Chapter 70
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: I Permit My Body
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Ibu had tried to block it in his own way, but it couldn't have been easy taking on that monstrous strength while airborne with his frail body.
Hello, Ibu.
See you at Sambu.
At least it was fortunate in that sense.
The spot where Ibu flew off to was the open plain, not the ramparts.
'The walls almost got wrecked. What a shame.'
Kuuuwoooo—!
Through the gap in the half-closed gates, Hama charged out after Ibu.
Had it grown attached in the meantime?
It looked like a pig, but the thing had some loyalty.
I'd sworn not to get involved in unfavorable fights.
But life never went exactly as planned.
'Even if it's unfavorable now, this is the time to step up.'
The armored ogre and the ogre king were overwhelmingly powerful, with no immediate solution in sight.
They were on a whole different level from Fiore's Royal Guard or that monstrous serpent.
'Is it because of the power of the ability infused into them?'
It felt like it'd take someone on the level of old man Asphran to match them one-on-one. Their auras were that domineering.
'Not much time left.'
With me right in front of it, the armored ogre pointed its axe toward where Ibu had flown off—while still glaring daggers at me.
It was clearly issuing orders to the ogres following behind it.
Kill that puny mad bastard! Something like that.
I wanted to rush off and save Ibu, but this giant I'd never faced before was blocking my path.
The wall loomed right behind me.
I was perfectly trapped within the armored ogre's striking range.
Kwaaaang—!
The axe slammed down where I'd been standing.
Thanks to Blue Eye, I'd moved a beat faster; otherwise, it would've cleaved me from head to groin.
What kind of power...'
The divinely protected stone floor held firm, but the shockwave hit me full force. It was like standing at the top of a ladder in a gale.
Just raw power.
Its sheer size was so immense that with it standing before me, I couldn't see past it at all.
Thud thud thud thud thud—.
Kuwoooo—!
All I could see was that matte black armor, and all I could hear were the footsteps and roars of what I assumed was the ogre king.
"What's your name—."
I was trying to buy even a little time, but the response was an axe swing.
Kwaaaang—!
Damn it, this thing doesn't do introductions, huh.
The armored ogre showed zero interest in talking.
Overhead chops, horizontal sweeps, upward slashes, diagonal swings.
In between, it thrust out its thick, long arms to grab me.
'Over three meters tall—guessing its reach is pointless. The limb lengths and shoulder proportions are all freakish.'
Fwoooosh—.
I dodged the massive horizontal swing from left to right and wondered.
Did the other ogres have eyes like this one's?
'Fucking insane peepers.'
Not like Ibu's unfocused gaze when he first awoke—this was something else...
'Where have I seen this before?'
It just wouldn't come to me.
Purple irises with no whites, bloodshot veins bulging like they might burst.
Kuwoooo—!
Every time it bellowed, spit flew like hidden weapons.
'Influence of the ability?'
Ogres were monsters, sure, but they had basic intelligence as living beings.
Unless it'd absorbed the Madness ability, how could it turn out this deranged?
It was definitely a familiar sight...
'Ah! The junkies!'
Different color, but just like those tweakers getting loaded into ambulances.
I'd seen these symptoms in patients overdosing on stimulants.
So who in Eahr would be like this guy?
'Charles.'
Not exactly the same.
Appearance-wise, totally different.
But the vibe was unmistakably like Charles's.
So the armored ogre wasn't mad from some ability.
Black magic or dark sorcery must have taken over its mind.
That explained how it outpaced the ogre king.
'Killing it might be a problem then. Won't it come back like Charles? In the sanctuary, divine power—.'
Ah, divine power.
Another reason to keep this thing pinned here.
I had to kill it somehow and let it revive right here.
So the divine power coating the fortress could break it down.
'Going through all this hell to save those thief bastards.'
Dodging its savage axe and terrifying fists, I couldn't help lamenting my fate—
'Holy Knight Karuk.'
I grabbed the falling axe haft as it crudely sliced through the air.
I wanted to feel its power.
Dodging alone wouldn't cut it.
"By the command of the Holy Knight—."
Through the haft, I spread chill into its hand and forearm.
I'd already frozen the ground earlier to keep it from rampaging freely.
I cooled the air to contract its muscles.
No immediate physical effect, but...
Guwek—?
The doubt in its eyes suggested I'd planted some psychological unease.
"I am Holy Knight Karuk. The one who will freeze your armor and—."
Guwaaaah—!
Its superhuman strength nearly lifted me off the ground, so I released the haft.
I ducked to evade the axe and ended up striking a cool pose unintentionally.
One knee bent, the other leg extended straight—black panther stance.
"—your muscles and blood."
Fwoooosh—!
Kwaaaang—!
I rolled to the dirt patch and grabbed Roginin's sword.
Only a brief moment had passed, but my stamina was already hitting rock bottom.
'Already burned through the Toolsep?'
The chill ultimately came from the Insight ability.
Freezing this behemoth had quickly depleted my allotted Toolsep.
'This is dangerous.'
The stronger the opponent, the more my fighting spirit surged—and the Toolsep boiled in proportion.
Without Silver Star, the moment I tired and showed an opening, Toolsep would devour me.
I knew it all too well.
No intention of taking it easy since I'd called for a swift end. Not some pushover anyway.
'By my command—, spirit that rules the bitter cold—.'
Spirit that rules the bitter cold.
A name for an ability no one had ever told me.
It was the obsession that birthed the Insight ability, but later turned parasitic on it.
The queen's lingering thoughts.
I thought "crisis is opportunity" was bullshit, but one thing was clear.
Crisis brought insane focus and inspiration.
'—become my sword.'
Shuuuaak—!
It was as if Roginin's longsword was transforming.
The blade widened, its length nearly doubling.
If a sword forged from millennia-forged glacier manifested in my hand, it'd look like this.
A north wind blew in from somewhere.
A blizzard swirled around us.
The Queen of Frost hadn't descended.
It was the power I'd summoned.
By borrowing Toolsep, that is.
"They're getting close! Fire all at once!"
Yuderg's shout came from behind me.
Over twenty thieves loosed arrows in unison.
I heard the arrows flying past the armored ogre hit something.
Kuooooh—!
The ogre king's rage-filled roar heightened my focus even more.
Even that sounded sluggish now, which was a relief.
Without Insight ability, I'd probably be dead from its thrashing by now.
'No point in such thoughts.'
I swung the glacial blade with a faint smile.
If time slowed for me too, what good was Insight's edge?
I needed to go faster.
I needed to grow stronger.
That was true superiority.
That was proper Insight ability usage.
To wield it right, I had to break this restraint and go wild.
I swung the sword like a madman.
But rhythmically, methodically.
Swordsmanship honed thrusting and slashing at the stars thousands, tens of thousands of times—made mine.
No, swordsmanship I created.
Not as ferocious as Luke's.
But faster than Requiya's blade, more instinctive than Fred's, more flawless than Steron's.
"Hoo... Steron, you watching?"
"First time seeing it, but it looks familiar somehow."
I overheard the Holy Knights whispering as they held the ogre king at bay with their greatbows.
"Is the captain back?"
"Nah. If it were the captain... No. Focus on the enemy first."
Were they about to say Luke would've bisected this ogre by now?
Or that they wouldn't have dared charge if it were him?
'Luke wouldn't fight this sloppy.'
But I wasn't Luke.
I fought my way.
To survive.
The ogre's black armor was tougher than the glacier.
The ice shattered, shards flying everywhere.
That was enough.
The cumulative clashes had built up chill inside its body.
Ah, out of breath.
The matte black armor turned entirely white.
Wielding the glacial sword like mad turned even the pitch-black ogre white—I got that now.
The body is wondrous.
Despite the heart-freezing cold making my breath visible, my mind burned hot.
'This should be enough, right?'
My brain felt fried. I smacked the armored ogre's helmet lightly with my palm and glared.
Craaaack—.
Frozen up to its jaw, the armored ogre couldn't make a sound.
Its eyes twitched, but its body was locked still.
"You wait here. Gotta put out the urgent fire first."
I kicked off the frozen ground and launched myself.
To save the axe-wielding lunatic surrounded by ogres.
Kuwaaaak—!
In the midst of the monster horde, an arm that looked ogre-ish flew through the air.
The madness pouring from Ibu's axe left countless afterimages in the sky.
"Fuck off, you shits—! Why're you all so fucking weak—!"
Too long asleep, not enough time for mana cultivation, starving. Probably reasons like that.
Still, Ibu was using more Toolsep, more stably than me.
The ogre corpses littering the ground proved it.
"Old man! Granny! Ibu's weeeak—!"
Endless reasons why Ibu was weak.
And before sleeping, in human form, he probably wasn't this strong.
'Not helping. Once Silver Star wakes, put him back to sleep?'
No.
At a time like this, when I might succumb to Toolsep anytime, Ibu was my life insurance.
He'd be my pension, my nursing home—ah, going too far.
"Fuck ooooff—!"
First, break the encirclement.
Ibu was fighting like a total mad bastard while guarding Hama at his back.
"Just fucking die already!"
See? Even his speech was off.
Whoosh—whoosh—fwooooosh—!
He swung the axe wildly, bellowing at the top of his lungs.
"Fuck ooooff—! Old man! Granny! Ibu's gonna diiiiie—!"
Sigh, what a nuisance.
Couldn't just let this thrashing little guy die.
I'm a firefighter Holy Knight, after all.
Rescue comes before suppression.
The ogres seemed thrilled.
Oguuuuu—!
The fiercer Ibu's desperate flailing got, the more they howled like warriors nearing victory.
I kicked the ground at full sprint speed.
A storm of chill buoyed my body.
This must be what they mean by feeling light as a feather.
"I—!"
Kwaaang—!
The spot I'd pushed off from got impaled by an axe the ogre king had hurled.
We'll settle up later.
At the peak of my leap, my eyes met Ibu's.
Similar to when I saved Requiya.
What were those dragonkin's sparkling black pupils saying?
Glad to see you?
Help?
Fuck?
'Eyes with no thoughts at all. Consistently insane guy.'
I cranked the chill storm to its limit.
Trusting in Toolsep and going all in.
"—won't permit it!"