How a Two-Life Scoundrel Lives - Chapter 50

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Chapter 50】

What awaited Carlisle’s group as they exited [Antiros’s Laboratory] was, as expected, rain.

Whoooosh!

A fierce downpour was still falling outside.

If anything, the rainfall had become even more intense than when they had arrived at the laboratory.

It seemed to have started yesterday morning, and by now it showed no signs of stopping.

Meanwhile, as night deepened, thick fog began to roll in, making visibility impossible even an inch ahead.

“Hmm.”

When Begman stopped walking and pondered, Kudo quietly offered his opinion.

“Wouldn’t it be better to wait until daybreak before returning?”

“That’s true.”

Begman nodded as if agreeing.

“The fog is too thick.”

“Then let’s rest and leave in the morning…”

“No.”

Begman shook his head.

“Normally I’d just rest and go, but the situation isn’t good right now. It would be better to return quickly, even if it’s a bit dangerous.”

“Hmm.”

“It would be troublesome if the enemy launches a full-scale war while we’re away.”

“Understood.”

No one objected to Begman’s decision.

Given the circumstances, they acknowledged that taking some risk was unavoidable…

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

They were returning to Bowden Fortress, cutting through the fierce rain, darkness, and thick fog.

“Sniff sniff! Sniff sniff sniff!”

Begman’s pet Silver Wolf suddenly stopped walking and began sniffing around.

“What’s wrong?”

“Sniff sniff!”

“Do you smell something?”

“Whine whine! Whine whine whine!”

The Silver Wolf paced restlessly back and forth between Begman’s legs.

“Something must be coming.”

Carlisle drew Grimgand.

“Do you sense something too?”

“No.”

Carlisle shook his head.

“My detection ability only works on Barbarians.”

“Really?”

“It seems to have caught a dangerous scent, so we should prepare.”

Carlisle pointed to the whining Silver Wolf.

The Silver Wolf’s sense of smell was exceptional, making it possible to accurately detect the scent of approaching enemies even in such harsh weather.

“Prepare for battle.”

At Begman’s command, the rest of the group simultaneously drew their respective weapons and stood guard around the area.

However, due to the thick fog, standing guard didn’t mean they could actually see anything.

“Bark bark! Bark bark bark!”

The Silver Wolf that had been whining began barking fiercely, and soon terrifying beings began to emerge one by one from the fog.

Ghouls.

Reanimated corpses, they were typical undead monsters.

The problem was that these ghouls were soldiers armed with armor and weapons.

‘Corpse soldiers.’

Carlisle immediately recognized their identity.

Corpse soldiers were enhanced versions of undead monsters called ghouls, beings that could only be created from those who had been soldiers in life.

Indeed, among the corpse soldiers that had revealed themselves, there were many individuals who clearly appeared to have been Barbarian Warriors in life.

And in this area, the person capable of commanding corpse soldiers was…

‘Crowley!’

Carlisle instantly realized that the one controlling those corpse soldiers was the evil Dark Mage Crowley.

After all, wasn’t Crowley’s Dungeon located only about 2 kilometers away from Bowden Fortress?

Meanwhile, the rain gradually began to subside, and cold moonlight streamed down through the dark clouds.

“You, you are.”

Begman confirmed the face of a corpse soldier illuminated by moonlight and unconsciously stepped backward.

“Derek… why are you…?”

The corpse soldier standing at the front was Derek, the scout who had died in battle two days ago.

* * *

Derek wasn’t the only familiar face.

“That guy is Michael from the engineers, isn’t he? He died in battle two days ago?”

Russell pointed to a corpse soldier positioned across from Derek.

Tremble tremble tremble!

Already terrified, Russell’s finger shook like an aspen leaf.

“Why, why is Derek a corpse soldier?”

Begman wore a confused expression.

Hadn’t Derek, as well as Michael who had belonged to the engineers, been buried in a cave about 1 kilometer away from Bowden Fortress?

Why had they appeared as corpse soldiers…

‘Even if it’s Crowley, is it okay to be this reckless?’

Carlisle couldn’t understand Crowley’s extremism at all.

Dark Mages were supposed to be cautious at all times, day and night.

Why else would Crowley himself have left the continent to hide here in Kuberin?

On the continent, Dark Mages were unconditional targets for elimination.

Why?

Because if left alone, they would continue researching and developing evil magic, and occasionally contract with high-ranking demons to bring great chaos to the world.

Therefore, on the continent, Dark Mages were treated like poisonous mushrooms or mold, to be killed immediately upon discovery.

This was no exception even in the Blood-Soaked Land of Kuberin.

The moment their existence was discovered, not only the Decaron Army but also the Kingdom Alliance would certainly form a subjugation force and immediately begin extermination.

Despite this, he dared to tamper with the corpses of fallen warriors?

Even for the most evil Dark Mage, this was an action that couldn’t be taken without extraordinary audacity.

‘Did he eat something wrong?’

Carlisle was having such thoughts when it happened.

“Finally found you.”

A chilling voice flowed from Derek’s mouth.

Since it was a sound coming from the vocal cords of a rotting corpse, it was naturally murky and rough.

“I thought I was going to lose you like this. Keke keke.”

“That stalker-like talk is rather unpleasant.”

Kudo replied with a cold smile.

“You there behind him, what is your identity?”

“I have nothing to say to the likes of you, so get lost. My business is not with you.”

The gaze of the one controlling Derek’s corpse turned toward Carlisle.

“You must be a Sigmund, bastard.”

“Are you talking to me?”

“Yes, you bastard. Carlisle van Sigmund. They call you the Northern Scoundrel, don’t they?”

“That’s true, but… why?”

“What a stupid fool.”

Crowley spoke mockingly.

“Do I really need to spell out why I’m looking for a Sigmund?”

“Don’t tell me… you want to turn me into an undead?”

“A Sigmund would make the finest material. Keheheh.”

So that’s why he was being so reckless – he had his eyes on material with Sigmund bloodline.

“You called me a scoundrel before. You want to use a scoundrel like me as material?”

“That’s not for you to judge, you wastrel of House Sigmund. A Sigmund is a Sigmund. Your body alone would be valuable enough. Even if you’re the family’s disgrace and the world’s greatest scoundrel. Kehehehe.”

“Ugh.”

Carlisle felt so burdened by Crowley’s gaze that he felt nauseous.

It felt like facing a pervert whose eyes had rolled back with lust.

“But.”

Carlisle frowned as if he couldn’t understand at all.

“How did you know I was a Sigmund? I never wore a military uniform. This is the first time we’re meeting… Ah. Don’t tell me it was that.”

Carlisle realized the whole story and made an expression like he’d been had.

If that unpleasant gaze he’d felt for the past two days belonged to Crowley, then this entire situation made sense.

And the source of that unpleasant gaze was indeed…

“It was Bjornsen. No wonder the back of my head was tingling. That head mounted on the castle wall was watching me. You found out I was a Sigmund through that, and you also knew we left the fortress.”

Carlisle guessed that Crowley had accidentally discovered Bjornsen’s corpse and made a contract with him using dark magic.

“Kukuk. For a scoundrel, your head works pretty well.”

Crowley showed a rather satisfied expression instead.

“Now that you know, it’s time to die. Looking at how you talk, it doesn’t seem like you’ll willingly become my minion.”

The corpse soldiers began moving one by one.

“By the time I arrive, you’ll all be corpses. The next time you open your eyes, we’ll meet again in a master-servant relationship. My future minions…”

Crowley’s voice gradually faded as if being heard from far away.

It seemed like Crowley, who had been possessing Derek while crouched in the dungeon, had departed.

“Grrrr!”

Derek, having regained his consciousness, growled at his former comrades – Carlisle’s group.

Of course, there was no way he could have consciousness now that he’d become an undead.

* * *

“Kyaaaah!”

Derek lunged toward Carlisle.

“Guwaaaaah!”

“Grrrrr!”

The other corpse soldiers also charged at Carlisle’s group just like Derek.

The battle that began seemed like Carlisle’s group could be completely wiped out in an instant.

Corpse soldiers were not only much more powerful than ordinary ghouls, but they retained all the combat skills and tactical knowledge they had honed in life, making them very troublesome monsters to deal with.

Moreover, since there were nearly thirty of them, it was absurd for five individual soldiers who weren’t knights to face them.

However, Carlisle’s group deployed for this dungeon exploration operation were by no means ordinary soldiers…

“Derek! You bastard! I’ll take responsibility and put you to rest!”

Begman relentlessly pressed Derek.

“Grrrrr!”

The Silver Wolf also showed remarkable prowess, tearing apart corpse soldiers with its massive body and sharp fangs.

And that wasn’t all.

“These mere corpses.”

“Kek kek!”

Kudo, who was suspiciously skilled, also easily handled the corpse soldiers together with his pet Fire Fox.

“I’ll kill them… no… since they’re already dead… I’ll kill them once more… I’ll kill them―!!!”

“Sha, shaa!”

Russell, who had wet himself again, transformed into a Berserker and minced the corpse soldiers into chunks of meat together with the Forest Maniac.

Meanwhile, the archer Marder’s performance was truly dazzling.

After shooting the new bow a few times, Marder seemed to get the hang of it and used [Rapid Fire] to continuously shoot arrows without rest.

Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk!

Each arrow he shot penetrated the knee joints of the corpse soldiers, neutralizing their movement.

Despite being an archer, Marder’s close combat ability was quite excellent.

Additionally, the 【Silent Arrow】 was a bow specialized for close combat, so the synergy was considerable.

“Piiik!”

Marder’s pet Hugin also did its part by clawing and pecking at the corpse soldiers.

While the senior soldiers fought alongside their respective pets, Carlisle was alone.

‘What the hell is this thing doing.’

Carlisle cut a charging corpse soldier in half while thinking of the baby dragon sleeping in his chest.

He could feel the baby dragon sleeping soundly in his chest.

‘Other pets are running around helping their masters, but this one’s just sleeping? Fine, I can accept that. But how can it sleep through all this chaos?’

No matter how he thought about it, it was absurd, but the baby dragon showed no signs of waking up.

It didn’t even show its nose until the battle was over.

Crack!

Begman’s military boot crushed Derek’s chest.

“Grrk, grrrrk!”

Derek struggled, but since one leg and both arms had already been cut off, he couldn’t push Begman away.

“I’m sorry for being an incompetent leader who couldn’t protect you until the end.”

“Guwak, guwaaaaak!”

“Rest now. Don’t struggle so painfully.”

Crack. Begman’s axe split Derek’s head in half.

With Derek as the last, the battle ended.

“Captain, Derek’s corpse…”

“Of course we have to take him.”

When Begman answered Marder’s question.

“No.”

Carlisle stepped forward.

“I’m sorry to Private Derek, but let’s leave him behind.”

“What, you bastard? Isn’t it pitiful enough that he became an undead, and now you want to abandon his corpse too?”

Begman glared.

“What if we get caught from behind?”

“Behind?”

“That dark mage said so. That when we meet again, we’ll meet in a master-servant relationship.”

“Right, he did.”

“He’s probably leading other minions and rushing here right now, and you want to take Private Derek with us?”

“Then can’t we use that magic pouch?”

“Corpses don’t go in. Maybe if it were food.”

“Hmm.”

Begman thought for a moment, then hoisted Derek’s corpse on his back.

“Then I’ll carry him, so don’t interfere.”

“Do you want to die?”

“If it looks like you can’t keep up, I’ll put you down then, so stop complaining and go first.”

“….”

“The Scout Unit….”

Begman spoke through gritted teeth.

“Never abandons a comrade. We always bring them home. Even if it’s just a corpse.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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