Future Knight [EN]: Chapter 67

“Creak, creak……”

“Krrr… Teddy, are you hungry?”

Surprisingly, the ogre could speak, albeit clumsily, like a human.

As the blue ogre stroked the bear’s chin and belly with his massive hand, the size of a brown bear’s head, the bear lay on its back like a dog, happily submitting to its master’s touch.

“Krrk! Just a moment.”

The ogre heaved his massive body up and lumbered towards the barn.

The barn was sturdily built with trees so thick you couldn’t wrap your arms around them.

Inside were about 20 massive wild boars, each the size of a small car. Terrified by the approaching blue ogre, the boars thrashed about, defecating and urinating in fear.

“Krrr… Which one… shall I eat? Guess? Ding! Dong! Deng?”

The ogre, acting quite childish, snatched a plump wild boar by the nape of its neck with lightning speed.

“Krrk! Got it!”

“Squeeeal! Squeeeeeeeal!!”

The boar, caught by the neck, desperately struggled to survive, but escaping the ogre’s grasp was nearly impossible.

“Krrr, Teddy, just wait a moment.”

“Krrong! Krrong!”

Teddy the bear drooled at the thought of eating meat after such a long time.

The blue ogre grabbed a huge stone axe, seized the boar, and headed into the kitchen behind the cabin.

Soon after, the sounds of a pig being slaughtered filled the air around the cabin, mingling with the savory smell of roasting meat.

* * *

Green opened her eyes in a very dark stone chamber.

“Wh, where is this?”

She tried to sit up but winced at the pain in her chest.

“Mother, you shouldn’t get up yet.”

“Pharell……”

Pharell, her firstborn, had been by her side all along.

“Where is this place?”

“This is Darkdrow, the city of the Dark Elves.”

“Did you save me?”

“Yes, Mother.”

‘I thought I was going to die in the final attack of the ancient giant controlled by that monstrous human… To think I’d open my eyes and still be alive.’

Green breathed a sigh of relief.

“How is the war going?”

“Not good.”

“Tell me in detail.”

“Well, first of all……”

As Green listened to Pharell’s detailed account of the war, her expression gradually darkened.

Having lost their elite forces, they were already struggling to face the humans and orcs, and now the Eastern Kingdom had dispatched a large army. There was no time to be lying down comfortably like this.

“Help me up. I must go and see Nemitz.”

“You mustn’t move yet.”

Green had suffered severe injuries from Zyid’s Buster Power, nearly to the point of death.

Fortunately, with Pharell’s help, she received treatment in time to save her life, but the impact she sustained was so great that she couldn’t come to her senses for a week.

Now, she was trying to go and see Nemitz with her body still weakened, so Pharell was filled with worry.

“I’m fine. Send word to Nemitz that I’m coming to see him.”

Seeing Green’s stubborn determination in her eyes, Pharell had no choice but to obey his mother’s words.

“Understood. I will prepare a palanquin [a covered litter for transporting a person]. Please wait a moment.”

Green was facing the biggest crisis since the start of the Green Elf’s continental conquest.

She dragged her aching body to see Nemitz, the leader of the Dark Elves, with whom she had decided to share life and death, and entered an emergency strategy meeting.

* * *

While marching for the third day to escape the Montana Mountains, Elrika discovered traces of humans.

“Oh? There’s a field over there?”

“A field?”

Kang Chan and Zikyon narrowed their brows at the direction Elrika was pointing. Only then could they make out the faintly visible field.

As expected of an elf, Elrika had incredibly good eyesight.

Since humans were the only race that cultivated fields to produce food, Zikyon was very intrigued to find a human village in such a remote area.

“There’s a human village in a place swarming with monsters like this?”

Zikyon, being a dragon, knew very well how many monsters were teeming around.

If Zikyon hadn’t been around, Kang Chan and Elrika would have been constantly under attack by monsters.

“Why don’t we stop by that village to ask for directions and get a decent meal for once?”

At Kang Chan’s suggestion, Zikyon and Elrika nodded eagerly.

Even though it had only been three days, they had all been marching non-stop, so they wanted to rest comfortably, even if just for a short while.

With a unanimous decision to head to the village, their steps quickened even more.

However, Zikyon, who had lived for an immense amount of time, couldn’t shake off a strange feeling as he saw the village getting closer.

‘Surely, humans living in such a remote place would set up high fences to prepare for monster attacks, but they’re cultivating a garden without any fences in sight. Something’s strange…….’

There was a suspicious feeling in the air, but Zikyon had the ability to overcome any threat or trick, so he casually guarded Kang Chan’s back and approached the village.

However, Zikyon, who noticed something again, grabbed Kang Chan.

“Wait!”

“Why?”

“Ogre.”

“Ogre?”

“I smell an ogre. It’s very close……”

Even Elrika had only heard of ogres but had never seen one.

That was because her ancestors had driven all the ogres out of the Elven Forest long ago.

“Is this ogre strong?”

“Well, humans or elves can never consider them weak. They can probably take on one of your Sword Experts.”

“A monster can take on a Sword Expert?”

“Yes, they’re among the top-tier monsters.”

Kang Chan, who knew the abilities of a Sword Expert well, was a little surprised.

There was a monster that could take on a Sword Expert. It was a monster on a different level from the monsters he had seen in the Elven Forest.

Swish―

Kang Chan drew his mithril dagger and scanned his surroundings.

“How many of those guys are around?”

“Fortunately, ogres never form groups, so at most, there would be about two?”

“Two, huh.”

Kang Chan was a little relieved at Zikyon’s words that there would be at most two.

He could easily handle that many alone in his current state.

“But be careful because they’re usually about 6 meters tall [approximately 20 feet].”

“Well, that’s nothing.”

Kang Chan scoffed at the mention of 6 meters.

He had killed a wyvern that was 15 meters tall before.

“It’s not ‘nothing.’ That guy is among the top-tier monsters. The fact that such a guy is around the village means that the village is already done for……”

At Zikyon’s prediction that the village was already doomed, Kang Chan’s expression suddenly turned as cold as ice.

“I can’t just pass by if they’ve killed people.”

Kang Chan held his dagger, and Elrika held her railgun, guarding their surroundings as they slowly approached the village.

Only Zikyon walked comfortably without any wariness.

The blue ogre’s name was Loki.

Loki, who was 10 years old this year, was raised by a human swordsman.

The human swordsman who took him in, replacing his mother who had lost her life to ogre hunters, was named Kalitz Garman.

Surprisingly, that name belonged to the Duke of the Visman Empire and the martial god representing humans.

Why would such a person raise a young ogre in this remote area?

That was because his remaining life was short.

No matter how much he had lived ruling the world, he could not avoid the word death.

He had reached the supreme realm of Sword Master and could live more than 300 years longer than others, but he too received death’s inevitable invitation.

“Me, I have cancer?”

“I am sorry to inform you… but that is correct, Duke.”

Garman couldn’t believe it.

After reaching Sword Master, he had experienced Body Change [a process of physical and spiritual refinement], so diseases had only seemed like stories from another world, but he had cancer.

Cancer was an incurable disease that could not be cured by magic or divine power.

Even if the body was destroyed or collapsed, high-level healing spells or divine power could heal it to some extent, but this disease called cancer was useless.

There was nothing wrong with the cells that made up the body.

It was just that the cells were not functioning properly. Another scary thing about cancer cells was metastasis [the spread of cancer cells to new areas of the body].

It spread throughout the body at a terrifying rate, making other organs unusable.

Therefore, everyone in this world called such cancer death’s invitation from God.

In this world where treatment using magic was developed, surgical operations were not very advanced, so there was no way to cure cancer.

“Me, cancer… me……”

Garman couldn’t accept the fact.

He had risen to the position of the world’s strongest martial artist and had enjoyed wealth and power no less than a king, but at that moment, he suddenly felt infinitely insignificant.

After that, everything was useless to him.

Money, fame, and power.

If there was one hope for him, it was to experience Body Change again and overcome cancer.

But he knew very well that it was harder than picking stars from the sky.

How much had he struggled to reach Sword Emperor, a level no one had achieved since he became a Sword Master 300 years ago?

He thought he was closer to Sword Emperor than anyone else, but in reality, he had only been standing still for 300 years.

With death imminent, he decided to accept his fate willingly.

And he decided to walk the path of the sword until the end of his remaining life.

“The fact that I have cancer is a secret between you and me.”

“Where are you planning to go, Duke?”

“I need to go to a place with good water and air… Then, if fate allows, let’s meet again in the next life.”

“Duke……”

Garman secretly left his territory and wandered aimlessly until he came to this Montana Mountains.

He decided that this was where he would die.

He liked the forest of the Montana Mountains.

The forest, with coniferous trees so thick that three grown men couldn’t wrap their arms around them, stretching straight up, was truly spectacular.

“Hmm, it’s a really beautiful forest. I’ve forgotten the beauty of nature all this time……”

He sat on a rock and rested for a while, captivated by the beauty of the forest.

Then, he heard the sound of weapons clashing and the roar of an ogre in the distance.

“What, what is that sound?”

He instantly thought that the ogre had attacked humans.

He had been attacked by numerous monsters since he entered this forest.

He quickly drew his sword and ran towards the sound.

But what he saw was not an ogre attacking humans.

What he saw was hunters hunting an ogre.

Ogres were monsters with very high added value.

The ogre’s skin was tougher and stronger than any other hide, so it was worth whatever price was asked, and the ogre’s blood was the best magical catalyst, so it was more expensive than gold of the same weight.

The people in front of him were hunting ogres at the risk of their lives, hoping for a fortune.

“Kuaaaaaaa!”

The ogre, who had lost his mind with anger, swung a huge log and fiercely resisted the hunters.

But the number of hunters was nearly 50, and they were armed with powerful weapons to catch the ogre, so the ogre’s body was covered in blood.

Three hunters were hit by the log swung by the resisting ogre and sent flying, unrecognizable.

But Garman did not help the hunters and just watched quietly.

He was wondering whether he should help them and kill the ogre.

Clearly, he could easily end the ogre’s life.

But he wondered if he could kill the ogre, who was struggling to survive.

Hadn’t he struggled so hard to survive himself?

How much time had passed?

In the end, all the many hunters became cold corpses at the hands of the ogre.

They may have rushed in believing in their numbers and weapons, but in the first place, their skills alone were not enough to hunt the strongest monster on earth, the ogre.