Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 334, Section 81: The Battle of Giants

Thanks to the rewards received at Silver Cup Manor.

Iwasaki can now enjoy a 30% discount on his overdraft.

It grants the effect of overdrafting thirty years, but only requires consuming twenty-one years of lifespan, which can be barely replenished with two small longevity pills.

Based on his observation of the battle, this so-called ultimate form of the Ripper was not so powerful as to be invincible.

At least until now, it has not shown any self-healing ability, unlike the previous form of the metal giant, which at least absorbed the surrounding metal to grow stronger and recover itself.

Of course, this may be because the Ripper has grown to the point where it can no longer improve.

Moreover, its current attack power is incomparable to that of the previously dull and foolish Metal Titan.

More importantly, it was the dagger in its hand that was the source of all the disaster. Seven bloodstains flowed across the silvery blade, filled with an aura of resentment. If you stared at it for too long, you would feel as if your soul was being stabbed.

He's a soul mage, so his intuition in this area is definitely accurate.

With the overdraft ability activated, the twenty years of life force that had just been replenished were quickly drained. The dark clouds hidden in the dense clouds suddenly surged violently, and the overwhelming power made Iwasaki feel almost omnipotent.

A massive cloud of black clouds descended, rapidly coalescing on the ground into the image of a black-robed Ringwraith, a figure comparable in size to the giant Ripper. It was a color even blacker than the night, a pure shadow that seemed to have absorbed all light.

A cold mist-like black aura floated at the edge of the shadowy figure, emanating a chilling aura that could freeze one's soul, like a black cloud demon god.

Without uttering a sound, Iwasaki saw several enormous, shadowy hands suddenly emerge from in front of him, reaching out to grab the giant ripper.

These invisible hands went directly to the wound in the giant's chest, attempting to attack its internal organs.

However, the giant ripper seemed to have anticipated this type of attack.

Ignoring the island that was still attacking, it swung the dagger in its hand in an instant, and a red light flashed on the blade, as if tearing through space.

scoff!

Those seemingly intangible, invisible hands, which should be immune to conventional attacks, were easily severed by this dagger.

The severed part instantly lost its form and dissipated like smoke. Even the Black Cloud Demon God, which was Iwasaki's incarnation, emitted a fluctuation, clearly suffering some backlash damage.

"As expected, it can hurt me." Iwasaki had anticipated this and wasn't too surprised.

With the silver cup inside him, he should be able to put up some resistance, and there's no need to worry about being killed with a single blow.

Having suffered a setback, Iwasaki immediately changed tactics. The Black Cloud Demon God's enormous shadowy arm slammed down on the ground, and an invisible force enveloped a deserted skyscraper at the edge of the battlefield.

Rumble rumble rumble!

A glass curtain wall office building, hundreds of meters tall, made cracking sounds as it broke, and then the entire building was forcibly lifted off the ground.

The reinforced concrete structure twisted and deformed under immense force, and glass rained down like a torrential downpour.

The Black Cloud Demon God wielded its giant shadow arm, using the hundred-meter-tall building as a giant hammer, and swept it across the waist of the Ripper Giant with terrifying wind pressure.

The giant ripper clearly hadn't anticipated this outrageous attack. It tried to parry with its dagger, but the dagger proved to be quite ineffective against such a purely physical impact.

boom!
With a deafening roar, the building slammed solidly into the giant's side!
In an instant, the steel bars snapped, the concrete crumbled, and the entire building disintegrated upon impact, turning into countless fragments of stone and steel that flew everywhere like cannonballs.

The giant staggered back several steps from the brutal blow, with obvious dents and cracks appearing in the flesh and metal bones of his waist and abdomen.

"It works!" Nobi, who was watching the battle, perked up as he saw the Ripper's health bar drop a little.

If this purely physical attack works, then an explosion should also cause damage, right?
This way, the pressure won't be placed on them.

At this moment, Oshima, who had been maintaining an extremely high burst of output, finally reached his limit.

The sacred energy from the lion that had gathered in his fist dimmed and dissipated, and he fell from mid-air as if he were exhausted, crashing through a roof and landing on a concrete floor.

He knelt on one knee, panting heavily, his face as pale as paper, clearly exhausted.

In the moments before his return, Oshima used his last strength to direct Iwasaki in that direction.

"The final fireworks display is designated for player Hao."

This is not an attack, but a temporary buff that can temporarily increase a person's various attributes. It is a reward that Ooshima unlocks in Silver Cup Manor.

After making the designation, he vanished, and a beam of golden light shot into the air with a whoosh, exploding into a firework.

At the same time, a stream of energy flowed into Iwasaki's body.

Although this power was not much, it was better than nothing, and it somewhat alleviated the depletion Iwasaki suffered from the backlash of the dagger, stabilizing his aura considerably.

Iwasaki had already uprooted another tall building and continued to strike the Ripper from the same angle.

This is because there are too many protected buildings in this area of London, and the number of high-rise buildings is strictly controlled; otherwise, Iwasaki could have continued to push until the overdraft effect ended.

It doesn't matter to him how many people go bankrupt after he's done his job.

Through his observations, he had long discovered that the Giant Ripper had taken extra precautions to protect his water heart in his chest cavity, to an abnormal degree, even more so than the protection of his head.

Moreover, the giant's head has an exceptionally strong defensive capability, making it difficult to penetrate.

Therefore, his core tactics have always been clear.

At all costs, tear open the giant's chest and send the black bread, which might resonate with the Crystal of Mercy, into its core heart to activate it.

But the Ripper's stamina seemed inexhaustible; even after suffering severe injuries, his movements showed no signs of fatigue. Furthermore, the dagger that could directly harm his very essence forced Iwasaki to be extremely cautious with every attack.

The main body tries to stay away, and the invisible hand also extends through architecture.

The battle seemed to have reached a stalemate once again. Iwasaki, in his Black Cloud Demon form, continued to manipulate the ruins and wreckage to launch fierce attacks, but he could not find the perfect opportunity to break through the chest.

rustling
Until a strange sound faintly came from underground.

Under Iwasaki's perception, countless roots were growing and spreading wildly beneath the ground beneath the Ripper's feet.

Iwasaki understood perfectly, and deliberately sacrificed one of his invisible hands again, revealing a flaw so that the Ripper would have a chance to cut him off with one blow.

The Ripper seemed completely unconcerned about any scheme that could cost him his life. Seeing an opportunity, he took a step back, just as Iwasaki had hoped, and slashed the Ripper open with a single blow.

Plop!

In an instant, countless thick tree roots, emitting a pale green fluorescence, emerged from the ground and from the cracks in the buildings, like giant pythons.

They coiled around the giant ripper's ankles and calves like eyes, and forcefully pierced the gaps between his flesh and metal bones.

"What is this...?" Nobita pulled out a pair of binoculars and carefully searched the ever-growing vines.

After searching for a while, they finally saw Hirosue Eri, who had arrived at some unknown time. She was holding two upright branches with both hands, and her body was radiating a magnificent green light. Her face was solemn.

Clearly, managing plants of this size is extremely difficult for her.

Under her full urging, the tree roots not only hindered the giant's movement, but also frantically gathered, grew, and intertwined behind him.

Snap, creak.
Tonight is destined to be a battle that Britain will remember for thousands of years. Apart from the three giant guardians of light summoned by the Crystal of Mercy, a third giant has appeared on the scene.

It was a giant tree-man forcibly intertwined and pieced together from countless giant trees, vines, and roots, which was rising from the ground like a grape trellis, supported by the Ripper.

Although it is significantly smaller than the giant ripper, its rooted posture is full of ancient and tenacious power.

Enraged by the sudden restraint on his body, the giant ripper struggled fiercely, slashing with his dagger, severing a large number of roots, and forcibly separating himself from the giant tree.

But Iwasaki wouldn't stand idly by. Taking advantage of the moment when the opponent's attention was diverted, he didn't hesitate to get close in his real body and successfully brought the Ripper's attention back.

Clearly, in his eyes, Iwasaki posed a greater threat.

But Hirosue Eri's tree-man had already taken shape. With heavy steps and slightly slow movements, it pounced from behind, its huge wooden arms like iron clamps, tightly embracing the giant from behind, especially locking the arm that held the dagger.

The perfect opportunity that Iwasaki had been waiting for had finally arrived.

The Black Cloud Ringwraith concentrated all its power into a single point, and a ghostly, elusive shadow claw, taking advantage of the giant's temporary restraint by the treants and the gaping wound in its chest caused by the impact of the large island, slashed fiercely at the opening. With a piercing metallic scratch, the shadow claw successfully breached the defenses, tearing open a massive gash and revealing the still-beating heart of water, composed of the Thames.

"Roar!!!" The giant ripper roared in shock and anger, struggling desperately, with wood chips flying from the tree-man behind him, who was about to give way.

The metal structure that had been ripped open in his chest was also trying to close up, but the tree-man, who was almost one with the Ripper, would not let him have his way. Countless vines wrapped around him from behind without regard for sacrifice, slowing down the closing of the metal.

Without the slightest hesitation, Iwasaki manipulated a tiny, invisible hand to precisely and swiftly insert the merciful crystal, which had fused with the black bread, directly into the heart of water through the opening in his chest.

"Die!" At this moment, the Ripper's right hand, which was holding the dagger, finally broke free from the vines and stabbed towards Iwasaki's body.

At the very instant the dagger pierced the Black Cloud Ring Spirit's body, Iwasaki skillfully activated the crystal's activation ability.

hum!
A familiar ripple drew an arc.

The crystal shattered instantly, turning into countless tiny, shimmering fragments that quickly merged into the water within the heart.

Only the black bread remained, constantly bubbling up tiny bubbles.

All of the giant ripper's movements gradually came to a standstill, like a robot that had run out of power.

It stood frozen in place, its massive body trembling slightly, emitting a strange, gurgling sound from its throat, like someone drowning.

Its deep blue eyes flickered and twitched violently, filled with unbelievable horror.

"No, this is...there's no reason." Broken, metallic syllables escaped its lips. "How could this thing be here?"

Iwasaki stumbled back a few steps, a chaotic hatred spreading throughout his body from the wound where the knife had pierced him.

It was a kind of mental chaos that one could not escape even if one abandoned the physical body.

Fortunately, after a short while, the silver cup brought a cool sensation, gradually calming the chaotic mind.

The water heart inside the Ripper's chest cavity began to beat rapidly, and the light in his eyes dimmed quickly.

More fine bubbles surged out from around the black bread, and the entire heart-shaped body of water began to boil violently, as if it had been plunged into a red-hot iron.

"I don't want to."

"Why...why did you choose me?"

"I wish I had died like trash back then."

"Angel! Angel, save me!"

A piercing scream, filled with pain, anger, and relief, erupted from the body of the giant ripper.

The shriek transformed into a tangible, dark red energy shockwave, which instantly dissipated in all directions in a spherical shape.

boom!
The first to be hit, Iwasaki Kurokaku Demon God and Hirosue Eri's tree spirit, were instantly struck and violently thrown away by the terrifying repulsive force! The black cloud dissipated, and the tree spirit crumbled!

Wherever the shockwave passed, all the building ruins and street surfaces within a radius of 100 meters were instantly crushed and flattened, turning into an absolutely flat wasteland.

A kilometer away, glass shattered at the church, splashing into the crowd and causing a commotion.

The giant knelt down, and a tiny, azure particle, which looked like a tear from afar, fell from the ripper's ripped chest and was swallowed by the dust.

Nobita blocked the gale, strained his eyes, and watched as the health bar above the giant ripper's head rapidly dwindled until it was completely empty.

"Is it over?"

Nobita let out a long sigh of relief, his nerves taut with anxiety. Thankfully, after paying such a heavy price, they finally...
Before this feeling of relief could fully take hold, another change occurred.

Kneeling on the ground, head bowed, seemingly devoid of all life, the giant ripper was surrounded by wisps of dark, crimson energy rising from the cracks in the earth beneath his feet, like summoned ghosts, from every corner of London, slowly converging towards the giant's empty chest.

These air currents seem to contain the deep resentment brought about by all the poverty, injustice, discrimination, war trauma, and class oppression that have plagued this land for a century.

"Damn it!" Nobita couldn't help but curse, slapping his forehead as a sense of powerlessness washed over him. "This has a second stage?!"

Geralt, standing to the side, wasn't too surprised. This giant had been quite unstable since he appeared, relying entirely on his mental power. Even if left alone, his main consciousness would be overwhelmed in a short time.

This may also be related to the fact that the ultimate sacrifice was not completed.

But he couldn't be sure what would happen after the Ripper lost consciousness.

Is this so-called ultimate ritual considered to have ended?

In retrospect, it is more likely that the Ripper's resentment only played a dominant role, and once it disappeared, an even more desperate resentment would take over.

To complete the unfinished sacrifice of the Ripper.

After all, hatred can never be completely eradicated.

On the battlefield, Iwasaki, who had just barely managed to reassemble his physical form, felt the gathering power of hatred that was far more desperate than before, and alarm bells rang in his mind.

We absolutely must not let it take shape!

The body moved faster than the mind; the enormous shadowy form, carrying billowing black clouds, charged toward the kneeling, motionless giant with the force of a city's destruction. An invisible claw, gathering its remaining power, stabbed fiercely toward the giant's heart, attempting to interrupt the process.

however--

Boom!
A dull thud, like the beating of a giant drum.

The invisible claw was firmly grasped by a giant hand covered in dark red energy when it was only a few meters away from the giant's chest.

Iwasaki sensed something was wrong. His black cloud body was invisible, and even before, the Ripper could only harm his intangible form, but it couldn't grab him with its hands like it could now.

Just like a person cannot grasp air with their hands.

And grasping at his source of energy, Iwasaki focused his gaze on that hand.

The flesh and blood on it continued to multiply, and the eerie beauty of the perfect fusion of machinery and flesh was gone.

The giant ripper slowly raised his head.

Inside his chest cavity, the dark red and blackish-red energy that had gathered had condensed into a silent, pulsating, dark red heart that exuded an aura of ominousness and destruction.

Its originally deep blue eyes have now been completely replaced by a crimson light.

"Hehe. Hahaha."

A low, twisted laugh escaped his lips, filled with a chilling undertone.

"The Ripper was too conservative."

"I completely understand now."

"if only."

"Kill them all."

"To utterly destroy the civilization that underpins all of this."

"Then, the so-called humanity, morality, class, injustice—all these roots of suffering—will naturally cease to exist."

His bloodshot eyes were fixed on Iwasaki, who stood in complete darkness before him.

"Do you agree?"

In Nobita's eyes, above the previously empty health bar.