CHAPTER 474: RAID AFTERMATH

Despite the overwhelming power of the King of the Forest, due to Shardu’s stronger power and agile movements, the King of the Forest is easily bested. It wasn’t because he was ill-equipped or anything; it was just that Shardu is a lot stronger than the King of the Forest. Compared to a beast lord, a mere king is not enough to deal with them, even if they try. The only enemies that can easily best Shardu in battle are other beast lord candidates or perhaps entities that are stronger than Shardu himself.

The King of the Forest is bleeding profusely, and both hands have already been bitten off. Half of the King of the Forest’s face has been lopped off as a result of the fighting. Basically, the King of the Forest is barely standing due to its incurred injuries.

And yet, Shardu looks fine. There is some damage to his skin and a few parts of his fur that are drenched in blood, but other than those, he is fine and has barely received any fatal or very bad damage. Comparing the two is already not favorable for the foe.

The King of the Forest is barely catching his breath. Perhaps because he is continuously bleeding, he is dying and is reaching the final stages of his life. He is just clinging to the final sliver of his life to continue moving.

The other Greater Ogres are also gone, and it seems that Gobruk himself killed them all off. On the other hand, Raye, Adelaide, and Arthur assisted Gobruk. They didn’t go all out on the fight and just made sure that Gobruk would be the one who would end the fight. They might not have dealt with the Greater Ogres themselves, but they have a good idea of how to fight one now. Even if they face off against the weaker version of the Greater Ogres, which is the regular Ogre, they will not have any difficulty dealing with them.

Seeing the battle is over, Gobruk approaches his dying father.

"Father..."

"My Son...why have you...betrayed...the ambition of our people?!"

"Gobruk did not betray. It is you who betrayed the tribe. Mother is upset. Grandfather is furious. They didn’t want this. Father only wants this and not the tribe."

"You don’t understand, Gobruk! Our tribe deserves the best and rules more. Why are we even hiding when we can just conquer and prove to everyone that we Greater Ogres are stronger!"

Elaina was surprised that Gobruk’s father seemed to talk more coherently than Gobruk himself. Does learning the regular language take skill for other species compared to humans, which is why only a few adult other species are capable of speaking on them fluently?

"Father, stop. Tribe will continue without you. Gobruk will help the tribe strong without spilling blood of others. Time for you to rest."

And seems on cue with Gobruk’s words, the King of the Forest slumps to the ground, groans for one final time before dying. Although his father had died, Gobruk did not cry. He just watched his father draw his last breath, but he didn’t mourn his death.

"You died the death of a warrior, Father. But Gobruk will not die like this. Gobruk will die old instead of dying young."

Gobruk did not see it, but Elaina noticed something fly up from the dead body of Gobruk’s father. It was like a black smoke, but it disappeared so fast that there’s no way anyone else would notice it unless they had been paying attention to the body. As for what it was, well, Elaina doesn’t know.

...

...

...

Gobruk gathered the corpses of every Greater Ogre and piled them up together before lighting up the pyre he built to burn the corpses before they rot.

"Is it alright for you to burn their bodies instead of just burying them?" Elaina asked.

"Greater Ogres dying in battle need to be burned to the fire. That way, their bodies will not harbor hatred and be used for evil deeds. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

Elaina nodded. Even through death, the Greater Ogres still uphold their traditions.

With the battle over, everyone started looting the camp of the Greater Ogres. Gobruk nodded about this. He didn’t mind Elaina and the others raiding the place. After all, they are the victorious side, so it is also natural that the spoils go to the winners. Gobruk just has no interest in pillaging the camp of his father and left the task of doing so to the humans.

Aside from metals and wood materials, there is nothing much to loot in the place. The food that the Greater Ogres had gathered was already gone, and based on the number of bones piled not too far from the camp, Elaina guessed that most of the source of food that the Greater Ogres of that camp used was gotten mostly by hunting animals and taming pigs. Perhaps if the Greater Ogres did not slaughter a wild pig, perhaps there were more of them in the first place.

Finishing the looting process, Elaina and the others have returned. Compared to before, where Shardu had to run at full top speed, Shardu just took it easy and made a slow run. It is also what Elaina requested of Shardu so that his wounds don’t become too big in the process.

Shardu growled, and based on the translation the Almanac provided, the beast lord asked Gobruk. "[Do you regret your decision to annihilate the raid party of your father? Do you hate me for causing the death of your father?]"

"Gobruk not upset. Only did the right thing. Father died due to bloodlust. It’s his fault that he died."

Shardu chuckled, hearing this. Despite being the direct cause of the King of the Forest’s death, he doesn’t care. Greater Ogres are tenacious individuals who, even if they are going to lose someone important to them, will try their best to ask rational questions.

"[What about the title of the King of the Forest? With your father dead, you are now the next in line to receive the title.]"

"I don’t need useless titles. Those who wanted it can just take it back. I left that crown for their next forest king to take."

Shardu chuckles. Now, no one knows who will succeed the title again with the inheritance of the title being canceled and left out.