Chapter 250

#Chapter 250: The Tin Knight and the Strange Resort (9)

“…So, you’re saying the summoned demons, stationed for defense, overreacted? Is that what we’re dealing with?”

“Y-yes! Of course, I’m not trying to dodge the blame for not controlling my underlings properly, but I swear, I swear we had no malice towards you! Please, have mercy…!”

A look of disbelief crossed Dorothea’s face.

‘Why is this guy shaking like a leaf?’

To be honest, there had been folks before who begged for their lives from the Tin Knight’s crew.

Like those thieving scoundrels who demanded tolls from travelers, or the ones who tried to flirt with the crew’s looks, or those brazen thieves who got robbed themselves after trying to storm the village where we stayed.

But those guys all got beat to a pulp first, and only after plenty of their comrades’ lives were lost did they come crawling to beg for mercy. It’s rare for someone to start panicking without even a real fight, like this guy.

More than that…

‘…This guy seems really strong, doesn’t he?’

Dorothea was a wizard.

Though she couldn’t predict movements or techniques like the Tin Knight or Adelheid, she was more than capable of evaluating magical results produced by her opponents.

And from that perspective, the so-called vampire, Camilla, was clearly a caliber of power that someone with mediocre skills wouldn’t even dare to replicate.

‘That hut over there. It looks ordinary, but it’s actually a golem! The surrounding area is warped and partially otherworldly, and the summoned creatures seem to mix wild animals, phantoms, and spirits… The barn behind it—could it be for harvesting blood? To survive without human beings?’

Considering their opponent was a vampire, it was clear that they had both magical prowess and superior physical abilities, along with racial traits.

Of course, the crew who had shattered the Tower of Control and dunked the Witch Mombi would never lose, but that meant that even being in a ‘state where a fight is at least plausible’, they could be classified as top-tier powerhouses by continental standards.

But seeing such a powerful being groveling for their life was shocking for Dorothea.

“Hang on, we need to talk for a minute, so just wait a bit.”

“Y-yes, understood! I’ll make sure no one interrupts your conversation!”

“Uh, right.”

And so, the crew started whispering among themselves.

“So vampires really do exist.”

[The Tin Knight laments that he never raised you to deny your comrades’ races!]

“No, that’s not what I meant!”

“Lower your voice, Adel. I mean, Sophia is far from an average vampire. By the way, Sophia, that one over there kept talking about ‘great generals’ and all. Got any idea why?”

“Hmm, not specifically? But it is pretty interesting. A massive war from an ancient era that isn’t even properly documented. It seems too random to just be a made-up story to sidetrack us, which makes it oddly credible. Don’t you think it’s similar for you, Dorothea?”

“Well, it does seem connected to that Rumpelstiltskin incident last time, so I wouldn’t say I’m uninterested. …But you’re surprisingly calm? Usually, you’d be shouting ‘boss fight! boss fight!’ at the top of your lungs.”

[The Tin Knight says kneeling briefly before the big battle is just to gain momentum, so it’s all good!]

For now, let’s hear them out; if things get suspicious, we can always smash them later.

After coming to a conclusion, the crew acted swiftly.

“First off, let me just say we have no clue about this ‘general’ stuff you keep mentioning. But if we listen closely, something might come to mind.”

Sophia may not be the ‘someone’ you think she is.

Dorothea brought that up while gauging the reaction from her opponent, but Camilla seemed a bit startled, yet didn’t show any hostility.

In truth, even Camilla was conflicted inside.

‘Just a simple misunderstanding? No, that can’t be right. Maybe she’s testing the waters. She could be the actual person with no awareness of it.’

Even if it turned out to really be an outsider with no connection at all, that wouldn’t be the worst-case scenario.

After all, this request for an explanation meant they weren’t a bunch of aggressive types ready to hunt down a vampire just because she happened to be one.

【Doesn’t tell lies.】

【Doesn’t intentionally omit or conceal parts of the story.】

【The contract lasts up to a day, after which it automatically nullifies.】

A blood oath was formed between Dorothea and Camilla, and her story began.

Long, long ago, in ancient times, a great war.

The invasion of the Underworld and the rejection from Heaven. The Eight Generals. Four Angels.

The Queen of Ash, who rallied the crumbling nations and defeated soldiers, fighting on until the end.

And one knight who battled tirelessly beneath the Queen.

“That’s about all I know.”

Maybe because she was relaying a tale not from her own experience but passed down through the generations.

Camilla’s story couldn’t honestly be considered flawless.

It was only natural to be ignorant of the war’s intricate details, and it was tough to understand precisely what ‘Underworld’ referred to, where the ‘People of the Underworld’ existed, or to lack details about the other generals, aside from the single one that vampires served. The overly vampire-centric narrative meant there were plenty of negatives about the heavenly or earthly beings that needed to be filtered through.

But regardless…

The crew couldn’t shake a feeling, as if some puzzle pieces were falling neatly into place.

The Eight Generals of the Underworld. The Eight Treasures of the Kingdom.

Vampires, Giants, Werewolves, and other non-human races or beings referred to as ‘legendary monsters’—the reason they don’t appear on the continent ties back to the interference of Heaven.

And there was the knight, said to have fought fiercely, even to the point of replacing parts of his own body, from an eastern country.

[The Tin Knight asks if he has something on his face!]

“…Nah, it’s fine. What are words even worth?”

Dorothea shook her head vigorously.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t surprised to learn that what she thought was a broken-down magical puppet was, in fact, a presumed ancient hero. But on the flip side, it did make sense how monstrous skills came from such a past.

If this guy turned out to be just some random ancient soldier A with no background, that would have been even more shocking.

‘Besides, he mentioned that he and the original owner of the body are different people.’

The being accompanying her was the current Tin Knight, not the past hero. Dorothea didn’t confuse that part.

Right now, her focus was on something else.

‘This information is something I’ve never read in books or heard in stories before. If anything, I’d only come across fragmented bits, but this was the first time I grasped the entire flow.’

It was easy to speculate the reason.

The Holy Kingdom, so grandly reigning above, surely wouldn’t be thrilled about this kind of content undermining their image.

Even aside from the Holy Kingdom, the ‘people of the Underworld’, who once aimed to wipe out the surface, the mention of these beings—now called monsters—wouldn’t sit well with rulers, making it hard to spread this knowledge among the common folks.

Keeping that groundwork in mind…

‘What exactly did Alingd plan?’

The one who initially encouraged the crew to come to this island was the South Witch’s apprentice, whose motives were difficult to read.

Apart from finding her suspicious, Dorothea had no doubts about Alingd’s abilities.

It made more sense to believe that such a capable witch knew what was on this island ‘and still decided’ to send the crew.

The tricky part was understanding her intent.

If sending them was a petty revenge for their prickly negotiation and a way to give them a hard time… well, that was easy to fathom. Later, she could just dish out some snarky remarks, and if need be, give that doll-like face a good ol’ Tin punch, and be done with it.

However, if she sent them knowing the vampire here wasn’t extremely hostile (after all, it had already been verified that Camilla hadn’t fed on human blood or flesh on this island thanks to Tuberosum’s Chalice), and that she was a being full of information… well then, things got a tad more complicated.

It would imply she’d dropped hints to the crew about the Eight Treasures and the ancient great war on purpose.

Just then, as Dorothea was lost in deep thought…

Thud, thud, thud!

A tremor shook the ground.

At first, she thought Camilla was concocting some scheme, but seeing her equally startled expression, she quickly realized it was a misconception.

The crew bolted outside the hut and gaped at the sight before them.

A giant shrouded in mist.

A being that could be described in no other way.

So massive, towering, and dark, it seemed capable of physically crushing the very island the crew was staying on.

Even with the sun still high in the sky, its mass cast a shadow that obscured the sun’s rays, creating a gloomy overcast.

Though it walked on two legs, its form was a far cry from human.

Its back was hunched, and it had some grotesque appendages that made it near impossible to guess its true shape.

As it approached the island, the sheer mass caused waves to crash upon the shore.

Camilla let out a scream.

“Dragon King!”

The name ‘Dragon King’ resonated with the crew.

These were the hindrances they first confronted at the resort.

Those beings who looked like a messy mix of humans and marine creatures had once tried to take Sophia away, claiming it was for the Dragon King.

Dorothea quickly asked, “What on earth is that thing? Do you know it?”

“One of the beings from the Underworld, hiding deep in the sea to evade Heaven’s eye during the great war. It built its own nation and army in the abyss. According to information snagged from the merfolk, I heard it was running low on life and couldn’t even move….”

“So, it finally made a desperate move after failing to fix its problem with subordinates.”

Considering the northern witch had used Sophia’s blood to heal herself, Dorothea was starting to wonder if the vampire was less a legendary monster and more like a legendary medicine of sorts.

The real question was, how to deal with this.

[The Tin Knight joyfully exclaims that the long-awaited boss battle has arrived!]

[The Tin Knight assesses that any horror event must end like this!]

Seeing the Tin Knight practically ready to dance with excitement beside her, Dorothea sighed and discarded the option of retreating.

Fine, better to crush it now than deal with any annoying aftermath later.

“Y-you’re thinking of fighting? If so, I’ll assist—”

“No, it’s fine. Just wait.”

With that, Dorothea silently activated Hyden’s gauntlet.

As the crew climbed onto the suddenly appearing wagon in mid-air, Camilla cast a confused and questioning glance.

Sure, the area around Camilla’s hut was nice enough, but just a little beyond was wild forest isolation.

Even if it were a joke, this setting was hardly suitable for a wagon ride. Moreover, even if they somehow broke through the forest, what did that even mean against an ocean creature?

Click, clank!

Camilla’s doubts were soon set to rest.

From the front of the wagon, a massive lance began to jut out, then it started spinning with ferocious speed.

Vwoom vwoom vwoom!

With grooves etched onto its surface, a wave of sword energy radiated outward.

The wagon charged ahead, plowing through all obstacles, and Camilla’s eyes widened as she witnessed something happen near the wagon.

In a matter of seconds, it reached the center of the island and barreled down towards the coast without a second thought.

“Ugh!” Camilla could only let out a sound of disbelief, but as she watched it magically transform into a ship-like form beneath the surface, her words vanished.

Boom! KABOOM!

Every time the cannon mounted on the wagon fired, the Dragon King let out a pained roar from within the mist.

Camilla recognized that these cannons weren’t loaded with mere gunpowder or solid metal, but were enchanted explosive magical devices.

Overwhelmed by a barrage of cannon attacks, the Dragon King swayed, dropping its head almost to the surface of the water.

Seizing the moment, the wagon accelerated directly toward the Dragon King’s head.

The wagon surged into the air somehow, hurtling directly down at the Dragon King’s head.

[The Tin Knight cries “It’s a steamship!!”]

The collision, or rather, the flattening, marked the end of the Dragon King’s long life.

Watching the spectacle unfold, Camilla thought to herself: no matter what these beings were, she’d never want to pick a fight with them again.