Future Knight [EN]: Chapter 79

퓨쳐나이트 79

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

“A Green Elf has appeared! A Green Elf has appeared! Prepare for all-out battle!”

As the Green Elves, who had been quiet lately, began their attack again, fear and dread washed over the faces of the veterans.

“Tch! Consider yourselves lucky!”

Whoever was considered lucky, the 30 veterans who had been planning to attack Kang Chan hurriedly returned to their positions.

“Everyone, prepare for battle! Hurry!”

The camp instantly descended into chaos.

While the soldiers, clad in clumsy weapons and armor, busily prepared for battle, Kang Chan quietly observed the invading Green Elves.

A suffocating murderous aura emanated from his entire body.

Loki cautiously inquired.

“Are those the Green Elves you were talking about?”

Kang Chan quietly nodded and replied.

“Yes, it was worth coming all the way here. To think they’d appear right before my eyes like this….”

Kang Chan affirmed his decision to choose this location.

“Hey! You guys!”

While everyone else was frantically preparing for battle, Fibro called out to Kang Chan and Loki, who were calmly watching the Green Elves.

“Hey! What are you doing just standing there! Hurry up and prepare for battle! Do you want to die doing nothing?”

With a genuine threat emerging, he set aside his previous animosity and urged Kang Chan and Loki like a seasoned veteran.

“Everyone, form a line and build a defensive line!”

As the regular army officer commanding the conscripts directed them, the conscripts quickly raised their crude wooden shields and formed a defensive line.

Kang Chan and Loki also joined them, preparing to face the approaching enemies.

Just then, Fibro called out to Kang Chan.

“Hey, newbie!”

“……?”

Kang Chan silently stared at Fibro.

“I don’t know how strong you are, but most newbies who come here for the first time often die before even a month passes….”

“So, you expect me to die?”

At Kang Chan’s words, Fibro offered a wry smile.

“Well, I won’t deny that the thought has crossed my mind, but if you want to live, just do as I say.”

Kang Chan was curious about what someone who harbored ill intentions would advise.

“What should I do?”

“Play dead.”

“…….”

“There’s no need for heroes here. Just focus on surviving. The reason I’ve been able to survive here for a year is because I’ve approached every battle with that mindset.”

Kang Chan was slightly surprised to hear that he had lasted a year.

‘To have survived in a place like this for a year, that guy must have something special about him.’

As Kang Chan was inwardly impressed, Fibro turned his head and said.

“Then, consider this my senior soldier advice. Don’t blame me if you die now.”

Kang Chan could sense a deep-seated resignation in his last words.

At the same time, he recalled his own time in Red Mars, and how he grew wary of forming attachments as comrades fell one by one.

‘How many juniors and comrades has he lost while surviving here for a year? And what was he thinking each time? He’s probably no different from me, right?’

As Kang Chan pondered this, he began to see Fibro in a slightly more sympathetic light.

In the meantime, the enemies’ attack commenced.

“Arrows are coming! Raise your shields!”

“Raise your shields!”

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Arrows rained down, and screams erupted from all directions.

“Kuaaaak!”

“Uaaaak! My eyes!”

It was difficult to defend against the Green Elves’ arrows, which were as powerful as the Elves’ [referring to the legendary archery skills of Elves in fantasy settings], with crude wooden shields.

“The Knights are coming! Everyone, hold on a little longer!”

Unlike the conscripts, the regular soldiers, who were equipped with sturdy kite shields covering their bodies, suffered no casualties.

“Those bastards! They get good shields while we get these wooden planks! Those damn sons of bitches! Aaaak!”

Even as Fibro complained, numerous arrowheads pierced into the wooden shield by a hand’s breadth, and blood flowed from his arm where the arrowheads had grazed.

Kang Chan and Loki also hid behind their wooden shields, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

However, instead of piercing their wooden shields, the arrows bounced off with sparks.

Fibro rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

“Is it really okay for me to reveal my true form in front of these guys?”

“Trust me.”

“Alright.”

Loki couldn’t conceal his unease and anxiety.

The rain of arrows ceased, and the Green Elves began to charge, shaking the earth.

Kang Chan raised his head and looked around, noticing that the conscripts’ shields were riddled with arrows, and countless soldiers lay dead.

“Stay calm! All troops, form ranks!”

A massive horde of orc-like Green Elves surged forward with axes and maces, their momentum terrifying.

“Shall we go?”

Loki shouted loudly, attempting to calm his anxious heart.

“Let’s go!”

Suddenly, Kang Chan and Loki abandoned their shields and broke from the defensive line, advancing forward. Fibro frantically called out to them.

“Hey, you guys! What are you doing right now? Come back quickly!”

Kang Chan paused, turned around, and said to Fibro.

“See you again, senior soldier.”

“Hey! Stop talking nonsense and come back quickly! Get back here!”

Fibro yelled even louder at the newbies’ suicidal actions. But Kang Chan and Loki ignored him and continued to advance.

The distance between them and the Green Elves was now negligible.

Fibro was certain that they would be crushed by the Green Elves’ axes and maces.

But at that moment.

The conscripts, including Fibro, witnessed an astonishing sight.

Black armor began to materialize on the newbie’s body, and a terrifying aura blade erupted from his hands.

All the soldiers were stunned.

“Gasp! Th, that’s!”

They had often seen knights wielding aura swords during the war, so they immediately recognized that the dazzling sword of light was not an aura sword.

It was undoubtedly an aura blade [a more advanced and powerful form of energy weapon than an aura sword].

“C, could it be a, a, a Sword Master?”

“It’s a Sword Master!”

The conscripts couldn’t fathom why a Sword Master had appeared in a place like this. But the only thing that resonated in their minds was a profound sense of relief.

‘We’re going to live!’

They were certain that they would survive to see another day.

Conversely, the Green Elves despaired as they gazed upon Kang Chan.

Staring at the Sword Master who was rushing towards them, radiating a terrifying, inhuman murderous aura.

“It’s a Sword Master!”

“There’s a Sword Master among the enemies!”

Regardless of their screams, Kang Chan had already succumbed to his thirst for revenge.

“Kuaaaak! I won’t let a single one of you leave alive!”

As Kang Chan’s aura blade sliced through the enemy lines, dozens of Green Elves were instantly cleaved in two.

As if the world itself was being split apart.

Swaaaaaaaash!

“Kuaaaak!”

“Hiiiiik!”

While Kang Chan was buying time, Loki unhesitatingly released his belt, a symbolic gesture to unleash his power.

‘I can’t back down now!’

Enveloped in dazzling light, Loki gradually grew larger and began to revert to his true form as a giant ogre, reaching a height of 5 meters.

“Huk! Th, th, that’s!”

Both the humans and the Green Elves widened their eyes.

Just as they were reeling from the appearance of the Sword Master, a giant ogre suddenly emerged….

A tremendous beast’s roar echoed across the battlefield.

“Kuwoooooooo!”

The roar was so deafening that nearly 10,000 soldiers on both sides momentarily ceased fighting.

It was the fear inspired by the ogre, the strongest monster on earth.

Of course, it couldn’t compare to the terror of a dragon, but Loki’s fear, amplified by mana, was enough to plunge the soldiers on the battlefield into a cauldron of terror in an instant.

The appearance of the ogre initially plunged the human camp into despair.

That’s because they naturally assumed that the giant blue ogre was an enemy.

If that ogre were to rampage through their formation, they would be helpless to stop it without Sword Expert-level knights or Gigantes [giant warriors or mechs, depending on the setting].

But their fears were unfounded.

The ogre began to aid the Sword Master and massacre the Green Elves.

“Kwaaaaaaak!”

Dozens of Green Elves were sent flying high into the sky with a single kick from the giant ogre.

Others were crushed into unrecognizable pieces by the ogre’s massive palm.

As Loki diligently pummeled the Green Elves with his bare hands, he grumbled to Kang Chan.

“Krrr! No weapon! Damn it!”

Despite being a swordsman, he seemed displeased with having to resort to such crude methods.

At Loki’s words, Kang Chan, who was mindlessly cutting down the Green Elves, said.

“The power of the Ogre Kick or Ogre Smash doesn’t seem too bad either.”

“Krrk! Don’t give it weird names!”

Kuuung!

“Kkweeeeek!”

Loki’s anger at Kang Chan’s joke was unleashed entirely on the Green Elves, who were sent flying in all directions by the ogre’s immense power.

Shuga gagagak!

“Uaaaaaaaak!”

The number of Green Elves that Kang Chan had slain was beyond counting.

Kang Chan’s figure, cutting through weapons and shields and traversing the enemy lines at tremendous speed, resembled a blood-starved demon.

None among the Green Elves could stop them, and the two rampaged through the Green Elves’ camp, wreaking havoc.

Just then, the conscripts, who had been consistently on the defensive, began to charge forward.

“Waaaaaaa! Let’s push forward too!”

“Let’s help the Sword Master!”

“Charge! You damn bastards!”

Even though Kang Chan and Loki were performing exceptionally, it was difficult to subdue 5,000 enemies with just the two of them.

However, as the conscripts, who now had the numerical advantage, began to charge forward, the tide of the battle began to turn rapidly.

As Green Elves began to fall in droves, the Green Elf commander urgently issued a retreat order.

“Kuk! Re, retreat, retreat!”

“Not a chance!”

As the sound of the retreat horn echoed from the enemy camp, Kang Chan, unwilling to let them escape so easily, pursued them relentlessly and continued the massacre.

“This doesn’t make sense! Were we deceived?”

Phillai, the commander who led the Green Elf attack squad, couldn’t comprehend the scene unfolding before her eyes.

She had believed that the conscripts were easy prey and launched a surprise attack, but suddenly a Sword Master and a tamed ogre emerged from their ranks….

The scene before her was surreal.

Not just a simple dream, but a terrible nightmare.

The reason she led the soldiers to attack this place was simply to divert the enemy’s attention.

In the current situation, where they were conducting meticulous guerrilla warfare against the enemy’s 300,000-strong army moving from the east, it was to buy time and prevent reinforcements from being sent from this side.