episode_0049

Perhaps it was because I had been swinging my sword with all my might for the first time in a while, or perhaps it was because I had lost some of my blood thanks to the mask, but after chopping up the ogre, I felt considerably more calm.

Looking at the pieces of what was once an ogre scattered here and there, I couldn’t help but say, “Even though I did it, this is a bit much…”

As a royal, I have always learned to suppress my emotions, and it is true that I myself have little emotional change unless it is something that directly concerns me.

However, even if they were monsters, they would not have enjoyed bloodshed to the point of playing with them like toys and then killing them.

Why is that?

I instinctively reached for the mask. Every time I spilled the blood of countless monsters and ogres, the mask hummed as if it was feeling good. As if trying to fool myself, I talked to myself as if it was a mistake that I couldn’t avoid the blood… but it wasn’t like that at all.

My emotions were heightened and I wanted to see more blood, as if the mask was absorbing the blood and affecting me in some way.

‘Didn’t you say it was a holy relic of the Lord..?’

According to the information that Yugram gave me, the curse of the god of death is being suppressed by using a holy object with the power of the god of death as a medium. But does that mean that the holy object of the god of death is trying to control my free will in order to shed more blood?

Of course, blood has magical significance and is a valuable resource that actually holds a lot of magical power. However, this is only a story about nobles with high magical power reserves. It absolutely does not apply to monsters.

It was a mask that saved my life, but I realized that I knew nothing about it. It was quite eerie. Up until now, I had foolishly thought that Yugram would have figured it out on his own, but… after experiencing something like this, I couldn’t help but have doubts.

‘By the way, what about Yugram?’

I suddenly came to my senses and looked around. The few mercenaries and knights who survived the ogre attack were fighting against the monsters’ net that had been rebuilt with abnormal bodies. As I turned my gaze, I was able to find Yugram. He was just about to attack the ogre.

Had the Reaper already been dealt with? It wasn’t clear, but it seemed likely. Yugram slowly walked toward the ogre. The ogre seemed to sense something from Yugram, and even though there were still living members of the expedition within attack range, it didn’t aim for them and kept its gaze on Yugram.

Was it the monster’s instinct? The ogre rushed in and struck Yugram with his fist. It was a fast and powerful attack that did not match its huge size. The ground shook with a loud noise as if lightning had struck, but I knew that there was no need to worry about Yugram.

After the thick dust cleared, Yugram appeared behind the ogre, looking fine, and he was seen shaking off his sword and putting it away. Something suddenly fell from the ogre’s body, which was still in the pose where he had swung his fist. It was the ogre’s head. Soon, the ogre’s large body collapsed with a fountain of blood, and Yugram had already left the place.

I couldn’t see it properly so I couldn’t tell, but I think he must have jumped on the Ogre’s arm and cut off his neck in one go. It seemed like he used much less magic power than I did. I realized once again that Yugram is incredibly strong.

“The reaper and the ogre have all fallen! Just a little more strength!”

The commander’s thunderous voice rang out. The most skilled, or perhaps lucky, members of the expedition responded to the voice by shouting. The sight of them swinging their weapons at the monsters along with their shouts seemed to give them hope for a different life than before.

I can’t just be playing around either.

“Ayla, Mathias. Let’s go.”

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The sword swung by a member of the Knights passed through the neck of a monster that looked like a mix of a dog and a human, and that was the end.

Here and there, the sound of weapons hitting the ground could be heard. They were so tired that they threw down their weapons and sank to the ground. The commander and vice commander who were supposed to command the troops were the same. That meant… there was no reason to continue fighting any longer.

There were so many corpses of monsters and expedition members that it seemed foolish to count them. Many people laid down on the corpses, not caring about their clothes soaking in blood. No, it was rare for them not to. It seemed impossible to find a place to lay down without touching the corpses. The battles they had fought were too hard to consider such things, and the fact that they were alive was more important.

Of the approximately 160 people in the expedition, which consisted of the captain and vice-captain, 30 knights, and 132 mercenaries, only a little more than ten survived. It was a truly horrific massacre, and even those who were lucky enough to survive were well aware that they had survived in a battlefield where they absolutely could not survive.

The survivors’ eyes turned to the man standing in front of the fallen captain, Yugram. Despite the battle that had taken place, his uniform was clean without a single trace of blood. However, all the survivors knew. He was a man of great skill who had killed the cultist with a single stroke and cut off the head of the ogre that the captain and vice captain had been struggling to kill.

What on earth could it be? The survivors each let their imagination run wild. They had a sense that if they were to show interest in vain, they might end up giving up their barely-lived lives, but human curiosity is not something that easily disappears.

Yugram opened his mouth softly. Although his voice was not very loud, it was clearly heard by the survivors.

“That was a great battle, wasn’t it? A wave of monsters numbering in the hundreds, thousands, and even ogres with the power of the Reaper and the Reaper. Even a song composed by a bard wouldn’t be this absurd.. Don’t you want to brag to someone about this mythical battle you’ve experienced right away?”

No one understood what he meant and agreed with him. It meant, ‘Do not leak it to others.’ The expedition members felt a sense of tension that made them feel suffocated for some reason.

“Congratulations on surviving, Knight Commander Conrad. Why don’t you go back and tell your son, who dreams of succeeding you, about your brave deeds? Vice-Commander Cromwell, it’s fortunate that you can return to your beloved only daughter. Isn’t it pitiful to make her a fatherless child when she just passed her coming of age? Alex, you were planning to return home after this expedition, right? It’s fortunate that you have a drink to brag to your father about for the rest of your life. And─”

As the names of the survivors and their families continued to come out of Yugram’s mouth, their faces turned pale. This was a very blatant threat. If the information leaks out, he’ll kill them. But even putting aside the content, how on earth did the man in front of them know so much about them? The survivors were even more afraid of that.

“Such a great feat… It would be praised everywhere on the continent. I also want this battle to be praised as a legend everywhere on the continent. ─Isn’t that right, Conrad?”

“Oh, no… We… I am just an incompetent commander who lost most of the troops due to a command error.”

“Really? My thoughts are a little different.. Cromwell, what do you think?”

“I, I am the same. I did not properly understand the power of the three ogres.. I lost the lives of the knights and mercenaries of the territory in vain, so I am ashamed and cannot tell anyone.”

“That can’t be. What about the others? Isn’t there anyone who wants to tell others about the battles they fought that will go down in history?”

Yugram’s cold eyes quickly swept over the survivors who had straightened their postures and were kneeling. Those who received his gaze did not dare to respond. After looking at the survivors like that for a while, Yugram turned his back.

“What a shame. If anyone changes their mind, feel free to brag to others. I’d like to drink with you and reflect on the battle of the day…”

Yugram left just like that. After a long time had passed since his back was no longer visible, the survivors, starting with the captain, lost all their strength and lay down on the floor covered with corpses. There was no longer any sense of dignity.

“..Let’s rest a little more and return to the castle.”

Normally, they would have had to collect the remains of the dead knights and take them to the castle, but in the current situation where only one or two knights were alive besides themselves and the vice-captain, it was obviously impossible.

All we need to do now is return to the castle as quickly as possible and hide the truth about this battle.

‘Where on earth are you and who are you?’

The captain recalled the scene where Yugram cut off the ogre’s head, and just kept asking questions that he had no answer to.

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After a while, the expedition members, who had regained some of their strength, moved their heavy feet and left.

There, in that place where the suffocating smell of blood and the thousands of corpses strewn everywhere testified to the presence of a terrible battle, there was one man.

There were so many corpses and weapons that it was difficult to find a proper place to stand, but the man walked around the area with ease as if it didn’t matter.

It was an ordinary outfit that didn’t quite fit the place. It looked like it was made of good fabric, but it was the kind of clothing you could see anywhere. However, there was a sword hanging from the man’s waist, so you could tell he was a prosecutor.

He must have been a little over twenty years old. His face, still youthful, had a slight smile on it, and his roughly-tied red hair swayed as he moved. He looked at the corpses and moved around, stopping in front of the dismembered corpse of an ogre.

“..Hmm, you’re a beginner with a really high magic power.”

He muttered as he approached another ogre’s corpse. It was a corpse with limbs intact, with only the neck cut off. He was about to pass by that corpse after looking at it for a moment, when he suddenly turned his head and looked closely at the cut section of the neck.

“..Can this be true? Is that you, Fides!?”

The man shouted loudly. There was an unmistakable joy in his voice. The man immediately searched for the severed head of an ogre nearby. After checking the cross-section, the man laughed loudly.

In the mountain where all life had died and disappeared, only the man’s laughter resonated loudly.