Soul Seizure

The Soul Stone served as the vessel, and a transparent layer of film wrapped around its surface, much like a mucous membrane. Then the membrane multiplied, and before long, it had grown into a huge sphere about ten meters across.

However, that was as far as it went. The Soul Stone's light had completely dimmed, and the gigantic figure inside the sphere let out an angry roar.

Clearly, there was not enough soul energy to support the summoned creature's needs. The Goblin Tribe had realized this long ago. The elderly and weak Goblins closest to the magic array stepped forward and spread their arms.

After a shudder, all the elderly and weak Goblins collapsed to the ground. Their souls had already been offered to the summoned Giant.

Roar!!!

Apparently still unsatisfied, the Giant let out an angry roar. It was as if a vast expanse of magical wind blades had been released, slicing into the bodies of every Goblin. It did not even spare the corpses of the elderly and weak Goblins.

Yet the Goblins did not dare move at all. They simply let their blood flow freely. Fortunately, the bleeding stopped before long. Not too much had been taken, and their numbers had made up the difference.

Streams of blood flowed into the Giant's body, as if granting it life. The blue of its soul mingled with the red of its blood, making it look like a transparent person covered in blood vessels.

Of course, that transparent figure was solidifying, becoming more and more like... a Giant. However, the Giant looked somewhat bewildered, and the emotional roars from earlier seemed to have been nothing more than instinctive demands.

"A Giant! Dean, look! It's the Giant Race!" Kana said excitedly, tugging at Dean's sleeve.

Yanxi was tugging at his other sleeve. This was also the first time the little girl had seen the Giant Race. Although this was not a complete member of the Giant Race, such a minor imperfection could not dampen Yanxi's excitement. The Giant Race—how many people could go their entire lives without seeing one even once? Let alone seeing one summoned. This was practically the birth of a member of the Giant Race.

"My God, this thing is called a Giant?" Lamore said, unable to believe it. "If those old fogies from the Giant Race saw it, they might tear this fellow apart on the spot."

Indeed, although the summoned Giant before them was very tall, its body had only solidified to around ten meters. To a true member of the Giant Race, this was merely a baby.

Which pureblooded Giant was not over a hundred meters tall after reaching adulthood? Even some of the mixed-blood races stood over fifty meters tall. So what was this dwarf of around ten meters supposed to be? Among the Giant Race, this summoned Giant was probably inferior even to a dwarf!

"How did this malnourished fellow get exploited to this extent? The Goblins' sacrifice is just too pitiful!" Lamore said with some sympathy. In his homeland, a Forest Giant had lived alongside his people for generations, and that Forest Giant was around one hundred and fifty meters tall.

With such a huge difference, how could Lamore not find it strange?

"What happened to this Giant? I don't care whether it's malnourished. What I care about is its strength. Will it break through to the fifth level?" Dean's face had darkened. A huge fellow like this might turn the entire Blue Town into the Blue Plains.

"Fifth level... That seems possible!" Kana's excitement faded as well. While Lamore was looking down on the Giant's height, the last bit of her curiosity was extinguished.

At that moment, Yanxi had only one thought in her mind: A fellow this huge and sturdy must be able to withstand a great many attacks! A meat shield—Yanxi immediately treated this huge fellow as the best meat shield.

And that was indeed the case. The Giant Race's defensive power could be said to be among the best. There were almost no creatures that could compare with them.

"Perhaps... it won't reach the fifth level." Just then, all the information about the Giant Spirit Summoning Array had finished transmitting, and Dean finally came to understand this intermediate magic, which was beyond his current level.

"A Goblin's soul is far weaker than a human's. Even if this Giant uses Goblin blood to make up for its insufficient soul, it still won't be able to break through to the fifth level. At most, it should reach the peak of the fourth level." Dean gritted his teeth as he spoke.

Roar!!! Roar!!!

Suddenly, the Giant flew into a rage and slammed one palm into the ground, smashing out a pit two meters deep. However, it could not leave the range of the summoning array for the time being, and could only swing its arms wildly, trying to smash the summoning array apart!

The summoning had already been completed. In theory, destroying the array should not affect this summoning. However, just as the Giant was about to throw another punch and shatter the summoning array, eight iron chains shot out from the edge of the array, from the various patterns carved with sharp horns. They instantly wrapped around the Giant.

These eight iron chains were not physical objects. They seemed to have been created specifically to restrain the Giant's soul!

"What are they trying to do?" Kana's heart trembled. She seemed to hear the Giant's despairing roar!

"Perhaps... Look, that old Shaman!" Dean hurriedly pointed it out. Right beneath the Giant's eyes, the old Goblin Shaman had slit his own wrist at some point in a special position within the magic array, allowing his blood to flow incessantly.

"This is an array within an array. The second array is the heart of the first, larger array. Amazing, absolutely amazing!" Dean marveled.

A small array had been embedded within a larger magic array. While combining with the larger magic array, it did not damage the original formation. Instead, the second, smaller array controlled the original larger one.

This required years of study and practical application in the field of magic arrays to achieve. An ordinary third-level magic array certainly could not accomplish this. Only the Goblins, who had devoted their entire lives to researching magic arrays, could reach the level of engraving an array within an array.

"The Giant is in more and more pain. Didn't these Goblins summon the Giant to help them? Why is it suffering so much?" Kana's heart was filled with conflicting emotions. On one hand, she did not want the Giant she was seeing for the first time to suffer so terribly without even getting the chance to display its might.

On the other hand, she hoped that after suffering, the Giant would disappear entirely so it would not bring disaster to Blue Town.

"Of course it's in pain. I understand now. That old Shaman is seizing the soul. He's forcibly taking this body for himself, while the Giant's original soul will be forcibly stripped away and sent back." Dean explained.

"In other words, the Goblins only want to summon the Giant's body, not its soul?" Kana pressed.

"That's right!" Dean nodded.

"After all, summoned Giants basically only exist to fulfill the terms of the contract. As for the process and result of fulfilling it, those are not things the summoner can decide. That's probably also why the Goblin Shaman is sacrificing himself—to completely control the Giant's body." Dean looked toward the old Shaman, who was already swaying unsteadily.

The Giant's roars grew weaker and weaker, while the little Goblin beside it was already crying tears of sorrow.