Chapter 288: The Zodiac, Uma!
Just as mentioned before.
The 'Land of War' Elbaf itself exists upon the World Tree, the 'Treasure Tree Adam'.
From top to bottom, it is divided into the 'Heavenly Realm', the 'Sun Realm', and the 'Underworld'.
And in these three different regions of the tree body, there are also three springs, serving as one of the water sources for the creatures living in each region.
The Underworld has the 'Spring of the Underworld', leading to Elbaf's root system.
The Heavenly Realm has the 'Spring of Wisdom', which is the water source for Elbaf's birds.
And in the Sun Realm, where the vast majority of the Giant race lives, this spring is the 'Spring of Warriors'.
Although called a 'spring', because it exists in the Country of Giants, this spring is actually incredibly massive—there are even sandy beaches formed by time and weathering around it.
Beside this massive spring sits the building known as the 'Owl Library'.
And Dorry, Brogy, and the several Giant warriors who had rushed here had already arrived outside the Owl Library.
"There really are intruders..."
They were looking at two footprints left in the sandy beach of the Spring of Warriors.
"Is it that guy who intruded before? Did he climb up from the Underworld?"
"I don't see any other footprints nearby."
"Could he have flown up?"
They gathered around those two footprints, which were tiny compared to their body size, and discussed among themselves.
To be honest, if it were before...
Elbaf didn't actually bear much malice towards outsiders—after all, most outsiders posed almost no threat to the Giant race.
But the situation had been a bit special recently.
About two months ago, a riot occurred in the 'Underworld' beneath Elbaf.
The specific details were unknown, but many beasts died as a result, and the warriors even found the corpses of some powerful beasts from the Underworld.
Besides this, they also found traces of intruders along the edges of the Underworld.
But after searching, no one found where the intruders were actually hiding.
It was since then that anomalies began to appear frequently in Elbaf.
Every once in a while, massive tremors would shake the entirety of Elbaf, and the creatures of the Underworld and Heavenly Realm would riot. As a result, quite a few Giants had been injured, and many villages had suffered considerable losses.
Moreover, these riots had been growing more frequent—especially for the warriors of the Giant race. Their sixth sense as warriors could perceive that the entire country seemed to be shrouded by some invisible dark cloud.
However, the big shot responsible for guarding the Underworld stated that he hadn't found anything abnormal.
Many believed that the source of this trouble might be related to that 'intruder' who disappeared after landing in the Underworld.
Because of this, Elbaf's attitude towards overseas intruders had recently turned rather unfriendly.
"Gegyagyagyagya, don't rush... we can't confirm the other party's identity yet—however..."
Dorry sniffed the air, then pointed to a certain spot.
"Someone used Sun Stones here to draw 'stairs'."
As his words fell, the Giant warriors indeed noticed—there were still some residual 'colors' lingering in the air above.
That was the effect of the Giant race's specialty, 'Sun Stones'.
"If a rainbow bridge was drawn here..."
All the Giants' gazes looked upward—to the place the residual colors pointed to...
"The Owl Library? Have the intruders already gone inside?"
"But I don't see any traces of a battle... Are Director Biblo and Saul not here?"
"As for Saul, due to the recent 'earthquakes', the Walrus School has no classes. Director Biblo has also rarely left recently, right? Even if he occasionally goes to the 'Spring of Wisdom' to drink water, he should return quickly."
"Could it be that they voluntarily let the intruders into the library? Were they deceived!?"
The Giants discussed animatedly.
"Gabababababa!"
But at this moment, Brogy laughed heartily: "We'll know once we go inside and take a look!"
"However, remember—don't destroy the library. Hajrudin is right: the country needs to retain the 'blood of warriors', but at the same time, it also needs to learn 'knowledge'."
"Yes, Chief Brogy!"
The Giants nodded one after another.
Subsequently, they raised their hands, took out stones one by one, and began drawing in the air.
As they continuously drew, a colorful suspended staircase appeared before them.
They stepped onto the suspended staircase and soon arrived at the massive library situated on the tree branches above the Spring of Warriors.
"Saul, Biblo, you guys..."
"Caw!"
"Waaaahhhh!"
Just as they reached the entrance, they heard a sharp bird cry and a loud roar coming from inside.
The expressions of the Giants changed simultaneously.
They all recognized those voices—they belonged respectively to the director of the Owl Library, 'Biblo', and the library's founder, the Walrus School history professor, 'Saul'.
They hurriedly pushed open the library doors, and then saw a scene that made their eyes nearly split open with rage.
Saul was lying on the ground, while Biblo atop his head was opening its beak and letting out terrified shrieks.
But more importantly, the bandages around Saul's body were falling away, revealing the hideous wounds underneath—scars left from Ohara many years ago.
The wounds on his body were continuously turning red, looking extremely horrifying.
And in front of Saul and Biblo, a tiny figure stood.
"Intruder! Don't you dare hurt Saul!"
Seeing this, how could the Giants hold back?
Especially a tall Giant with long tusks and high cheekbones, looking like a walrus, who leaped forward at this moment, brandishing the giant hammer in his hands!
Vmmm!
Intense Armament Haki circulated across the giant hammer, and he was about to bring it crashing down on the 'attacker' below!
That was an attack sufficient to destroy a small mountain—the man named 'Chiba' was a warrior from the same era as Brogy and Dorry, the former vice-captain of the Giant Warrior Pirates, and a top-tier warrior of the sea!
It was at this moment that he saw the 'intruder' who had appeared inside the Owl Library.
The other party had their back to him, their head hidden within the sunlight spilling into the library, making their appearance unclear.
But he could see they were wearing a long robe, looking like a scholar.
In their hands, they held a book.
On the book, starlight flickered into existence.
"This won't do."
They spoke softly, their words refined and peaceful.
"The 'knowledge' here is all very precious. It would be too much of a pity if it got damaged."
Facing that incoming hammer sufficient to destroy a mountain, they merely opened the book in their hands.
Inside the book, starlight and sunlight seemed to converge.
Then...
"The Giant warrior 'Chiba' applied improper force when smashing down his hammer, causing the handle to break and the hammerhead to distort as a result, rendering this strike completely powerless—this is very reasonable."
They murmured.
And along with those words, Chiba saw to his astonishment that text had begun to appear on the book as well.
Then—
Crack!
Chiba discovered that the giant hammer which had accompanied him for many years, forged by the Giant race's 'Artisan Village', had its handle abruptly shatter at this moment. The hammerhead distorted in the next instant, then crashed to the ground.
Rumble!
A massive sound rang out, and Chiba's figure also landed on the ground.
"An ability user!?"
Chiba gritted his teeth, then prepared to continue his attack.
But...
"Due to the destruction of the hammer, Mr. Chiba's body experienced a shift in its force-exerting posture and sustained an injury. His body is temporarily stiff and weak, unable to continue attacking—this is very reasonable."
The other party's words came again, and the book in their hands showed text changes once more.
Chiba felt his body indeed begin to go limp with a wave of weakness.
Thud!
He fell back, sitting directly on the ground.
"Chiba!" shouted the other Giant warriors in unison.
Seeing this, although the other Giants didn't know what had happened, they roared one after another and were about to charge forward.
But—
"Wait!"
A low shout interrupted their movements.
"Saul!?"
They looked in disbelief toward the source of the voice—it was none other than Saul, who had been 'defeated' by the intruder and was lying on the ground.
"Mr. Uma didn't hurt me. He's Robin's friend... he's just helping me treat my wounds—hiss... so... so itchy! Waaaahhhh!"
He lay on the ground, drawing in cold breaths as he spoke.
"Treating?"
Hearing this, the Giant warriors were dumbfounded.
And looking more closely, they finally realized—the bandages on Saul's body had indeed all been torn off.
But from those burn and frostbite injuries that even Elbaf's best doctors couldn't do anything about, brand new flesh and blood were rapidly growing and scabbing over.
That was also why the wounds on Saul's body had looked so hideous to them—newly grown flesh overlapping with blackened old scabs. It would have been a wonder if it didn't look hideous.
Clearly, just as Saul said.
They were not under attack; the other party was treating Saul's old, chronic injuries.
"...Uma?"
At this moment, Dorry and Brogy exchanged a glance, simultaneously letting out an exclamation of disbelief.
They were naturally very familiar with this kind of codename.
And exactly at this moment...
"As a member of the Giant race, Mr. Saul's injuries can heal rapidly... this is very reasonable."
All the Giants heard that 'intruder' speak again.
He slowly closed the book, turned around, and stepped out of the sunlight.
It wasn't until then that the Giants finally saw his face clearly—or rather, saw clearly the Sea Beast Mask worn on his head.
It was a Horse Head Mask.
"You two must be Captain Brogy and Captain Dorry, right?"
As he spoke, his gaze turned toward Dorry and Brogy.
"Saru told me about you."
"I am of The Zodiac, Uma."
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