Barbarian in a Failed Game

“Well, look who it is! Boss…!”

The person who responded the quickest and most boisterously was Alejandro. He had approached Khan so silently and swiftly that it startled him, almost causing him to miss it even with Karyan’s eyes.

“So, you’ve gone and changed jobs on your own while hiding in Hoarfrost Gorge.”

“Huh?”

“That’s a compliment. You’ve become useful.”

Alejandro looked up at Khan with sparkling eyes, surprised by the unexpected praise. Even though it hadn’t been long since they parted, Khan seemed even more formidable, having tamed a dragon in the meantime.

‘As expected of the boss…!’

Alejandro’s mind raced, imagining that Khan must have intervened in some incident and tamed a rampaging dragon to ride here and help them.

As Alejandro was mentally demoting the dragon—Natrix—to the status of a mere “lizard drunk on power” a voice filled with menace rang out.

“Insolent mortal. Who are you calling a lizard?”

“… Eek!”

Appearing to read his thoughts, Natrix’s voice made Alejandro jump and his eyes widen.

“This one. May I punish him?”

“As long as you don’t kill him. Though, take it easy. You saw him on the way here, right?”

“He’ll be able to fight. In fact, I’ll make him fight even better.”

Natrix, with her head inches from Alejandro’s face, made a menacing remark that blurred the lines between jest and threat.

“You’ve become stronger. I can feel it. A power you didn’t have before.”

“Ludmilla.”

Ludmilla approached naturally, seemingly unfazed by Natrix’s majestic presence. Khan instantly felt that something had changed in her as well.

“Glad you’re here. I was just thinking we needed more hands. How’s your task going?”

“It’s mostly done. We found some unexpected gains, actually. We were about to reap the rewards when I heard about this.”

“Is that so? Then we’d better wrap things up quickly.”

“Indeed.”

Khan glanced around the battlefield and then quietly observed Maya, standing firmly nearby. As a fellow warrior, he could tell.

He could sense the hardships Maya had endured during her warrior’s trial, the resolve with which she had faced and overcome them, and the tremendous growth she had achieved.

“You did well.”

“It was nothing.”

They didn’t need an elaborate exchange of mutual praise or politeness. Their reunion was marked by a few succinct words, almost brusque, and it was enough. The rest would be shown on the battlefield.

“My apologies for keeping you waiting.”

“I wouldn’t want to interrupt your reunion with your comrades.”

King Orion smiled warmly, waving his hand dismissively. There was no trace of pretense in his words, and Khan sensed only genuine goodwill from him.

“Moreover, it seems we have much to discuss. Please, come inside.”

***

King Orion briefly wondered if that enormous dragon could fit inside the command tent, but dragons defied human expectations as always.

“Hmm. You are quite beautiful in human form as well.”

The dragon, which seemed to fill the entire Karuna Plains, transformed into a small child with a doll-like appearance.

Though he had heard of beings like Tilly Ashanumos, a drake who could transform into a human, he hadn’t expected true dragons to assume human form due to their pride.

“What are you, carrying the scent of my kin? I can’t sense it now, but there’s a faint residual trace.”

Twitch—

The ones who reacted were not King Orion but the royal guards escorting him. Logically, they knew the small girl was the fearsome dragon, but seeing her disrespect their king in such a form made them react instinctively.

“Were you mixed? No, it was something you inherited. You had a strong trace among others. Though it’s been extracted now, remnants remain.”

“That must be the ‘Dragon’s Eye’ (龍眼), a legendary ability.”

King Orion, however, was unfazed and rather expressed genuine admiration. Having once carried the transcendent essence of a dragon himself, meeting a dragon he could converse with piqued his curiosity.

“Natrix. We don’t have much time.”

“Yes, I know. I didn’t plan on talking for long anyway.”

Twitch…

The royal guards reacted again. Seeing the arrogant dragon, who had regarded their king like a “curious animal”, seemingly cower at Khan’s words, increased their admiration for him tenfold.

‘As expected of the Dragon Slayer…!’

All of them had witnessed the scene of Khan slaying the golden dragon and laying waste to the royal city. Already holding Khan in high regard, their respect for him blossomed even more.

‘A Dragon Slayer who tamed a dragon…!’

Thus, while unaware of it, Khan had solidified his name in Argon’s history as the Dragon Slayer who subdued a dragon. But he had no time to indulge in the royal guards’ sentiments.

“Crown Prince… Or perhaps I should say, King now.”

“Feel free to speak informally. I always seem to be on the receiving end of your assistance, so I don’t intend to insist on formalities. Let’s skip the unnecessary rituals and get straight to the point.”

“Then let me get straight to the conclusion.”

“The greenskin army is already close by.”

King Orion did not show any sign of panic at this startling revelation.

He didn’t waste time wondering about the scouts monitoring the Potsral Mountain Range’s movements or why there hadn’t been any reports from the frontlines if the enemy had gotten so close.

“The Dragon Slayer must have flown here and seen something from the sky that we overlooked.”

“You’re quite right.”

Khan replied.

“In fact, I saw an old, familiar face. Ludmilla, do you remember why we first met?”

“Of course… Ah, are you saying you saw…?”

“Yes. It was an ogre.”

King Orion’s eyes widened slightly upon hearing this tremendous revelation.

“An ogre? Are you saying an ogre managed to push this far to the frontlines? But… how could it hide its enormous size?”

“People often overlook this, but the creatures from the Land of Warriors aren’t just crazed monsters obsessed with battle. They’re exceptionally skilled at fighting. Probably the most adept at war on this continent. And remember, the kingdom has previously allowed an ogre incursion.”

“The eastern frontier…!”

“It seems the scouts are all dead. Those mad creatures must have erased the kingdom’s eyes while leading the ogre to our doorstep.”

An ogre’s presence spelled disaster. A single ogre could decimate an entire legion, and if it was advancing with an army of greenskin warriors, the threat was even greater.

“We should consider pulling back the frontlines and concentrating our forces—”

King Orion began to suggest a strategy against the ogre when suddenly—

Thud… Thud… Thud…!

A heavy tremor, almost resembling an earthquake, shook the command tent. Everyone inside recognized that this wasn’t a natural earthquake but the steps of some massive creature.

“Distract the frontlines and send a separate force to hit the main body… classic tactics.”

And at the same time, it was deadly effective.

‘These bastards are a pain, both in games and reality.’

Khan’s gaze turned towards the source of the tremors.

“First, let’s deal with those things.”

***

King Orion was intelligent but inexperienced. Although he had seen greenskin warriors from afar, he had never closely experienced war against them. And at this moment. He began to understand just what kind of monsters greenskin warriors were.

‘Are those really the same greenskins?’

The Karuna Plains encampment didn’t even have proper walls. The frontlines were north of Ro-Elfelan, at the boundary of the Potsral Mountain Range, guarded by Black Wing Duke and thousands of troops—the kingdom’s mightiest force.

With such formidable defense in place, King Orion had felt secure enough to establish a temporary encampment in the vulnerable Karuna Plains.

But that frontline had been breached, and now their vanguard was here.

“Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!”

Every time they let out their bizarre war cries, the tattoos etched on their bodies writhed along with their muscles. These monstrous fighting machines stood over 1.5 times taller than regular greenskins and possessed the brute strength to surpass knights wielding aura.

And most notably,

Thud…! Thud…! Thud──!

It was as if the very walls were moving. A colossal figure emerged onto the Karuna Plains, its sheer size making it seem as if the landscape itself was shifting.

So suddenly.

“A g-giant…!”

The fearful mutter of a soldier spread like wildfire.

A giant.

Yes, a giant.

“How can a creature that massive… just be a greenskin?”

What else could a being towering over the Dragon Scale Walls of the royal city be but a giant? It was an overwhelming monster, seemingly impossible to contend with.

That thought was oddly comforting. It was easier to think of it as an unbeatable monster rather than face the guilt of running from it. The soldiers on Karuna Plains dubbed the ogre a giant, and everyone agreed.

Group psychology spreads quickly. Especially when the emotion is as infectious as fear. The presence of the dragon soaring above them was almost completely forgotten, overtaken by the sheer terror inspired by the ogre.

“A giant, huh…”

Someone sneered at the soldiers dubbing the ogre a giant. King Orion, surprised at how close the man’s voice was, turned quickly to face him.

It was Khan.

For some reason, he was smirking at the panicked soldiers shouting “A giant has appeared!”

What’s so amusing?

King Orion, momentarily forgetting his fear, was about to ask Khan, when Khan’s muttered words made his eyes widen in shock.

“That thing’s no giant… They only call it that because they’ve never seen a real one.”

There was no time to ask what he meant.

Bam!

The explosive sound overwhelmed their ears as Khan launched himself in a great arc through the air. Can a human really jump like that? King Orion watched in awe, the movement seeming more magical than any spell.

And then—

His already widened eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets. Khan was headed straight for the ogre.

“An ogre…!”

Indeed.

Khan intended to deal with the ogre amidst the greenskins single-handedly. Of course, Khan was strong. His strike against the golden dragon had left lasting marks on the royal city. But that strike had also left him depleted, rendering him unconscious for quite some time.

If he aimed to take down that massive creature with a similar strike now. He would end up defenseless, right in the midst of the greenskin warriors.

“We must help him…!”

King Orion, leaving the panicked and nearly uncontrollable soldiers behind, intended to send his companions and elite knights in a wedge formation to rescue Khan.

But it was Natrix who stopped him.

“Don’t do anything unnecessary and just keep an eye on those dazed fools.”

“Something unnecessary…!”

He couldn’t just let the kingdom’s hero die. King Orion, ready to glare at Natrix for her seemingly callous words, was interrupted by a sound that echoed across the entire Karuna Plains.

Creeeeaaak!!

A crisp, clean sound, like that of an experienced lumberjack splitting a log, resonated through the field.

The soldiers, who had been panicking, the knights who were resolutely ready to rescue their hero, and King Orion, who was about to reprimand Natrix, all turned their heads in unison.

Khan stood there, axe embedded in the colossal ogre’s head, looking back at them. He appeared completely unscathed, as if demonstrating to everyone that this beast was nothing.

And then, Natrix’s words left everyone stunned with the same expression of shock.

“You’re all worrying too much about a guy who just came back from handling a real giant.”

TL’s Corner:
Haha, Khan flexing his upgraded specs.