How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 127

Living as the Third Son of a Wasted Novel – Chapter 128

I had a conversation with Lordain while training with him in Aslahina’s Tomb.

“You said you met the Great Emperor. Have you ever met his knights?”

“Hmm. It’s such an old memory.”

“You remember trivial things so well, how can you not remember that?”

“You little…!”

Lordain raised his fist, and I stepped back to avoid it. Lordain wasn’t really trying to hit me either, so it ended with a chuckle.

“I don’t remember every guy I’ve fought. But I’ve met some of those the Great Emperor led personally.”

“Knights he led personally, you mean the Five Knights?”

“There wasn’t any special title back then. They were just loyal subordinates. The fame of the Great Emperor’s Five Knights came later.”

“Jeff, Guerril, Hinde, Vishlar, Bane?”

When I mentioned the heroes who later became known as the Great Emperor’s Five Knights, Lordain laughed.

“That’s right. Come to think of it, wasn’t your ancestor one of them? Fond names.”

“Have you met them all?”

“I said some of them.”

“What were they like?”

“Strong.”

Strong.

Lordain, who had a fiery pride, admitted it cleanly without complaint. I became curious at that sight. If they were strong, how strong were they?

“Have you ever fought them?”

“I know what you’re expecting, but you won’t find such heroic tales in actual battles. A battle of fate with both sides risking their destinies? That’s something out of a fairy tale. We mainly focused on guerrilla warfare, avoiding each other’s main forces.”

“You said they were strong, didn’t you? Isn’t that something you can only know by meeting them directly?”

“Was that so? Then let me correct myself. They were better killing machines than me. The reason we withdrew our forces to the rear was because we couldn’t handle that guerrilla warfare.”

Killing machines.

Lordain shrugged, giving a simple assessment.

“Would it be too bland to end it like this?”

“Not really, but…”

“Well, then I’ll tell you a simple anecdote.”

“An anecdote?”

“They’re called the Great Emperor’s Five Knights, but not all of them just followed the Great Emperor around.”

“If they didn’t follow him?”

“Do you think the northern dragons and monsters would have been generous enough to wait quietly while the Great Emperor was busy cleaning up the chaotic rear?”

No way. There’s no way they would. They would have taken advantage of the Great Emperor’s absence to stir things up.

“But while the Great Emperor was in the rear, the northern defense line, which someone was guarding alone, was dramatically maintained.”

Lordain paused for a moment, then smiled.

“I wonder who could have done that?”

* * *

A single gust of wind was like a single flash of light.

Birun barely managed to deflect the gust of wind I created by swinging his sword.

But he couldn’t completely block it, and the passing wind left a deep wound on Birun’s shoulder.

Splash!

Birun’s face contorted horribly at the sight of the blood spurting out.

“…What trick did you use?”

Birun’s bewildered cry was drowned out by the second gust of wind that erupted again.

“Ugh…”

As the third and fourth gusts of wind came crashing in, Birun lost even the ability to speak.

‘This is…’

A smile crept onto my lips as I watched the scene.

‘Is this human swordsmanship?’

The fourth, fifth, and sixth gusts of wind tore at the aura surrounding Birun’s sword like angry wolves.

Aura fragments made of mana scattered in all directions. The newly created aura couldn’t keep up with the damage.

No one told him, but Birun seemed to sense his fate and gritted his teeth.

Shatter, crack!

The seventh, tenth, and twentieth gusts of wind raged.

Eventually, the wind that he couldn’t completely deflect slowly began to touch Birun’s body.

Left shoulder, right chest, left waist, both ankles, shins, thighs, forearms, wrists, ears, fingers….

As the wind raged, Birun spewed blood from his entire body like a burst paint can.

“Kuaaaaaaack!”

Whether he was driven to it or trying to endure the pain, Birun let out a roar.

Startled by the sound, the two Unholy Knights hurriedly joined the battle.

But that was a foolish choice. Rather, they stepped into the eye of the storm themselves.

It was impossible for the two knights to break through what Birun couldn’t withstand.

“Kuaaaack!”

“Kkeueuk, Kuaaaaaa!”

Even I can’t follow the movements of the sword. I’m just moving my body as my soul dictates.

But that alone was enough. The power was not lacking even when wielded by me, a mere puppet.

Bang!

The moment Birun’s thread-like aura finally flickered out, his sword shattered into pieces with a clear sound. The finely broken fragments scattered in all directions like white petals.

Bang! Bang!

The swords of the remaining two Unholy Knights met the same fate. The broken sword pieces began to ride the wind I had created.

Clang, clang, clang!

Soon, it transformed into a wind of steel.

“Kkeueueu…!”

“Kkeuaaaack…!”

The end of those at the center was miserable.

The armor that had been withstanding the rough metallic sound slowly lost its strength.

The moment the breastplate that had been covering their bodies was torn off, unable to withstand the wind, they had to face the wind with their bare bodies.

‘This is Bane Lindayer’s power.’

The power of the hero who single-handedly blocked the north and helped the Great Emperor defeat the dragon.

Crack!

Just as I was getting drunk on that power and my mind was becoming hazy, the screams that had been echoing through the armory subsided with a gruesome tearing sound.

Instinctively, I felt that it was over and withdrew my strength.

Then, as if the previous events had been a dream, the sword dance ended simply and anticlimactically.

“….”

Afterward, the surroundings became eerily silent.

Thud!

At the same time, my body, which had dropped the sword, collapsed powerlessly. It felt as if a hand had popped out from the bottom and was pulling me down.

Just as my body was forcibly heading towards the floor, Ruth, who was standing behind me, hurriedly grabbed my nape and pulled me up.

Then, he immediately put his hands under my armpits and dragged me to a place where I could lean.

“….”

After slowly drawing his sword, Ruth stood in front of me for a few minutes without saying anything.

After a short wait, nothing happened. Only then did Ruth carefully open the door and go out, find a lamp in the hallway outside, and return.

At best, it was like throwing a torch into a dark cave. The inside of the armory was still dark.

But at least the area around Ruth was brightly lit.

“Ugh.”

Then, Ruth, who looked at what was once human under the bright light, turned his head and vomited.

The result I created was horrific.

It’s embarrassing to even call it a corpse. Wouldn’t it look like that if you put a person in a blender and turned it on?

Even Ruth, who had seen countless corpses and been covered in blood, started retching while leaning against the wall.

On the other hand, I didn’t feel anything even after seeing that scene. Because I was the one who made it like that.

My eyes, which had watched the process, remembered everything, starting from the sensation transmitted through my hands.

Whoosh!

It was then. Suddenly, flames rose from the floor and began to ignite. Startled by this, Ruth shone the lamp on it.

The cause seemed to be the corpses.

Even though there was no ignition point to be found, the fire that had caught on the corpses soon swelled up and soared high.

“It seems that a magic spell is cast so that they burn when they die.”

I opened my mouth with difficulty in response to Ruth’s words.

“…They probably don’t want to leave any clues behind.”

Seriously, is this my voice?

My parched lips tore and felt stinging. The voice that leaked out afterward was completely hoarse and cracked.

Gush….

In addition, a nosebleed flowed down like a burst dam. I couldn’t even bother to raise my hand to block it, so I left it as it was.

Like someone who had fallen into severe lethargy, I leaned against the wall in the form of a half-dead person.

‘I didn’t know the aftereffects would be this severe.’

My mana heart was still intact. The open mana tunnel was still ready to absorb the mana scattered everywhere at any time.

Well, of course. Because this technique doesn’t use mana as a medium.

‘Is this the price for exceeding the limits of the body?’

When I used only the first phrase, it only put a strain on my body and made me dizzy. Even that became easier to endure as I trained.

But the price for the second phrase was different. It seemed like my body couldn’t handle it and was being ground down.

Without realizing it, a curse word rose to my throat.

Then how much stronger do I have to become to use the second phrase easily?

“Young master, are you alright?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m fine, even as a joke.”

I felt like my brain was buzzing every time I uttered a word. My stomach was so nauseous that I wanted to take it out, scrub it in water, and put it back in if I could.

“Your complexion is too bad. I’m worried.”

“How so?”

“…Well.”

I could tell from Ruth’s hesitant expression that my appearance was serious.

Ruth tore off the end of his cloak and handed it to me, changing the subject.

“More than that, what kind of magic is it that they burn when they die?”

“I think it’s closer to a curse than magic.”

“Yes? A curse?”

“It’s just a thought. I don’t know all the magic, but I’ve never heard of magic of that type.”

Even while talking, the blood I shed soaked the front of my clothes. I felt bad, like a baby drooling.

I took the hem of the cloak that Ruth handed me, put it to my nose, and looked at the corpse.

“I wonder if there’s anything left.”

At my question, Ruth began to rummage through the burning corpse with his sword.

His stomach must be good even though there’s a foul smell.

Ruth found something after rummaging through the bones in between.

“What is that?”

“It’s an amulet. But I can’t find anything special about it. It’s also uncertain whether this represents their characteristics.”

“If the other guys have it too, it means it’s a token that represents something.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Ruth, who nodded, began to search the remaining two corpses.

“The remaining two don’t have it.”

“Really?”

“What should we do with this?”

“It’s the best we’ve got. Let’s take it for now.”

Ruth nodded at my words and got up.

Perhaps because he spent a lot of time searching, the fire that had risen from the corpses was gradually spreading around.

“The fire is spreading.”

The acrid smoke slowly began to fill the inside of the armory. With that, there was no need to be here anymore. Unless I wanted to suffocate to death.

“Let’s get out of here. There’s no need to stay here any longer.”

Ruth nodded and grabbed my shoulder to lift me up.

“You’ve worked hard.”

* * *

As we were leaving the armory and heading towards the entrance of the lord’s castle, we encountered the duke’s soldiers who had belatedly arrived.

“Who are you! Identify yourselves!”

I didn’t have the strength to answer, so I held out the silver fox badge that the duke had given me, and the soldiers immediately stood at attention.

“We, we apologize! But what happened inside?”

Ruth opened his mouth instead of me at the soldier’s question.

“There was a battle in the lord’s castle. What’s the situation outside?”

“After a series of major and minor battles, all enemies have been annihilated. All the remnants hiding in various places have surrendered, and we have been ordered to search the inside of the lord’s castle, so we came here.”

Ruth nodded at the news that the battle was over.

“We need to talk.”

“We don’t have any. But….”

The soldier rummaged through his bag and then handed over a signal arrow and a crossbow.

“This is a signal to request reinforcements. You can ask them to escort you to the outside of the castle.”

“Really? Thanks.”

Ruth took what he handed over, supported me, and passed by the soldiers towards the outside of the lord’s castle.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you that there was a fire.”

“Leave it.”

“But at this rate, the castle will be completely burned down.”

“Why do I care? It’s not mine. Let the damn castle burn down.”

“…I agree.”

As we shared silly stories and came out of the castle, a cool breeze cooled the heat that had been boiling in the fire.

The outside was quiet. Only silence flowed, making the last scene of humans intertwined and killing each other seem colorless.

Of course, there was only silence, but the scene was extremely horrific.

The blood flowing from the countless fallen corpses splashed every time I moved my feet. Severed limbs kicked at my feet from all directions, and the crows were only focused on devouring the corpses even as Ruth and I approached.

“This is fucked up.”

As I cursed at the terrible scenery, Ruth also nodded in agreement.

“That’s what war is like.”