The Third Son of a Medieval Knight Family – Chapter 85 – Knight of Ascension (20)

Author: Dawn

Only after quite a long time had passed was the Rock Demon Serpent finally dismantled.

“The skin is so tough that processing won’t be easy, but… this should make excellent materials.”

These were the words of Mikhail, who had experience hunting monsters.

Unlike ordinary beasts, monsters often yielded more useful byproducts such as tough, resilient hides or horns boasting incredible hardness.

And the byproducts obtained from the Rock Demon Serpent were considerable even compared to other monsters.

Since there had been no records of a Rock Demon Serpent being caught until now, research would be needed to determine the best ways to use each part, but even to non-experts, the quality of the byproducts obtained from the creature was clearly excellent.

As Mikhail had mentioned, the hide was rock-hard yet elastic, drawing admiration from the mercenaries, and while the blood was highly toxic, it seemed like it could be used as medicine if properly refined.

Also, the Rock Demon Serpent’s poison sac, which had been the most dangerous part during dismantling, was precious enough that Alisa had forgotten her situation and briefly cast covetous glances at it.

“It’s all well and good, but can’t we just abandon that head?”

“Absolutely not!”

“Isn’t it a trophy that will honor Sir Viktor’s glory! How could…”

When not only Mikhail but even Krupin, who had only recently regained consciousness, made serious faces in opposition, Viktor sighed.

“Well, it’s just heavy baggage. You haven’t forgotten we’re the vanguard, have you?”

“I’d rather reduce my own baggage! Please, allow us to take it with us!”

With the fierce determination that would make their eyes roll back if he refused to the end, Viktor had no choice but to reluctantly give permission.

He looked with distaste at the enormous head loaded onto a horse-drawn cart.

Though he couldn’t understand why they carried such chemicals around or even where they had obtained them, the head had been preserved on the spot with the witch Alisa’s help and retained its vivid appearance as if still alive.

It would have been better if not for the hideous state of both eyes burst open and one side half-caved in, but that was unavoidable.

Not only the knights but even the priest Anton insisted that this head must be safely brought back to the principality to be preserved for posterity, but Viktor wondered if it was really necessary to go that far.

‘This is the first monster ever caught that has no records even among those barbarians! Would you really discard such tremendous glory?!’

‘It’s a dragon, Sir Viktor!’

‘No, so I keep saying it’s just a big snake.’

At first they had wanted to load and carry the entire carcass, which he had barely talked them out of, compromising to take only the head, but even then they were so regretful that Krupin seemed ready to shed tears as if this matter pained him more than being injured by the monster.

Viktor shook his head, thinking that knights’ pride sometimes had incomprehensible aspects.

Whatever the case, the situation had been safely concluded, so that was fortunate.

‘It was a miracle there were almost no casualties.’

It had been that powerful a monster.

Power and might on a completely different dimension from the witch’s pet snake he had encountered in the mountains.

In fact, without Viktor, the vanguard would have stood no chance, just like what had happened to the barbarians.

‘If creatures like this roam freely, would there be any point in occupying this land…’

No matter how obsessed kings and lords were with territory, wouldn’t they decline land where such monsters popped up everywhere?

Perhaps the reason the steppe tribes had become nomadic in the first place was because proper settlement was impossible due to creatures like this.

Feeling his head grow complicated, Viktor lightly scratched his chin.

‘Well, it’s not something to think about right now.’

Such problems could be considered after winning the war.

Besides, there wasn’t much to consider anyway – no matter how much of a commander he was, wasn’t he just a knight without even a single territory?

Now was the time to focus only on the enemies before him.

“Tumen! Come here for a moment.”

“Yes! I’ll come right away!”

Looking at Tumen, who bowed his head with an unprecedentedly respectful attitude that was burdensome, Viktor spoke with an incredulous expression.

“…Tumen, no matter what, is this really worth such a change in attitude?”

“Lord Viktor! Though there were times when I shamefully failed to recognize your greatness and acted presumptuously, how could I continue to behave so carelessly even after learning the truth? To single-handedly defeat the Rock Demon Serpent that no one else could kill! What clearer evidence could there be!”

The exaggerated gestures and grandiose words were to a degree that made one suspect he might be mocking Viktor, but Tumen’s eyes were more sincere than ever.

While the principality people might mock Tumen, thinking that though it was a great achievement, was it really worth going that far, that was truly the talk of those who knew nothing.

Among the inhabitants living on this land, there was no one who didn’t know the legend of the King of the Steppes.

‘The great king who will someday unite all the steppe tribes! That was referring to Lord Viktor! I don’t know why you’ve been staying in the principality until now, but it’s certain.’

And if a warrior who could single-handedly hunt and kill a Rock Demon Serpent wasn’t born with the destiny of such a king, then who else could claim such fate!

Though Tumen had been restraining himself from directly mentioning the king’s destiny after receiving stern warnings from Lukovich, the flame in his heart was burning even more fiercely.

‘According to that fellow, Lord Viktor is from a village in the Uley region… and his family was also originally from steppe tribes before converting to the principality, so the blood of steppe warriors definitely flows in him! If I could just serve beside this person… and if I could just be recognized as a close associate…!’

Such ambition wasn’t unreasonable for a man to dream of.

Tumen hadn’t originally been someone without ambition either.

He had once voluntarily entered under Bohdan’s forces to covet his father’s position.

Originally, it would have been perfectly normal for him to be pathetically sacrificed for the person who would become the next Grand Chief.

Having lived desperately without regard for anything, gathering subordinates and enduring all kinds of humiliation to somehow change that fate, even rolling around as a slave here wouldn’t change anything.

And finally, the opportunity had come.

‘I, Tumen, will pledge my loyalty to Lord Viktor! Even if I cannot sit as an advisor, if I could just receive a place beside him as the king’s loyal retainer… I would do anything!’

Watching Tumen’s blazing eyes, Viktor nodded with a distasteful expression.

“Right, well, do as you please. More than that, about their supply base.”

“Yes, they left plenty of traces while fleeing, so we should be able to follow them directly.”

Perhaps because they were in such a hurry, the enemies had fled without even being able to erase their tracks.

“Good, then I’ll leave it to you. It would be best for you to guide from the front.”

“Just leave it to me! I won’t disappoint you!”

“…I’ll look forward to it.”

Watching Tumen’s retreating figure as he disappeared after shouting with determination, Viktor unconsciously muttered.

“He was talking about kings and such, so he must have gotten thoroughly scolded by Lukovich.”

Though becoming more respectful wasn’t bad, feeling strangely peculiar, he kept tilting his head.

“What did the scouts say?”

“They’re following right behind us. It seems they must have found the tracks…”

Bohdan glared at his subordinate with a face full of contempt.

When the wounded man reddened and bowed his head, Bohdan’s anger became even clearer.

“Stenka, you inadequate fool… no matter how urgent the escape was… why don’t you just shout ‘here we are’ while you’re at it?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Though Stenka had succeeded in barely returning alive, the situation was becoming much worse than he had thought.

This was because the principality’s army had killed the monster they couldn’t even dare to face, and was now following the tracks straight to their stronghold.

‘Damn, no matter what, does that make sense? They caught that thing? Those principality bastards?’

For Stenka, it was completely incomprehensible.

It had been a hunt that even the steppe’s finest warriors had attempted three times with all manner of strategies, only to fail.

The Devil’s Trap, the scourge of the steppes, was not such an easy opponent.

But the weak principality people, who had been busy getting beaten whenever they clashed with warriors, had caught it?

‘It’s wrong… that can’t be!’

Even thinking that they were now rushing along the tracks he had left made him feel like his blood would flow backward.

Stenka’s face, with his head bowed, grew even redder.

The humiliation was unbearable.

As silence fell in the military tent, Kulak cleared his throat as if to break the atmosphere and spoke.

“Ahem, Chief. There’s no need to blame Stenka too harshly. No matter what, he couldn’t have imagined that the principality people would be approaching so close. He must have had his head full just trying to gather the warriors while avoiding that monster…”

“That’s also the problem! You were so confident, but just how many warriors did you lose unnecessarily!”

“…”

“Do you understand, Stenka? The only reason I’m leaving you alone right now is simply because those principality dogs are chasing us right to our throats, nothing more, nothing less.”

“…Yes, Chief.”

“I’ll give you one last chance. Earn merit, Stenka. Crush those damned principality bastards and completely break their will to pursue! For your sake and for mine! We must kill them all here!”

Stenka’s eyes gleamed with killing intent as he raised his head.

“Chief, without fail!”

Seeing Stenka finally make a satisfactory expression, Bohdan nodded.

“Good. My wise warrior Kulak, report what you’ve learned about them. How large is their force, who is their commander – everything you’ve discovered!”

At Bohdan’s confident appearance, vitality began to overflow among those gathered in the military tent for the first time in a while.

The monster that had driven their faction, which had barely been trying to recover, into despair.

And the principality army that had somehow killed even that seemingly invincible monster and was now advancing.

It was the worst situation, but their lord was still giving orders without wavering.

Though they were on a downward slope with accumulated bad luck, a great man was still a great man.

“That crazy monster couldn’t be helped since blades wouldn’t even penetrate it, but the principality people are different! It’s time to peel their weak skin and drink their blood!”

“Waaaaah!”

“We’ll devour them!”

“Hahahaha!”

When the warriors’ excited voices echoed through the military tent and Bohdan bared his teeth in laughter, Kulak’s calm voice cut through the noise and pierced into Bohdan’s ears.

“According to the scouts’ reports, their numbers don’t seem to be as many as expected. Judging by scale alone, it’s probably a vanguard.”

“…Really? That’s strange. With just a vanguard, they couldn’t have dealt with that monster… were there many knights perhaps?”

Though he had no idea what methods they had used, it was certain that ordinary mercenaries or conscripts could never have caught the creature.

However, Kulak shook his head.

“It’s not precisely confirmed, but they say there don’t seem to be many mounted figures in heavy armor.”

Bohdan’s ears perked up and twitched up and down.

He felt like there was some inexplicable fear mixed in Kulak’s calm words.

“And… the enemy’s main banner doesn’t match any of the eastern crests we know, so at first we thought it was new support sent from the principality, but…”

Bohdan’s heart began to stir strangely.

As his severed arm’s shoulder began to ache, he instinctively guessed.

“The one who appears to be the commander is said to be a young knight with such a large build that he’s recognizable even from a distance. We can’t judge easily based on appearance alone, but…”

“Viktor.”

“…My thoughts are the same.”

“The specter of House Kobarov, the enemy of my arm and my daughter. Has he finally chased me all the way here?”

Bohdan’s teeth ground together.

“Fine, I’ve wanted to settle things with him no matter what. This actually works out well. Arrogant knight, the very fact that you’re a knight will lead you to destruction.”

Spitting out words like curses, Bohdan gestured.

“Don’t be too careless just because the enemy numbers are few. Prepare to crush them completely!”

“Yes, Chief!”

“I won’t forgive any pathetic displays. I too will personally… step forward! And Kulak!”

“Yes, Chief.”

Bohdan bared his teeth with a face full of killing intent.

“Bring him out.”

“…Understood. Everything according to the Chief’s plan.”

Kulak quietly bowed and disappeared.

‘I never expected to meet him again so quickly here, but…’

No, perhaps he had been expecting it deep down.

Bohdan’s instincts were writhing savagely as if they had anticipated that Viktor would pursue him.