Chapter 286: The Power of the Giant

Solomon stared at the colossal chandelier. ’Will I actually get to eat another crown so soon?’ he wondered, his heart beating faster. ’I haven’t even absorbed the second crown from the ruined kingdom yet since I have been unable to enter my inner world.’

The giant lowered the glowing crown and held a massive stone bowl beneath the crystallized gemstone. The thick, glowing liquid dripped slowly from the gem, pooling into the basin. Once the bowl was sufficiently filled, the giant shrank back down into his human-sized form, carrying the heavy bowl over to Solomon.

"Drinking this will temporarily grant you the power of the giants," the temple slave explained, handing the bowl to the teenager. "This strength will help you defeat the monster roaming outside."

Solomon accepted the heavy stone bowl. He was already perfectly aware that consuming the physical crowns permanently granted him the bloodline powers of their respective royal dynasties. The Undead Paladin had explained that swallowing the divine essence was a common method used by ancient royals to force their dormant talents to awaken.

However, right now, he was not being offered the physical crown. He was being given a thick liquid that had dripped directly from the divine gemstone. The slave claimed it would grant him the power of the giants temporarily, implying that this specific ritual could theoretically work on anyone, not just the designated royal heirs.

At least, that’s what he thought.

’Perhaps this liquid is not ordinary water,’ Solomon theorized, inspecting the viscous, glowing substance. ’It might be a highly concentrated essence of the gem itself, which explains why it can bestow the crown’s power on a temporary basis.’

Solomon wondered if his SSS-rank Convergence talent would somehow absorb the temporary essence and make the giant’s power a permanent addition to his arsenal. But there was a catch to his theory.

To permanently secure a bloodline ability, Solomon strictly needed to physically eat the gemstone, absorb it within his inner world, and plant that crown into his soul tree. Here, he wasn’t eating the crown at all.

Furthermore, the crown was impossibly huge. Even if one hundred Solomons were mashed together into a single, giant ball of flesh, the gemstone sitting in the center of that crown would still be significantly larger than him. Physically eating it was not even a viable option.

However, his curiosity won out. He desperately wanted to see how his unique biology would react to the glowing liquid.

He grabbed the heavy stone bowl with both hands, lifted it to his lips, and began drinking.

The volume of liquid was overwhelming, and the taste was absolutely revolting. It tasted heavily of rusted iron and bitter copper. Unlike the small gemstones which he could just swallow forcefully in a single gulp, he could not do the same with this thick sludge. Trying to chug it while holding his nose shut would have taken an hour. He was forced to endure the terrible metallic taste with every single swallow.

He finally finished drinking the sludge and tossed the empty stone bowl to the side, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"How was it?" the temple slave asked eagerly. "Do you feel any different inside?"

Solomon stood perfectly still, waiting for a few seconds for a surge of power or a magical transformation to occur. Absolutely nothing happened. He shook his head. "I feel exactly the same as always."

"Just wait for a while," the man reassured him. "It takes time to process. It will surely react soon."

They stood in the quiet temple and waited for nearly half an hour. Still, nothing happened to Solomon’s body.

The temple slave furrowed his brow, looking incredibly confused and deeply curious. "This is a sacred ritual. It should work on the descendants of the angels, since their bodies inherently contain holy blood."

Solomon held up a hand to stop the man. "Wait. Repeat what you just said."

"The ritual requires holy blood," the temple slave repeated.

"I am not a royal," Solomon stated bluntly.

The man looked utterly bewildered. He stepped closer and inspected Solomon closely from head to toe. "But you look like a royal. Your features are incredibly refined. And earlier, when you explicitly stated that you would not be bowing down or praying to any god in this temple, I simply assumed that since you were a royal, you must already have a deity that you serve."

"Well, you assumed wrong," Solomon dismissed the logic with a wave of his hand. "You really should have mentioned the holy blood requirement first, or at least asked me before making me drink a bowl of metallic sludge."

The temple slave pondered the biological discrepancy for a while, stroking his chin. "Only those possessing special blood infused with divine power can open the outer gates to enter this city. If the city opened its doors for you, then your blood must be special."

Solomon fell into deep thought. ’Is it because of my Convergence talent?’ he wondered. ’Or is it because I fully absorbed the Crown of Eden inside my inner world?’

He quickly dismissed the Eden theory. Eden’s Penance still violently shocked his hands with blue lightning every time he grabbed the hilt without using aura, proving the sword still rejected him despite consuming the crown.

’Then is it because of the Angel’s heart beating inside my chest?’ Solomon considered. That theory also had flaws. Eden’s Penance still rejected him even after Vlad had transplanted Uriel’s heart into his ribs. Furthermore, Uriel was the angel who had betrayed the Eden crown and massacred the entire royal bloodline, making the heart’s holy affiliation highly contradictory to the sword’s allegiance.

Solomon ultimately decided not to overthink it. He was sure this was related to the complex, dormant mechanics of his SSS-rank talent, which he still did not fully understand.

"The ritual requires a physical catalyst to activate," the temple slave finally realized, breaking the silence. "Once you bleed, the essence will merge with your blood, and you will be able to manifest the power of the giants. But you should not test it in here. This granted power is temporary and can only be triggered once."

"The duration of the transformation depends on the individual’s physical strength and stamina reserves. That is why I strongly advise you not to use your aura while transformed, since projecting aura eats up your stamina incredibly fast."

Bleeding on command was not an issue for Solomon. "Do I have to continuously bleed to maintain the form, or just bleed once to trigger it?"

"Just once," the temple slave confirmed.

Since the immortal angel heart would immediately heal any minor injury he inflicted upon himself, he needed to make sure the trigger did not require an open, flowing wound. Furthermore, the warning about stamina and strength limitations was completely irrelevant to Solomon. His stamina was technically unlimited, provided he managed his hidden tax wisely, which was something he never did.

Solomon drew a hunting dagger from his waist. He sliced the blade quickly across his palm. A few drops of dark crimson blood dripped onto the stone floor before the angel’s heart instantly knitted the skin back together, leaving a flawless palm.

Just then, a deafening crack of thunder echoed from the desert clouds outside. The stone floor beneath their boots rumbled violently.

Something incredible happened.

Solomon’s body slowly began to grow. His limbs elongated, his muscles expanded, and he rapidly transformed into a towering giant.

The temple slave and the silent maid watched in awe as Solomon’s size increased exponentially, pushing higher and higher toward the vaulted ceiling of the temple. He eventually stopped growing when he reached fifty times his original size.

He now stood almost as tall as the Eiffel Tower.

However, even at that staggering, impossible height, he was still only roughly one-third the size of the temple slave’s true, gargantuan form.