novelraw Chapter 99 : Legacy
Chapter 99 : Legacy
Chapter 99: Legacy
Sigbard did not deny the chieftain’s words.
The chieftain looked at him as if telling him to say whatever he wanted, but only silence lingered.
Burt stepped between the two and opened his mouth.
“Strange. Aren’t barbarians born warriors and die warriors? If you haven’t gone extinct, there should be more than enough warriors to come out and watch, shouldn’t there?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. Gunrad is dead.”
“So what. Everyone dies eventually.”
“He would have lived if not for Sigbard.”
Sigbard’s brow twitched.
His father, braver and stronger than anyone else.
Gunrad met his death while facing a monster like a calamity.
If Sigbard had not stubbornly insisted on following him, he could have lived.
Gunrad sacrificed himself to protect his son.
Many warriors mourned the death of a man who was all but a hero of the tribe.
Up until then, Sigbard had not been ostracized from the village.
“He incited the young warriors and shoved them straight into that thing’s maw. After that, we changed.”
All of it was true.
Sigbard persuaded the warriors that they had to hunt the monster.
His father had drained its strength, so they had to hurry.
That judgment was not wrong.
It was just that Sigbard and the warriors were weak.
Gunrad had driven the thing to the brink of death, but Sigbard was no match for it.
He barely escaped with his life and fled.
Out of a subjugation force of fifty, only around ten returned alive.
Even then, the only barbarian who returned with all his limbs intact was Sigbard.
After that incident, Sigbard was expelled from the village.
The chieftain glared at Burt and spoke.
“I came here because you were Gunrad’s companion. If there is no other business, I will return.”
“There is business.”
“Speak.”
“The monster will awaken soon.”
“…Has the seal been undone.”
The chieftain fell silent for a moment, thinking, then continued.
“Nothing changes. I will take my leave.”
“Wait.”
Burt called out to the chieftain, but he did not even pretend to listen.
Gugugugung.
A faint rumble traveled through the ground from far away.
It was the kind of sound made when a glacier collapsed.
“It has awakened.”
At Burt’s single remark, the chieftain turned his body.
Indelible bewilderment and fear coexisted on his face.
“Why? Are you afraid now that you’re actually facing it?”
Gugugung. Thud.
At the end of the faint rumble, clear footsteps followed.
Thud. Thuuud.
Breaking through the white fog, it revealed itself, its eyes flashing as it fixed its gaze this way.
It was enormous.
Its size, said to rival a fortress, was no exaggeration.
Its bluish body was packed with muscle.
It resembled a four-legged beast, but its back was covered in jagged rocks, and two massive pillars rose from its forehead.
Thuuud.
Looking more closely, they were not pillars.
They must have originally been horns, but the cross-sections were rough, as if tree branches had been snapped off.
Robin swallowed hard.
“Boss Burt, are you telling me to catch that?”
“Hmm, it has weakened, but right now that would be too much.”
He had never even heard of such a huge monster.
It was closer to a natural disaster than a living creature.
“Actually, this works out. We can catch it together with Sigbard.”
“…You’re joking, right?”
Robin turned to Burt, but Burt remained calm.
When he looked at Sigbard, Sigbard nodded, his fighting spirit aflame.
‘This is insane.’
No matter how much he wanted to grow stronger, it was an unreasonable demand.
“That monster is coming this way.”
“I have eyes too.”
Burt glanced his chin toward the chieftain.
“Are you just going to watch like this? You didn’t become a barbarian just to stand around and spectate, did you?”
“Gunrad left arrangements behind.”
Thud. Thud.
With its immense size, each step brought it noticeably closer.
When it came right up to them, it looked up at the cliff.
The creature that had been walking on all fours braced itself on two legs and stood up.
As it did, it grew tall enough to nearly reach the cliff.
“By arrangements, do you mean this pit.”
“That’s right.”
It pulled its forelegs back as far as it could, then thrust them toward the cliff.
Kwaaang!
For a moment, his ears rang as if lightning had struck.
Robin thought there had been an earthquake.
As white snow scattered and the billowing dust settled, the monster’s forelegs flew in again.
Kwaang! Bang! Bang!
Robin could not keep his senses amid the successive attacks.
Even though he was not hit directly, his head spun.
Emily had already leapt into the air and put some distance between herself and the scene.
The chieftain also widened the gap, bracing for the impact.
Only Burt, Sigbard, and Robin stood right in front of the monster, watching.
“Hhuuk. Hhuuk.”
Realizing it was futile, the creature entered a lull.
The chieftain walked over, glanced at it, and spoke.
“Look. It cannot cross over from down there.”
“I wondered where that confidence came from—so it’s accumulated energy.”
Burt bent down and placed his hand on the ground.
Only after a long while, as if he had sensed something, did he lift his hand.
“Gunrad, you foolish bastard…….”
“That monster cannot harm us.”
“I’ve changed my mind. Robin, you’re out. Sigbard, bring the barbarians and subdue that thing. That’s the right way.”
“Stop spouting nonsense, outsider. We cannot throw away the lives of warriors so carelessly.”
“I’ll help.”
Burt crooked his finger at Robin.
“Swords.”
“You want me to lend you my sword?”
“Both of them.”
Robin hesitated for a moment, but handed the swords to Burt.
He had heard that Burt was an adventurer in his youth, so he should be able to handle weapons, but he had never seen Burt holding a sword.
Could a retired adventurer who had lost a leg face that monster just by taking up a sword?
‘If it’s Boss Burt, it still wouldn’t feel strange.’
With a faint sense of expectation, he watched Burt.
Woooong.
Fighting spirit flickered around each sword in his hands.
It was formless fighting spirit, yet the air around the blades distorted.
‘Far more than I expected…….’
Burt raised the sword in his right hand and slashed downward.
Shiiiiit.
The fighting spirit shot straight out and brushed the monster’s brow.
It did not even leave a scratch.
If it were a person, it would be like being flicked on the forehead.
Burt slashed downward again with the sword in his left hand, just as before.
This time, it aimed for the monster’s nape.
“Gueoeeoeok!”
Perhaps enraged, the monster lifted both forelegs.
Burt paid it no mind and moved his right and left hands in turn.
It was rhythmic, like beating laundry with a paddle.
It did not look powerful at all, yet Burt’s fighting spirit overflowed as if it had no end.
The fighting spirit that was fired without pause brushed against the monster’s body.
Shoulders, torso, legs, tail.
Before the monster’s foot could reach the cliff.
In that very state, the thing froze solid.
“Well? At this level, isn’t it doable?”
“I know you are impressive. That’s all. I cannot drive the warriors into certain death.”
As if he had nothing more to say, the chieftain turned back the way he had come.
Toward his retreating back, Burt shouted.
“Since when did barbarians become cowards! Aren’t you ashamed!”
“…….”
“Gunrad thought of the tribe until the very moment he died. If he had wanted to kill that oversized beast, he would have. This is that guy’s legacy for the next generation!”
The chieftain stopped in his tracks.
“That might be so.”
“It is without question.”
“You called it a legacy. Then isn’t it fitting that his child receives it?”
Burt did not reply any further.
He silently watched the chieftain leave.
As if to mock how thunderous it had been just moments ago, silence settled down.
Emily descended from the air, glanced around, and cautiously opened her mouth.
“Um… things don’t seem to be going well. Shouldn’t we go back?”
Burt looked down at Emily.
Under his piercing gaze, Emily shrank back and continued.
“It’s an honor to serve you, Sir Burt, but I can’t stay attached forever.”
“Three days left, was it.”
“Considering travel time, we have to depart tomorrow.”
“Let’s leave in two days.”
“Pardon?”
Ignoring the flustered Emily, Burt held the swords out to Robin.
“There’s no time. Go down and try slashing that thing.”
“You want me to go down there—looks like a hundred meters—and cut that monster?”
“Yes. Sigbard, go with Robin. Throw some punches while you’re at it.”
Without even saying he understood, Sigbard immediately clung to the cliff and went down.
‘That decisiveness is insane.’
Robin pressed down the countless questions he had about Burt.
No matter what, it was clear that he was trying to help.
He tightened his grip on his sword and was about to descend.
But there was one thing he could not help asking.
“What if it wakes up in the middle of it?”
Burt had no sword.
Could he use that same fighting spirit with his bare hands?
With that concern in mind, he asked.
“Then I’ll deal with it as it is.”
“…When do you think it’ll wake up?”
“How would I know. Stop yapping and get down there.”
Robin followed Sigbard and clung to the cliff.
A single mistake and he would not escape death by falling.
Watching how Sigbard went down, he saw that he was brute-forcing it, driving his hands and feet into the cliff as he descended.
Grooves big enough to grab onto were carved right there.
‘Good thing Sigbard went down first.’
After taking a deep breath, he carefully moved his legs.
By the time he reached the bottom of the cliff, his arms were tingling.
But only for a moment—he quickly recovered and drew his sword.
Thud. Thud.
The moment he landed, Sigbard hammered his fists toward the monster.
He struck a part not even as big as a claw compared to its massive body.
There was no reaction.
Woooong.
Drawing up his fighting spirit and swinging it toward the creature’s foot, he felt the sensation of hide being sliced.
“Good.”
Robin’s sword began to dance.
It was a blade that improved upon a knight’s swordsmanship to increase speed.
He poured strength into both hands, gradually increasing his pace.
Slash. Slash. Slash.
Cutting down an unmoving target was hardly difficult.
It was no different from having a target appear while practicing swordsmanship alone.
After swinging for quite some time, he stopped to check how much damage he had inflicted.
The area around the creature’s foot was mangled here and there.
Countless sword marks were etched into it, yet not a single drop of blood flowed.
A human sword was as trivial as a toothpick compared to its gigantic size.
Even just its foot was enormous.
So much so that he thought it might be able to fill an entire coliseum arena.
“This won’t do… Sigbard! Any progress on your side?”
Sigbard, who had been pounding the opposite foot, stopped his hands.
Robin went closer to check and gave a bitter smile.
It was easy to tell that he had only struck one spot.
One area, conspicuously more sunken than the rest, stood out.
Just like the sword marks Robin had left, fist marks were concentrated there.
That was all.
He could not find even a bruise, let alone a broken bone.
“Let’s keep going for now.”
“Understood.”
When one hour had passed.
For the first time, blood beaded on the creature’s foot.
Robin’s sword had cut beyond the monster’s thick hide.
“So it takes swinging nonstop for a full hour just to see a single drop of blood.”
He felt drained, but he also saw hope.
The moment he was about to tell Sigbard the news.
Buuuuung.
The creature’s foot suddenly blocked out the sun.
It had moved its leg.
Robin reacted instantly.
Kwaaang!
The foot was fast, utterly unfitting for its size.
He narrowly avoided being crushed beneath it by a hand’s breadth.
Shiiiiit.
Several stones flew in and struck the creature’s leg.
The leg that looked ready to stomp Robin to death halted abruptly.
It was Burt.
From atop the cliff, Emily hopped down briefly and relayed a message.
“Sir Burt says he’s watching, so keep doing what you were doing.”
Having delivered the message, Emily immediately returned to her original position.
Robin suppressed the surge of panic pounding in his chest.
Thud. Thud.
Whether the monster’s foot moved or not.
Whether Robin nearly died or not.
Sigbard’s fists were relentless.
‘Yeah. Let’s do this.’
Robin’s swordsmanship began to change little by little.
Now that he had confirmed it could not move, he threw defense aside.
He unfolded a style focused solely on attack.
Slash. Slash.
Robin and Sigbard. The two of them did not stop until the sun went down.