The gigantic stone statue raised one foot.

Thud. The ground trembled lightly.

“…What is that?”

A muttered exclamation mixed with someone’s sigh.

[‘Gilbert (★★★)’ falls into terror. All stats decrease by 30%.]

“Do they expect us to face that thing? It must be a joke.”

The voice trembled as it spoke.

I looked to the side. The face of the man, stoned in blue, was twitching.

“This… This goes beyond common sense. It’s not a monster. Are they telling us to kill that kind of monster? It’s ridiculous!”

[‘Recullen (★★★)’ falls into terror. All stats decrease by 30%.]

[‘Vidin (★★★)’… falls into terror…]

Status abnormality messages appeared one after another.

Most of them were members of the newly participating 4th and 5th parties. Fear welled up in their eyes.

“Kill it? Isn’t the mission to run away?”

“An ant can’t catch a giant just because it has tweezers! This is ridiculous…”

“Quite barking noisy dogs.”

Velkist sneered while looking at them.

“What did you say?”

“Oh, you’re right it’s disrespectful to compare you to a dog. A bug would be more appropriate.”

“This is insane…”

“Let’s finish them off right now.”

“Stop it.”

I blocked Velkist, who was about to draw his sword.

Velkist withdrew, his expression filled with contempt. They all looked at me, helpless.

“Han, what should we do? How can we escape?”

“Don’t run. Can’t you see the mission window? We can’t leave until we kill that thing.”

[‘Gilbert (★★★)’ falls into panic. All stats decrease by 50%.]

“Stop talking nonsense! Bring down that giant? Is it possible? If you’re talking nonsense…”

I reached for my belt.

The dagger blade emerged from its sheath and flew at him, emitting a white light. Blood gushed from the pierced man’s shoulder. Gilbert, who had been staring at the injured area, finally spoke.

“Aaaah!”

[‘Gilbert (★★★)’ is in a bleeding state. Health decreases at regular intervals.]

“Why did you stop me if you were going to do this?”

“I’m not trying to kill him.”

Gilbert sat on the ground, screaming.

This guy was the leader of the 5th party. Pathetic. I turned to the young man who had been quietly swallowing behind Gilbert.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Lycan Snail, sir.”

“From now on, you’re in charge of the 5th party.”

[Captain Han (★★★) proposes a change of party leader.]

[‘5th Party’: ‘Gilbert (★★★)’ -> ‘Lycan (★★★)’]

[Accept?]

[Yes (selected) / No]

A message soon appeared announcing the change of leader.

Ignoring Gilbert, who was wailing on the ground, I said, “Make a choice. Just die or fight to survive.”

“But…”

“No ‘buts.’ If you’re called out to this place, then you have to kill any enemy that comes out. It doesn’t matter who it is or what it is. If you want to live, move.”

Swoosh.

I drew my sword.

Kukkung. The statue was now stepping with its other foot. Its enormous shadow loomed nearby. Edis on the right drew her twin swords.

“2nd party.”

Roderick pulled out a spear from his back.

Then, three others also drew their weapons.

“It’s going to be quite interesting.”

Kishasha’s nails sharpened.

The three parties took up battle stances side by side.

“Haah, it looks like we have another tough battle ahead.”

“We can do it. We’ve come this far. We’ll keep going.”

Finally, the members of the 1st party drew their weapons.

“We… we can fight too!”

Lycan brandished his sword.

Sweat dripped from their foreheads, but there was no sign of fear. Except for one, the fear of the other heroes had been lifted.

‘We’ve completed the first step somehow.’

The first thing to be wary of when facing a colossal monster is that your allies can crumble under its overwhelming presence. It may seem impossible to defeat at first, but it can be done. No matter how doggedly they cling to life, there’s always a way. This law needed to be instilled in the heroes.

I drew my sword while looking to the side.

Priasis was looking at the giant with a tense expression.

“Can we really bring it down?”

“You’ll find out when we try.”

Kukkung.

The creature took its third step, and the ground shook again.

Lycan raised his sword and looked at me.

“B-but how can we… defeat it?”

“Observe the situation at times like this. The answer is in there. That’s what learned at Niflheimr.”

Jenna said with a sly smile.

“That’s right.”

“As expected, right?”

‘Analyze the pattern, find the strategy.’

It was the first task to be done when facing a boss.

I looked up at it.

Size over 300 meters. Weight immeasurable. Material, unknown rock.

‘An ant with tweezers.’

I chuckled and patted Bifrost.

It wasn’t an incorrect statement. If we compared ranks, the gap would be like that between an ant and an elephant. It was clear at a glance. Our weapons couldn’t deliver a blow.

Direct attacks wouldn’t work.

So…

Kukkung!

The statue took its fourth step.

The distance has become noticeably closer. Raiman arched his eyebrows and exclaimed.

“What should I do? Please tell me something!”

“For now, hold on until we find a way.”

“Can’t we just run away from the monster?”

I shook my head.

“Then what…”

Cra la la la.

A faint howling sound was heard in the wind.

[Monster Wave!]

[Round 1.]

[Lizardman Lv.23] X 31

[Lizardman Rider Lv. 25] X 4

[Lizardman Sorcerer Lv. 26] X 2