Side Story 49. Anemone Smiled Brightly (25)
Keeping Doomstone as their center, the line of soldiers dispersed around. He rolled on the ground, picked up four spears, and threw them at the four strong people who stood out. The four knights he targeted just barely managed to avoid the spears wrapped in a strong aura. However, the three or four subordinates, who were right behind each of them, weren’t as lucky. The spears pierced right through and killed them all.
"Oh! You guys are using good armor."
Even though they were wearing solid armors made from dragon skins that were imported from the Dragon Tribe, Doomstone had penetrated them and killed the knights. He hadn"t expected the spear would be able to kill three or four people and had simply reckoned it would continue to penetrate up to the point it breaks. But seeing that it not only penetrated but also killed, he was genuinely in awe. However, he felt that this admiration that he held was ignored by the generals commanding the soldiers.
"Defeat the villain!"
"Knights! Attack that devil!"
Perhaps because Doomstone"s provocation was efficient, the knights that the four strong people led rushed at him exuding killing intent. As for the hors.e.m.e.n charging with lances, Doomstone simply rolled on the ground, picked some stones, and struck the horses’ eyes.
"Hiiiing!"
The leading steeds collapsed due to pain and confusion as their vision went dark, and the mounted knights directly tumbled off. The chargers of the knights following the quartet tripped over their fallen mates in succession.
"You evil…!"
The knights trembled at Doomstone"s cowardly attack. However, they knew that it was a basic tactic among the basics to aim for the horses when dealing with knights.
"Ahahaha! Thank you for the compliment!"
Being fair and square was far from the Crows. The priority was to win even if you had to throw dirt in the opponent’s eyes and hit their vital points. After all, it was the fault of the person who fell for the cowardly methods. And hailing curses was the epitome of praise the vanquished could shower.
Doomstone stepped over the fallen horses and jumped into the group of knights. The four generals joined forces to attack him. However, they were unable to display the full extent of their power because they had never worked together as they usually competed with each other.
"Tch, so mediocre." Seeing them get in each other’s way, Doomstone clicked his tongue and attacked the leader with a sword aura.
"Enlightenment! Moonlit Dance of Swords!"
He was disappointed when the four generals he had some antic.i.p.ation for easily collapsed. The knights clenched their teeth and attacked him from all sides with their swords. However, their armors were crushed with just one strike and they were sent flying.
"Hahahaha! Is this all you’ve got?! Make me happier!"
When his martial aura exploded, the frail soldiers fell to the ground, their mouths foaming. The knights helplessly formed a circle around Doomstone"s overwhelming power.
"That… that guy will also get tired at some point! Keep attacking him!"
At the commander’s order, a soldier instantly approached Doomstone. The latter simply laughed. "Ahahaha! Right! I"m also a human being. I"ll get tired one day, so hurry up and come at me! Make me happy!"
Doomstone was at the hilt of frenzy when he roared. The soldiers simply abandoned their post and began to run away.
"He-he’s not a human!"
"Ru-run away!"
"Save me!"
To the soldiers, Doomstone was nothing but a disaster from heaven; an absolute G.o.d of destruction. Their minds were unable to accept the idea that he too could get exhausted.
"Don"t run away! There’s only one enemy!" a commander barked.
"Those who run away will be severely punished! Raise your weapons right now!” another commander warned.
However, the threats didn’t bear the desired effects, the fleeing soldiers didn’t stop. Their survival instincts far exceeded the concerns about future military punishment. It was a judgment based on instinct, but wise, nonetheless. Rather than fighting to death now, getting whipped in the future was much more likely a path of survival.
"What’s this~? Is this hide-and-seek? That also sounds fun!”
Doomstone"s cry only stimulated their urge to survive. Not only soldiers but also knights began to abandon their weapons and flee.
"Don"t run away! Fight! I said fight!” the commander desperately bellowed. However, right then Doomstone ran in a frenzy and struck him blindly. He was sent flying and even vomited blood.
Doomstone smacked his lips as he saw the commander drifting far away. "Oh, I made a mistake. He needs to be here to make this fight at least enjoyable."
When the commander and other command units were destroyed, 50,000 troops began to collapse.
-o-
Wow, he’s good at fighting, as expected.
Since there was no burden such as me, it seemed like the battleline was collapsing much faster. Well, although he pretended not to, Doomstone did pay a lot of attention to my safety. That said, he consciously restrained his movements so I wouldn’t get hurt at all.
I had an inkling about it but didn"t expect such a stark difference. I felt sorry for some reason. Well, if I were to tell this to Doomstone, he would argue that this loss of intensity wouldn’t cripple him, so there was nothing to be sorry about.
"Hmm. Like this, even if they die in droves, the death aura will get blown away.”
At the sudden voice, I put more mana into the transparency magic tool and grabbed tightly onto the cloak of the Dragon Tribe.
From the direction the voice had sounded, I saw two men approaching. One was small and the other large. The pet.i.te man was wearing a mask made of a mountain goat skull, while the other was a one-armed mountain elderly.
"Ahahaha. I guess things have gone awry." The old man laughed and slapped the back of the man wearing a skull of a mountain goat.
The Mountain Goat Skull grumbled somewhat annoyed. "Don"t touch my body recklessly, Current King."
"Ayy, what’s wrong. It’s just me."
While the old man with one arm shrugged lightly, the Mountain Goat Skull exuded black mana.
Black mana? Is he a black magician?
"Whoa, whoa, calm down. Someone might misunderstand you as a black magician," the old man stated.
"Hmph! I don’t care if they misunderstand," the other swiftly retorted.
Is he not a black magician?
Still, I was holding my breath just in case, but the one-armed old man looked toward me and said, "Whether they misunderstand or not, you also have dignity. Wouldn’t it feel bad to be treated like those trivial things? Don"t you think so, Miss?"
Did I get caught? How? I"m sure I was using the transparency magic tool.
"Ah, you must be scared because I suddenly talked to you. I"m not a bad person. This little kid might be a bad guy." The one-armed old man pointed playfully at the Mountain Goat Skull and chuckled.
"Don"t call me a kid, you senile old man."
"Jeez, you"re almost 200 years younger than me, so I should be able to call you a kid. Don"t you think so, Miss?”
200 years old? He didn’t look that old.
When I was fl.u.s.tered, the Mountain Goat Skull glanced at me and said, "How crude."
Crude? I didn"t understand what he meant, but the one-armed old man provided an additional explanation.
"Oh, by crude, he means that transparency magic tool. This guy has high standards. Wasn’t the latest compliment he made about 20 years ago for an alchemic lifeform made by an alchemist of the Crow Tribe? What was the name?”
"Green Deer."
I didn"t know what they were talking about, but it seemed like they could see me. So, I undid the transparency.
The old man with one arm smiled pleasantly. "Wow! Miss is a beautiful lady! I"ve never seen such a beautiful woman since my granddaughter. Oh, my granddaughter Orphina, a cute child who is still seven or eight years old. I"m confident that she"ll be as beautiful as Miss when she grows up. Even if I look like this, I have a good eye. Mmmm!”
The one-armed old man was quite the chatterbox.
"Ah, you think I"m a chatterbox? But I can"t help it. This is also a treatment method for this communication disorder guy. If he keeps listening, wouldn’t he start talking? I would like to inform Miss, the thing he said earlier about it being crude, is a result of my treatment."
"I"ve never asked for treatment. Hurry up and get lost back to the Dragon Gorge," the Mountain Goat Skull snapped back.
"Ah, ah, he"s like this again. Telling this old man to hurry and die. Still, at least he’s talking. Miss, did you know? Thirty years ago, if he said even one thing per year, that was him talking a lot. Seriously, Alpha, that guy, he should bow to me whenever he meets me. How is he going to learn anything from a person who doesn"t say a word?”
The one-armed old man was explaining things in detail, but since I didn’t have any background knowledge of the situation, I didn’t understand.
"Oh my. I’ve been going on and on without an introduction. My name is Drachen. Despite how I look, I’m the king of the Dragon Tribe."
"Drachen? The current king, Drachen Draconium?!”
Oh my G.o.d! I can"t believe it"s the Current King! I didn"t expect to meet the Current King, who always led the party of warriors with wisdom in the fairy tales!
"So Miss knows me too! Iyaa, this is embarra.s.sing."
I didn"t know the Current King would be such a chatterbox. In fairy tales, he appeared to be a taciturn. It gave me a new perspective.
"This is Pelefasta, the Curse Specialist. He"s one of the four great madosas."
If he was the great madosa, the Curse Specialist, he was a person with little known personal information. All that was known was that whenever a war broke out, he snooped around the battlefield to gather the death aura needed for that magic. Still, I heard that the School of Curses was very prosperous considering a great madosa was produced.
But why does it feel like he is looking at me?
"I didn"t know that Current King-nim and Curse Specialist-nim knew each other."
"Oh, I was introduced through a friend. Someone called Tri, and his wish was to turn this guy into a human being."
If it"s Tri, is it the aloof Tri brothers?
One of the brothers was killed in the battle against the Demon King, so it must have been one of the surviving ones that left behind such a gentle wish to turn this guy into a human being. Then the aloof great warrior of the Hunter Tribe from the fairy tales is no more. That’s too bad.
"Tsk, you’re too nosy. He’s just an annoying old man who’s stuck himself to me and talks all day long. If you’re over 250 years old, just go and die in the Dragon Gorge already,” the Curse Specialist said.
From what was said, the Dragon Gorge did not seem to be necessarily a good place. Despite the Curse Specialist’s harsh remarks, the Current King pretended to wipe away the non-existent tears as if he were moved.
"Sob, sob, I"m so moved that this guy talked for so long."
"Disgusting old man." The Curse Specialist kicked the Current King, who was sticking to him, out of disgust.
Despite being kicked, the Current King smiled casually as if nothing happened. "By the way Miss, are you comrades with that friend who"s running wild over there?"
His words made me nervous. The Imperial State traded with the Dragon Tribe. It wasn"t a close relations.h.i.+p like an alliance, but there was enough reason to be antagonistic towards me.
"Whoa, whoa, don"t be nervous. I"m just following this communication disorder guy because he said he was coming to gather death aura. I don"t have any intentions of being enemies.”
I"m sure I had managed my facial expression properly, but the Current King spoke as if he had read my thoughts.
"Ah, are you surprised because it felt like I was reading your thoughts? Our Dragon Tribe people have a blessing of affinity to dragons, but the dragon king’s family has a special power of super senses. Well, that"s the same for the Crow Tribe chiefs, but their personalities are a little different. After having observed Galak"s senses, should I say the Blade family reads the truth of time, while the Draconium family reads the truth of s.p.a.ce? Of course, in the end, it"s the same as we both notice something with our senses as a result.”
He really was a chatterbox. How did such a person get described as the reticent and wise Current King? The wise man of the b.u.t.terfly Tribe isn’t the incarnation of material desire, and the warrior isn’t an egoist, are they?
For some reason, I felt like my childhood innocence was being cracked.