The Insider System

Chapter 402: The Deal Pt.38

As she walked deeper into the forest, Tiff knew she probably didn't have that much time to get herself under control, so she tried to find something she could focus on that would help calm her down. It wasn't the best, but eventually, she remembered some of the things the God of Light had said, and the fact her new skills had been derived from the person who had killed the Holy Goddess made her feel she was capable of sneaking up on a giant.

She had less experience compared to Akal, but her target was also younger than most other giants, so they were probably about even when it came to fighting ability. After going over ways she was going to be just fine, Tiff did start to calm down and set her sights on looking for the giant.

For their apparent size, most of them were pretty good at hiding because it seemed they were able to change their size a bit like any other divinity. No one had ever confirmed a sighting of one small enough to fit into a crowd of normal-sized people, so what she was looking for should still be at least a few times taller than her.

Eventually, she felt Unholy magic in the air around her and knew that they were really getting close to wherever the giant was living in the forest. But it made her think she might not be able to get as close as she needed since this feeling was probably coming from something like a barrier the giant was using to keep themselves hidden and safe.

Trying to solve this problem before it actually stopped her from moving forward, Tiff could only think of one way, which would involve her killing the Demon Worshiper she was following. They were about the same size, so she didn't think she would look weird in the disguise, but she didn't know where they were going or what she needed to do when she got there, so looking the right way wouldn't really help her since the giant would notice right away if she was acting weird.

Acting scared could work though, the Demon Worshipers had clearly not wanted to go to wherever Domela was as a group, which was why she was currently alone with only one of them, and if she acted scared maybe that would fit with what Domela expected from the one who had been sent to find it.

Tiff ended up not making a decision fast enough because before she decided whether to take the face of the Demon Worshiper, they stopped, and she knew they had made it to the very obstacle she had been trying to find a way to pass.

Tiff couldn't actually see the barrier, but she knew that meant it was probably the kind that hid the actual state of the other side from those who looked from the outside, and that fit with what she knew about giants trying to keep their presence hidden, so she got ready to go into what would probably be as bad or worse than the base of the Demon Worshipers.

Seeing the Demon Worshiper reach their hand out and wave it around in front of them, Tiff knew they were trying to get the giant's attention by messing with the barrier, which she didn't think would take very long.

As she expected, before even five seconds passed, Tiff felt a fluctuation in the Unholy mana around them, and the Demon Worshiper started to move forward into the black hole that had just opened in front of them. Knowing there was a good chance going in would give her presence away, Tiff gritted her teeth and ran in beside the Demon Worshiper before the hole in the barrier could close.

Nothing happened right away when she passed through other than her losing the ability to see what was in front of her, but that didn't mean the giant didn't know, it just meant it hadn't instantly run this way to kill her. Keeping close to the Demon Worshiper so she wouldn't get lost in the darkness, Tiff walked for another full minute before she saw the Demon Worshiper stop again.

"Is it time to leave already?" Hearing the giant voice, Tiff knew they were here, so she pulled her dagger and got ready to attack at the first chance she had. All she needed was a hand or silhouette to give its location away, and she would go for the kill.

"Yes Domela, would you like the others to come here, or will you be going to join them?"

"Bring them here please. I'll be ready when you get back."

"Yes Domela." As the Demon Worshiper walked away, Tiff made sure to stay completely still in case the only reason she hadn't been noticed yet was because of her close proximity to the body of another person. She didn't plan to stay like that for long because killing the giant before the Demon Worshipers arrived was probably the safest thing she could do.

This meant she would attack no matter what after ten minutes, even if she still couldn't see the giant. Around two minutes later, Tiff finally got a real sign of where the giant was when she heard a loud stomping noise that she assumed was it walking. Taking a step in the direction of the noise to see if the giant would notice her moving, Tiff was finally able to get over her fears that the skill that was keeping her presence hidden wouldn't work in this environment when the giant continued whatever it was doing even after she had gotten four steps closer.

This space seemed pretty big, so she needed to continue forward but also needed to make sure that she didn't get stepped on by getting too close to something that was much bigger than her. In this situation, she was truly like an ant that no one even saw but was squashed and killed all the same when someone walked over it.

...

Lake had been out on his balcony for about half an hour, and it seemed when Lucas had said to get home before night he had meant it because as soon as the sun was gone from the sky glowing clouds started to replace it as the predominate light source. None of them were the one he associated with the Demon Lord though, so he was guessing this was a similar situation to the one he had seen before the arm had come through above the Metal Domain, and most of them were just here to watch.

...

In the past minute, Tiff had gotten close enough to the giant that she felt it should be visible to her, but she still hadn't seen where it was exactly. She was guessing this was the best she could do without lighting the area up, which would give away the fact she was here, so she just jumped to where she thought the giant was and stabbed forward with her dagger.

It really didn't matter where she hit the giant with the effect Holy Metal would have on its undead flesh. Feeling her attack connect, then a deafening scream shake the space they were in, Tiff used Holy Magic to light the area and cause more damage to the undead's skin.

Once she could see, Tiff saw that her attack had landed on the giant's upper torso and seemed to have done some serious damage with a huge part of the giant falling apart. She still jumped back because she didn't feel like this would be enough to have completely killed the giant, and going for an attack on its head could go very bad if she was right.

After the giant had fallen to the ground and didn't move even after a second had passed she went in again and stabbed it again in its head. The burning feeling that she got in her chest after she knew the giant was dead almost made her think something was wrong with her core, but she soon realized that it was just a weird mix of adrenaline and euphoria, just more than she had felt in a long time.

She guessed over the years, being inside the temple had kept her from doing anything crazy, and she hadn't felt a rush since she was homeless and outsmarted the Demon Worshipers that had been chasing her while she was in hiding. "I need to go."

Tiff finally remembered that she was still in danger and turned to run away but stopped before she got too far because she had forgotten the whole reason she was here in the first place. Cutting into the giant's chest, she fished out its core. Once it was in her hand, Tiff turned and started to run.

The darkness she had been afraid to get lost in earlier was already starting to lessen, and she was no longer worried about the barrier from earlier because the reason she had to hide was already dead, which would make it very easy for her to just cut through it if there was still a barrier around the forest.