Future Knight

Chapter 67

“Whimper, whimper…”

“Grr… Teddy, are you hungry?”

Surprisingly, the ogre could somewhat speak like a human.

As the blue ogre petted the grizzly bear’s jaw and belly with its massive hand, the bear lay down like a dog, surrendering to its master’s touch.

“Just a moment.”

The ogre rose and walked towards the barn.

The barn was sturdily built with logs so thick they couldn’t be encircled with one’s arms.

Inside were about 20 gigantic boars the size of houses. As the blue ogre approached, the boars panicked, excreting in fear and struggling desperately.

“Grr… which one should we… eat? Guess? Ding! Dong! Dang?”

The ogre, acting quite childishly, grabbed the nape of a plump boar like lightning.

“Got it!”

“Squeal! Squeal!!”

The boar, caught by the neck, struggled desperately to survive, but it was nearly impossible to escape the ogre’s grasp.

“Grr, Teddy, just wait a moment.”

“Roar! Roar!”

The thought of eating meat after a long time made Teddy, the grizzly bear, drool with anticipation.

The blue ogre grabbed a massive stone axe, took the boar, and entered the kitchen behind the hut.

Soon after, the sound of slaughtered pigs and the savory smell of roasting meat began to permeate the area around the hut.

* * *

Green opened her eyes in a very dark stone chamber.

“Where am I?”

She tried to sit up but grimaced from the pain in her chest.

“Mother, you shouldn’t get up yet.”

“Parel…”

Parel, her firstborn, had always stayed by her side.

“Where is this place?”

“This is Dark Drow, the city of the Dark Elves.”

“Did you save me?”

“Yes, Mother.”

‘Caught in the last attack of the ancient giant controlled by that monstrous human, I thought I was done for… I can’t believe I woke up alive.’

Green sighed in relief.

“How is the battle going?”

“Not well.”

“Tell me the details.”

As Parel explained the situation, Green’s expression grew increasingly grim.

Having lost their elite troops, it was hard enough to fight off humans and orcs. With the Eastern Kingdom sending reinforcements, she couldn’t afford to rest idly.

“Help me up. I need to meet with Nemitz.”

“You shouldn’t move yet.”

Green had been severely injured, almost to the point of death, from the Buster Cannon fired by Zaid.

Thanks to Parel’s timely aid, she received treatment in time to save her life, but the shock was so great she couldn’t recover her senses for a week.

Despite her weakened state, Green insisted on meeting Nemitz, causing Parel to worry.

“I’m fine. Inform Nemitz that I will meet with him.”

Seeing the resolute look in Green’s eyes, Parel had no choice but to comply.

“Understood. I’ll prepare a litter. Please wait a moment.”

Since the start of the Green Elf’s campaign to conquer the continent, Green now faced her greatest crisis.

Dragging her aching body, she headed to meet Nemitz, the leader of the Dark Elves, to hold an emergency strategy meeting.

* * *

On the third day of their forced march to escape the Montana Mountain Range, Erika spotted signs of humans.

“Oh? There’s a field over there.”

“A field?”

Kang Chan and G. Zikyon squinted towards the direction Erika pointed and finally saw the faint outline of the field.

As expected of an elf, Erika had exceptionally good eyesight.

Since only humans cultivated fields to produce food, Zikyon found it very surprising to discover a human village in such a remote area.

“Is there really a human village in a place swarming with monsters?”

Being a dragon, Zikyon knew how many monsters were lurking around.

If Zikyon hadn’t been with them, Kang Chan and Erika would have been attacked by monsters repeatedly.

“Let’s stop by that village, ask for directions, and maybe get a decent meal for once.”

Kang Chan’s proposal made Zikyon and Erika nod eagerly.

It had only been three days, but everyone had marched without rest, so they wanted to take a break, even if only for a moment.

As the unanimous decision to head to the village was made, their steps quickened.

However, Zikyon, who had lived for an immense amount of time, couldn’t help but feel puzzled as they got closer to the village.

“If humans lived in such a remote place, they would have surely set up high defenses against monster attacks. But there’s nothing like that, and they’re tending to their gardens openly. Something is strange…”

Despite the suspicious atmosphere, Zikyon followed Kang Chan to the village, relying on his ability to cover any threats or tricks.

But once again, Zikyon noticed something and stopped Kang Chan.

“Wait!”

“Why?”

“An ogre.”

“An ogre?”

“I can smell an ogre. And it’s very close…”

Even Erika had only heard of ogres and had never seen one before.

Her ancestors had driven all the ogres out of the Elven Forest long ago.

“Are ogres strong?”

“Well, humans or elves wouldn’t consider them weak. They can handle a Sword Expert, as you call them.”

“A monster can handle a Sword Expert?”

“Yes, it’s one of the top-tier monsters.”

Knowing the capabilities of a Sword Expert, Kang Chan was a bit surprised.

A monster that could match a Sword Expert was on a different level than the monsters he had encountered in the Elven Forest.

Srrrr―

Kang Chan drew his mithril dagger and scanned the surroundings warily.

“How many of them are around?”

“Fortunately, ogres never travel in groups, so at most two.”

“Two, huh.”

Kang Chan was somewhat relieved by Zikyon’s words that there would be no more than two.

He could easily handle that many on his own with his current abilities.

“But they’re usually around six meters tall, so be careful.”

“Well, that’s nothing.”

Kang Chan snorted at the mention of six meters.

He had previously killed a wyvern that was fifteen meters tall.

“It’s not ‘nothing.’ That thing is one of the top-tier monsters. If one is near the village, it means the village is already doomed…”

At Zikyon’s prediction that the village was likely already doomed, Kang Chan’s expression turned icy cold.

“If they killed people, I can’t just pass by.”

Kang Chan led with his dagger, Erika with her rail gun, and they cautiously approached the village.

Only Zikyon walked comfortably without any wariness.

The name of the blue ogre was Loki.

Loki, who was ten years old this year, was raised by a human swordsman.

The human swordsman who took him in after his mother was killed by ogre hunters was named Kalitz Garman.

Amazingly, that name belonged to a duke of the Visman Empire and a legendary warrior representing humanity.

Why would such a person live in such a remote area raising a young ogre?

It was because he had little time left to live.

No matter how much he had dominated the world, he couldn’t escape the word ‘death.’

As a Sword Master, he had lived over 300 years longer than others, but even he couldn’t avoid the invitation of death.

“Am I really… terminally ill?”

“I am sorry, but it is true, Your Grace.”

Garman couldn’t believe it.

For someone who had experienced body changes after becoming a Sword Master, disease had always seemed like a story from another world, but he was diagnosed with cancer.

Cancer was an incurable disease that couldn’t be healed by magic or divine power.

Even if the body was destroyed or collapsed, high-level healing spells or divine power could partially repair it, but this disease was beyond help.

There was no problem with the cells that made up the body.

The only issue was that the cells couldn’t function properly. Another terrifying aspect of cancer cells was their ability to spread.

They spread throughout the body at a terrifying speed, rendering other organs useless.

Thus, everyone in this world called cancer an invitation to death sent by the gods.

In this world, where magical treatment was advanced, surgical techniques weren’t developed enough to cure cancer.

“Am I… really dying…?”

Garman couldn’t accept it.

He had ascended to the pinnacle of martial arts and enjoyed wealth and power comparable to kings, but now he felt endlessly pathetic.

From that moment, everything seemed meaningless to him.

Neither money, honor, nor power mattered.

If there was a single hope left for him, it was to experience another body change to overcome his cancer.

However, he knew well that it was harder than reaching for the stars.

How hard had he struggled to become the Sword Emperor, a feat no one had achieved since he became a Sword Master 300 years ago?

He believed he was closer to becoming the Sword Emperor than anyone else, but in reality, he had been standing still for 300 years.

Facing imminent death, he decided to accept it peacefully.

He resolved to follow the path of the sword until the end of his remaining life.

“It’s a secret between you and me that I have cancer.”

“Where do you intend to go, Your Grace?”

“I should go somewhere with good water and air… If fate allows, we shall meet again in the next life.”

“Your Grace…”

Garman left his territory in secret and, after wandering aimlessly, ended up in the Montana Mountain Range.

He decided that this was the place where he would die.

He had taken a great liking to the forest in the Montana Mountain Range.

The sight of the forest, with its thick conifers stretching out so wide that three men couldn’t embrace one, was truly magnificent.

“Hmm, what a beautiful forest. I’ve forgotten the beauty of nature all this time…”

He sat on a rock, taking a rest, captivated by the forest’s beauty.

In the distance, the clashing of weapons and the roar of an ogre reached his ears.

“What is this sound?”

He instantly thought an ogre was attacking humans.

Since entering this forest, he had been assaulted by numerous monsters.

He quickly drew his sword and ran towards the source of the sound.

But what he saw was not an ogre attacking humans.

What he saw was hunters hunting an ogre.

An ogre was an extremely valuable monster.

Its hide was tougher and stronger than any other, fetching high prices, and its blood was the best magical catalyst, more expensive than gold by weight.

The people before him were risking their lives, hunting the ogre for a chance at instant fortune.

“Grrroooaaaar!”

The ogre, losing its sanity in fury, swung a massive log wildly, fiercely resisting the hunters.

However, the hunters numbered almost 50, and they were armed with powerful weapons to kill the ogre, leaving its body covered in blood.

Three hunters were flung away, unrecognizable, by the log wielded by the resisting ogre.

Yet, Garman did not help the hunters; he just quietly watched.

He debated whether he should help them kill the ogre.

Certainly, he could easily take down the ogre.

But he questioned whether it was right for him to kill an ogre desperately fighting for its life.

Hadn’t he also struggled desperately to survive?

How much time had passed?

In the end, all the hunters had become cold corpses at the hands of the ogre.

They had relied on their numbers and weapons, but their skills alone were never enough to hunt the strongest monster on land, the ogre.