SWNOVELXO Chapter 92 - The Tiger that Repaid the Favor (1)
Chapter 92. The Tiger that Repaid the Favor (1)
Yuri sighed as he saw the long cut on the Leopard Woman’s shoulder and the blood seeping out.
“So that’s why I had a strange feeling… The sword grazed her shoulder as it glanced off her breastplate.”
Realizing this, Yuri let out an annoyed grumble.
“Isn’t it cheating to wear something like that while facing mere cadets?”
The Leopard Woman scratched her cheek in response.
“This is just basic armor. I always wear it.”
“Basic armor or not, I’m fighting bare-handed here, and you’re wearing something like that. That seems a bit unfair, don’t you think?”
“Honestly, I didn’t bother taking it off because I didn’t think I’d get hit…”
She hadn’t expected an attack from a mere cadet to actually reach her body, so she hadn’t bothered to remove her armor to maintain fairness.
But even she had to admit that Yuri’s attack just now could have caused a pretty severe injury.
The Leopard Woman glanced at her deeply slashed shoulder and spoke.
“That was the seventh strike just now, wasn’t it? Hmm… I do have a conscience, so I’ll count this as an extra exchange, making it eight.”
“Wow, that’s so conscientious of you. I’m really curious where that conscience is hiding. But… wait, hold on, why can’t I see it? Where is your conscience, exactly?”
“Ahem, just consider yourself unlucky.”
“Come on! Don’t be so stingy, just admit defeat!”
“Sorry, but I can’t do that.”
She shook her head firmly, her cheeks slightly flushed.
“Because right now, I’m a bit… excited.”
“…Ma’am, please calm down.”
“Ma’am? I’m only twenty-seven!”
“If there’s an eleven-year difference, it’s fair enough to call you ‘ma’am,’ right? And besides, I’m not into older women. Even if I were, today’s not the day.”
“Heh, I never thought I’d find myself interested in a younger guy! Who knew a mere rookie cadet could be so much fun, haaa…”
A breathy sigh escaped her lips.
Licking her lips, she looked at Yuri with intense focus.
There was a hint of cruelty in her gaze that sent a chill down Yuri’s spine.
‘…If she gets any more intense, I won’t even be able to pick up my bones.’
And, just like that, two more attacks awaited Yuri that he had to endure.
It seemed like it was no use trying to negotiate further based on the last strike. He would have to be content with the reduction by one exchange.
“Hoo…”
Yuri, who had already utilized “Thunder Wing” four times, took a deep breath to suppress the rising pain.
Crack.
Yuri gripped his sword again, assuming a stance.
Seeing this, the Leopard Woman excitedly shouted.
“Alright, here I come!”
Watching the Leopard Woman poised to charge at any moment, Yuri also shouted inwardly.
‘Now, it’s your turn, Poppy!’
Hurry and do something about this damned older woman!
And as if hearing Yuri’s inner cry…
Boom-! Boom-! Boom-!
A massive sound reverberated through the ground.
In the forest, not far from the clearing where Yuri and the Leopard Woman were engaged in their fierce battle.
Bang-!
“……”
The moment the first explosion was heard, Poppy also recalled what Yuri had told him and Arin.
[“I know you’re hiding something. So am I. But this time… don’t hold back. If you do, you won’t get another chance, no matter what you try.”]
Yuri was right.
On the first day they entered this forest of beasts, Poppy himself had encountered a tiger.
And he had been knocked out instantly, without even being able to put up any resistance.
Never before in his life had he been so helplessly defeated, not since the days of his childhood when he had received training from the elders of his tribe.
Therefore, to help the one fighting that tiger right now, he had to reveal everything he had been hiding.
That was why Poppy began taking off his clothes.
Swoosh, swoosh.
In an instant, he was down to his underwear, neatly folding his discarded clothes to the side.
Thunk.
He planted his shield into the ground before him.
The shield dug about 15 centimeters into the earth.
Then, Poppy brought his hands together in front of his chest.
Clap.
His hands were clasped together in a prayer-like gesture.
“Hoo…”
Exhaling slowly, Poppy closed his eyes.
“Ugh.”
A groan of pain escaped his lips at the same time.
And then, the transformation began.
Poppy’s entire body bulged with blood vessels.
Soon, the red tattoo in the shape of a ‘T’ on his forehead began to glow.
And then…
Rrrrrumble.
Poppy’s body trembled.
Crack, crack.
A sound that seemed impossible for a body made of flesh and bones.
It was as if something was being ground down and reshaped, and Poppy’s body gradually began to change.
His bronze-colored skin grew darker.
His body, inch by inch, started to grow larger.
Crunch, crack.
His already towering 2.3-meter frame began to grow even bigger.
2.5 meters, 2.8 meters, 3 meters, 3.3 meters.
He grew more than a meter taller, but Poppy’s transformation didn’t stop there.
3.5 meters, 3.7 meters, 4 meters…
And finally…
5 meters.
Poppy had grown as tall as a tree nearby.
And it wasn’t just his height that had grown.
His eyes were now almost entirely black.
His muscles had grown in proportion to his size.
His skin, now a dark, almost black-red hue.
This was a trait of the giant race, who, in a distant past, were said to have contended with dragons.
The great and powerful strength of the giant race had awakened in a distant descendant, Bobikrutankapurtabi.
Boom.
It seemed that his weight had also increased, as the ground shook with each step he took.
Now transformed into a giant, he bent down to pick up his shield.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
And he charged straight towards the clearing.
Boom!
Suddenly, the ground shook, and a tremor traveled up through their feet.
The Leopard Woman, Yuri, and even Arin, who was observing from a distance, all turned their tense gazes toward the direction of the sound.
Boom! Boom!
As the sound grew closer, the whole forest shook, and the coniferous trees trembled.
Gradually, the shaking of the forest approached the clearing.
And finally…
Boom!
Crunch.
A 5-meter-tall giant appeared, breaking through a rotten tree.
The three of them shouted in shock at the sight.
“A monster!”
“A giant?!”
“Oh my god, Giant Transformation?!”
The first voice belonged to Yuri.
The one who shouted after him was the Leopard Woman.
And the last voice was Arin’s.
Yuri tilted his head in confusion at Arin’s shout.
‘…Giant Transformation? What’s that?’
As he wondered about it…
The giant that had entered the clearing let out a roar.
“I’m huuuungry!”
“Huh? That thing?!”
Recognizing the giant, or rather, the monster, Yuri’s eyes widened.
“Poppy?!”
At last, he realized what Arin had meant by ‘Giant Transformation.’
He understood that the Yuum tribe, who inherited the ancient giant’s blood, had the ability to transform into giants.
And he couldn’t help but smile at the realization.
‘These guys… they’re more capable than I thought, huh?’
Arin and Poppy.
Through hunting bears together, Yuri had sensed that these two were constantly holding something back.
Or rather, it felt as if they were suppressing something.
Just like how he hid the existence of the “Magic Flow” from others and used it secretly.
So, he had nudged them to reveal everything they were hiding this time.
But…
“They were hiding things like this!”
Arin had an extraordinary archery technique where arrows bent in mid-air.
And Poppy could transform into a giant, standing 5 meters tall!
This wasn’t just something useful—it was an incredible reveal.
“Go, Poppy! Bite them off!”
As Yuri clenched his fist tightly—
Boom!
Poppy’s enormous leg stomped hard on the ground.
Boom!
The force was so powerful that his footprint was clearly imprinted on the ground, which cracked in all directions.
But while his leg moved forward, Poppy’s upper body still remained behind.
Creak, crack.
The giant’s muscles instantly tensed up, producing a tremendous noise.
Yuri, watching this, realized that this was the opportunity Poppy was creating for him.
‘I can end this with this.’
So, he had to be prepared.
Prepared to take full advantage of the perfect opportunity Poppy had created.
As Yuri observed the situation, Poppy let out a beastly roar and thrust his upper body forward.
“Roooaaarrr!”
At the same time, Poppy’s muscles roared with a thunderous sound.
Crack, crack!
The recoil from his foot slamming into the ground.
The rotational force generated by twisting his waist.
And the added strength of a giant.
All of this transmitted through Poppy’s arm, which whipped around like a whip, starting from behind.
Whoosh—!
And in Poppy’s hand was a massive shield, 1.6 meters in size.
“Huuunger!”
Roaring, Poppy swung his arm, releasing the shield as if sweeping the ground with it.
Bang!
The shield ripped through the air, shooting straight toward the tiger.
As the shield flew through its path—
Crash!
A violent gust of wind erupted.
“…?!”
Whoosh!
The wind stirred up by the shield swept through the forest in an instant.
Yuri was already moving.
“Now!”
He used the Cloud Step, swiftly closing in on the Leopard Woman.
The surroundings slowed down in his accelerated perception, and he could already see the shield nearly upon the Leopard Woman.
‘No matter how strong she is, she can’t dodge that!’
It was simply a fast-thrown shield, but the force behind it was incomprehensibly immense.
Wasn’t it said that a certain level of physical force was indistinguishable from magic?
Surely, the shield flying towards the Leopard Woman was that kind of magic.
This was an attack that would surely deal a blow, even to the Leopard Woman.
Of course, he didn’t think that it would take her down just with that.
All Yuri was aiming for was the opening that would appear when she blocked the shield.
At the moment he closed in, targeting that opening—
‘…Huh?!’
Yuri saw the Leopard Woman’s metal gauntlet changing.
Up until now, her gauntlets had been at the level of “Steel.”
But suddenly, the gauntlets went beyond Steel, reaching Silver, then Flame, and even Magic.
However, that wasn’t the end of it.
Buzzzz—.
In an instant, the gauntlets, having reached the level of Magic, were surrounded by a semi-transparent barrier.
Then, that barrier slowly turned opaque.
The shield covering the gauntlets became opaque in an instant and soon triggered a massive explosion of light.
The light that emerged was immediately condensed.
Seeing this, Yuri’s eyes widened just as the Leopard Woman unhesitatingly thrust her fist towards the shield.
“Hap!”
A short shout of focus.
Then, the shield, which had been thrown with massive force, was halted so lightly that it seemed to float in mid-air.
Boom—!
The explosive sound and the scene unfolding before his eyes were enough to stop Yuri in his tracks.
And what happened next was even more astonishing.
Crash!
With a single downward punch, the shield was driven vertically into the ground.
Then, the Leopard Woman embedded her fist into the center of the shield.
Boom—!
With a thunderous noise, the shield was sent flying back the way it had come.
Seeing the shield returning, Poppy reached out in shock to catch it.
“H-Hungry…”
Creak—whoosh—!
The 5-meter giant, now tangled with the shield, was sent flying back toward the forest.
Crash—crack—boom!
As Yuri watched the coniferous trees topple in the forest where Poppy had been thrown, he swallowed dryly.
“This is insane…”
Even if Poppy hadn’t managed to brace himself properly, the force required to send a giant like that flying with the shield…
Yuri looked at the Leopard Woman with eyes full of tension.
Or rather, more precisely, at the gauntlets fitted onto both of her arms.
“Those are…”
They weren’t made of metal; they looked more like gauntlets shaped from light itself.
Yuri instantly realized what they were and muttered softly.
“The state of ‘Sanctity’…”