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Last Embryo Volume 4 Chapter 4 Part 9

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Under the barrage of these sudden question, Pritt stopped her attack for good and sighed with annoyance.

「I just told you who I am literally a few minutes ago, but fine, let me introduce myself to you once more. I am Prithvi Mata, of {The Twelve Devas} Community.」

「Ugh, you went and said it. Pritt, I was hoping that I will not have to say this, but apparently it will still be necessary after all. This is apparently the Greek mythology area of Little Garden, so even if you give them your name and the name of your Community, it is more than likely that they will not know who you or your Community are. So for convenience’s sake, maybe you should just call yourself a member of the 「Heavenly Army」?」

The man wearing cow head masks looked at each other in shock upon hearing Izayoi’s words and then raised their voices.

「D-Did you just said 「Heavenly Army」?! As in, a gathering of warriors who could rival even the Chief God Zeus in terms of power?!」

「Yes, exactly. We might be claiming otherwise for appearances sake, but when you get down to it {The Twelve Devas} are essentially that kind of Community: a bunch of quirky strong guys all gathered under one banner.」

「I-In that case I beg you to excuse the rudeness we showed you just now! Please find it in your heart to forgive us!」

One of the two remining uncaptured man knelt down on one knee while putting his weapon down in front of him. Seeing that, Pritt carefully lowered the other five of them to the ground – albeit she did so somewhat reluctantly – where they all did the same thing as the man who was now kneeling. Pritt guessed that meant that they did not want to fight anymore and she was all okay with that, but the slight grimace on her face spoke volumes about her dissatisfaction about her name not being known around these parts. But something like that could not be helped.

Even though it is called Little Garden, it is actually a place of enormous size, so it should be a given that there would be areas that are more and less developed than others and that the gods of all the different civilizations might not be as well known across the vast lands as they all would have liked, so there was no reason to be getting too hung up on it or to treat it like a personal insult.

This is just how things work in a literal melting pot of all the cultures and mythologies from the Outer World. However, because there was always a possibility that Pritt’s obviously wounded pride might have ended up jeopardizing their efforts of getting the locals to help them, Izayoi concluded that it would probably be for the best if he would be the one responsible for handling the negotiations with them.

「Okay, before we do anything else, I have two questions that I would like to ask if you do not mind. First one, are you the native people of this continent? And the second one: are there any villages or settlements nearby?」

「I will not deny that we have been living in this land since birth, so I guess that makes us the natives, but I am afraid that we cannot tell you anything about our city.」

「I see. You’re probably doing it for defensive reasons, so I guess that cannot be helped. After all, I would also hesitate to share sensitive information with strangers whom I have just met, so at the very least I can understand where you are coming from.」

In Izayoi’s case, he would go even further: he would not reveal any sensitive information even if he was to be threatened or tortured for it. But from this brief encounter with those guys, Izayoi was able to confirm one thing: these guys were not just some ragtag bunch of savages who swung their weapons in random directions. From the way they were handling Pritt’s vines, it was clear to see that each and every one of them possessed a high level of skill as a fighter, so wherever their base of operations was and however it was structured, the group or community the belonged to must also be a highly organized one. With that problem out of the way, Izayoi turned his attention towards the sky.

「The next thing that I am very curious about is the source of this unnatural earthquake. What is causing it? Humans? Or perhaps something else entirely?」

「Not humans, we can tell you that much. We do not know what exactly are they, but we are referring to them as Giants.」

(Giants, huh?)

Izayoi began to wonder about the possible implications of such a revelation. He also wanted to pursue this matter further, but before he could get to that, the area they were currently in has been shrouded in darkness by a huge shadow looming high over their heads.

「. . . . . . . . . . . . .  w-what the hell is this. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?!」

「Pritt, look out! Above! Something is coming!」

Izayoi and Pritt were both confused at the emergence of this sudden darkness, but the cause behind it has been revealed soon enough.

「A mountain. . .  no, a rock!?」

A huge moving mass of rock that completely blocked the light of the sun appeared right above their heads. No, mass of rock was too much of an understatement. It was as if a mountain tsunami was passing right next to them. If all the clouds in the sky suddenly turned into rocks, then it would have probably looked exactly like that. Yes, now that he has seen it from up this close, there was no doubt in Izayoi’s mind. That hulking mountainous mass of rocks was undoubtedly a Rock Giant. Taking advantage of the fact that it did not even seem to notice their presence, he hurriedly jumped onto the tallest tree he could find and then scaled it upwards through its branches so that he could have a better look at it. And once he did, he had to admit that what he saw surprised him greatly.

Although it was not all that tall for a giant, its body was spreading not vertically, but horizontally, and to such a degree that this one giant could have easily covered half of the capital city’s ruins simply by standing over them, without even spreading its arms out. It was also moving on four massive legs that looked like they were continuously absorbing the earth and rocks from the ground it was stomping on. It certainly looked the part, but. . .  can that thing really be called a legitimate giant? It was definitely slowly moving forward using its four legs, but no matter how hard Izayoi looked around, he could not spot the thing that would be the giant’s head. If that is the case, then can that thing even be called a proper living creature?

「I have heard about rock-eating Giants before, but this is unlike everything I have seen up until now. No matter the race of the giant, there should be a limit to how big they could grow, and I have never seen a giant growing to such size, horizontal or otherwise.」

「Tell me, our dear cow face masked fellows. Are there many more such creatures on this continent or is that the only one?」

「N-No, we do not know if there are any more of them around, but if they are, they are definitely not creatures native to this region. For starters, the one you are seeing over there has only appeared recently.」

「. . . . . . .??? Now that is curious. So, are there any other Giants besides this one?」

When asked about that, one of the other cow head mask warriors nodded his head vigorously, which was admittedly a little surprising. Four days have passed since Izayoi, Pritt and the albino girl have arrived on the Lost Continent of Atlantis, but neither of them could say that they have encountered any monsters that could be legitimately described as dangerous. Even if they have indeed encountered monsters, they were the size of a wild boar at beast, and when they encountered the actual wild boars it was a double win for them, since boars were truly delicious once their meat has been roasted over the fire in a proper way.

「So you are saying that this Giant is a new species alien to this area that simply appeared here out of the blue one day?」