"A Golden Giant is moving toward us!" The night watch wizard's face was deathly pale, his words rushed and frantic. "One of my warning stone slabs has been completely devoured…"
"Damn!"
The moment the words "Golden Giant" left his lips, Leilin quickly heard the wizards around him cursing.
The Golden Giant was an elemental creature whose strength rivaled that of a fully elementalized wizard. Combined with its innate racial talents, only a Second-rank
"Weren't the Golden Giants in the Golden Desert supposed to be extinct? How is there still one left—and right on our path?!"
The leader gnashed his teeth, his eyes glowing green.
"Can we just避 it for now?" Lancer suggested. "The Golden Desert is huge—it might not be able to find us!"
"I'm afraid not!" Leilin spoke first. "Golden Giants have an instinct to chase high-energy beings. The energy fluctuations we emit are like torches in the night to them. The more we move, the more we'll attract its attack!"
"Then what do we do?" Despair crept across Lancer's face. "Unless we have a Second-rank Wizard among us, there's no way we can escape a Golden Giant's pursuit…"
Each rank among formal wizards represented a vast gulf in power.
Leilin and the other five were only slightly stronger than newly advanced First-rank Wizards. They would struggle even against a half-elementalized wizard, let alone a fully elementalized Golden Giant.
A half-elementalized wizard referred to one whose spiritual elementalization had exceeded 50 percent. At that point, the boost to their spells was already significant, giving them an overwhelming advantage over newly advanced wizards.
Back when Leilin was still an apprentice, he had encountered a half-elementalized Storm Giant Elf while riding an airship. If not for the many academy instructors gathered on that airship, it would have ended in total destruction.
And now, what Leilin and the others had to face was a creature even more dangerous than a Storm Giant Elf!
"Perhaps… we could split up and flee?" the big one hesitated before making the suggestion.
When those words were spoken, the wizards fell into silence, their eyes flickering uncertainly.
"Have you lost your minds?!" The old leader cut him off angrily. "If we split up, can you guarantee you'll be lucky enough to evade the Golden Giant? And besides—what would you use to break through the Greele Vulture territory beyond?"
These two sharp questions immediately drove the scene into another deep silence.
After scattering, they could theoretically double back. If luck was on their side, there might still be a sliver of hope of reaching the Broken Axe Tavern.
But this was a last resort when all else failed—none of the wizards present could truly accept such an outcome.
"Quick! Three more of my darlings just died!" The night watch wizard's breathing grew heavier.
"Perhaps we could use his warning stone slabs and attach runes that continuously emit energy to them, drawing the Golden Giant's attention away. Meanwhile, we suppress our energy fluctuations as much as possible and slip away quietly… Even if it doesn't work, we can still split up as discussed earlier…"
In the midst of the silence, Leilin suddenly spoke.
"Although this plan is also somewhat unreliable, we clearly don't have anything better…"
The old leader sighed with some resignation and pointed at Leilin. "We'll do it his way! I happen to have some materials for spawning additional warning stone slabs…"
As he spoke, he produced several glass bottles containing gray powder and handed them to the night watch wizard.
Looking at the materials the old man had produced, the watchman still showed a hint of reluctance, but he reached out and took them. "Fine, we'll try it! But I make no guarantees!"
With the chanting of incantations, several sand mounds rose from the ground, revealing stone slabs identical to the ones before.
By now, everyone in the camp could clearly see a mass of golden light appearing to the east.
The glow was like the sun itself, dispelling the darkness and casting a touch of warmth over the surroundings.
And within that radiant orb was the enormous silhouette of a giant.
The giant's entire body radiated golden light. It wore extremely primitive attire—just a leather chest piece on its upper body, connected by an iron ring to two shoulder guards.
Above the shoulders rose a face with hard, chiseled features, and orange-red hair that seemed to burn like living flame.
"Alert! High-energy entity detected—classified as Golden Giant. Subject advised to evacuate immediately!"
The Chip also flashed a red warning on its display at that moment.
"Hurry! Hurry!" The old leader's voice was so urgent it had become distorted.
"I know a few energy-gathering runes—hopefully they'll help!" Another apprentice who had been silent until now stepped forward and inscribed several symbols—a chaotic combination of circles and triangles—onto the warning stone slabs.
Once the runes were engraved and began to emit a soft, luminous glow, the stone slabs suddenly released an enormous wave of energy—chaotic and powerful. In the distance, the Golden Giant let out a roar and quickened its pace.
"Good! It's got the Golden Giant's attention!" Lancer nodded excitedly.
"Add this too!" Leilin opened a red vial and dripped the potion onto the warning stone slabs.
As the liquid seeped into the stone, the slabs let out rumbling roars, their bodies swelling several times over, their limbs growing thicker and sturdier.
"Hopefully this lets them hold out a bit longer!"
Leilin casually tossed the empty vial away. His energy fluctuations steadily diminished, dropping below the level of a formal wizard and approaching that of an ordinary person.
This was the Mimicry Spell at work, concealing the vast energy within.
He then walked over to his Ripper Worg, fitted a muzzle over its snout, and gave its head a pat.
The Ripper Worg seemed to sense the Golden Giant's approach as well—lying flat on the ground, its limbs trembling, it made no resistance to Leilin's actions.
The other wizards did much the same.
They also used the surrounding environment to conceal themselves completely.
At last, the Golden Giant drew closer to the camp—fewer than five hundred meters away!
At this distance, Leilin could make out every pore on the giant's body.
"Up to you now—go, my darlings!"
"Charge!" "For my master!"
The thick stone slabs bellowed, with several charging toward the Golden Giant while the majority scattered in every direction.
Whether fleeing or bravely attacking, every slab carried enormous energy fluctuations, nearly reaching the threshold of a First-rank Wizard.
The Golden Giant let out an incomprehensible roar—almost as if it were trying to speak.
Its enormous hand reached out, blotting out the sky, and pressed down toward the ground before scooping upward!
Several warning stone slabs were snatched up directly.
"For glory! For protection!"
The slabs roared, hammering at the giant's hand with their tiny fists.
Crunch! The colossal Golden Giant tossed them into its mouth, producing a sound like someone crunching cookies.
After finishing off the stone slabs, the Golden Giant bellowed again, then turned toward the direction of the fleeing slabs and broke into a chase.
"Now!"
The old leader's voice was barely a whisper. The six of them quietly led their Ripper Worgs away, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the camp.
Everyone suppressed their energy fluctuations to the utmost, even disguising their Ripper Worgs—creeping away like moles.
The Golden Giant howled as it pursued the fleeing stone slabs, never once glancing back toward the camp.
"Run!"
Once the golden glow had completely vanished, someone whispered the word, and everyone immediately broke into a sprint.
…
Whoosh!
The wolves tore across the sand, kicking up clouds of stone and grit flecked with golden sparks.
Leilin and his group wore grim faces. Having been jolted from rest, subjected to the terror of the Golden Giant, and then fleeing nonstop until now…
From the dead of night to the sun high overhead, more than half a day had passed.
But not a single person in the group complained—their only priority was to put as much distance as possible between themselves and that terrifying creature.
"Thankfully… the Golden Giant's intelligence isn't that high. It only follows its instincts to track high-energy beings. Otherwise, whether yesterday's disguise could have fooled it would truly have been questionable…"
A faint lingering fear stirred in Leilin's heart.
Though he had successfully advanced to warlock and was considered fairly strong among ordinary First-rank Wizards, against a terrifying creature like the Golden Giant, he stood no chance at all.
"Still, Golden Giants are elemental beings—they have no bloodline essence. Otherwise, I'd really love to get a few drops of its blood for research…"
A trace of regret showed in Leilin's eyes.
The world of wizards contained all manner of wondrous creatures. The Golden Giants belonged to the elemental species—their bodies composed entirely of various elements and minerals, without a single drop of blood. There was no question of purifying bloodline essence from them.
The ancient wizards had pursued many paths. Warlocks had chosen the path of bloodline.
The Golden Giants had clearly chosen a different road entirely.
All paths could ultimately reach the summit. What Leilin needed to do now was continue walking the warlock's path.
"Should we stop and rest? Without meditating to restore Spiritual Power…" Lancer's voice came from up ahead, her worg riding alongside the old leader's.
Wizards expended Spiritual Power and mana to cast their wondrous spells. Last night, the Golden Giant's interruption had prevented the six of them from meditating to recover the Spiritual Power they had spent during the day. After such a long journey, their faces were all looking rather haggard.
"No—we haven't left the danger zone yet. The Golden Giant could catch up to us at any moment…"
The old leader's voice drifted back through the wind.
Upon hearing his words, the group fell into a brief silence, but they kept riding.
Compared to the ordinary dangers of the Golden Desert, the wizards clearly feared the Golden Giant far more.