The Count's Gun-Shooting Scoundrel

Chapter 43

After running for about ten minutes.

“...!”

Arthur’s face contorted sharply.

His ominous premonition had come true.

Ogres as tall as trees appeared. Not just one, but five of them.

And these were the fully awakened ones.

‘If I’m discovered, I’m dead.’

Arthur held his breath, even suppressing the sound, and hid behind a tree as best he could, observing them.

Fortunately, Kadrazin was not among them.

However, the appearance of five fully awakened ones was extremely serious.

If they were to attack the Grada Territory, it would be instantly razed to the ground.

The surrounding territories would suffer the same fate.

The creatures stopped in front of the ogres' corpses.

Then, they effortlessly picked them up and slung them over their shoulders.

After that, they casually scanned their surroundings once and returned the way they came.

Arthur watched their retreating figures, contemplating for a moment.

‘What should I do? Should I follow them?’

If he could find out their lair, it would be a great help in formulating a plan, but he couldn't be sure he wouldn't be discovered by them.

And if Kadrazin happened to be there, that one was extremely sensitive, making discovery highly likely.

For today, he decided to just confirm the existence of the fully awakened ones and return.

‘Next time, I’ll kill them all.’

Arthur waited until the creatures completely vanished from sight, then moved back to where the Search Party was.

***

“Stop!”

Hellot halted the Devil’s Corps.

Dark frowned and spoke.

“We shouldn’t stop here.”

“Will simply running blindly solve anything?”

Hellot looked back the way they came.

The Search Party members also scanned their surroundings with tense expressions.

After a short while.

A sound was heard from far away.

“I’ll check.”

Peri quickly darted out.

Gripping his sword tightly, he looked around and then broke into a wide smile.

“It’s the Commander!”

“Really?”

Hellot quickly ran to Peri.

Arthur pushed through the bushes and appeared before Peri.

“What are you doing here?”

“Commander!”

Hellot approached with a worried expression.

“We’ll talk later, just follow me.”

Arthur ran to Dark, who was at the very front, and continued.

“Pick up the pace.”

“Yes, sir!”

Dark replied and immediately followed, matching Arthur’s speed.

With the suddenly increased speed, the Search Party members focused solely on keeping up.

After running relentlessly for about an hour.

Arthur stopped.

“Hah, hah, hah.”

“Huff, huff.”

Everyone gasped for breath and sweated profusely, as if in a downpour.

Although they were trained in mountain running, it must have been incredibly difficult to run fully armored through unfamiliar terrain, only looking forward.

But this was only the beginning.

With the fully awakened ogres having appeared, they would experience hell from now on.

Dark, sweating profusely, asked.

“Will it be safe here?”

“Hmm.”

Arthur carefully observed the vast plains stretching out before them.

Nothing was visible so far, but he couldn't let his guard down yet.

“We’re crossing, so get ready.”

A moment later.

Arthur took the lead, crossing the plains, followed by Dark and the Devil’s Corps.

They reached a place overgrown with reeds and hid themselves.

“Let’s go.”

Hellot also ran into the reed field.

The knights followed suit.

Just as they arrived at the reed field.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-! The ground rumbled.

But the tremor was different from before.

It felt as if something was rushing toward them in a group.

“What is it this time?”

“Commander! Over there…!”

Peri’s eyes widened as he pointed somewhere with his hand.

Arthur quickly followed his gaze.

“...!” Dozens of horses were charging towards them.

But their bodies were about twice as large as ordinary horses.

“Run!”

Arthur dashed with all his might towards the forest on the opposite side.

The Search Party members gritted their teeth and followed.

However, the creatures, charging recklessly, closed the distance in an instant.

“Aargh!” “Argh!”

Members who fell behind the group were struck by the horses and thrown off.

“Hellot!”

“Yes!”

“Take the lead!”

Arthur entrusted Hellot with the lead, then moved to the side, thinking of his pistol.

‘Appear!’

A Sig Sauer materialized in his right hand.

“First, their attention.”

Arthur mercilessly pulled the trigger on a creature that was about to ram its head into a member.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The horses stumbled forward and rolled.

Then, as if by magic, all the horses' gazes turned simultaneously to Arthur.

At the same time, they changed direction and charged.

“Follow me!”

Arthur drew up his Mana and ran with all his might.

He galloped across the plains at tremendous speed, separating himself from the Search Party.

Fortunately, the members who had crossed into the forest watched the receding Arthur with worry.

“Vice-Commander! What should we do?”

“This is maddening.”

Hellot also didn’t know what to do.

“How about we wait here for now, and a few of us search the surroundings?”

“That might be better, right?”

As Hellot nodded in agreement to Dark’s words and was about to give instructions to the knights, Dark waved his hand.

“We’ll do it.”

“Are you sure?”

“We’d be better than the knights who specialize in combat.”

“Don’t go too far, and if I shout, you must come running immediately.”

“Yes.”

Dark began to thoroughly search the surroundings with the Devil’s Corps.

Hellot watched them for a moment, then quickly shifted his gaze back to Arthur.

In the distance, the horses were frantically chasing Arthur.

Watching the situation with a face full of worry, he tilted his head.

It felt as if the distance between Arthur and the horses was being maintained consistently.

“What is it?”

The members, seemingly sharing his thought, asked in puzzlement.

“Something seems strange.”

“Huh? The Young Master changed direction.”

“He’s coming this way!”

The members’ eyes widened.

“What on earth is he thinking?”

Hellot frowned and said to the members.

“Hide for now!”

They quickly hid behind trees and rocks, observing the situation.

“Huu, huu—.”

Arthur’s breath was catching in his throat.

He kept exhaling and enduring, but his heart felt like it would burst, as if he had reached his limit.

If it were anyone else, their Mana would have already run out, and they would have been trampled by the creatures.

However, Teheran’s Mana Training Method ensured that Mana continuously welled up, so that wouldn’t happen.

Even so, he couldn't keep running forever, and if an ogre appeared at a time like this, it would be a huge problem.

Therefore, he decided to send the Search Party back for now.

He might manage alone, but he wasn't confident he could deal with the creatures while also worrying about them.

As Arthur neared the forest, he shouted with all his might.

“Everyone, go back!”

Then Hellot revealed himself and shouted.

“What about you, Young Master?!”

“That idiot!”

Arthur’s face contorted.

He quickly turned right and ran, but the horses didn't follow him, instead charging towards the forest.

“Damn it!”

He stopped and pulled the trigger on the horse leading the charge.

Bang! The creature’s head exploded, and it stumbled forward.

The horses following behind immediately turned their direction towards Arthur.

To firmly imprint himself on their minds, Arthur pulled the trigger once more.

Bang! Another one fell.

The horses, exuding a ferocious aura, now charged with murderous intent.

Arthur fled with all his might.

As he disappeared into the forest with the horses, Hellot came out.

“Damn it!”

The members also followed out and asked.

“Are we going back?”

“Go back where?! When those who went to search return, we’re going after the Young Master.”

“Will that be alright? Look at those fallen creatures. They’re not ordinary horses.”

“Hmm…”

Hellot’s face hardened.

Their size was twice that of normal horses, and their entire bodies were masses of muscle, leading him to believe they were the ‘Britanniker’ he had only heard about.

He had heard that ordinary attacks couldn't even scratch them.

First, he decided to check how tough they were.

Hellot approached the fallen creature and brought his mace down with all his might.

Thwack!

The mace sank deep into its body.

“Hmm.”

It seemed the information about the creature was exaggerated.

While some knights looked at Hellot’s actions with puzzled expressions, those who had heard stories about the ‘Britanniker’ attacked the creature just as he did.

Thwack! Thwack!

Their swords sank in too easily.

“What?”

“Something’s strange?”

“Are they not Britannikers?”

It was all too different from what they had heard.

Yet, purely based on their appearance, they were undeniably Britannikers.

However, they were unaware that the weapons they received from Arthur were master swords among master swords, crafted from Orichalcum.

Hellot spoke as if he had made up his mind.

“We’re going to charge straight through.”

“Vice-Commander…”

Everyone was looking surprised.

The Devil’s Corps members who had gone searching returned.

“We heard the Commander shout a moment ago, what happened?”

“He told everyone to go back.”

Dark’s face hardened.

“What about the Commander?”

“He’s probably planning to shake them off and then follow us.”

“Hmm.”

Dark was observing the fallen horses nearby with a serious expression.

“We’re going after the Young Master.”

“I don’t think that’s right.”

“So you’re saying we should just leave the Young Master alone and go back?”

Dark met Hellot’s gaze and replied.

“I believe there’s a good reason why the Commander gave such an order.”

“I know. But I can’t leave the Young Master alone in a place like this.”

“Are you going to go after him and mess up the Commander’s plan?”

“So you’re saying only we should survive?”

A murderous glint appeared in Hellot’s eyes.

As the atmosphere between the two grew tense, Latale, who had been observing the situation, spoke up.

“How about we wait outside the vines, and if he doesn’t return, then we go looking for him?”

“Hmm.”

As Hellot wore a displeased expression, the knights also approached him and spoke.

“We think that would be better too.”

“Let’s wait for just one hour.”

Hellot replied with a reluctant expression.

“Exactly one hour.”

“Yes.”

Latale nodded and also spoke to Dark.

“Following the Commander’s orders is important, but leaving him alone in a place like this doesn’t feel right. So this time, I hope you’ll follow my suggestion.”

Dark seemed to ponder carefully, then re-gripped his dagger in a reverse grip and said to Hellot.

“I will take the lead.”

***

“Huu— huu—.”

Arthur ran, looking only forward.

Unlike him, who moved by pushing through thick bushes with his dagger, the creatures pursued him by smashing through anything in their way with their heads.

CRASH—!

Thump! Thump!

Suddenly, the ground shook.

‘This tremor…!’

Arthur’s face contorted.

Kkiaaaaa! A tremendous monstrous roar echoed from the sky.

As if adding insult to injury, ogres had appeared.

Indeed, he had been wreaking havoc in this area for quite some time, so it was only natural to be discovered by them.

Given the situation, it seemed the best course of action was to make the two groups clash and use that opportunity to escape.

Arthur shot towards the ogre like an arrow.

A short while later, a gigantic ogre was visible ahead.

Like the ones he had seen earlier, it was a fully awakened one, but fortunately, there was only one.

The ogre lifted its leg and brought it down with all its might towards the creatures.

CRASH—! The Britannikers were trampled to death under its foot.

Yet, far from being scared, they charged straight in and rammed the ogre’s leg with their heads.

But it didn’t budge.

On the contrary, it let out a monstrous roar with an enraged expression, as if provoked.

Kkiaaaaa! It swung its two fists mercilessly.

Hee-hee-hing! Eee-hee-hee-hing—!

Though they were creatures of immense size, before the ogre, they were mere mayflies.

Each time the ogre swung its fist, they were helplessly sent flying.

While the ogre was slaughtering the creatures, beating them to death, Arthur was swiftly making his escape from the area.

Hee-hee-hee-hee-hing—!

Then, a mighty horse neigh echoed.

‘What is that sound?’

Arthur stopped and quickly scanned his surroundings.

At the same time, the creatures clashing with the ogre uniformly retreated.

The ogre also stopped its attack and looked somewhere.

Arthur followed its gaze.

Something enormous burst out from the thick bushes.

A Black Horse, with its red mane flowing, charged at the ogre.

Its momentum was comparable to that of the ogre.

The creature, having arrived in an instant, rammed the ogre’s leg directly with its head.

CRASH! With a tremendous sound of impact, the ogre fell backward.

The Black Horse raised its head to the sky and neighed.

Hee-hee-hee-hee-hing—!

Then, all the horses neighed in unison and left the area with the Black Horse.

Arthur, whose attention had been momentarily drawn by the creature, also exerted all his strength to escape before the ogre could get up.

“...!”

The Black Horse, running at the front, suddenly changed direction.

Arthur frowned at the sound of gigantic hooves thundering from behind him.

“Why are you following me?!”

It was just as he was about to increase his speed even further.

Hee-hee-hee-hee-hing—!

The Black Horse, having caught up right beside him, ran abreast with Arthur.

“What?!”

The Black Horse kept looking at him as if glancing sideways, and neighed.

Hee-hing! Hee-hing!

It seemed like the creature was trying to say something, but strangely, he felt no hostility.

The Black Horse closed the gap and pressed close beside him.

“What’s wrong with you?!”

It was when Arthur jumped forcefully to avoid it.

The Black Horse swiftly moved beneath Arthur and carried him on its back.

Then, snorting hot air, it galloped like the wind.

Arthur’s eyes widened.

‘Why is this one…?’