novelraw Chapter 70 : Don’t Die, Everyone
Chapter 70 : Don’t Die, Everyone
Chapter 70: Don’t Die, Everyone
Robin ran through the dense forest.
Between the trees ran eleven men, with Admiral at the front.
They were in a life-or-death game of tag.
Kwaaang!
The troll swung the log in its hand and smashed through a tree.
The uprooted tree became the troll’s club once more.
Even for a troll, the tightly packed trees hindered pursuit.
That thought offered some comfort, but the distance between them and the troll kept shrinking.
Moreover, to reach the Domain of Count Wilcock, they had to leave the forest.
They could not keep running away forever.
Robin’s eyes met Admiral’s.
Admiral nodded slightly.
The soldiers watching from behind took deep breaths.
“Scatter!”
The eleven split into three groups.
Admiral, Sir Collie, and two soldiers.
Robin, Imelda, Serena, and Theodric.
Three soldiers.
They watched to see how the troll would react.
After hesitating for a moment, the troll split into three.
Four trolls chased Admiral.
The rest chased after the others in groups of three.
“Don’t die, everyone.”
Serena lightly swung her staff.
Wind coiled around the eleven.
Their bodies felt lighter.
It was a technique that used wind spirits.
“That’s impressive.”
“It won’t last long. At most, ten minutes.”
The distance that had been closing with the trolls widened again.
Thanks to that, they bought time to think.
Before they knew it, the companions who had been with them just moments ago disappeared from sight.
Three trolls were chasing them.
‘If I and the young lady, along with Serena, attack together, couldn’t we take down one?’
Trolls boasted absurd regenerative power, enough to be core ingredients for potions.
That said, they were not without weaknesses.
If their heads were severed or their hearts destroyed, they died.
If they could isolate and defeat them one by one, a way through might open.
“At my age, running sure puts the body through hell.”
“Sir, if you’ve got your wits about you, how about helping instead of just watching?”
“Heh, you impudent brat. A knight isn’t good at everything.”
“If we mess up now, we’re going to die. This isn’t the time to watch leisurely.”
“Keh keh. Who’s dying, you say? All of this is training.”
“…….”
‘He’s not in his right mind.’
Imelda and Serena closed their mouths and focused on running.
The combat power of Theodric, a former knight, would work even on trolls.
Yet he was not stepping in, using training as an excuse.
‘If we leave him behind, won’t he take care of it himself?’
Kwajajajajak!
As if to rebuke that irreverent thought, a vicious sound followed.
When Robin looked back, all three trolls swung their clubs at once, snapping every nearby tree.
One troll climbed onto the shoulders of the other two and stared at Robin.
“What are they doing now?”
The question was soon answered.
The two trolls threw the one troll.
Kwaang!
The troll that slammed into the ground in a parabolic arc staggered as it stood up.
The four stopped at the same time.
A troll had appeared right in front of them.
Seen up close, the troll was enormous.
A monster as tall as Admiral’s two-story house.
Even setting aside the troll’s regeneration, its sheer size was threatening.
Shiiiik!
A long gash appeared on the troll’s wrist as it staggered from the impact of the fall.
Serena, staff in hand, fixed her gaze on the troll.
Air sharpened like blades continued to attack.
Pushushuk!
At last, its right hand fell to the ground.
The troll paid it no mind and tried to pick up the fallen hand and reattach it.
Hwarrr—grrr—.
Flames spread across the severed surface.
The troll’s bleeding stopped, and its flesh melted away.
It tried to reattach the wrist, but it was futile.
Taat!
Robin dashed toward the troll.
The swords in both his hands ravaged the troll’s legs.
In an instant, several gashes formed, but they healed quickly.
‘So this is why they said it’s hard to kill.’
Attacking the lower body had been an experiment to see whether the attack would work.
Robin could not kill a troll in a single strike.
He acknowledged that swiftly and dodged the attack that came crashing down.
As if swatting flies, the troll swung its hand.
Boo-woong!
The moment a hand as large as a man’s torso passed by, Robin drove his sword into the troll’s back and climbed up.
His target was the head.
When the troll convulsed, trying to throw Robin off, Imelda stepped in.
Skeogeok.
She slashed the troll’s ankle, drawing its attention.
To it, it might have been no more than an irritation, but perhaps it was bothered, because it attacked Imelda.
Kung! Kung!
Imelda nimbly dodged attacks that would have killed her instantly if she had been stepped on.
In that time, Robin climbed up to the nape of the troll’s neck and thrust his sword without hesitation.
“Kreoooaaah!”
The troll thrashed wildly, but Robin gripped the embedded sword and drew it across.
The sensation of the brain being severed in a semicircle traveled up the blade.
“Keureureureuk…….”
The troll’s movements slowed, and soon it collapsed, foam forming at its mouth.
The time it took to get this far was thirty seconds.
‘This is more doable than I thought?’
Kwadeudeudeudeuk.
The ground rumbled, and dozens of sharp skewers burst up like spears.
It was Serena’s attack aimed at the charging trolls.
Two trolls that were impaled at full speed on the spikes went limp.
“Is it finished?”
As Imelda said while checking the trolls, Serena shouted.
“What are you doing! Cut off their heads!”
Robin snapped back to his senses and severed the necks of the fallen trolls.
At first, the sword cut well, but the closer it got to the center, the less it went in.
As if someone were forcibly holding it back, the troll’s muscles obstructed Robin’s blade.
“Keureureu… Keheee!”
The one he thought was dead coughed and opened its eyes.
Meeting the fist-sized eyes of the creature sent a chill down his spine.
He pulled out one sword embedded in its neck and stabbed its eyeball.
It should have pierced all the way to the brain connected to the eye, yet the troll did not die.
Pushuk! Pushushuk!
Blood splattered over Robin each time he stabbed and slashed.
He managed to stop the troll from getting up by tearing into its brain, but he could not cut off its head.
Its regenerative power was beyond common sense.
Imelda joined in, but time was not on Robin’s side.
Ppudeudeuk. Ppudeudeudeuk.
As they shattered the rocky skewers, two trolls writhed.
When Serena brought the severed limbs she had cut off to the cross-sections, they reattached as if it were a lie.
In real time, their bones aligned and their wounds closed.
‘So that’s why they’re used as potion materials.’
Unintentionally, he grasped the principle behind potions.
It was simply that troll blood was special.
Serena shouted in an urgent voice.
“Grandpa! Don’t just watch, help us a little, will you?!”
“Keulkeulkeul.”
Despite Serena’s plea, the old man did not step in.
Unable to stand it, Imelda got up and ran toward the two trolls.
“Keureureureu!”
Kwaang!
Each time the clubs they swung struck the ground, pits formed.
Imelda, sweating profusely, narrowly avoided each blow that would have been fatal if it even grazed her.
“Damn it! Imelda, just hold on a little longer!”
Serena planted her staff into the ground, closed her eyes, and placed both hands on the earth.
Soil gathered in the air.
Kwaang kwaang kwaang kwaang!
The two trolls gleefully pounded the ground.
They were bloodshot with the intent to catch Imelda.
Perhaps realizing it could not go on like this, Imelda shouted.
“Serena!”
The fist-sized clod of earth had grown to the size of three carriages.
“Not yet! Just wait ten more seconds!”
The trolls were no longer satisfied with their clubs and even used their feet.
With the doubled attacks, Imelda’s mind grew hazy.
What was remarkable was that she somehow continued to evade them amid the chaos.
Without realizing it, Imelda had taken a step forward.
“Five seconds, four seconds, three seconds…….”
Serena’s countdown felt endlessly long to Imelda.
“That spiritcaster kid has been feeding well on Ether.”
There was no one listening to the old man’s murmur.
The mass of stone above the trolls had grown to the size of a house.
Both Robin and Imelda momentarily had their gazes stolen by the enormous rock.
Kkudeudeuk. Kkudeudeuk.
At the end of the brutishly enlarged rock, sharp spikes sprouted.
It resembled the skewers that had blocked the trolls’ charge, but it was far denser.
Sweat pouring down her face, Serena opened her eyes.
“Imelda, get out!”
As Imelda tried to dash out, a troll threw its club.
Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, she failed to dodge and was struck.
Sensing the danger, the troll thundered after Imelda as if to devour her.
Blood streamed down Imelda’s forehead.
She collapsed to the ground, but her body would not respond.
Clutching her throbbing head, Imelda shouted.
“Drop it now!”
“What are you saying! Then you’ll die!”
“It’s fine, just do it quickly!”
Serena hesitated for a moment.
The hesitation was brief.
A rock that looked capable of killing even a demon fell.
As Robin watched this process, time slowed.
His eyes met Imelda’s.
She was smiling, unlike someone facing death.
‘The young lady is going to die?’
Robin’s heart throbbed painfully.
This must not happen.
Without even pulling the sword embedded in the troll’s neck, he rose.
He moved somehow within the slowed time, but it was nothing compared to the speed of the falling rock.
Seven years ago came to mind.
That moment that still appeared in his dreams from time to time.
‘No.’
The rock that would easily pierce a human body drew closer and closer.
Imelda’s expression was smiling, but tears welled in her eyes.
“No…….”
Kwaguaaang!
Billowing clouds of dust obscured his vision.
Robin froze in place.
After some time passed, he saw that the spot where the trolls had been was now occupied by a massive rock.
“…….”
Robin began to move his feet little by little.
As he passed Serena, she tried to say something, but he did not listen.
“Cough! Cough!”
“Young lady?”
When he got closer, he saw Imelda buried under a mound of dirt.
There were bloodstains here and there, but there was no major damage.
What had happened was not hard to figure out.
Theodric was gripping the back of Imelda’s neck with his sword drawn.
“So the elder saved her.”
“I couldn’t very well let such a pretty child die.”
“Are you all right, sir?”
“I’m not all right, you brat! My back hurts like hell.”
Theodric frowned and pounded his bent lower back.
“That’s a relief, haha…….”
A hollow laugh escaped.
Theodric pointed past Robin and spoke.
“There should still be one left.”
“Ah.”
“That’s enough. Since I’ve already drawn it, I’ll add a little more.”
The troll whose neck Robin had failed to sever was standing upright with a sword still embedded in it.
Theodric walked up to the staggering troll and beheaded it in one stroke.
The troll died with absurd ease.
“Thank you, Grandpa.”
“For what thanks. Thank that kid Robin. Seeing that look on his face, I couldn’t help but step in.”
“Ah…….”
“If it’s that kid, I approve.”
“Yes? What do you mean by that?”
Looking tired, Theodric leaned back against a tree and sat down.
Imelda did not press further.
Instead, limping, she approached Robin.
“Thank you, Robin. And thank you too, Serena.”
“You should be thanking the elder and Serena. I didn’t do anything.”
“Grandpa told me to thank you. I don’t know why either, hehe.”
“…….”
Imelda spoke with a smile, but Serena remained quiet.
Robin also could not decide what to say to Serena.
In the end, things had turned out well, but if Imelda had died…….
“Phew, for now, let’s clean up the area. It was hard to take down the trolls, so we should take what we can. Excuse me, young lady.”
Robin lifted Imelda in a bridal carry and set her down beside the troll corpses.
“They haven’t been dead long, so the troll blood should still have its recovery effect. I’ll give you some detox herb, so keep it in your mouth.”
He filled a canteen with troll blood and poured it over Imelda’s wounds.
It was not as effective as a potion, but the wounds closed.
Only after taking out an empty canteen and filling it to the brim with blood did he stand up.
A pit dug deep enough to bury a person.
Trees uprooted as if struck by a typhoon.
Giant monster corpses.
It was utter chaos.
“Come to think of it, the chest I was carrying broke.”
Preoccupied with running away, he had forgotten something important.
“Did you see what was inside?”
“Yeah. It should be crushed under that rock over there. Serena, can you lift that rock?”
“It’s possible, but I don’t recommend it. I’ve used up a lot of strength.”
“Then let’s just go. It’s better not to waste strength until we reach the main estate.”
For now, they had somehow weathered the crisis, but it was not over.
They could not let their guard down until they left the forest and reached the Domain of Count Wilcock.
“What a shame. If we collected the byproducts, we could make some money.”
“I never want to run into them again.”
Imelda, her wounds treated, continued speaking as she followed behind Robin.
Serena followed at a slightly greater distance.
Theodric clicked his tongue.
“That’s why young brats, tsk.”
The four changed direction and headed out of the forest.