Chapter 358
Episode 109: Ozdok (5)
Jin, Murakan, Merry, and Tuben all turned their heads simultaneously to look at Ozdok. Murakan, in particular, blinked repeatedly with his large amber eyes, as if utterly dumbfounded.
“What? Ugh, now he’s spouting nonsense again, trying to cling to his miserable life. Hey, hey! Are you out of your mind?”
“Please, just hear me out this once!”
At that moment, someone came to mind.
‘Is this the Jet from the monster arena…? What a pathetic sight.’
Ozdok’s every gesture and movement was an uncanny mirror of Jet’s.
The legendary monster who had once displayed such grandeur before Tuben’s arrival was now nowhere to be seen—only a pitiful, groveling creature desperately trying to eke out an existence remained.
“Oh dear, oh dear!”
Tears, like tiny drops of chicken droppings, trickled down from Ozdok’s eyes as he sighed in despair.
For anyone unaccustomed to such abject humiliation, it might be impossible not to look away and, perhaps, even forgive him.
But for the great Black Dragon and the Rune Kandel Sword Ghosts, such leniency was out of the question.
“Speak. I’ll listen—for now.”
That was Jin, the one among them with the most compassion. To Ozdok, Jin’s voice was like a lifeline thrown in the midst of drowning.
“Kid, there’s no need to hear more. A core monster dies if it loses its core.”
“If what he says turns out to be nonsense, kill him immediately without asking me.”
It was a fragile lifeline, ready to be cut at any moment.
“Thank you!”
Ozdok began cautiously, glancing nervously at the four.
“This is a secret… I actually have two cores.”
No one in the world had ever heard of a monster possessing more than one core.
Murakan’s eyes narrowed, ready to crush the creature on the spot.
“C-Calm down. If I only had one core, do you think I could have survived all those years farting around like that?”
Murakan, and even the heroes from a thousand years ago who had faced Ozdok at his prime, had always found his immense power strange. Core monsters usually only needed to reach average combat strength before dragons formed hunting parties to take them down—but Ozdok was on a whole different level.
People simply thought he was an exceptional monster, like how transcendent beings sometimes appear among humans or dragons.
But the true source of Ozdok’s power lay in those two cores.
Unlike other monsters, Ozdok, who embodied human greed itself, had fulfilled all the conditions to become a core monster—and yet desired more. As a result…
No one knew he had two cores.
“Fine, say you have two cores. They must be inside your body, right? Show us.”
“One of them isn’t inside my body.”
Crack!
Tuben lightly twisted Ozdok’s jaw with his elbow.
Ozdok nearly collapsed but quickly snapped to attention.
“The Guardian Dragon of Rune Kandel commands you: don’t just tell us the location—bring it here and show it before our eyes.”
“Ugh…!”
Originally, Ozdok had planned to lie, saying the core was buried far away, hoping to escape at the first opportunity.
But once again, he realized the situation was far from easy. His only future was to cough up the second core and be taken captive by Tuben.
With a deep sigh, Ozdok walked back to the place where he had first awakened.
‘How did I get this core… and now I have to hand it over like this?’
As he dug up the core buried there, such thoughts crossed his mind. But Ozdok was a monster with an insatiable greed—not just for gold and power, but for survival itself. Like all living beings.
After a long while, Ozdok emerged from the burrow, holding the core.
“Huh, there really are two.”
The core looked like a chunk of pure gold the size of an apple, but even to an untrained eye, it radiated a far more intense glow than ordinary gold.
“This one looks even better than the one inside your body. Why hide it? Was it some kind of insurance?”
Murakan immediately sensed the tremendous energy contained within the core. If Ozdok had been able to wield this core inside his body, he wouldn’t have been so easily defeated by Tuben.
“My body was lacking nutrients at the time, so I couldn’t hold it.”
“Oh? So you planned to deal with the kids, go outside to eat gold and regain strength, then come back and use it?”
“That’s right.”
“Hand it over. Not to me, but to the kid. No, not that kid—this kid!”
Ozdok, trembling as if he didn’t want to lose it, extended the core toward Jin. His shaking hands betrayed his desperation.
“If you’d recovered and used that core, you’d be at about 60 to 70 percent of your prime. I can only imagine the chaos you’d have caused.”
As Jin tucked the core into his robes, Ozdok barely shook off his lingering attachment and said,
“Please… use it well.”
It was almost laughable to hear a monster say that. But instead of mocking him, Jin simply nodded. Offering that much mercy was no great effort.
“And don’t forget me, Ozdok. I hope that someday, I can serve you…!”
Ozdok was a calculating monster. He knew he had to curry favor with Jin, not Murakan, if he wanted even the faintest hope for the future.
His emphasis on “don’t forget” was a plea to be rescued someday from this human named Tuben.
‘Will Father and the former Black Knights spare Ozdok’s life?’
It was only natural that Tuben wanted to capture Ozdok alive. He was a special case, worthy of being reported to Sir Shiron.
Besides, Ozdok retained some memories from a thousand years ago.
‘Judging by Murakan’s reaction, he probably doesn’t know all the details from back then. But if we dig deeper, we might find information useful to Rune Kandel or Father.’
Ozdok looked sullenly at Tuben, silently begging him to take him away quickly.
He wanted to avoid another round of trouble if that human named Merry started ranting about hunting him again.
“Murakan, shall we withdraw now?”
Murakan nodded readily.
He had actually taken a liking to Tuben from the start. Unlike the arrogant former Black Knights, Tuben treated him with respect, which Murakan found admirable.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
Tuben bowed. Moments later, he exchanged glances with Merry.
“You’ve grown stronger, Seventh Knight. I’m proud of you. But… you’ve changed.”
“I’ve changed?”
“The Seventh Knight of old never lied, even for the sake of a cause.”
“What are you talking about, sir?”
“The moment I said I was taking the monster away, you would have drawn your sword. At least, that’s how I remember you.”
Lies justified by a cause.
Not only Jin, but Tuben also knew exactly that Merry had been bluffing to help the youngest.
“If you want, we can settle this right now. Until one of us is dead or crippled.”
Tuben chuckled, as if dealing with a cute niece.
“That wasn’t meant as a compliment.”
“You’ve softened a lot, sir. Well, you’ve been officially retired for some time now.”
“If the knights had done better, I could have truly retired.”
Tuben slung his massive curved sword over his back.
Though a bony horse, Merry didn’t get angry but seemed to accept it. She actually agreed with his words.
“Twelfth Knight.”
“Yes, Sir Tuben.”
“You seem to have questions.”
Naturally.
Jin hadn’t found an opening to ask, so he was grateful Tuben spoke first.
‘He’ll probably ask about Lady Luna. She holds the Twelfth Knight in high regard. Or maybe about the Black Sea mission.’
Since Sir Shiron brought Luna along on this Black Sea mission, Tuben had naturally talked with her a lot.
Aside from the mission, Luna often spoke about her youngest sibling, which was unusual for someone Tuben had known for so long.
Also, Vanessa Olson, another former Black Knight on the Black Sea mission, had mentioned Jin several times.
“When did you arrive on the battlefield?”
Jin asked a question Tuben hadn’t expected.
“Until you appeared, I sensed no presence at all. I’m confident in reading energy, but I was completely fooled.”
“Fooled?”
“If you had tried to kill me, it would have been over easily. To hide your presence so thoroughly, I’d like to know what enlightenment you’ve achieved.”
Tuben’s eyes deepened beneath his black hood.
“Was my question too foolish?”
“No. It’s just unexpected. Honestly, I thought the Twelfth Knight would ask about the Black Sea mission or Lady Luna’s well-being.”
“As for the Black Sea, Father will let me know when he thinks I’m needed. I do wonder about Lady Luna, but I believe she has her reasons for not contacting me yet.”
For a few seconds, Tuben said nothing, quietly studying Jin before replying,
“You’ve done well, Twelfth Knight.”
“That’s kind of you to say.”
“The reason I was able to conceal my presence wasn’t because I was naturally gifted like Miss Yona, nor did I possess the stealth abilities of someone like the Nameless King.”
Suddenly, Tuben waved his hand lightly through the air.
In that instant, Jin felt the intangible energy spreading from Tuben’s gesture twist in a strange way.
‘Huh?’
The sensation coming from the air Tuben had scattered was odd. It was as if the path was completely blocked—no matter how much Jin strained his senses in that direction, he couldn’t detect a thing.
Not even the wind seemed to flow.
“It was a simple trick. I used aura to create a kind of barrier in the air, but since both the 7th and 12th squadrons were fully focused on the battle, they failed to notice the unusual space where I was hiding.”
Calling it a simple trick, however, was an understatement—it required a remarkable level of skill.
‘I could probably create a barrier like that with aura to distort the feel of a small area. It would be exhausting, but manageable.’
Yet Tuben had filled most of the battlefield with such aura illusions. The fact that he still managed to handle Ozdok like a street thug was nothing short of astonishing.
“You look like you’ve been provoked.”
“That’s right, Sir Tuben.”
“I will report to my lord that the 12th squadron was the first to discover this monster. If my lord deems the creature valuable, appropriate rewards will be granted.”