How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 227

“Ilia!”

At my call, Ilia, covered in blood, stepped back and stood beside me.

“Kain-nim.”

“Do you see it?”

“Yes. I see it clearly.”

Ilia confirmed that what I was seeing wasn’t a dream or hallucination. I gritted my teeth and looked up at the sky again.

It’s a dragon.

The massive creature, with its huge wings spread, flying towards us, dominated the vast sky.

“A dragon… is it?”

Ilia asked, hiding her trembling hand, a subconscious reaction to the tension.

“No, it’s not a dragon.”

“Then…?”

“It must be a drake. Damn it, Kuhn said it was supposed to be in its dormancy.”

Drake.

It’s pointless to explain what kind of setting a drake has in this world. [Drakes are lesser dragon-like creatures, often more savage and less intelligent than true dragons.]

Similar to the perfect existence of a dragon, yet at the same time, a product of imperfection at the opposite extreme. Possessing such a nature, it is sometimes more threatening than a dragon.

Unlike dragons, which possess intelligence and nobility as ultimate beings, drakes treat everything with only hatred and ferocity, making them the worst monsters imaginable.

“What should we do?”

Ilia asked with a trembling voice.

Of course, I didn’t have a clear answer either. I just chewed on my lip, deciding to deal with what was in front of me first.

“How long until the barrier enhancement is complete?”

At my question, Ilia quickly assessed the movement of the sun.

“Approximately one to two hours.”

“That’s a lot of time left. Damn it.”

Of course, I hadn’t completely dismissed the possibility of a drake appearing. It might have recently awakened from its dormancy.

But even so, like all animals, I thought it would prioritize recovering its strength and avoid fighting. Of course, that expectation was completely wrong.

Tsking, I pointed to the drake still circling high in the sky.

“We’re not sure what its goal is yet, so let’s leave it alone for now. It seems right to quickly deal with the monsters in front of us first.”

“Understood.”

There’s no reason to delay any longer.

I quickly drew out my power and was about to rush towards the monsters, who had also gained momentum from the drake’s appearance, when—

「Kyaaah!」

The drake’s roar shook the heavens and the earth. At the same time, my body, which was about to leap out, froze as if someone had grabbed it.

It was as if my feet were glued to the ground. My heart pounded as if it would burst, and sweat began to pour down my back like rain.

Is this fear?

Turning my head, I saw Ilia with a slumped posture and unfocused eyes. It seemed the situation was worse for her than for me.

“Damn it.”

How can you endure something you’ve never experienced?

I muttered under my breath and took a deep breath, struggling to regain control of my body.

The rain of sweat stopped. Then, my wildly beating heart began to calm down.

Next was my body. Starting with the twitching of my toes, control gradually returned. As I regained movement, I immediately approached Ilia.

“Are you okay?”

When I pulled her shoulder, Ilia collapsed limply into my arms.

Good heavens, she’s completely lost consciousness?

Of course, she had summoned her Incarnations in succession, but Ilia’s magic sword has the ability to steal and absorb life force. She shouldn’t be physically strained.

Ah, is it because she experienced the fear directly in a state of high mental exhaustion?

In my case, I achieved inner awakening with Rahenna’s help, so the impact was less.

‘The situation is worse than I thought.’

I was in a dilemma.

Unless Ilia wakes up, I can’t use the power of the Incarnations. I might get caught up in it.

On the other hand, the monsters that heard the drake’s roar were becoming more aggressive and rushing towards us.

If I fight, Ilia is in danger, and if I run to the castle, the castle is in danger.

I can’t expect support from the castle either. Those there must also be affected by the drake’s fear.

‘Let’s hold out until Ilia regains consciousness.’

But if the situation doesn’t allow it, there’s no choice. I’ll just retreat to the castle, retrieve Aphen, and escape.

If that happens, the barrier enhancement will fail. Moreover, the cult, having learned that I appeared in the north, might set up traps, making it difficult to return.

My mouth started to taste bitter.

‘Kerwin, I’m sorry. But it’s a bit unfair. How could anyone have known there would be such a monster?’

I grumbled to Kerwin as if chewing something, and with Ilia behind me, I raised my sword.

The trolls, running at the front, were right in front of me. There was no time to slowly manage my stamina and deal with them. I had to deal with them quickly and surely.

Kereuk!

Kerek, Kereureu!

An Ilseom [A technique using white light to pierce enemies] was unleashed towards the three trolls making gurgling sounds as if clearing phlegm. The three streaks of white light pierced the trolls’ heads, destroying their brains.

With those three trolls falling as the prelude, monsters continued to rush in.

I slashed down six or seven goblins at once, and using the momentum, I cleaved a cocatrice that jumped out from the side from bottom to top.

The sky is dyed red with the blood that spews out each time the sword is swung.

Again, I cut down the troll on the left. Then, I extended my foot and smashed the head of an owlbear that was attacking from behind.

Before I knew it, I was surrounded by monsters.

The mana heart, heated like a furnace, constantly burned mana, and the mana that burned became aura, cutting down the monsters.

And the emptied mana heart was filled without gaps with the raw energy absorbed by the mana tunnel.

But I felt it instinctively. The overall amount being replenished was gradually decreasing.

‘No, this is futile.’

I can’t push myself to the limit. I have to conserve my strength to pull out, retrieve Aphen, and run away from the drake.

Then the conclusion was reached. I shouldn’t fight here any longer.

The mission failed.

As soon as I made up my mind, I grabbed Ilia by the scruff of her neck with one hand and was about to break through the encirclement when—

“Get out of the way!”

A shout came from behind.

When I raised my head, the monsters that had been surrounding me were strangely flying in the air.

I’m not kidding. They flailed their limbs and fell to the ground. Some of them broke their spines and died.

What made the wingless monsters fly?

“Beastmen?”

The beastmen, who I didn’t know when they had arrived, were picking up and throwing monsters to clear the way.

And Kuhn appeared through the path they created. Unlike usual, Kuhn was running fiercely on all fours, and on his back was a red presence.

A grim reaper-like figure with red energy dripping from its eyes and white breath puffing from its mouth.

It was Redran, drawing out the power of the writing.

An ogre suddenly jumped out in front of Kuhn and Redran. Seeing him, Redran took a stance and charged, ramming him with his shoulder.

Kwaduk!

A human-shaped hole appeared in the ogre’s body. Then, Redran, who jumped out through it, swung his sword around with one hand and gestured with his chin.

“Do I have to say it twice? Get out of the way.”

At Redran’s words, I gave way without complaint. With the hindrance gone, Redran became a red blade, slaughtering the monsters.

That wasn’t all.

Pee-bee-beek-!

A bouncy, cheerful sound came from the distant rear. When I raised my head, I saw the dark elves, who had arrived late, raising their bows and firing in unison.

Tudududuk!

The rain of arrows slowed the approach of the fallen monsters.

At the same time, black figures joined the battlefield in an instant. They were dark elf swordsmen. Mana shone brightly from the weapons they held.

And one of those figures landed next to me.

It was a familiar face. Was his name Gale? The patrol captain I first met in the dark elf forest.

“Gale.”

“Are you alright?”

“Not bad. More importantly, what about the castle?”

“Redran decided to support us and came out. But we left a small number of troops behind.”

“Really? That’s a relief. More importantly, why don’t you guys seem to be affected by the fear?”

“The beastmen are probably used to it since they’ve experienced drakes before, and we elves are not easily shaken by such impure things.”

“What about Redran?”

“He quickly regained his senses, probably because he was quite far away.”

“Good. Let’s evacuate Ilia to the castle first.”

When I mentioned Ilia, who was limp in my arms like waterlogged cotton, Gale quickly called two dark elf warriors.

“Take her to the castle.”

“Understood.”

After confirming that Ilia was being moved to the castle, I immediately got up.

“Where is Redran?”

At my question, Gale raised his hand and pointed to one area of the battlefield.

In the chaotic battlefield mixed with beastmen, dark elves, and various monsters, I found Redran slaughtering monsters and headed there.

“Redran!”

At my call, Redran, who had just smashed the head of an owlbear with his fist, turned his head.

Finding me, Redran immediately frowned and pointed to the sky with his chin.

“What about that thing?”

The drake, which had initially been circling high in the sky as if testing the waters, had lowered its altitude and was now much closer.

The pressure was immense.

The most suspicious thing was its appearance, which made me question how it could even fly.

A pair of wing bones extending to both sides and a membrane covering them like a cloak, a heavy tail shaking, and a neck stretched straight like a spear. It was a massive creature, at least 50 or 60 meters long.

‘Is it a red drake? I can tell now that it’s closer.’

As I scanned the reddish scales, I saw a head with a sharp, blade-like shape.

Was it my imagination?

For a moment, I felt like I made eye contact with it. Eyes that seemed to arrogantly look down on the ground from the sky, searching for prey.

I let out a small, hollow laugh and shrugged at Redran.

“It’s impossible to catch, right?”

“Don’t say crazy things. Do you think you’re some kind of great emperor?”

Indeed, the great emperor who defeated the black drake in the battle in the north during the tribal wars was the strongest swordsman who had reached the realm of master.

Moreover, the great emperor had the support of excellent knights and a powerful wizard named Bashrun.

It’s ridiculous to compare it to my current situation.

“The plan failed. Unless you want to get everyone killed, give up the castle.”

Redran said firmly.

He was right. Even if we could somehow deal with the monsters, the situation would immediately reverse if the drake joined in.

Every situation was saying that giving up the castle was the right answer.

But was that really the best option?

“If we run away, will that drake let us go?”

“I’m confident I can run faster than the elves. If you want, I can throw a few wolves at them.”

Redran was saying that if things went wrong, he would use the dark elves or beastmen as bait.

It was a gruesome statement, but I couldn’t disagree. That’s how deep the emotional divide between humans and other races is in this world.

While we were talking, monsters rushed towards us.

At that, Redran and I stopped talking without a word and began to deal with the monsters.

Later, when we had some breathing room again, Redran’s eyes were clearly wavering.

A knight with the power of mana is destined to be at the top of the food chain, beyond the limits of humans.

But even such a knight was feeling fear rather than competitiveness in front of that powerful creature.

Should I be honest?

It’s the same for me. I feel like I’m going crazy wondering when the drake will pour breath over my head.

“Decide quickly. If you waste any more time here, I’m just going to get out of here alone.”

At Redran’s urging, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You said you’d just run away alone if it seemed dangerous a while ago, right?”

“I was going to, you bastard.”

“But why did you come?”

At my question, Redran narrowed his eyes.

“Is that important now?”

“Yeah, it is.”

At my retort, Redran made a fierce expression as if he was about to swear. But that was only for a moment, and then Redran closed his mouth and sighed softly.

“I already know that there are masok [referring to people who are into pain] and the Neviros Order. I wish I didn’t.”

“And?”

“How can I ignore the guy who has to stop them when he’s about to die, you bastard.”

Redran, who finished speaking with annoyance, grumbled as he smashed the head of an orc that rushed in front of him.

“What the hell is this….”

Seeing Redran grumbling as if annoyed, I was finally able to make a decision.

“Okay, let’s retreat to the castle for now.”