Blood Must Flow in Troll Society

- Trrroooaaargh!

Dozens of spearheads plunged into the giant troll’s body.

The guards aimed for its legs, while the holy knights went for its upper body.

If getting attacked didn’t cancel the skill, then they might as well keep hitting him. Thanks for the free opening!

It was a plan that made full use of the weakness of a channeling skill.

- Trrrroooooaaargh!

But as Daliha had warned, the giant troll was displaying terrifying regenerative power. Every wound pierced by a spear healed immediately, enough to spit the spear right back out.

That’s insane. It’s not just growing fresh flesh; it feels more like it’s filling itself ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in with flesh.

Ho-yeong clicked his tongue at the creature’s absurd recovery. Of course, that didn’t mean they had been caught off guard. This was all within expectations.

“Keep throwing the short spears! Mages, retrieve the lances!”

“Transfer!”

The three heirs of the Iolid marquisate brought the lances that had fallen or bounced away back toward their allies.

We’ve got plenty of short spears, but not many spare lances. And once a lance is thrown, there’s no time to go fetch it. That’s when you use magic.

The reason he wasn’t having the mages attack with spells was simple: they had already seen every mana shot they’d fired get deflected by the unstable mana currents around the giant troll.

Besides, giant trolls have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ridiculous magic resistance. Physical attacks are the answer here, not magic.

And retrieving the lances was not just about replenishing projectiles.

“Use the aura still stored in the lances!”

Ho-yeong remembered Lilian’s spear-saving move from Stage 1.

* * *

‘Ugh. Why is this thing so hard to pull out? It’s not some cursed sword or anything.’

Pulling Lilian’s spear out of the ground had been quite the ordeal.

‘It still has a lot of aura in it.’

When aura was poured into a weapon and hurled, it became difficult ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to control the aura the moment the weapon left the wielder’s body. On top of that, the stored aura naturally dispersed as time passed.

But Lilian had been in such a rush that she had loaded most of her aura into the spear before throwing it. That was why so much of it still remained.

‘I’ll do it.’

Lilian had removed the spearhead with ease. Not because she was stronger than Ho-yeong, but because she was the owner of the aura bound to the weapon.

‘The aura stored in the spear has to be recovered first. Pulling it out comes after.’

* * *

Thanks, Lilian. That was a very useful hint.

The holy knights could recover not only the lances they threw, but also the aura they spent, making the whole process extremely efficient.

“Those who’ve recovered their spears, throw again! Those who already threw their lances, conserve your aura until the mages retrieve them!”

“Yes, sir!”

The lance throws were being carried out in two alternating shifts so that there would be no gap in their assault.

If the minotaur centaurs could use aura too, that would’ve been great. With that monstrous strength, they’d have thrown lances like artillery. Shame.

The minotaur centaurs weren’t throwing spears themselves, but they were still helping the holy knights do it indirectly.

- Mino-ho! (Over here!)

- Mino-om! (We’ll keep bringing them!)

Using their tremendous strength, they carried the lances to the holy knights.

“Thank you!”

Thanks to them, the holy knights didn’t need to waste strength lifting heavy lances.

- Trrrroooaaargh!

The giant troll kept showing off its endless regeneration, but the allied forces weren’t afraid.

He was just standing there, taking blow after blow without being able to do anything. An enemy that simply stood still and took hits wasn’t frightening.

“Father. Are the holy knights and soldiers all right? Won’t they be exhausted soon? The Transfer spell is simple magic, so it doesn’t cost us much, but...”

“My brother is right. Perhaps we should support them with some other magic.”

Kristian and Keiji, who had paused from delivering lances, voiced their concern.

As they said, pouring aura into a spear and hurling it with all one’s strength consumed an enormous amount of stamina and focus.

“No need to worry. Count Tamer has already thought that far ahead. Why do you think he had seven holy knights pray?”

“Ah, I see.”

“For now, we need only focus on supporting them. Do not break your concentration.”

“Yes, sir.”

What Count Iolid was pointing at with his eyes was the massive pillar of light: the holy knights’ ultra-high-grade buff, Pillar of Heavenly Grace, cast while they prayed.

The reason the allied forces weren’t tiring out was precisely because of that buff. Far from growing exhausted, they actually felt their strength rising nonstop. Each of them had gained aura equal to 50% of their maximum, and whenever that aura was spent, it was immediately replenished.

“Keep throwing! Everyone’s doing well! The giant troll may look fine, but it’s rotting from the inside, so don’t stop!”

“Yes, sir!”

The four holy knights waiting atop the mound with Ho-yeong conserved their aura and watched the battle unfold.

“Our side’s attacks seem to be working better and better, Vice-Commander. Why is that?”

“Because the impure energy spread around the dimensional rift is being erased.”

“You mean that black mist?”

“Yes. That mist brings despair to us and spreads a nasty shield for its own side, as that elf named Lucy Perhela showed earlier. So the more the black mist disappears, the more damage that monster takes.”

Demis answered his subordinate’s question calmly.

“Only faithful might can stand against that black mist. No matter how skilled or brave one may be, no blade can cut through fog. But if faith is firm, then one can cut down the evil hidden within it.”

In short, the black mist could be overcome by aura imbued with an unwavering will of hope.

“Those soldiers are living proof. Their martial skill may not compare to that of holy knights, but their courage and fighting spirit surpass even ours.”

“I was surprised by their effort as well. For ordinary post-station guards to pour out aura with such ferocity... and to pierce a monster of that size with nothing more than a plain short spear, not one made of Dandanum or Karoum...”

“Berken, to become a holy knight and still speak of ‘ordinary soldiers’ and ‘plain spears’ like that. I am truly disappointed in you. Have you already forgotten what I just said? What is most needed to defend this land from vile schemes is not swordsmanship, but the state of one’s heart. A lazy knight may clutch the sharpest Famous Sword, yet with dull technique he cannot cut even a slime. Rather than such lifeless swordplay, the steady swing of a farmer’s scythe, calmly cutting weeds with a well-honed blade, is a sharper and more useful thing.”

It had been a long time since the vice-commander had delivered such a passionate sermon.

“What is now piercing the giant troll deeper and deeper is the guards’ spears. Our lances may be larger and heavier than their short spears, but our edges are dull. It is only natural that a spear thrown to kill is not as sharp as a spear thrust to protect.”

Demis was speaking with an ardor they had never seen in him before.

And he was right: the soldiers were doing astonishingly well. Although the amount and precision of their aura lagged far behind, their fierce momentum was overwhelming the holy knights.

If we’re talking about damage per hit, the holy knights’ lances are much stronger, but the guards are closing the gap with attack speed.

In terms of DPS, the short spear throws were not inferior to the lance throws.

Back when I was in the real world, I never liked that “willpower” or “mental fortitude” talk. But here, it feels different. Aura is the power of will, after all... and now I finally understand what that means. The soldiers’ furious assault isn’t just because of the buff. That buff itself is being sustained by the holy knights’ resolve.

“To sum it up, the power of the heart matters. That was a fine lesson. But I, for one, am even more grateful to the holy knight order. Just as the guards are fighting to protect their hometowns, you are fighting to protect your country. So perhaps you ought not to scold your men quite so harshly, Vice-Commander.”

“It is Count Tamer who is striving to defend a place that is neither his territory nor his hometown. What has held this place together before we arrived is all thanks to his skill in uniting the residents and troops.”

“There have been words lately questioning the Count’s motives, but I am certain those were nothing more than slander. I have learned once again that not everyone in high places can see far.”

Very good news.

“Thank you. Speaking of high places, it’s about time we achieved the purpose of building this mound so high.”

Ho-yeong stepped up behind the Bakgyeokpo.

“That regeneration is truly awful. Even after getting pummeled like that, it just keeps recovering.”

The giant troll’s HP was now hovering around 55%.

“Count, why didn’t you tell us to aim for the heart?”

“A good question, Sir Berken. The troll’s greatest weakness is indeed the heart. The problem is that bastard has three of them now.”

Even now, the lances were concentrating on the giant troll’s chest. But they couldn’t easily get past the ribs to reach the heart, and even if they did, it wouldn’t mean much. If one heart was pierced, the other hearts would continue pumping blood, and in the meantime the wounded heart would heal right back up.

“What we need to target with the Bakgyeokpo is the head. But be careful: if it still has enough vitality, the giant troll can regenerate its head too.”

At those words, the holy knights were thrown into visible turmoil.

“What? Is that really possible? We’ve seen trolls whose heads were cut off pick them up and stick them back on, but... that was only when the head was still intact and not much time had passed. To regenerate the head itself? That’s absurd...”

“Then if we blow that thing’s head apart with this weapon, wouldn’t that be a disaster? If it can simply grow a new one, we’d be in trouble.”

Perhaps because their concern was plain on their faces, the Anxious Evil Eye didn’t even activate.

“The Count is telling us this because he trusts us. How can we fail to listen carefully? Are we going to keep showing him nothing but disappointment?”

Demis alone kept his composure and rebuked his men.

“Didn’t the Count add a condition? ‘If it still has enough vitality.’”

“Ah!”

Only then did the holy knights realize what they had overlooked.

“That’s right. Of course, the first reason we’re stabbing away like mad is to clear out that black mist. If a headshot gets its damage cut in half by the mist and only leaves half a skull, that would be a problem.”

Fortunately, the black mist that had wrapped the giant troll had already vanished completely.

“Even if we manage to smash its head properly, there’s still a problem. Like I said, it can just regenerate.”

There were many instant-death effects in Reign of Dice. However, to prevent victory from becoming too easy, boss-class monsters and creatures of comparable strength were immune to instant-death effects.

In the giant troll’s case, its gimmick was a little unusual: it was immune to instant-death effects only while its remaining HP was above half. In other words, if its life dropped below 50%, it could be killed easily by an instant-death effect.

“But that only matters while its health is still high.”

Watching the giant troll’s HP steadily fall, Ho-yeong smiled.

“Blood Torrent or Tomato Torrent or whatever that skill’s called may improve circulation, but it doesn’t make blood from nothing.”

He was turning the giant troll’s own regeneration against it. Since the monster’s regeneration rose when it took damage while casting Blood Torrent, Ho-yeong was exploiting that very effect.

“If blood flows better, regeneration improves too. But that also means blood is being used up faster. What good is a stronger regeneration rate if the blood left behind is draining away? Once the life force itself starts running out, recovery or not, none of it matters.”

“I see!”

Both its recovery speed and the amount recovered had fallen sharply.

- Trrrroooaaargh!

The giant troll screamed as though to prove the status window’s numbers with its own body. The blood that had been oozing out and coagulating at once began to drip, then to gush. From its wounds, instead of fresh flesh growing in, the flesh was rotting.

After that, no more recovery notices appeared.

“Everyone, move to position!”

Seeing the long-awaited message, Ho-yeong immediately gripped the barrel and activated the Bakgyeokpo.

“Activate the Ancient Mana Stone.”

“Maximum!”

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