**Episode 045: Despair Beyond Hope**

“Now, how’s it going?”

The smoke from the Fireball hitting its foot finally cleared, revealing an unchanged situation.

“Even with that Fireball, it did barely anything… ”

Even a Fireball capable of burning a forest within a ten-meter radius seemed to inflict minimal damage on the giant.

“Hehe… This is definitely not an early-game enemy!”

I exclaimed with a wry smile, sweating profusely.

“Water Ball!”

I released a pillar of water from my hand, roughly twice the size of before. It flew towards the giant with tremendous force, but it simply waved its hand, nullifying the water.

“This won’t work either. Let’s try every magic I’ve got. Wind Cutter! × Six.”

In quick succession, I unleashed six invisible blades of wind.

*Shh Shh Shh*

The Wind Cutters sliced through the shadow’s skin, but it merely scratched the surface, having little effect.

“Ice Needle!”

Continuing, I used Ice Needle to create sharp ice pillars around its feet, causing some damage to its skin.

*Boooom*

Annoyed, the giant stomped the ground, shattering the ice spears with its sheer strength.

*Gra Gra Gra*

As the ground trembled again, I squatted down to maintain balance.

“Darn it, every move of this giant is a huge problem.”

Stepping on the ground caused earthquakes of minor disaster levels, and when it swung its arms or legs, we had to make significant evasive maneuvers due to its colossal size. Getting closer was proving difficult.

However, even if I couldn’t defeat it, it was crucial to keep it occupied. Once the evacuation was complete, escaping wouldn’t be an issue. Though, facing such a monster, I had no idea how far we needed to run to consider it a successful evacuation.

“If only I had debuffs or something… ”

As my rank hadn’t increased yet, the only available magic was simple enhancement magic. Moreover, it needed reapplication since it wore off after a while. I had to time it right.

“Next is Stone Bullet!”

I poured extra magical power, throwing several large rocks that couldn’t be ignored even by the giant.

*Boooom*

It swung its arms, swatting away the incoming rocks. I quickly distanced myself and chanted the last spell.

“Thunder!”

*Boooom*

I directed lightning towards the giant’s head. For a moment, its body seemed to stiffen.

“Could it be… ”

Noticing the unnatural movement, I cast Thunder repeatedly.

*Boo Boo Boo Boo*

Every time lightning struck, the giant temporarily stiffened, creating brief moments of immobility.

“I see. Thunder seems to be its weakness.”

I concluded that the giant was weak against lightning attributes. Moreover, its colossal size made it unable to dodge Thunder.

“If it had the speed to avoid it, things might have been tough, but there might still be a chance.”

“Thunder! Ten Cross Slash!”

I cast Thunder and, taking advantage of the momentary stiffness, closed in to unleash a skill, then immediately retreated.

This way, I could avoid being caught in its ground-pound attack. From there, the situation would remain static, but I was steadily dealing damage.

If I continued like this, I might eventually defeat it… someday.

However, I felt the duration of the stiffness was gradually decreasing.

I needed to come up with a breakthrough…

Yes, Thunder seems effective, so amplifying its power with that magic might work. I stopped casting Thunder and consecutively fired different spells.

The giant, annoyed, swung its arms, nullifying the magic. However, nullification only meant the damage, and the magic remained on its body.

*Boooom*

Growing irritated, the giant directly lunged at me.

But maintaining a distance just within the magic’s range made dodging relatively easy.

Not yet. Just a bit more until its entire body is covered.

While dodging its attacks, I continued firing magic in rapid succession, thoroughly drenching the giant. A large number of water droplets clung to its surface.

What I cast was Water. If water covered its entire body, Thunder’s effect should extend to its entire form.

“Thunder!!!”

I poured as much magical power as possible, directing a powerful Thunder at the giant.

*Zzaaaaap*

The massive lightning enveloped the giant.

*Vooooooom*

The giant, now drenched and surrounded by an overwhelming Thunder, let out a desperate scream. It gazed at the sky, emitting smoke from its entire body, standing motionless.

“Is it over?”

Since the giant didn’t move, I approached, muttering to myself.

*Voooooooom*

However, that was a misunderstanding.

The giant, looking towards the sky, let out a scream incomparable to before.

“What the…!?”

And before I knew it, I was sent flying. It caught me because its kick had targeted me.

*Thud Thud Thud*

I crashed through multiple buildings, falling.

“Ugh… So, it ends up triggering its wrath.”

I managed to land and stared at the giant from a distance.

It seemed like it had finally gotten serious.