Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

Chapter 79: If There Are Dreams That Spur People On IV

＜If There Are Dreams That Spur People On, They Are Dreams That People Quickly Awaken From. Give The Peace Of Death To Those Cannot Stand IV＞

When one is beside an amazing person and attending to his needs, it feels as if one has also become part of his fame and power. It’s a falsehood adorned with borrowed plumes, but it’s a proud feeling. Even though I haven’t killed even one person. Even though I haven’t even stepped on the battlefield.

To be honest, it’s enjoyable. I had never thought that serving someone would be so fun.

It reminds me of what an adventurer I had fought together with once in the past said.

『You aren’t cut out to be a leader. You’re a person who shows his true ability when used by someone』

I had thought then that she had hit the nail on the head, but now that I’m actually in that situation, I’ve come to realize how right she was.

I’m a dog by nature, I guess.

Well, I suppose even a dog can make the one on top look good.

Like the previous day, His Majesty went into battle first thing in the morning.

The two horsemen rode across the snow-covered plain. Together with Regure, I watched over them from the watchtower.

Breakfast will be the pasta soup that I had prepped and put aside last night. When the battle ends, all I’ll have to do is heat up the pot and boil the pasta, and it’ll be done. I had slacked off, but I wanted to see His Majesty fight.

The enemy’s army had dwindled even further from when I saw it last.

With the telephoto function at maximum magnification, I measured their numbers using the targeting function.

There were 952 soldiers, comprised mainly of infantry and archers, and a paltry 15 cavalry. They were a mere shadow of the army I had seen at the beginning. The soldiers’ faces were pale, and morale was abysmal.

Well, a disaster in human form is attacking them. It must feel despairing.

I saw something distasteful behind the army.

People’s heads had been hung from a tattered flag.

It was a warning of what would happen to those who ran away.

The drastic decline in their numbers is probably not because His Majesty had killed so many of them, but due to desertion. Either that, or infighting.

The more people’s numbers become lackluster, the harder it becomes to hold them together. When it comes to an army, it has to keep on winning. A losing army cannot hold people’s hearts.

From the looks of things, they probably don’t even have a plan for dealing with His Majesty.

What is the black elf trying to achieve with these soldiers? Even for a war of attrition, it’s poorly done. I can’t imagine that it would diminish His Majesty’s splendor.

「Ahh, they’ve totally misjudged the time to quit」

「I see」

A mistake caused by the pride of the leader, huh? That’s his undoing, I suppose.

It’s the end for that Myriad King.

His Majesty ran him through with his lance.

Without mercy.

His Majesty swept the incoming arrows out of the sky and kicked away the infantry who were near him. There was no one to stop him. On the contrary, or rather, as expected, the soldiers started to flee.

The officers who slashed at the fleeing soldiers to send a message were all killed by Zamonglass.

Not even 50 had been killed, but the army had already scattered.

Looking bored, His Majesty rested his lance on his shoulder.

It’s over.

I’ll go put the pot on the――

It was then that a familiar sound rang out.It was a loud pop that tailed off.

A gunshot.

I heard Verxina scream. It was about to spill His Majesty to the ground because of the pain, but the loyal horse endured it on pure willpower and remained standing,

And then collapsed with blood spurting from its head.

「What!?」

「Huh, what happened?」

Regure was unable to make sense of the situation.

Other than me and a limited few of the enemies, there is probably no one who can.

「Tell His Majesty to retreat at once」

「Hnn?」

「Regure! Quickly!」

「Got it」

Regure leapt off the watchtower. After a seemingly weightless landing, she raced forward, faster than a normal horse.

I turned my eyes back to the battlefield.

Though they were surprised, the soldiers who had ran away reversed course.

The mythical monster had fallen from his horse. That alone was probably enough to make them mistake him for a human just like them.

They should have quit while they were ahead, but the cavalry charged His Majesty.

The sword made of Rmir steel flashed through the air.

Compared to his skill with the lance, His Majesty’s skill with the sword was something otherworldly.

No one would expect to see such techniques coming from a man with a giant frame wielding a great-sword. His techniques were crisp, smooth, and had a nimbleness that was reminiscent of the techniques of a certain goblin who wielded a rapier. In no way would a person who had any semblance of common sense ever imagine that such techniques could be performed using a great-sword.

The cavalry were cleaved apart, horse and all, with such vividness that their cross-sections could be seen.

They were cut down with so much speed that they didn’t even have the time to realize that they had died.

“The lance slays the enemy savagely and creates fear. The sword is beautiful and adorns the path to one’s death”Those were the words of Velsvain that I had heard from Shuna.

His Majesty had been given the nickname of『Secret Child of Velsvain』, but if that is a fact rather than a metaphor, then there is only one thing I can think of.

Gladvain-sama had thought that the blood of Velsvain was only being passed down among the elves.

That’s the blood of Lumidia.

However, she had another daughter.

Ashtalia’s coat-of-arms is a dragon. Not just any dragon, but a dragon of bone, a dragon’s corpse.

His Majesty is most likely a descendant of Lola.

If that’s the case, then it’s no wonder she fled to the right continent. It was to hide her child from her mother and sister’s retribution. Or perhaps to spread her evil on another land.

I now understand why the thing called the crest of the Brave had chosen this place as the location where I was summoned to.

These people are all connected to me. To the people that I’ve met.

And I have the means to save them. I have the knowledge of what that is. I know how to deal with it.

「Agathion」

Holding the magic sword at the ready, I searched for the sniper with the telephoto function at maximum magnification. I spotted the reflection from the lens. Ten o’clock, right in front of the forest, a person in a hooded cloak was lying low.

What that person was aiming at His Majesty was a M1 Garand, a semi-automatic rifle, with a sniper’s scope attached to it.

From what I could tell, it’s an 80 year old antique, but in this world, it’s something that can kill a hero with a single trigger pull.

「Kill the shooter」

Pushing the hilt of the magic sword, I unleashed it.

It’s not as fast as a bullet, but my sword is also deadly. Moreover, it’s persistent.

The sword leapt forward, cutting a trail through the sky.

It closed in on the sniper at almost instantaneous speed, but missed. No, the sniper had disappeared into a flash of light.

A portal?! One on such a small scale and activated instantly?!

Rana had used something similar to that type of magic before, but that was magic that could only bring things from elsewhere, and couldn’t be entered by the caster.

「Hey」

I heard a voice directly behind me.

Pulling out my karambit without a moment’s delay, I spun around while covering my vitals, and swung. By chance, my swing was stopped by the stock of the rifle.

「Agathion! Come back!」

「You’re using something interesting」

It was the voice of a young woman.

「Wait, are you……」

I could see the long ears peculiar to elves, dark skin, and eyes as black as night.

The returning Agathion tried to run her through. Just in time, the woman disappeared, leaving behind a residue of light.

「I’ll see you again」

Her voice came from the bottom of the watchtower.

Agathion chased after her again. This time, the woman disappeared completely from view.

I sheathed the magic sword that had come back.

I remained vigilant.

But why? Why did she target the horse?

I looked at His Majesty.

He had slaughtered all of the cavalry.

Soldiers who were driven by a desire to make their name were rushing towards His Majesty.

One swing, two swings of the sword, and a mountain of corpses was created. Even so, they didn’t retreat, nor did they stop.

His Majesty was undaunted, but he had lost his steed, Verxina, and he couldn’t move because he was protecting that horse as well.

But,

Zamonglass burst into the fray. He too dismounted from his horse.

With a swing of his sword, he deprived the enemy soldiers of their spears, and then attacked them meticulously, aiming only for their limbs. He then made sure to let the fallen enemies scream as loudly as possible before killing them.

He kicked up and strew the corpses everywhere, raining entrails and blood down on everything.

His fighting style was rough, hardly what anyone would expect from an old knight, but it befitted a person called the Scarlet Knight.

Zamonglass acted as the rear guard, and His Majesty hefted Verxina onto his shoulders. While carrying the horse, which was as big as a small elephant, His Majesty dashed away.

Regure caught up with them and backed up Zamonglass.

Grabbing a large lance with her left hand, she threw it at the soldiers at close range. Five or six of them were skewered and sent flying.

The two of them were scattering the soldiers, but their frenzy didn’t abate.

I thought about sending Agathion to help them, but I needed it to keep shooters in check. The sniper from earlier could still be lurking around somewhere. There was a chance that two of them would be shot at.

Heads and limbs went flying.

Blood and guts soaked the ground, making steam rise from it.

I couldn’t hear them, but Regure started laughing, and Zamonglass was drawn into laughing with her.

They had the look of beasts that menaced people.

Their crazed laughter washed over the soldiers and brought them back to their senses.

Paralyzed by fear, the soldiers stopped in their tracks.

It was then that the two of them went on the offensive for the first time.

Lances in hand, they proceeded to rip through the soldiers like they were paper.

Charging straight at the general at the rear.

Be it arrows or spears, nothing could stop them.

The two of them reached him easily.

Criss-crossing lances sent the general’s head flying. With a grim expression, it joined its companions among the heaps of corpses and rivers of blood.

His Majesty’s god-like strength inspires tremendous awe. Because of how tremendous it is, he makes armies retreat without a fight.

The strength these two possess is gruesome. They pile up a mountain of flesh, blood and excrement. Moreover, after being terrified, instant death awaits. It’s the strength of fearsome demons.

It’s a nightmarish pinnacle of human strength.

That’s right. This is what a battle is like. I feel like I’ve been seeing the way His Majesty fights in my dreams.

I waited for them to leave the battlefield before relaxing my guard.

I descended the watchtower to see His Majesty checking Verxina’s wound.

It was a horse with strong life force. Despite taking a bullet to the head, it was still fighting to stay alive.

「Your Majesty」

「Souya, get the bandages. This wound is deeper than I expected」

「Your Majesty, it cannot be saved. Please put it out of its misery」

「Don’t talk nonsense! Verxina is the finest among the finest horses that has supported me for half my life! A scratch like this is nothing to it!」

「It has been hit in the brain. The only way to remove the cause of the injury is to split its head open, but even if you do that, it will never run properly ever again. Please let it rest here」

With a sickening smell of blood wafting from them, Zamonglass and Regure returned.

「Zamonglass! Healing!」

「Yes, Your Majesty」

Zamonglass drew close to Verxina and examined the wound.

「This is…… Your Majesty, it’s no good. There’s something like an arrowhead embedded inside. I can close the wound, but getting it out is……」

「It’s fine. Do it」

Zamonglass did as he was told and chanted the healing magic.

The wound healed, but Verxina struggled and thrashed about even harder in pain. The bullet was pressing on its brain. It must be in a hell of pain. It was hard to watch.

「Regure, do you have any ideas?」

「Sorry, Your Majesty. There’s nothing I can do」

With proper surgical equipment, the bullet could probably be removed, but even if it were to be removed, would magic be able to regenerate even brain cells, I wonder?

Either way, we don’t have a choice. Letting it suffer any more would only tarnish the pride of this great horse.

「Your Majesty, I’ll do it」

When I pulled out Agathion, His Majesty grabbed its blade.

「Stop………………I’ll do it」

His Majesty drew the great-sword from his back, prayed, and then whispered, “Forgive me.”

Verxina was decapitated in a single blow. It probably died painlessly.

His Majesty hugged Verxina’s head in his arms, and walked away with an unsteady gait. I thought of going after him, but Regure stopped me.

Both Zamonglass and Regure then poured water on themselves and washed away the blood that had splashed on them.

There wasn’t anything that I could do.

Wow, Dainsleif is Gladvain’s descendant. Sure, it’s only Souya’s theory, but I don’t think he’s wrong……

But yup, guns are back, ladies and gentlemen! And it’s a M1 Garand, the standard U.S. service rifle during World War II! And a dark-skinned elven sniper?!

Verxina~ It was only for a few short chapters, but I liked that horse…

And an apology, I said a few chapters back that it would be double releases till the end of the arc, but this chapter turned out to be longer than I had expected, and the next one is about the same, so I’m releasing them normally instead.

Anyway, it’s getting more and more interesting, isn’t it? Not just a can, but even a rifle has made an appearance now. Why is it in a dark-skinned elf’s hands? Are we getting dark elves? Stay tuned!

Happy Holidays!