The Human Giant



"Even though Yoze is strange, I would love for my grandson to become just like him one day. Even being half as strong and successful as him would be enough to ease my heart." General Blood Stone glanced at Floyd before turning his attention to his soldiers.

"Men, today we have an important mission! This deals with not only the lives and future of everyone in New Swamp Town but the entirety of humanity."

"Some of us will not come back home from the mission, and others won't make it back in one piece, but this is what we must do to secure our children's future! As soldiers, we must hold our heads up high and dive straight into the mouths of certain death!"

"Only through challenging the impossible with fearlessness and blazing anger to defeat anything that stands in our way can we clinch victory! Now follow me and the other generals as we march towards our mission!" General Blood Stone shouted with pride.

Floyd trembled as he could hear other generals giving similar brutal speeches that talked about certain death. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to complain in front of thousands of soldiers putting their lives on the line to save his home, he would have already been trying to escape his Grandfather's iron-clad grasp.

"Why is Grandpa trying to bring me into the grave with him? I am as well as a chicken and a regular soldier could kill me with a single slap, yet alone a demon or immortal." 

"Does this have to do with that man coming back from the Beast Hunter Sect territory?" 

With no ability to move or talk with their Grandfather about placing him down, Floyd focused on figuring out why his Grandfather had such a change of heart. He recalled the moment his Grandfather had heard the news of the explosion. His Grandfather had rushed to him and told him to stay inside the town and not leave the town's walls until he came back.

At that time, he could tell that his Grandfather had placed a lot of importance on his safety a few hours ago, but now everything had been flipped on its head. The only reason that made sense to him was if Yoze's appearance meant that the Beast Hunter Sect's territory wasn't as dangerous as everyone first thought.

"To instill such confidence in Grandpa, that large man must be someone significant and powerful. Wait a minute, how could I be so blind that man was injured when he arrived." Sudden enlightenment slapped Floyd in the face as he recalled the details of his short interaction with Yoze.

"He must have fought whatever monster had appeared in the Beast Hunter Sect's area. To come back alive and well meant that he must have either defeated the monster or made it run away."

"No wonder Grandpa switched up all of a sudden and forced me to go on this trip. Not only could the experience train him, but the government is going to give extra merit to anyone who went on the mission."

"Even if they found out there was no danger, the courage that every soldier showed not to abandon their duty when there was certain death in front of them needed to be rewarded. And since I am not a soldier, the only reward I would get is a low government position, but that is enough to get my foot through the door." Realizing this, Floyd's eyes shined like a beacon as his terrible mood lightened up, making him feel pumped full of energy.

"Grandpa, I understand. Can you put me down? I won't run away." Floyd whispered with conviction inside his Grandfather's ear.

Sensing that Floyd had understood his intentions and would take full advantage of this rare opportunity, General Blood Stone placed Floyd down and told him to stand at the back of the army of soldiers. He even recommended that he try his best to keep up, or he would be left behind.

Understanding that this was an opportunity that his Grandfather had risked for him, Floyd straightened his back and walked to the back of the army line. When he arrived, Floyd felt as if he could feel the weight of responsibility that each soldier must feel going on this life-or-death mission.

Floyd's eyes sharpened, and his back became as straight as an iron rod as he felt he bore the same responsibility. Even though he knew the chance that this mission would be dangerous was small, he couldn't help but feel his respect for each of them grow.

While his heart grew more convinced about his decision to become a government official so he could remain off the battlefield, he just wanted an easy job that gave him a lot of money and was safe from danger.

"March!"

Suddenly hearing General Devil Storm's voice shouting to move, Floyd snapped out of his daze and stepped forward with everyone else.

As New Swamp Town's army marched through the land, it didn't take long for them to encounter something odd. At one of the small villages they were passing back, they noticed that it was overrun with animals.

All sorts of creatures completely took over the village forcing the villagers to leave their village. Even though this was a strange sight, no one in the army was surprised that some animals had escaped the forest.

If humans were smart enough to escape their homes in times of danger, animals would be even more capable. Many of them had begun their escape before the battle even began and left when Immortal Welse screamed with anger.

Most of them had escaped deeper into the forest, with only a small percentage of the animals having fled elsewhere. However, even though only a tiny percentage of the animals near the battle had escaped outside, it was still a significant number that the villages and towns near the forest were overwhelmed.

Even though helping out the village wasn't the army's primary goal, they still deployed a small group of first-rate martial artists to scare the animals away from the village and kill all the ones that refused to leave. Once the threat had been eliminated quickly, the small group of martial artists rejoined the main army as if nothing had happened.

"Aren't there too many animals?" Floyd thought to himself as he noticed that they were seeing more and more animals migrating toward New Swamp Town and away from the Beast Hunter Sect's territory.

It had gotten to the point that the army was forced to stop as thousands of animals from the forest slowly escaped, creating a river of colorful flesh. A river where predator and prey walked in harmony as they fled from their home to seek a better life.