The Duke's Son :Re
Chapter 98

Chapter 98

“Huh?”

A group of people preparing to camp stared at the distant sky.

Black smoke covered the horizon.

“What’s that? Is there a fire?”

“I guess there was a fight between the students.”

"Nonsense! What type of bully fights by burning down the entire forest?”

“Kids these days are scary.”

“Stop talking nonsense and go check.”

“Eh? Why～ Leave it to the guards.”

Dozens of elite monsters and boss monsters appeared on Pearl Island every day, and the main task of the attack squad was to raid those that respawned at least every twelve hours.

In other words, they were busy. They had to wander around the island, which was as big as Gangwon-do, all day long.

The senior scolded the colleague who grumbled that he wanted to rest. “Have you forgotten about the Death Knight who showed up a few days ago and stole the Troll Lord? We need to identify and respond to any possible variables.”

"Okay, I understand. Sigh, it’s hard to even get a chance to eat these days.”

They, the Second Attack Squad, had no interest in the safety of the school or the students. Separate armed forces were already in charge of the security of Lion’s Castle, and the Second Attack Squad’s affiliation wasn’t with the White Night Foundation but with the Association.

***

It was completely over.

The team leaders had fled, and Department Manager Gu had fallen.

“A-ahhhh... ”

Song Se-Yeong raised his trembling hands in an attempt to stop the orc from swinging its mace at Department Manager Gu’s face, which had already been heavily damaged.

However, his mana had run out.

The spell forming at his fingertips flickered and dispersed in vain.

“N-no... ”

Even if they didn’t have a particularly special relationship, it was horrifying to see someone he’d met every weekend for months being killed in front of him. Moreover, it made the sacrifice of that freshman student in vain.

Song Se-Yeong remembered the back of Jae-Hyeok, who remained alone to face the ogre. That memory made him shout and run forward.

He couldn’t use mana?

It was enough to use his limbs.

Department Manager Gu needed to live. Everyone had to escape safely together. Only then could he feel less sorry when he put flowers on Jae-Hyeok’s grave.

“Student Se-Yeong!”

“Shit!”

The employees chased after Song Se-Yeong.

How could they feel at ease? First Kang Jae-Hyeok and then Department Manager Gu... twice in a row, they’d witnessed a hero sacrificing himself to save others. They naturally wanted to help Department Manager Gu as well.

They knew it was hopeless.

However, abandoning Department Manager Gu didn’t guarantee they would escape safely. Rather, they thought they should bring at least one more orc with them as a companion to the underworld to ease Kang Jae-Hyeok and Department Manager Gu’s resentment.

“Ohhhhh!”

Kuahahahat!

The battlefield was mixed with the shouts of those who were determined to die and the laughter of the orcs mocking them.

Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps. It was strange. It wasn’t loud, but each step clearly rang in their ears.

Immediately afterward, there was an explosion.

The eyes of the humans and orcs, which had been burning with killing intent toward each other, turned in the same direction.

“I knew there were many ugly people in the world.”

If it weren’t for his facial expressions, the boy that appeared could’ve been mistaken for a statue.; that sharp and harmonious face of his looked at the crowd with an unreadable expression. It was hard to tell if he was smiling or crying.

He continued, “But these days, I’m learning that there are many beautiful people.”

Kang Jae-Hyeok.

The boy who was thought to be dead had returned. And he was even in good health.

“H-how?”

Everyone felt like they had seen a ghost. However, Jae-Hyeok was definitely alive. His motion of shaking off the orc blood and brain matter from his hands was energetic.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Jae-Hyeok took out a glass bottle and opened the stopper. A sweet smell filled the battlefield.

This was the high-grade potion he’d received from Cho Seong-Hyeon last time. Despite having only one bottle left, Jae-Hyeok poured it on Department Manager Gu’s body.

He didn’t hesitate at all. It was the same attitude he’d had when he’d used a high-grade potion on Park Joo-Bong.

Department Manager Gu’s wounds slowly healed, and people sighed with relief. Even symptoms of potion poisoning couldn’t completely suppress the regenerative power of a high-grade potion.

Gruruk!

The orcs glared at Jae-Hyeok as if they wanted to eat him. However, the orcs didn’t immediately attack due to their superiors’ orders.

The orc mages calmed down their subordinates before taking turns to cast magic.

Enchant, Haste, Strength... the aura around the orcs who received various buffs increased significantly.

Only then did the orc mages point Jae-Hyeok in unison, making the hearts of Song Se-Yeong and the Jaegyeong employees sink.

Jae-Hyeok remained calm and reached out with an indifferent expression.

Kieek?

The first orc to arrive was flustered.

The human’s hand had blocked the spear that it had thrust with all its might, and now its spear wouldn’t budge at all.

Name: Kang Jae-Hyeok.

Level: 40

Mana: 1,730/1,730

[Strength: 173], [Stamina: 173], [Agility: 134], [Magic: 173], [Insight: 134]

Skills: [Noble Chivalry], [King’s Roar], [Empty]

These were Jae-Hyeok’s pure specs after killing the ogre. Now his stats weren’t far behind compared to mid-tier A-class players.

It was the result and proof of all his hard work up to this point.

Baaaang!

Jae-Hyeok stole the spear from the orc and threw it, skewering five- or six orcs and killing them.

The scimitar swung by a startled orc warrior was sliced in half by Jae-Hyeok’s sword-drawing technique. Then as he sheathed his sword, he spun around and slammed his scabbard into an incoming mace.

Kek!

The orc was struck in the face by its own rebounding mace and collapsed with a scream. Behind it, Jae-Hyeok spotted another two orcs with their backs to him. They became his next targets.

Baang!

Jae-Hyeok leaped forward by trampling on the orc’s head. This caused the distance between him and an orc mage to be sharply reduced.

The orc mage chuckled. Having waited for this moment, it threw a fireball at the human kid who dared to attack it head-on.

“You should avoid that!” Song Se-Yeong knew the nature of the fireball and shouted urgently.

Jae-Hyeok was also aware of it.

He deliberately let his ankle get caught by the orc that was reaching for him and then swung his foot up with great strength.

The orc was lifted into the air in front of Jae-Hyeok and took the fireball on Jae-Hyeok’s behalf.

Slash!

There was an explosion, and then a beam of light sliced through the remnants of the flames and split the orc mage’s head in half.

Gruk?

The reaction of anyone experiencing the rapid speed of the Kang family’s swordsmanship for the first time was usually the same—

Puha!

—The orc mage’s eyes widened in shock before dying.

The weakness of Magic-type monsters was their low health. They couldn’t handle Jae-Hyeok’s attack power at all.

I can fight the mages with the same feeling as fighting with humans.

Jae-Hyeok let go of the mentality he’d had when fighting the ogre and relaxed.

His footsteps became lighter and much faster.

Kuweeook!

Kurarak!!

The orc warriors led their subordinates in a formation, but it was futile.

During swamp training, Jae-Hyeok had trampled on his classmates’ backs and heads for fun—no, for practice. In any case, that training had made the orcs’ encirclement tactics useless on Jae-Hyeok.

He used the orcs’ bodies and thrusting weapons as springboards to move through the throng and target the orc mages.

Kuaaaaaack!!

Before long, only four orc mages were left. They unleashed their rage without restraint. They stopped buffing their useless subordinates and started unleashing a barrage of fireballs.

Kieeeek!

Only the orcs died.

Jae-Hyeok deliberately moved so that enemies stood between enemies, treating the fireballs as if they were his own weapons.

“Uh? Huh?”

The mouths of Song Se-Yeong and the employees of Jaegyeong Pharmaceuticals moved silently, making them look like fish.

In their eyes, Jae-Hyeok literally seemed to be flying.

They clicked their tongues at the sight of several orcs exploding with every movement Jae-Hyeok made.

“Can orc mages use illusion-type magic?”

“N-no way?”

“Then, this is real?”

A single student could play around with an orc army that frustrated three B-class players!

“It’s real. The rumor that Jae-Hyeok awakened the Kang family’s Bloodline Skill must be real!”

“Is he so strong just because he awakened a Bloodline Skill?”

“It isn’t an ordinary Bloodline Skill. It’s the one that made the Kang family a ducal family. I don’t know the details, but I think there are a lot of special aspects.”

In the midst of the excited Jaegyeong Pharmaceuticals employees, Song Se-Yeong muttered, “His eyes... never turned gold.”

Kaaack!

The last remaining orc mage’s head fell to the ground, and the orc army broke down as the orc warriors began fleeing with the remaining orcs.

“Department Manager!”

The Jaegyeong Pharmaceuticals employees didn’t bother to go after the orcs. They prioritized dealing with the injured people, including Department Manager Gu.

“Student Jae-Hyeok, thank you... Huh?”

After confirming that Department Manager Gu had recovered significantly, the relieved people turned to thank Jae-Hyeok, only to become confused.

“W-where did he go?”

“H-he didn’t get caught by the orcs, did he?”

“The orcs were running away from Jae-Hyeok?”

“Did he chase after them?”

Orc corpses were low value and didn’t drop any good loot. They would likely only lose out if they chased for no reason; for example, they could fall into an ambush..

So why bother?

“Is he trying to trace back the one behind the tamed monsters?”

A chill went down the spines of those who wondered this. Just now, they had clearly witnessed Jae-Hyeok’s skills. However, the master of the orc army was definitely A-class or higher. There was no way someone who tamed orc mages and an ogre was ordinary.

“I will follow him!”

“Wait.”

Someone called out to stop Song Se-Yeong, who was in a hurry to chase after Jae-Hyeok.

It was Department Manager Gu. He’d finally come to his senses and struggled to speak in a cracking voice, “If you chase after him clumsily... the enemy will detect you. Don’t disturb him...”

Department Manager Gu had subconsciously heard Jae-Hyeok’s voice and the sound of him fighting earlier.

Only he knew how relieved he felt, knowing Jae-Hyeok was alive.

“...I understand.”

Song Se-Yeong was convinced and nodded.

The group then split into two.

Half of them went looking for Cho Seong-Hyeon while the other half collected the loot dropped by the orcs. It was for Jae-Hyeok, who would surely return.