Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: The Twin-Headed Ogre
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There are many types of monsters commonly referred to as giant-types. Without exception, they are ferocious and possess far greater strength than large carnivores like gray bears.
Among such giant-type monsters, the ogre held a peerless position.
Terrifying raw power capable of ripping apart mid-tier monsters like trolls while they were still alive.
Steel-like skin that no ordinary weapon could even scratch.
Moreover, despite its massive frame exceeding four meters in height, it was incredibly agile.
Thus, even Roamer ogres, which were weaker than those inhabiting the demonic realm, were beyond the reach of ordinary mercenaries or soldiers. It was said that it would take five or six heavily armored knights to stand a chance.
And yet, a Twin-Headed Ogre—one that could only evolve after killing hundreds or thousands of monsters and consuming their mana stones—was present in this dungeon.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The monster proclaimed as the strongest on land walked slowly, as if announcing itself as the king of this dungeon.
Four muscular arms, each as thick as two or three grown men combined and long enough to drag on the ground.
In them, it clutched a shield and spear-sword crafted from the weapons and gear of those it had slain in the dungeon.
Furthermore, it wore armor pieced together from plate and chain mail covering its two heads, groin, and one side of its chest.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Eek! Keeek!”
Overwhelmed by the twin-headed ogre’s domineering presence, Mirian hid behind Eugene’s back and hiccupped uncontrollably.
Eugene sheathed Wolfslaughter and drew the atlatl from his back—one he had yet to use even once.
“Hoo…”
After steadying his breath lightly, a fierce aura rose from Eugene’s entire body like wildfire.
Kwaaaaa!
The rapidly extending aura enveloped the ogre. But it showed no reaction whatsoever, continuing its approach without pause.
‘As expected, being undead, it doesn’t react to aura… Hm?’
Eugene sensed something caught at the edge of his extended ki sense.
At that moment, the ogre that had been walking slowly suddenly broke into a charge.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Keeek! Master!”
As the ogre took its third step, Mirian screamed, and at the same instant, the atlatl released from Eugene’s hand flew in a straight line.
Shwaaak!
The atlatl tore through the air but did not strike the ogre. It passed straight through the gap between its arms.
“Keeek!?”
Even a wyvern flying through the skies would be shot down—such was the precision of Eugene’s atlatl—yet it missed, leaving Mirian aghast.
But in that instant.
Krrrrraaaah…!
A tearing scream echoed from far away. The ogre, which had charged to within a mere ten meters, halted as if by magic.
Pa-pa-pa-pap!
Eugene dashed forward, his eyes flashing with crimson light.
He brushed past the ogre, standing rigid like a statue, then hurled another atlatl while maintaining his sprinting speed.
Thwack!
“Kee-hiaak!”
Another scream erupted, and Eugene’s form arrived before its source.
Slash!
Wolfslaughter drew a silver streak, slicing something cleanly.
The entire sequence—from the first atlatl throw to this point—had taken less than five seconds. It was pure, blinding speed.
Clang.
What fell to the floor, spewing dark red smoke from countless holes, was an incense burner meticulously assembled from three skulls.
“You’re no holy kni…”
As the being pierced by two atlatls tried to rasp out venomous words, Wolfslaughter flashed once more.
Shlick!
The famed sword, forged by dwarven smiths through secret alloying of silver and meteoric iron, let out a chilling sound.
- When facing a mage, always strike fast and decisively. Sever the neck or destroy the staff. And never give them a chance to finish speaking.
Heeding Galpredic’s advice faithfully, Eugene looked down at the corpse collapsing to its knees, headless.
Clad in a gray robe impaled by the atlatls, clutching a staff whose incense burner head had been severed—it was unmistakably a mage.
“Keeek!? N-No way, this guy was controlling the ogre?”
“Seems like it. The ogre stopped moving the moment my atlatl hit him.”
“Whoa! So you aimed for this guy, not the ogre? How’d you even know he was there when you couldn’t see him?”
“My aura reached him. He must’ve thought his bulk would hide him from me, thanks to the ogre.”
Judging by its final words before death, the mage had certainly mistaken him for a holy knight.
Even with all sorts of special gear and immense holy power, a holy knight was ultimately human.
So, it had assumed that focusing on the undead monster—its church’s mortal enemy—would blind them to a hidden mage.
A perfectly rational and sensible judgment.
It had simply overlooked one minor(?) detail: that its opponent was an Origin Vampire, the highest noble of the undead.
“Kieeeek! Master! You just took down a black mage too!? Amazing!”
“Pull yourself together.”
Waving Mirian away dismissively, Eugene inspected the dead mage’s body.
‘Why was a mage inside the dungeon? How long had he been here? Why turn the ogre into an undead? Did Essendra or Edrike know about this?’
The more he thought, the more bizarre and suspicious details piled up.
Then his eyes fell on the incense burner, no longer emitting smoke.
It was the head of the staff the mage had held. Suspecting it might unleash powerful magic upon sight, he had severed it first.
‘Exquisitely made.’
Though no expert on magic tools, the incense burner—crafted from three fist-sized skulls linked together—was clearly no ordinary item at a glance.
Its craftsmanship was incredibly refined, and the surfaces of the small skulls were densely engraved with strange runes and symbols.
‘I’ll think later. For now, loot what I can.’
Tucking the incense burner into his backpack, Eugene rummaged through the mage’s body again.
A mage skilled enough to undead-ify a Twin-Headed Ogre was sure to carry valuables aplenty.
* * *
“He’s already dead, right?”
“Probably. Yawn! This is boring. Why keep waiting instead of just heading back?”
One of the two soldiers guarding the dungeon entrance stretched languidly while grumbling, prompting his comrade to hurriedly press a finger to his lips.
“Shh! What if Sir Meckver hears? He hates that Eugene knight, sure, but he takes promises seriously.”
“R-Right.”
The soldiers glanced warily at Meckver resting far off.
Then.
Boom! Boom!
“Egmerni-nat!”
“Oh gods!”
Letting out undignified yelps, the soldiers leaped away from the entrance.
Boom!
Another thunderous boom echoed from inside, drawing Meckver and the others rushing over.
“What!? Was that you two?”
“N-No, sir! It came from inside the door! Sir!”
Meckver eyed the soldiers suspiciously as they snapped to attention.
Boom!
Then another boom resounded from within.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“...!”
The vibrations were so intense that everyone’s jaws dropped.
It rang out exactly three times.
“S-Sir? It echoed three times. Shall we open the door?”
“W-Wait. It might be some evil monster’s trick.”
“...”
Though they all thought it nonsense, no one spoke up. None dared contradict a knight.
As soldiers and workers eyed Meckver nervously, a trickle of water seeped from the base of the stone door.
But no one noticed.
Moments later.
Prrrring! Pring!
Sillion, who had been near the trees below, galloped up to the entrance.
“W-What!?”
Nee-hi-hi-hing!
Shoving people aside roughly, Sillion kicked the stone door with its hind hooves.
Bang! Bang!
A clear signal to open the door. Even the horse had realized its master was inside.
“Urk!”
Lips twitching under the stares, Meckver finally spoke.
“Just in case, soldiers—prepare for battle. You lot, open the door.”
“Yes, sir!”
As soldiers gripped their spears and raised shields, workers heaved the massive iron latch with grunts, slowly sliding the stone door open.
As the door cracked ajar, the dungeon’s foul stench billowed out, sending the workers scrambling back.
A split-second silence, then.
Kwarrrrr!
Someone from inside shoved the massive stone door wide open.
“Eek!”
“Uwaaah!”
Startled workers and soldiers retreated in panic.
Finally, Eugene emerged from the fully opened dungeon entrance.
“I-It’s the knight, sir!”
“Sir Eugene!”
People moved to greet him joyfully, forgetting their shock—then froze.
His plate armor was drenched in blood, festooned with chunks of monster innards and flesh. It was gruesome.
“I said open it after three signals.”
Removing his helmet, Eugene swept a cold gaze over them all.
“S-Sorry!”
“Forgive us, sir!”
Everyone but Meckver bowed deeply at Eugene’s rebuke, the brutal traces of his life-or-death struggle plain to see.
“Whatever, you opened it. Now prepare to head in, everyone.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Meckver stared in disbelief before blurting the question.
“What else? Dismantle the monsters and collect the byproducts. Isn’t that obvious?”
Meckver scowled at Eugene’s curt tone.
“Hah! You expect us to believe someone who returned in a day, not three? Looks like you barely escaped on luck. Enough with the bluster… Hup!?”
Plop, plop.
Meckver’s eyes bulged mid-rant.
Eugene had pulled a large leather pouch from his backpack and dumped its contents onto the ground.
“Mana stones!”
“H-How many is that?”
Stones the size of half a pinky nail poured out endlessly. Easily over a hundred by rough count.
“Sir. Doubt my honor with nonsense one more time, and I won’t stay quiet.”
“...!”
Meckver, staring blankly at the mana stones, jerked his head up. Meeting Eugene’s red eyes, he suddenly realized something and shuddered.
The man before him was no longer some arrogant, mad knight.
He was the unparalleled knight who had single-handedly subjugated the demonic realm for the first time in history.
“If you understand, get inside.”
‘T-This can’t be…’
Eyes shaken, Meckver followed the workers into the dungeon.
But his shock didn’t end there.
The mana stones Eugene had just dumped were merely from the bats burst by his aura.
Inside the dungeon lay hundreds more monster corpses awaiting dismantling.
* * *
“Lord! Edrike, my lord! Sir Meckver and Sir Eugene have returned!”
“What!? It’s only been two days since the subjugation party left—what are you saying?”
Edrike shot to his feet amid slaves fanning him as he lounged with wine.
“Did they flee? As expected! No matter how much he boasted, a punk like that…”
“N-No, my lord!”
“What do you mean no?”
Unable to contain his excitement, the guard captain raised his voice to the frowning Edrike.
“The subjugation was a resounding success! They brought back byproducts from over three hundred monsters! Five wagons full, my lord!”
“Gasp!”
Eyes wide, Edrike rushed to the balcony.
Word had spread; everyone in the castle poured out to gaze at the courtyard below.
Under countless stares, Eugene dismounted Sillion, removed his helmet, and looked up.
Locking eyes with the wide-eyed, incredulous Edrike, Eugene smirked.
“Stopped by to pay respects. That said, we have to haul back to the territory border… Can you keep supplying workers?”
“I-I’ll support you! Anything you need, we’ll help! B-But in return.”
Ever the marquess’s direct kin, Edrike’s mind raced even now. With expectation and worry mixed on his face, he continued.
“Tell my sister that I, Edrike—her brother who truly admires and loves you—supported you wholeheartedly!”
His demand to Essendra for clearing the path: ten silver per head.
No normal subjugation party could accept that.
But with Eugene succeeding alone, Edrike now had to welcome him anytime for just ten silver each.
Refusing would enrage his eldest sister, who had spared him thus far out of regard for brother Gavrel.
“Not a big deal. Sure.”
“Thank you! Truly, Sir Eugene!”
Though his year-long tightrope between siblings had snapped, Edrike wasn’t displeased.
Who could blame Gavrel for such an absurd achievement? Better it end this way.
“Hahaha! Then Sir Eugene! A feast to celebrate…”
“Lord Edrike! Lord Edrike!”
Several nobles belatedly burst into the office, calling him.
“We heard Sir Meckver returned. Did they recover that insolent fool’s body? Shall we prepare the funeral at once?”
“...”
Unable to see the courtyard from the office, unaware of Eugene’s intact return, Edrike’s expression darkened at their words.
“We must make it grand and splendid to satisfy Lady Essendra…”
“Keep talking, and we might hold your funerals today. Shut up and prepare the feast.”
(To be continued)