socalfunplaces Chapter 402 - 352: The Giant City-State Full of Gold
Chapter 402 - 352: The Giant City-State Full of Gold
"A decree from the Great Elder!"
"The triennial ’Power Festival’ is about to reach its final climax! A gladiatorial tournament for the strongest will be held at sunset in the Giant Plaza!"
The moment he finished speaking, a commotion of excited growls erupted from the crowd of Giants.
The Messenger raised his Stone Axe high, basking in the awe of his kinsmen as he continued to roar.
"All Warriors who have entered the Domain Level may participate! Use your fists to prove your valor and compete for the title of ’Strongest Giant’!"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the flushed, excited faces below. Then, in a tone of supreme temptation, he announced the final prize.
"The final three victors, the strongest among you, will receive the highest honor..."
"They will be granted a personal audience with the Great Elder and receive his guidance, allowing them to glimpse the true essence of Power at a higher level!"
"BOOM!"
The crowd absolutely erupted!
Countless Giants raised their arms, letting out earth-shattering roars.
Receiving personal guidance from the Great Elder was the highest honor a Giant could achieve. It was the opportunity all of them dreamed of, a chance to even touch upon legendary higher realms.
Raylo turned his head and looked at Kado beside him.
Kado’s eyes were already shining with excitement.
"Raylo..."
Kado’s voice was filled with yearning.
Raylo raised a hand, cutting him off.
"Kado,"
Raylo said.
"Top three. Are you confident?"
Kado slapped his chest, full of confidence.
"First."
Night fell like a giant black velvet blanket, slowly covering the vast sky as stars flickered faintly behind the clouds.
The Giant Market, bustling for days, finally drew to a close.
The Giants wrapped their remaining goods in Beast Hides or hoisted the clay pots and salt they had bartered for onto their shoulders. The thud of their heavy footsteps merged into a torrent, flowing toward the center of the city-state.
The air was filled with a mixture of smoke, roasted meat, and sweat—a primitive smell brimming with Life Force.
The Giant Plaza was located in the very center of the city-state, paved with countless massive stone blocks.
Around the plaza, enormous twenty-meter-high stone pillars stood at intervals of several dozen meters, their tops blazing with roaring flames.
Over a hundred of these pillars of fire spat tongues of scorching flame, illuminating the plaza as if it were day. The orange light danced across the Giants’ rugged faces and rock-like muscles, casting long, swaying shadows.
Raylo’s group found a spot with an excellent view on a slightly elevated platform, which allowed them to overlook the entire plaza.
He sat on a stone at the edge, while the three small heads of Moonlight, Coal Ball, and Sun watched the spectacle below.
Kado and Ug, unable to contain their excitement, had already pushed through the crowd and rushed to the registration area in the center of the plaza.
"I want to fight first!"
Ug bellowed in his booming voice, shoving Kado with his fan-sized hands.
"Why should you? I’m stronger, so I’ll go first!"
Kado retorted, not backing down an inch.
The two Giants bickered like children until the Giant Guard in charge of registration impatiently struck the ground with a thick wooden staff. A dull "THUD" echoed, and the two sheepishly fell silent.
Raylo’s gaze fell upon the guard.
He saw the guard drawing and writing on a flat Stone Slab with a piece of black charcoal.
It wasn’t human script, but a kind of pictographic symbol made of horizontal lines, vertical lines, and circles—simple yet powerful.
When it was Kado’s group’s turn to draw lots, the guard pulled out a handful of wooden strips of varying lengths from a large Beast Hide bag.
The strips had been marked with a charcoal stick, each bearing a different number of black horizontal lines.
Raylo noticed that there were two strips for each number of lines.
The rule was simple and clear: the two who drew strips with the same number of lines would be opponents.
’They have their own writing system and basic mathematical concepts,’
Raylo murmured to himself.
He had originally thought that measuring value by palm-sizes, like Kado’s tribe did, was the norm for all Giants.
It now seemed the level of civilization in this city-state surpassed his expectations.
They were not savage, merely ancient.
What had settled upon this land was a cultural heritage entirely different from the mainstream civilization of the Continent.
The Giants participating in the tournament gradually finished drawing their lots.
Raylo counted them. There were sixteen in total.
Sixteen Domain Level Giants.
Moreover, judging by their vigorous bodies and somewhat youthful faces, the vast majority of them were still in their youth.
Raylo’s heart sank slightly.
’This Giant City-State has so many Domain Level Powerhouses just among its younger generation. Just how terrifying must its true foundation be?’
’And what kind of being is the Great Elder, who has lived for over a thousand years?’
"DONG! DONG! DONG!"
Three deep, lingering drumbeats sounded.
The entire plaza fell silent in an instant, and every Giant’s gaze focused on the very center of the arena.
The same Messenger from before walked onto the high platform again. He said nothing, simply raising his large hand high before swinging it down sharply.
"ROAR!"
A tsunami of roars erupted from all directions, announcing that the climax of the Power Festival had officially begun.
Kado and Ug ran back, brimming with excitement.
"My lord! I drew number one! I’m first!"
Kado grinned widely, his face filled with unconcealable pride and excitement, as if he had drawn a priceless treasure.
Ug, on the other hand, was a little dejected. He had drawn a later number.
"Don’t be impatient,"
Raylo said, looking at him with a smile.
"Your turn will come."
A Giant holding a Horn walked to the edge of the arena, puffed out his cheeks, and blew the opening call.
"WOOOO!"
The desolate sound of the Horn echoed across the plaza.
"First match! Tag from the Bone Shards Tribe versus the Wandering Giant, Kado!"
As his name was announced, Kado strode into the massive circular arena marked out with white lime.
With every step he took, the ground seemed to tremble slightly.
He was bare-chested, his bronze skin glinting with a metallic sheen under the firelight, his muscles as solid as mountain rock.
On the other side, another Giant, just as tall but with a stockier build, also entered the arena.
His name was Tag. He had a coarse, red beard, and his eyes held a beast-like ferocity.
"It’s Tag! I heard last year he could tear an Armored Rhinoceros apart with his bare hands!"
"His Power is immense. Who’s Kado? I haven’t really heard of him."
"Didn’t you hear? He’s a Wandering Giant."
The murmurs of the Giants spread through the crowd as the unfamiliar name of Kado gradually became known in the Giant City-State.
Wuba and a few other Giants from their tribe clenched their fists nervously, breaking out in a cold sweat for Kado.
In the arena, Tag pounded his chest with his fists, producing a series of dull thuds. He shot Kado a provocative grin, revealing a set of yellow teeth.
"Little guy, if you’re not weaned yet, you shouldn’t be here! Go crawl back to your little tribe!"
Kado said nothing, merely stretching his neck and wrists, which let out a series of sharp "CRACK-CRACK" sounds.
The way he looked at Tag was like he was sizing up a rather brittle stone.
The Giant Guard acting as referee saw that both were in position. He raised his hand high, then swung it down abruptly.
"Begin!"
Before the word was even out, Tag let out a deafening roar. He kicked off the ground with his powerful legs, his massive body charging straight at Kado like an out-of-control mammoth.
Every step he took shook the earth, and the shockwave he created was so powerful it even made the distant flames flicker.
Faced with this devastating charge, Kado simply stood his ground, motionless.
He just slowly lifted his right foot, then gently stomped it on the ground in front of him.
The stomp didn’t produce a world-shaking boom.
"HUMMM!"
A deep, muffled hum resonated, as if from the very core of the earth.
An invisible ripple, centered on the Stone Slab where Kado’s foot had landed, spread out across the ground like Lightning.
Tag, who was charging with the force of a Thunderbolt, felt his massive body abruptly stall.
He felt as if the ground beneath his feet had instantly turned into a thick swamp. Every step became incredibly heavy, and his unstoppable forward momentum was forcibly cut short.
His forward inertia remained, but his lower body was held fast by a strange power. Losing his balance, he stumbled and pitched forward.
A flash of horror crossed Tag’s eyes.