than what just occurred.
Able to finally raise my head without getting battered by furious gusts of wind, I caught a glimpse of what came this close to ending my life right there as it rose back into the air, disappearing quickly into the haze of snow that obstructed all vision.
A gargantuan foot, the skin of which appeared bluish-grey as if affected by severe frostbite, and which also seemed to be covered in minute scratches and scars.
Although, considering the scale, each of those ‘minute’ injuries were easily the size of one of my limbs, or more.
‘Giants…’
Rendered speechless by the sight, enough time passed for the foot to cause another massive impact even further ahead than the last.
It took me a while to register that I was safe, but even when I did, a brief glance to the right told me just how close I was to being squashed like a bug.
“…Fucking hell…”
Letting a deep exhale flow freely from my mouth, I sat on my heels for a while, my eyes gently closed.
Before long, my heart recovered and I was able to get back up and continue on without the fear of being mercilessly crushed, and so I did.
On the bright side, it was easy to tell whenever a giant was close by thanks to the fact that they were, uh…
not very sneaky, and once I realised they weren’t exactly out to target me specifically, it was also a piece of cake to survive encounters with them by watching out for where they were stepping by watching the shadows on the ground and avoiding it.
Like that, I moved forward at a confident pace, eventually reaching something interesting within the first couple of hours.
‘Is this…
a door?’
Seeing the carved entryway that reminded me of one of the world’s Seven Wonders, I wasn’t sure if it was those giants’ version of a house or just an ordinary cliff, but when I stumbled across what must have been the “shelter” mentioned by the Objective, I thought there was no choice but to enter.
[Objective Complete]
Nodding at the notification, I sighed.
‘Please don’t let the next part be a pain…’
To be honest, I was fine with travelling however far it wanted me to in this monstrous blizzard.
I was more than just a little used to the cold, so it was no problem at all for me, really.
All I wanted―was one thing.
‘Please…
Please don’t make me fight one of those things…’
Would the Tower heed my wish and grant me this one favour?
Perhaps, as Leinth’s employee, it might recognise me and let me pass for free.
Just this one time.
I wasn’t sure if that was so much a hope as it was a plain delusion, but either way, the answer was soon delivered to me.
[New Objective: Defeat the Floor Boss]
“…”
Of course, it was a ‘no’.
