34. The King's Memory (3)
Eleven raced through the dark ravine like it was flying. But when the two people trailing behind started falling back, it stopped and glanced over its shoulder leisurely.
The pair could follow Eleven's red Odd Eyes glowing in the darkness.
"Yann, is Eleven heading to Captain Wayne right now?" Sara Raudi shouted.
"Yes! That's gotta be it. Huff... huff!"
Yann gasped for breath.
Everyone in the squad knew Wayne had passed on his red Odd to Eleven. But Yann was the only one who'd noticed that Wayne and Eleven communicated through Odd, even from afar. He was the one who'd spent the most time with Eleven, after all—its protector.
But right now, he had no idea how far away Wayne was, and that uncertainty filled his eyes with worry. If Eleven wasn't going to Wayne, neither of them would survive.
"Kek! Kekek!"
Bang!
"Get down!"
As bullets whistled through the air, Sara yanked Yann low and ducked behind a rock.
Tatang! Bang! Bang!
The goblins of the barren lands were relentlessly tenacious. They'd do anything to survive in this harsh environment.
"Those bastards...!"
If they'd been in Gigants, these things wouldn't even be a warm-up. But for two humans on foot, their numbers were overwhelming.
"Yann! Now—run!"
"Hek... hek!"
Their waists ached like they might snap, but they couldn't stop. Getting caught by monsters meant being torn apart and swallowed whole—no time to even feel the pain. But goblins were worse: capture meant horrific torture. For a woman, it was endless forced breeding until death. So they ran for their lives.
"Hey! Over here!"
Wayne's voice had never sounded so welcome.
The two scrambled up toward him. Seeing his green Odd Eyes, they finally exhaled in relief.
"Huff... huff! Captain, it's goblins."
"Yeah, I know. Good work. Leave this to me—head inside that door over there."
"Yes, sir..."
But Wayne just stood there, unmoving.
"Captain, why aren't you mounting a Gigant? The goblins are coming!"
"No Gigant. It's destroyed."
"What?"
Sara and Yann stared in shock.
"Th-then what do we do now?"
"What else? We fight."
A hatchet gleamed in Wayne's hand, his eyes blazing with Odd Eyes.
Damn! I was just starting to feel the Odd Hole...
Sara grimaced and drew her sword from her belt. It was a moment of death, but she wasn't one to go down without a fight. Truth be told, she had no strength left to run anyway.
"What are you waiting for? Get ready to fight!"
Sara yelled at Yann. He panted heavily, gripping his musket like a club—upside down. They'd managed to grab the gun amid the goblin ambush chaos, which was lucky. But no powder or ammo.
"Kekek!"
"Kikikik!"
The goblins crawled up the dry riverbed toward the entrance of the Dwarf Kingdom.
Damn it, this is the end!
Sara bit her lip. She didn't even dream of becoming the first female squad leader anymore. Just getting back in a Gigant...
Five years ago. The Battle of Sailon Occupation Zone.
Dresden's knights had fought—and suffered grievous wounds, body and soul. One died, one survived.
They'd promised to spend their lives together, to return to the territory after the battle and hold a wedding.
The promise was broken.
Her love died, and she became a cripple who couldn't even sense Odd.
At first, she'd wanted to follow him in death. But his final words echoed:
You have to live and become squad leader...
It was her dream. And the dream he'd cheered for.
He'd been thrilled at the thought of her as squad leader, him as her deputy.
So she had to become one. But one died, and she'd spent five years as a cripple.
Damn it, why's this memory surfacing now!
Recalling her lover's last moments, Sara gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on her sword. This body had survived against death. A sliver of hope to fulfill both their dreams had appeared—she couldn't die here.
"You fucking mutts! Come at me!"
The goblins' roars echoed right in front of them. Nocturnal creatures, they could see the humans clearly, while all the humans saw were dark blobs and dozens of gleaming eyes. Without Odd Eyes, they couldn't tell what lurked in the shadows.
A massive Steel Golem wielding a sword!
"Kek?"
"Huh?"
Goblins and humans alike whipped their heads toward the voice.
There stood a hulking 10-meter Steel Golem, sword raised high.
Vroooom!
Kaboom!
"Kek!"
"Kuek!"
One swing cratered the ground, goblin flesh and blood spraying everywhere. The golem matched a 3rd-class Gigant in power but dwarfed it by four meters.
The massive steel giant dragged its sword along the ground and swung wide.
Thwack! Bodies flew!
A dozen goblins scattered like ragdolls. They didn't even think to shoot.
"Kegekek!"
The leader barked, and the goblins turned to flee down the ravine.
No mercy.
Crack!
"Ke... kek?"
Wayne's Bras hatchet cleaved the goblin leader's skull in two. Simultaneously, the Steel Golem's sword crushed more heads.
"Let's go!"
Wayne and the golem charged after the fleeing goblins, hacking mercilessly with hatchet and blade.
To Wayne, the golem felt like a comrade-in-arms.
Ah, so this is the feeling!
In that moment, he felt like King Bras himself.
Linking with the Steel Golem via Odd was different from his bond with Eleven. He could give Eleven precise orders, but here he only supplied Odd—no commands. The golem simply followed, attacking goblins in his wake.
And its movements perfectly mirrored King Bras in life.
Only a golem perfectly synced with its master moves like this!
Fragmentary memories, experience, and Odd from King Bras proved invaluable.
The golem, powered by Bras's lifetime Odd, recognized Wayne as its king. Otherwise, it couldn't move this way. It was bound by contract to its master; upon death, the core was discarded, steel recycled.
The storm ended. Goblin corpses littered the ground.
The golem knew no restraint, no mercy.
As Wayne and the golem returned, Sara Raudi's eyes went wide.
"Captain Wayne, you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"But what the hell is this?"
"Long story. Let's head inside first."
Wayne entered, and the Steel Golem followed through the massive door.
"So this is the entrance to the ancient Dwarf Kingdom. That's a dwarf Steel Golem, and you can pilot it?"
"Yeah. Just one for now, but once I get the hang of it, up to four."
To Sara and Yann, it sounded like a fairy tale. Hard to believe. But with the Steel Golem trailing Wayne like a loyal pup, denial wasn't an option.
"Aren't golems supposed to be for mages? Why do dwarves have them? They can't even use magic."
By modern knowledge, golems were mage-exclusive, precursors to Magic Knights. Mages built better ones, discovered piloting them directly with mana yielded peak performance—evolving into today's mechs.
"That's human history. Dwarves had golem tech long before, powered by Odd like us—not mana."
"Ah! So that's why you can pilot it, Young Lord Wayne."
"And their tech surpasses ours. The palace forge still has furnaces, tools, materials intact. Just need cores, and we could build more right away."
"Whoa! Incredible."
Sara wondered how Wayne knew all this.
"But how'd you find this place?"
"Want the truth?"
"Yes?"
"Short version: I awakened my past life, absorbed a king's memories and experience like fate. From that, I learned of the Dwarf Steel Kingdom here. Just now, I absorbed the dwarf king's past life too—piloted the golem like him. Oh, and I skipped mentioning absorbing a monster's past life midway."
Sara and Yann gawked, dumbfounded.
"Just say it's a secret. Past lives? Come on..."
Sara shook her head, a bit miffed.
Wayne chuckled. Who'd believe the truth? A full explanation might convince them, but it'd lead to admitting he wasn't the real Wayne. Better drop it.
Focus on the future.
"Call it luck. I'm lucky, right?"
"Yeah, that's way better."
As they exited the passage, Yann lit a torch at the entrance. Only massive pupils glowed in the dark—nothing else visible.
"Too dark. A city's down here?"
"Huge one. Shame you can't see it. But run water through the ravine, and the darkness vanishes."
"Huh? How's water fix the dark?"
"A canal runs through the city with a massive waterwheel. Water spins it for power, activating devices that refract and reflect sunlight/moonlight everywhere. Even farms underground."
"Farms? Underground?"
"Yep. Connect the water here, and this becomes territory. Problem solved."
"Ah! So I divert the water... Wait, me?"
Sara nodded, then froze.
"You."
"That's why I brought you. You're in charge of this project."
Sara was speechless. Digging a 6km canal? Massive undertaking.
"Don't worry! I'll make you a beast of a excavator Gigant."
"But I can't even pilot one—how can I help?"
"You will soon. My Odd tripled. Your Odd Hole'll be done quick."
"Tripled? Suddenly?"
"Yeah. Speaking of—let's make yours now."
They reentered the passage. Without Odd Eyes, no sightseeing the underground kingdom.
"Urk! St-stop, please."
"Already? I still have tons of Odd left."
"My heart's gonna rip apart."
Wayne released Sara's wrist.
"Huff... huff!"
Sweat poured off Sara Raudi like rain.
"A bit more, and you'll store Odd in your Odd Hole yourself."
"Thank you. I need a break."
Drained, Sara slumped against the wall, catching her breath.
Normally, Wayne's Odd would've run low by now. But absorbing Bras's had tripled his reserves—half still left. At this rate, a 2nd-class Gigant in six months. Insane compared to genius Curtis, who took seven years post-knighting.
"Hm? Looks like you had a rough day, buddy."
Eleven had overdone the red Odd today: scouting paths down the ravine, guarding the group, emitting red Odd to watch them, then herding Sara and Yann past goblins. Exhausted.
Its body was adapting to red Odd, but as a pup, natural drain outpaced what it absorbed. Still far from mastering Wayne's red Odd.
Planned to train it today, but Yann and Eleven were curled up sleeping—postponed.
That's when he spotted Yann drooling in sleep.
Come to think of it, it's time for him to sense Odd too...
Yann was smart, with freakish Odd flow speed—faster than Curtis or vets. When Wayne first infused him after Nancy and Loren, he was shocked. The Odd accelerated faster in Yann than in himself.
Different talent from Nancy/Loren. No mastery yet, but his Odd "highways" were paved.
So Wayne delayed his training. Needed Karian 2nd-stage breathing to match speeds. Too fast, and control was impossible—dangerous if issues arose.
Best if Yann sensed Odd naturally first, but he was lazy and fragile. Wayne had advanced to 3rd-stage a month ago, but priorities piled up.
No more delays. Yann must resent being the only one without Odd or Gigant.
Wayne stood and approached.
"Yann."
"Y-yes? Yes!"
Yann jolted awake. Eleven stirred too, but Wayne signaled rest—it closed its eyes. Sleep was medicine for a growing pup.
"Starting Odd-sensing training today."
"Really?!"
Yann's face flushed with joy.
"Yeah. Sit properly."
Yann straightened; Wayne placed both hands on his back.
Others needed wrist contact, but Yann's highways allowed massive flows—like transmitting inner power in wuxia tales.
"Huh? What's this?"
"Pardon?"
Wayne's face twisted in surprise. He infused Odd again.
"This shouldn't be here."
He glanced between Yann and sleeping Eleven.
No way... Did it happen like that...!
"Captain, something wrong with me?"
Big problem.
Monster Odd—or cultivated red Odd—flowed in Yann's body.
Ha! Fate, huh...
Wayne poured his red Odd into Yann.