CH 268

Krrrr…

A troll was heading into a thick forest filled with trees towering more than twenty meters tall. The creature had rough, gray skin, and it was a little over three meters tall. The troll had crude leather armor made from animal hide, and its appearance made it seem like a thick log. Moreover, the monster was even holding a large oak club the size of an adult man.

The troll continued striding through the dense forest without hesitation before suddenly coming to a stop and turning its face. The troll’s hideous face distorted into a frown when it saw something.

Kuwuugh! Kwugh!

Two smaller trolls and a group of about ten lycanthropes stopped at the roar of the leader troll. They had been following right behind the large troll.

They acted similarly to trained troops. Their behavior would have been completely shocking to anyone who knew anything about the typical behaviors of monsters. Lycanthropes formed herds like wolves, and they were hostile to other species of monsters. Even when they were faced with larger, stronger monsters than themselves, lycanthropes would never bow their heads. They would always choose to either fight or flee, but they would never obey the orders of other monsters. But now, it appeared as if the lycanthropes were obeying the orders of the troll.

It wasn’t just them either…

Krreee! Kyarrr!

Hundreds of goblins and knolls followed behind the larger monsters. When the troll roared, the goblins and the knolls halted their march as well. A group of more than three hundred monsters belonging to several different species was following the orders of a leader troll in perfect order.

“Ughhh…”

“Hu, huguuu…”

“Hiee…. Hieee.. Hieek!”

About fifty humans collapsed while crying and tightly embracing each other. Their naked bodies were littered with wounds.

The humans had already lost their minds due to extreme fear. There were hundreds of monsters surrounding and staring at them with vicious eyes. They could feel that the gazes of the monsters were filled with murderous intent and hunger. As such, it would have been rather strange if they managed to remain sane.

Krrrr… Krr.

The leader troll stared at the humans, or rather, the livestock with vicious eyes.

Weaklings…

If it hadn’t been for these humans, there would have been no need to move this low, nor would there be a reason to take a break. The troll wanted to shred the weaklings to pieces and devour them right this instant, but it had to suppress its instinct. The weak livestock would now serve and continue to provide them with food. The one responsible for sending it out of the evil land—its master—had taught him so after bestowing it with various knowledge. And another thing that its master had taught it was to not cross the river located near the village where it captured the humans.

Krrr! Krrrrrr!

The leader troll looked back with regret. It knew that there was so much more livestock and food to be taken, but the master’s orders were absolute. It had no choice but to put up with it.

Kuwuuugh!

The leader troll roared to express its anger before resuming its march again. The hundreds of monsters and ‘livestock’ began to follow after the troll once again. If they went a little further, they would finally arrive at their base. Even steel-clad humans would find it difficult to approach them once they were back at their base.

The monsters continued their march while revealing their sharp teeth. They were filled with joy and anticipation at the thought of holding a feast that would last several days with the livestock they had captured. Unfortunately, their excitement wasn’t destined to last long.

Boom… Boom… Boom…

The monsters stopped. Their five senses were much more developed compared to humans, and they could feel a weak, steady vibration coming from deep in the forest they were passing by.

Krrr?

The leader troll turned around. It also felt the vibration.

Boom…! Boom…!

The vibration quickly grew stronger.

Kuwugh! Kuwuuugh!

The leader troll roared while looking around at the other monsters, and the monsters started to move in response. Shockingly, the monsters were moving into formations. The leader troll and the two smaller trolls took the lead ahead of the various monsters.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The rumbling grew louder, and the monsters glared in the direction where it was coming from while baring their teeth.

Craack! Crunch! Booom!

Several giant trees five or six times larger than the leader troll noisily fell down.

Fwoooosh!

Twigs and leaves were pushed aside like debris, along with a giant tree.

Kuuuuuuuwuuuugh…!

The roar of a monster larger than the leader troll shook the entire forest.

Twin-headed ogre.

The army of monsters instantly froze at the appearance of a superior-rank monster. It wasn’t because they were shocked and startled. Rather, it was their instinct. The instinct imprinted on their souls from birth had stopped them in place as soon as they heard the roar of the twin-headed ogre. Even the leader troll could not escape its instinct. As such, it remained frozen even when the twin-headed ogre was already charging at it and was only thirty meters away. It was only when a huge steel mace, which was designed and crafted by Moffern’s craftsmen, started to fall toward its head that the troll belatedly recognized the situation and started to move reflexively.

Booooooom!

The leader troll’s oak club was instantly smashed apart. However, the momentum of the steel mace was still there, and it continued to fall on the leader troll’s head.

Fuuuwack!

The leader troll’s head exploded like a watermelon. Even then, the steel mace continued forward and made a mess out of even the troll’s collarbone.

Huuuuuuuuuughhh!!!

The twin-headed ogre roared victoriously. Even though their leader had been killed, the two remaining trolls were still frozen in place. However, the gazes of the two trolls weren’t directed at the twin-headed ogre. Instead, they were staring at a horse galloping like the wind through the trail of the twin-headed ogre’s rampage.

***

Eugene galloped his horse with a pair of blood-red wings made of Fear. He threw Madarazika with one hand.

Fwooosh!

Madarazika drew a sharp arc as it sliced through the air with a fierce sound.

Craaack!

The spear bent like a whip in the air and immediately penetrated the shoulders of the two trolls before returning to Eugene’s hand.

Kuweeegh!

Eugene removed his gaze from the squealing trolls. He shouted at the elven knights and the beowulf warriors, who had just arrived at the scene.

“Don’t kill them all! Our purpose is to drive them in the direction I had mentioned!”

Uwaaah!

The elves and beowulfs answered with a roar before quickly spreading out to both sides. They dug through between the giant trees and began attacking the monsters.

“Galfredik!” Eugene shouted.

“Got it!” Galfredik answered.

The two vampires pierced into the center of the monster army. In an instant, the monsters’ formation collapsed as they screamed and roared. However, they could not attack Eugene and Galfredik. In fact, it was already an impossible feat for the monsters to even face the powerful Fear of the two vampires. Instead, the monsters tried to attack the elven knights and beowulf warriors. However, low-ranking monsters like goblins and gnolls were no match against the elven knights of Eland, who had roamed the forest and hunted monsters for decades while perfecting their horsemanship. The pedigree of the elven knights’ horses was as good as Silion's, and they lived up to their masters’ expectations by storming through the monsters while dashing between the large trees.

Some of the more agile lycanthropes managed to catch up to the elven knights or evade the attacks by jumping to the sides. However…

“Dog-headed bastard!”

Clang!

Armed with better armor than before, the beowulf warriors tackled the bare-bodied lycanthropes. Although they could beat the lycanthropes to death, the beowulfs limited themselves to inflicting non-critical blows to fulfill Eugene’s instructions. Still, they were able to force the monsters to flee while whimpering.

Meanwhile, Eugene and Galfredik arrived at where the villagers were being held captive.

Shuack!

Eugene released the humans from their shackles with a swing of Madarazika, then turned around once again without saying a word. After briefly meeting Galfredik’s gaze, Eugene immediately mustered all of his Fear.

Kwaaaaaaaa!

The Fear of the Origin and his Vassal arrested the fleeing monsters on the spot. More specifically, the Fear prevented the monsters from fleeing in certain directions. With elves and beowulfs coming from the sides, and Fear even more intimidating than their dead leader emanating from behind…

Kieeee! Kieeek! Kieeeeek!

The monsters could only make one judgment after being completely dominated by overwhelming fear. The monsters let out frightened screams before naturally flocking in one direction—the direction which Eugene and the expedition had plotted for them to escape toward.

Tududududududu! Kuwwwwugh!

The monsters ran for their lives to escape the hoofs of horses and roars of the beowulf warriors. Eugene shouted while pulling on Silion’s reins, “We’re going to start herding the monsters!”

Hundreds of monsters dashed across the forest. However, their excitement and joy at the expectation of a feast of human flesh were no longer there. Only their survival instinct remained. The direction in which the monsters were headed was toward the Lusa territory.

***

The orange sky soon dimmed into darkness. Torches and bonfires started blooming into existence as if they were awakened from their sleep, providing light to the campsite made of carriages.

“This is… Well, it’s good to rest, but at this pace, when will we enter the Bemos territory and subjugate the evil land there?”

“Isn’t it fine since Sir Palo accepted it? He’s the representative of the land’s lord, so it’s not like we can say anything about it.”

“Even so. I’m only saying this because we keep delaying the issue. Aren’t you worried as well, sir? Am I truly the only one who is concerned?”

“Hmm.”

The nobles fell silent. As their peer had said, every day was important. No matter how great the King of Maren and his expedition were, it was simply impossible to track and annihilate hundreds of monsters overnight. They thought that it would have been preferable to stick to the original plan and head to the evil land where the issue originated. However, the nobles could not express their dissatisfaction.

It was because of Prince Localope, the wizard of the king, and the two vampire high lords. Even discounting the wizard and the vampire high lords, they simply could not openly express their discontent when even Prince Localope was silent. Rather, all they could do was huddle as such and complain in quiet voices.

Tududududududu…

“Huh?”

“Horses? Who could it be?”

The nobles rose from their seats one by one. They could hear a faint rumbling coming from a distance.

“H-his Majesty?”

The nobles became wide-eyed when they realized that it was Eugene, Princess Lilisain, and the elven knights. Only six hours had passed since they departed, so why were they already coming back?

‘Did they fail?’

‘That must be it. It’s not dozens, but hundreds. And they left yesterday…’

‘Well, it’s a good thing for us, anyway.’

The nobles shared such thoughts with their gazes before welcoming Eugene.

“You’ve returned!”

“I’m glad you came back safely, Your Majesty!”

Baron Palo and Prince Localope broke through the nobles and took their place at the front.

“Your Majesty. Did you get any results?” Baron Palo asked.

Eugene took off his dusty helmet before answering, “I’ve taken care of their leader, and the rest should be disposed of soon.”

“Oh! That’s great! As expected… Huh? But where are the beowulf warriors…?” Baron Palo asked with a puzzled expression. The nobles were confused as well. Come to think of it, they couldn’t see any of the beowulfs.

The way Eugene’s crimson eyes glowed in the moonlight made them look even more mysterious as he spoke in a regretful voice, “They are chasing the surviving monsters. This is, well… I didn’t intend to do so, but one unfortunate territory might be in a bit of trouble. The monsters are all flocking in that direction.”

“T-that territory… Do you mean the—”

“The Lusa territory,” Eugene answered.

“…!!!”

“Once again, I never intended for this to happen. Of all places, the monsters had to flee there. I feel sorry for Sir Lusa.”

Eugene sighed as if he were truly sorry. However, no one took his words at face value. The King of Maren they knew and saw until now wasn’t someone who would allow such things to happen unless he wanted it.