Chapter 11 - Three Territories for Free
Three Territories for Free
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Translator: Dusky90
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Three Territories for Free
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“U-Urghh...”
Otto let out a dry breath as he stared at the sword tip right in front of his face.
Had it gone just a little deeper, the blade would’ve pierced straight through his face.
Shudder
Cold sweat ran down his spine.
- You filthy little rat. You're nothing but a rat trapped in an earthen jar.
Nazrak forced his way into the tight crevice.
“Uwaaagh!”
Otto scrambled backward on his bottom to get away from Nazrak, fleeing deeper inside.
But the deeper he went, the narrower the space became within the pile of rocks.
“Huh?”
Otto jolted in shock as his back hit solid stone.
There was nowhere left to run now.
- Hehehe!
Nazrak drawing closer and closer.
‘I-Is this the end..?’
His mind went blank.
This was an unexpected situation he had never experienced before.
In the game, he’d drawn aggro from undead monsters plenty of times.
But never had someone like Nazrak, possessing an undead come after him personally.
It was proof that this world was, without a doubt, not a game but reality.
‘Is this… where I die…?’
At that moment.
‘That’s it!’
Otto spotted a teetering rock on the verge of falling.
‘Please... Pleaaase!’
Clutching at straws, he kicked the unstable rock with all his strength.
Rumble!
The rocks came crashing down, engulfing Nazrak beneath the rubble.
As a result.
- Kuaaaargh!
Nazrak, buried under the pile of rocks, screamed and thrashed about.
He had almost caught Otto…
- I’ll kill you no matter what… you treacherous rat…!!!
Nazrak hurled his sword toward Otto with every ounce of fury he had.
*Whoosh!* Swoosh!
But Nazrak’s blade never made it to Otto.
His lower body was pinned beneath the rubble, and no matter how hard he swung, he couldn’t get any closer.
“It.. can’t reach me? Huu!”
Otto breathed a sigh of relief the moment he realized Nazrak’s attacks couldn’t reach him.
Just as Nazrak had said, he almost ended up like a rat trapped in a jar...
- You damn scammer! Get over here! I said get over here! I never let traitors live! Never!
Nazrak struggled desperately to kill Otto by any means, but unfortunately, he couldn’t achieve his goal.
Swinging a sword while his lower body was pinned only made him flail helplessly and even if it did reach Otto, it wouldn’t be enough to deal a fatal blow.
- Get over here! I said, Come here!
“No way~ I don’t wanna.”
- You damn bastard...!
“Come on, kill me if you can~~~.”
Otto teased Nazrak.
“Aww~ You can’t kill me~ Can’t even reach me~ What’s wrong, all out of tricks~?”
– You damn bastard!
“Wow, nothing but air in that thick skull of yours.”
Otto casually nudged Nazrak’s flailing head with his foot.
- Y-You...!!!
Nazrak was burning with rage, but he couldn’t do a thing.
If the body he had possessed were a high-ranking undead monster like a Death Knight, a pile of rocks like this would’ve been easy to clear away.
But a Skeleton Knight didn’t have the strength to move all that rubble.
Which meant Otto could mess with him all he wanted...
“Haa, I almost feel bad for you.”
Otto smirked and said to Nazrak.
“Still, I’ve gotta thank you.”
- Thank me..?
“Because of you, I managed to swallow up three entire territories.”
- .....?
“Sorun, Racene, Orth all of them were rival territories standing in the way of my domain. Given their locations, they were bound to get in the way as I expanded.”
– W-What are you talking...?
“You razed those three territories for me, so things got a whole lot easier. If I had to fight them myself, it would’ve been too much hassle and tiring. Thanks to you, I got it done without lifting a finger.”
If it was an enemy he could never defeat, then rather than fight, he would find a way to make use of them.
And once he’s squeezed out everything he can, he waits for the perfect moment to stab them in the back.
That was Otto’s playstyle.
The ultimate opportunist.
A cold strategist who only ever moves for profit...
– Y-You despicable bastard… How dare you…? Are you saying you used me?
“Then why the hell would I ever become the subordinate of some undead monster like you? Try using that rotten head of yours for once, will you?”
- This damn..
“Tsk tsk. Maybe being undead means you’ve got no brain. Honestly, you’re just plain stupid. That’s why you went on a mindless rampage 500 years ago and got subjugated. You’ve got no clue how vital strategy and diplomacy are.”
- You bastard… After all this, you still dare….
Just then.
Thud!
Nazrak suddenly dropped his head.
[Notification: You have cleared the quest 'Survive! Otto de Scuderia!']
At that moment, a notification window appeared.
Before he knew it, ten minutes had passed.
[Notice: Nazrak's scenario has been erased!]
It meant that Nazrak had now lost his status as one of the 100 Lords and would be removed from the game’s storyline.
This is a phenomenon that occurs when one Lord is defeated by another Lord.
It meant losing access to their unique storyline, quests, perks, and everything else that came with it.
In other words, Camille had successfully destroyed Nazrak’s portrait.
“Waaaaaaaahhh!!!”
“We did it! We won!”
“All hail Lota!”
“Hooray!”
“We’ve taken down those wicked undead!”
As proof of that, the sound of Lota territory’s soldiers shouting cries of victory could be heard from outside.
“Huu. I seriously thought I was going to die.”
Otto breathed a sigh of relief and began crawling out of the rubble.
But then.
“W-What… how do I get out of here…?”
The collapse of the rubble earlier had sealed off the entrance, there was no way out.
'Wait… am I stuck in here?'
* * *
Once the battle was over.
“The Lord! Where is he? Has no one seen the Lord?”
As soon as he destroyed Nazrak’s portrait, Camille went looking for Otto.
“I did see the Lord running off somewhere.. but I’m not sure where he went.”
“I’m sure I saw him running just a while ago...”
The soldiers had no idea where Otto had gone after suddenly disappearing from the battlefield.
“Get the wounded treated! And identify every fallen soldier without fail!”
“Yes, Sir Camille!”
Camille ordered the soldiers to search for Otto, but no one could find him.
The rubble had collapsed so deeply that Otto’s cries for help didn’t carry through.
“We’re pulling out for now.”
In the end, Camille gave up on the search for Otto and ordered the troops to pull out.
'I bet he’s got something else planned.'
Because Otto had been appearing and disappearing all over the place these past few days, Camille just assumed he was up to something again.
“You crazy bastards! You didn’t just ditch me and forget I existed, right?!”
Otto, realizing no one was coming to rescue him, screamed in rage and vented his anger.
But with the army gone, he was left completely trapped in the rubble, forced to endure the cold and hunger.
Three days passed after that.
“S-Someone… help me… I’m… here… please, save me…”
“My Lord! Are you in there?!”
“I’m here… please… save me…”
“I hear the Lord’s voice! He’s here! Over here!”
Otto was finally rescued by the team Camille had dispatched, and safely returned to the Iota territory.
When Otto didn’t show up for three days, Camille sensed something was wrong and dispatched a rescue team to search Nazrak’s stronghold once more.
After surviving and returning safely to Lota, Otto rested for two days before finally meeting Camille.
Then, he poured out his feelings of disappointment and betrayal onto Camille.
“You traitor.”
“No, that’s not true.”
“What do you mean not true? The Lord disappeared and you just left.”
“Th-That was…”
“You didn’t even care if I was dead or alive, huh? Or am I wrong? Were you just hoping I’d disappear for good?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Yeah right. You left me behind and that’s a fact.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“What? ‘Sorryyy’? You think saying sorry means you're done being a knight?”
“No, sir.”
“Don’t say ‘No, sir.’ It’s annoying.”
“..Yes.”
“Were you just waiting for me to die or disappear so you could take over the territory?”
Camille bit his tongue, resisting the urge to say, ‘A failing backwater territory like this? I wouldn’t take it even if you gave it to me for free.’
“Th-That’s not what I...”
“Oh, really now?”
Otto glared with narrowed eyes.
“Didn’t I tell you to quit with the ‘No, sir’? I said it pisses me off, didn’t I?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t say sorry either. That’s even more irritating.”
Otto scolded Camille for nearly two hours straight.
Thinking about how he had been trapped under rubble for three days, starving and shivering from the cold, made it hard for him to let go of his anger.
* * *
After the scolding ended.
“How are you feeling? Are you okay?”
Otto asked Camille.
Camille didn’t look very well.
He had been injured during the battle against the guardian monsters protecting Nazrak’s portrait.
“It’s nothing serious.”
“Then that’s a relief.”
“If anything, I’m glad it happened.”
“Why? Feel good to get your body moving again after a while or something?”
Otto gave a short laugh as he said that.
“Let me guess, going through that tough fight gave you some sort of breakthrough in swordsmanship?”
“How.. did you figure that out?”
Camille looked startled and asked Otto.
“There are ways to know everything, you know.”
".....?"
“I can see everything with my eyes. Hahaha.”
Camille was supposed to gain an explosive increase in level after completing the mission to destroy Nazrak’s portrait.
He grows by absorbing experience points.
“Well, that worked out nicely.”
“Thank you. Oh, and one more thing.”
Camille held out a purple orb to Otto.
“This is an item I obtained after destroying the undead lord’s portrait.”
“Oh. Right. I forgot to grab that.”
“Do you know anything about this orb?”
“I do.”
Otto took the purple orb from him.
[Notification: You have acquired the item <Orb of Destruction>!]
The item’s information was as follows.
[Orb of Destruction]
A mysterious orb once possessed by Nazrak, who tried to build the Undying Kingdom of the undead.
Its exact use remains a mystery.
Type: Gem (Orb)
Grade: Unique
Durability: Infinite (∞)
Special Note: You might uncover more about this orb by digging through ancient records.
‘One down.’
Otto’s eyes gleamed.
The [Orb of Destruction] was a crucial item needed for an awakening event.
It was a very precious item used to turn Otto de Scuderia, a historically trash-tier character, into an overpowered one.
‘I’ll stash it for now. It won’t be of any use until I’ve got the Orb of Hatred and the Orb of Fear too.’
He carefully placed the [Orb of Destruction] into his magic pouch, in other words, his inventory.
“Good work.”
“It was nothing..”
“Oh, and also. This might be a bit rude to say to someone who’s injured, but I’ll have to ask you to rest later.”
“Huh?”
“Effective immediately, put the entire army on combat alert.”
“All of a sudden?”
“When there’s gold lying on the ground, one can’t just leave it there, right?”
“I’m not sure what you mean..”
“Sorun, Racene, Orth.. What? Are we just going to let them be?”
".....!"
“This is the perfect opportunity. Even with the troops we’ve got now, we can take over those regions. Don’t you agree?”
Camille was taken aback by Otto’s words.
‘From the beginning… did he plan to use the undead lord? If that’s true… what terrifying strategy… He’s not the lord I used to know. It’s like… he’s someone else.’
Whether Otto was aware of Camille’s thoughts or not.
“Sir Camille.”
Otto called Camille with a smirk.
“Yes, I’m here.”
Camille dropped to one knee.
“Lead our forces at once to seize the Sorun, Racene, and Orth territories.”
“I will carry out your orders.”
Right now, the weak Lota territory had one of its few chances to expand its domain.
So they had to act quickly.
They couldn’t give the places they wanted to conquer any time to reorganize.
“Let’s go.”
“You’re going personally?”
Camille asked in surprise.
“Then should I hang back?”
“You were stranded and your stamina is low, aren’t you?”
“I’m not the one fighting directly, so it doesn’t matter.”
Otto moved forward.
“If I show myself leading, the soldiers will trust and follow me more.”
“That’s… true.”
“So even if it’s hard, I have to go.”
“I’m at your service.”
Camille smiled quietly as Otto didn’t hesitate to take the lead himself.
In Otto’s determined silhouette, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the former lord’s figure.