Chapter 38: He’s a Real Monster (2)
Chapter 38: He’s a Real Monster (2)
“Everyone, get back!”
A small but familiar back suddenly appeared in front of Sanson.
Patrick, who had run even faster to chase down the King Ogre, now stood blocking the path of Sanson and his soldiers.
The moment the soldiers saw the two swords gripped firmly in his hands, they cried out.
“Young Master!”
“Young Master, you can’t!”
“Please, get away!”
The soldiers shouted desperately.
They didn't matter, but Patrick shouldn't be here. It was unthinkable for a boy like Patrick Schneider, with such a brilliant future ahead of him, to die a meaningless death.
A figure who might one day leave a legendary mark on the continent's history should not lose his life for the sake of nameless soldiers.
Spurred by a sudden surge of courage, the soldiers tried to rush past Patrick to block the King Ogre themselves.
But in that moment…
“Fuuuuu….”
The blue Aura flickering on Patrick’s swords began to shrink.
It didn't look like it was fading away. Rather, it felt as if it were being condensed.
The shrinking Aura eventually seeped completely into the blades. The swords in Patrick’s hands lost their glow, returning to the appearance of ordinary, polished steel. And then, immediately after…
“Ha!”
With Patrick’s sharp shout, an Aura far brighter and more vivid than before took shape around his blades.
Flash!
It wasn't a shimmering haze like before; it was a materialized Aura that held the distinct shape of a blade.
What that symbolized was…
“An… Aura Blade?”
“7-Star…?”
The soldiers’ jaws dropped.
How many times had they been shocked today? They thought they had seen enough to be stunned for a lifetime. They thought they had finally seen the true extent of the boy’s power.
But Patrick’s depths were far deeper than they could have ever imagined.
Twin Dragons Eight Sword Styles (雙龍八劍式)
Second Style (第二式)
Great Dragon Cross Sword (太龍十字劍)
In that instant, the soldiers saw it.
As Patrick’s body lunged forward, two flashes of light carved through the air around him.
One horizontal.
One vertical.
The moment the two strikes overlapped in the shape of a cross (十), a massive Aura Blade swept right through the King Ogre.
And Patrick…
“Ugh!”
He passed right by the King Ogre and collapsed onto the ground behind it, unable to even stick the landing.
“Young Masteeer!”
The soldiers screamed until their throats were raw, but Patrick didn't move an inch.
As for the King Ogre…
—Grrr…? Gruff.
It stood there, looking utterly bewildered.
It knew that the being from a moment ago had unleashed a strange energy and done something. It understood that much, but nothing had happened afterward.
What was going on?
Wait, more importantly, the enemy was weakened now. Anyone could see that the figure twitching on the ground was vulnerable.
—Grrrrrrr….
It is the nature of a beast to regain its spirit when an enemy shows weakness. The fallen Patrick was no longer a mysterious, terrifying entity; he was merely weakened prey.
The King Ogre turned its body, intending to crush Patrick with a single fist.
“Block him!”
“Protect the Great Warrior!”
“Young Masteeer!”
Seeing the King Ogre move, the orcs and soldiers charged toward the beast with a unified cry. However, their actions were unnecessary.
—Grrr….
The moment the King Ogre turned around, a single cross-shaped line of blood appeared in the center of its body.
Blood began to seep from the line, followed by a level of agony incomparable to anything it had felt before.
—Gr… Gruuuuuu….
The ogre instinctively pressed both hands against the sides of its head, trying to hold its splitting skull together. But…
Splatter!
Soon, the ogre’s body split into four pieces, starting from the neck.
As its massive frame fell apart, entrails and a torrent of blood spilled out, instantly filling the air with a thick, metallic stench.
“Wh… What?”
“My god… he just killed a King Ogre….”
The soldiers stared in horror at the mangled corpse of the King Ogre.
It was surreal. To think they would live to see the corpse of a calamity that, at its worst, could bring an entire kingdom to ruin?
Faced with a reality they had never even dared to imagine, the soldiers stood frozen.
Sanson was the first to snap out of it and shout.
“The Young Master! Take care of the Young Master!”
“Oh, right! Young Master!”
“Young Master! Are you alright?”
The soldiers rushed to where Patrick lay.
Patrick spat out a mouthful of blood and muttered.
“Took you… long enough… you bastards….”
Then, Patrick closed his eyes.
* * *
It was a familiar sight, but no matter how many times he saw it, he could never get used to it—the worried face of his friend.
“Are you awake?”
“Why is the first thing I see when I wake up your ugly face?”
“Talking nonsense already? I guess you’re fine then.”
Dragon-Chasing Scholar Zhuge Hyeon.
A tragic genius abandoned by his family due to his plain looks and prickly personality, he was also one of Jincheon’s few friends.
“Ugh…. What’s the situation?”
As Jincheon forced himself to sit up, Zhuge Hyeon frowned.
“We won. Thanks to some crazy bastard who charged in blindly and took the head of Zhang Suo, the Poison Blood Hand of the Ten Great Evils.”
“Right. Then that’s that.”
“That’s that? That’s thaaat?!”
Zhuge Hyeon’s face contorted. Jincheon thought that when an ugly guy scowled, he looked ten times uglier, while Zhuge Hyeon unleashed a storm of nagging.
“You crazy bastard. I don't care how much danger our allies were in, who charges alone at one of the Ten Great Evils when he’s guarded by Poison Demon Jiangshis? Do you have fifteen lives or something?”
“Stop nagging. We won, didn't we?”
“Listen to this guy. His mouth is working just fine, isn't it? You really don't know the meaning of reflection, do you?”
“Heh. I am the Radiant Dragon Hero, Jincheon. In my forty-five years of life, I have never once reflected on my actions.”
“You’re proud of that, you lunatic!”
“What? What? What? Why? Why? Why? What are you going to do about it, you ugly bastard?”
“Ho? You’re curious about what I’ll do?”
“…No. On second thought, I’m not that curious….”
“I’m telling your Master.”
“Hey, why?!”
“And I’m telling your wife, too.”
“Don't cross the line, you ugly bastard.”
“Line? You’re the one who’s crazy. She’s going to ask me anyway. The Saintess of Sichuan needs to know exactly what kind of madness you pulled to turn your body into a rag….”
“Die, you ugly bastard!”
Jincheon forced his aching body up and lunged at Zhuge Hyeon. He felt a desperate sense of crisis—if he didn't silence this guy now, his life would truly be in danger.
* * *
“You ugly bastard!”
Patrick sat up with a roar. Or rather, he tried to.
“Aaaargh!”
He would have succeeded if not for the excruciating pain that washed over him the moment he tried to move.
“Young Master?”
“Young Master, are you awake?”
Sanson and Oliver rushed to his side.
“Ugh…. Do I look okay? You idiots.”
“Ah… ah… you’re okay. Thank goodness, Young Master.”
“I said I’m not okay! My Ki Meridians are snapped and twisted and a total mess!”
“……”
“……”
Sanson and Oliver looked at Patrick with expressions that clearly said, ‘What are those?’
Ah, right. They wouldn't know.
“Forget it. What would you guys know?”
You ignorant fools….
Patrick lay back down with a lonely sigh.
His internal energy was completely haywire, and some of his meridians were indeed torn. His muscles were shredded, and it was hard to find a single joint that felt intact. It was a miracle he wasn't dead, but it would take quite some time to return his body to normal.
Then again, he had forced out Aura to perform the Great Dragon Cross Sword with his current body. To be honest, he had attacked with the expectation that he might die, so he was lucky to be alive and have his Dantian intact. It was at a level he could eventually fix.
It seemed that because the Qi density in this world was much higher than in his original world, he had consumed less of his Innate True Energy.
‘Still, it’s going to be a pain to fix.’
While he was lucky, the conditions for recovery were far from ideal. He wished he had a medicinal pill to treat internal injuries, or better yet…
‘Tsk. Maybe it’s because I saw her in my dream? I miss my wife from my past life.’
Tang Su-yeon, known as the Saintess of Sichuan.
As his wife, her medical arts were among the top three in the entire Martial World. If she were here now…
‘No, wait. It’s actually better that the woman isn't here.’
Patrick shuddered as he recalled the past.
[Oh? You’re hurt? Then we have to treat you. Come here. Stay still.]
She would treat him perfectly, but the price was endless nagging and a treatment process that involved horrific pain. The pain was so intense that even the great Radiant Dragon Hero, Jincheon, would scream. Sometimes he had writhed in such agony that he wondered if it would have been better to just leave the injury alone. And…
[Why do you keep getting hurt, you ignorant man?]
Most of all, the memory of her wiping away tears and speaking sadly while thinking he was asleep was what hurt his heart the most.
“Tsk, what a bad dream….”
“What was that, sir?”
“Never mind. How long was I out?”
“Three days, sir.”
“Three days? And our current location is…?”
“The site of the Red Rock orc tribe’s village. The orcs are busy rebuilding it.”
“What? You’re just letting them do that? You idiots!”
“…Pardon?”
“Ugh. You guys don't have as much sense as a goblin’s dick. Go get the Chief. Now!”
As Patrick ranted and shouted, Oliver quickly ran outside.
He was glad the human who had been unconscious for three days had finally woken up. He should be glad, but…
‘Ah, he should have stayed asleep a bit longer.’
Peace is always short-lived.
The Red Rock tribe had lost much. A significant number of warriors had died honorably, and their home had been burned down by Patrick’s fire attack.
‘But it is fine.’
“Lift that over there!”
“We lack usable hides. Someone go hunting!”
“Cut down some trees to use as pillars!”
Watching the orcs move busily to rebuild the village, a smile touched Turanta’s lips. Surviving an encounter with a King Ogre was a miracle in itself. Since there were survivors, they could gather their strength once more and take root in this land…
“Chief!”
But seeing Patrick approach with a heavy scowl, Turanta began to get the feeling that things wouldn't go that way.
“Chief, what on earth are you doing?”
“Are you awake, Great Warrior?”
“Great Warrior my foot, what are you doing?”
“As you can see, we are rebuilding our home.”
“Why?”
Patrick asked with an expression of utter incomprehension.
“Why bother rebuilding this place? It’s not like you’re going to live here anymore.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You have to move. Didn't we agree to be neighbors?”
“……?”
“……?”
The two men stared at each other, both looking confused. Patrick was the first to break the silence.
“Are you seriously going to break your promise now?”
“Huh? What promise?”
“I told you when I agreed to fight the King Ogre with you, didn't I? That neighbors should protect and help each other.”
“I believe something like that was mentioned….”
“Then the orcs should help us now. Do you have any idea how many fragile people in our territory are suffering because of monsters?”
“No, how could that be? Not when they have a Great Warrior like you.”
“What good is it if I’m the only strong one? The rest of them are just useless freeloaders!”
Patrick’s words felt like arrows piercing the chests of the soldiers listening from behind.
And then Patrick…
“Oh, woe is me! I risked my life and gave it my all to help, and now you’re just going to wash your hands of it? And you call yourself a Great Warrior?”
“No, wait… just a moment, I don't understand the situation….”
“Oh, the sorrow! The misery!”
Patrick suddenly collapsed onto the ground and began flailing his arms and legs in a full-blown tantrum.
“The misery! The sorrow! Not even a human, but an orc is scamming me! Hey! You, the orc passing by! Yeah, you with the massive lats! Listen to this! Your Chief is currently…!”
“Wait… Wait!”
Turanta was utterly flustered.
The soldiers watching the scene thought to themselves:
‘Wow, he’s starting.’
‘He really doesn't care who it is or where he is.’
‘Wait, did he burn down the orc village just for this?’
The more they thought about it, the more certain they became. Come to think of it, during the preparations for the fire attack, Patrick had specifically told them to soak the orc tents thoroughly in oil. And look at him now, rushing over to throw a fit the moment he heard they were trying to rebuild.
It had been a plan from the very beginning.
“Ohhh! Ohhh! Who says orcs are a race of warriors who know honor? From now on, I’m calling you a race of scammers! Breaking promises! Breaking promises!”
“Fine! Fine! I’ll listen to what you have to say, so just get up!”
“Huh? Really?”
Patrick, who had been rolling on the ground and wailing as if the world were ending, sprang to his feet.
With a beaming smile, he said, “Hehehe. You said you’d listen to whatever I say, right? You really said that?”
“I didn't say whatever…”
“Oh, the sorr—”
“Fine! I get it! Just don't lie back down!”
In the end, the orc tribe was forced to move their base of operations, exactly as Patrick intended.