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Chapter 265: This is a Life-or-Death Fight. (2)

“Grrr…”

The two heads of the ogre fell to the ground with a thud.

Boom!

Immediately after, the massive body of the Twin Head Ogre crashed to the floor, creating a tremendous vibration.

The Twin Head Ogre was a mess. It was slashed and torn apart from various places. All evidence of Kaor swinging his sword in a frenzied state.

He had fought with his life on the line, dodging and blocking the ogre’s attacks.

The wall he had sliced? That was the head of the Twin Head Ogre.

At last, Kaor had gained the opportunity to climb over the wall.

“I got it…”

A laugh escaped him. He had captured what seemed impossible all by himself.

Had it been in the past, he would have just recklessly charged in and lost his life. But now, he had ultimately emerged victorious by wielding every ability he possessed.

“Cough, cough, of course, I’m the strongest… cough!”

Kaor fell to his knees, bleeding. It was at that moment he regained his senses and glanced at his body.

His condition was dreadful. One arm was broken and dangling, and the wrist of the hand that held the sword was swollen from some injury.

It felt as if every muscle in his body had been torn. He had tried to avoid attacks as much as possible, but he had to block a few that he couldn’t dodge.

With each powerful attack he withstood, the impacts stacked upon his body. It was impossible for him to feel fine.

“Damn… Still, I won… Who would’ve thought an ogre could be this strong… Ugh!”

Once again, Kaor violently vomited blood, forcing his heavy eyelids to open and surveying the battlefield.

“What the… how much time has passed…”

While he had been fighting the Twin Head Ogre, the monsters were almost completely annihilated. The Soldiers of Turian and some hunters were finishing up the remaining monsters.

In the heat of battle, he hadn’t noticed, but a significant amount of time had actually passed. The surrounding monsters had all been swept away by Ghislaine and the others.

Those dealing with the remaining monsters turned to see the conclusion of Kaor’s fight with the Twin Head Ogre.

And then, a tremendous cheer erupted.

“Wow! We won!”

“That red-headed guy is amazing!”

“He took down the Twin Head Ogre by himself!”

The hunters erupted in excitement. Throughout the history of this fortress, only a handful of people had managed to single-handedly take down a large monster.

And this was the Twin Head Ogre, considered one of the strongest among land monsters. Furthermore, monsters that reached the rank of chief in a Monster Wave were usually stronger than normal.

To have taken down such a being alone, everyone was busy admiring and praising Kaor’s prowess.

“Redhead, you’re the best!”

“From now on, you are the king of Ironcliff!”

“Doncard can’t even compare to you! Ah, that bastard’s already dead, right?”

Even the hunters who regretted joining alongside Ghislaine changed their minds now. The stronger the companion, the higher their chances of survival.

Human nature is indeed fickle.

“Cough, heh heh, everyone saw that, right? Even the old man can’t compare to me. I’m the strongest. Heh heh. Cough!”

Kaor sat there, continuing to spit blood while laughing. While he felt like he might die, hearing the crowd’s cheers made him feel on top of the world.

This is how one deserves to be revered. Isn’t that the life of a man?

Thud, thud. Bang!

Someone approached Kaor and planted a greatsword into the ground beside him. All fell silent.

“Hey, now do you get it?”

Ghislaine chuckled and teased. Kaor barely opened his hazy eyes and managed a strained smile.

“I almost died, you know. No, I feel like I’m dying right now…”

“You really need to get close to death to gain realizations quicker. If you die, well, there’s nothing you can do about that.”

“Heh heh, if I come back to life, I’m really going to train hard. When I return, let the old man know to be on guard.”

“I doubt it. Gillian has crossed the line way more than you.”

“Oh, I’ll win every fight, just watch.”

The two merely laughed. While the people cheered for Kaor, they did not for Ghislaine.

“That’s a real monster…”

“Didn’t they say he came from the Ruthania Kingdom? Is he a real Swordmaster? Or just a Mage Knight like they say?”

“I guess he could wipe out our fortress all by himself.”

Humans do not cheer or feel camaraderie towards dragons. They merely bow their heads in awe and worship, overwhelmed by their power.

The feelings of those now looking at Ghislaine were akin to that.

It was too marvelous to even express admiration. It felt like looking at a completely different species.

Kaor, who was still at the human level, felt much closer.

Thus, while they showered Kaor with praise, they felt an inexplicable fear towards Ghislaine.

Of course, not everyone felt that way. The Knights of Penris, who had always considered Ghislaine a monster, accepted it as another day.

‘No one could gauge the lord’s strength anyway.’

‘We were a bit surprised this time, but hey, the lord did what lords do.’

‘If that technique is used in war, soldiers will just be wiped out.’

‘I’ll have to ask to learn that later.’

Ghislaine looked at the nervous faces around her and smiled.

“Hey, what are you all doing? The hero who defeated the Twin Head Ogre is dying over here. Hurry up and take him to get treated.”

As she spoke, Ghislaine pulled out potions and poured them onto various wounds of Kaor’s body.

Minor wounds could be treated with potions, but it was merely first aid. Kaor, who had exhausted all his mana and was in terrible shape, was truly half-dead at that point.

Only then did the knights rush over to support Kaor.

“Commander! Are you okay? Your skills have really improved!”

Thwack!

Someone smacked Kaor’s side as they helped him. It was one of the former Mad Hounds who had often been on the receiving end of Kaor’s teasing.

In Kaor’s current state, he couldn’t even tell who had hit him.

“Cough, who just…”

“Hey, be careful supporting him. Looks like he’s in a lot of pain.”

‘That bastard has always been so rude.’

Thwack!

Another knight, who had often complained about Kaor, sneaked in a punch while supporting him.

“Ugh! Who the hell…”

“Hurry and move Kaor inside! He needs to stabilize! You son of a…”

Thwack!

“Ugh…”

The knights surrounded Kaor and dragged him inside the fortress. Therefore, the hunters couldn’t witness the beating Kaor was receiving.

Some hunters, wiping their noses, looked a bit touched.

“Tsk, that kind of camaraderie is enviable.”

“If it were us, we would’ve already killed him and taken the spoils.”

“With comrades like that, one would fight with their life on the line. He may have a bad temper, but he really seems like he has a good heart.”

While everyone was caught up in their emotions, Kaor, getting beaten by the knights, was dragged inside the fortress and fainted with his breath half-hanging.

*

“Thank you, Count.”

Grant, the commander of the fortress, bent deeply to meet Ghislaine.

In this place, noble status was not acknowledged. But at this moment, it couldn’t be ignored.

In fact, even if Ghislaine were a slave, Grant would have bowed to him.

“Thanks to you, we actually had less damage than when fighting alongside the castle. I should have trusted you from the beginning and gone out a bit faster…”

Grant trailed off. If he had prepared and taken action the moment Ghislaine spoke, the damage could have been further reduced.

Even now, the damage was significantly less, but as a commander, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of regret.

Ghislaine patted Grant’s shoulder, which bore the weight of self-recrimination, and spoke.

“It’s fine. We had to experience it eventually. Forget about the rest, but remember this one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Most monsters are not intelligent. They only focus on attacking the enemy in front of them. Especially the monsters living in these mountains, those nearly crazy ones. If you can utilize that well, you can inflict great damage with human tactics.”

“Honestly, we’ve thought about it, but we assumed the monsters were physically superior to the soldiers, leading to greater damage if we confronted them. The kingdom built fortresses to minimize damage as well.”

“Even after seeing the fight today, you still think that?”

‘That’s because you’re a monster…’

Grant could not continue his sentence.

Indeed, Ghislaine had a point, and he had personally experienced that it was achievable. Simultaneously, he felt that without someone as strong as Ghislaine, it would be difficult.

As if understanding his sentiments, Ghislaine clicked her tongue and continued.

“You don’t have to have someone as strong as me. Create passages on both sides of the fortress so the cavalry can exit.”

“Eh?”

“Utilize their habit of chasing the enemy in front of them. With skilled cavalry, you can sufficiently separate the monsters.”

“Ah…”

“After making the first strike with large weapons, once the distance closes, separate the monsters with cavalry and set up formations to attack. That would be much better than a chaotic battle on the narrow castle walls.”

“Hmm…”

There were hardly any cavalry in the fortress. But that was something the royal family could provide support for upon request.

It was the policy of the Kingdom of Turian to support as much as needed to prevent the fortress from collapsing.

“Of course, you have to assess the situation while observing how the monsters are encroaching. If there are few flying monsters and most are terrestrial, it’s obviously better to fight alongside the fort. That much you can discern, right?”

Grant nodded.

The Monster Wave varies depending on how the remaining monsters in the mountains gather.

Sometimes, there would be monsters that could easily leap over the walls or hardly any flying monsters. While large monsters would hurl smaller monsters or stones to inflict damage, the overall damage was notably less than at other times.

“As a commander, you have to strategize and create tactics suitable for every situation. If you merely cling to a fortress, you might end up in worse trouble.”

In his past life, there had been an actual place that fell when relying solely on the fortress to fight. With such a wide variety of monsters, the stubbornness of not wanting to abandon the fortress led to issues.

It was an unavoidable situation. Preconceptions and anxieties are not so easily erased.

The fortress had not existed for long, so there had been little time to establish various strategies.

Grant realized what he needed to do from today onward. He mustn’t solely rely on the fortress but establish various strategies and tactics applicable to the situation.

“Thank you. I will keep your words in mind and prepare thoroughly.”

“Right, the number of monsters never exceeds a certain level, so if you prepare well, you’ll be fine.”

“How do you know that…”

“Curious?”

“Yes. Honestly, it seems you know more about this place than I do.”

Grant felt a strange sense of disharmony while talking to Ghislaine. Even though it shouldn’t be the case, it felt almost as if she had experienced such things multiple times.

For amusement, Ghislaine decided to tell the truth for once.

“Actually, I died and came back to life…”

“Well, there’s a reason you can’t say it. I will take it you have some backstory.”

“Yeah, there’s quite a tale.”

The disbelief of the others was rather amusing.

After finishing the conversation with Ghislaine, Grant opened the storehouse and began distributing plenty of drinks to those in the fortress. It was a sort of reward for those who had worked hard after the Monster Wave had concluded.

In addition, it was also his role to mediate and distribute the byproducts fairly according to the contributions of those involved.

“Guess there’s no need to worry too much this time.”

Originally, this was the time that was the most exhausting and needed the most attention. Everyone tends to boast about their contributions and argue over who gets more.

But now, there was no need for that.

“I’ll take all the leather and tendons. Divide the rest equally. Any complaints?”

With just a word from Ghislaine, everyone fell silent. The one who had killed the most monsters was Ghislaine, and Kaor had taken down the Twin Head Ogre.

Who would dare to refuse the words of the one who played the most decisive role in their victory?

Just the fact that she was willing to share the rest equally felt like a stroke of good fortune.

The hunters gathered in small groups, sipping the drinks handed out by Grant, chatting away.

“Then let’s just drink and have fun.”

“Ah, I love drinks, but there’s barely anything to eat. Just more monster meat.”

“Yeah, but apparently everywhere else is a famine, and there’s absolutely nothing to eat.”

Unlike other kingdoms, the Kingdom of Turian did not suffer severely from food shortages. It was all thanks to the overwhelming number of monsters.

They had consumed everything edible from the remains of the monsters aside from what could be sold. The taste was mostly terrible, but better than starving.

A stew made with monster meat and edible herbs was the staple food of the fortress residents. That’s why, surprisingly, strong spices had developed quite well in the regions surrounding the fortress.

“Ah, every time I eat this, I note just how disgustingly terrible it is.”

“I can’t even remember the last time I had really delicious meat and bread.”

“The prices here are ridiculously high! It’s like spending all my daily wages for just one decent meal.”

Despite their grumbling, the people stuffed food into their mouths. It was better than just drinking with nothing.

The poor quality of food was the same for Ghislaine’s group. They had only packed some simple dehydrated supplies, so their meals were hardly different from those of the hunters.

“Ugh, I guess our territory really had good food.”

“If it weren’t for the spicy seasoning powder from the butler, I probably wouldn’t have been able to eat at all. The smell is just too foul.”

“This is disgustingly terrible. I’m only eating because I’m hungry.”

The knights who had enjoyed soft bread and chicken in the Penris Territory found it hard to adjust to monster cooking after just feasting there.

Having only eaten monster meat since arriving at the fortress, they felt like they’d throw up just at the sight of it.

Contrarily, Ghislaine was enjoying her food a lot.

“What’s wrong? Not tasty? Back in my day, there were many who couldn’t eat simply because of lack of options.”

‘What on earth is she talking about…’

‘She’s great and all, but sometimes she talks like an old person.’

‘Back in my day? Is she becoming one of those young geezers we hear about?’

As the lord enjoyed eating so well, the knights had no choice but to swallow down their food too. According to the butler, they used to be picky about their dishes as kids, but now they were happily consuming monster meat, making them utterly perplexed.

After the Monster Wave subsided, just as they were forcefully filling their bellies, something joyful happened.

“Whoa, what’s that?”

“Is something enormous coming in?”

“Did a major merchant group arrive?”

As an astonishing number of wagons entered the fortress, the people were shocked. And they were even more amazed when they saw the items unloading from them.

The wagons stopped in front of the inn occupied by Ghislaine and began pouring out an immense quantity of wheat and meat.

 

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