Chapter 17
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Giant and Erudite (2)
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The Ogre Berserker was the very same one whose skull Gono had smashed.
It wielded a club carved from a whole log and stood nearly three meters tall.
Its grotesque face and protruding tusks, the size of a human forearm, were enough to make one's knees buckle just by looking at them.
And originally, its bald, yellow-skinned head should have been covered by a horned iron helmet.
But the Ogre Berserker standing before me now...
[The Ogre Berserker has equipped the Great Mage Gandolph's Hat!]
Instead, it wore a wide-brimmed, old, and chipped hat.
That's right.
It was the very same type of hat worn by elderly wizards in series like 'Harry P-tter' or 'Lord of the R-ngs'.
But that wasn't the problem.
- This humble servant greets the King of All Knowledge.
It was the voice flowing directly into my mind.
A deep, resonant, and impeccably polite voice—literally, the voice of a gentleman.
“...I really want to believe it's not you, but.”
I asked the Ogre Berserker staring at me from beyond the dome.
“Is that you?”
- Yes, King of All Knowledge, Lord of this world. Please give your command.
With its reply, the Ogre Berserker smiled benevolently.
Seriously.
Calmly, its eyes, which had been gleaming fiercely just moments ago, were now filled with gentleness.
Crazy.
Just a second ago, you were roaring 'Grrrroooar!' and swinging that log around, weren't you?
You knew that wouldn't work on intangible magic, but you swung it anyway, right?
So why are you smiling like some great archmage who saved the world, with deep wrinkles forming around your eyes?
“Kiruk.”
Gono shook me as I struggled to process the sheer gap in character.
He held up the Pigmalet he was carrying.
Only then did the current situation come back into focus.
I patted Gono's head and stared sharply past the ogre toward the center of the lake.
“Ogre Berserker, I will now give you your orders.”
- Yes, my Lord.
“Break through this storm and advance to the center. I will follow you.”
- The sorcery currently consuming the field exceeds the level of resistance you can withstand, my Lord. It is dangerous to leave the dome. How about you entrust the source of this sorcery to me and ensure your own safety?
The Ogre Berserker.
He was smart.
He had planted a piece of sound advice right into my head.
But I shook my head.
“We need to move together to get a clear grasp of the situation. Don't worry about me. I can hold my own.”
With the stats of Count Gular, the Dragon Child, combined, I should be able to withstand the storm to some extent.
The problem was that I didn't have much activation time left.
To eliminate any unforeseen variables, it was right for us to go together.
“Gono, gather the fallen Pigmalets in one place. When the storm ends, take them to that healer. The healing should apply properly once the trial is over.”
“Kiruk.”
Gono nodded.
“Kkyuit!”
But as I started to move, a few of the still-healthy Pigmalets blocked my path.
“Don't worry. I have no intention of dying while saving you guys in a place like this.”
“Kkyu, kkyuit.”
Only then did the Pigmalets step aside.
I approached the wall that was faintly glowing with a blue light.
Raging torrents of water, looking like they could tear flesh from bone, scraped violently against the wall's surface.
It was a brutal sight, but I wasn't about to get scared by something like this.
It was frightening, but the monsters watching me had too much profound trust in their eyes for me to show it.
A look that said, 'That's our lord'.
[Activating Lord's Afterimage Lv. 1.]
[The stats of Count Gular, the Dragon Child, are combined.]
I activated the skill and pushed against the wall.
The mana wall forming the dome let me pass through as smoothly as jelly.
And the moment my entire body was outside.
Kwwaaaaa!
“Kuh!”
An underwater hell, completely different from the inside of the dome, greeted me.
Fierce streams of water beat against my body like tentacles.
The waves, mixed with strong winds, crashed down relentlessly, making it hard to even take a single breath.
I could barely manage to keep my balance and stand.
Then, suddenly, the impacts battering my body eased as if by magic.
“Stand behind me, my Lord.”
The Ogre Berserker stood protectively in front of me.
Whether due to its innate resistance or its sheer size, it stood as firm as a castle wall, even while being battered by the storm.
I nodded.
“Let's go.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
The ogre began to advance, one step at a time.
I followed in the footsteps it left behind.
In the storm where I couldn't see an inch ahead, that was the only thing visible.
“My Lord!”
After walking for about a minute,
The ogre leading the way shouted to me.
I quickly understood why.
“Shit!”
From within the storm, a sharp glint of a blade flashed.
I instinctively ducked, bending my body nearly ninety degrees.
Swish!
At the same time, an eerie metallic sound rang out.
As I rolled backward and righted myself, two Lizardmen flicking their tongues came into view.
“These bastards...”
If I'd been a moment later, my head would have been lopped off.
But rather than feeling a chill down my spine, rage surged within me.
“A cowardly sneak attack?”
How dare you? To me, the vessel of your ancestor's spirit, Count Gular the Dragon Child?
“Odolph.”
“Oh, Odolph. Are you bestowing a name upon me, my Lord!”
The ogre asked back, its voice slightly flustered.
Yes, since he was an ogre wearing Gandolph's hat, I decided to call him Odolph for convenience.
“Keep going. I'll take care of these things and catch up.”
“Will you be alright, my Lord!”
“I'm fine. It takes you a while to deal with mobs anyway, being so big.”
“That is true. Then I shall clear the path ahead. Good luck, my Lord!”
Odolph was easily convinced.
The sound of the ogre's footsteps splashing across the water's surface echoed once more.
I turned to the Lizardmen who had their weapons aimed at me.
“This won't do. You guys need a beating from your ancestor.”
* * *
“Kiiiit!”
The Lizardman High Priest, Jen Karuk, gripped his staff so tightly it seemed it would break.
The pillar of water swirling up from his staff had not lost any of its momentum.
Jen Karuk was an agent who wielded the authority of a god.
As long as he did not doubt his god, this miracle would never fade.
“Kiiiit.”
But he was anxious.
He felt a strong sense of unease, as if something was approaching him from beyond the storm.
To quell this anxiety, he had sent his remaining Lizardmen to the other side of the storm.
But so far, there had been no word from them.
In the end, that choice only served to heighten Jen Karuk's anxiety.
He tapped his staff with an impatient expression.
And then, suddenly.
Kwoong!
“Kiek?!”
Ripples spread across the curtain of water that protected him in a dome.
He couldn't tell where the ripples originated.
The storm emanating from his staff obscured even his own vision.
Jen Karuk flicked his tongue and focused his senses on what lay beyond the water barrier.
- My Lord, this is a special type of barrier magic.
- Try hitting just one spot with your club. Let's see if it doesn't break.
- It is not so simple a structure, my Lord. This is a complex, multi-layered formula composed of magic from the eight superior elemental families and a barrier spell of the 5th circle or higher.
“Kiit?!”
His distinctly reptilian yellow eyes widened as if they would pop out.
In an instant, one of the god's powers, the 'Wave of Cataclysm,' had been deciphered.
This meant the one who had reached the water barrier was a human with profound magical knowledge.
“Kiit.”
Despite this, Jen Karuk stretched the corners of his mouth into a wide grin.
No matter how knowledgeable they were, it was meaningless.
As the intruder had said, the 'Wave of Cataclysm' was a composite formula combining barrier magic to block physical attacks and elemental magic.
It was an invincible barrier that could not be pierced unless a physical attack strong enough to overwhelm the barrier magic was combined with a Dispel Magic that surpassed the elemental magic.
- Just try it anyway. Even bulletproof glass breaks if you shoot the same spot.
- As you command, my Lord.
Kwaang!
“Kiiiit?!”
At the same time, a tearing, explosive sound echoed.
But Jen Karuk forced himself to remain calm and readjusted his grip on his staff.
It wouldn't be broken by any ordinary physical or magical attack.
This is a composite formula barrier, human!
Kwaang!
So it's usele—
Kwaaaang!
Crack!
- My Lord, a crack is forming!
- See, I told you it would work.
“Kiit?”
Jen Karuk's snout hung open in a daze.
No, this can't be happening.
Unless immense physical strength and a suitable Dispel Magic were combined, the god's authority could never be...
Shatter!
It broke.
And quite spectacularly at that.
Jen Karuk stared blankly ahead as he was showered with fragments of the barrier, which shattered like pieces of glass.
The ones who had smashed the god's authority were revealing themselves from within the storm.
But one of them was, somehow...
Incredibly large for a human.
“As expected, the King of All Knowledge's insight is truly astonishing!”
“Persistently attacking one spot until it breaks is a golden rule in this business. Remember that, Odolph.”
Jen Karuk blinked.
It wasn't a human.
As far as he knew, that was a species called 'Ogre'.
It was wearing a ridiculous hat, but there was no mistaking it.
A belligerent, unintelligent, and sluggish race, though strong.
They were supposed to be like that.
“When I wield this scepter, imbued with Dispel Magic and guided by my Lord's insight, what petty sorcery could possibly prevail!”
The massive log in the ogre's hands.
What was that faint white light glowing on it?
Why could an ogre use Dispel Magic?
And a high-level Dispel Magic that surpassed a god's authority, at that?
“Ki, kiit...”
Jen Karuk desperately sought his god.
His god, surely his god would provide an answer to this absurd situation.
But even his god remained silent.
Instead, the human beside the ogre spoke.
“Oh, are you Jen Karuk?”
“Kiit!”
Jen Karuk gripped the staff in his hand and flicked his tongue.
His authority had already vanished, and the storm was subsiding.
But thanks to that, he could now focus entirely on lethal magic.
No matter how specialized in magic that ogre was, this next spell would not be easily unraveled, even with Dispel Magic.
Kwarururuk!
A fierce water mist began to form at the tip of his staff.
At this, the ogre also reacted.
“Go!”
It launched something at him as he was chanting the spell.
“Kiit!”
The Lizardman High Priest's snout opened wide.
He had anticipated this and cast Dispel Magic in advance.
Any ordinary projectile magic would vanish instantly!
“Shiit?”
And only after that 'projectile' was right in front of his face.
Did Jen Karuk realize something was wrong.
But he never found out what, exactly, was wrong.
* * *
“Odolph.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
I asked quietly.
“You said that was a scepter?”
Odolph, who had been standing in a baseball pitcher's throwing pose, straightened himself.
He then strode over and pulled the log out of the ground.
Beneath it lay the bloody pulp of Jen Karuk's corpse.
The ogre smiled benevolently.
“My apologies, my Lord. My learning is still shallow, so I was unable to devise a high-level elemental formula to counter that magic.”
So you just bashed him with the 'scepter' itself.
Yeah, that makes sense.
An ogre archmage would do that.
I guess so?
“Still, the item you desired is without a single scratch, my Lord.”
Odolph, who had retrieved his log, held something out to me.
It was a mana stone the size of a fist.
Unlike other stones, something like an orange flame swirled inside it.
As I picked it up from his massive palm, a rift opened up above me as if it had been waiting.
I immediately tossed the mana stone into it.
[Selling a total of 1 Special Soulstone.]
[The Lord's Castle is distributing rewards. Reward: 1 Special Space Development Ticket, 1 Premium Gacha Ticket, 4000 Gold (to be distributed after a certain time due to insufficient funds)]
[Named Monster 'Jen Karuk' has been added to the Lord's Castle. 'Jen Karuk' can be deployed during wave defenses.]
A lot of things came in, but I could check them slowly later.
Then Odolph knelt on one knee before me.
“Mount up, my Lord. I will see you back safely.”
He was telling me to ride on his shoulder.
It was an offer I desperately wanted to refuse.
“I'm fine.”
“The field's unique properties have collapsed, so we could sink at any moment. Let us get to dry land quickly, my Lord.”
He was right.
Indeed, the ogre and I were standing on the surface of the water in the middle of the lake.
On the way here, it didn't matter because Jen Karuk's magic had consumed the entire field.
But now, it wouldn't be strange if we sank at any moment.
“Besides, your shadow must have disappeared as well. You must be tired, so please leave the return journey to me.”
Just like a mage, he seemed to have noticed that I had completely used up my Lord's Afterimage.
...Alright.
When else would I get the chance to ride an ogre?
* * *
“Keruk, kiruk!”
After unsummoning Odolph, I returned to where the Pigmalets were gathered, and Gono greeted me.
“Gono, what about the Pigmalets?”
“Kiruk!”
Gono pointed toward the forest.
The forest, ravaged by the storm, was a devastating sight.
“Kkyuit, kkyuit!”
But amidst the wreckage of broken trees and bushes, the Pigmalets waiting for me were full of energy.
“Ah, Hunter Hanul!”
And among them was the kind-hearted-looking healer.
Min Jiseon stood up and bowed her head.
“Hunter Hanul, thank you so much. You saved us.”
“How are the other hunters?”
Indeed, members of the Bulgul Guild were also lying among the Pigmalets.
“They all survived. We brought them here for treatment as soon as the storm stopped. Most of them have been crippled, though...”
Min Jiseon's eyes turned to Jo Gwangsu, who was sitting surrounded by Pigmalets.
He sat blankly, a bandage covering one of his eyes.
But that was only for a moment.
His one remaining eye met mine.
Immediately after, he rose from his spot and strode toward me.
“Guild Master!”
Min Jiseon tried to stop him, but I raised a hand to halt her.
And Jo Gwangsu, who had come right up to me...
Thud.
Knelt before me.
“I'm sorry. I... was wrong.”
“...”
“As a leader, no, as a hunter, I failed to act responsibly. I kept telling myself that all roads lead to Rome, so I only tried to find the easy path.”
He had lost his way at some point, Jo Gwangsu muttered.
“I had forgotten that this world isn't a place where you can survive on tricks alone.”
Jo Gwangsu looked at his unconscious guild members and clenched his teeth.
“I'm glad you seem to have realized it now.”
“...I'm sorry.”
“There is nowhere in this world where one can survive on tricks alone.”
I summed it up in one sentence.
That's just how the world was.
Getting things for free is great.
But if you only ever eat raw, you're bound to get sick eventually.
“I will take it to heart.”
Jo Gwangsu replied, bowing so low it looked like he would plant his head in the ground.
I said nothing more.
It would be more accurate to say there was no need to.
And right on cue, a voice echoed.
[Congratulations. You have overcome the Trial of the Depths.]
[Rewards will be distributed to all challengers who have overcome the trial. After checking your rewards, you may choose between exiting midway or proceeding to the deeper levels. Challengers who are unconscious will be automatically withdrawn.]
“Even if it's later, I truly wish to see you again. I will definitely show you a changed man.”
Jo Gwangsu said, even as he was being helped up by Min Jiseon.
I simply nodded.
“Then I wish you luck, Hunter Kim Hanul.”
“Please be careful, Hunter Hanul.”
With that final farewell, Min Jiseon and Jo Gwangsu turned into particles of light and disappeared.
The other lying members of the Bulgul Guild vanished in the same way.
Before I knew it, only I, the Pigmalets, and Gono remained in the ruined forest.
Alright, now it's time to relax and...
[Congratulations. You have completed the hidden mission - Subjugate the Source of the Trial. In addition to the standard reward, a special reward will be distributed.]
Time to check out my personal rewards.