From Here on, Kill Each Other
The Mino-Centaurion didn’t so much as flinch at the beak thrusting toward him.
- Minoo!
He yanked the beak down and locked the neck in a crushing biceps choke.
Ho-yeong watched the smoothly executed submission and let out an admiring breath. “Nice. That Guillotine Choke landed perfectly.”
Hogryphon clawed at him with its eagle talons as if tapping out.
- Minok!
Blood and scraps of flesh sprayed everywhere.
“So Hogryphon has a double cushion of eagle feathers and boar hair, but the Mino-Centaurion’s horsehide doesn’t seem quite that tough.”
But the beast never released its grip, and the strength in Hogryphon’s flailing forelimbs gradually bled away.
- Hokkeuuri…!
Then another of the flying creatures swooped in from above and saved its kin, driving its talons into the Mino-Centaurion’s shoulder to pin him in place while hammering his eyes with a relentless barrage of pecks.
- Minook!
The one-eyed Mino-Centaurion clutched at its face and stumbled back.
“Two-on-one is hard to do anything about. Tsk, tsk. And here I was wondering why they all threw their weapons away. Or maybe that’s the butterfly effect of my edification?”
Even unarmed, the Mino-Centaurion was stronger than Hogryphon, but with enemies attacking from both ground and air, it was having a rough time of it.
“What in the world is going on? Why are all the Mino-Centaurions suddenly charging in like that?”
At that moment, a female mage vaulted onto the wall. She was a beauty, dressed in a splendid robe.
Ho-yeong’s first thought was, What? Is she Baron Kihara’s daughter? No, he said he didn’t have any children. Then is that woman the baron’s older sister, Shrakhim’s mother? How does she look younger than her son?
Unless one studied the fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, it was hard to guess her age.
Olpia Kihara ★★★
[ Stats | Grade | Base Value ~ Maximum Value ]
Strength D: 15 ~ 22
Intelligence B: 60 ~ 72
Magic A: 73 ~ 84 (Specialty: levitation magic)
Charm B: 52 ~ 58 (Sadly, Shrakhim and his brothers do not seem to have inherited their looks from their mother.)
Command D: 22 ~ 25
Willpower D: 19 ~ 23 (Quirk: lonely after losing her husband young)
Edification B: 35 ~ 46 (She feels gratitude and apology toward the guardian who saved Shrakhim.)
Background
The older sister of Baron Kihara.
Though she was once considered a candidate for succession thanks to her superior magical talent, she married a knight of common birth and incurred her father’s wrath.
That said, she now wielded considerable influence over the barony’s affairs as the family’s senior matriarch.
“Count Tamer, this is my elder sister. Sister, this is Joren Tamer, Byeonbangbaek.”
Baron Kihara hurriedly made the introduction.
“A pleasure, madam. Please forgive me for arriving so suddenly under such circumstances.”
“So you’re the famed Byeonbangbaek? I never expected you to be such a young, handsome man. Are you perhaps unmarried?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes. For the moment, I am.”
Ho-yeong took a step back at the sparkle in Olpia’s eyes.
“I only just heard on the way here that you saved Shrakhim. Thank you so much for saving my precious eldest son.”
“Until the contract ends, even the dispatched guards are my subordinates. It was only right to rescue him.”
“I truly am sorry. I let myself be rash after listening only to my sons and caused you such hardship.”
Ho-yeong was startled by that.
“So it wasn’t the baron, but you, who arranged it?”
He had assumed the accusation sent to the capital was Baron Kihara’s doing alone.
So it was this woman who set it in motion. Looks like the older sister is the real power in the Kihara Barony. Then instead of browbeating the baron, maybe it’s more efficient to bring this lady over to my side.
Set the unpleasant feeling aside; the Tamer lord always weighed profit before loss.
“I told the baron as well, but we can talk about that later. Right now, the monster situation comes first.”
What had seemed, until moments ago, like a battle turning in Hogryphon’s favor was now changing.
- Hogriii?!
The battlefield was being overturned by the exceptional valor of the Mino-Centaurion.
“What is that thing? It’s the only one with spots. Should I call it a Kencauros instead? Haha.”
Ho-yeong couldn’t hold back his laughter. Unlike the others, whose upper bodies were those of bulls, this one looked more like a dairy cow.
- Minooom!
But the cow-patterned Mino-Centaurion was a scene-stealer in its own right.
Good heavens.
It made a comrade crouch low, then vaulted high off its back. On landing, it even smashed Hogryphon’s spine with a horse kick.
“That’s like a game of leapfrog. Insane.”
At last, the beast broke through the encirclement and ran toward the place where its weapon had fallen.
Once it picked up the giant halberd, it rampaged through the field, carving up Hogryphon with every sweep.
“It’s like Lu Bu with a Fangtian Hualan paired with Red Hare.”
Achievement [From Here on, Kill Each Other] completed! As a reward, you have obtained EP 30. Excellent work, guardian-nim, provoking the monsters into fighting one another and winning with the tactic of making one enemy finish off another. Of course, naturally, you cannot gain KP when monsters kill each other. However, as with the earlier weapon throw, if a monster you have temporarily edified kills another monster, you can obtain KP, so keep that in mind.
Seeing that, the other Mino-Centaurions also charged out, and the encirclement collapsed entirely.
“Tch. This is a problem.”
“Why is that, sir? The monsters are fighting among themselves exactly as the Byeonbangbaek intended, and their numbers are being cut down. Why do you look so troubled?” Shrakhim asked in confusion, frowning at Ho-yeong.
“Of course it’s good that their numbers are dropping. The problem is when one side gets wiped out one-sidedly. It breaks the balance.”
“Ah, I understand. You mean we need them to keep fighting until only a few remain on each side, and then it will benefit us.”
“Exactly. You’re commanding troops now too, Shrakhim, so make sure you keep that in mind.”
Ho-yeong considered chewing him out, but since his mother was here too, he put it more gently.
Ability level increased! Blooming has risen to level 2. Shrakhim’s intelligence increases slightly.
You did well, guardian-nim, not getting irritated by Shrakhim’s frustrating behavior. If you had scolded him in front of his family, the Kihara family’s edification would have fallen!
He received an unexpectedly small reward.
“Then are we supposed to help Hogryphon?”
“If we can, that would be good, but... they’re all tangled up like that now, so we can’t even snipe them anymore. Hm.”
As Ho-yeong answered Olpia’s question, an idea quickly came to him.
“Madam, you said levitation magic is your specialty, yes? I think your magic will be useful.”
“I wouldn’t call it a specialty, but I do have some skill. How did you know that? More importantly, how do you mean to use levitation magic? You’re not planning to lift the Mino-Centaurions and make them fall to their deaths, are you? I did try that earlier, of course. But it didn’t work on them. They’re extraordinarily heavy, and—”
“Their magic resistance is high, I know.”
Thanks to being thoroughly versed in the game’s information.
“You’re well informed. Then what are you thinking?”
“We don’t need to lift the Mino-Centaurions. We only need to lift their weapons.”
“Ah, I see.”
Understanding what Ho-yeong meant, Olpia immediately began chanting.
- Minoo?!
The Mino-Centaurions blinked in confusion. There was nothing they could do as the weapons they had been about to pick up floated into the sky.
- Hogriii!
The Hogryphons, regrouped at last, surged in again. The scales had tilted in the Mino-Centaurions’ favor, but now they found their balance restored. The cow-patterned one’s feat had broken the encirclement, but after that everyone had scattered to reclaim their weapons.
“Good! We’re back to even. Madam, can you bring those weapons over here later?”
“That should be easy.”
The weapons drifted over, bobbing gently through the air.
“Even if the Mino-Centaurions win, they’ve lost their weapons, so their combat power drops drastically... meaning they’ll be much easier to deal with.”
At Baron Kihara’s words, Ho-yeong nodded.
“Yes. Exactly.”
Of course, there was another reason too.
Those weapons those guys are using were probably rare items left in the dungeon by ancient heroes or something, right? If we seize them, they’ll be useful for something.
He decided not to reveal that little calculation just yet.
“Now it’s finally nearing the end.”
Most of the monsters had either died or suffered mortal wounds, leaving only four Hogryphons and two Mino-Centaurions.
“Good. Very good. That’s enough! Baron Kihara, may I take command of the dispatched guard and lead them out?”
“Hm? If we leave them as they are, those beasts will destroy each other anyway. Why do you want to interfere now, after watching so carefully? Isn’t it dangerous?”
The baron voiced both curiosity and concern.
“Do not worry. Looking at their condition, they’re only barely standing. Even if they all rush us together, it won’t be a problem. If you’re truly concerned, I can take only my direct troops.”
“Hm, even so...”
“Tomikan, if the Byeonbangbaek says it that strongly, why not try doing as he suggests?”
Olpia nudged her hesitant younger brother forward.
“If my sister says so, then very well. This is Kihara Barony territory, but for this operation alone, I’ll yield command to you.”
“A wise decision. It would be better to give our Shrakhim a chance, after all.”
Shrakhim tilted his head. “A chance? What do you mean by that, sir?”
“You were nearly killed by a Hogryphon, weren’t you? Don’t you want revenge? I’ll let you finish them yourself. If you’re scared, wait here.”
“I-I’ll go!”
“That’s more like a knight. Ah, madam, about those weapons over there.”
Ho-yeong made a request of Olpia, then led out the troops from Tamer Territory and the Kihara brothers.
- Hogrii...
- Minooo.
The monsters merely glared at one another and could not bring themselves to charge.
“All right, stop. The plan is simple. Kill the ones who come at us.”
“Then what shall we do with the ones who don’t come at us, sir?”
“What else? We’ll keep them alive and work them to the bone for generations.”
With the number of monsters reduced and their strength weakened, now was the perfect chance for edification.
- Hokkeu?!
- Minoo?!
The monsters guardedly watched the humans who appeared on horseback. To the exhausted beasts, they looked like death itself come to finish them off.
“Will you surrender, or will you open your own bellies? If you come to Tamer Territory, a comfortable life awaits you, so choose carefully.”
Ho-yeong kept his distance and tried to persuade them before beginning edification.
- Hokkeu!
The Mino-Centaurions hesitated, but unfortunately all four Hogryphons were eager to throw themselves in.
“My lord, please give the order. What should we do? Shall we engage from horseback?” Yak asked urgently, but Ho-yeong merely rested his sword like a staff, looking entirely at ease.
“Plant all the spears in the ground. Keep the spearheads facing upward.”
“You mean to stop the Hogryphons’ charge. What then? What if they fly at us?”
“Just wait quietly. I’m making them fly for a reason.”
“Pardon? I didn’t quite hear you.”
“Don’t worry. Those guys are about to get smote by heaven. Just trust me and wait.”
Yak was deeply puzzled, but he obeyed the order.
- Hogriii!
As the Hogryphons flew in and drew near, Ho-yeong raised a hand.
- Crunch.
Heaven’s judgment, in the most literal sense. Massive axes and hammers fell from the sky and crushed the Hogryphons.
“So what if they can fly? They can’t lift their heads, so they don’t even know when something’s falling on them from above. Tsk.”
What he had asked of Olpia was the release of levitation magic.
The Mino-Centaurions’ weapons were as heavy as their size demanded, and being dropped from a great height was enough to inflict fatal injuries.
“You made them fly on purpose! In the air, those beasts can’t turn sideways very well!”
“Exactly. Now then, Sir Shrakhim. I’ll leave the finishing to you.”
“At once!”
Shrakhim and the others ran off with great enthusiasm and cut the Hogryphons’ lives short.
“Then is it the Mino-Centaurions’ turn now?”
The Mino-Centaurions were trembling with fear.
“What do you say? Personally, I’d hate to turn beasts this strong into soy-braised beef. If you follow me, I’ll cover for your attack on Kihara Territory. And I’ll leave those Hogryphons you hate to you for disposal!”
When they saw the hateful Hogryphons lying there, half-dead, the Mino-Centaurions began to waver.
“If we’re talking about how this started, wasn’t it your lordship who dragged the Hogryphons here?”
“Could you keep your mouth shut for a second, Yak? Before I end up putting a sword in it.”
Fortunately, the tactic of shifting blame worked, and both beasts were edified. The one that looked like a dairy cow slaughtered the remaining Hogryphons without leaving a scrap behind.
You have successfully repelled the Hogryphon’s second raid!