Chapter 265: This is Really a Life-or-Death Battle. (2)
“Crrruuuu.”
The two heads of the ogre dropped to the ground, bubbling with blood.
Boom!
Right after, the massive body of the Twin Head Ogre collapsed, sending a huge tremor through the area.
The Twin Head Ogre’s body was a mess. It was slashed and torn apart by countless sword strikes. All of it was the frenzied work of Kaor swinging his sword.
He faced the Ogre’s attacks head-on, dodging and risking his life in the fight.
The wall he had cut through? That was the head of the Twin Head Ogre.
Finally, Kaor had gotten a breakthrough to overcome the wall.
“I got it…”
A laugh escaped him. He had taken down a beast he thought he could never defeat all on his own.
In the past, he would have just charged in recklessly and lost his life. But now, he had utilized every ability he possessed and ultimately emerged victorious.
“Ahaha, looks like I’m the strongest… cough!”
Kaor collapsed, blood gushing from his wounds. Only then did he regain his senses and check his own body.
His condition was terrible. One arm was broken and dangled uselessly, and his wrist, holding the sword, was swollen for some reason.
His whole body felt like it had been torn apart. He had tried to avoid most attacks, but had to take on some with his own body.
With each powerful blow he blocked, the shock accumulated within him. There was no way he was feeling fine.
“Damn it… but I still won… I didn’t think an ogre would be this strong… bleh!”
Kaor vomited blood again and forced himself to open his heavy eyelids, looking around the battlefield.
“What the… how much time has passed…?”
While he was busy fighting the Twin Head Ogre, the monsters had nearly all been wiped out. Turian soldiers and some hunters were busy cleaning up the remaining monsters.
He hadn’t realized it in the heat of battle, but a considerable amount of time had actually passed. The monsters in the vicinity had all been cleared out by Ghislaine and the others.
Those taking care of the remaining monster group noticed that Kaor’s fight with the Twin Head Ogre had ended and turned towards that direction.
Suddenly, a tremendous cheer erupted.
“Wowwwwww! We won!”
“That redhead is amazing!”
“He took down the Twin Head Ogre all by himself!”
The hunters were ecstatic. In the history of this fortress, few had managed to take down a giant monster solo.
Especially one of the strongest ground monsters like the Twin Head Ogre. Even in the Monster Wave, the boss-type monsters were stronger than usual.
Having taken down such a foe alone, everyone was busy sending their admiration and applause Kaor’s way.
“You’re the best, redhead!”
“From now on, you’re the king of Ironcliff!”
“Doncard doesn’t stand a chance against you! Oh, that guy’s already dead, right?”
Hunters who had regretted teaming up with Ghislaine were now rethinking their choices. The stronger the allies, the higher their chances of survival.
Human nature really is fickle.
“Cough, haha. Did everyone see that? Even the old man can’t compete with me. I’m the strongest! Haha! cough!”
“Cough. Gasp!”
Kaor sat down, continuously coughing up blood while laughing. He felt like he was about to die, but the cheers of the people lifted his spirits high.
After all, he was meant to be revered like this. Isn’t that what a man’s life is all about?
Thud, thud. Bang!
Someone approached Kaor and stuck a greatsword into the ground. Everyone fell silent.
“Hey, you getting it now?”
Ghislaine chuckled as he spoke. Kaor barely opened his flickering eyes and smiled.
“I almost thought I was gonna die. Well, I definitely feel like I’m dying now, though?”
“You really have to come close to death to get realizations quickly. If you die, well, there’s nothing to be done.”
“Hahaha! When I come back to life, I’m gonna train hard. Tell the old man to be ready when I get back.”
“Well, I don’t know. Gillian seems to have crossed the line much more than you have.”
“Ah, I’d win every fight!”
The two just laughed together. The crowd cheered for Kaor, but not for Ghislaine.
“That guy is a true monster…”
“Did they say he’s from the Ruthania Kingdom? He’s really a Swordmaster, isn’t he? Or maybe some kind of magic swordsman I only heard about?”
“Seriously, he could wipe out our fortress all by himself!”
Humans don’t cheer or feel friendly towards dragons. They feel awe at their power, bowing in worship instead.
That’s how people felt looking at Ghislaine.
It was so incredible that they couldn’t even express admiration. It felt like looking at a completely different species.
Kaor, who still felt very much human (?), felt much closer.
So, they praised Kaor but felt an inexplicable fear towards Ghislaine.
Of course, not everyone felt this way. The Knights of Penris, who always thought of Ghislaine as a monster, shrugged it off again.
‘No one can truly grasp the lord’s skills anyway.’
‘We were a bit surprised this time, but hey, the lord being the lord again.’
‘If he uses those techniques in war, our soldiers will just get wiped out.’
‘Gotta ask him to teach me that later.’
Ghislaine smiled as he looked around at the tense faces of the people.
“Hey, what are you all doing? The hero who defeated the Twin Head Ogre is dying here! Hurry up and take him for treatment!”
As Ghislaine spoke, he pulled out a potion and poured it over various injuries on Kaor’s body.
While mild wounds could be treated with potions, it was barely emergency treatment. Completely drained of mana and with his insides in chaos, Kaor was truly half-dead.
Only then did the knights rush over to support Kaor.
“Commander! Are you okay? Your skills have really improved!”
Thud!
Someone gently punched Kaor in the side while supporting him. It was one of the former Mad Hounds who had often been bullied by Kaor.
In the state he was in, Kaor couldn’t even tell who hit him.
“Gasp, who is…?”
“Hey, hey, be careful. He seems like he’s really in pain.”
‘This punk had been a real pain in the ass all this time.’
Thud!
A knight who had a lot of complaints about Kaor also snuck in a punch while supporting him.
“Oof! Which bastard…?”
“Quick! Move Kaor inside! He needs to stabilize! You less-than-pleasant fellow!”
Thud!
“Guh…”
The knights surrounded Kaor and dragged him inside the fortress. So the hunters didn’t witness Kaor getting hit.
A few hunters wiped their noses, showing slightly touched expressions.
“Tch, that kind of camaraderie makes me envious.”
“If it were us, we would have already killed him and taken the spoils.”
“With comrades like that, he probably fought for his life. He has a bit of a bad temper, but he seems to have a good heart.”
While everyone was lost in their emotions, Kaor, dragged inside while getting hit by knights, had already passed out, half-dead.
*
“Thank you, Count.”
Grant, the commander of the fortress, met Ghislaine separately and bowed deeply.
He bowed his head.
In this place, noble status was not recognized. But right now, he couldn’t deny it.
No, even if Ghislaine were not a noble but a slave, Grant would have still bowed to him.
“Thanks to you, we’ve actually taken less damage than when fighting with the castle as cover. I should have trusted you from the beginning and gone out a bit faster…”
Grant trailed off. If Ghislaine had prepared and acted immediately as soon as he spoke, they could have minimized the damage even further.
Although the damage was much lower now than before, there would inevitably be a sense of regret for Grant as a commander.
Ghislaine patted Grant’s shoulder, who was blaming himself, and said, “It’s fine. We had to experience this sooner or later. Forget about the rest, just remember this one thing.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Most monsters lack intelligence. They only focus on attacking the enemy in front of them. Especially those half-crazy monsters living in this mountain range. If you take advantage of that, you can deal significant damage with human tactics.”
“Honestly, we didn’t think about that at all. We just assumed that monsters would have superior physical abilities compared to soldiers, so fighting them would result in greater damage. That’s why the kingdom built fortresses to minimize casualties.”
“Are you still thinking like that after today’s battle?”
‘That’s because you’re a monster…’
Grant couldn’t continue his thought.
Sure, Ghislaine’s words were valid, and he had experienced that they could be realized. But at the same time, he felt it would be difficult without a powerhouse like Ghislaine.
As if understanding his thoughts, Ghislaine clicked his tongue and continued, “You don’t even need someone as strong as me. Just create paths on either side of the fortress for the cavalry to use.”
“Huh?”
“Use the pattern in which they chase the enemy right in front of them. If you have skilled cavalry, they can easily separate the monsters.”
“Oh….”
“After launching a primary attack with large siege weapons, when the distance decreases, use the cavalry to spread out the monsters and form your lines to attack. It’ll be much better than fighting in a chaotic melee on narrow castle walls.”
“Hmm….”
There were hardly any cavalry in the fortress. But that kind of support could be requested from the royal family.
To prevent the fortress from collapsing, providing necessary support was the Turian Kingdom’s principle.
“Of course, you’ll need to assess the situation as the monsters surge in. If there aren’t many flying monsters and most of them are land monsters, then it obviously makes more sense to fight with the fortress as cover. You can judge that much, right?”
Grant nodded.
The Monster Wave varies depending on how the monsters remaining in the mountain range gather.
Sometimes, there were monsters that could easily jump over the castle walls, or almost no flying monsters at all. While large monsters did cause some damage by throwing smaller ones or stones, still, the damage was significantly lower compared to other times.
“As a commander, you must devise strategies and tactics for every situation. If you only cling to the fortress, you might end up losing.”
In his previous life, he had fought relying only on the fortress and had faced defeat. The diverse species of monsters made it impossible for him to even consider abandoning the fortress, and that was the issue that arose.
It was unavoidable. Prejudices and anxieties aren’t easily erased.
Since the fortress had only been built a few years ago, there hadn’t been time to establish varied strategies.
Grant realized from today onward what he must do. It wasn’t just about relying on the fortress; he had to devise various strategies that suited the situation.
“Thank you. I will definitely keep what you said in mind and prepare more thoroughly.”
“Right, the number of monsters never exceeds a certain limit, so as long as you’re well-prepared, you should be fine.”
“How do you know that…”
“Curious?”
“Yes. Honestly, it feels like you know this place better than I do.”
As Grant spoke with Ghislaine, he felt a strange sense of discomfort. Even though it didn’t make sense, it felt as if the other party had experienced such things multiple times.
Ghislaine decided to share a long-overdue truth for the sake of fun.
I decided to try talking.
“Actually, I died and came back to life…”
“I see you have your reasons for not speaking. I’ll just keep in mind that there’s a story behind it.”
“…Yeah, there’s quite a story.”
It was oddly amusing that no one believed me this far.
After finishing his conversation with Ghislaine, Grant opened the warehouse and started handing out drinks to everyone in the fortress. It was a sort of reward for those who suffered every time the Monster Wave ended.
Additionally, it was his role to mediate and fairly distribute the byproducts based on the contributions of the participants.
“I guess I won’t need to worry too much this time.”
Usually, this time was the most exhausting, with everyone arguing to claim more for themselves.
But now, there was no need for that.
“I’ll take all the leather and tendons. The rest you can share equally. Any complaints?”
With Ghislaine’s single remark, everyone shut their mouths. Ghislaine had killed the most monsters, and Kaor had taken down the Twin Head Ogre.
When someone who played the most decisive role in the victory speaks, who would dare refuse?
Just the fact that the rest would be distributed equally was already something to be grateful for.
The hunters clustered together, sipping the drinks that Grant distributed and chatting away.
“Then let’s just drink and hang out.”
“Ah, the drinks are great, but there’s not much to eat. More monster meat again.”
“Still, other places are all experiencing famine, so they say there’s absolutely nothing to eat.”
Unlike other kingdoms, the Turian Kingdom wasn’t severely plagued by food shortages. It was all thanks to the huge influx of monsters.
They devoured everything edible from monster corpses, saving only the profitable parts. The downside was that most of it tasted horrendous, but it was better than starving.
A stew made with monster meat and whatever greens could be found was the staple food for the people of the fortress. Thus, surprisingly, strong spices had flourished near the fortress.
“Ugh, every time I eat, I can’t help but notice how disgustingly bad it is.”
“I can’t even remember the last time I tasted really good meat and bread.”
“The prices here are ridiculous. To have a proper meal, you’d have to blow your entire day’s wage.”
People grumbled but continued to shove food into their mouths. It was better than just drinking with nothing else.
The food situation was just as bad for Ghislaine’s group. Having only packed simple dry rations, their meals weren’t much different from the hunters’.
“Man, our territory really knew how to eat well.”
“If it weren’t for the spicy seasoning powder the butler gave, I wouldn’t have been able to eat it at all. The smell is just too awful.”
“This is seriously disgusting. I’m only eating because I’m hungry.”
The knights, who had feasted on soft bread and chicken in the Penris Territory, certainly weren’t used to monster cuisine.
After continuously eating monster meat since coming to the fortress, they were now on the verge of vomiting just by looking at it.
Unlike the complaining knights, Ghislaine was eating quite heartily.
“Why? Not tasty? Back in my day, a lot of people couldn’t even eat a meal like this.”
‘What the heck is he talking about…?’
‘It’s all good, but sometimes he talks like an old man.’
‘Back in my day? Is he the young old-timer I’ve heard about?’
Seeing the lord eat delightfully, the knights had no choice but to choke down their food as well. According to the butler, they used to be fussy about side dishes when they were younger, yet now they happily ate monster meat, leaving everyone utterly baffled.
After the Monster Wave ended and they forced themselves to fill their bellies, a joyful event occurred for them a short while later.
“Wow, what’s that?”
“Looks like a massive haul coming in!”
“Is a big merchant group arriving?”
As an astounding number of wagons entered the fortress, everyone was taken aback. Their surprise grew even more when they saw what was being unloaded.
The wagons stopped in front of the inn occupied by Ghislaine and began spilling out a tremendous amount of wheat and meat.
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