Dark Fantasy: Magical Eye Knight – Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Burning Troll

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

The return journey was not smooth.

As if to signal the start, monster attacks continued one after another. It was the beginning of autumn, so there were many monsters looking for food.

However, the guides and merchants, who had taken this into account and chosen a path away from monster habitats, seemed to sense something strange in the frequent monster movements.

“The monsters are usually more frequent around this time of year. . .”

“It’s a bit too much this time, isn’t it?”

“Is it because of the war?”

“Do monsters know about that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe the wizards who go around setting fire to the mountains are making them come out.”

“Hey, tsk, tsk.”

Anyway, after three more days, they made their way out of the forest, killing goblins, orcs, and other monsters, big and small.

Most of them were cleaned up by the mercenary lines, but the larger ones that could not be handled were taken care of by Russell. Such as the mutant goblins or orcs that were almost as tall as humans.

They glowed with hostility as if they had eaten something wrong, and Russell cut off their heads or waists, sending them to the afterlife.

And on the fourth day, as the city was not far away,.

The mercenaries, who had been chosen as scouts, came back in a hurry and said that a monster was blocking the way. As they cautiously approached, they saw that the monster was a troll.

The troll was dozing off, leaning against a large rock on a low hill. Saliva was flowing from its large mouth, its brown skin was rough, and its muscles were bulging.

The western sky behind them had long been dyed red. Dark blue darkness was running towards them from the front. They were just about to cross the hill, and it was too early to camp.

Besides, once they crossed this hill, there was a city called Calisden, their destination. As the increasingly chilly evening air hastened their steps, a troll appeared. To be precise, the troll was blocking the middle of the road, and the group had arrived there.

The wagon train had to stop. The mercenaries and merchants went into a meeting. Words from the mercenary leader and the merchants.

“Well, well, this time, we’ve encountered all sorts of monsters.”

“Donovan, can’t we just pass it without waking it up?”

“Be reasonable, Dawson. How can we pass when it’s blocking the middle of the road?”

“Hmm. . . Should we talk to it first?”

“I’m going. Dawson, you do it. I’ll pray for your soul. It might be able to understand what you’re saying.”

“But It can talk, can’t I?”

Dominic, the oldest of the merchants, clicked his tongue and said,

“Just because you can talk doesn’t mean you can communicate. Get a grip, Dawson. That thing is a monster that eats people.”

“Yes. . .”

“In the village where I grew up, we were told never to get involved with trolls. From childhood, they would come down from the mountains as a family and hunt for cattle or pigs. Many young men died or were injured while trying to catch them. In the end, a knight came out and killed them.”

“Hmm. . .”

At that moment, Donovan muttered,

“Anyway, if we can catch that thing, it’ll be worth a lot of money. . .”

The merchants’ eyes sparkled.

“That’s true, isn’t it?”

“Even if we don’t count the other organs, the heart, blood, and brain are in demand by wizards. Alchemists can’t buy them because they don’t have any.”

“Hmm. . .”

The merchants, who smelled the money, each racked their brains and began to calculate.

“The testicles are also popular. They’re used as an aphrodisiac.”

“That’s weird.”

“Pexen, you still don’t know the sorrows of a middle-aged man.”

“Yeah, a man’s bath, a cold night when the owls are hooting, a colder breakfast. . . If you experienced that once, oh. Just thinking about it makes my heart flutter.”

“I feel like my two balls are shaking.”

“Stop making remarks that make me doubt my view of marriage.”

“Were you thinking of getting married, Dawson?”

“Hey, what’s ahead is hell.”

Pexen, the representative of the mercenaries, frowned and said,

“But it’s not easy to kill a troll. Don’t compare it to the uruk we met before. It’s a monster that can tear apart even a bear. Its regenerative power is also threatening. It’s a monster that can only be killed by a group of knights or wizards.”

The merchants looked troubled at Pexen’s frown. However, time was of the essence. Dominic said,

“Oh, we don’t have to kill it. But there’s no other way to go. If we try to take another route, we’ll have to go back the way we came, and it will take a long time. It will take at least three more days.”

“Oh, my back. I thought I could get a good night’s sleep tomorrow.”

“Don’t be silly, Dominic. So, there’s no choice. We have to call him, don’t we?”

“Oh, do we have the money? Even without that, we have to pay Russell-Nim a lot of extra compensation.”

“We don’t have any, but the guild does.”

“Sigh. In the end, it’s another loan. . .”

“Do you know any merchants who do business without debt? And if we hand over that troll, we won’t have to take out a loan!”

“We don’t know if we can catch it.”

“We can ask.”

“Then I’ll ask.”

The merchants chatted casually and turned their gaze to one place. There was a girl riding a horse on behalf of the injured owner and a man holding the reins.

Needless to say, it was Russell and Daphne. Next to him, for some reason, were the blonde priest, Elenora, and Evelyn with her red hair fluttering.

Russell’s strength had been clearly proven. Which mercenary could kill nine uruks by himself? Even if he could use magic,.

Besides, he was the one who had noticed the goblins’ ambush the next day, and the number of mercenaries he had saved was countless. There was not a single person among the people in this party who did not owe him their lives at least once, so it was only natural that the merchants’ eyes were sharp.

Russell scratched his clean-shaven cheek at their sparkling gaze. Embarrassing.

“Why are you looking at Uncle?”

“I’m not uncle. Can’t you see my beard shaved off?”

“Baa.”

“Shall I bless you?”

“No.”

“Okay, but trolls have strong regenerative powers. It’s enough to heal wounds like this.”

“We haven’t even talked about fighting yet.”

“Look at those sparkling eyes. If you do, do it. I’ll shoot a fireball. Trolls are afraid of fire.”

“Yeah, I’ll signal you if anything happens.”

Russell handed the reins to Evelyn and stepped forward.

“What’s the matter?”

He had already seen the troll in front of him and heard the merchants’ conversation, but he still had to ask the question.

“There’s a troll in front of us.”

“I saw it. Should we fight?”

“I don’t know, but I think that’s probably the case. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be there in the middle of the road.”

“Hmm.”

“It would be best to just pass it by. . .”

“The world is not that easy.”

When Russell, who looked young with only his beard shaved off, said such a thing, the three merchants, who were young, middle-aged, and middle-aged to elderly, looked at him in disbelief.

Among them, the middle-aged merchant, Donovan, erased his expression and said,

“Can you catch that troll? If you can, I’ll pay you handsomely.”

“Is there anything useful about it?”

“As you know, the heart and blood are said to be good magical materials. It’s better to kill it and remove it, but it’s best to extract it while it’s still alive. If you take it to a wizard’s workshop or something, they’ll be happy. They’re so absorbed in their research that they don’t even know the market price and throw gold coins at you. . .”

“What about the other way?”

“There is only one way here. If you want to go back, you have to turn around and go far away.”

It was a bit annoying that there was only one person asking questions and several people answering. Russell nodded, understanding what he had heard.

“I’ll catch it.”

He had to face it anyway. It was tiring to go back the distance he had come so far.

And the troll was also a monster he had never seen before. Trolls are rare in the north. His heart was pounding like a child’s for no reason.

As he listened to the cheers of the merchants, Russell approached the troll.

The sleeping troll opened its eyes with a flash and sniffed its nose. Then it immediately found Russell approaching.

Uooooooooo.

The troll, which made a strange sound that could be a scream or a yawn, opened its mouth wide and began to raise its body. It was holding a stone axe in its right hand.

It was over 3 meters tall, with legs and arms like logs. It had a bald head with no hair. Its face was small compared to its head, with small eyes, a flattened nose, and large canine teeth protruding from its large mouth.

Large muscles bulged all over its body, but overall it was fat, and its belly in particular protruded like a mountain. The belt made of the skin of an unknown animal around its waist covered its groin, so there was no need to frown.

The troll stood in front of the darkening blue darkness, and Russell stood in front of the sunset. The troll made a sunshade with its left hand because the glow of the sunset behind Russell was dazzling.

The troll spoke.

“Hello.”

‘Did that guy just say hello?’

The expressions of Russell, who was standing in the front, and the people behind him became strange. Not only was it surprising that the monster could speak, but it was also surprising that it could say ‘hello’. He looked back briefly, but from their expressions, he could tell that this was not a common occurrence.

“Hello. What are you? Why are you blocking the road here?”

When Russell asked, the troll frowned and growled. The trembling cry made the mercenaries shrink back, but Russell faced the troll without taking up his weapon. The troll spoke again.

“Many questions. One at a time.”

“Oh, yeah. What are you?”

“Me. Nazurek.”

“Okay, Nazurek. Why are you here?”

“Karugon. . . No.”

“Karugon?”

“No.”

What do you mean, no? The troll continued.

“Hungry. Mountain color change. Human many. Half remain.”

Hmm. Russell nodded. He didn’t understand everything, but he got the gist of it.

“You need food because it’s winter. Did that Karugon guy tell you that a lot of people are passing by here?”

“. . . . . .”

The troll remained silent, but it didn’t seem to have understood the words.

“It was good that you came out.”

As the troll looked at Russell with questioning eyes, who was muttering to himself, something happened. Russell disappeared from his spot with a swoosh. The moment the troll’s eyes opened wide, Russell’s body, which had disappeared, appeared above the troll’s head, which had been covering the sunlight with its hand.

The troll noticed Russell a little late, and by that time, his fist had swung.

Boom!

The fist hit the troll’s head. Its neck bent down as if it would break, its back and knees bent, and both hands touched the ground. However, the troll did not die or lose consciousness. Considering that Russell’s fist had shattered the heads of uruks, goblins, and monsters with a single blow, it was a terribly hard head.

“What the hell! Why are you hitting me?”

“Then, are you going to leave people here?”

“Kuak!”

Screaming like a scream, the monster straightened its back and charged at Russell, who had stepped down. The vivid mark of Russell’s fist on its head was gradually fading away, and flesh was growing back. Russell’s eyes narrowed at the noticeably fast speed. It really has regenerative powers.

“F, Fight!”

“What should we do?”

“Maintain formation! We’ll support you if anything happens.”

“W, What support do we have!”

The mercenaries behind him hurriedly formed a barricade, with their wagons as walls. However, at the same time, they knew that they could not be of any help in the fight between those monsters.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The troll’s stone axe was gripped in its large hand and slammed into the ground. Russell dodged it like a loach and threw a punch in between. Every time he did, the troll’s body shook, but the troll continued its attack with its regenerative power.

The ground caved in from the troll’s brute force, and the stone axe traced a trajectory and aimed at Russell. If it had been an ordinary human soldier, he would have been instantly bloodied, but those attacks did not reach Russell. His strange footwork led his large body gracefully, dodging the stone axe and the fist, and he punched the gap after the attack.

As the sunset was emitting a dazzling orange light, they were both fighting, losing their own colors. The mercenaries dropped their voices, forgetting even the situation.

“Wow, that’s ridiculous. . .”

“I knew that martial artists were superhumans, but this is. . .”

“Is he a knight?”

“Shouldn’t we help?”

“Stay still. If you get involved, you’ll just get in the way. Staying still is helping.”

“I wonder if those who don’t have magic will live long enough to regret it. . .”

The fight continued, whether the mercenaries were impressed or not.

The troll fought like a berserker, ignoring the minor wounds it had and pushing forward with its brute force and regenerative power.

On the other hand, Russell used his relatively smaller body size (he was close to 2 meters tall) to dodge or deflect the large attacks and attacked the openings that appeared after the large movements.

Boom! Boom!

None of the troll’s attacks hit, but Russell’s fists hit his knees, chin, abdomen, chest, and head as soon as he stretched out his arms. The troll seemed to be furious, as the mark of Russell’s fist on its head appeared. The troll bared its fangs and shouted.

“Hu-Human! Fi-Fight pro-per-ly!”

‘You little brat. You’re the one who can’t even land a single blow, and you’re complaining because you’re getting hit?’

“Your breath stinks.”

Russell, who did not care, punched the troll’s jaw and made it retreat. He shouted,

“Evelyn!”

Evelyn, who had been waiting for the signal, released the magic power she had been preparing and twisted it again. Incantations flowed from her mouth, and her hands were busy forming hand signs. Soon, a large ball of flame was created above her head.

“Ha!”

With a shout, the fireball was shot out with irresistible speed. The fireball went straight past Russell and hit the troll directly. A loud noise rang out, and Russell covered his eyes and face from the flames and heat with his hands. He could see a pillar of fire rising between his fingers.

“. . .Hmm?”

In the place where the explosion and flames had cleared, the troll stood with its legs bent, charred black but looking more intact than expected. It was not even burned. The troll raised its head and growled, its eyes flashing red for a moment.

“Was the troll that strong of a monster?”

Not even fire could stop it. Evelyn tilted her head.

In the meantime, Russell charged again and threw a punch. The troll, which had not yet recovered from the shock of the fireball, was caught off guard and hit.

If he had only hit it with the power of his flesh, it would have been one thing, but Russell’s fist was filled with magic power. Each time he was hit, the troll screamed in pain as the pain penetrated through its tough skin to its muscles and bones.

“Kyaaaaa!”

Soon, the troll’s eyes flashed, and it swung its arm fiercely.

The stone axe flew from Russell’s left side, from his point of view. The stone axe, which was shining brown in the sunset light, almost made him fall to the ground. And as he raised his body, he took a deep breath and took a strong step with his right foot.

Kukung, the earth, cried out. Russell concentrated on the inhaled breath, the magic power in his body, the muscles, and the recoil force coming up from his foot that had stepped hard on the ground. The muscles all over his body relaxed or expanded with the short inhalation and exhalation of his breath, and the whole process was done in a very short moment.

The recoil force amplified and twisted into a spiral as it passed through the right knee, waist, left shoulder, and elbow one by one. The bounce of the joints, the flexing of the muscles, and the power he had stored by circulating the magic power in his body. His left fist hit the troll’s empty right side directly.

Kuang!

The area around the troll’s back bulged up and burst open, scattering bone fragments, flesh, and blood. A hole larger than Russell’s fist was clearly opened up in the troll’s side. Moreover, the skin around the hole was shrinking toward the center of the hole as if a localized whirlpool had hit it.

Russell’s body was talented enough to realize all the physical techniques he had ever imagined as reality.

“Guuuu. . .”

In front of him, a magnificent sight unfolded that he could not have dreamed of in his weak previous life. He was chasing and bringing to his knees a monster that was bigger and stronger than him.

He faced the killing intent directed at him head-on, and he could break it head-on.

An indescribable sense of euphoria.

“Whew.”

It seems that my personality has changed a lot.

As the mind follows the body, He, who had never been able to control himself, realized that he had changed a lot here.

Russell exhaled once to cool down the muscles that had been fired up.

In front of him, the troll was kneeling on one knee, clutching its side, and panting. Three or four ribs had been broken, and only traces of the organs that had been there remained.

No matter how strong its regenerative power was, it would be difficult to repair such a large wound at once. It seemed that the troll’s wound was not fatal, but it was still difficult to regenerate all at once, so it was just shaking its body.

Regenerative power refers to the power to restore oneself to the original state. It was different from anything else.

Humans also heal wounds on their skin with medicine or their own healing power, but scars remain. Also, if a finger or limb is cut off, it does not grow back, but the flesh around the wound closes up.

However, regenerative power can even regrow severed limbs. Magic power works with that power. In some ways, it can be categorized as magic. That is because it is the nature and instinct of the troll.

Russell drew his sword from his waist. It was a longsword with a wider blade than usual to fit his physique. The sunlight of the last day was reflected on the blade. Russell, who drew his sword and approached under the dark blue sky, looked like an ancient knight.

And soon, the sunset was completely gone. Night was coming.

However, the remaining red glow was still illuminating the west, so it was not completely dark.

In the eastern sky, the stars that had been pushed aside by the sunlight began to show their faces one by one. However, no one looked at their brilliance, so they did not shine.

They just stood there as always, watching the events below in silence. The rising moon looked at the world in the darkness with an interesting face.

“That’s it! Russell-nim! You can just cut it off!”

“Be sure to cut it off and keep it far away from the body! Otherwise, it will stick back together!”

Who is more of a monster? Russell laughed at the merchant’s cruel words and approached.

At that moment, the troll raised its head and stared straight at him. The moment he thought that its yellow eyes were glowing red,.

Pwah, flames erupted right in front of Russell. It was a sudden, completely unexpected attack.

All Russell could do in that moment was push the ground hard with his toes and crouch down to minimize the range of the attack.

Kwang! Russell, who had crossed his arms, was thrown backward by the explosive force. The people who had been relaxed because the fight was almost over opened their mouths wide.

“Uncle━!”

“Russell-nim!”

“What the hell, fire?”

“W, What? That monster. . .”

Amidst the cries of the girl, the merchants, and the mercenaries, Evelyn muttered,

“This is nonsense. . . A troll with flames?”

The troll slowly raised its body. Red light streamed from its eyes. Mana was being sucked into the monster, which was centered around it. It was not visible to the eyes, but it could be seen from the movement of the weeds and branches that were caught in it. The troll’s muscles, which had absorbed the magic power, bulged and began to swell up even more than before.

The large hole in its side healed up with a chii-sound at a rapid pace. The broken ribs grew out sharply, and the missing organs swelled up with flesh. The speed was as if time was being rewound quickly.

In the end, it was perfectly repaired without a single trace of the hole. Only the shrunken marks outside the regenerated area told the story of the hole.

“Krrr. ., I’ll. . . kill you all!”

The troll growled ferociously, as if it had forgotten its original purpose. Evelyn could not tell if it had possessed the magic power to create flames from the beginning or if it had awakened in the face of the crisis of death.

“How can a troll have flames. .? Did it crave the power it feared the most?”

Fire is a fearsome power, even for beasts and monsters that live in the forest. It is also the foundation of the civilization that humans have built, as it has the power to burn and destroy everything.

Wizards also like to use fire spells, and the first thing people think of when they think of magic is usually flames. That’s how deep it is in the hearts of living beings.

However, it was certain that the troll was now drunk on magic power and had lost its senses. It’s absurd to talk about reason with a monster in the first place, though.

Flames began to burn like a whirlwind all over the troll’s body.

The skin did not burn but only radiated outward, carrying the hot heat and making the people cough. The ground turned black and crumbled every time it took a step. The darkness was pushed away.

When it grabbed the stone axe that had been lying on the ground, the flames spread to the stone axe and licked its blade. The people gasped or took a step back at the sight of the troll, which was not a troll but a devil from hell.

“Oh, my God. . . . . fantasy is so real. . .”

At that moment, Russell, who had been lying on the ground, shook his body and stood up. A large figure rose up, his shoulders wide and his muscles firm. The black hair tie came loose, and his black hair flowed down below his shoulders.

Faint smoke rose from all over his body, but there were no traces of burns. Even the exposed skin was only slightly red, and it was fine.

The eyes of the troll and the people turned to him. The troll hesitated and did not approach recklessly, and the people sighed with relief.

“Uncle! Are you okay?!”

‘That little brat.’ Russell smiled and waved his hand behind him. And he raised his sword at the troll, which was surrounded by flames.

“In terms of games, it’s like a tutorial boss that has 2 phases. Okay, let’s try.”

“Kuooooooooo-!”

Against the backdrop of the dark eastern sky, the burning troll charged.

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• Unlocking Your Inner Naruto Fox: Finding Your Sasuke and Mastering the Sharingan
• Gojo Satoru the Ultimate Husbando?! Is This a Thing?
• My Two Classmates Just Went Full Anime Fight Club Over… WAIFUS?!
• Hidden Villages, Hidden Countries? Where’s the Rest of the World in Naruto?
• Intrusive Thoughts: Pikachu vs Levi