[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 105
Melissa asked in surprise,
"The transport unit was annihilated! What does that mean?"
The deputy commander said with a pale face,
"Those... those monsters appeared again."
Melissa's expression distorted.
Zeke asked Melissa,
"Your Highness, what happened?"
"It seems those monsters I mentioned before appeared again. Last time, they only targeted the transport carriages, but this time, they annihilated the entire unit..."
If the knights of Alencia, one of the strongest among the Central Kingdoms, were annihilated, the skills of those called monsters must be extraordinary.
'Did the Empire's hounds attack?'
Zeke said to Melissa,
"I need to see the scene. Please assign me a nimble soldier who is familiar with the geography of this area."
Zeke decided to inspect the scene with Felix, Liam, and a border guard chosen by Melissa.
Dudududu!
Arriving at the scene on horseback, Zeke asked the guard,
"Is it this way?"
"Yes, Sir Zeke. They were attacked near that canyon."
Zeke and his party left their horses and went down to the bottom of the canyon.
Looking around, the terrain was rough and the path narrow, making it vulnerable to attacks.
"It's the perfect place for an ambush. Is there any reason why the transport route was chosen through here?"
The guard said, sweating,
"This route is much faster. If we take the detour and avoid the canyon, it will take at least two more days."
Zeke nodded at the guard's words and said,
"Is this canyon route often used when traveling to and from the border region?"
The guard shook his head.
"No. Since this area is full of outlaws, ordinary people use the safe main road. If there had been enough time, the transport unit would have also taken the main road for safety."
Due to the delay in the supply of medicine, they were short on time, and despite knowing that it was vulnerable to attacks, they chose the canyon route.
'I have a feeling that they were somehow lured to take this route.'
It seemed like an organized attack carried out under a thorough plan, not just a random attack by monsters.
Zeke went down to the bottom of the canyon and examined the scene of the massacre.
"Ugh."
Felix frowned at the gruesome scene.
Seeing the scene, Zeke understood why Melissa had called them monsters.
There were more bodies with limbs torn off as if they had been ripped apart than those with sword wounds.
Zeke approached the gruesome corpses and examined them carefully.
He checked the severed parts of the bodies meticulously, trying to understand how the wounds were inflicted.
'This is strange. These aren't normal wounds. It feels like they were inflicted by monsters.'
But it didn't seem like monsters had attacked.
If it had been monsters, there should have been bite marks on the bodies.
'Would a human body be torn like this if someone with strength greater than an ogre ripped it apart in one go?'
Zeke became increasingly curious about the identity of the monsters.
He examined the scene with Dragon Eye.
His vision expanded beyond what human eyes could see, allowing him to find traces left by the monsters.
To his surprise, he found that the traces led up the steep cliff of the canyon.
Zeke asked the guard,
"What's up there?"
The guard, checking the location, said,
"T-That's the path leading to the beastmen ghetto."
Zeke grabbed the back of the guard's neck and soared up the cliff, following the traces as if flying.
Felix and Liam hurriedly climbed up the canyon wall after Zeke.
"M-Master. If you could just let us know before you go..."
Ignoring Felix's words as he barely managed to climb up, Zeke further examined the remaining traces.
"Does this direction also lead to the ghetto?"
The guard nodded.
"Alright. You can go back now. Liam, Felix, follow me."
Since he had the minimap and the guard wouldn't be of much help, there was no need to take him along.
Zeke headed towards the beastmen ghetto, following the monsters' traces, with Felix and Liam.
It was then.
[Traces of contaminated energy detected.]
'Contaminated energy?'
Zeke knew that the contaminated energy the system was referring to was demonic energy.
It was unclear why demonic energy, usually found in monsters, was present in the middle of the Central Continent.
Zeke, puzzled, recalled that Cain, who previously possessed the ancient Hercyon, was also contaminated with demonic energy.
'This could be related to the monsters that attacked the transport unit.'
Zeke changed direction and followed the traces of contaminated energy.
Deeper inside, red sandstone cliffs rose like spires.
Traces of ancient beastmen remained throughout the sandstone cliffs.
There were traditional beastmen dwellings carved into the caves and crevices within the canyon walls, a testament to their way of life.
It was then.
Zeke sensed something strange.
"Liam, Felix. Be on your guard."
Liam and Felix drew their weapons.
Suddenly, something sprang out from a cave in the sandstone cliff.
A hulking figure in suspicious attire swung a giant iron club at Zeke's party.
Bam!
The spot where the club struck was deeply dented, and red sand flew up in a cloud of dust.
Growl.
Although it had a human form, it was hard to see it as human.
Over two meters tall, with a massive build, it resembled an ogre more than a human.
Its face was covered with a white mask with only holes for the eyes, and its body was clad in rough leather clothes reinforced with thick iron plates.
At first glance, it looked like a barbarian, but its attire was completely different.
Grrrr!
The monster, more beast than human, raised its iron club again and swung it violently.
Zeke drew Bahamut and charged towards the monster.
Clang!
The monster's club clashed with Bahamut.
Even after colliding with Zeke's sword,the monster's club remained intact.
Its strength far surpassed human limits.
"Kyaaaa!"
The monster roared when its club failed to crush Zeke.
It then swung its club wildly at Zeke.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Although the club was swung haphazardly, the force and weight behind it were tremendous, enough to make it difficult for ordinary knights to withstand.
Zeke, having gauged the monster's strength, deflected the club with his sword.
Thud!
The monster, bewildered that its swung club failed to land a blow, glared at Zeke.
Then, an aura blade surged from Zeke's sword.
Woooong!
Zeke swung his sword at the monster's club.
Slice!
The solid iron was cleanly cut by Zeke's sword strike.
The monster, seemingly sensing the extraordinary energy emanating from Zeke, instinctively cowered in fear.
"Grrrr."
Unconsciously, it tried to step back.
But then something strange happened.
"Gurg!"
The monster's body swelled, its muscles growing thicker.
"Kyaaagh!"
Its eyes, visible through the mask, became bloodshot.
The monster, its eyes now resembling those of a monster, lunged at Zeke.
"Kaaaagh!"
The monster swung its massive hand like a cauldron lid at Zeke.
Crash!
The ground where the hand struck was deeply dented.
The monster continued to swing its fists wildly at Zeke.
Zeke, dodging the fists with Phantom Step, swung his sword and struck the monster's side with the flat of the blade.
Crack!
As Zeke's sword, struck its side, the sound of bones breaking rang out.
But surprisingly, the monster got up as if nothing had happened and charged at Zeke again.
'What? Does this guy also have an ability like Healing Factor?'
Zeke tentatively cut the monster's arm with his sword.
However, Zeke's wounds didn't recover like the monster's.
Zeke finally realized what was going on with the monster.
'It's not recovering, it's in a berserk state, so it can't feel pain. This is troublesome.'
Perhaps this monster was an experimental subject of the Empire.
Zeke decided to capture this monster as evidence.
He took out Agamemnon's Mask from his inventory.
Holding the golden mask, Zeke cast a Area of Effect Buff on the monster with the Purification skill.
Woooong!
The light of Purification seeped into the monster.
"Kyaaagh!"
The monster writhed in pain and tried to avoid the light of Purification.
"Liam! Felix!"
Liam and Felix, immediately understanding the situation at Zeke's call, blocked the monster's escape route.
The light of Purification that Zeke emitted seeped into the monster again.
"Ugggggh!"
The monster began to tremble all over, and something started pouring out from its mask.
The monster, spewing black liquid from its eyes, ears, and nose, soon twisted and collapsed to the ground.
Then, like a leather bag with the air let out, its whole body began to shrink rapidly.
The ogre-like body soon transformed into an emaciated, skinny form.
Zeke, frowning, approached and examined the monster.
The monster was already dead.
"Keep watch. I'll go check inside the cave."
Leaving Liam and Felix behind, Zeke entered the cave alone where the monster had emerged.
Not long after entering the cave, Zeke turned his head away for a moment due to the strong stench emanating from within.
'What's that smell?'
Further inside, to his surprise, there were traces of the plundered transport carriages.
Zeke quickly checked inside the carriages, but the medicines were all broken.
Seeing that, Zeke wondered if the terrible stench was the smell of rotting medicine, but the smell was too strong for that.
This time, instead of the inside of the carriage, Zeke examined the surroundings and found something sticky scattered around the carriage.
When he looked at the floor with Dragon Eye, a horrifying sight unfolded.
'This is...'
There were traces of the monsters' melted flesh and bones, and the stench was the smell of them rotting on the floor.
It seemed that the other monsters had already died, and only the monster he had fought remained.
Zeke looked for traces of battle inside the cave but couldn't find anything significant.
There were only traces of them writhing in agony inside the cave.
Zeke filled an empty potion bottle with the melted remains of the monsters on the floor, sealed it, and went outside the cave.
Just then, Felix and Liam shouted to Zeke,
"M-Master! L-Look at this!"
Parts of the dead monster's body were rotting away.
The parts Zeke had purified weren't rotting, but the arms and legs seemed to be decaying.
'It seems like the monsters' bodies can't withstand the demonic energy and are melting.'
Zeke felt the need to take the body and investigate it, so he had Felix and Liam collect and bring it along.
Passing through the canyon and reaching where they had left their horses, Zeke's party retrieved the horses and headed back to the border headquarters.
But when they arrived at the headquarters, the atmosphere was unsettling.
Zeke grabbed a guard who seemed to be standing at the entrance, perhaps waiting for them, and asked,
"What's going on?"
The guard said with a stiff expression,
"Sir Zeke, you're here. The Empire has come to the headquarters with their knights."
"The Empire is here?"
The guard shook his head and said,
"The legion commander of the border garrison has come in person."
There was a big difference between an envoy visiting and a knight visiting in person.
Usually, a knight visiting in person was akin to a strong show of force.
Zeke told Felix and Liam to store the body, then asked the guard for directions and went up to where Melissa was.
Entering the conference room, he saw not only Melissa but also a knight dressed in imperial attire.
Zeke's face hardened as he recognized the imperial knight.
'That's...'
It was one of the people he had a bad relationship with in his past life.
Morgan Buffon, a knight of the Four Dogs Palace, one of the thirteen palaces of the Empire.
Despite his young age, his receding hairline was similar to how he remembered it from his past life.
"Sir Zeke Draker."
Morgan, spotting Zeke entering the conference room, approached him with a friendly smile.
He took Zeke's hand and said,
"It's an honor to meet the most famous genius on the continent here."
Morgan greeted Zeke with an exaggeratedly welcoming tone.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Sir Morgan."
Morgan seemed very pleased that Zeke recognized him.
Morgan smiled and asked Zeke,
"But what brings Sir Zeke, a Draker knight, all the way to Alencia?"
Morgan shamelessly asked a question despite not being the host.
Zeke, looking at Morgan, said,
"I heard there were some petty thieves who kept climbing over the walls of a house with an owner, so I came to catch them."
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]