The Mad Dog of the Dukes House - Chapter 77



Only Krnovel

Episode 77 23. Hunting (2)

2.

Eventually, Greenwood was able to join his remaining teammates.

It was a blessing.

There are a total of 8 people gathered at assembly point 2, including myself.

Everyone was able to gather, except for Sir Eugene, who was murdered by Caron, and the captain, who was likely murdered.

“Greenwood! What did you mean by what you said earlier?”

“Explain it properly!”

The colleagues who had arrived first asked Greenwood for an explanation, but Greenwood looked behind him and said,

“There’s no time for this. The lineup. We need to form the lineup quickly. Caron Reston… … Caron Reston is coming!”

He recalled the way Eugene’s neck fell to the ground with shocking ease.

A five-star knight who met his death like a nameless rascal on the battlefield.

No matter how one-sided the surprise attack was, it was definitely a surprise attack that could only be possible if there was a gap.

‘At least 6 stars.’

Assuming it is true that he murdered the captain, it may be even worse.

The important thing now is not to find out why Charon wants to kill them.

Surviving somehow.

Still, there was still some chance of winning.

Those here are often enemies who come into contact with each other while hunting the water people or elves.

The training mainly conducted by the Knights of Leven was the so-called pass formation, in which several knights attack a single target together.

Moreover, he had many experiences of facing strong opponents who would be equivalent to six-star knights in human terms.

“Caron Reston’s skill level should be assumed to be at least 6 stars. Seniors. You must not let your guard down. Both Eugene and the captain have been affected.”

As Greenwood spoke in an earnest voice, the rest of his colleagues stopped asking for further explanation.

This is not a joke, this is real.

Greenwood’s desperate expression said it all.

“… … Have you confirmed that the captain is dead?”

Among the knights present, the second in line, Io, asked Greenwood quietly.

“Caron Reston said he killed her with his own hands.”

“I’m going crazy. I can’t seem to get in touch with you.”

“Senior Io. There is no time. It must be Caron Reston-.”

That was when.

“The moon is dark, but everyone is gathered here. One, two, three… … Eight. Very good. I don’t need to bother looking for them.”

A young man walked out from between the trees, smiling.

Greenwood looked back, shuddering.

A demon holding a dark blue sword was slowly approaching in the dim moonlight.

Upon seeing this, Io quickly shouted at the surrounding knights.

“Formation 4. To Formation 4, now!”

At Io’s voice, the knights formed a formation in unison.

But Caron approached me with a smile as if nothing had happened.

“The lineup of successful candidates looks a bit crude. Are you sure that’s okay? It looks even sloppier than what the Haerang Knights trainees do.”

Charon lifted his sword lightly, grinning.

Passed.

It is a method designed to allow a weak majority to suppress a strong minority.

In theory, it is possible for 5-star knights to take on 6-star knights.

In fact, it was such a useful method that even the Knights of Haerang set aside a separate time for passing the exam.

But that is just a theory.

“Have you ever taken on real knights with that?”

Although they are a knightly order that resides in border cities, the Empire has not recently been at war with the southern kingdoms.

The qualifications for passing the exam must be completed through numerous practical exercises.

But the Knights of Levin are at best slaves or hunting savages.

It might have been effective against the Ainz races who lacked the ability to identify the weaknesses of the successful candidates, but it would be a different story if the opponent was someone who knew the successful candidates well.

Woof woof woof.

Charon let out a soft breath as he poured his magical power into the guillotine.

Three in front, two on the sides, two in the back, and one in the center.

The intention is obvious.

After blocking the attack through the three in front, the ones positioned behind will dig in through the gap that is revealed.

The most basic form of passing.

‘Even if you take down the guys in front, the guys on the sides and the back will immediately fill the gap… … Is this the most basic passing lineup?’

It was also a basic passing strategy that involved dragging the opponent into a fight of endurance and then subduing them by exhausting their stamina.

Efforts to capture slaves are evident in places like this.

“I’m dying from the effort.”

That basic pass line may be good for capturing enemies, but it has one very fatal flaw.

That means that the enemy can only be subdued if he rushes in.

So that means.

“What are you going to do if I attack from afar?”

Kwaaaaaaaaaaahh …

This means that you are exposed to attacks coming from a distance.

A huge blue-black sword stretched out from the guillotine and cut through the ground, rushing toward the knights.

The fourth form of the Sea Sword, a huge wave created by the raging waves.

“Blood right now… …!”

The waves struck the knights’ ranks with merciless speed.

And at that moment.

“Ugh-!”

“Krrrrrrr.”

Two of the three knights standing in the line flew backwards, spitting up blood.

The two flew for a while and soon crashed into a tree.

Knock knock.

Both of them fell to the floor with their necks broken.

Anyone who saw it would see that it was a desperate sight.

Fortunately, the knights at the back didn’t suffer much damage thanks to the two of them taking the attack with their bodies.

But the knights who saw that horrible scene with their own eyes could not have been unharmed.

“… … I can’t, I can’t win. How can I fight a monster like that… … .”

The emotion of fear is contagious.

The rest of the knights began to tremble at the words one knight spoke as if talking to himself.

My colleagues died right before my eyes.

But revenge was not what was on their minds.

Only fear, overwhelming fear, came into their hearts.

And the same was true of Io, who was leading them.

Gulp.

Blood began to flow from Io’s forehead, which had been scratched by the debris of the wave.

At the same time, my head feels dizzy.

Is there a way?

Is there really any way to escape from that guy’s clutches?

“Why are you worrying so hard? Don’t be so hard. I have a good solution for you.”

The monster takes a step forward, laughing.

The initially formed list of successful candidates has already lost its meaning.

The terrified knights began to leave their posts, and some even began to back away.

This battle is already lost.

I could tell that without thinking about it for too long.

Paaaaat-!

The monster’s body disappeared from sight for a moment. When the monster came back into Io’s sight, it was already

Crunch-!

It was after the neck of the colleague standing right next to Io fell to the floor.

Landing lightly after cutting off one of the knights’ heads, Charon looked around at the other knights and said.

“How is it? Are your worries gone now?”

One of the knights who had been watching the scene let out a scream and swung his sword.

“Eww!”

A sword that is so simple that it loses its composure.

Charon easily raised his sword and parried the attack.

Kaaaaang-!

The moment their swords clashed, the knight’s sword broke in a flash of flame.

Crunch!

The guillotine, having devoured the sword, ended up greedily biting the knight’s neck.

That’s already the fourth time.

Now there are only three left.

Io shouted in a trembling voice.

“Run away in different directions!”

Honor as a knight is no longer important.

Anyway, anyway, it’s all over.

You shouldn’t have faced that monster in the first place. There were seven of them, so running away in seven directions would have been the right decision.

Woooooooooo-!

Io, who had overloaded the magical channels of her entire body, began to run away while pushing all her magical power into her lower body, and Greenwood and the other knights who were behind her also ran in different directions.

“… … Look at these kids?”

Charon frowned as he looked at the fugitives who had split in three directions.

-The prey are very rebellious.

“What wouldn’t you do to survive?”

Charon let out a deep sigh and concentrated his magical power into his sword once again.

And then, he threw his sword with all his might towards Io’s back, who had run far away.

Wheeeeeeeeeek-!

A flash of blue light flew through the darkness, tearing it apart.

Phew.

It hit Io’s back as he was running away.

He fell to the floor and writhed a few times, but soon stopped moving.

Charon muttered as he strode towards the corpse.

“Now there are only two left.”

The end of the hunt was in sight.

3.

Greenwood ran forward, his lips pursed.

He bit his lips so hard that blood was flowing out of them.

I didn’t even have time to look back.

The monster might not have been chasing him, but he couldn’t stop running.

‘Why should I die?’

Just because you caught a slave?

The road ahead is bright, so why do I have to die here for such a reason?

Aren’t they not even human anyway?

Of course, there were times when we caught runaway slaves, but they were all guys living in the gutter.

It means that they are fundamentally different from the person who will have a bright future.

‘… … First, we must go to the village outside the forest.’

Here, in the village of Luka, located next to Tirisfal Glades.

It was a fairly large town, as it was also a transit point between the central region of the empire and the south. And it was also guarded by a large number of vigilantes.

Even if Caron Reston is a crazy guy, he won’t be able to spread his evil spirits in the village.

Your colleagues are dead?

It was a pity. But right now, the deaths of my colleagues were of no importance.

We must survive.

I had to survive and tell the truth about the horrors that Charon Reston had done.

That way, we can plan for revenge or whatever.

‘If His Majesty the Concubine finds out about this, he will definitely not stay still.’

A noble family, led by the greatest hero of the empire, committed a brutal massacre.

There were many ways to get revenge, if only I could get this news out there.

“ah.”

Greenwood, who was running frantically, saw the end of the forest in the distance.

The ends of the trees that were connected like a wall.

As if to indicate that there was a street there, the luminous stones on the street were glowing faintly.

Almost there.

Now, if you just keep driving along that road, you will soon reach the village of Luca.

“Whew.”

Greenwood took a deep breath.

I don’t even know how far I ran.

Perhaps because he had been running without rest, using up all his magical power, the magical power that had been full until just a moment ago was almost depleted.

Just hold on a little longer.

Just one minute.

If you run just one more minute, you’ll get there.

“Ugh, ugh.”

My breath is pounding.

The magic power has now run out and can no longer assist the legs.

My muscles feel like they’re going to burst.

I wondered how many times in my life I had ever jumped to such extremes.

Still, there was hope ahead.

The glowing stones on the road that had only been visible from afar now began to sway before my eyes.

The trees that used to stretch endlessly are no more.

Just twenty, twenty more steps and I will be able to escape this terrible forest.

“Wheww!”

Finally, the light began to welcome him, and with it the darkness seemed to retreat.

‘They’re all here… … .’

Just five steps left.

But Greenwood could never get out of the darkness.

A man stood just in front of the forest exit.

The man holding the dark blue sword greeted Greenwood with a big smile.

“How does it feel to have tasted hope?”

At that moment, the legs that I had been barely holding on to gave out.

Greenwood found himself sinking to the floor.

“……hahahahahahahaha…….”

Soon he burst into laughter as if he had lost his mind.

From beginning to end, I was played into the devil’s hands.

They could have killed me a long time ago, but they did it on purpose.

“Why… … Why on earth are you doing this… … .?”

To Greenwood’s scream, Caron responded by slowly taking steps forward.

“It means that you should feel what it feels like to be a slave before you die. The slaves you treated must have felt exactly like you right now.”

“You too… … You too, right? Feeling like a slave? You were born into a good family and lived comfortably! You hypocrite bird… … .”

“It was like that in this life, but it wasn’t like that in the past life.”

“……what?”

“You don’t need to know the details. Just think of it as you guys deserved to die. If you made someone cry, you should pay the price, right?”

Charon raised his sword high and looked down at Greenwood.

“Now, it’s time to die.”

The guillotine dug into Greenwood’s neck.

There was no way there would be paradise where they fled.

There’s a mad dog living in the duke’s house