Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Confronting the Troll King
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Was it because all eyes among the trolls were fixed on the rampaging Celestial Flower Squad and Sophia back at the base?
The deeper they ventured into the heart of the cave, the quieter the surrounding air grew.
Thud, thud!
In that silent cavern, only the footsteps of a few echoed off the walls.
It was Ian's group.
After rescuing the Celestial Flower Squad members from the trolls' prison, they had set off on their own.
"……."
All the Latent Dragon Squad members followed silently behind Ian, as if by prior agreement.
Perhaps sensing something off about the scene.
"You're all awfully quiet today?"
Ian, who had been staring straight ahead as he walked, suddenly spoke up.
Of course, without turning his gaze.
There was another reason Ian broke the silence.
They were now moving to take down the troll king alone.
This was the trolls' home turf, no less.
If things went south even slightly, escape would be all but impossible.
It was a decision every bit as dangerous as—or more so than—their infiltration of the Volcano of Flames.
Normally, Ralph, who was cautious despite his size, would have tried to talk him out of heading deeper, protesting it was too risky.
Yet today's Ralph followed with an unusually calm expression.
"…Well, it's not like you ever listened when I spoke up anyway, right?"
Ralph let out a wry chuckle in response.
"The boss said the troll king's probably hasn't regained his full strength yet, didn't he? Then this weakened state is our golden opportunity."
"Even weakened, he could still be way stronger than us."
"Hmm, true?"
Ralph scratched the back of his head at Ian's perfectly reasonable question.
"…Well, with the boss's skills, you won't die at least. Right?"
The other squad members nodded in agreement, their eyes filled with trust as they looked at Ian.
Having passed through the Trial Gate together and completed missions, they knew.
Ian's abilities were far beyond those of an ordinary low-tier strike team leader.
"Plus, though we didn't say it… we're not here just to be decoys."
Exactly.
Forgotten for a moment, but those assigned alongside Ian were the clan's outcasts, who had clawed their way up through hardship.
They weren't the type to roll over easily for anyone else's schemes.
"You sure everyone's okay with this? Especially you, Sylvia—this involves your sister, after all. Is it really fine if we steal her credit?"
Ian asked Sylvia one last time for confirmation.
"Boss, you've seen it the whole way from Megalovria. I don't hate my sister or anything… but getting dragged around in her skirt-tails? Hard pass."
Sylvia's disgusted expression convinced everyone.
Over the past while, Sophia's blatant favoritism had struck even them—third parties—as blatantly off-putting.
"Alright then. I'll take that as agreement from all of you."
Whoosh!
With everyone's consent, Ian headed toward a shadowed corner of the cave.
Toward the spot where, since earlier, an immense presence had been prickling his skin.
Rrrrrumble!
"Ugh…."
Indeed.
The closer they got, the more the squad members' faces visibly twisted in discomfort.
The aura emanating from deep within was that ferocious.
They pressed on, enduring the raw, unrefined hostility like that of a wounded beast.
Splat!
Overcoming the pressure that stung every skin cell, they reached the cave's end.
There, before the Latent Dragon Squad, a troll slowly rose to its feet.
The largest troll any of them had ever seen.
"Found you."
Ian's eyes sparkled like stars upon spotting the troll, Attila.
Swish, swish!
In the pitch-black cave devoid of light, three figures glided stealthily forward, no longer mere troll rations.
Grace, Hestia, and Fiore of the Celestial Flower Squad, rescued by Ian but heading in a different direction.
Unlike the Latent Dragon Squad venturing deeper, they were making for their leader's location.
The fierce battlefield where the trolls were clashing.
"Sister, you think she'll be okay?"
Hestia asked worriedly, and Grace curtly shot back.
"What?"
"The Latent Dragon Squad. What if they actually manage to take down the troll king? Won't our leader end up like duckweed floating on the river?"
Though Ian was their benefactor, that was separate from this matter.
They had no intention of handing over the key achievement from Birchwood Forest just because he'd saved them.
They too dreamed of elevating their Celestial Flower Squad leader, Sophia, to clan head.
Pfft!
Grace snorted at Hestia's concern.
"Hestia, you're supposed to be one of us, and you didn't even bother looking up records on Birchwood Forest?"
"Ugh, why the nagging again."
Hestia grumbled defensively, clearly guilty as her reaction confirmed she hadn't researched it.
"The troll king was definitely defeated by Iron Mask in the past. But put another way, he's a monster who chose to clash head-on with Iron Mask back then. You think a beast like that, even wounded and weakened now, will go down to a handful of Latent Dragon Squad rookies?"
"What? Hold on—you should've said that earlier!"
"Why should we?"
Grace countered Hestia's protest with a cold smile.
"What's our obligation to babysit the hyenas eyeing our leader's glory?"
The head of the Lichtenauer Martial Clan.
That glorious position was one only a single pinnacle warrior among the clan's starry multitude could claim.
If others sought it—even benefactors—they'd gladly let them die for it.
That seat belonged to Sophia.
So, sorry as she was to the Latent Dragon Squad.
The glory from succeeding here had to go entirely to Sophia.
Only then could she take another step toward becoming clan head.
"Got it? Then quit yapping and move. We need to help the leader mop up these trolls fast. That way, like you said, maybe we can save at least one of those Latent Dragon punks."
"…Yeah."
After the brief exchange, the three moved on without further words.
How long had they traveled?
As they neared a point where outside winds began to stir, the distant rumbles echoing faintly in their ears grew louder.
In other words, they were closing in on the Celestial Flower Squad's battlefield.
'…One thing's bugging me a little… but whatever, it'll be fine.'
There was something Grace hadn't told Hestia during their talk.
'The Second Young Lord's eyes.'
That split-second glance from Ian as he turned to leave after freeing them.
Those eyes stuck with Grace.
The eyes that showed no fear whatsoever, even as he headed to face the troll king.
And it wasn't just that.
The Latent Dragon Squad members following him on that mad gamble didn't raise a single objection.
The bizarre scene nagged at her like a thorn in her throat.
'…Probably just my imagination. No one here but our leader can take down the troll king anyway.'
Not even if the Second Young Lord matched Sophia's skill.
With fewer numbers, it'd be even harder for the Latent Dragon Squad.
Unless he surpassed Sophia—which Grace deemed impossible—Ian had no chance against the troll king.
Absolutely none.
"…Hard to believe, even seeing it with my own eyes."
Boom!
A voice that seemed to freeze the cave air solid.
"That humans are setting foot on this land."
A low, resonant tone that made every muscle in the body tense involuntarily.
True to his status as overlord ruling one region of the enigmatic Great Disaster Lands to Agena's humans, his dignity bent their bodies double.
'This is the troll king…!'
The Latent Dragon Squad endured, gripping their trembling legs against the power in Attila's voice.
They who'd overcome countless trials in the Trial Gate couldn't kneel to mere words.
Especially since their leader at the fore, Ian, stood unfazed before the terrifying troll's query.
"We walked in, obviously."
Even as Ian spoke lightly, like trading jokes, Attila didn't rage—instead, his expression hardened coldly.
"…Munjuk would never have allowed your filthy feet to touch this place."
Ian curled his lip at Attila, who tilted his head in confusion.
"Arrogant. Thinking only trolls are strong? That's far too presumptuous—your history proves otherwise."
Despite Ian's provocation, Attila merely tried to calmly assess the situation.
"…I see. So the humans sent a powerhouse capable of challenging Munjuk alongside you."
Of course.
If they could think strategically, dispatching such a powerhouse was only natural.
Absorbing the mages' life force to recover thirty percent of his strength meant that many mages had fallen to the humans.
It was bound to raise alarms.
However.
"At least, you lot don't look like the type who could face Munjuk."
Shhh!
As Attila fully rose from his bed, his presence seemed to fill the lofty cavern ceiling.
"Foolish, ignorant human whelps who know not their place. I'll make you feel in your bones just how great a hubris it was for a mere six of you to invade the king's domain."
Clank!
Rising, Attila drew something from beneath his bed.
A fearsome great scythe gripped at its tip, coiling snake-like around his hand.
A massive sickle attached to chains.
"For your lesson, I'll claim your lives as payment."
Merely gripping the chained scythe and assuming stance, the crushing aura that had weighed them down began roiling wildly, like a butcher's frenzy.
"D-Damn… this time, it feels really dangerous."
Who'd have thought the power of this wheezing, barely mobile brute was this monstrous.
As the Latent Dragon Squad involuntarily swallowed dryly at the unimaginable pressure.
…Thud!
Unlike his squadmates, Ian took a step forward.
His face, facing Attila's aura, resembled a teacher testing a student.
"A lesson, huh…."
Shing!
Ian bared his white teeth, staring at Attila as he drew the swords from both hips.
The greatsword in his right hand, shortsword in his left.
Gripping both blades, Ian asked.
"You got a name?"
"No name worth telling a weak human. You're unworthy to know it."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Mocking Ian's question, Attila began whirling the chain.
"Hmm… no name for weak humans, eh? You'll be telling me soon enough."
Ian adjusted his stance toward Attila as well.
"Sorry, but my lessons are a bit tough."
Anything but chains—those, I'm particularly picky about.
Kaboom!
The monstrous spear blade grazed Sophia's cheek by a hair's breadth.
A few strands of her long hair that brushed the edge vanished without trace.
As if they'd never existed.
Despite the chilling near-miss, Sophia showed no fear, swinging both arms instead.
Ching!
The whip erupting from beneath Munjuk's feet snagged his ankle.
Kreeee!
The chakram flew threateningly toward the now-pinned Munjuk's throat.
"Grrr! What a mosquito of a wench!"
Bulge!
Munjuk tensed, his tree-trunk legs swelling nearly double.
Rip!
Yanking the whip forcibly, Munjuk shook it free with raw power, batting Sophia's chakram aside with his massive spear.
Clang!
"!"
The chakram fell powerless before Munjuk's blade.
Sophia retrieved her chakram and whip, breathing heavily.
"Huuu…."
'Not easy. Where'd this monster even come from?'
An elite like this should've been documented ages ago.
'Tch, tougher than expected.'
Whoosh!
Sick of dragging it out, Sophia gathered her energy.
As Munjuk slowly prepared his ultimate technique in response.
"Leader!"
A desperate cry shook the battlefield, calling for Sophia.
"You lot?!"
The three who'd been kidnapped appeared on the field.
"This isn't the time to stall! The Latent Dragon Squad's gone off alone to take the troll king!"
"…What?!"
"Grrr, what?!"
The staggering news halted the battlefield for a moment.