Chapter 393 - 393: Cruel and Ruthless

Climbing the beanstalk proved more exhausting than expected, but Victor and Syanna still managed to overcome the challenge without incident.

Standing atop clouds that were soft yet somehow firm beneath their feet, the knight took the princess's hand and pulled her up onto the cloudbank.

Her fair face was slightly flushed from exertion and glistened with sweat. Panting heavily, Syanna undid her safety rope and collapsed onto the clouds without the slightest concern for appearances. Victor, who still had plenty of strength left, turned instead to study the Cloud Giant's castle several hundred yards away.

No matter which version of Jack and the Beanstalk one followed, there ought to be a fierce giant living inside that castle, together with a goose that laid golden eggs and a magical harp.

According to Syanna, the Cloud Giant in the Land of a Thousand Fables had once been a kindhearted enormous fellow who could carry her and her sister around on his shoulders without ever tiring. Balbina the Goose really could lay golden eggs, while the magical harp could play beautiful music all by itself.

Victor had originally been looking forward to meeting them.

Unfortunately, plans could never keep up with changing circumstances. His superhuman senses picked up a vicious roar from far away.

"Lay more eggs for me, you useless bird! Or sooner or later I'll kill you!"

The booming roar rolled through the clouds.

The context of that particular sentence did not sound harmonious in the slightest.

Victor raised an index finger to his lips.

"Syanna, something seems wrong. I'll go over alone and check things out. Stay here and don't wander off."

Still sprawled across the clouds recovering her strength, the princess rolled her eyes at the knight and weakly waved him away, granting him permission to do as he pleased.

...

Victor's light footsteps followed a winding road through the clouds.

The castle, which theoretically should have been beautiful and immaculate, was visibly dilapidated. The closer he got, the more the snow-white clouds gradually darkened into storm clouds.

Occasionally, lightning cracked across the sky.

Beautiful music from the harp drifted from within the castle.

Along with thunderous snoring.

Crossing the collapsed drawbridge and passing through the weathered castle gate, the witcher immediately spotted the gigantic creature sleeping soundly in the center of the courtyard.

Slumbering peacefully to the harp's music, the Cloud Giant had clearly grown considerably broader and more muscular than the figure Syanna had so vividly described earlier.

He no longer looked remotely suitable for playing with little girls.

In fact, he now looked like the sort of evil monster that would make children burst into tears and devour shepherds whole.

His weapon, an enormous iron hammer, rested beside him. The Cloud Giant's burly body was almost as tall as the castle gate and nearly as wide.

Victor rubbed his chin.

He was considering moving closer for a better look, perhaps even striking first, when he suddenly heard a young woman's quiet voice calling from nearby.

"Hey! You there, the devastatingly handsome hunk of the century! Over here... I need your help!"

Victor sharply sucked in a breath.

A woman was calling him, and she had a pleasant voice too.

There was absolutely no way he could refuse to help!

He immediately followed the voice toward the damsel in distress.

It was a goose.

Not a swan, but an actual goose, the sort of animal that could serve as a perfectly respectable unit of combat power, locked inside a cage.

She looked...

Small, pitiful, and helpless.

But definitely edible.

"A goose!? Sorry, were you the one calling me?" Victor rubbed his nose.

The goose nodded repeatedly, her voice crisp and melodious.

"That's right, it was me! My name is Balbina. Please, mighty hunk, you have to save us! Thor has completely lost his mind!

"Every day he forces me to ovulate, and he makes the magical harp play music so he can enjoy his afternoon naps!"

Victor immediately understood.

So the prisoner inside the cage was Balbina, the Goose that Lays Golden Eggs.

As for Thor, the Cloud Giant currently snoring away in the courtyard, it was difficult to say whether his personality had completely changed or whether he had simply reverted to his true nature.

Either way, by the standards of the Land of a Thousand Fables, he had completely broken down...

Long-term unlawful imprisonment and intimidation, coercing a woman into ovulating before swallowing the results whole, the nature of these crimes was truly vile and the methods exceptionally brutal.

The more one thought about it, the more horrifying it became.

And all of this was happening right before a witcher's eyes.

The Cloud Giant absolutely qualified as a criminal caught in the act.

Anyone had the right to arrest him immediately!

"Thor has gotten much bigger and stronger. I know you're a mighty hunk, but I don't think even you could withstand his hammer.

"Could you please steal the key from him, open this cage, and take me and the magical harp away? Neither of us wants to stay at the Cloud Giant's castle anymore.

"And he's extremely sensitive.

"Any sound other than thunder or the harp's music can easily wake him. Be very careful when you get close."

After hearing Balbina's request, Victor stepped forward and examined the cage.

He had no idea what material the lock was made from, but it was exceptionally sturdy and difficult to destroy.

So he reassured the victim.

"Sweetheart, stay quiet and don't panic. This will all be over soon."

Then he picked up the enormous birdcage and carried it somewhere more concealed and secure before setting it down.

Thunderous snores continued reverberating across the courtyard.

Immersed in the harp's beautiful melody, Thor the Cloud Giant remained sound asleep.

Meanwhile, after scouting the ruined and desolate old castle for a while, Victor decided that since he had no idea how powerful the Cloud Giant actually was, it would be wiser not to wake him yet.

First priority, set traps for hunting the monster.

...

Some time later.

The storm clouds beneath their feet were growing darker and darker, apparently signaling impending rain on the ground far below.

Repeated booms of thunder interfered with the harp's melody.

Victor opened with an Igni Sign.

Flames erupted and engulfed the sleeping Cloud Giant, instantly turning him into an enormous torch.

Then came the metallic clack of a mechanism snapping shut, immediately followed by an earth-shaking roar.

Thor had stepped directly into the bear trap the moment he rose to his feet.

Unfortunately, its teeth barely sank into his flesh. The monster casually tore the trap apart and flung it away.

From those two attacks alone, Victor rapidly evaluated his opponent's strength.

Both his physical and magical resistance were well above average.

He was nothing like a weakling such as Golyat.

This creature was closer to an Ice Giant in terms of raw power.

Roaring in pain, Thor slapped out the flames covering his body.

Then, furious beyond measure, he spotted Victor waving both hands at him and instantly realized that this bastard was the one who had ambushed him.

The Cloud Giant seized his hammer and raised it high.

Booming lightning immediately began gathering around the weapon. Purple arcs crackled with mountain-crushing might.

That hammer was actually a lightning weapon!?

Faced with such overwhelming power, the witcher did not hesitate for even an instant.

He immediately unleashed his ultimate technique.

"Secret Technique, Tactical Retreat!"

That's right.

Victor turned around and ran straight out of the castle.

After drinking his potions, his speed truly resembled a rabbit fleeing for its life.

Thor, enraged beyond reason, naturally refused to let his attacker escape. He immediately charged after him with enormous strides.

His sheer weight shook the clouds beneath him, every footfall producing a heavy boom.

The Cloud Giant relentlessly pursued the witcher and soon reached the castle gate and drawbridge.

There, he saw the bastard who had ambushed him standing on the opposite side.

Victor appeared unable to run any farther and was panting heavily.

Thor was overjoyed.

He would tear this man into pieces and roast him for dinner!

But when the monster raised his thunder hammer and charged forward, Victor merely stood there smiling, arms folded across his chest.

He did not even draw his sword.

BOOM!

A violent explosion ripped half the drawbridge apart.

Thor's left foot stepped directly into empty air.

Before he could grab either the remaining bridge planks or one of the chains, his enormous body lost its balance and plunged downward.

There were no soft yet solid clouds beneath the drawbridge to catch him.

Only an uninterrupted free fall all the way down to the earth.

This was Newton's victory.

With panic and terror covering his face, the last thing Thor saw of the world above the clouds was that damned bastard waving goodbye to him.

"Arrivederci!"

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