Dark Fantasy: Magical Eye Knight – Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Logos Village

TL: Potato-tan

Proofreader: Asianpotato

The ghoul’s lips curled into a sinister grin.

“Brave, aren’t you? All the more delicious to kill. Let’s see if you can still do that with my ghouls tearing your limb from limb.”

Russell didn’t respond, merely gripping his battle axe loosely and lowering his upper body. The ghoul watched Russell’s composed stance, and his lips twitched.

“Kill him.”

Kaa-gak!

Ghouls charged from all directions—not just from the front and sides, but also from behind, above, and below. Those who fell from above were the ones perched on the trees.

The ghouls’ clawed hands emerged from the ground beneath Russell’s feet, aiming to grab his ankles and legs.

It all happened in an instant, and for a moment, Russell felt as if he would be torn apart and killed.

Exhaling sharply, Russell circulated his mana throughout his body. His heart pounded vigorously, pumping blood and mana while drawing out vitality.

KWACK!

His left foot stomped on the head of a ghoul that had emerged from the ground, crushing its skull, while his right hand swung the battle axe, cleaving one that had descended from the air in two vertical movements.

He then shifted his position, slashing with his left hand and releasing a shockwave that crushed one that was approaching from the front. Its flesh exploded like a cannonball.

The ones charging from his sides and backs lowered themselves to the ground, and he swung his battle axe again. He sliced the three tangled ghouls in half neatly.

The mutant ghoul realized Russell’s formidable prowess as a warrior from the brief battle that had just unfolded.

Snow began to fall, white flakes indistinguishable from the gray sky. It poured down heavily.

Once again, the remaining ghouls charged, slicing them in half. With snow hitting his head and shoulders, Russell fought the ghouls.

The snowflakes couldn’t stay on his body for long, and they floated back into the air, dancing around Russell’s movements.

Amidst the white snow, a black man and red-skinned monsters performed a fierce dance.

One of those who had been crouching low sprang up like a steel spring. The battle axe traced an elegant arc, cutting from the crown of its head to its crotch. Its corpse froze and shattered.

One pulled its right arm back, like an arrow, and shot it out. The four claws at the end converged into a sharp point.

Russell deflected it to his left side with his left arm, then grabbed it with his left hand. He lifted it up, and the large body swayed like a ragdoll in response to his gesture.

Bang, bang, bang!

Russell rampaged like a berserker. He swung the white battle axe with one hand, and the ghoul whose arm he had grabbed with the other. Snow splattered everywhere.

The ghoul that Russell had grabbed involuntarily bumped into its brethren with its own body, letting out a roar. But as Russell continued to swing it around, its voice turned into a strange intermittent sound, and after three more swings, it fell silent.

Russell threw the completely tattered ghoul away. The corpse’s force caused two ghouls to fall over.

One stepped over the two fallen ghouls and parted its mouth into four sections. Russell extended his left forearm, and the ghoul bit down on it with a satisfying crunch.

The teeth shattered with a ‘zakazak’ sound. It couldn’t pierce the coat covering Russell’s arm. Nevertheless, the ghoul seemed to feel no pain and tried to chew on Russell’s arm with its mangled gums.

Russell chuckled softly, planted the battle axe on the ground, and pulled the ghoul’s upper jaw off his forearm with his right hand. The ghoul tried to resist, but couldn’t.

His left hand then grabbed its lower jaw, and Russell applied force.

The ghoul tore in two with a tearing sound. Unlike when the Frost Axe cut it, hot blood splattered onto the snowy field.

Russell dropped it, and its black entrails spilled from within its roughly torn skin. The ghoul’s blood was also black, and it gave off a pungent smell.

The snow continued to fall, covering everything in white. The black blood of the ghouls splattered on it resembled ink paintings, and the torn ghoul corpses looked like surreal pieces of art with their torsos hanging.

The five or so remaining ghouls unconsciously took a step back. Even they, as monsters, were afraid of the gruesome deaths of their brethren.

At that moment, the mutant ghoul, who had been sending out the ghouls from behind, stepped forward. It elongated its arm, grabbed the battle axe that Russell had planted on the ground, and dragged it towards itself.

Russell watched silently. The mutant ghoul retracted its elongated arm, then lifted the Frost Axe confidently.

The battle axe had been a bit large even for Russell, but it looked small in the hands of the ghoul, who was about 3 meters tall and had a considerable build. The mutant ghoul let out a laugh.

“You fool. Is there a warrior who lays down his weapon?”

Russell chuckled softly.

“Would it make a difference?”

“What?”

The mutant ghoul’s eyes grew wide at Russell’s unabashed attitude. His next action made his eyes widen even more.

Russell drew a new weapon from inside his coat. It was a gigantic obsidian greatsword with a single blade, a cross-shaped guard, and a hilt all in one piece. It was Nahilnir.

Then Russell raised his empty hand and snapped his fingers, and the battle axe that the mutant ghoul had been holding disappeared with a ‘pak’ sound. The mutant ghoul felt its hand’s emptiness.

It looked at Russell, who was holding a battle axe and a greatsword in each hand, and said it in a trembling voice.

“What is this? I’ve never heard of someone carrying around so many magical weapons. What are you?”

“Russell.”

Russell replied curtly, as if there were no other modifiers. He then lowered his stance. Even though he held the battle axe in his left hand and the greatsword in his right, his movements were light and graceful.

He extended his right foot back and his left foot forward, bent his waist and upper body low, and spread his arms out to the sides. With his large greatsword and battle axe extended, he looked like a bird just before it spread its wings and took flight.

The giant ghoul growled.

“I will remember your name. Kaa-gak!”

The mutant ghoul that had been speaking suddenly let out a roar.

Then its skin began to bulge out, just like before. The ghouls, upon hearing the roar, rushed towards the mutant ghoul, seemingly possessing it.

The bodies of the ghouls that attached themselves to it melted rapidly and stuck to the mutant ghoul’s flesh. Pieces of skin and flesh that hadn’t attached themselves dripped down stickily.

The mutant ghoul, which had absorbed all the remaining ghouls into its body, was horrifying, like something out of a nightmare.

The skin was bubbling and boiling, revealing the legs and faces of ghouls not yet fully absorbed.

The grotesquely distorted mutant ghoul screamed.

“Graaaa━!”

The roar of the monster, now appropriately named a giant ghoul rather than a mutant ghoul, trembled the space around them. The giant ghoul pushed away the snow that had accumulated under its feet in a perfect circle.

The trees shook. Instead of leaves, the snow that had been resting on their branches fell off in clumps. As more snow fell from the sky and trees, the ground became even thicker.

Russell realized, based on its appearance, that the one who had been speaking to him through the mutant ghoul had disconnected. As it disconnected, it merged the remaining ghouls together.

The giant ghoul charged straight at him. Thump, thump, thump—its body, which had become even more massive than before, shook the earth. With its bulky body, it charged like a bulldozer, crushing the trees that got in its way.

Russell spread his arms out to the sides and applied force to his crouched legs. His condensed muscles tightened with a terrifying force.

The sound of ‘guk, guk’ echoed in his keen ears. His mana circulated along with it, causing the ground around his feet to shake slightly and fine particles of dirt and snow to rise.

Suddenly, Russell felt a slight wriggling from the satchel he was carrying on his back, but he ignored it.

The greatsword and battle axe were filled with oomph and mana. The obsidian greatsword grew even darker, and the Frost Axe emitted a faint chill.

CRACK!

Russell jumped up, leaving cracks in the ground he had been standing on. The giant ghoul extended countless thick, crimson tentacles from its bubbling skin.

They were as big as Russell’s thighs, and their sharp points were eerie.

Russell’s arms crossed like scissors. Russell swung the battle axe once, followed by the greatsword, instantly cutting off more than half of the numerous tentacles.

“Kua-gak!”

The giant ghoul seemed to feel pain from its severed tentacles and let out a scream, but it didn’t stop charging. It swung its left arm, which had become as thick as its body.

With the blade of the greatsword, Russell met the arm. The greatsword’s blade completely severed the giant ghoul’s arm.

The Frost Axe lodged in the giant ghoul’s skull as it howled, its arm severed more by its own strength than Russell’s.

“Guuh━!”

Even though its head was more than half split sideways, the giant ghoul didn’t die right away. The Frost Axe’s chill froze its flesh, but the tentacles that soon sprouted from its body pushed the axe away again.

Russell jumped back. The giant ghoul was gradually regenerating. Despite the frozen white cross-section of its severed skull, its evil mana was repelling the cold and reconnecting its flesh and bone.

“Let’s see how long you can regenerate until you’re nothing but pieces.”

Russell was about to charge forward. At that moment, he sensed a new presence. The powerful gallop of a horse’s hooves echoed through the winter forest, sounding like ‘dagadak, dagadak’.

“Oh, God’s light! Here is your servant, who embraces your power!”

A bright light shot out, along with a thunderous voice. The beam of light hit the giant ghoul directly, and the monster covered its face with a scream.

“Kaa-gak!”

Russell recognized what it was at a glance. It was a manifestation of divine power expelling evil mana.

“Step back, evil monster!”

Two people arrived at the battle scene. A Paladin in plate armor was riding a white horse. One of them was unusually tall and large, emitting light from the sword he held in one hand. He held a thick, square shield in his other hand.

The large Paladin spoke to Russell without lowering his sword or taking his eyes off the giant ghoul.

“Are you alright?”

“I am.”

Russell replied briefly. The paladin simply nodded and walked forward. The ghoul, bewildered by the divine power, lay flat on the ground, then suddenly kicked the ground and charged.

“Hup!”

The paladin braced himself, holding his shield in front of him.

Kwaang!

Surprisingly, the Paladin did not fall, even though he had received the giant ghoul’s charge head-on. His plate boots dug into the ground, creating a short trench.

“Radiance━!”

As the paladin shouted, the same divine power as before flashed from his shield. The giant ghoul’s skin, which had been pressing its flesh close, burned.

“Kyaa-gak━!”

A roar, like dozens of evil spirits screaming at the same time, washed over them.

The evil mana inherent in the sound itself would have killed or driven an ordinary person insane, but those present here were not ordinary.

Russell surrounded himself with mana for protection, and the other two paladins protected their eardrums with divine power.

The unfortunate birds that had been within range of the sound fell from the sky, dead.

“Hiaaa-!”

At that moment, the other person who had come with the Paladin raised his sword and charged at the giant ghoul. Golden light also emanated from his sword, but it was slightly weaker than the large paladin’s.

The small paladin’s blade grazed the giant ghoul’s shoulder. However, it was halted. The giant ghoul’s flailing forearm sent the small paladin flying, causing it to roll on the ground.

“Kuh!”

He must have been quite shocked, but the small paladin soon got up. However, he couldn’t go out. Russell spoke.

“I’ll hold it down until you finish it off. You seem to be faster.”

“Alright.”

Russell kicked the ground. He threw the battle axe first, and it flew like a disc of light, embedding itself in the giant ghoul’s forehead.

Russell had infused the battle axe in the center of its forehead with mana, which emitted a chill. In an instant, the giant ghoul’s skin began to freeze white. The tentacles couldn’t come out because their skin was frozen.

The ghoul let out a roar and stretched out its remaining hand to pull out the battle axe. Russell’s greatsword cut off his right arm at the shoulder.

“Haa-!”

The paladin, who had been following, swung his shield, embedding the battle axe even deeper into its chest. The giant ghoul then bent its waist, vomiting black blood, and the Paladin thrust his sword into its bent head, drawing out divine power.

The giant ghoul’s body shook as it received the divine power directly inside it. The paladin quickly covered himself with his shield. Russell also raised his greatsword’s flat.

Pung!

The giant ghoul’s flesh exploded. As many ghouls as it had absorbed, a huge amount of flesh, blood, and entrails flew out.

“Whew.”

The Paladin shook off the ghoul’s black flesh, which had gotten on his shield with divine power. Russell also swung his greatsword to shake off the blood, then retrieved the battle axe with his left hand.

The paladin, who had his shield on his back and his sword in the scabbard at his waist, approached.

“My name is Hailyn.”

Russell put the battle axe and Nahilnir inside his coat. The small and large paladins who had approached him, scratching their heads, widened their eyes.

“Russell.”

“So you’re Russell-nim. It was nice to meet you. You have some amazing magical tools.”

“Yeah. You must be a Paladin.”

“Yes. I came from Lutheon Church.”

Russell felt something didn’t add up. Ghouls had been summoned from the underground, and now a Paladin from the church was involved.

“I suppose you came here because of these ghouls.”

Hailyn nodded.

“Yes. We are chasing after Herokeinin, a demon worshiper who had a fierce battle with the church a week ago and escaped. We came here after hearing from a nearby branch that a strange person matching his description had arrived. Oh, this is Jess.”

Jess bowed his head. Russell nodded back.

“Excuse me, but how did you come here, Russell-nim?”

“I’m a traveler. When I got here, I was just heading west. I was on my way to a nearby village when I met the ghouls and fought them.”

“That’s amazing. Even seasoned warriors have a hard time dealing with those monsters. Maybe you’re a wizard?”

Russell shrugged.

“I can do a few minor spells. But anyway, I’d like to go to the village now.”

“Oh, sorry. We’ve been talking for too long. Would you like to ride with us?”

“Sure.”

“Excuse me? It’s a bit too far to run.”

Russell turned his back on the two Paladins without a word and whistled loudly towards the other side of the road. A sharp, clear whistle echoed into the distance.

Soon, a black horse came galloping through the snow from the other side of the road. Kry was there. Hailyn exclaimed in admiration.

“What a magnificent horse you have.”

Russell stroked Kry’s mane and said,

“He’s even faced a griffin. Let’s go.”

“Alright. Jess, get on the horse.”

“Yes, sir.”

The three of them got on their horses and rode along the road. Soon, the entrance to the village of Logos, surrounded by a wooden fence, came into view.

In front of it, Arnold and Ethan were visible. Seeing Ethan jumping up and down, Russell smiled faintly.

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