Chapter 169
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 169
“Is that even a question?”
“If you’re referring to our promise, the two weeks we agreed upon have not yet passed.”
“I didn’t come here for that.”
“Then why are you here? I made it clear that I would destroy the Empire myself and that you were not to intervene.”
Despite the absurdity of the situation, Kurak’s voice was dead serious. Swallow didn’t even bother clicking his tongue; he simply sneered. It seemed Kurak intended to feign ignorance until the very end.
“You’re playing dumb quite well, especially with Hexabel right there.”
As Swallow spoke, Kurak’s eyes subtly shifted to look behind him.
Azi Dahaka is here… Kurak could easily piece together how Swallow had found his way to this place.
Having assessed the situation, Kurak replied, “If this is because I failed to inform you of my alliance with Hexabel, then I sincerely apologize. I will offer compensation as a gesture of my regret. However, to intervene in the war over something like that…”
“When you and Hexabel formed your alliance, you must have agreed to certain terms.”
“…”
“Hexabel probably agreed to show up and help if Nilkumbal was in danger.”
“…”
“And in return, she must have demanded something from you.”
Kurak’s mouth snapped shut. Swallow, on the other hand, offered a knowing grin.
If Hexabel were merely helping out of goodwill, she would have had no reason to hide until Nilkumbal’s orcs were being slaughtered on the Annun Plains.
“She asked you to secretly retrieve something for her from inside Riaze, didn’t she?”
With one crucial condition attached.
“She specifically told you to never let Swallow find out.”
“That is…”
“Why did I come? Because you got caught doing the one thing you were forbidden from doing. Now, I’ll give you a chance to explain. You have until I count to five to convince me.”
“…”
Kurak’s expression remained a stony mask, but Swallow caught the tiny, subtle shift he failed to conceal.
“One.”
It was certain.
He had no excuse.
“Two.”
Therefore.
There was no reason to wait.
“Five.”
A single black thorn, moving too fast for the eye to follow, whipped across Kurak’s abdomen like a lash.
Thud!
A heavy, dull sound echoed, belying the whip-like speed of the attack. Kurak was launched into the air, flying well over a hundred meters before crashing to the ground.
“I didn’t kill him. He’s insolent, but someone else has a claim on him.”
The dust finally began to settle. Only then did Swallow turn around.
Only after the inner wall of Riaze had completely collapsed and Kurak had been sent flying did Swallow finally address Hexabel.
“You, however, I’m going to kill without mercy. Play word games with me, and you will die the most painful death imaginable. Remember that.”
Swallow immediately followed up with a question.
“How much did you find out?”
“…”
Hexabel, who had been listening in silence, finally opened her massive maw.
*
Logwood, Kaku, Gomar, Rasak…
The great ancestors had spoken.
Kurak, the warrior of the red axe, was the true leader of the orcs. His valor would lead the tribes to the light.
That light was civilization. He had to guide the orc tribes down the path of civilization. It was a duty he had to fulfill, even at the cost of his own life.
And now, after endless sacrifice and effort, he was just one step away from that glorious path.
Just one more step. If he took it and reached out, he could grasp the light. The light he had so desperately yearned for…
*
—Light.
Light filtered through his eyelids.
Kurak opened his eyes. It took him a few seconds to realize he had been knocked unconscious. His senses rushed back the moment he accepted that fact.
He felt the damp earth against the back of his head. Lying on the ground, the metallic tang of the soil was thick in the air.
“…”
His limbs and five senses were perfectly intact. Senses usually returned slowly after unconsciousness, so the immediate clarity told him he’d only been out for a moment—a few seconds at most.
“…”
Once he grasped that much, the memories of what had happened flooded his mind.
I was caught by Swallow's surprise attack.
The moment he had let his guard down, Swallow’s black thorn had struck him. His memory cut off the instant he was launched into the air.
Kurak quickly raised his head and scanned his surroundings. Far in the distance, through the dust that had yet to fully settle, he could see Swallow’s silhouette.
He was easily two hundred meters away.
To think a single blow had sent him flying two hundred meters.
“I didn’t survive by sheer luck,” Kurak muttered to himself.
In that situation, if Swallow had wanted him dead, he could have killed him easily. Kurak was only intact because Swallow had used the black thorn like a whip instead of a spear.
If the thorn had pierced him as it had the humans and homunculi, he would have been just another corpse dangling from its tip.
…Swallow had spared him.
Why?
He didn’t know the reason. But Kurak clearly remembered the look in Swallow’s eyes.
Golden eyes, thick with murderous intent.
No matter how he thought about it, those weren’t the eyes of a man showing mercy. So what was his angle?
“Ha.”
Kurak let out a hollow laugh.
“Either way, it was a pointless gesture.”
If Swallow had given him a chance to run, it was meaningless. Too many of his kin had already died. It was far too late to retreat.
Above all, over ten thousand orcs were near the Teleportation Hub, awaiting his orders. Kurak was their Legion Commander. He could not abandon his people and flee alone.
I must fulfill my final duty as Legion Commander.
He knew he couldn’t defeat Swallow. That single attack had proven the vast difference in their strength. Kurak’s eyes couldn’t even track the carelessly thrown black thorn.
They might both be Great Evil Caves, but they were clearly not on the same level. If he went to the Teleportation Hub, he would undoubtedly clash with Swallow again… and he would die.
Even so.
I will go and choose death.
As he’d thought, too many had already been sacrificed. They were the lives of comrades who had trusted him and staked everything on this path.
So, one of two outcomes had to be reached: either Kurak died, or a miracle allowed their invasion of the Empire to continue.
Just as Kurak, resolved to die, began to push himself up—
Clang!
The sound of metal striking the ground echoed.
It came from right in front of his head. Still in the process of rising, Kurak lifted his head to look at the metal object before him.
It was a familiar piece of iron.
—The red axe Kurak always used.
And then.
“You left your weapon behind.”
A voice he recognized reached his ears.
Kurak raised his head. Above his red axe, a pair of time-worn sabatons came into view. His gaze traveled upward, slowly revealing the identity of the figure standing before him.
Dark blue plate armor.
A knight clad from head to toe.
“Pleasure to meet you.”
—The gatekeeper of the Primordial Core, ‘Death Knight’ Patrick, was looking down at him.
“…”
Kurak remained silent.
Only after confirming that Patrick had no immediate intention of attacking did he slowly get to his feet. He surveyed his surroundings. The first thing that caught his eye was another figure standing behind Patrick, arms crossed, watching him.
Azi Dahaka…
The Dragon Lord, in her half-human, half-dragon form, stood there with a wary look in her eyes.
But that was all. Crossing her arms was likely her way of signaling that she had no intention of attacking either.
Just as Kurak expected, Azi Dahaka didn’t speak. Instead, as if openly declaring her status as a bystander, she simply flapped her black wings and took to the air.
Only then did Kurak, fully understanding the situation, speak to Patrick.
“So that’s how it is.”
The reason Swallow hadn’t killed him suddenly made sense. The plan to kill him hadn’t changed—only who would be the one to do it.
…And that opponent was.
“Yes. We meet again like this.”
Patrick spoke with a cheerful smile as he took off his helm. Inside the white skull, a blue light shone.
“I didn’t originally plan to interfere with your plans… though saying that, you must have a guilty conscience too, so there’s no need for explanations.”
“…”
“Well, I don’t know about the Boss, but I don’t have any hard feelings toward you, Mr. Kurak. So don’t overthink it. Isn’t that just how a monster’s life goes? You never know what’s coming next. Things don’t always go the way you want.”
The smile was genuine, without a shred of pretense. Kurak replied in a solemn tone.
“You seem rather talkative for a Death Knight.”
“I don’t recall ‘being quiet’ as a requirement for becoming a Death Knight.”
Patrick firmly stepped on the blade of the axe with the toe of his sabaton. The weapon flipped into the air, and he caught it with one hand before tossing it lightly toward Kurak.
Kurak caught his weapon and took a few steps back, putting some distance between them.
“Besides, I really like chatting before a fight. After all, you can’t chat with your opponent once the fight’s over.”
To drive the point home, Patrick made a scissor-like gesture with two fingers over his mouth.
Grinning once more, he drew Tanabella from the sheath on his back.
“Ah, this is just a little complaint, but I really have to wonder if our dungeon should be doing this. Sometimes I get confused about whether we’re on the humans’ side. We’ve already smashed three Great Evil Caves. At this rate, we should be awarded the title of ‘Honorary Human’ or something.”
“…”
“Oh dear, I’ve done all the talking again. So, Mr. Kurak, anything you’d like to say?”
His chatter wasn’t a bluff or a pretense of relaxation. Patrick was genuinely at ease.
Kurak furrowed his brow.
He was in no mood for conversation. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t understand. What was Swallow thinking, sending his subordinate here? Just one? Or was there an ambush?
If not…
Did he really think a mere gatekeeper of a Great Evil Cave could defeat a boss on his own?
“I have much to say, but…”
Kurak gripped his axe and took a combat stance. To resolve this, he had to get past Patrick anyway.
“I’ll speak after I’ve subdued you.”
“Very well.”
“No, Death Knight. Before that.”
As Kurak pointed his red axe at Patrick, the Death Knight’s playful tone vanished, and he replied instantly.
“Before that, let me ask you one thing. Do you, a mere gatekeeper, truly believe you can defeat me, Kurak, a boss of a Great Evil Cave? Who devised such a foolish plan?”
“Oh, please. As if being a Great Evil Cave boss is some grand thing… Oh, wait, now that I think about it, it actually is quite impressive.”
“I, Kurak, have lived for over two hundred years. No matter how strong you are, as an undead, you are surely weaker than Erebos.”
“I wouldn’t know, since I’ve never fought him. …Oh, and I actually heard from the Boss that you’ve lived for over two hundred years. That’s why,”
Ready to fight with his full strength and without a shred of carelessness, Patrick put his helm back on. Yet, as if determined not to lose his playful demeanor, his right hand continuously spun Tanabella.
“I’ve spent over a hundred and fifty years cooped up in a dungeon, swinging my sword without a single wink of sleep.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Patrick’s wrist stopped.
The whirring greatsword stopped dead, its blade pointed directly at Kurak.
Patrick corrected his stance and lunged.
Claaaaang!
A tremendous roar echoed from the very first clash. The greatsword and axe ground against each other, showering the air with sparks.
Before the shockwave could even erupt, both Patrick and Kurak withdrew their weapons simultaneously. Their attacks were simple, but they were executed with a speed that was hard to believe for a greatsword and an axe.
Their swings were so perfectly matched they seemed indistinguishable. Had it not been for the shockwaves whipping through the area, it would have looked like a perfectly synchronized sparring match.
—The slightest difference would decide the outcome. Not a single mistake could be tolerated.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Amidst clashes that occurred several times a second, Patrick was the first to change tactics.
During the relentless barrage, Patrick spotted a tiny opening and deflected Kurak’s strike at an angle.
Screeech!
The sparks flying from the friction momentarily blinded them. Seizing the split second Kurak was thrown off balance, Patrick ducked and lunged.
Kurak, deciding against a reckless head-on confrontation, took a large step back.
“…”
Immediately after, he furrowed his brow.