The Count's Gun-Shooting Scoundrel

Chapter 35

Arthur killed the ogre in an instant and rushed at the remaining one, shouting.

“Dark!”

“Your command!”

“Take Millerf and go!”

“Sir!”

Dark replied quickly and signaled his squad members with his eyes.

Mullan and Latale then moved to secure an escape route, and Peri followed Dark.

Avoiding the ogre, Dark reached Millerf and quickly hoisted him onto his back.

“Lead the way!”

“Follow me!”

Peri took the lead, running ahead while keeping an eye on the ogre.

He was worried the creature might charge, but its gaze was fixed on Arthur, and it didn't move an inch.

As soon as Dark escaped safely with Millerf, Arthur, as if he had been waiting, unleashed his aura and provoked the creature.

“Where is he?”

Kiiiaaa!

The ogre let out a shriek as if throwing a tantrum.

Arthur rushed at the creature and swung his Kukri.

Slice—.

Unlike before, its leg was severed far too easily.

The creature lost its balance and fell to the side.

Thud!

Arthur dashed forward like lightning and stabbed the creature's eye with his Kukri.

Then, he stabbed the other eye as well and shouted.

“Call for him!”

The ogre shrieked, bleeding green blood.

Kiiiaak!

Pain and anger were clearly felt in the sound.

The creature slammed its fist down at Arthur with all its might.

BOOM!

“Scream one more time!”

Arthur plunged his Kukri into the creature's arm.

Then he sliced it with all his strength.

The arm fell off with a thud.

The creature held up its severed arm and went berserk.

Kiiak! Kiiiaak!

Every time it swung its arm, green blood splattered everywhere.

“I said, scream louder!”

Arthur drove his Kukri into the creature's heart.

Kiiiaaaaak!

Just as the creature thrashed about madly, letting out a deafening shriek that seemed to shake the surroundings!

Kiiiiiiik!

The shriek of a Kadrazin was heard from far away.

Having confirmed its location, Arthur immediately shoved his Kukri into the ogre's mouth and killed it.

Then he ran toward the Kadrazin.

He was running like an arrow, cutting down everything in his path with his Kukri, when a giant object appeared ahead.

It was the Kadrazin.

It was larger than the one he had seen before, and its body looked as hard as rock, giving off an immense sense of pressure.

Still, he considered it a great fortune that he wasn't meeting it in its complete form.

Besides, a creature of this level was a suitable sacrifice to test his own power.

“Shall we do this properly?”

As Arthur charged at the creature, he pulled out a dagger tucked in his belt and threw it with all his might.

Fwip—.

The dagger cut through the air and embedded itself right in the creature's leg.

It was certainly different from the creatures he had just faced.

Instead of shrieking, it just stared blankly at him.

Seeing that the attack, which had pierced helmets, couldn't penetrate its skin, he could tell that its hide was already hardening like the steel plates of an armored vehicle.

In another month, it would transform into its complete form.

If it appeared in its complete form, the Grada territory would be laid to waste.

He felt he had to eliminate it and then search the West Mountain Range thoroughly.

“Now that I've grasped your condition, it's time to test my own strength, isn't it?”

As Arthur charged at the creature, he released the mana he had been suppressing.

“…!”

For a moment, the Kadrazin's eyes flashed.

As the powerful energy pressed down on it, it raised its own aura, not to be outdone, and shrieked.

Kiiiiiiik!

“Take this first.”

Just as he had with the ogre, Arthur swung his Kukri at the creature's leg.

Thwack!

Kiiiaaak!

The creature let out a shriek.

It was only halfway severed, not cut off completely.

However, he was satisfied with the fact that he had become strong enough for his attacks to be effective.

He also gained the confidence that he could handle it.

“I have a lot to do. So now, die.”

Arthur sliced hard once more at the leg he had already attacked with the Kukri.

Thud.

The creature's leg was severed.

At the same time, the creature shrieked and slammed its fist down with a terrifying force.

Arthur swiftly dodged and slammed his Kukri into the creature's arm. Then, he ran up its arm toward its head and threw his daggers.

Thwack! Thwack!

Kiiak!

With daggers embedded in both its eyes, the creature thrashed about violently, flailing its arms.

As it took a step toward the cliff, Arthur moved to the nape of its neck and stabbed its vital point with a dagger.

Kiiiaaak!

The creature shrieked in pain.

But the blade was too short, and he failed to sever its optic nerve.

Trying to reach in with his hand to sever it was also impossible as there wasn't enough space.

“Damn it!”

As Arthur's face contorted, the Kadrazin stepped into thin air.

“Heok!”

Kiiiaaak!

Arthur plummeted downward along with the creature.

A moment later.

CRASH!

After the dull thud, there was no sound.

“Ugh…”

Arthur, who had fallen with the creature, was hanging from a tree branch.

Fortunately, a large branch extended from the cliff, and he had managed to survive by catching onto it.

But he wasn't completely out of danger yet.

Crack, crack…

The branch was slowly breaking from the impact of his fall.

At this rate, he would fall before long.

Looking around, he saw a spot on the cliff face, large enough for one person to lie down.

It was quite a distance, but if he wanted to live, it was the only way.

Arthur steadied his breathing and prepared to leap.

Craaack—.*

He threw himself forward just as the branch broke.

The distance was too great to land.

He couldn't die like this. He stretched out his arm, hoping to grab onto anything.

Thump!

“Hah, hah.”

His hand caught a stone-like protrusion on the edge of the ledge.

Having narrowly escaped danger once again, Arthur pulled himself up and leaned against the cliff wall, letting out a sigh of relief.

He then looked down.

He felt a dizzying sense of fear.

No matter how tough a Kadrazin was, it couldn't have survived a fall from this height.

If it had survived, it would surely be shrieking in a frenzy, but it was silent.

By the way, the power that had been surging endlessly seemed to have calmed down and was no longer felt.

Instead, his mana was fully charged.

But, ironically enough, he felt an accumulated fatigue.

The thought of wanting to rest came to him automatically.

But this was not the time for that.

He had to reorganize the Knight Order and thoroughly search the West Mountain Range.

Also, once word of the Rose Knights' crushing defeat reached Count Yarve, he would prepare for revenge.

Countermeasures for that were important, but completely understanding the West Mountain Range was the top priority.

If the ogres were to appear again, they would be even stronger next time.

They might even appear in their complete form, and if that happened, the situation could become very serious.

He had to wipe them out completely while he still could.

Just as Arthur stood up and looked up to climb the cliff…

“Huh?”

A familiar crest above his head caught his eye.

It was the dragon that symbolized the House of Count Julius.

‘Why is that here?’

Just as a look of question crossed Arthur’s face…

Suddenly, a light shone from the wall.

‘What is this?’

As Arthur was about to touch the glowing spot with his hand, he saw the light gather on his hand and looked at his necklace.

“The necklace is glowing…”

He took off his helmet and removed the necklace from his neck to check.

It was indeed glowing with a golden light.

‘Why is it suddenly glowing…!’

Suddenly, he wondered if it might be related to the crest on the wall.

He shone the light from the necklace toward the crest on the wall.

Then, something incredible happened before his eyes.

The wall just below the crest disappeared, revealing a space large enough for a person to enter.

“What?”

As the startled Arthur cautiously stepped inside, the space returned to normal.

“What in the world is…”

Questions piled upon questions.

Arthur looked around with a serious expression.

It was a huge space, large enough to accommodate all the people of the territory.

“How could a place like this…”

Just as he was slowly walking deeper inside with a face full of questions…

“Aargh!”

Suddenly, his head hurt as if it would split open, and a cold voice echoed in his mind.

-Get out! You are not worthy.

“Who are you!”

Arthur shouted back at the top of his lungs.

“What do you mean!”

-This is a place only the chosen one can enter.

“The chosen one?”

-Now, get lost.

“Aaaaaargh!”

A pain that felt like his head would explode washed over him.

Arthur struggled to overcome the pain, but the more he did, the more his strength drained from his body.

“N-no…”

He lost consciousness and collapsed with a thud.

***

“Young Master!”

“Where are you!”

Around the cliff where Arthur had fought the ogre, Skevin and the Phoenix Knights were searching.

As soon as Dark appeared carrying Millerf, Skevin had immediately led the Knight Order and rushed to the cliff.

But there was only the ogre's corpse; Arthur was nowhere to be seen.

“What in the world could have happened?”

Hellot's face was filled with worry.

Skevin, who had been staring down the cliff for a long time, opened his mouth as if he had made a decision.

“I'll have to go down.”

“What?”

Hellot's eyes widened.

“Form a search party with the nimble ones.”

“Commander, you know what kind of place that is!”

“I know, but what if the Young Master fell?”

“That's unlikely, but if he did, the chances of him being alive are…”

“I'll find his body if I have to. No more talk, get ready.”

Faced with Skevin's firm attitude, Hellot had no choice but to follow his orders.

He fully understood his desire to find the Young Master, but the bottom of the cliff was a forbidden place.

All sorts of bad rumors ran rampant about it.

Therefore, no one knew what might happen.

It wouldn't be strange if the worst-case scenario occurred, where they went down and never returned.

But he had no choice but to follow the order.

Some of the knights also seemed to want to go down and search.

Just as Hellot was selecting those men to form a search party…

Skevin, who was carefully observing the area below the cliff, shouted.

“Hellot!”

Hellot quickly approached and asked.

“What is it?”

“What is that down there?”

“Where are you pointing to?”

Hellot looked where he was pointing and saw something glittering faintly.

“What is that?”

Skevin said as he took off his armor.

“I'm going down to check, so prepare a rope.”

A short while later.

Skevin wrapped the rope tightly around his waist and slowly descended.

Descending the cliff was harder than he thought.

Moreover, rather than looking for footholds with his eyes, he had to find them by feel, tapping the cliff face with his feet.

“Hmm.”

Skevin paid close attention and slowly made his way down.

After quite some time had passed…

The glittering light became clearer, and he could see Arthur lying unconscious.

“Young Master!”

Skevin pulled on the rope and shouted.

“Slack the rope!”

As soon as the rope went slack, he threw himself toward Arthur.

Thud!

Landing next to Arthur, Skevin quickly checked his condition.

There were no signs of major injuries.

But his energy was very weak, and the color had drained from his face.

It seemed like something terrible would happen if he didn't receive treatment soon.

“I will save you, no matter what.”

He unwrapped the rope from his own waist, hoisted Arthur onto his back, and tied them together securely with the rope so he wouldn't fall.

Then, he pulled on the rope connected to Hellot and shouted.

“Pull!”