Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Two days remained until the operation to exterminate the Orcs.

Grip!

Khal, now clad in light armor, looked at his reflection in the mirror.

He had tried to put on some weight in the short time he had, but perhaps due to the long period of malnutrition, a gaunt boy still stared back at him.

However, unlike before, his eyes were filled with confidence and conviction.

“Do you truly think this is possible?”

Behind him, Luke watched Khal with an anxious gaze.

“I said we would exterminate the Orcs, but I am well aware that it’s practically impossible with our current strength.”

“Then, even now, you should change your mind…”

“Didn’t I tell you earlier? If I don’t return, only then should you withdraw my command.”

“…Where do you intend to go?”

“That is a secret.”

Frustration flooded Luke’s chest like a rising tide.

He couldn’t fathom when Khal had become such a stubborn, self-righteous man who pushed his own agenda so recklessly; no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t recall an event that could have triggered such a change.

Meanwhile, Khal reacted to Luke’s behavior with displeasure.

“This feels unpleasant.”

“H-have I committed some discourtesy?”

Startled, Luke asked for the reason, and Khal glared at him with a sharp scowl.

“Who am I?”

“You are Young Lord Khal, the youngest son of Lord Ludger Stark.”

“That is exactly why I am uncomfortable.”

“Pardon?”

Still unable to grasp the situation, Luke asked back, knowing it was rude, and Khal looked up at him as he answered.

“It is truly offensive to be called someone’s son instead of just Khal. Above all, I dislike the way I am underestimated because of that title.”

“…”

‘Is this truly the same person who used to suffer from such obsessions?’

Luke still hadn’t adjusted to this version of Khal, whose pride had soared to new heights.

“The son of Count Ludger. For now, I have no choice but to hide under that name, but soon, I will show everyone exactly what my power is.”

After making his confident declaration, Khal patted Luke’s shoulder a couple of times and headed outside.

* * *

A night with thick clouds.

Having snuck out of the castle, Khal tried to recall his sensations from when he was the Demon King.

Rumble!

As soon as the memories surfaced, crimson Mana began to bloom from his entire body.

Ssshh.

Soon, even the Mana in the atmosphere began to be absorbed into Khal’s skin.

Could he use the power of the Demon King as he was now?

For a moment, he entertained that illusion, but a problem soon arose.

Crack! Snap!

As if unable to withstand the surging Mana, the skin on his arms began to split, and blood started to well up in the cracks.

And that was after only trying to utilize a mere fraction of it.

Exerting the power of the Demon King was essentially impossible.

This body was incredibly frail.

And it contained the soul of Beliat, the strongest of the Demon Realm whom no one could handle.

His body was far too deficient to withstand the power of such a mighty soul.

He wondered if he could overcome this through training, but…

‘I’ll have to keep looking for a way.’

That was a problem for later; for now, he had to focus on annihilating the Orcs.

Whoosh!

For that reason, Khal was currently climbing a steep, high rocky cliff.

As he climbed toward the summit, suddenly—

Tremble.

Strength left his hand, and he almost lost his grip on the cliffside.

Grit!

“Truly pathetic.”

Khal gritted his teeth and summoned his patience.

His entire body was drenched in sweat.

However, the reason he had become the strongest Demon King was because of his overwhelming pride and grit.

Those were not things easily discarded just because he had inhabited a mere human body.

A moment later.

After finishing his climb, a one-meter-tall creature appeared before Khal’s eyes.

Screech, screech.

With hard, clustered scales and membranous wings still moist, they were wyvern hatchlings huddled together.

‘He was useful for something, at least.’

He was able to find the wyverns because the original owner of the body had recorded his inspections of the area around Altair in his diary.

Because he was surrounded by enemies, he had tracked the movements of monsters in advance to prepare for any eventuality.

Khal had simply utilized that information to arrive here.

“The mother should be coming soon.”

Khal surveyed the surroundings and walked toward the hatchlings.

At that very moment.

Kieeeeeeek!

Boom!

A massive wyvern revealed itself under the full moon, flying into the nest in an instant and letting out a violent roar.

At the predator’s thunderous roar, the birds of the forest flapped their wings frantically and fled.

Yet, despite the predator’s threat, Khal simply smirked and pointed his sword at the throat of a hatchling.

Grrrrrrr.

Realizing it was a silent warning that the hatchling would die if the threat continued, the wyvern only growled lowly.

It could no longer approach Khal.

Khal radiated a subtle, menacing aura as he questioned the wyvern.

[You can understand me, can’t you?]

[How can a human speak with us…?]

Smirk.

Khal couldn’t help but let his lips curl upward.

Before his possession, back when he was the Demon King, he was capable of communicating with any existence, including monsters.

He had wondered if it would still be possible now that he was reincarnated by Chait, but since it was an exchange of thoughts through intent, he could do it.

[Who are you?]

Sensing an ominous energy from Khal, the wyvern opened its maw wide in a threatening gesture.

[If you don’t want to see your young die, you’d best cooperate with me quietly.]

[…Cooperate?]

[It’s nothing that difficult.]

Having answered, Khal withdrew his sword.

[You do realize that I could tear you apart this instant, don’t you?]

The wyvern glared at Khal with eyes sharpened like blades, but it did not dare to pounce.

Seeing this, Khal shrugged and sent out his thoughts.

[Such profound maternal love.]

[Shut up.]

[Ah, or perhaps you’re just paralyzed with fear of me.]

[… .]

As if he had hit a nerve, the wyvern couldn’t offer any rebuttal.

It didn’t know why.

It was just that the moment it locked eyes with Khal, its will to fight vanished.

Surprisingly, this man before it was stimulating an instinctive terror that transcended maternal love.

A moment later.

Shift.

[What is it you want?]

As the wyvern folded its wings and lowered its guard, Khal slowly spoke.

[This proposal will certainly not be a bad deal for you, either.]

* * *

In Altair, there are five Orc tribes in total.

When their numbers increase through vigorous reproduction, they begin hunting for food.

To Orcs, who devour anything and everything, beasts were merely minor snacks.

Therefore, the method of population control chosen by the Orc Lord was to hunt humans.

Humans lived in fixed locations, so there was no need to wander around searching for them.

Furthermore, humans offered strong resistance, causing many Orcs to die in the process of hunting.

As a result, the surviving Orcs would have enough to feast upon since their population had been reduced by the battle.

Rumble!

The Orcs, watching the castle of the Stark Family located in the ‘death line’ of Altair, were preparing to march while drooling greedily.

Their numbers reached nearly 4,000.

Squeal!

As the Orc Lord, accompanied by his subordinates, gave the command with a greedy expression, the Orc army began their march once more.

Screeeeeech!

At that same moment, a wyvern passed over the Orc horde.

Since it was a common sight, the other Orcs continued their march without much thought, but—

Squeal?

The Orc Lord looked up at the sky with a puzzled expression.

For some reason, he felt the wyvern was gliding lower than usual.

That doubt soon led to an ominous event.

Whoosh!

The wyvern dropped a massive boulder it had been clutching in its talons toward them.

SQUEAL!!!

The Orc Lord urgently ordered a retreat, but—

BOOM!

The boulder fell faster, crushing the Orc horde, and the blood and flesh of the pulverized Orcs splattered in all directions.

Squeal! Squeal! Squeal!

Panicked by the sudden attack, the Orcs scattered.

Even if they threw stones, they wouldn’t reach, and even if they shot arrows, they wouldn’t penetrate the wyvern’s thick hide.

Squeal! Squeal!

The Orc Lord urged his scattered subordinates, but—

BOOM! BOOM!

As boulders continued to rain from the sky, he too began to run.

Thud, thud, thud.

Then, as the scent of something burning reached his nose…

With a sinking feeling, he looked toward their village.

Kieeeeeeek!

There, along with the screams of his kin, black smoke was rising into the sky.

SQUEEEEEAL!!

Realizing it was the work of humans, the Orc Lord, his eyes filled with rage and the veins in his neck bulging, roared and headed toward the village.

However, that was truly a foolish choice.

Whoosh! Flash!

The wyvern’s true target had been the Orc Lord all along.

In an instant, the wyvern glided low, its talons mangling the Orc Lord’s flesh as it snatched him up.

Squeal! Squeal!

The Orcs under the Lord’s command didn’t know what to do, and the confusion only grew.

SQUEEEEAL!

The enraged Orc Lord tried to escape the wyvern’s talons, which held him like prey.

The wyvern, having flown high into the sky, scanned the ground below… then loosened its grip and dropped the Orc Lord.

Squeal? Squeal!

The panicked Orc Lord flailed his limbs and threw the weapon he was holding, but—

CRASH!

He soon plummeted to the ground.

SQUEEEEAL!!

Pain exploded through his entire body.

He barely managed to stay alive, but his body was covered in blood, and his legs were completely shattered, meaning he could only move by crawling.

As the surrounding dust cleared, what the Orc Lord saw were humans in a state of confusion.

The place he had fallen was none other than the inner courtyard of Altair’s fortress.

SQUEAL!!!

The Orc Lord bared his teeth and roared ferociously.

He intended to vent this rage upon them by any means necessary.

Flash!

However, just as the Orc Lord tried to move, he instinctively turned his head away from a blinding light.

Schwing.

The source of the light was none other than the flash of a blade.

And the one holding that sword was a red-haired boy who looked much younger and more fragile than himself.

A human he usually viewed as nothing more than prey.

But why?

This boy seemed to perceive *him* as the prey instead.

Shudder!

Terrified by that momentum, the Orc Lord’s entire body froze.

“Welcome to your role as a sacrifice.”

With those words, Khal smiled ominously and swung his sword.

Slash!

The Orc Lord’s head was severed with absurd cleanliness.

* * *

Altair, a land where death lurked.

Its master had finally arrived after a long absence.

With red hair and a beard, the light radiating from his red eyes left a dignified impression that anyone who saw him would not easily forget.

The man’s name was Ludger Stark.

He was the head of the Stark Family, a Margrave of this nation, and the father of Khal, who had been dispatched as the commander of Altair.

Passing through the castle gate, Ludger scoffed as he saw the strangely tense expressions of the residents.

‘There’s no way he’s alive. Well, if he lasted a year, he lasted long enough.’

He clicked his tongue, thinking of Khal, who hadn’t shown his face even though his father had arrived.

In the Stark Family, only the strong could survive.

There was also a cold custom of not showing affection for the dead.

While lost in thought, Ludger noticed something strange.

‘These gazes aren’t fixed on me.’

The eyes of the fief’s people were focused on the space across from him.

Thud, thud.

A man was walking toward them from there.

“?!”

And the moment he realized that man was his son, Ludger’s face twisted in displeasure.

For in Khal’s hands, he held the stuffed head of the Orc Lord, its face frozen in a ghastly roar.

Smirk.

Khal, wearing a smile, held it out to Ludger and spoke.

“Welcome to Altair Castle, Father. I don’t know if it’s to your liking, but I have prepared a rather valuable gift.”

Everyone watching the scene was struck with horror.

But this was merely a precursor, announcing the birth of the man who would be called the Mad Dog of Lucon.