Now that the matter of the political trap was settled, all that remained was to patiently wait for the assassination attempt to begin.
Not much time passed.
Due to Regulus's overwhelming presence on the battlefield, the timeline and fate of Wilhelm, the Sword Demon, and the Royal Army had changed drastically. Because of this butterfly effect, Valga Cromwell's desperate infiltration into the Capital this time went completely undetected by the usual guards.
The giant advanced smoothly and silently through the shadows all the way until he reached the King's private study.
CRASH!
The heavy, reinforced oak doors of the living room were violently smashed open, splintering into pieces.
The King looked up at Valga Cromwell. The giant Demi-Human General was exuding a fierce, suffocating aura of bloodlust. Yet, the King remained remarkably calm, slowly turning his head to look at Regulus, who was still casually sitting opposite him.
"If it weren't for you," the King noted, his voice steady. "Tonight's attack probably wouldn't have been discovered until it was too late. In that regard, you could be considered to have saved my life."
"You jest," Regulus smiled lazily, not even bothering to stand up. "In my opinion, even without me sitting here, a King of your stature probably wouldn't have been in any mortal danger."
"One thing at a time," the King chuckled softly. "As a young man, you shouldn't be too modest when accepting credit."
"If you insist on giving it, I have no objection to taking it."
While the King and Regulus were casually bantering, the elite personal guard standing by had already drawn his sword and blocked Cromwell's path, assuming a flawless defensive stance.
However, Cromwell completely ignored the Royal Guard in front of him. After a brief, hateful glare at the King, the giant fixed his bloodshot gaze entirely on Regulus.
This white-haired man was the monster who had slaughtered his army. He was the murderer of his sworn comrades.
Whether this decapitation strike was successful or not, Cromwell never expected to leave the Capital alive. If there was anything he regretted, it was the thought of not being able to personally avenge his fallen kin. But now, his primary target—the absolute object of his revenge—was sitting right here in the same room. For Cromwell, nothing could be better.
The next moment, Cromwell directly shed his heavy, concealing long robe, revealing a muscular body that was already several times larger and denser than a normal human's.
However, compared to his massive, imposing physique, what was far more striking were the strange, glowing magic circles deeply carved directly into his skin.
Then, Cromwell reached into his wrappings and took out a massive, ancient, jagged bone. He would absolutely not be careless against an existence capable of instantly massacring Libre Fermi and an entire army.
"This is the Ancestral Bone," Cromwell declared, his voice rumbling like an earthquake. "It is the sacred proof of the Giant Era, a time which once made the very earth tremble with fear! You arrogant humans call us demi-humans, but—"
"Alright, alright, that's enough with the extra villain explanations," Regulus sighed, finally standing up from his seat and waving his hand dismissively to interrupt Cromwell's dramatic bragging.
That's right. It was just bragging.
This ancient bone could absolutely be called a sacred, priceless treasure for the demi-human race. For Cromwell, who possessed giant blood, its tactical importance went without saying. But Regulus didn't care about lore dumps.
Cromwell, whose grand speech was forcibly choked back mid-sentence, turned completely purple in the face from sheer rage. But he really didn't say anything more.
Gripping the glowing Ancestral Bone with both massive hands, Cromwell roared and forcefully thrust the jagged artifact directly into his own chest.
"OHHHHHHHH!"
Along with Cromwell's deafening roar of agony and power, not only his physical strength but also his sheer size instantly began to multiply exponentially.
If at first he was only several times the size of a human, then at this moment, Cromwell had transformed into a true, mythological Giant. His height soared so massively that the ceiling of the grand study groaned and cracked. A normal person standing next to him now would probably only be the size of one of his fingers.
This shocking, terrifying scene not only left the King dumbfounded, but even the elite Royal Guard was momentarily frozen in sheer terror.
In that split second of hesitation, Cromwell, whose transformation was complete, didn't waste a moment. He swung his tree-trunk-sized arm and casually slapped the Royal Guard who was blocking his way.
Too late to dodge, the guard, who had taken a perfect defensive stance, was instantly obliterated by the kinetic force. He was sent flying backward like a broken doll, smashing directly through a very thick, load-bearing stone wall nearby and disappearing into the rubble.
Cromwell's formidable, ancient strength had basically exceeded the physical comprehension of everyone present.
Just at this critical moment, a blur of motion descended from the rafters.
A girl dressed in tight, dark shinobi attire suddenly materialized in the room and ambushed Cromwell from his blind spot.
CLANG!
A sound like striking solid steel echoed through the chamber. The Ninja Girl's dual blades completely failed to penetrate the hyper-dense physical defense of Cromwell's skin after his Ancestral transformation.
Cromwell, noticing the annoying Kunoichi, simply swatted at her with the back of his hand as if she were a buzzing fly.
SWISH!
A tremendous gust of wind tore through the room, indicating the immense, crushing power behind the slap.
However, the Ninja Girl was exceptionally swift. Using her superhuman agility, she twisted mid-air, narrowly dodging the lethal attack, and flipped backward, landing protectively at the King's side.
"Your Majesty, I cannot deal with this monster's physical defenses. Please evacuate from here as soon as possible!" The Ninja Girl's words were grave and laced with panic.
At this point, the King also recovered his senses. He had naturally read the historical legends, but he never expected the giants of ancient times to be this physically overwhelmingly powerful.
"Lord Regulus," the King asked, maintaining his composure. "How confident are you in handling this?"
"Ten out of ten," Regulus replied smoothly, dusting off his pristine white jacket.
"Ten out of ten?!" The King was very surprised by the casual lack of hesitation.
Also surprised was the Kunoichi standing nearby. However, her surprise quickly morphed into deep doubt regarding Regulus's arrogant words.
'Ten out of ten confidence? That is far too arrogant!' she thought frantically.
This behemoth in front of them was not only incredibly, monstrously strong in terms of raw power, but despite his massive size, he was also extremely fast—to an absurd, physics-defying degree. This kind of power, speed, and size, all bestowed upon one race; the Creator of the world was indeed a very biased entity. No wonder the Era of Giants was a time that made humanity pale at the mere mention of it.
Regulus naturally saw the intense doubt in the Ninja Girl's eyes. But compared to her doubt, he was far more interested in *her*.
'Very beautiful,' Regulus assessed internally, his eyes raking over her form-fitting shinobi outfit. 'And perfectly aligned with my specific preferences.'
This was an actual Kunoichi! A highly trained, incredibly flexible assassin.
'Certain demanding postures, or even peculiar bedroom games that would be absolutely impossible or too painful for ordinary girls, would be effortless and incredibly simple for a trained female ninja,' Regulus mused, his greed expanding wildly.
But he would put his plans for the Ninja Girl aside for now. He had a giant to discipline.
Cromwell seemed to have grown impatient with their whispering. Taking two massive, earth-shaking steps forward, he raised both hands high into the air, clasping them together into a monolithic hammer, and delivered a devastating, full-power slam directly down onto Regulus.
The sheer sense of atmospheric oppression was overwhelming.
BOOM!
A deafening, muffled explosion echoed. The resulting shockwave and gust of wind from the slam instantly overturned the heavy mahogany tables, shattered the chairs, and blew away every orderly item in the room.
The Ninja Girl, who had instantly thrown herself in front of the King to shield him from the debris, peered through her raised arms.
The scene that transpired next completely shattered her comprehension of reality.
Without any attempt to dodge, without raising a weapon, without even casting a magical barrier... the white-haired man who she thought would be instantly smashed into a bloody meat paste by the giant's two-handed slam was simply standing there. Completely unharmed.
In fact, despite the apocalyptic amount of kinetic energy crashing down upon him, not even a single speck of dust on his clothes shifted. Even more terrifyingly, the fragile stone floor directly beneath Regulus's feet was completely intact, despite the rest of the room's floor completely caving in from the shockwave.
'What on earth is going on?!' the Kunoichi screamed internally, her eyes wide with horror. 'Did the giant's attack just... stop?!'
Just as she was struggling to process the impossible sight, she saw the man in white casually raise his arm and wave it like he was brushing away a cobweb.
The next moment, a massive geyser of blood erupted.
Cromwell roared in absolute agony as his seemingly indestructible, giant arms were perfectly and effortlessly sliced open to the bone by an invisible force. The severely injured giant had no choice but to stagger backward, clutching his bleeding limbs.
At the same time, Cromwell saw the tiny human casually take out a flimsy piece of paper—a simple playing card.
With a flick of Regulus's wrist, the card was thrown out. It cut through the air like a laser and instantly struck the center of the giant's chest.
CRACK!
Infused with the absolute, unstoppable Authority of Stillness, the card violently pierced Cromwell's flesh and instantly shattered the glowing Ancestral Bone lodged near his heart into a thousand pieces.
With the source of his ancient magic destroyed, Cromwell's massive body rapidly began to shrink, his muscles deflating and his bones cracking as he forcefully reverted to his original, standard demi-human form.
Severely wounded and completely drained, Cromwell fell straight to the ruined floor, spitting out a massive mouthful of black blood. He was incapacitated, but he was deliberately left alive.
"It's been dealt with," Regulus announced casually, turning back to the King.
"This... this is truly..."
Facing the perfectly clean, flawlessly calm Regulus amidst the absolute destruction of his study, the King of Lugnica swallowed hard, no longer knowing what words to use to describe the monster standing in his palace.
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