I Became the Dark Knight in the Game

Chapter 34: The Chase (4)

Dale asked the father giant a question.

Isnt it usual to make bets with riddles? I thought that was the norm.

The giant swiftly turned his head and replied,

Some scary human. Passed through here. Many times. Each time, we made bets with riddles. But we all lost. We dont do riddles anymore.

It seemed that someone with knowledge of giants, much like Dale, had passed through here several times.

This person had consistently guessed the answers to the riddles, and the frustrated giants eventually stopped posing riddles.

Who could that be?

Though Dale didnt know who it was, the individual seemed to be quite knowledgeable and bold.

But for Dale, it was only causing irritation at the moment.

So, what exactly is this slap-slap bet?

Explaining is annoying. Just show it!

As the father giant shouted, the son and daughter giants faced each other.

Then, the son giant raised his arm and smacked his sisters cheek without hesitation.

Snap!

After being hit with such force, the daughter giant was sent flying and tumbled to the ground.

The son giant let out a roar. However, the daughter giant quickly rose to her feet.

My turn.

She strode forward and returned the favor by striking her brothers cheek with equal force.

Crack!

This time, the sound was even more solid.

The son giant, who was almost blown away, was thrown headfirst into the ground.

The fallen giant writhed for a moment before sprawling motionless on the ground.

The daughter giant roared triumphantly to the sky.

I won!

The father giant looked proud and then he said.

Bet like this. Not hard.

Harkin who had been watching in stunned silence went pale.

Y-you shameless bastards. Youve created rules in your own favor to avoid losing.

The father giant as if feeling a twinge of guilt shifted his gaze away and muttered,

Hmm. Hmm-hmm. Your turn first. So its not unfair.

Then he became angry all of a sudden.

Choose quickly! Going to do it or not? Im hungry! I hate being hungry!

Huh, really, these bastards.

Dale placed a hand on Harkins shoulder to silence him and asked the giant,

If we win the bet, do you promise to quietly accept the outcome and let us go?

Of course! Giants are different from humans. Promise is kept!

Harkin asked worriedly,

Are you sure this is okay?

We dont have another choice. If we refuse the bet, wed have to fight four giants, which seems worse.

Um, thats true.

Dale handed over the backpack and weapons he was carrying to Harkin.

Then he stepped toward the father giant.

The giant asked,

Are you going to do it?

Yes. Is it okay if I dont take off my armor?

Thats fine! A mere shell. Its no use!

You seem very confident.

Dale swung his arm a couple of times with force.

And to facilitate a slap to his cheek the father giant knelt on one knee and lowered his head.

Yet it was still quite high.

Dales eyes met the giants and the latter grinned smugly. Dale thought it was an annoying expression.

It conveyed his inner thought: How much could this puny humans hit hurt?

Dale rotated his arm one more time, then twisted his waist and stretched his arm powerfully backward.

The giant, without even blinking, casually observed his hand.

But in the next moment, he lost sight of Dales arm.

Dales previously blurred hand had already reached right in front of the giants face.

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Crack!

The giants consciousness blurred.

His hefty body toppled sideways. The pain came afterward.

The giant who had been momentarily dazed by the impact quickly got up again.

With a dazed face, he gently touched his cheek.

On his thick skin, the imprint of the gauntlet was distinctly marked.

His mouth was torn and bleeding and several of his teeth were broken. The giant who was clutching his cheek turned to look at his family with tears welling up in his eyes.

This black shell man. He is strong. I am in pain. I hate this challenge.

Anyone comes to their senses after being hit hard in the face.

But his family was annoyed.

Dont exaggerate! Humans are tiny. How strong can they be?

Its true. Im not exaggerating.

Its your turn anyway! Just hit and win!

Ah!

The father giant who realized it was his turn to strike refocused his mind.

Even if the opponent was strong, all he had to do was finish the bet before getting hit again.

And the giant felt confident.

In his past encounters with humans, none had ever risen again after a single blow from him.

Whether they wore armor or not wasnt important.

One hefty slap would crush the fragile human, armor and all.

Its my turn now!

The giant, fully re-energized, approached Dale.

His thunderous approach was undoubtedly intimidating.

So was his massive, thick hand that looked ready to swing at any moment.

But Dale stood calmly.

He simply looked on, impassively urging the giant to hurry up.

The giant, who had hoped Dale would cry and panic like other challengers, was disappointed.

However, he soon relaxed his expression with the anticipation of being able to finish the bet and eat the meat.

The giant raised his hand high into the sky.

And he shouted.

Die!

The giants arm fell diagonally. His thick and large palm struck Dale squarely.

The palm was so large that it hit not just his cheek but his entire head to shoulder in one blow.

Crack!

With a dull sound, Dales body was flung like a cannonball.

He flew at least three meters before crashing into a large rock. Without the rock, he would have flown even farther.

A cloud of dust rose.

And the giant roared.

Uoooooo!

Well done! Well done!

His roar was full of the joy of victory. His family also shared in the happiness.

But as the raindrops quickly settled the dust, the giants family abruptly fell silent, as if in disbelief.

Dale got up.

His shoulder blade was crushed, and his left arm was broken. But it was not a fatal injury.

Dale took his right hand and snapped his bent left arm back into place, correcting its position.

The eyes of the father giant flickered back and forth. The other giants behind him scolded him.

Why did you hit so gently!

What a disappointment!

The father giant protested with a look of injustice on his face.

I hit him properly! That black guy, hes incredibly tough!

Dont lie!

Ignoring the noisy argument among the giant family members, Dale approached the giant.

Its my turn now.

The face of the father giant turned pale with fear. He spoke with a frightened look on his face.

Enough, enough. I lost! Just let me go

What are you saying! Stop exaggerating. Step forward!

Coward! Coward!

Amidst the taunting of his family, the father giant lowered his head with a crestfallen look on his face.

The weight of being the head of the family.

As Dale was about to take his stance again, Harkin approached him and asked.

Ar-are you alright, Sir Dale?

Dale nodded his head.

So-so. But it could be dangerous to be hit a second time.

Then we must finish it this time Is it possible? It doesnt seem easy to bring down that size.

Lets see.

Dale stepped forward.

The giant, who had previously presented his cheek with a smug expression, now tightly closed his eyes.

Dale observed the positions of the giants family members before taking his stand in an appropriate spot and stretching his arm backward.

This ends now.

Undoubtedly, giants are a strong race.

They were hard to bring down unless an army attacked them or a mage used a powerful spell.

However, even giants have their weaknesses.

Their physical structure is similar to that of humans.

Dale swung his arm back with all his might, just as fast and powerful as before.

But this alone wouldnt suffice.

If it were the same kind of strike as before, the result would be no different.

Haah!

Harkin sighed inwardly.

If things continued this way, failure was certain. He could envision a future where they lost the bet and were devoured by the giant.

But then, in the next moment, Harkin saw it. Dales five fingers which were previously extended out, were now curled into a fist.

His fist stretched straight out and struck the giants jaw exquisitely as if grazing it.

Ah?

After uttering a stunned noise, the giant staggered from side to side and then crumpled to the ground.

The giant did not rise again.

Even a giant with a tough constitution cant withstand their brain being rattled.

When the father giant fell, other giants approached and shook his body vigorously.

Dont play! We need to eat meat!

H-hes asleep.

Harkin approached Dale and whispered softly.

Is this really okay?

What is?

That You clenched your fist at the end.

Dont worry. They didnt catch on.

He had deliberately clenched his fist in a blind spot that went unseen by the other giants.

It was a perfect crime.

Besides, there was never a rule against clenching fists.

Well, yes. But I guess now we should change the name of the bet from Slap-Slap to Thump-Thump.

Thats not funny.

Sorry about that.

Dale strapped his backpack, belted his sword, and then addressed the other giants.

Ive won. As promised, I will pass through this place.

The giants furrowed their brows and clamped their mouths shut. It was clear they were reluctant to let them go.

After pondering for a moment, the mother giant suddenly spoke as if struck by a brilliant idea.

Wait! One more round left!

What?

Bet requires two wins! Thats the custom!

Meaning it was the best two out of three rounds.

Harkin was visibly upset by this and retorted.

Hold on! You never mentioned that at the beginning!

I-I forgot.

You said giants always keep their promises!

Dont remember.

Youre just a bunch of bastards.

Harkin gritted his teeth in frustration as he glared at them. On the other hand, Dale just asked the giant with his arms crossed.

So? Whats the second round about.

Uhm Ah! A riddle! Well do a riddle. Ill pose the question. You answer it. If you cant, I win!

Dale, seemingly uninterested in arguing further, simply nodded his head.

Go ahead.

The giant grinned slyly.

Ill pose a formidable riddle. Youll never guess it.

Get on with it.

Two sisters there are. The older gives birth to the younger, and the younger to the older

Day and night.

Dale blurted out the answer right away and the mother giant stopped talking.

The mother giants baffled expression made it clear she was surprised at the correct answer.

With her eyes fidgeting around in panic, the mother giant hastily changed her approach.

Changed my mind. Ill ask another riddle. This time you wont guess it.

Just ask the question.

Heh, heh. In the morning, it walks on four legs

Human.

The mother giant exploded in anger.

At least wait until Ive finished asking the question!!

Regardless, the answer was correct.

Harkin and Dale walked past the giant family. The latter whispered a question to Dale.

Didnt that mother giant speak fluently at the end?

When theyre angry, they suddenly gain abilities they never had.

The giants watched the two with a sullen look on their faces while muttering to themselves.

So rude to answer question before completely asked. Black ones are so rude

Ignoring the giants words, Dale suddenly had a thought.

In the end, it all went according to plan.

The outcome was just as he had initially anticipated.

Though the process had differed in many ways.

But none of that mattered to Harkin. Nor to Dale.

***

Mazel who was now separated from the other two continued his pursuit.

Fortunately, the woman was fleeing along the expected route.

Soon, she would pass through Harkins homeland.

If Harkin and Dale had already crossed through the giants territory and were waiting, they could easily intercept her.

But it will be tough.

People avoid giants for a reason. They are ferocious, fickle, and quite intelligent.

Safely passing by them was no easy feat.

Either theyre dead or lucky enough to have escaped.

Either way, they were of no help now. Mazel had long since excluded them from his plan.

He kept on tracking the trail.

And he discovered one troubling fact: the woman was gradually healing her wounds.

Her strides are getting longer.

And the woman whose wounds healed was acting more and more boldly.

Mazel sighed as he came across merchants ambushed by the roadside. Their bodies were stripped of flesh and eaten completely.

The large footprints scattered around indicated that the wolves were quite large.

Haah.

Mazel let out a sigh once again and left the scene indifferently.

It was unfortunate that the merchants had been attacked by the mage, but mourning each and every one was not something he could afford to do.

Misfortune can strike anyone after all.

There are only two ways to deal with it.

Either pray that misfortune doesnt find you or build the skills to escape it when it does.

Mazel was a man who pursued the latter.

As he was about to resume his tracking, Mazel spotted a wolfs footprint at a distance.

It seemed too far to belong to the same pack, but the direction was unmistakably the same.

A scout keeping a watch from afar? But the distance seems too great for that.

Mazel felt puzzled but quickly dismissed the thought.

His task was to track the trail and eliminate the woman.

That was all that mattered to Mazel at the moment. He had neither the intention nor the need to concern himself with anything else.

That was how Mazel had managed to survive until now.