Chapter – 61
‘This is problematic.’
Carlyle hurriedly dashed towards the castle gate.
Sssssss!
The [Whisper of the Earth] bracelet on his left wrist emitted an intense aura.
Squelch! Squelch!
As [Mud Swamp] was cast, the area in front of the castle gate turned into a muddy quagmire, trapping the feet of the enemies pouring in.
“Ugh!”
“Guaaaaah!”
The barbarian warriors and undead monsters floundered, knee-deep in the mire.
“I’ll hold them!”
Helen quickly moved to the entrance where the [Mud Swamp] was spread and swung her sword towards the enemies.
“Uaaaagh!”
“Kyaaak!”
Just like during the previous siege battle, the enemies met futile deaths, floundering in the [Mud Swamp]. Once they stepped in, they were essentially rooted to the spot, leaving them with no choice but to meet their end standing there.
But even that had its limits…
“They’re… there’s too many… no matter how many we kill, there’s no end…”
In front of the [Mud Swamp], a soldier who had been attacking the enemies alongside Helen muttered as if half out of his mind. It was understandable; the enemies were far too numerous. They were stepping on the corpses of their allies who had died in the [Mud Swamp], one by one, managing to set foot inside the fortress. If this continued, the enemy corpses would become a sort of stepping stone or bridge over the [Mud Swamp].
‘This is the worst.’
Just as Carlyle cleaved a skeletal soldier in two and bit his lip…
*Vwooom!*
Something massive and heavy flew in from afar, tracing a parabolic arc.
“Look out!!!”
Marder urgently shouted a warning and fired [Rapid Shot] at the incoming object.
*Thud! Thud-thud-thud! Thud! Thud-thud!*
The arrows, unleashed like a rapid-fire cannon, all struck the flying target. However, the stopping power of the arrows was insufficient to halt it. No, from the start, they couldn’t even pierce its body.
*Ting, Tink!*
The arrows bounced off powerlessly.
*KABOOM!*
*FWOOOSH!*
The shockwave generated upon its landing swept through the surroundings.
“Uwaaak!”
“Argh!”
*Thud! Crunch!*
The Bowden fortress soldiers stationed nearby were momentarily lifted into the air before crashing down. [Thunder Leap] had been executed simultaneously with the landing, triggering [Thunder Stomp].
“Sigurd… Valhallaaa…”
A murmur filled with resentment and obsession flowed from the severed head held in its left hand. The rotten, putrid eyeballs darted around, searching for its enemy.
Bjornsen.
He had been resurrected as a [Dullahan] by the dark mage Crowley! He had burst into Bowden Fortress once again to get his revenge on Carlyle!
—
* * *
“Carlyle, Private, you’re quite popular.”
Kudo tossed a subtle joke Carlyle’s way. It might seem strange for a joke to come out at such a critical moment, but among those who lived through battlefields, many never lost their sense of humor, even when death was imminent.
Why?
Because for them, death was a part of everyday life.
“Is that a compliment?”
“Having many people looking for you is a good thing, isn’t it? Haha.”
“If I were any more popular, I doubt I’d have enough lives to get by.”
Carlyle retorted sarcastically, feeling somewhat awkward. Even people approaching him with goodwill were bothersome and unwelcome, so what was so good about being popular among those with malicious intent?
“Sigurd… Sigmuuund…”
Bjornsen’s head, having spotted Carlyle, gaped like a goldfish. It was a marvel that it could produce sound without the necessary organs, like lungs, to push air—managing to vocalize with just a head.
“I’ll help you deal with him. Our other comrades seem busy. Ah, personally, I’d like to leave Private Carlyle all to you, but if I did that, I doubt Private Carlyle would come out unscathed. Hoho.”
“What kind of sentiment is ‘wanting to leave me all to you’?”
“Interfering with someone’s affection isn’t a very pleasant thing.”
“Calling that affection…”
Carlyle tried to protest, but unfortunately, there was no more time.
“Sigurd… Sigmuuund!”
Bjornsen charged towards Carlyle.
*Whoosh, VWOOOM!*
The speed of the swinging axe seemed several times faster than before. It went without saying that the destructive power and sharpness carried by the axe had also multiplied several times over.
“Ugh!”
Carlyle flung his body aside, evading Bjornsen’s attack.
*CRACK!*
The massive axe slammed into the ground. The axe blade dug into the earth, even causing fissures. If that attack had landed, it was clear that not only would his head have been split, but his body would have been cleaved vertically in two.
“Don’t block it, or you’ll die!”
“I know!”
Carlyle shouted back as he steadied his stance.
*Whoosh, VWOOOM!*
The axe relentlessly targeted Carlyle.
“Isn’t he a bit too fond of Private Carlyle?”
*Swoosh!*
A blade imbued with aura slashed at Bjornsen’s back. However, only a long gash was carved into Bjornsen’s backplate. Even the sharpness of Kudo’s aura-imbued sword couldn’t sever the skin of Bjornsen, who had been reborn as a Dullahan.
“Valhallaaaaa!”
Bjornsen flattened the axe blade and launched his own head like a projectile.
*VWOOOOOOM—!!!*
*KABOOM!*
Bjornsen’s head, flying at a terrifying speed like a cannonball, struck Kudo square in the center of his chest.
“Kuh-hack!”
Kudo vomited blood as he was sent flying far away, slamming into a wall. With a single blow—and in a method no one had anticipated—Bjornsen had incapacitated Kudo, one of the acknowledged strong members of the scouting team.
“Sigurd… Sigmuuund…”
Bjornsen picked up his own head, which was repeating the same words like a parrot, and turned his back towards Carlyle once again.
“Sigmuuund!!!”
Bjornsen charged at Carlyle again.
*BOOM, KABOOM!*
Every time Bjornsen’s axe and Grimringand collided, Carlyle was forced back several steps. Although Carlyle was surprisingly strong for his size, against the overwhelming power of Bjornsen, now a Dullahan, he could only helplessly be pushed back.
‘Damn it. My attacks aren’t working.’
Moreover, even when he managed to counterattack in between, it was difficult to inflict meaningful damage on Bjornsen even with Grimringand’s sharpness. It wasn’t a matter of skill, but purely a severe difference in ‘weight class’ causing this situation. Even when alive, Bjornsen had possessed a physique that overwhelmed Carlyle. Now that he had become a Dullahan, Carlyle had no choice but to be on the receiving end.
*THWACK!*
“Keuk!”
Carlyle was sent tumbling to the ground by Bjornsen’s kick.
‘I have to get up… Ugh!’
*CRUNCH!*
Before he knew it, Bjornsen had closed the distance, his foot pressing down firmly on Carlyle’s chest. Despite his massive frame, Bjornsen’s movements were terrifyingly fast.
“Carlyle!”
*Swish, swish-swish!*
Marder’s arrows flew in incessantly, but Bjornsen didn’t even flinch.
*Tap, thud-thud.*
Arrows with bent or broken tips fell to the ground like autumn leaves.
“Kuh, Keu-heuk!”
“Sigurd… Valhallaaa…”
Bjornsen’s dead eyes glittered with vengeful intent directed at Carlyle. Was that why?
*CRUNCH!*
Bjornsen pressed his foot down even harder on Carlyle’s chest. It was surely revenge for what he had suffered while alive. Hadn’t Bjornsen been crushed to death under a rock, pushed by the scouting team members, just as he had crushed Derek to death? If one recalled who had suggested that idea, it was only natural for Bjornsen to try and crush Carlyle to death with his foot.
*Crack, Creeeak!*
A gruesome sound emanated from Carlyle’s chest. Clearly, his sternum was beginning to break under the pressure.
‘I, I have to counterattack somehow… Keuk!’
Thinking this, Carlyle, refusing to give up, tried to swing Grimringand to escape his current predicament. But it was futile. It wasn’t a dagger; a sword swung while his chest was pinned down couldn’t possibly be a threat.
*CRUNCH!*
‘In my previous life, I was hit by a car, and now I’m going to be crushed to death…’
Just as Carlyle’s consciousness was fading…
“Who stepped on my tail.”
The baby dragon poked its head out from between the gaps in Carlyle’s uniform. Seemingly not fully awake, its expression was grumpy and dazed. However, the emotion in its tone was unmistakably annoyance and anger. It was already in a bad mood, sulking at Carlyle, and now its deep sleep had been disturbed; there was no way the baby dragon could be pleased.
“What, it’s you?”
The baby dragon looked up at Bjornsen from atop Carlyle, then made a spiteful expression.
“You dared to step on my tail, is that it? You’re in for it now. Haaaanm!”
The baby dragon opened its mouth wide, like a yawning cat. Even though the baby dragon, barely the size of a squirrel, opened its mouth, how wide could it possibly be? But the result was by no means insignificant.
*Kwaaaaaa!*
Green flames erupted from the baby dragon’s mouth in a fan-shaped arc, engulfing Bjornsen.
*Whoooooosh!*
The flames wrapping around Bjornsen burned fiercely, the intense heat swallowing the surroundings.
“Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Bjornsen’s head let out a scream filled with agony.
*Ding!*
A notification window appeared before Carlyle’s eyes.
[Notification: The baby dragon has used <Dragon’s Wrath>!]
—
* * *
*Thump-thump-thump!*
“Kraaah, Kuraaaaaaah!”
Bjornsen stomped his feet in agony. Undead are deceased beings animated by dark magic. As such, their nerves are naturally dead too, so it’s normal for them not to feel pain. Nevertheless, the fact that a scream erupted from the undead meant that the [Dragon’s Wrath] spewed by the baby dragon was by no means ordinary fire.
[Dragon’s Wrath]
“It is the act of a fool to disturb the sleeping dragon’s whiskers.”
– <Continental Proverb>
Fire breathed out by a baby dragon when its anger reaches its peak.
‘Seems it was really angry.’
[Dragon’s Wrath] is fire breathed when fury reaches its peak. So, the baby dragon must have been extremely angered by having its tail stepped on. There’s no other reason it would have used [Dragon’s Wrath].
Effects:
– [Immolation] Burns the enemy with intense heat.
– [Soul Torment] Inflicts terrible agony upon the enemy. This effect delivers both physical and mental anguish.
– [Weaken] Weakens the enemy.
*Sizzle, Sizzzzle!*
The heat from the [Dragon’s Wrath] was so intense that Bjornsen’s skin was visibly charring in real-time, turning into blackened cinder.
‘Guess a potential 12-star is still a 12-star.’
Thinking that the baby dragon didn’t have its potential 12-star rating for nothing, Carlyle slowly rose to his feet.
“Keuk!”
An intense pain shot through his chest. Carlyle chugged down a health potion and steadied his stance.
*Kwaaaaaaaah!*
Meanwhile, the baby dragon continued to spew [Dragon’s Wrath] at Bjornsen without stopping.
“Go! Butler!”
The baby dragon commanded Carlyle.
“…Are you ordering me right now?”
Carlyle replied nonchalantly. He was grateful for having his life saved at a critical moment, but this blurred the lines of who was the master and who was the pet—it was a complete reversal.
“Aren’t you angry, Butler?”
“Not particularly?”
“Whaaat?!”
The baby dragon glared.
“That dirty, low-class corpse dared to step on my tail, and you’re not angry? As my butler, you’re supposed to teach him a lesson!”
It seemed the point of the baby dragon’s anger wasn’t that Bjornsen had attacked Carlyle, but purely that he had stepped on its tail. Clearly, it had no thoughts whatsoever about Bjornsen attacking Carlyle from the start.
‘Figures, coming from you.’
Carlyle clicked his tongue inwardly and sprinted towards Bjornsen, who was engulfed in green flames. Now, while Bjornsen was suffering and weakened by [Dragon’s Wrath], was Carlyle’s only chance.
