Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Troll Warriors' Onslaught
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Whoooosh! Whoooosh! Whoooosh!
With a chilling sound slicing through the air, Olga's axe hurtled toward Ian, carrying an immense rotational force.
Kwajik! Kwajijik!
The thick trees of the Great Calamity Forest, lush from abundant mana and vitality, blocked the axe's path, but they couldn't diminish its power in the slightest.
After all, the warriors of the Great Curtain weren't so feeble that mere trees could halt their advance.
Ian began to move slowly as he watched the destructively approaching axe.
Chrararararak!
A black, crude serpent slithered with exquisite precision toward the incoming axe, coiling around its handle mid-air.
Unable to overcome even that, Olga's axe gradually came to a halt.
But neither Olga nor his deputy showed the slightest disappointment at the failed attack.
They had already anticipated it would be blocked.
Tak tak tak tak!
From the opposite side of Olga's axe, the deputy troll lunged in fiercely.
Kyaeeeak!
Raising his mace high above his head, he leaped toward Ian and smashed down mercilessly.
It happened in the brief gap created by blocking Olga's axe with the serpent chain. A perfect linked attack with impeccable timing.
But only Ian's left hand had wielded the serpent chain.
His right hand remained free—and it didn't permit the deputy's approach so easily.
Jjaaaauuuu!
As the ground exploded and dirt flew, a white, slender serpent surged upward.
The great serpent chain Ian had hidden beneath the surface sprang into the sky.
Chrarararuk!
The great serpent chain formed a massive circle toward the falling deputy gripping his mace, then rapidly contracted it.
At this rate, the deputy would be helplessly shredded by the serpent chain's blade.
Olga didn't just watch idly.
Jjaaaak!
"Shy nocturnal guest, reveal yourself and protect my comrade!"
⟨ Karakasa Summon ⟩
As Olga clapped his hands and chanted the spell, a ghost resembling an umbrella sheltering from rain floated up above the deputy's head—a karakasa.
-Hee hee hee hee hee!! Can't hit, can't hit!!
Pararararak!
The karakasa let out a spine-chilling laugh and spun its body wide open at high speed.
A faint barrier formed around it, blocking Ian's great serpent chain from tearing into the deputy.
Kuduk, kududuk!
While the great serpent chain struggled against the karakasa's barrier.
Buaaaak!
The deputy's mace came crashing down toward Ian's head.
"…Hmph!"
Olga's voodoo was something Ian hadn't anticipated, but he was the Hegemon who had traversed countless battlefields.
He wouldn't falter at something like this.
Chalak, chalak!
Ian instantly released the serpent chain gripping Olga's axe, reverting it to its original form, then instead of dodging the mace, he slashed at the deputy's wrist holding it.
The best defense is offense.
Cutting off the hand wielding that monstrously powerful mace strike would be far quicker than blocking or evading it.
Besides, opponents not prepared to die usually panicked against such attacks.
"…Krruk!"
As expected.
Just as Ian predicted, the deputy withdrew his descending mace to evade the attack.
Of course, he tried to swing it back at Ian immediately after dodging.
But that much time was more than enough for Ian to release the serpent chain.
Chrararararak!
The serpent chain wrapped around Ian's body like a massive cocoon.
Infused with aura, it became an impregnable little fortress clad in iron walls.
Kwaaaaang!
The deputy's mace clashed with Ian's serpent chain, unleashing a fierce explosion that sent swamp mud and stone fragments flying everywhere.
Woosoo soo soo!
The battlefield turned into utter chaos in an instant from the trio's clash.
As the fight momentarily reached a stalemate, Olga retrieved his thrown axe and let out a disbelieving scoff.
"Krrruk…!! Damn. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I never would've believed it. What the hell are you, really?"
"Just a worthless human dispatched from the Martial Clan, that's all."
Ian shrugged, throwing back the term Olga had used.
"Kuk kuk! So you think trolls are dumb idiots or something."
Olga snorted derisively at Ian's provocation, deeming it absurd.
He knew instinctively.
The young human before him… was no ordinary Martial Clan warrior.
If humans of this caliber were standard in the Martial Clan, the Great Calamity would have been conquered by them long ago.
'A human with that kind of skill at such a young age…. Then…?'
After pondering Ian's identity for a moment, Olga's eyes sparkled as some realization struck him.
"Kruk… Fine, whatever. If you don't want to talk, don't. Once we capture you, the Martial Clan will respond."
He couldn't pinpoint the exact identity, but one thing was certain: this guy held a fairly important position in the Martial Clan.
So… capturing him would be useful to the Finger. Definitely.
Cheok!
Olga slung his axe over his shoulder and reignited his battle lust.
"I've changed my mind. I'll spare your life. Controlling the Martial Clan even a little would benefit the Great Curtain far more than killing you."
His eyes gleaming with self-assured conviction that it would 'help the Finger,' Olga resembled a fanatic, exuding an atmosphere that sent chills down the spine.
"Well, not a bad idea."
But Ian showed no intimidation.
"If you can capture me, that is."
He wasn't the type to cower preemptively at impossible scenarios.
"Kuk kuk! I'm curious how long that arrogant attitude will last. Yeah, with your skills, capturing you won't be easy. But you know."
Swipe!
Olga gestured with his chin toward the rear.
There, Ryu An was struggling fiercely against trolls alongside the lizardman.
"I wonder if you'll keep blabbing like that even after we catch that guy."
"……."
Ian didn't retort to Olga's taunt. He silently raised the Twin-Headed Blood Serpent.
On this point, he agreed with Olga.
Ryu An, wounded from Olga's earlier strike, and the lizardman, in no condition to fight due to exhaustion.
How much longer could those two hold out against the trolls?
Thinking of them, Ian needed to subdue Olga and his deputy as quickly as possible.
"Problem is, I don't know what to do about it. Time isn't on your side, after all."
Seeeik!
Perhaps to exploit Ian's impatience and shake his composure, Olga smirked and taunted again.
"My subordinates are down by the tributary… They'll come rushing here as soon as their search ends. In other words…."
Kwaaaauk!
Olga deflected the encroaching great serpent chain with his axe and shouted.
"The time you've got left is even shorter!!"
Having shouted confidently, Olga peered through the gap at Ian's eyes, intending to mock him.
Expecting impatience and bewilderment mixed in those eyes.
But the moment he saw Ian's eyes.
…Hic!
Olga couldn't help but flinch.
The emotion in Ian's eyes was utterly different from what he'd expected.
'…He's smiling?'
"Perfect. You'll see soon enough."
As if confirming it wasn't a misread, Ian spoke in an utterly serene voice.
"Which of us runs out of time first."
Olga wasn't the only one with subordinates by the tributary.
Whoooosh! Whoooosh!
Hand axes hurled relentlessly by trolls across the river flew wildly toward the Latent Dragon Squad.
The battle had begun abruptly, without declaration or warning.
To survive, to claim territory, or just for fun….
In the Great Calamity, where slaughter occurred ceaselessly every day, the reason for battle mattered little.
No Latent Dragon Squad member was clumsy enough to panic at something like this.
"Shield!"
Woooong!
Dane, who had been distracted by the river's pollution source, belatedly cast his spell, erecting a translucent barrier in front of the squad.
Thung! Tung!
A few hand axes struck the shield and bounced harmlessly away, but even that had its limits.
Dane's mana couldn't deflect the barrage from over twenty trolls indefinitely.
"…Kuh!"
Kwang!
With a sound like shattering glass, Dane's shield fragmented, and the following hand axes surged murderously toward the squad.
Kwaaak!
"Huuu…."
Ralph gripped his halberd so tightly it seemed it might break, steadied his breath, and swung it fiercely.
Whoooong!
The halberd spun faster and faster, forming a massive shield-like barrier across the squad's front.
Denser than the one Ralph had created back in Shurton.
Chaeng, chaeng! Chaechaechaechang!
Confirming the hand axes failed to penetrate and all bounced off, Ralph slowly halted the spin and muttered.
"Now… it won't be pierced again."
That day, in the duel with the cat-like woman, when he failed utterly and nearly endangered his comrades.
Ralph had never forgotten that pathetic experience, not for a moment.
Even while stuck in place, repeating the same steps.
Even amid frustration and impatience, lost for what to do.
He recalled it daily, honing himself sharply like whetting a blade.
To never show such an unsightly sight again.
That brilliant progress was manifesting now.
"…Kruk?!"
One might expect panic when their attacks failed entirely.
Chempung, chempung!
But the Great Curtain trolls merely flashed surprised glances before grabbing their weapons and crossing the river one by one.
However, they weren't the only ones unfazed.
Pong!
"Trolls, huh… Perfect timing."
Sylvia said as she pulled a vial from her pouch and uncorked it.
"I needed a test for the poison I've been brewing all winter anyway."
Sararararak!
Sylvia lightly swirled the open vial.
The powder inside caught the wind and drifted toward the trolls.
"Krruk! Foolish human, what pointless nonsense!"
The trolls scoffed at Sylvia's actions.
Not all trolls had the black rock tribe's overwhelming poison resistance, but a troll was a troll.
Their tolerance far exceeded what ordinary human poisons could overcome.
But.
"…Kruk?"
Chempung, chempung!
Defying their expectations, the lead trolls exposed to Sylvia's poison began collapsing one by one into the riverbed, legs giving way.
"Kr, krruk!! Wh-what the hell…!!"
As the panicked trolls floundered in the polluted tributary.
Whoooosh!
A wind-cutting sound reached their ears.
Thupuk! Thupuk!
"Krruk…!!"
"Sylvia, great timing!!"
Helena, who had already drawn her bow, was drilling holes through the trolls' foreheads.
"Krrruk! That human's using some weird poison!! Deal with the others first!!"
The trolls, who had charged blindly forward, changed targets.
They didn't know the mechanism, but that poison was vicious enough to pierce even troll resistance.
Having never been poisoned before, they were utterly ignorant of countermeasures.
As some sought other targets besides Sylvia, a few rushed toward Dane.
That shallow barrier blocking their hand axes earlier.
It was clearly the magic humans favored.
To trolls, magic was little more than a pleasant massage.
So… taking Dane's life would be the easiest choice.
And not just that.
If the other humans moved to protect Dane, it would create openings elsewhere.
"Haa… As expected, this is how it goes."
Dane sighed as he watched the approaching trolls.
It would have been great if he could develop magic effective against trolls like Sylvia, but sadly, that was beyond his domain.
It was only natural.
Magic involved artificially manipulating natural phenomena through complex calculations.
Unless one was a grand magus, a novice like Dane, barely at 4th class, creating new spells was absurd.
Thus, Dane had endlessly researched how to handle monsters with strong magic resistance, like trolls.
Just like other mages thriving in the Great Calamity.
"…Mana, reveal the truths hidden beneath the earth."
"Dig!!"
⟨ Dig ⟩
Puhwak!
As Dane finished chanting, targeting the ground beneath the approaching trolls, it caved in, sending them plummeting momentarily.
"Kruk?!"
The startled trolls tried to climb out immediately, but.
The timid(?) Dane had no intention of just watching.
"Dig, dig, dig!!"
Dane's successive spells sank the trolls deeper into the earth.
The Great Curtain trolls thrashed to escape, but the vanishing footing kept foiling their leaps.
"Kruk! You cowardly human bastard…!!"
Grinding their teeth in self-loathing at their ugly flailing.
They'd been had.
A magic that dug up the earth!
Against such physical phenomena… resistance meant nothing.
But that wouldn't last.
"Kruk, human…!! Once you can't use magic anymore, I'll kill you gruesomely!!"
The trolls endured steadfastly in the pit, awaiting Dane's mana depletion.
The Latent Dragon Squad had no plans to leave them be.
Thud!
Something struck a troll's head and fell to the ground.
"……?"
The troll, stroking his head at the odd texture—not quite a stone fragment—glanced down unwittingly.
There, a transparent glass vial rolled on the ground.
Realizing what it was didn't take long.
It was the same vial that had felled their comrades at the riverbank moments ago.
"…Krrruk!! Everyone, get out!! Hurry!!"
The troll who spotted it shouted urgently, but.
"Too late."
Sylvia, who had thrown the vial, turned away from the pit amid the troll's screams.
The outcome was obvious.