Chapter 45 - Chapter 7: Advent #3
The centaurs, who had the upper body of a person and the lower body of a horse, were often likened to perfect cavalry.
Their maneuverability and crushing power...
Their intelligence allowed them to follow commands and their two arms could use weapons.
Their superiority as cavalry was high.
An ordinary cavalry member was a combination of two different creatures, man and horse, so it was impossible to perfectly combine their strengths.
However, a centaur was literally that existence. They were able to use long weapons effectively and there was also a synergy effect.
Knight Saga’s centaurs were also similar. However, they were somewhat different from what he had imagined.
Their size was smaller than he had expected.
They had an upper body that was almost the same size as a person, but the lower half was different. It was small compared to the upper half that wore heavy armour.
'Well, having the real upper body of a person will be uncomfortable in its own way.’
Moreover, just because they were small, this didn’t mean they were the size of ponies. While running, Quick Wind’s shoulders were just a little bit lower than Carack’s while he was riding the draco.
In-gong turned his gaze to the front again. He could see the settlement of the centaurs in the distance.
The nomadic lifestyle of the centaurs meant they set up large mobile tents instead of stone or wooden houses. So, from a distance, it felt more like an army camp instead of a village.
‘Do they live with the satyrs?’
In-gong turned his gaze toward Karma who was leading at the front. She was running lightly with the legs of a horse, similar to the centaurs. However, she only had two legs and was only slightly larger than a normal human.
The centaurs relied on the satyrs to do the hard work they couldn’t, while the centaurs defended the satyrs. It was a give and take relationship.
"I will go ahead and spread the news!”
Karma called to In-gong before speeding up. Although she only had two horse legs, her stamina was really amazing.
From the draco next to him, Carack asked,
"Prince, they are preparing for us.”
Just as In-gong’s companions saw the centaurs’ residence, the centaurs at the settlement saw In-gong’s group. There were centaurs gathered at the entrance of the wooden fence surrounding their settlement.
‘The centaurs of Enger Plains...’
There were four centaur tribes living on the Enger Plains. The strongest among them was the Mighty Fire clan and the chief of the Mighty Fire tribe also served as the main chief of the three remaining tribes.
The name of the great chieftain was Ferocious Eyes.
If a user was to play Knight Saga as any character, they were sure to face him at least once.
'Not as a friend but as an enemy.’
Ferocious Eyes didn’t belong to any faction but he hated Zephyr. This was due to the Day of the Massacre, where he had fought and stood fiercely against Zephyr, who had been the last remaining royal child.
‘A straightforward person.’
As the names suggested, his eyes were very fierce. His blunt attitude made it hard to even hold a conversation with him.
‘In the game, he was literally an impossible character... but won’t it be different here?’
In-gong didn’t think it was necessary to fight Ferocious Eyes. It was just like how Chris and Caitlin, who were medium bosses, had become friendly with him. It could be the same with Ferocious Eyes.
"Your eyes are burning with ambition. Roaring, in fact.”
Carack said to In-gong who ignored him.
After approximately five minutes, he finally arrived at the centaur settlement of the Mighty Fire tribe.
"Chief Ferocious Eyes.”
He would have know who it was even if there had been no introductions. The centaur in the middle of the herd was huge. His lower body was bigger than the others, while his upper body, dressed in leather armour, had shoulders that seemed as wide as the plains.
However, the most striking thing about him were his two hooded eyes. His eyes seemed like he could kill a person with his gaze alone.
In fact, Quick Wind of the scouting group turned his head away like he was avoiding Ferocious Eyes’ gaze. Karma wasn’t much different as she stared silently at the ground.
However, In-gong was different. He had even endured the gaze of the demon king.
“I am 9th Prince Shutra.”
Ferocious Eyes frowned as In-gong talked while staring straight into his eyes. He stared down at In-gong with an expressionless face and said,
"You’ve had a hard time coming here.”
The accent was the same as before but the feeling was different. In-gong smiled and extended his hand. However, the meaning of this was different from when he had done the same thing with Vandal. In-gong shook Ferocious Eyes’ hand from aboard the draco.
"I want to hear about the situation quickly. As you know, the scouts encountered a group of casios and I fought with them. The situation doesn’t seem normal.”
Yesterday, two members of the scouting group had departed first. Therefore, Ferocious Eyes should have already heard the story about the casios.
Ferocious Eyes gazed at In-gong and replied in a low voice,
“Come this way."
Ferocious Eyes turned around, leaving behind disconcerted centaurs who moved quickly. Quick Wind and the scouts were left behind while the centaurs escorted In-gong after Ferocious Eyes.
In-gong, Carack, Karma and the centaurs followed after Ferocious Eyes.
As expected, the place where In-gong was escorted to was Ferocious Eyes’ tent. Due to the physical characteristics of the centaurs, the ceiling of the tents, particularly Ferocious Eyes’, were high. It felt like he was in Vandal’s tent.
In-gong rode the draco to the tent and dismounted in front of it. His eye level lowered and he suddenly felt like a child who had entered the home of a giant.
"Over here.”
Karma waited at the entrance while the centaur escorts also stood around the tent.
In-gong swallowed his saliva involuntarily and entered the tent with Carack.
"The Enger Plains.”
As soon as In-gong entered, Ferocious Eyes pointed a large map on the table. Fortunately, there were satyrs in the centaur settlement, so the table was at a height that In-gong could see.
As In-gong sat in front of the table, Ferocious Eyes pointed to the map with a stick.
"This is our Mighty Fire tribe here. Over there are the Heavy Winds, Heavy Rain and Rough Night tribes.”
There was more distance between the tribes than he had thought. He hadn’t expected a tribe to be right next door, but it seemed like it would take a considerable amount of time to travel between each tribe.
Ferocious Eyes pointed to the north this time.
"This is where the casios should be. However, the place where the scouts encountered the casios is far south of this area.”
It was even further south than the settlement of the Mighty Fire tribe.
“I had scouts look around. I don’t think all of them have gone down this way but there is something wrong.”
Just like an annual event, hundreds of casios showed up at this time every year. If they moved to south all at once, the centaurs would have noticed.
“Time is needed to gather more information. Please wait. Three days later, the warriors of all four tribes will gather in one place. Then we will be able to defeat them with a single strike.”
It was an explanation that only contained the necessary things. In-gong nodded.
“I understand. I will wait.”
In fact, there wasn’t anything urgent. The group of casios weren’t in front of him at this moment.
At the end of those words, In-gong and Carack stared at Ferocious Eyes while Ferocious Eyes looked down at In-gong.
There was a subtle silence. Fortunately, that didn’t last long.
“9th Prince.”
“Huh?”
Ferocious Eyes’ eyebrows twitched, then he asked In-gong in the same tone as before,
“Did you really smash the head of a casios with one punch?”
“Uh, that?”
Ferocious Eyes’ eyebrows kept moving while waiting for the answer.
"I am just asking.”
Carack’s eyes narrowed and it was the same for In-gong.
‘Now I understand.’
His eyes were obviously scary and his tone was also tough. However, his eyebrows showed that he wasn’t offended.
In-gong replied in a cheerful tone.
“The technique is Beast Authority. If you want, I will show it to you at a later time.”
He actually used Divine Beast Authority, but it was similar to Beast Authority.
Ferocious Eyes’ eyebrows twitched again.
"I'm looking forward to it."
It was the same tone as before but it sounded quite pleasant to In-gong.
&
When they exited the tent with Ferocious Eyes, the satyrs were waiting with the centaurs. Unlike Karma, these satyrs had the legs of a goat and guided In-gong to their accommodation.
In-gong’s tent was located near Ferocious Eyes and seemed to be for a satyr as the ceiling wasn’t high. There were many carpets with colourful patterns and the walls were padded with thick cloths. It had a cozy atmosphere.
The satyrs seated In-gong at an appropriate place. Carack entered the tent one step later and sat down beside In-gong.
"50 centaurs will be assigned under Prince. Today is a rest day and you will be introduced to them in the morning.”
The Mighty Fire tribe was estimated to have approximately 300 centaur fighters, so 50 wasn’t a small number. Moreover, every single one of them counted as a cavalry member. It was a far different treatment from when he had been assigned 30 orc fighters.
In the original missions, children of the demon king had often played a secondary role. It wasn’t Chris but Vandal who had led the main army to subjugate the Red Lightning tribe.
"Will Karma continue to be our guide?”
In-gong asked as he looked at the entrance of the tent. Although Karma hadn’t entered the tent, she had accompanied them to it.
Carack nodded.
"I think it is similar to my case. She’s a person assigned to Prince. If Prince Chris or Princess Caitlin came without any soldiers, local warriors would be assigned to similar roles.”
“Hrmm, is that so?”
Then would she end up joining him like Carack?
He hadn’t confirmed Karma’s combat ability yet, but he knew she had incredible running ability and stamina. She would be good as a scout or messenger.
"Ambition is burning often in your eyes today.”
Carack said, nodding. He had quick wits. In-gong then asked Carack,
"What do you think about Ferocious Eyes?”
He wasn’t asking about Ferocious Eyes’ personality. He just wanted to hear the answer that Carack would give.
"In my view, it seemed like he liked Prince.”
"Did you see it as well?”
The eyebrows was a sign of his favorability. Carack laughed at In-gong.
"It was the same with General Vandal. Prince sees to be quite popular.”
"This is something I am blessed with.”
He was under the command of Ferocious Eyes. Would it turn out like it had with Vandal?
"That is enough talking. We will find out more about the situation after dinner.”
That was a macho remark. Maybe it wasn’t a blessing to meet Carack?
"Oh, I hope you suffer.”
"Be careful. If you are too late, I won’t hesitate to warn Karma away.”
Carack had to get in the last word as he left the tent. In-gong gaze followed after Carack. Then after Carack walked out, he sat down and stretched out his legs.
'I have become stronger.’
In-gong could see it after crushing the casios. If he thought about his future work, he would come up with the correct training method.
‘Divine Beast Authority.’
In-gong relaxed and started circulating his aura.
&
In-gong’s aura was white; it was a stream of white light.
In-gong led the aura and the aura led him. The flow of the aura was so natural, there was no place where it was blocked or tangled.
Conquest.
The golden-crowned female with white hair, one red eye and one blue eye.
In-gong’s aura showed this abnormality. It seemed to drift away from everything else in the world as it sensed a different flow.
There was a voice in In-gong’s head but it wasn’t the voice of the white woman. It was a voice heard from outside, not deep in In-gong’s soul.
It wasn’t Carack or Karma. It was something other than that.
In-gong slowly opened his eyes. Darkness was in front of him but the darkness was different from a deep room. He saw the scenery in the tent. Everything looked like a spark to his eyes.
In-gong swallowed his saliva inadvertently. It wasn't a dream. He was conscious.
Then what was it?
In-gong was about to stand up and cry out to Carack. Still, there was something beckoning him beyond his view.
A voice.
Someone was calling In-gong.
In-gong breathed in deeply. The white aura of conquest wound around In-gong, seeming as though it was trying to protect him.
Who was it? At that moment, In-gong looked at his right arm. Earth Quaker, which was supposed to be in the inventory, was on his arm. A red and yellow light was moving like it was snarling.
It seemed to know something. In-gong settled his mind, took a step forward and the landscape around him changed. In-gong wasn’t in the tent but on a wide grassland.
The sky and everything around In-gong was black. In front of him, hair fluttered like it was blowing in a breeze.
There was a beautiful woman. Her hair was very long while her face was white and her eyes looked very mysterious. It was a woman who didn’t seem like a person.
Earth Quaker, which acknowledged In-gong as its master, glowed once again. For the first time, In-gong could guess what the woman in front of him was.
She told In-gong,
"I am a piece of Ainkel. There is something I want to say to you who has Enkidu’s strength.”
Watcher Ainkel, one of the six dragons said to have the same power as a god!
She took one step closer to In-gong.