How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 226

Living as the Third Son of a Wasted Novel – Chapter 227

Chapter 54. Red Dragon

Thud!

The headless giant collapsed powerlessly, raising a cloud of dust.

Looking around, three trolls were charging at me, emitting grotesque cries.

“I’ll take care of these ones.”

Ilia, crouching low in front of me, quickly dashed past.

Like a black mist, leaving afterimages and rushing in a blur, Ilia’s sword instantly severed the arms of the three trolls.

Splat!

At the same time, a hazy mist flowed out from the severed areas, heading towards Ilia’s magic sword.

Trolls are monsters with indomitable life forces. Unless their brains are destroyed, they can easily regenerate from any wound.

However, Ilia’s magic sword steals not only the life force of what it cuts but also the soul. This means it’s effective in neutralizing the trolls’ regeneration ability.

“Kee-rick, kee-rick!”

“Keee-aack!”

The trolls staggered, seemingly panicked as their severed hands didn’t regenerate and only continued to bleed.

Not missing the opportunity, Ilia kicked off the ground and drew a large arc with her sword.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The cleanly severed heads of the trolls fell, tongues lolling out.

“Your skill is truly superb.”

“……Is that a compliment?”

“Of course.”

Ending our brief exchange, Ilia and I distanced ourselves again. We had only taken down four so far, so there were still many monsters to cut down.

As we were mindlessly cutting down monsters, the beastkin and dark elf patrols arrived.

“Krrr!”

As expected of wolves, the beastkin let out ferocious howls and immediately joined the battle.

With each swipe of their sharp claws, chunks of troll flesh were torn away. They ripped off limbs without giving them a chance to regenerate, and then finished them off by biting and snapping their necks.

On the other hand, the dark elf patrols were more composed. Forming groups of three or four, they imbued their swords with mana and steadily crushed the monsters.

‘The castle……’

Remembering the harpies that had flown past, I glanced back.

Like birds of prey raiding a nest, the harpies were circling around the castle.

In the midst of it, a few harpies fell powerlessly. It seemed the remaining dark elves were sniping them with bows. The harpies that couldn’t resist and charged were bisected by Redran.

In any case, the plan seemed to be going smoothly.

So far, at least.

There was no time to rest. Just as we had almost finished off the first wave, a new group of monsters appeared from behind.

‘There are so many.’

All that was left was to cut, cut down, and cut again.

How long had I been fighting in a semi-trance?

Crack!

After splitting the last troll’s head in half, I slowly landed on the ground.

Ilia approached me and offered a pure white handkerchief to wipe off the blood.

Accepting the handkerchief, I roughly wiped the blood from my face and body, and surveyed the surroundings.

First of all, Ilia was fine. She seemed to have plenty of energy left. However, some of the beastkin and dark elves were bleeding, having sustained injuries.

“Ilia, was that the third wave just now?”

“Yes. And the fourth one is coming over there.”

Turning my head at Ilia’s words, I saw a new group approaching in the distance, raising a cloud of dust.

However, the difference from before was that their numbers were now in the hundreds.

“It’s going to get serious from here on out.”

“It seems so.”

I checked my condition. I roughly estimated how much power I could use if I performed properly, and how to distribute it. Then, I raised my hand and called for Kuhn.

“Kuhn! Return to the castle with the dark elves and use the potions we prepared to heal and reorganize.”

It was time to move on to the second plan.

Kuhn questioned my command.

“Are you two really going to be able to handle this?”

“I’ll try to take care of as much as possible in the front. But I won’t be able to block everything. You guys need to stop anything that leaks through at the castle.”

Kuhn, who had been questioning me, nodded after seeing my mana burning even more fiercely than before.

“Understood.”

Once decided, the action was swift.

As Kuhn gathered the injured and quickly retreated to the castle, only Ilia and I remained on the vast battlefield, along with countless monster corpses.

On the momentarily quiet, barren plain, I lightly caught my breath and looked at Ilia.

“You’re up first, right?”

Ilia nodded at my question.

“Yes.”

“I’ll give you a signal when I’m going in. You roughly know the range from last time, right?”

“Yes.”

This was also a pre-arranged plan.

My power unleashes overwhelming force all at once, but it’s somewhat short-lived.

On the other hand, Ilia possesses endless stamina by stealing the life force of her opponents with her magic sword and Aslahina’s power.

In other words, we complement each other.

Ilia would gather the monsters together based on her strong endurance, and then I would pour my power into that area.

Simple, but not simple. If we weren’t careful, Ilia could get caught up in my attack.

However, Ilia and I had fought countless battles together. To exaggerate a bit, we could understand each other just by looking into each other’s eyes.

“Then, I’ll go.”

Ilia nodded and dashed forward first. At the same time, the sword she held began to emit an ominous aura.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Du-du-du-du……

The ground vibrated with the reverberations created by the monster wave that had already approached.

Now, trolls and cyclops were basic. With orcs, goblins, kobolds, cockatrices [mythical creatures with a lethal gaze], and owlbears as options… I could even see ogres, the ultimate monsters on the ground, here and there. As a bonus, wyverns and harpies had taken over the sky.

“It’s like a comprehensive gift set.”

And Ilia, who had infiltrated those countless monsters, began to move freely.

Ilia didn’t bother to overdo it. After all, the goal was to lure as many monsters as possible.

After a while, I confirmed that the monsters were densely packed, and I raised my sword and took a deep breath.

“Here I goooo-!”

After shouting, I drew up my power.

The change was instantaneous. The mana heart violently spewed out mana and heated up my body. At the same time, the avatar settled deep within my soul.

The preparation was complete.

I crouched down as much as possible.

At the same time, the inherent power was transmitted to my feet.

Crack!

A small crack formed on the ground I was standing on.

Following that, I defied gravity and leaped high into the air. Everything on the earth was laid out beneath me. I could see Ilia moving away from me with all her might in the distance.

After confirming, I flew into the center of the monster-made tsunami and gripped my sword tightly.

「My sword is the breeze that lays down the reeds」

The power condensed within me was transmitted to the sword. And that energy soon took shape according to the will of the avatar of Bain Lindaier.

Goooo……!

The third secret technique of Bain Lindaier, encompassing everything.

At this moment, the monsters were reeds, and my sword was the breeze that laid them down.

Kwaaaaaack!

The unleashed sword wind plunged down towards the monsters in the air.

Kuuwoooo!

Ker-luck, ker-luckle!

The monsters began to be torn apart without even a shred of resistance. The colorless wind transformed into a red storm with countless sacrifices.

“Haha, hahaha!”

Really, it was too terrible and unpleasant a sight to be something I had caused.

But I decided to just laugh.

You knew it would be like this, right? If you can’t avoid it, you have to enjoy it!

* * *

The human isolated in the high spire is endlessly good prey for flying monsters, like fruit hanging on a tree.

And as if to prove it, one wyvern dove down at a furious speed with its jaws open.

However, what greeted the wyvern was not a sweet fruit, but a long sword imbued with mana.

Redran, who had swung his sword and split the wyvern’s head open, spat out the blood that had flowed into his mouth.

“Disgusting.”

The headless wyvern fell powerlessly into the castle walls. Seeing it, several dark elves quickly slashed their swords to finish it off.

“The situation isn’t bad.”

The defense of the castle seemed to be in a stable range. Small monsters like orcs and goblins didn’t have the skills to climb the walls in the first place, and flying monsters were shot down by the dark elves’ skilled snipers.

Occasionally, a few medium-sized monsters clung to the walls, but each time, the beastkin rushed out and tore them into dozens of pieces.

Everyone was moving according to plan, so Redran himself didn’t have much to do.

It was then.

Goooo!

A roar that vibrated the air was heard in the distance. Turning his head to the sound, Redran soon realized that a familiar scene was being replayed in a very distant place.

The storm of swords that was hard to believe had been created by a human. And the monsters that were swept away by that storm and turned into minced meat.

After Cain swept away the monsters all at once, nothing remained.

“What a freak.”

Following Redran’s honest impression, new monsters appeared one after another.

At the same time, an existence that Redran had already seen once revealed itself.

The dark blue energy that constantly flowed, using it as wings to move freely through the enemy lines, and the dark blue specter that shackled the living flesh.

Crack!

Redran gritted his teeth without realizing it. It was because he was reminded of what he and the Red Knights had experienced in Specter Mountain.

Cain and Ilia.

It was when everyone’s attention in the castle was taken away by the two’s performance.

“Kyaaaa!”

Suddenly, a dark elf’s scream was heard from the back of the castle.

When Redran looked at the source of the sound, there was a huge ogre standing on the castle wall. It seemed that it had climbed the wall while everyone in the castle was distracted by Cain and Ilia.

Seeing it, Redran immediately jumped off the spire. The time for him to move was in situations like this: immediate response to variables.

Redran rushed towards the ogre in the air and spewed mana into his sword.

Kuooh!

As expected of a monster that occupied the top of the food chain, the ogre instinctively avoided the sword.

However, as if he had already expected that, Redran, who had immediately kicked off the ground, rushed at the ogre.

Crackle!

The hand filled with mana pierced through the thick leather. After that, Redran, who had found the heart where rough pulsations were transmitted, gave strength without hesitation.

Kuooh!

The ogre, who left behind a final scream, met death while standing. Redran, who pushed him out of the castle wall with his shoulder, wiped his blood-soaked hand on his cloak.

“T, thank you.”

Redran turned his head at the voice he heard. There, a still young-looking dark elf was trembling, holding a bow.

Redran clicked his tongue briefly at the sight and shouted at a few beastkin in the distance.

“Hey! An ogre came in! Don’t be spacing out and keep a proper lookout!”

Redran, who was annoyed for no reason, turned his body as it was. He had to go back to the spire and continue to monitor the situation.

But it seemed like there wasn’t much for him to do. In fact, thanks to Cain and Ilia’s performance, there were almost no monsters reaching the castle right now.

‘Cain Lindaier…… no, is it Cain Arphen now?’

Lindaier or Arphen, who cares. Redran chewed as if he were chewing and spat out saliva mixed with dirt.

Strange guy.

There was no other way to express it. When he looked at Cain, the power struggles of the nobles who owned the manor felt like childish games.

Did those guys know about the magic stones, the Unholy Knights, or the Neviros Order? What was happening on the other side of the world right now?

But what angered Redran the most right now was the fact that he had been one of those morons until recently.

He felt twisted, but Redran had no choice but to acknowledge Cain. A prodigy is a prodigy. He was a guy who was looking at the forest when others were looking at the trees.

‘Am I jealous? How pathetic.’

Redran, who was annoyed by the honest feelings that came to his mind, forced himself to look at the battlefield and turned his attention away.

Anyway, the situation was going smoothly.

Ilia and Cain were really sweeping away the monsters with monstrous power.

A mound was created with the accumulated corpses of monsters. The flowing blood became a red river and soaked the barren land.

How many monsters did they take down?

Hundred? Two hundred? I can’t even dare to count. Watching that unrealistic sight, Redran grumbled softly.

“So, let the talented guy do the great job of saving the continent. I’ll just take some crumbs.”

It was then that Redran, who had grumbled like that, leaned against the wall and took a moment to relax.

“What is that?”

A dot that appeared in the distant sky.

Since the surroundings were desolate fields, he couldn’t perfectly measure the distance, but he still had a sense. That size was definitely not a wyvern or a harpy.

Moreover, that dot was getting bigger and bigger.

It should be possible to see its true form by now, but it was still dark. It meant that the distance was still quite far.

Redran unfolded his arms at the creeping anxiety that rose up. Then his eyes widened, and then he opened his mouth wide.

With that open mouth, Redran let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha, hahaha!”

As time passed, it revealed its outline enough to be roughly recognizable, and it had the shape of a giant dragon that anyone could see.