Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Mongrels' Battlefield (3)
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⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Trait 'Quartet of the Wind' activated! ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Trait 'Epic of the Firebird' activated! ——Roooaaar!!!
The moment I charged into the heart of the enemy camp, I gifted the foes a blaze carried on the wind.
A mantle of fire draped over the gale, sending pillars of flame shooting skyward.
In an instant, that inferno devoured the enemies' tents and supplies.
‘...The prisoners are over there.’
Of course, I adjusted the wind's flow to keep the flames away from the captives.
Just like that, the doppelganger hybrids scrambled in panic at the sudden bolt of fire from the heavens, howling in terror.
“□■□□□□□!!!”
“□□■■■□!!!”
The mannequin-like race, doppelgangers, pointed at me while shouting something.
But I couldn't make heads or tails of it.
It was a language different from the one I used.
‘The tongue of the Chaos tribes.’
In this world's lore, there were two common tongues: one for the Order side and one for the Chaos side.
I'd naturally picked up the Order common tongue upon possessing this body.
But the Chaos one? Not so much.
“□□□□——!!!”
Right then.
One horned mannequin clad in sinewy muscle and barbaric leather armor—a hybrid doppelganger soldier—came charging at me, bellowing.
In his grip was a crude but keenly sharpened longsword.
He rushed me with clear murderous intent.
But.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Skill 'Thread of the Wind' activated! ——Swoosh.
Before the bastard could even close the distance, his head flew off, cleaved by the axe I'd flung.
Then two more, three, four.
Spluuurt!!
The axe arced in a wide circle through the enemy encampment, beheading four doppelgangers in total.
“□□■■■□!!!”
“□□□, ■□■□■□!!!”
“■□□□■■!!!”
The doppelgangers who'd been on the verge of swarming me started hesitating, shouting among themselves.
Whoooosh! Whack!
I caught the returning axe and slung it over my shoulder, at which point they began encircling me, wary now.
They'd realized I wasn't some reckless suicide charger.
And then.
Shhhhk.
"Heh, not bad. Axes really are the way to go, huh?"
Every last doppelganger morphed their weapons to match my axe exactly.
Mimicry—the signature trick of Chaos doppelgangers.
When facing a stronger foe, they could imitate that opponent's power for a limited time.
But the ones gathered here were all half-breed weaklings, so their mimicry was pathetic.
At best, they copied my weapon, my muscle, my hairstyle, and my facial features.
Their mannequin faces shifted to crude approximations of mine.
Only the eyes, skin tone, and height differed—my imperfect clones now filled the space around me.
"Gonna make it a pain to lop those heads off now."
I grinned at their faces.
“■□■□—!!!”
One doppelganger's unintelligible shout.
That was the signal.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Skill 'Curtain of the Wind' activated! ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Skill 'Thread of the Wind' activated! ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Skill 'Song of the Hawk' activated! ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Skill 'Silent Gale' activated! ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Trait 'Epic of the Fire Dragon' activated! I had no intention of dragging this out.
After my last achievement, my mana reserves had grown, letting me unleash even more.
Soon, even grander pillars of fire erupted within the doppelganger camp.
The doppelgangers who'd surrounded me were instead trapped in the fiery storm, losing their lives.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Karloph hid in the bushes, watching Number 17's fight, doubting his own eyes.
‘That guy's really... one of us mongrels...?’
He was far too strong to be called a mongrel.
Sure, some mongrels had great physical prowess or magic talent.
If they had a bit more ogre or elf blood, those gifts could manifest.
But no amount of pure blood could explain this.
‘In some ways, he's beyond even full-blooded hybrids...’
As that thought crossed his mind.
Karloph stepped out from the bushes and openly watched the battle from the enemy camp's entrance.
He figured Number 17 would wipe them all out anyway.
And moments later.
Roooaaar...
The massive firestorm wrought by one mongrel died down, revealing the camp's gruesome remains.
“Hey, newbie!”
Number 17 stood alone amid the piles of doppelganger corpses.
Karloph rushed over to him.
“What the hell...! What kind of mongrel are you, anyway?! Huh? What'd you do to pull this off...!!”
“......”
Karloph grabbed Number 17's shoulders in excitement, scanning the devastation.
Doppelgangers sliced to ribbons.
Wood and fabric still smoldering.
Hard to believe one mongrel had done all this in under ten minutes.
To such a Karloph, Number 17 just slung his axe over his shoulder and flashed a grin.
“Told you this was the easiest way. See? Even you can stroll right in now, Captain.”
“......”
Karloph stared blankly at Number 17's brazen words.
Then he burst out laughing.
“Heh, hahaha!! You're right! With 'em all dead, sneaking in's a breeze! Hahaha!!”
“Knew you'd get it.”
The two shared a chuckle, wrapping up the fight.
Karloph headed toward the prisoners, waving back at Number 17.
“Take a break! You handled everything—no way I'm sticking you with cleanup. Leave the prisoners to me!”
“...If you insist.”
Number 17 smirked and let him go.
Karloph dashed off to the captives, while Number 17 stood there a moment, watching his back.
“Oh right, almost forgot this.”
He gripped his axe again.
Whish!
Splatter!
Sizzle!
While Karloph freed the prisoners, Number 17 harvested the doppelganger corpses.
Their bones were prime material for him.
“...Wh-who are you?! Are you from Eloi's unit?!”
“Yes, Second Scout Squad. We're here to rescue you on orders.”
“A mongrel squad...?”
There were five prisoners, all quarter-elf hybrids.
Each had limbs bound and eyes blindfolded with cloth.
“I see. There was that huge roar and scorching gale... So while the main force lured them away, you sneaked in to save us.”
“......No. We're rescuing you after wiping out the enemy.”
“You already took out all the doppelgangers?!”
The prisoners gawked at Karloph's words.
“No way General Eloi came personally?!”
“To think... the general himself for us...”
“Such an honor...!”
“I'll pledge my life in loyalty! General Eloi!”
“......”
Karloph silently cut their ropes, ignoring the nonsense.
They'd figure it out soon enough.
“...Mongrel, where's the general?”
“Did he head back first?”
And as expected, once freed, the prisoners eyed Karloph and Number 17 with confusion.
“No, it was just me and this newbie mongrel.”
Karloph told the elf prisoners the truth.
He could've lied and said Eloi did it, as they hoped.
‘...But I can't bury this guy's achievement like that.’
As a mongrel himself, Number 17's feat was his pride too—a rare surge of self-respect mongrels seldom felt.
But.
“Hahaha!”
“This mongrel's a riot! Good sense of humor!”
“So just two mongrels took down all the doppelgangers and saved us safe and sound! Haha!”
“......No, the newbie mercenary handled every last doppelganger alone.”
“Hahahaha!!”
The prisoners just laughed harder.
‘Damn it...!’
Karloph fumed, raising his voice despite himself.
Thud.
But Number 17 grabbed his shoulder and shook his head, forcing Karloph to swallow his frustration.
‘Fine. His skills will spread like wildfire soon enough. No need to rush.’
First things first: head back.
These guys wouldn't believe him anyway.
Once back at camp with them in tow, folks would sense Number 17's freakish power, even if they didn't buy it fully.
And so the pair led the prisoners back to Eloi's camp.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “......”
“General Eloi!!”
“General!!”
“How can we ever repay this grace...!!”
Eloi broke into a cold sweat before the scene, unable to believe it.
‘How in the world...’
Just two.
Two mongrel soldiers on a prisoner rescue.
Naturally, Eloi had zero expectations for saving those quarter-elf discards.
Yet the two mongrels accomplished the impossible like it was nothing.
And the prisoners' words were weird.
“General!! You came yourself and swept away every doppelganger...!!”
“This life is yours in loyalty!!”
“Thank you so much!! General...!!”
The quarter-elf prisoners knelt, sobbing their gratitude.
Eloi's mind reeled at their claims.
Of course, he hadn't set foot anywhere near that enemy camp.
“The doppelgangers... all dead?”
He asked a prisoner, just in case.
Prisoner testimony trumped a mongrel's word.
And.
“Yes!! All corpses—no survivors! All those doppelgangers... as expected of you, General!!”
“......”
A lie?
That was all he could think.
Because if this quarter-elf was right...
It meant those two mongrels stormed the enemy, slaughtered everyone, and rescued them.
“......”
“Mission accomplished proper. Time to hold up your end, General?”
Eloi stared in disbelief at axe-slung Number 17.
Who smirked casually before adding,
“Oh, and we didn't just rescue—we cleared the enemy camp too. Mind tossing in one extra perk?”
“Wha... what...?”
“I'd like to use the smithy here.”
“......”
Eloi's mind went blank at the absurdity.
He turned away, muttering,
“Do what you want.”
He wasn't even thinking about reclaiming his axe right now.