In the era when people still feared giants, most humans would reverently and fearfully call giants "Giant Gods."
Because they were truly terrifying—often standing four or five meters tall, with rock-solid bodies covered in muscle, excellent arms and armor, and vigorous vitality.
Even when the few Transcendents among humanity fought them, they often needed a numerical advantage of more than ten to one just to scrape out a tragic victory.
And if several giants gathered together, an army of more than a thousand would be needed to subjugate them.
—There was no doubt about it. They were gods.
When gods grew angry, humans had no way to respond. To appease their fury, humans could only sacrifice members of their own kind and beg for forgiveness. Even if they were lucky enough to accomplish the feat of "slaying a god," other Giant Gods would soon come knocking—even Apostles from the Dream Realm might come, immortal and peerless in power.
From the very beginning, these had never been two equal races.
Even the mighty Herasul Empire did not dare directly challenge the Isle of Avalon, whose area was less than one-tenth that of the empire—just as humans feared the Theocracy, they likewise feared Avalon.
If someone was captured by a giant while sailing out to sea, it could only be considered a death caused by a natural disaster. If dozens or hundreds of giants formed a fleet and sailed to imperial territory to capture slaves and replenish the labor force depleted by excessive consumption, the Herasul Empire could only issue a condemnation and evacuate important residents in advance.
That was also why the important cities of the imperial era were not built along the coast. According to normal commercial principles, coastal cities were obviously the most suitable for developing trade and culture.