Chapter 165
Chapter 165
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 165
Chapter Title: 69. Transformation (1)
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Liberda was in an uproar.
Three ogres were rampaging wildly.
The city walls had crumbled like flimsy wooden fences, and humans were being crushed like ants.
Even the army sent by the lord had been wiped out.
The kingdom was gripped by terror.
Liberda's king, Elliot, played his strongest card to turn the tide.
Eto.
He was one of the knights said to be the protagonists alongside Jose when the Ten Strong underwent a generational shift someday.
Eto set out for Einhern, where the three ogres had last been sighted, leading his own Thornbush Knights, four additional knight orders, and an army of soldiers.
And he found his targets.
They were asleep.
Seeing the three ogres sprawled out, Eto steadied his breathing.
"......"
Eto's calm nature kept him from showing any agitation.
"The ogres are sleeping."
The other knights grimaced.
The death toll from Donchichi and his two ogres was beyond counting.
One city lay in complete ruins, its citizens slaughtered, its army annihilated.
The streets echoed with grief and wailing.
Yet the culprits were napping spread-eagled like they were on a picnic.
That peaceful sight only fueled the knights' rage.
Eto held them back.
"Hold position for now."
"Sir Eto, we need to strike them down while they're asleep!"
"They're already awake."
"Pardon?"
As soon as he spoke, one ogre sat up.
It groggily scanned its surroundings with half-lidded eyes.
"Uh......"
The ogre rubbed its eyes and muttered.
"Again?"
Eto refrained from rash action, quietly circulating his mana. Sensing it, the ogre flinched.
The ogre spoke.
"Nap time now. Sleepy. Fight later."
Its demeanor seemed oddly innocent.
The soldiers behind them began whispering.
"That's really an ogre......?"
"Must be some false rumor."
"An idiot like that destroyed a city?"
"Donchichi's the one sleeping, and those are just his underlings, right?"
The ogre sat indifferently, then fumbled around on the ground.
It picked up a rock and hurled it.
The soldiers who'd been chattering were smashed by the rock.
Four died without even screaming.
It happened so suddenly there wasn't even a chance to start the battle.
Everyone froze in place.
The ogre pointed at one group of stunned knights.
"There. My spot."
Shouts erupted around them.
"H-Hey, move aside first."
"Stop staring and just give up the seat."
"You wanna get hit by a rock?!"
The ogre stood up. Its massive frame cast a long shadow.
It turned to Eto, whose face was flushed red with anger.
"Harassment. Annoying."
With that, the ogre shuffled to the spot the knights had vacated and sat down.
It was a sunny patch.
The ogre closed its eyes, swaying as it basked in the warm sunlight.
"This is good."
As the ogre started to doze off again, Eto approached.
"A gift."
The ogre tilted its head and held out its hand.
It was a cylindrical object, too small for the ogre's hand to grip properly.
A fuse at the end was burning.
A small paper tag was attached.
Explosive. Handle with care. Light and throw immediately.
The moment it glanced at it, the bomb detonated.
"Grahhh!"
The ogre clutched its eyes and roared. That woke the other two sleeping ogres, who bolted upright.
"Donchichi, you okay?"
"Eyes hurt. Can't see."
"Poor Donchichi."
"Everything's dark. That's... the future."
Eto drew his sword. Luckily, the one he'd hit was the Ten Strong's Donchichi.
"Now! Don't give them an opening!"
Eto rallied his forces.
Ogre flesh was incredibly tough. The blindness from the bomb might wear off quickly.
Eto charged straight at Donchichi.
"These humans are tough."
"Safe fight, safe slaughter."
"No sleepy fights."
Ignoring the two ogres' nonsense, Eto unleashed his sword aura, sharp enough to cleave ogre hide in one stroke.
As he closed in, one of Donchichi's eyes snapped open amid the blood streaming down its face.
"Really pissed now!"
Donchichi swung its fists together.
A tremendous gust hit.
Eto's spine chilled. Even a graze would be instant death.
It felt like tightroping over an abyss.
His instincts screamed to flee, his will urged forward. They clashed in discord.
But he was a trained knight.
He suppressed the urge and pressed on.
The fist barely missed, ruffling his hair.
A gap opened. Eto slashed Donchichi's throat.
Blood sprayed.
Something was wrong. He sensed it immediately and dodged.
Donchichi clutched its neck, howling.
"My neck hurts! Too much bleeding!"
Its thick hide had protected the major blood vessels even from the sword aura; it wasn't a fatal wound.
It shouldn't have been able to scream like that with a slashed throat.
"A monster."
Eto retreated, spinning his sword.
Blood splattered the ground.
Ogre blood reeked of fish.
He glanced around.
Soldiers blocked escape routes while knights clung to the ogres like dwarves battling giants, fighting desperately.
Nets and chains flew to bind them, but the ogres dodged cleverly.
Eto had a premonition.
Today, Donchichi couldn't be killed.
They might drive it off with full force, but catching and killing a fleeing Donchichi would be hard.
He adjusted his goal.
He called three trusted knights.
"Help me!"
"Yes, sir!"
Against foes like Donchichi, a small elite team of reliable knights was better than overwhelming numbers.
"Killing it today will be tough."
"Pardon?"
"It's one of the Ten Strong."
"Understood."
"So we're changing targets. We'll hold Donchichi with minimal forces. Kill those two ogres."
"Yes, sir!"
The three knights, who knew Eto's composure well, followed his orders without hesitation.
Eto turned and shouted.
"Kill both of them! We'll handle Donchichi!"
Every soldier except him and the three knights threw themselves at the two ogres.
Suddenly, one soldier flew through the air, spraying blood.
Eto forced his eyes away.
Now was the time to focus on battle.
"We hold Donchichi."
Donchichi was smart, as before. It instantly read Eto and the knights' plan and bellowed.
"Humans, cowards! Scum, despised!"
"Speak for your own kind."
Eto muttered, standing before Donchichi with sword raised. The three knights flanked him, covering all angles.
Donchichi spun in place, glaring at each in turn.
It looked like it was playing.
"Humans, cowards. Humans, cowards."
As it pranced about, the knights' focus wavered for a moment.
"What the hell is that thing......?"
One knight muttered and took a sudden hit from Donchichi, rolling across the ground. He absorbed the impact but spat blood.
"Don't let your guard down! It's cunning!"
Eto yelled.
Donchichi grinned, slammed its hand into the dirt, grabbed a fistful, and flung it around.
Its huge hand scooped up a lot of soil.
Visibility blurred instantly.
Eto shouted.
"Brace! Incoming attack!"
But Donchichi's goal wasn't to fight. It charged past Eto.
"Wrong answer, too bad!"
Donchichi broke through the loose formation of four knights to rescue the two ogres.
Not only clever, Donchichi was an ogre lord who cherished its kin.
Even corrupted by dark magic into savagery, its camaraderie remained.
"My friends! I'll protect you!"
"So touching!"
"Loyalty! Loyalty!"
The three ogres united.
Eto didn't panic. He led the three knights forward, striving to block Donchichi again.
No matter how grueling, he wouldn't despair. He just calmly pressed on with his duty.
"Sir Eto, can we really hold it?"
From the moment he met Donchichi, Eto had sensed it would be hard to fully contain.
A head-on clash might work, but the intelligent Donchichi would evade unfavorable fights, alternating flight and battle to devastate Liberda.
"We can't."
"Then......"
"His Majesty will call for aid. We hold until then."
"Aid from......?"
Eto looked up.
Excluding the Empire, only one nation had a Ten Strong member staying long-term, plus comparable knights.
"Brioll will come."
Liberda requested support.
But there was a problem.
The Empire had declared Liberda an enemy for harassing Donchichi, its emperor's vassal, and threatened the same for any aiding nation.
It was blatant intimidation.
The Empire was already mobilizing as if war was imminent.
But Brioll had a solution.
"You've stayed in Brioll long enough. Time to go."
It was Moyongchan.
He was a guest at the palace, not officially tied to Brioll.
If he stepped in, the Empire had no pretext against Brioll.
Moyongchan accepted Fiore's request.
He'd come west to fight evil anyway.
"Must go quick. People dying uselessly."
Moyongchan packed immediately.
Yuri felt reluctant. He wanted to go too, but with unknowns ahead, he had to stay in Brioll.
Instead, he assigned helpers.
"Simon, Guinness. I trust you."
"Leave it to us."
"We'll escort Grand Master Moyongchan properly."
They seemed eager to accompany him. Both had improved greatly under his guidance.
"Come back safe."
"We'll return unharmed."
"Thanks."
Moyongchan departed for Liberda with Simon and Guinness.
Reports said Liberda's situation was dire.
They'd caught the two ogres with Donchichi, but the real threat kept fleeing and fighting, ravaging the land.
All they could do was hope they held until Moyongchan arrived.
Meanwhile, the Empire's army began moving.
By Moyongchan's arrival, it would already be marching on Liberda.
All nations went on high alert.
The alliance centered on Brioll—Holy Kingdom, Burssen, Liberda—mobilized fully.
It seemed the Empire and the entire continent were headed for an all-out war.
Yuri steeled himself.
But then, the unexpected happened.
Hearing the news, Yuri cursed.
"Damn it......"
Since returning to the past, Yuri hadn't faced major setbacks. He'd achieved his goals, and preparations against the Empire were smooth.
This was different.
Completely unforeseen.
"Why? How? What the hell reason?"
The continent reeled in shock.
The Holy Kingdom's throne had passed to a new king, who immediately attacked Burssen.
And the one who'd decided was not Larson.
Sibylla.
She had become the Holy Kingdom's king.