She looked at me oddly at that but chose to remain silent on her opinion. Instead she waved her arm and the fog parted in a hole just large enough for me to pass through.
"This passage will take you to the giant. My kin will not help you fight it but will restrain the effects of the battle from spreading. Go champion of Ouranos and end this long nightmare." she said and I nodded before taking out my helm/mask and putting it on.
I jogged into the passage that closed behind me and followed it with a growing sense of appreciation for the spirit woman. This "wall" of fog was not merely a few meters thick but went on for miles both high in the air and in coverage as well. Even I would struggle to put so much fire out if I attempted to match it. Not to mention theres no telling how long she's had the magic up for but it had to be several days at least. Truly spirits lived up to their natures as the closest thing to demigods on the mortal plane.-
If you were wondering why they didn't kill the giant if they were so powerful then the answer was because for all their power spirits were flawed. Their bodies were no stronger than the average mortal without a falna and in addition to this they could not do anything outside their natural affinity. In Emeth and Ochiru's case they could create and manipulate trees and fog and that's it. Sad as it is the truly combat oriented spirits like the great spirits of wind, flame, earth or water are long gone as they paired up with heroes and perished with them. That or willingly sacrificed their lives for a great cause such as the spirit of earth who sacrificed herself to seal away Antares.-
The mortal lifespans proved the biggest downfall of the spirits as all those who survived the ancient era with their heroes died when their heroes perished from old age. Only the few spirits unbound from that era still walked the land and they tended to be extremely reclusive. In truth I admit to being tempted to ask for the help of the spirits because that power boost would make my end goal so much easier to achieve. Despite that temptation however I chose not to as that would be a wrong of me, cruel even.-
They were not enemies and had pure clean souls. They didn't deserve my cruelty and so I wouldn't give it to them, simple as that. I was torn from my thoughts when a massive palm came roaring down from above me several times larger than I was.
'This is gonna hurt.' I thought idly as the palm hit me and my body collapsed inwards while the ground cracked and cratered with a resounding "BOOM!".
The palm curled and the rock and dirt was ripped up and pulled towards a gapping mouth that didn't even chew before all of it went down the throat of the beast. My cursed energy flared as I slid down the throat and my body squirmed and crackled as my body and flesh reorganized itself.
'Thankfully I put on my mask. Broke every bone in my body except my skull.' I thought slightly annoyed as I literally rebuilt myself.
I didn't even have time to react to the attack because of the fog blocking my view and the fact the giants hand moved surprisingly quietly despite it's size.-
Still I ended up right where I wanted to be as a result since the dumb beast tossed me into it's gullet without hesitation after thinking it killed me. I flared my cursed energy and spoke.
"Hell fire!"
Flames erupted from me violently and rushed up and down the beasts throat making it scream in agony while violently coughing out flames as it tried to breath. I released my control over the flames and used my technique to part the burning flesh of the chest muscles and started moving through the beasts body at a leisurely pace setting it's organs on fire from within it as I did so.-
Thanks to my technique giving me a full view of the things body I "saw" it ripping at it's own skin and flesh in a mad attempt to dig me out but it's regeneration rendered that pointless. For each wound it inflicted on itself another would close in that time. All while roaring in agony as my flames feasted on the stubborn flesh that never stopped regrowing. Perhaps my flames were unable to kill it but they served to work like the hydras venom from Greek mythology where the suffering inflicted made one wish for death.-
Naturally I didn't forget my promise to Ouranos and made a stop at the liver to refine it for when I actually killed it. Interestingly the original liver was actually rejected by the beasts body after refinement as a second liver tried to grow in the space that was already occupied. I chose to ignore that and hitch a ride in the artery sending blood to the things brain for the real fun. I idly noted the magic stone the size of a house in the center of it's chest as I passed by it and shot up it's artery and into it's skull even as it tried to stop me as hard as it could.-
Once in it's skull however it's fate was sealed as I fully activated my hell's forge technique and began refining the bits I wanted as materials as I sat cushioned on it's grey matter. Skull, teeth, skin, tendons and a couple bones from the legs later and I was ready to end this matter. I stabbed my hand into the gray matter beneath me and activated my RCT to freeze it solid. The things body spasmed violently as it's nervous system suffered catastrophic damage while it's regeneration tried to fix the damage only to be rendered impossible for a single simple reason, no room.-
The entire inside of the skull minus a few spots was filled with ice and frozen brain. There was simply no room for a brain to grow to replace the previous one and my cursed ice couldn't be broken down by the body at all. Like that the beast died an inglorious and terrible death as it simply couldn't heal from the damage it received before I refined the magic stone slightly causing the whole body to burst into purple black smoke that flowed like a hurricane into my tattoos.