Chapter 24: The Drowning Troll

Chapter 24

“Renki, hold on tight.”

Hay Styles spoke to Renki, who was clinging to his staff as if it were a horizontal bar.

“Yes!”

Immediately afterward, Hay launched himself forward, as if treading on air.

Still clumsy with his command of the attribute, Hay Styles shot forward like a bullet, only to land with an almost catastrophic crash right into the center of Kisen’s group.

“Ugh!”

“Aargh!”

Though Hay managed a decent landing, Renki and Lexa tumbled inelegantly across the ground.

“Ahahahahaha! It’s *you* fools who are going to be annihilated!”

Adel, who had previously given off the impression of a sophisticated model in ‘Estuman’, now cackled like a madwoman.

From Adel’s outstretched hands, fireballs erupted with the terrifying ferocity of a machine gun. Thanks to her relentless assault, most of the magic beasts dared not approach.

“Are you both alright?!”

Chen helped Lexa and Renki to their feet.

“I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

Lexa mumbled, prompting Hay Styles to click his tongue in disapproval.

He had heard Lexa possessed a peculiar constitution, prone to motion sickness or internal injuries whenever she used magic. It was baffling how she, with such a body, could ascend to a 5th-class mage.

When they were ambushed, Lexa had deployed a large-scale defensive spell, a feat that had allowed them to narrowly escape imminent annihilation. Without her intervention, they would surely have perished, especially since the mages were the primary targets.

“Adel, there are three trolls in total.”

“Three trolls?! Hahahaha! We’re all going to die, aren’t we?”

Adel, who had been laughing at Hay Styles’ words, suddenly turned serious.

“I thought there were only Black Orcs, but trolls? I’ve only ever seen them in books! What are we going to do?!”

Chen tore at his curly hair in despair.

“Is there no way to deal with them?”

“Trolls have such rapid regeneration that we need to completely sever their heads! But their bones are almost as hard as steel, making it incredibly difficult to cut through! What should we do?”

Hay Styles glanced back at where they had just been. The troll, struck by the arrow imbued with lightning, was already recovering. ‘That arrow should have hit its head.’

The mercenaries swung their swords mercilessly, attempting to slow its regeneration, but it was futile. It almost seemed as though the more wounds it sustained, the faster its recovery became.

‘What to do, indeed.’

“Oh well, let’s give it a try.”

Hay Styles immediately activated his attribute. An invisible blade cleaved through the air, striking the troll’s neck, but failed to sever it. He felt a blush of embarrassment.

“Hmm, no good.”

The blades Hay Styles conjured were simply too small to decapitate a troll. Even launching dozens at once proved ineffective.

Moreover, the surrounding mercenaries obstructed his line of sight, preventing him from unleashing his full arsenal without restraint. His unsuccessful attacks merely fueled the troll’s rage further.

“My heavens! At this rate, we’ll truly be annihilated! We have to eliminate the trolls! Captain Ludor!”

Chen cried out. Just then, a ‘Three-Horned Boar’ that had lost its rider charged towards them.

Kisen Ludor burst from his spot, lunged at the boar, and cleaved it in half. A scent of burning flesh wafted up from where his blade had passed, imbued with a fire aura.

“I’ll take care of the trolls.”

“No, stay put!”

Hay Styles shouted urgently, fearing Kisen might rush out.

Kisen Ludor, despite his gaunt appearance, was an Aura Expert. While he could easily dispatch the trolls if he engaged, the problem was the high probability of their formation collapsing. Kisen was almost solely responsible for dealing with the magic beasts that breached Chen and Adel’s rear attacks. If Kisen were to leave, this group would be finished. Therefore, dealing with the trolls from a distance was the wisest course of action. Knowing this, he had undoubtedly remained in his position until now.

“I have an idea. Cover me.”

“If we cover you, can you kill the trolls, Mr. Styles?”

“Yes.”

“Understood. Kranze, cover the spirit user!”

At Kisen’s command, the mercenaries echoed his words and formed a circle around Hay Styles.

‘If I can’t sever its neck…’

Hay Styles extended his hand towards the troll. The troll was brutally striking down three of the lord’s private soldiers at once with its fists, as if slamming dolls to the ground.

“Master.”

Renki called out, his voice laced with concern. Hay Styles glanced at him, a faint smile playing on his lips. Even as many around him were gripped by excitement and terror, Hay remained composed. To be able to smile in such a situation… To Renki’s eyes, he seemed utterly fearless.

He curled his ring and pinky fingers, shaping his hand like a gun, and aimed it at the troll. As he drew forth the energy of water from within his body, a droplet formed in the air at his fingertip. The droplet steadily grew, expanding until it was larger than the troll’s head.

Lexa, who had been hunched on the ground, coughing and retching, widened her eyes.

“What are you trying to do?”

Hay Styles offered no reply.

The troll grew steadily closer, kicking mercenaries aside as if they were footballs. Hay Styles’ arm trembled, perhaps from exhaustion. He clicked his tongue, then firmly braced his right wrist with the staff held in his left hand.

When the water droplet had expanded sufficiently,

“Bang.”

He flicked his finger upwards, as if pulling a trigger.

A colossal mass of water shot forth, engulfing the troll’s head.

“Guh—?!”

The mass of water clung to the troll’s head like a slime. The troll thrashed, hitting its own face, trying desperately to dislodge the water.

‘Don’t burst, don’t burst, don’t burst.’

Hay Styles gritted his teeth, using a technique he was attempting for the first time, purely from imagination. Fortunately, the water neither burst nor dissipated.

The troll opened its mouth wide, letting out enraged roars, but no sound escaped the watery sphere. Soon, gasping for breath, it clawed at its throat in frantic confusion. The troll couldn’t even hold its breath. Its struggles intensified, and the mercenaries quickly recoiled. The tormented troll, eyes wide and bulging, began to gulp down the water.

Then, abruptly, all movement ceased, and it toppled over like a puppet with its strings cut.

Hay Styles dispelled his magic and watched the troll for a moment.

The troll did not rise. Even the wounds inflicted by the mercenaries just before its demise had not healed.

Drowning.

He had succeeded.

A smirk twisted Hay Styles’ lips. This method, based on the assumption that while wounds could regenerate, water filling the lungs could not be reversed, had worked perfectly. If even *that* could be healed, it wouldn’t be a troll; it would be an immortal.

“My word…”

Chen murmured from behind him. The mercenaries, too, began to stir with murmurs.

“He killed a troll? Is it really dead?”

“No, what on earth did he *do*?”

Hay Styles changed the direction of his ‘finger gun’.

“Next.”

Two still remained. Perhaps enraged by the death of their kin, both charged forward.

“You can’t get both at once, can you?”

Lexa rose to her feet, her mouth stained with blood.

“You’re quite clever, Mr. Unemployed.”

Lexa formed a hand seal. After a few intricate motions, a spell unfurled. Unlike Hay Styles, who was still clumsy with his new techniques, Lexa instantly conjured a massive pillar of water, trapping one of the trolls that had been charging from a distance.

Then, she turned to Hay Styles, a triumphant smile on her face.

“This is how it’s done, right?”

‘So, she didn’t become a 5th-class mage for nothing,’ Hay Styles thought, grinning brightly with amusement.

‘Interesting.’

Hay Styles, too, shot a mass of water at a troll, creating it even faster than before.

As the trolls fell one after another, the orcs, perhaps sensing danger, began to shriek. It was in the Elvish tongue, so no one understood it. The magic beasts attacked with renewed ferocity, but they were mercilessly slaughtered by the combined assault of Adel and Chen, and the blades of Kisen and the mercenaries.

The troll trapped in Lexa’s pillar of water struggled for a long time before finally succumbing. Hay Styles’ troll thrashed its arms wildly in all directions, smashing trees, before it, too, collapsed.

****

Pwoooooh—!

As the trolls died, a trumpet call echoed from the mountain. The attacking orcs and magic beasts all recoiled simultaneously.

Hay Styles turned his gaze towards the mountaintop. A portion of the black horde, riding ‘Three-Horned Boars’, was visible.

Just then, two surviving Black Orcs leaped onto the back of a fleeing ‘Asteria’s Wolf’.

“Not so fast!”

Kisen Ludor shouted, hurling his sword. The blade, imbued with a fire aura, pierced through the Black Orc’s back and embedded itself deep into a tree on the opposite side.

One orc fled without looking back. Adel swung her arms, unleashing volleys of fire arrows, but failed to hit the swiftly moving wolf even once.

“That damned orc bastard!”

Ultimately, they lost him.

“Pursue them!”

Another knight shouted. It was Lord Mesht.

‘I hadn’t seen him, so I thought he was dead already. Where did *he* pop out from from?’

“Don’t pursue! Kranze, halt!”

No sooner had Hay Styles cursed under his breath than Kisen shouted, contradicting Lord Mesht. The Kranze mercenaries near him echoed his command.

“Do not pursue! Halt! Halt!”

At this, the lord’s private soldiers and mercenaries who had been chasing the magic beasts at Lord Mesht’s command hesitated.

“I said pursue them!”

Lord Mesht roared. His subordinate soldiers merely exchanged uneasy glances, none of them moving. They seemed to be at a loss as to which command to follow.

“Fool. Doesn’t he know chasing them now would be suicide?”

Chen muttered. Hay Styles collected all his spirit power and took a deep breath.

“Is it over?”

Renki asked.

“Who knows.”

Perhaps they were flustered by the death of the trolls, their strongest force? Not only the orcs but also the other magic beasts rapidly retreated.

From the looks of the situation, this battle seemed to have concluded, for now. However, they couldn’t let their guard down. There was no guarantee there wouldn’t be a second attack.

“Ludor! Why are you telling them not to pursue!”

Lord Mesht stormed over, seething, and grabbed Kisen by the collar, shouting.

“Those cursed monsters killed Lord Chase! We must pursue them immediately and get our revenge!”

“Lord Mesht, was Lord Chase the only one who died?”

Kisen Ludor retorted irritably, his face weary, as he swatted away Lord Mesht’s arm.

“Are you refusing to obey orders? With Lord Chase dead, I am the commander of this expedition!”

“If a bastard like that takes the wheel, we’ll all be ‘Kaez D’kail’d’ as the orcs say.”

Hay Styles muttered.

“What? What did you just say?!”

Though he had intended for it to be heard, Lord Mesht, with uncanny hearing, bellowed back.

“If you have something to say, speak clearly! Don’t be a man who talks behind people’s backs!”

Hay Styles, irritated, was about to retort, but Kisen stepped between them.

“Everyone is exhausted; let’s call it a day. Lord Mesht, the sun will set soon. We don’t know how much strength they have left, so continuing to fight would be reckless. We came here to subjugate the enemy, not to die, did we? Let’s descend and regroup for now.”

Lord Mesht merely fumed, unable to argue. Perhaps it was due to the fierce gazes of the wounded and exhausted mercenaries around them.

“If you don’t like it, go fight with your soldiers then.”

Hay Styles taunted. Lord Mesht bristled, but Kisen intervened again.

“Calm down, and let’s head back for now. Continuing to fight is impossible at the moment. And Mr. Styles, stop provoking Lord Mesht.”

Kisen sighed as he spoke. Hay Styles quirked an eyebrow. Thus, the retreat was decided.

Lord Mesht, resentful that his orders had been ignored, kicked the ground in frustration.