Gigas Core

"Groaaaaaaaar!"

"Huh?" Rai pulled his hand from the ghoul's body, startled by the loud, dungeon-shaking roar.

"What was that just now?" Rai thought to himself.

"Big brother!"

Rai turned to see Erin running towards him, her face pale. She stood in front of him.

"Did you hear that, big brother?" Erin asked anxiously.

"Yeah, and this dungeon is shaking," Rai replied.

"That roar... I know that roar," Erin said.

"Yeah, I know that roar too, very well, in fact," Rai replied.

"What should we do, big brother?" Erin asked.

"Follow me, we're going down to floor 3, fast!" Rai said, pulling Erin's hand.

"O-okay, big brother," Erin replied.

They immediately ran into the dark hallway, which looked like an underground storage room with neatly stacked river stone walls.

******

Meanwhile, on floor 3, Evan, Jared, and Darus backed away. They immediately drew their weapons, seeing Rafina's helpless body floating in the air, enveloped by a red light forming an upward pillar.

"W-what's happening, boss... uh, Evan?" Jared asked.

"T-this is just like 10 years ago... that time... I saw Rainar like this too," Evan stammered, getting into his sword stance and gripping his blade.

"What should we do, boss?" Darus asked, brandishing his large axe.

"We have to kill her before she becomes the giant monster that destroyed the Hestalia Kingdom 10 years ago, quick!" Evan ordered.

The three immediately attacked the unconscious Rafina, who was floating in the air, using their weapons and all their abilities. "Clang!" The light, which was beginning to form a cocoon, repelled all three of their attacks. "Scrape!" The three landed and were dragged backward.

"It's not working, boss!" Darus exclaimed.

"Attack again, quick!" Evan retorted.

"Let me go first!"

Jared jumped and swung his two long daggers towards Rafina, who was floating and not yet fully encased in the cocoon. But suddenly, Rafina turned to look at Jared with eyes emitting a red glow and "Groaaaaaaaaaar!" roared loudly, even though she was unconscious. A large, red, serrated tail emerged, then "Whoosh!" the tail pierced Jared's stomach, impaling him while he was floating in the air.

"Gasp!" Jared immediately vomited fresh blood from his mouth. "Rip!" The sharp serrations on the tail turned upwards, and the tail sliced Jared's body in two from his stomach to his head. "Thud!" Jared's body immediately fell to the floor. "Aaaaaaaaah!" "Clang!" Evan fell back, dropping his sword, then crawled backward, pressing himself against the wall. His face looked terrified, seeing what had just happened to Jared in front of him.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Darus, in despair, raised his axe and charged forward, intending to chop Rafina's body. But the tail moved again, and "Slash!" its sharp spine sliced Darus's neck. "Plop!" Darus's head fell to the ground, and "Thud!" his large body immediately collapsed forward. "Shhhh!" Evan grew even more terrified, to the point of wetting himself. His mouth hung open, and his eyes seemed to be staring at real terror in front of him.

"P-p-ple-please!" he cried, weeping.

The red light cocoon fully formed, enveloping Rafina's entire body, who appeared unconscious. Evan, trembling, tried to crawl along the wall to slowly get out through the exit. But when he reached the door, he saw someone standing in front of it. Evan immediately backed away and stared at the man standing in front of the door. His face grew even more terrified when he saw the man.

"Y-y-you... Rainar Richteros," Evan stammered, pointing at Rai.

"Huh?"

Rai looked at Evan and observed his face. He remembered Evan's blond hair and his handsome face.

"You... Evan Orstrich? Why are you here?" Rai asked.

"Y-you... you're that monster from 10 years ago... you're the one who destroyed the Hestalia Kingdom!" Evan accused, his index finger pointing at Rai.

"Hoo... you survived, apparently," Rai said casually.

"Big brother!" Erin shouted.

Rai turned to see Rafina wrapped in the red light cocoon and Erin standing in front of her.

"Huh... Rafina?" Rai asked, surprised.

"Rafina? She's your lover... feel it, you've lost your lover, hahahaha!" Evan screamed.

"Huh? My lover?" Rai asked, confused.

"Oh, you don't know who she is? She's Princess Reia Abigail Hestalia, your lover and childhood friend, hehe," Evan replied.

"W-what? Her? Rafina?" Rai asked, turning to look at Rafina.

"Hahahaha, now she'll awaken as a giant monster, just like you used to be!" Evan exclaimed.

Rai walked closer to the cocoon. He saw Rafina's injured head and her almost completely exposed clothes. Rai immediately gritted his teeth and his jaw tightened. He turned to look at Evan in anger.

"What did you do to her?" Rai asked in a heavy voice.

"Of course, I was enjoying her. Too bad she died when I started to, you know, so I couldn't hear her moans of pleasure, hahahahaha!" Evan replied.

Suddenly, "Smash!" Rai transformed his arm into a Raigan arm and immediately crushed Evan's head to pieces. Then he grabbed Evan's body and slammed him to the floor multiple times.

"Big brother?" Erin asked, seeing Rai's rampage.

Rai turned to see the anxious Erin and then looked at Rafina in the cocoon, he drop Evan body and turn his hand to normal state. His hand went up to touch the cocoon. "Grrrruuuu!" A soft roar could be heard from inside the cocoon.

"Yes, sleep well now. Don't worry. Kiko and I are here to protect you, Reidan," Rai said.

"Big sister Reidan... we finally meet again," Erin said, touching the cocoon.

"Grrrruuu!"

The light grew brighter, covering Rafina's entire unconscious body inside the cocoon. Rai invited Erin to sit on some broken pillars to watch Rafina's metamorphosis. Erin turned to look at the sad-looking Rai next to her.

"What's wrong, big brother?" Erin asked, holding Rai's hand.

"It turns out Rafina is Reia... and it turns out she's also Reidan... all this time she's been next to me. No wonder I felt something I couldn't explain when I met her six months ago," Rai said.

"Reia?" Erin asked, confused.

"She's the only princess of the Hestalia Kingdom. I used to know her," Rai replied.

"Huh... Hestalia Kingdom? The kingdom you destroyed?" Erin asked.

"That's right. She survived, it seems," Rai said, staring at the cocoon in front of him.

Both fell silent again. Erin continued to hold Rai's hand and stared at the cocoon. After a while, Erin turned to look at Rai once more and broke the silence.

"Big brother, please tell me about your life in this world when you lived as Rainar Richteros of the Hestalia Kingdom," Erin said.

"Hmm, but it's a long story," Rai said.

"That's okay! We have plenty of time while we wait for big sister Reidan to come out. I just want to know more about you and big sister Rafina... oh, I mean, big sister Reia," Erin said.

Rai was silent for a moment. He turned to look at Erin, who was still holding his hand. Then he released Erin's hand and raised his own hand to stroke Erin's head.

"Alright, I'll tell you about my relationship with Reia when we were both in the Hestalia Kingdom. It all started when I was 7 years old," Rai said.