Chapter 43
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Turning the Tables
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"Stop that bastard!"
"Fuck, how are we supposed to stop a guy we can't even see...!"
Slash! Splatter!
Every time lightning danced, a storm of blood raged atop the ramparts.
The soldiers waiting below for their shift noticed the commotion and started climbing up, but it was already too late.
"Wh-what...?"
"They're all wiped out in that time?"
The soldiers who had sprinted up the stairs with all their might could only stare in shock at the gruesome corpses scattered chaotically across the ramparts—and the lone intruder standing tall amid them.
Crackle, fizz...!
"You coming to me? Or should I come to you?"
"That crazy...!"
Johann charged head-on at the soldiers rushing toward him.
Dashing up the stairs, he swung the twin swords in both hands.
His speed was so blindingly fast and menacing that the afterimages of his blades multiplied before their eyes.
In that dazzling sword dance, soldiers' limbs flew off absurdly, heads tumbled, and torn entrails and blood sprayed everywhere.
Like being fed into a grinder, every time Johann rocketed down the stairs, the soldiers who faced him instantly turned from humans into chunks of meat and cascaded down.
"D-don't push! Stop pushing, damn it!"
"N-no...!"
The staircase leading to the ramparts was narrow and long.
Those in the back, unaware of the situation, shoved forward desperately to climb up.
Meanwhile, those in front, witnessing their comrades being shredded, desperately shoved backward to flee.
The result was pure pandemonium.
"Aaaagh!"
Some, when Johann closed in right before them, even leaped from the stairs—equivalent to jumping from a three-story rooftop.
The lucky ones got away with broken legs, but weighed down by their leather armor, most soldiers ended up with shattered skulls or snapped necks, meeting their ends.
Soldiers climbing from behind couldn't comprehend why their comrades ahead were jumping, but when Johann bore down on them, they understood perfectly and followed suit.
Better a clean death than a gruesome slaughter by Johann's sword.
"Hoo..."
Finally reaching the ground after descending the stairs, Johann exhaled the breath he'd been holding and steadied his breathing.
His figure was the very image of a demon king from hell.
From the ramparts he'd traversed down to the stairs, fresh human blood pooled thickly, and horrific remains of what were once humans asserted their presence gruesomely.
Of course, Johann's armor was so drenched in gore it was hard to recall its original color.
"Ugh..."
"C-Captain! What do we do?"
"What do we do? Kill the bastard!"
The lord and his belatedly arriving soldiers hurriedly encircled Johann.
But judging by their faces, it was unclear who was encircling whom...
Ignoring the terrified soldiers and the blustering lord, Johann approached the soldier manning the gate mechanism and issued a single command.
"Open it."
"Pardon? Th-that..."
Splatter!
Thud, roll...
Crackle, fizz!
The soldier, who had been glancing nervously at the lord, had his head sent flying by Johann's hand chop, tumbling across the ground.
"Open it."
"Y-yes, sir!"
He then casually repeated the order to the soldier beside him, who snapped to attention with a salute and hurriedly began turning the crank.
"You madman! Stop that lunatic!"
The lord bellowed furiously, and archers began loosing arrows at the crank-turning soldier.
"Eek!"
But...
Crackle!
Johann instantly blocked his path, channeling Lightning Mana, and the incoming arrows halted midair around him as if by magic.
"Wh-what the...?"
"The arrows stopped in thin air?"
As the lord and soldiers gaped in horror at the impossible sight, Johann glanced back at the soldier and commanded nonchalantly.
"What are you waiting for? Keep turning."
"A-ah, yes, sir!"
To survive, the soldier cranked with all his might once more.
In the meantime, Johann returned the "gift" they'd given him.
Pffft!
"Gahk!"
"Aaaagh!"
"H-how are we supposed to fight a monster like that...?"
Swipe...
The soldiers began edging backward stealthily, stealing glances at the lord.
There wasn't the slightest chance of victory against the monster before them.
"You traitorous scum! Any soldier who flees before the enemy dies first!"
"Ah..."
One knight singled out a sneaking soldier, roared menacingly, and brought his sword down.
With that would-be deserter slain, the rest, trapped with no way forward or back, squeezed their eyes shut and charged at Johann.
But Johann's blade showed no mercy.
Any foe who raised a weapon against him—soldier or knight—was cut down without exception.
Crackle, boom!
As blue lightning rampaged everywhere, soldiers' screams filled the air, and knights' limbs soared through it.
A thick shadow of death and despair increasingly engulfed the lord.
"Th-this can't be... How could this... It can't be happening. Please, wake me from this nightmare! Please...!"
The lord denied reality as knights and soldiers fell like autumn leaves in an instant.
This was a nightmare, just a dream...
But when the cold, sharp edge of a blade pressed against his throat, he accepted reality, dropped to his knees, and begged Johann for his life.
"Sp-spare me! I... I was a fool! If you just let me live..."
Slash.
Johann simply slit the begging lord's throat, then dispatched even the last soldier turning the crank.
Now, all who had laid eyes on him directly were dead.
With his mission complete, Johann turned to see armed elf warriors streaming through the fully opened gate.
"Warriors, scatter and free our kin!"
"Some may notice the disturbance and try to flee! Let none escape—rescue as many kin as possible!"
"Yes, sir!"
The fresh elf warriors dispersed rapidly in all directions.
"Well done, Sir Alpha."
"Even when we planned it, I had my doubts... but to think it'd succeed so perfectly..."
Dunas and Dosep, spotting Johann and rushing over, had unusual flushes of excitement on their faces.
They could hardly calm their childlike thrill and elation.
Those who knew them as always stern and serious might have rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
"I told you. They wouldn't come seeking the forest's treasures without this level of skill. Anyway, the warriors will be fine? I could lend a bit more strength as a bonus."
"More than enough. Leave the rest to us. The warriors need this chance to vent their pent-up rage and humiliation."
As Dunas said, the elf warriors raiding the slave caravan unleashed all their past emotions like arrows on bowstrings, turning the tables to hunt the slavers and hunters.
"Wh-what? What's going on?"
"Disaster, caravan master! The elves attacked!"
"What? What nonsense is that? Do you know where we are for elves to barge in?"
The slave trader stormed outside.
Only then did he witness the unbelievable scene unfolding before him.
Elves slicing through the night sky like birds, a rain of countless arrows pouring from above...
The slave hunters and mercenaries were in chaos, dying before they could even react.
"Grab them now! Catch them before they rampage more—"
Thwack!
"Caravan master! The master's down!"
A slave caravan leader denying reality finally awoke to it only after an elf arrow embedded in his forehead.
"Counterattack!"
"Don't let these elves who walked right to us get away!"
Sharper-minded slave caravans belatedly mobilized hunters and mercenaries to fight back.
But their foes were veteran warriors hardened beyond measure in battles against such hunters.
Adrenaline surging wildly in their veins, they seemed to forget all fatigue, moving several times faster than usual as they hunted the hunters and traders.
"Once the hunt ends, hurry and free our kin!"
"Evacuate the freed kin to the forest quickly!"
In the annihilated slave caravans, elves busily searched prisons, liberating slaves.
"Mommy!"
"Baby!"
Elves reuniting with family, friends, and lovers they'd thought lost forever embraced and wept, pouring out their emotions.
"I understand your feelings, but no time for this here. Save the tearful reunions for back in the forest. Move out now!"
"A-ah, yes!"
The liberated elves, under warrior escort, swiftly fled the checkpoint toward the forest.
Thus, freed elf slaves streamed one after another into the woods.
Meanwhile, Johann arrived at the now-empty slave caravan...
"Whoa, they've got quite the hoard stacked up."
Johann's eyes sparkled gold.
Not that his irises turned to gold—it was the reflection of gold and silver treasures piled high in every warehouse.
The orphaned slave caravan's riches thus shone brilliantly, awaiting a new master.
"Alright then..."
Johann headed to the prisons.
This place didn't hold only elf slaves, of course.
As with any slaver operation, there were also a handful of human and other subrace slaves imprisoned.
"From now on, I'll set you all free. Those with somewhere to return to, go home. Those with nowhere left, follow me. I can't promise riches, but I'll ensure you live as humans without want."
The freed slaves followed Johann's words: those with homes thanked him and returned to their hometowns.
But most remained.
They had no hometowns to return to.
That was why slave hunters torched villages in front of their captives during raids— to leave no home to flee to, crushing any will to escape.
"R-really? You'll let us live like people?"
Snap!
"...!"
As a shackled woman asked in a trembling voice, Johann shattered her chains and replied.
"Of course. From this moment, you're free of slave status. And if you wish, you may leave anytime. I swear it on everything I have."
"Woooah!"
Shackles broken and slavery ended, the people cheered joyfully, tears streaming as they embraced one another.
Johann mobilized them to scour the empty slave caravan, swiftly gathering riches while freeing more slaves.
"Let's go!"
Thus, Johann loaded wagons and carts to the brim with astronomical wealth and returned to the elf forest alongside the slaves.