The Third Son of a Medieval Knight Family Chapter 84 - Knight of Ascension (19)

“Damn it all! Why do these things keep happening only to me!”

An extremely angry voice echoed through the air.

The one who had shouted clutched his temples as if suffering from a splitting headache and let out groaning sounds.

They say misfortune comes in succession, and those words were truly accurate.

‘Damn it… could it be because of that witch? Maybe that bitch cursed me when she died… No, get it together, Bohdan. Now is the time to think of countermeasures!’

Erasing from his mind the witch who had become impossible to find since that night, Bohdan nervously ran his hands through his hair.

“Huff… continue reporting.”

When Bohdan spoke in a slightly calmer tone, the messenger who had been standing tensely before him finally continued his words.

“S-so… this time Stenka said he would personally lead the warriors to face that thing and went out to battle.”

“By what means? What great plan does that fellow have? Did he say he had proper countermeasures?”

When Bohdan bared his teeth and glared at the messenger, he trembled fearfully, unable to hide his terror as he spoke.

“He said since that thing is r-rampaging without regard for anything, he would lure it and d-deal with it through ambush…”

“…Stenka did use his head, but whether that’s really enough… tsk.”

The one-armed wolf waved his hand dismissively as if displeased with the situation and sent the messenger away.

After he withdrew, Bohdan looked in that direction and muttered.

“Have I fallen so low that I must use even such cowardly fellows?”

When he had been sweeping through the entire east at his peak, he would have immediately cut off the head of someone so lacking in spirit.

But now, with the number of warriors reduced and his entire force in danger, he needed every hand he could get.

‘If only it weren’t for that bastard…!’

Bohdan ground his teeth and looked outside.

Even thinking about it again, it was an absurd situation.

The hunting competition he had organized to boost the warriors’ morale and suppress the complaints of his subordinate forces.

That part had been fine.

‘I shouldn’t have listened to that madman’s drunken babbling!’

Some old tribal chief had gotten so drunk his nose was crooked and boasted that his tribe had a secret ritual passed down through generations, claiming that with this ritual alone they could easily drive more prey to them.

Since catching more prey was considered auspicious, Bohdan had carelessly given permission for them to try it, which was his fatal mistake.

He didn’t know exactly what method they had used, but unfortunately for Bohdan’s faction, who had barely been catching their breath, the target of the ritual was somewhat different from what they had expected.

The beasts they had called for didn’t come, but monsters wandering throughout the steppes began to gather one by one.

‘At first it wasn’t bad. Until that thing appeared…’

Even if they were monsters, the warriors were all veterans who had lived on the steppes for long periods, experienced in grappling with monsters.

If they had been lacking in numbers it would have been different, but this place was temporarily packed with warriors who had retreated, and the monsters were easily dealt with.

Since hunting monsters was more glorious for warriors than catching ordinary beasts or decent predators, the atmosphere had heated up tremendously.

Bohdan had even praised the old chief who had brought up the ritual and given him rewards.

However, the problem was that the ritual’s effect was far too good.

The ‘Devil’s Trap’, famous for not being particularly dangerous as long as you didn’t get close, but once its temper was aroused and it became violent, it would smash and re-smash its surroundings until its anger was spent – this scourge of the steppes.

After confirming that the Rock Demon Serpent had its eyes rolled back and was charging madly toward their supply base, the festival had turned into chaos.

The Rock Demon Serpent was a monster equivalent to a natural disaster that was best simply avoided.

Even among the oral traditions and legends passed down to each tribe, the Rock Demon Serpent was only mentioned as something to avoid – there were no records of anyone having hunted one.

That was natural since, being nomadic people, they could simply ride away and escape.

But now the situation was different.

‘I don’t know what kind of nonsense they did, but it will chase them for life until it kills them? What kind of ritual is that, you fool!’

After the trembling old chief had stammered out these words and the enraged Bohdan had cut him down with a single stroke, the atmosphere had gotten even worse, but he didn’t regret it.

Considering the damage that the insignificant chief of a small tribe would bring to his faction, he should have been grateful to die so easily.

And as Bohdan had thought, even when the warriors scattered in all directions, even when they tearfully abandoned the supply base they had painstakingly fortified by kidnapping principality engineers, even when they tried everything they could, the Rock Demon Serpent only persisted in hunting them obsessively.

Whether it was some kind of sorcery or curse, no matter where the warriors went or where they hid, it would track them down with uncanny precision and wreak havoc – it was truly maddening.

Finally, when the accumulated damage had gone beyond limits, Bohdan had resolved to gather his warriors and kill that thing, but even that wasn’t an easy task.

Its skin was incredibly tough, with rock-like growths on it, so ordinary weapons couldn’t even chip it, and it was also difficult to deal significant damage.

Its size was enormous – when it coiled up once, it looked like a small castle made of rock was standing there, and its body strikes, delivered by flexibly twisting that massive body, boasted power equivalent to siege engines by themselves.

Moreover, when it critically exhaled the poison it harbored within its body, even the sturdiest warriors would collapse one after another – it was truly a devil incarnate.

‘I came to understand why our ancestors said to just avoid that thing if you see it…’

The difference between the ancestors and Bohdan was that they wouldn’t be chased if they ran away, but in his case, that damned snake would pursue him until death.

Bohdan pressed firmly on his trembling eyelids and let out a deep sigh.

The subjugation had already failed twice, and now his subordinate Stenka was leading out a suicide squad for the third attempt.

Stenka was confident that they could succeed this time, but from Bohdan’s perspective, he only felt anxious.

‘It looks completely empty.’

Even though he had been looking outside continuously, the number of people moving around was so few he could count them with his eyes.

Despite this being practically the stronghold of Bohdan’s own faction.

The damage from the Rock Demon Serpent was beyond imagination.

If this suicide squad also failed, they might suffer losses equal to what they had taken at Radovitz, or perhaps even more.

‘…Maybe I should strap this thing to my back and go find the Grand Chief…?’

A sinister thought that suddenly occurred to him.

He considered it briefly, thinking it might be quite a good strategy, but soon Bohdan shook his head.

There were too many variables, and it was questionable whether the Rock Demon Serpent would obediently follow along with their intentions. Even if they did scheme against the Grand Chief’s forces that way, there was a very high possibility of becoming a public enemy of the entire steppes afterward.

“Ugh, if only someone would come and catch that thing for me…”

Startled by the words that had escaped his lips without thought, Bohdan shook his head.

The successive misfortunes seemed to have caused such psychological trauma that he was even making weak statements he would never have uttered normally.

‘…But, ancestor wolf. If you would show a little mercy to this person who will become ruler of the steppes… please look down upon this descendant with just a little compassion…’

With his eyes closed, Bohdan’s appearance as he earnestly prayed to the ancestor wolf was completely removed from the charismatic image he had shown until now.

How much time had passed as he waited helplessly for news like this?

Bang!

“Chief! Chief! Urgent report from the scouts! The Rock Demon Serpent has fallen!”

“…What did you say!”

At the shouts of his faithful subordinate Kulak, who came running with bloodshot eyes, Bohdan sprang up from his seat.

He unconsciously looked up at the sky.

Warm light was streaming in through the hole punched in the top of the military tent.

‘…Ancestor wolf…!’

Bohdan’s face was colored with bewilderment, surprise, and joy.

Indeed, the ancestors had not yet abandoned him!

“Stenka… did Stenka accomplish it! Haha, hahaha! To achieve such a feat in this world…!”

At Bohdan’s words, Kulak bowed his head.

“Why are you like that? Why does someone who brought such joyous news look so dejected?”

Kulak opened his mouth again, gravely and urgently.

“Chief, it wasn’t Stenka’s suicide squad that brought down the Rock Demon Serpent.”

“…What do you mean…?”

“Stenka’s suicide squad was smashed. Warriors are currently rescuing those who are fleeing.”

“…!”

Kulak slowly raised his head.

His bloodshot eyes felt extremely ominous.

“The ones who brought down that insane monster… are the principality’s army. Chief, the principality’s army is approaching.”

“…!!”

---

The mercenaries were busily swarming over the Rock Demon Serpent’s corpse, eager to obtain byproducts.

However, the body was so tough that even when they brought dismantling saws and sawed away, they couldn’t even make scratches, so everyone was sweating profusely but still had no particular gains.

Mikhail, wrapped in bandages, exclaimed in admiration.

“Sir Viktor… I already knew you were a truly remarkable knight, but to hunt a dragon alone… this Mikhail is simply moved!”

“Sir Mikhail, a dragon? That’s just a big snake. And I didn’t catch it alone.”

At Viktor’s calm words, Mikhail’s face grew serious as he shook his head vigorously.

“If something that seems born from the union of a devil and filth isn’t a dragon, then what on earth can we call a dragon? Truly a terrifyingly horrible creature… I will never see such a monster again in my remaining life!”

Mikhail said his ribs were cracked from being pummeled by the Rock Demon Serpent’s body strike.

He seemed far too calm for someone with such injuries.

From Viktor’s perspective, it was honestly remarkable that he had gotten off with just that level of injury.

“More than that, how is Sir Krupin?”

At his words, Mikhail sighed.

“He still hasn’t regained consciousness. He should have looked after his own body first instead of doing unnecessary things… tsk tsk.”

‘I heard that he protected Sir Mikhail even in that situation.’

Thanks to that, not only did he take a direct hit, but he also hit his head hard when falling to the ground, so Krupin couldn’t easily open his eyes.

“Sir Krupin seems to really respect Sir Mikhail.”

“Hmph… when that lad wakes up, I’ll definitely give him a stern talking-to this time. I’ve told him countless times that the most important thing on the battlefield is to preserve combat strength as much as possible and fight to the end…”

Though he spoke that way, Mikhail’s face seemed full of worry.

After all, it seemed to weigh on his mind that a young knight who was practically raised by his own hands had been seriously injured.

In this respect, knights had pure aspects.

Viktor conserved his words and quietly turned his head.

“If only the unit had a healer…”

It was a pipe dream.

They said healers from monasteries would never go to battlefields unless it was for very special circumstances.

Now they had to be satisfied with first aid.

“…Hm?”

Suddenly someone caught Viktor’s eye.

Tumen was having a conversation with Lukovich and Alisa with blazing eyes.

Looking at these three, who were being called Viktor’s three servants by people at some point, his face was colored with interest.

He didn’t know what they were talking about, but their expressions were extremely serious.

Viktor quietly approached nearby.

“…go!”

“…you saying!”

“…Ughh.”

‘What are they talking about?’

Not even noticing that he was approaching from behind, the three people were only focused on their conversation.

“So, Lord Viktor was definitely born with the destiny to become king of the steppes!”

“Please stop talking nonsense! You’re saying dangerous things, you barbarian! Why would Lord Viktor abandon a principality noble title to become some tribal chief in a place like this!”

“But you saw it! Lord Viktor single-handedly cut off that monster’s neck! This is a revelation, a revelation of becoming the king of the steppes that only appears in legends!”

“Every time you keep saying stupid things, I feel like my head keeps emptying out, okay? Please just shut up? And can’t you go vomit somewhere else?”

“I, I hastily offered sacrifices… side effects… ughh.”

“Sigh… life, really.”

Viktor looked at Lukovich, who was letting out deep sighs while caught between the two people, and slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

Lukovich, who now showed veteran-like behavior after taking in two people, seemed to have a headache as he looked up at the sky and continuously sighed.

Then, when the two people’s eyes met, Lukovich’s body instantly hardened like stone.

“Are you listening? Great king of the steppes! If we just spread this story around, even the Grand Chief won’t be able to help but be shaken, hahaha!”

“…Ughhhh.”

“…”

Viktor simply nodded quietly.