Chapter 55
Chapter 55
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Hunter's Memory (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Yuri gripped the red gem in his hand.
He had guessed it wasn't an ordinary item, given its ability to drive orcs into a frenzy, but he never imagined it would be connected to this ruin.
As the gem pulsed, the light within it grew brighter.
Yuri could now see the room he had reached in greater detail.
Human skeletons, just like the ones he'd seen from outside, were visible.
They all appeared to have taken their own lives.
And in the midst of that pile of corpses stood something like a staff embedded with a mana stone.
The gem began to emit a stronger glow.
Yuri couldn't tell if he was moving on his own or if the staff was drawing him closer.
Clutching the red gem in one hand, he placed his other hand on the mana stone atop the staff.
Then, everything before his eyes turned white.
Something began to appear.
First, a brilliant blue sky, followed by endless grasslands stretching out forever.
Yuri soon realized he was viewing all this through someone else's eyes.
The memories within the staff were old and faded.
There were gaps torn here and there, forcibly pieced together, leaving parts that were hard to understand at a glance, but the overall flow was clear.
This structure had been a shelter for hunters.
They stayed here, carrying out the king's orders to eliminate harmful creatures.
Orcs.
The owner of these memories had earned the qualification of hunter in the kingdom and come all the way to the edge of these grasslands. He had trained under his master.
They hunted orcs steadily.
But the orcs showed no sign of decreasing. They fled the moment hunters appeared, multiplying through their tenacious vitality no matter what.
So the hunters used artifacts imbued with magic.
The memory's owner received one from his master.
"This is the mark of an orc hunter."
What he held was a red gem necklace, just like the one Yuri possessed.
All the hunters carried them.
"It can lure orcs."
Yuri learned that the red gem was a tool once used by the ancient grassland hunters.
"Ugly, pitiful things."
His master always said that.
"Show them no mercy. Death is the only salvation you can give them."
They hunted orcs with swords, bows, and sometimes weapons infused with magic. Adults, children—any orc met the same fate.
He had his doubts.
"Why do orcs hate humans so much?"
His master didn't answer.
Eventually, the owner of the memories became a full-fledged hunter. And the master who had trained him grew old enough to retire.
When the time came, the master passed on his final knowledge to his disciple.
That night, too, they had slaughtered a band of orcs and were warming themselves by a bonfire amid the corpses.
"Do you know how orcs came to be?"
"Pardon?"
It was a question he'd never even considered.
"Weren't they creatures that lived far to the east and were pushed into the grasslands?"
"No."
The master told an old tale.
"There was a noble who enjoyed hunting slaves after releasing them. The king heard of it and banned the killings, leaving the noble greatly disheartened. That's when a mage made him an offer."
That mage taught the noble a forbidden art that allowed him to kill to his heart's content. He created beings that were human yet not human.
"That dark, filthy magic corrupted humanity."
The owner of the memories was deeply shocked.
"No way... that's..."
His master looked at his disciple with faded eyes and said,
"Orcs are humans corrupted by black magic."
The noble used humans to create orcs. He gave them grotesque appearances fitting for prey, and modified them for easy breeding to increase their numbers.
The orc pens in his territory continuously supplied game.
"They were human, yet not human. So no one could condemn the noble. Quite the opposite—those who didn't know the truth praised him for eliminating those horrific creatures."
But the truth came out.
The noble was executed, and the mage who turned humans into orcs vanished without a trace.
In the chaos, the orcs that escaped the pens quickly formed packs in the grasslands beyond the border.
Thus, the monster created by humans became a cursed raider that hated humanity and devoured their flesh.
"The magic no longer exists, but orcs began breeding on their own. They've multiplied beyond control. Orcs are a human strain modified by black magic."
"Black magic..."
The owner of the memories trembled.
In that ancient grassland kingdom, black magic seemed to be an object of terror.
"That's why they instinctively hate untainted humans and show intense aggression. Whether it's nature or jealousy, I can't say."
"Either way, it means everything we've killed until now was originally human."
The master smiled, wrinkles forming at the corners of his mouth.
"Not killed—saved. Our duty is to send those cursed by black magic to their rest."
Moyongchan's mention of human sacrifice and the orc shaman's dark power, along with Ragnar's talk of black magic, tangled in Yuri's mind.
Perhaps it was connected to the tragedy of his previous life.
The memory shifted.
The master departed, and the owner continued hunting orcs.
Now, he was the leader of the hunters.
Time passed, but the orcs didn't diminish no matter how many they killed.
They even banded together to raid the kingdom's borders directly. The kingdom sent troops, but they achieved little.
Then tragedy struck.
Some inexplicable disaster befell the kingdom.
As the kingdom faltered, the orcs rose up.
The hunters' shelter, cut off from support, was engulfed in threat.
The orcs had no intention of letting the hunters be. They would torture and humiliate them until they begged for death.
The kingdom fell, and the hunters were surrounded by orcs.
The mage staying with the hunters made a proposal.
"I'll seal this place with magic. Completely isolate it until reinforcements arrive."
"Will it work?"
"It'll take time, but..."
Would reinforcements even come?
But they couldn't give up like this.
The orcs were already attacking the building. The door burst open, and orcs poured in.
"I'll buy us time."
The owner of the memories took up his sword and stepped out beyond the iron door.
He blocked the entrance.
"Salvation."
His master had called their work salvation.
Now, the owner believed it too.
He gripped his sword and glared at the grotesque monsters bearing down on him.
They were another form of humanity, corrupted by a curse, instinctively hating humans and craving their flesh.
"May you one day find salvation."
He bought time with his life.
After slaying countless orcs, he leaned against the wall and met his end.
His vision darkened.
...
Then, someone's face reappeared.
It was the mage who had sealed the iron door.
His face was pallid.
"No one came. Outside is still swarming with orcs. We've decided to die here."
He said,
"We used a forbidden method, but we've preserved the memories of history's greatest hunter. May someone in the future see this, and may our deaths not be in vain. May those cursed things be utterly exterminated from this land. And..."
He uttered his final words.
They felt a bit out of place.
"Beware the demon's grimoire."
Yuri awoke.
His head throbbed.
He bowed his head for a moment, catching his breath.
It wasn't just overload from absorbing the memories. A dark energy had settled in his mind.
But the energy of Heart-Soul Severing rose from his core, pushing out the malevolent force.
Only after struggling for a while did his mind clear.
"Damn it..."
This wasn't ordinary magic.
Yuri realized the spell that preserved the dead man's memories was black magic too.
Had black magic been that commonplace in the ancient grassland kingdom?
Yuri looked down at the red gem in his hand. Its revealed nature was an ancient hunting tool.
He tucked it away again, then removed his hand from the staff's mana stone.
The mana stone at the tip shattered.
It crumbled into powder and scattered, and the staff that had stood atop the corpse pile toppled over.
The magical energy enveloping the underground chamber evaporated completely.
Soon, faint voices echoed.
"Priiiince..."
It must have been a spell that only let in the bearer of the red gem.
With the magic's power exhausted, the seal had lifted.
Yuri went to the entrance and pulled the door handle.
The door opened easily.
Rolang's face appeared.
"Huh?"
"You've come out!"
"Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine."
Yuri flung the door wide open. The rest of the knights came into view.
They peered inside the underground chamber.
"There are corpses inside too..."
"They hid from the orcs but ended up dying anyway."
"I see."
Rolang looked down at the skeleton sprawled on the floor and said,
"Then this one must have held off the orcs until the end, all alone."
"Seems like it."
Yuri silently gazed at the corpse slumped before the iron door.
The mage had called him history's greatest hunter.
Yet in the hunter's own memories, he saw himself as just an ordinary one.
Looking down at the remains of the hunter who never knew his own greatness, Yuri placed the rusted sword fallen on the floor back into his arms.
"This seems to have been a building from the ancient grassland kingdom. They must have ended up like this after an orc attack."
Yuri scanned the interior with the knights, found nothing else of note, and headed outside.
By then, the Allied Forces were approaching the area.
Ragnar appeared, leading knights in black armor.
He grinned at Yuri.
"How was it?"
"Just some ruins."
Yuri didn't mention the memories he'd seen.
"Looks like ruins left by the ancient grassland kingdom. They all died because of orcs."
"Orcs were a problem then and now. How did things like that even come into the world..."
"Tell me about it."
Ragnar clicked his tongue.
"Our Allied Forces are avenging them too, then."
"And saving the people who'll suffer in the future."
"Yeah, exactly."
Ragnar grinned.
Ragnar ordered the forces to camp for the night beside the ruins.
The Allied Forces pitched tents and stood guard to protect their supplies.
Dusk fell.
Yuri sat in the Brioll camp, eating dinner. His aides gathered around him.
"How strong do you think Okua is?"
"Insanely strong, probably."
"But we have Sir Moyongchan..."
Jared seemed relieved at the thought of Moyongchan.
"Who knows. Okua's the kind of powerhouse who can command those vicious orcs. At least on par with the Ten Strongest, right?"
Raymond raised an objection.
Yuri was a bit surprised. He hadn't realized Raymond was this wary of Okua.
"Come on, it's an orc. You really think it's Ten Strongest level?"
"That's what I think."
"You're serious?"
"Orcs aren't foolish creatures."
"Yes. Cowardly and cunning, sure."
"And yet those orcs keep charging at us, knowing they'll die."
"Meaning..."
"Okua's an absolute existence to them."
"That makes sense."
"Orcs never united before because of their nature. To instill enough fear to suppress that means he's overwhelmingly powerful."
"Yeah, sounds about right..."
Yuri nodded and said,
"I agree with Raymond."
"Really?"
Of course, it was from knowledge of his past life, but the conclusion matched.
Okua was the monster who personally killed Moyongchan and rose to the Ten Strongest. Even when Yuri died, Okua reigned as the terror of the grasslands.
"So everyone, stay sharp."
Suddenly, a bell tolled.
It was the alarm that rang once or twice a day lately.
The knights reflexively set down their plates and stood.
Orcs were attacking.
"The bell's especially frantic today."
"Jared, didn't you memorize the alarm signals?"
"Pardon?"
"This rhythm means a lot of enemies."
"Ah, y-yes, of course I know."
Yuri drew Guilty.
The bell's rhythm indicated enemy numbers and urgency. This frantic ringing meant trouble.
"Let's go."
Yuri strode out immediately.
Circulating his Mana Circulation Method, he sensed the orcs' presence.
Suddenly, memories overlapped.
The ancient orc hunters had been dispatched to the grasslands solely to kill orcs.
They knew orcs intimately—like seasoned butchers.
Unknowingly, Yuri was mimicking the hunter's gait as he approached to kill.
It felt strange.
"Somehow..."
It was as if long-buried ancient memories were surfacing from his subconscious.
"So that's it."
The mage hadn't just left the hunter's memories for someone to experience the past.
He had imparted the hunter's killing techniques to whoever found it.
Yuri felt his swordsmanship blending with the ancient hunter's methods experienced through magic.
There was no confusion.
The transferred memories were calm and cooperative.
Yuri said to a soldier fighting an orc,
"I'll take it. Get back."
"Y-yes, sir!"
The soldier fled.
The orc tried to pursue, but Yuri blocked its path. It bared its teeth and raised its axe.
Yuri lowered his stance.
He could see it.
How the orc would move, how he should respond—it was as clear as seeing the future.
In a brief exchange, the orc's head soared into the sky.
Easy.
Yuri's lips curled up.
"All that good living paid off."
At least in orc-slaying skill, he was now the ultimate master.
Yuri paid silent tribute to the greatest orc hunter of antiquity.