Duke Pendragon

The blade of light cleaved the Troll King’s chest.

Red blood sprouted from the wound and the Troll King roared.

However, the wound started to close even before the hot blood started to cool, and it swung the two chamados at the human who dared to attack it.

Whoosh!

As the 20-foot-long swords drew a cross in the air, black spirit surged towards Raven like a wave of black. The chamados were large and fast. Raven could not avoid the strike.

Kwaaarr!

A spirit of silver-white spirit soared like a flame from Widow’s Scream, projecting a large barrier in front of Raven to block the attack.

Booom!

“Keuk!”

Along with a tremendous noise, the impact caused Raven’s innards to be shaken up. Bones all over the body were broken and organs became twisted.

“Uagh!”

Raven faltered, vomiting a mouthful of blood.

Shuaak!

The Troll King attempted to swing its chamados toward Raven once more, but three orc warriors and Karuta interjected and jumped towards it.

”Kuwwwaaaugh!”

Orc Fear soared like wildfire and radiated from their bodies. The Troll King had no choice but to turn his attention away from Raven as the four warriors attacked without regard for their own lives.

Clang!

Two chamados and five steel maces collided in the air, causing a huge shockwave.

“Kuwagh!”

The three orc warriors flew dozens of yards and sank to the ground, unable to endure the impact from the collison. But Karuta managed to stay his ground, holding his own against the monster’s king who was several times larger than him. Karuta’s eyes were colored red from the blood vessels bursting, and he gritted his teeth as he endured with all his might.

Craccck!

One of his arm bones became dislocated.

“Kuwaaaagghh!”

However, the muscles in his arms swelled as if threatening to burst, and Karuta was eventually able to push back the chamados.

“A. Mere. Orc. Dares!”

The Troll King let out a roar of anger. His pride was hurt. He had never experienced such a humiliating event since its creation.

“I. Will. Kill. You…!”

It was ridiculous that it would be pushed by a puny little orc. In its flurry, the Troll King momentarily forgot about the more threatening opponent.

Fwoooosh!

A blade covered in a silver-white flame flew towards the forehead of the Troll King.

“…..!”

Befitting of its status as the king of the monsters, the Troll King was able to block the attack by lifting one of its chamados. However, it was unaware that nothing in the world could stand in the way of the sword of light.

Booom!

The chamado shattered into countless pieces and the Dragon Blade continued forward to make direct contact with the Troll King’s forehead. Its helmet was smashed apart and the sword of light bore into the creature’s head.

“Kwaaaaaghhh!”

With a desperate scream, the giant took several steps back.

“Karuta!”

“Kuwugh!”

Raven shouted at the top of his lungs. Karuta roared and kicked off the ground with his remaining strength.

Puck!

Karuta leaped high into the air, using the Troll King’s knee as a stepping stone. The Troll King’s hands were wrapped around its face, so Karuta took the chance and swung his steel mace towards the creature’s neck.

Baanng!

The Troll King’s throat exploded as it faced an attack containing the full brunt of the Ancona Orcs’ strongest warrior.

The Troll King’s neck became tattered and looked as if it would fall off. However, it attempted to recover from the ghastly injury after the time it took to take a short breath.

“Kuaahp!”

Raven let loose a beastly cry and threw Widow’s Scream towards the Troll King. The sword flew through the air while dyeing the air with a brilliant light, then tore through the remaining tissues of its neck and cut off its head.

“Kuwuh…!”

A scream erupted as its large head separated from the body and fell towards the ground.

***

“Hmm?”

Jean Oberon’s eyes glimmered with light as he observed Raven fighting against the Troll King from the black sphere. The one who went against causality knew how to fight against his creation.

Well, it was only natural. In the past, the human had perished here while fighting against the Troll King.

“But…”

Even though it was quite impressive, the results would not change. The Troll King was a creature of dark magic created from sacrificing the blood and flesh of countless monsters. Even if its body was torn into dozens of pieces, it would revive over and over. It could not be killed just because its head was cut off.

“There is only one way, you who defy causality. But will you be able to accomplish it?”

Jean Oberon’s voice was as empty as his eyes as he watched Raven’s struggles. His emptiness and indifference stemmed from his conviction.

In order to defeat the Troll King, the one who destroyed its core also needed to give up a certain ‘something’. Otherwise, no matter how many times the Troll King was knocked down, it would be resurrected endlessly.

Jean Oberon had a simple reason for bestowing the creature with the specific characteristic.

The Troll King was created to deal with human armies. As such, he applied a spell regarding a ‘specific action’ that humans would never commit.

Jean Oberon had no doubts that the persistent human on the ground would be unable to give up the certain ‘something’. He had seen numerous humans until now, and all of them had been obsessed with living, especially the ones with more to lose.

“Fight and survive. But your desires will only lead to your certain death.”

Craack!

Raven clenched his teeth and swung his sword at the Troll King. The creature’s head was starting to reform over its tattered neck.

Puck!

The blade of light penetrated its chest and neck, scattering a large volume of red blood. The following strikes managed to cut off the creature’s arms.

Thump!

The limbs fell to the floor after being cut by Dragon Blade. However, new flesh started to appear on the lacerations and the Troll King attempted to restore itself.

“Beep!”

At the sound of Theo Milner’s whistle, the remaining griffons flocked towards the body parts of the Troll King and started to peck. Blood and flesh burst without rest. But its recovery speed was quick. The griffons would reach their limits soon.

“Karuta!”

“Tsk! Leave it to me!”

Whooooo!

Karuta spat out blood from his mouth, then swung a steel mace with his usable hand towards the Troll King’s legs.

Puck!

The Troll King’s legs, which were as durable as stone pillars, started to collapse. Eventually, the large figure of the Troll King fell to the ground.

‘Now…!’

Recalling his battle with the Troll King in the past, Raven placed all of his remaining energy into the sword.

“Kuaaaahh!”

Raven threw his sword with a mighty roar.

Shaaaauk! Boom!

The sword shot through the air with a trail of lights, accurately hitting the creature’s right chest.

Fwoosh!

A flame erupted from the contact point, burning the Troll King’s heart from the inside.

“Hmm…!”

A hint of surprise appeared in Jean Oberon’s eyes. Surprisingly, the one who went against causality seemed to be aware that the Troll King’s heart was located in its right chest, and that it was the creature’s core.

“Perhaps…?”

He narrowed his eyes at a flitting thought, but quickly shook his head.

“That can’t be. There is no way he would have been able to survive from this battle…”

It had to be a coincidence. Perhaps the man was convinced that he would be able to kill the Troll King by dealing an all-out blow to its core to destroy it.

“He seems exhausted. Well, it was an impressive effort at the least.”

Jean Oberon murmured silently as the battle neared its end. The Troll King’s parts were wriggling to reconstruct its original figure, and Raven was struggling as he approached the monster with the last of his strength.

Woosh!

Raven pulled out the sword from the Troll King’s chest. The monster’s recovery was still ongoing.

Woong! Woong!

The black core was regenerating even after facing a dragon’s spirit head on. After looking at the core, Raven raised his head towards the sky.

Soldrake was completely dominating Biskra. It was likely that the battle would soon conclude with Soldrake’s Dragon Breath. In the far distance, Raven could feel Jean Oberon looking down at himself from the black sphere located on the ceiling.

Grin.

A smile appeared around Raven’s bloody mouth.

“You said causality, didn’t you? To get something, you have to give something. Thanks to you, I am now certain. I realized how I was able to kill the monster’s king at that time.”

Raven raised his sword and once again stabbed at the Troll King’s regenerating core.

Crack!

Its core was destroyed once more. However, the dozens of fragments emitted a feeble light and started to merge once again.

Jean Oberon laughed at the sight.

“It’s no use. No humans, even if you possess the Spirit of the Dragon, will be able to destroy the king of the monsters that I crea…”

The smile suddenly disappeared from Jean Oberon’s face.

Raven stood on the chest of the Troll King. After he destroyed the core of the Troll King, he pulled back the sword. Then, without delay, he twisted his wrist and pulled back the sword.

Puck!

“Keugh!”

The blade penetrated Raven’s curled figure and exited from his back.

He knelt on the ground.

“Your graceee!”

“You insane…!”

Theo Milner and Karuta became filled with shock. They were unable to understand the situation in front of their eyes. Why had Raven stabbed himself in the chest?

“Pendragon!”

Karuta ran towards him while roaring.

Blood gushed from Raven’s chest and mouth, and his body lay collapsed on top of the Troll King’s chest. As Karuta reached out his hand towards Raven, the hot, crimson blood made contact with the exposed core of the Troll King.

Passh…

The blood evaporated into red steam and disappeared. Along with the disappearing steam, the color of the nucleus, which was glistening with evil blackness, started to change.

Paaaaahh!

The Troll King’s core gradually lost its shape while sprinkling brilliant silver-white light. The Troll King’s body parts had been wriggling to reform into a complete body. However, its body parts dissolved into dark, red blood and dyed the ground as the core transformed. The muddy liquid emanated a putrid smell.

The terrorizer of the Great Forest and the South, the King of the Monsters, was now dead.

But its death was accompanied by someone’s life.

“Hey, you crazy bastard!”

Karuta held Raven’s collapsing body.

A pale complexion and lifeless eyes.

“Dammit!”

He rushed to check Raven’s pulse, but he could not feel anything. The heart had already stopped beating.

Alan Pendragon was dead.

“Keuu… Kuwaaaghh!”

Karuta thundered. His face was already colored with blood, but bloody tears started to flow from his eyes and once again stained his red face.

Theo Milner had dismounted his griffon. He was on his knees, silently trembling with a disbelieving expression.

Jean Oberon watched the entire situation unfold from the black sphere.

“…..!”

It was truly hard to believe. He would have never thought a human would be willing to fight against evil at the expense of his own life. Moreover, he had already known the only method to destroy the Troll King’s core.

“Has he… Has he already defeated my creation once before…?”

He could not believe it, but he was forced to accept it.

The one who defied causality had not died while fighting his creation. Rather, he had died somewhere else before returning to this place.

“But it’s over. Now you will be reborn as the King of Death. With the sword you hold in your hand, you will condemn the Dragon Queen…”

Jean Oberon grinned as he turned his head.

With the death of her companion, Soldrake would be left in silence without the soul’s communion and resonance. She would rampage. Then, the one who would become the king of all death and evil would take care of her.

With such thoughts in his head, Jean Oberon glanced towards Soldrake. She had destroyed Biskra’s wings and had cornered him to the ground already.

“Hmm?”

Jean Oberon became startled. Despite the death of her soul companion, Soldrake wasn’t running wild. Even though her entire body was covered with wounds, her eyes were devoid of any emotions as she looked down at Raven’s body. Rather, her expression seemed even colder and more heartless than before.

[One has gone, and one will come. You without a name, my companion has corrected the twist in causality.]

“What…”

Jean Oberon attempted to speak. But then,

Paaaa…!

A blue light began to flutter over the dark red remains of the Troll King.

“…..!”

Jean Oberon’s eyes quivered. He could see someone standing up in the growing light.

Resurrection.

Duke Pendragon had resurrected from his death.

“Oi, w, what’s going on? Y, you died already, didn’t you?”

Karuta stuttered. He looked as if he had seen a ghost.

The Pendragon scarecrow had died for sure. He had personally confirmed that the human’s heart had stopped. So how could he be standing in front of him right now?

“I did die. And now… I might die again.”

Raven smiled bitterly. He had no strength left in his body.

It had been the same in the past.

He had been prepared to die when he had miraculously killed the Troll King. His final attack had destroyed the Troll King’s core, and the creature’s body started to collapse on top of him. He abandoned any hope of survival.

As the Troll King’s broken ribs stabbed Raven’s chest, he used his scimitar to shatter the Troll King’s chest again, knowing that it would regenerate anyways. He knew his actions to be futile, but he had acted while preparing for death.

When he finally came to his senses after a long time, the Troll King was dead, and he was alive. The penetration wound from the Troll King’s ribs had already healed as well.

As such, Raven had been able to defeat the Troll King and regained his regenerative abilities and immortal body. At the time, Raven had attributed the victory as a miraculous accident. There was no comprehensible explanation for it otherwise.

However, he had understood as he faced the Troll King once more.

His victory had been neither luck nor a miracle.

The Troll King directly expressed the values of its creator. Jean Oberon stated that he watched, coordinated, and looked over the causality of the world.

‘To obtain something, you must sacrifice another.’

It was a basic principle of magic, and at the same time, it was an iron rule that Jean Oberon abided by as he observed and judged the world. Nothing in the world could avoid death and last forever. He could not create such an unbelievable creature.

Thus, Jean Oberon had created the Troll King’s core by projecting his own philosophy and definition of ‘causality’.

In other words, to destroy the Troll King’s core, a person had to sacrifice their own life and pour his own blood on the Troll King’s core.

But who could know such a method? And who would be able to dominate the Troll King and sacrifice themselves to destroy the core?

In the end, it was safe to say that it was impossible for a man to kill the Troll King, which reflected the cause and justice of Jean Oberon.

However, one person had achieved it. Twice.

“Y, you, are you sure you are okay? There’s nothing wrong with your body, right?”

Karuta looked over Raven’s body in disbelief, and Raven nodded in response.

“I am fine. Of course, I’m a lot different compared to before.”

He realized as he stabbed his own heart. He would never be able to express the Troll King’s regeneration again, and he would not be able to revive.

In the end, as the price for killing the Troll King, he paid with the power of regeneration he obtained.

But it did not matter.

He had defied death twice already. He was satisfied that he was able to resurrect. Above all, he had something incomparably precious than regeneration and an immortal body.

A friend named Karuta, and…

“Sol…”

Raven turned his head towards Sol. She had expressed no doubt about his judgement or behaviour when he stabbed himself in the heart.

Raven Valt. He was resurrected as a true ‘human’ and Duke Pendragon.