Raised in Dungeon-Chapter 24 24 : Queen Orc’s Strong Determination
Maurice's God's blessing, he could transform his mana into three types of arrows: paralyzing arrows, locking arrows, and destructive arrows. Maurice shot all three of them at Allen: the paralyzing arrow in his leg hand, the gate-locking arrow in his stomach, and the destructive arrow in his shoulder.
He used the paralyzing arrow to render Allen unconscious, the locking arrow to close the mana gate, and the destroying arrow to make Allen's right hand stop moving.
"You didn't kill him?" asked Leofric. Maurice could have killed Allen by shooting the arrow of destruction into his heart, but he didn't want to.
"I don't like killing a kid. Anyways, I don't like killing in the first place; maybe that's why my God's blessing has a paralyzing arrow, which keeps me from killing people," Maurice explained.
Leofric looked around him. The corpses of soldiers were lying around, and blood was splattered on the floor. The living were mostly wounded, and they were gathered in one spot.
"Why are they gathered like that?" asked Leofric.
Mathias, who approached Leofric, answered his question,
"They are crying over the corpse of the soldiers' leader, the son of Barony Barkaley.
Hearing that, Leofric immediately sighed.
"Geez, his successor is dead. What should I say to that old man?
But more importantly, because of this raid, I lost my right hand and damaged my handsome face. Isn't there anyone who can heal this in our kingdom?"
"We can ask Mr. Humphrey to make a prosthetic hand first," Mathias replied.
"I'm afraid I don't really like iron hands."
Once again, Leofric looked around.
"It's still the first floor, and we lost this much. Let's hope that the second floor isn't worse than this-"
While looking around, Leofric realized that something was missing. He turned his head again and again, looking around, searching for that "thing."
"What is it, Your Highness?" asked Mathias.
"Is something bothering you?" asked Maurice as well.
Leofric turned around, looking carefully at every corner of the room. With a super shocked face, Leofric said
"Where is the Queen Orc's corpse?"
"!!!"
Maurice and Mathias were also startled. Mathias immediately shouted at the troops behind
"EVERYONE! THIS MIGHT NOT BE OVER YET! BE CAREFUL!"
Hearing Mathias' words, the troops immediately panicked.
"WHAT!!!"
"WHAT NOW!"
"NO! I WANT TO GO HOME! I WANT TO GO HOME!"
Even the soldier who was crying for Waldo looked weak and tense when he heard it.
"Your highness, this time, if it shows up again, we'll attack her together," said Mathias.
"Yes, take it easy. I don't have the strength to attack her alone either."
Everyone was now getting desperate. Leofric was running out of power and mana, George was dying, Petronella and Blanche were also running out of mana, and Waldo was dead. The only ones who hadn't run out of mana were Maurice and Mathias.
"Maurice, this is an order... Kill the boy quickly," said Leofric.
"Alright, your highness, but I'll ask for extra payment for killing a human plus a kid."
"it's not human after all."
Maurice used his God's blessing, his body shone, and the light turned into an arrow; it was an arrow of destruction. While pointing his bow at Allen, Maurice shot it.
-SYUT
A hand quickly came out in front of Allen's sprawled body. It was an Orc's hand.
"No way! What is that?" said Maurice, surprised.
The hand that came out received the arrow that Maurice shot. As a result, the hand was destroyed.
"What was that?!"
From within the shadows, it slowly surfaced and showed its entire body.
It was the form of the Queen Orc.
"!!!"
Of course, everyone was shocked. The Queen Orc, who should have been dead, was instead standing in front of them.
A dungeon reset already happened, so why did she come back to life?
There was something different about Queen Orc's body. Previously, when the Queen Orc came back to life, the hand that Leofric severed grew back. Whereas the Queen Orc that appeared this time, had a hole in her body, and her left hand was also severed. Her right hand, which received Maurice's arrow, returned to its original state. But unlike the Queen Orc's usual regeneration, the hand returned like fused mud.
"COUGH! COUGH!" The Queen Orc, who was standing, suddenly coughed up blood, making her immediately sit down, powerless.
She placed her hands on the floor, then in a hoarse and weak voice, she said,
"D e m o n' s c u r s e "
The shadow of the Queen Orc spread back to all the rooms.
All of the soldiers immediately returned to panic mode.
"NO!"
"NO MORE!"
"Not this sh*t again."
Maurice instantly activated God's blessing, his body glowed, and he made three arrows at once.
"We must stop her as soon as possible-"
Just as Maurice was about to shoot here, Leofric blocked Maurice's arrow path with his hand.
"Your Highness?! What's wrong?! We have to kill her, now!"
Leofric shook his head.
"Wait a moment. According to Queen Orc's condition, she doesn't have much time left. She is undoubtedly still suffering from the effects of Heit. It's just that she's trying to hold on to her life a little longer. As much as possible, I want to gain information about the anomaly in this dungeon," Leofric explained.
Since the soldiers were still panicking and shouting in the back, Leofric immediately raised his voice.
"EVERYONE, CALM DOWN!"
Now everyone was silent. They also realized that nothing came out of the shadows spreading below them.
Leofric walked forward, approaching the Queen Orc. Then, at a certain distance, he stopped and asked,
"So, what brought you back to life?" asked Leofric.
The Queen Orc was breathing heavily, holding the hole in her stomach. When Leofric appeared in front of her, the Queen Orc looked at him with a dying face.
"I want to negotiate," she said.
"Oya? Monsters want to negotiate? With the great human? Alright, I'll listen, but before that, you must explain why you're still alive."
Queen Orc then replied
"Adfeqtus Reliqua... or so I believe now. This child's mud is probably adfeqtus reliqua, and because the owner's life was threatened, she copied my body and remade it in the imperfect form it is now. He must have thought that by doing this, his master's life could be saved," after taking a deep breath, Queen Orc continues,
"Mana is influenced by emotions, especially willpower and strong determination. In my last moments, the thing I regret the most is leaving this kid alone, and what I want is this child's happiness. Even though my soul has left the body, my mana remains for a brief moment. So the one you are talking to right now is not the real me, just a corpse possessed by Queen Orc's mana."
"I see…" replied Leofric.
Hearing Leofric's short answer, Mathias immediately commented
"Your Highness?! Do you believe it?! Don't you remember how the Queen Orc repeatedly deceived you?!"
"Will you shut up, Mathias?! The more I let you free, the more presumptuous you are!" Leofric felt humiliated by Mathias for saying something that seemed to fool Leofric.
"I'm sorry..."
Then Leofric looked back at the Queen Orc.
"Although it's hard to believe, that answer is enough for me. It sounds logical and illogical at the same time,"
As he said that, Leofric thought
'No, what she said is most likely true. Mana is connected to its owner, and if a person can send pure mana without it manifesting into any form, then you can know the memories and wishes of the mana owner. Also, if you have regrets and a huge wish, I heard that mana would try to complete the owner's wish as long as the owner has great determination. But there's no way something like this can easily happen. It seems that what makes this happen is that kid's adfeqtus reliqua. What is its ability?'
Leofric then looked at the Queen Orc and said,
"Alright, let's hear it."
Queen Orc took a deep breath,
"I have activated my demon's curse, and you know I can create orcs very quickly. Within one second, I can kill many more people. So...
In exchange for the lives of those people over there, please let this child live."
Leofric sighed
"Haaah... You don't understand your condition right now, do you? This is not a negotiation; this is a threat. Negotiation is achieved when both parties gain benefit. There are several holes in your request.
First, Maurice is already on standby; he can kill you in less than a second with his bow. You probably won't even have time to create those orcs.
Second, if Maurice can't kill you and you manage to kill the people back there, I don't care, just kill them.
Third, even if I agree to your request, I may still kill the boy because I need his adfeqtus reliqua.
Is that all you have to say?"
Queen Orc then replied
"That third one is impossible. You are an honorable and noble person, and you will not break the promise you made in front of many people,"
"I don't know, who knows?"
After sighing, Queen Orc then continued
"Right… I'm sorry, I was rude..."
Queen Orc took something from her right pocket and threw it to Leofric.
Leofric caught that. It looked like a water bag wrapped in a brownish cloth.
"That is Fosite's tears, holy water that can only be taken at the 9th floor holy spring once every 1000 days,"
"Oyaa... Then by giving this to me, you think it can be the reason the child is allowed to live?"
"Not really... Drink that water for that girl over there," she said.
The Queen Orc pointed at Lavinia, who was sitting by the wall.
"Who?" asked Leofric.
Looking at the figure, Maurice remembered
"Isn't she Lavinia?! From the Church of Fire?" said Maurice.
"Lavinia? Then why should I give this to her?" said Leofric, still confused.
Then the Queen Orc replied
"She seems to have a blessing that can heal anything and regenerate the body. She can regenerate your hands and face with her God's blessing."
"What?! Is there someone with that kind of blessing in our kingdom?" Leofric asked Mathias.
"I never knew about that, Your Highness!"
"Hey there, woman! Is what she said true?" Leofric asked Lavinia.
Lavinia immediately placed her hand on her chest, showing her respect to Leofric, and then she said
"That... that's correct, your highness. Unfortunately, I can't use my mana; the Queen Orc has poisoned me," said Lavinia. Meanwhile, Lavinia was also surprised that Queen Orc could figure out her God's blessing.
"I see... so that this water can heal the woman, and the woman can return my hand back,"
For some reason, Leofric didn't doubt anything the Queen Orc said. Leofric gave the water to Mathias, asking him to give the water to Lavinia immediately, then went back to talking to the Queen Orc.
"Then, do you really think I'm going to let that child live just because of this? Adfeqtus Reliqua is a form of dungeon completion; there's no way such a small thing can cancel my intention to kill him.
And by giving away the goods first, this isn't even a negotiation anymore, I can unilaterally refuse the negotiation because I already have the thing you negotiate.
The Queen Orc coughed again, more blood coming out of her mouth,
"This… this isn't a negotiation anymore, It's a plea, a request."
Now the Queen Orc mimicked Lavinia's pose. She placed her hands on her chest, then bowed her head.
"I beg you, please let this child live," said Queen Orc.
The words were heartfelt, and the sincerity in her words could be conveyed to everyone in the room just by the way she said them. Moreover, she willingly gave Leofric the precious potion for free, not as a negotiation tool. She only gave the potion as a genuine expression of her request. Not to compel, but to seek help. Even Leofric, who had a cold heart, was moved to agree to her words. Why not? The Queen Orc was the second person (or thing) who gave Leofric a great fighting experience. Leofric believed that every battle he fought could be a source of new strength for him, and his battle with Queen Orc would definitely make him better and stronger. So Leofric's heart was moved by Queen Orc's words, not as a human who sympathized with a mother trying to protect her child, but as a person who has fought with him.
Leofric smiled, then he said
"Alright... I'll guarantee the child's life-"
"WAIT A MINUTE!"
From behind, from the line of soldiers, came the voice of a man shouting, cutting off Leofric's words. He tried to walk quickly despite his lame leg, as if he no longer cared about his leg's pain.
"You seriously believe what this f*cking monster's said?!" he was one of the volunteer soldiers, Arthur.
His hair was messy, and blood covered his armor. He showed an angry face and had tears streaming down his face.
Because Arthur interrupted Leofric's words, Mathias immediately warned Arthur.
"Hey, do you realize that you just cut off the words of a noble? Punishment for this is your life!" said Mathias.
"I don't care! Go ahead and kill me if you want! But you must have to kill this monster and that kid too!
What are you guys hesitating about? That monster has killed many humans! Are you crazy? Do you believe everything the monster says? Look at this shadow below us. When we let our guard down, it will kill us all! When we let our guard down, she will do something!
He kills kills kills and kills soooo many humans! Can we really believe this f*cking monster! no! i will not trust this monster! I will not trust both of them!"
Arthur vented all his anger. He couldn't accept Leofric starting to empathize with Queen Orc, to a monster. Then, at that moment, the Queen Orc's shadow that had spread instantly returned to the Queen Orc's body.
"I have no intention of killing you anymore. All I want is the safety of this child," Queen Orc said.
"HUH?!" Arthur stepped forward. He pointed at the Queen Orc with anger on his face.
"SO WHAT! ALL OF THIS HAS TO BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH YOUR PLAN, RIGHT? THERE'S NO WAY I'M LETTING THIS KID LIVE! THAT BOY... THAT SON OF A B*TCH!!! HE KILLED CAPTAIN WALDO!!! IF NO ONE KILLS HIM, THEN I'LL KILL HIM!"
Arthur on his spiked feet, advanced towards the Queen Orc with his sword in his hand.
"Hey, wait! Don't go near her!" shouted Mathias.
But Arthur didn't care. He forced his body and legs to walk towards the Queen Orc, then...
-STAB
A sword pierced the Queen Orc's chest. But it wasn't Arthur who was stabbing her. As Arthur walked toward the Queen Orc, his legs could no longer hold him up, so he fell in front of the Queen Orc.
Queen Orc took Arthur's sword and thrust it into herself.
"BUAKH!" The Queen Orc once again vomited a large amount of blood.
"!!!" Everyone was immediately shocked by Queen Orc's actions. The same was true for Arthur.
"Is this... what you want?" the Queen Orc asked weakly.
Arthur didn't answer, he was just lying there, looking at the Queen Orc. Queen Orc then detached the sword and placed it in Arthur's hand.
"Is.... is it not enough? Do… do you want to do it with your own hands? If… if you're going to kill this body, just split my head. If… if that's still not enough to vent your anger, then do whatever you want, stab me, slash my whole body, skin me, or you can cut each of my bodies into pieces and feed them to the pigs.
So...
Please..."
The Queen Orc bowed her head, letting her hands drop to the floor, showing how helpless she was at the moment.
"Please, let this child live."
They were all currently seeing the strong, sincere determination, the sincerity of a mother who only wanted to protect her child. Queen Orc was a monster who killed many people, and now she was a weak mother who would do anything and sacrifice everything she had for her child.
"Don't be silly..." Arthur, who saw that, stood back up and pointed the sword at the Queen Orc. Her tears were still flowing, and her eyes were already swollen because they hadn't stopped yet. f𝐫𝑒𝗲𝙬𝒆𝚋𝐧૦𝘃𝗲l.c𝚘𝘮
"DON'T MESS WITH ME, YOU GODD*MN MONSTER! CAPTAIN WALDO IS DEAD! HE WAS AN IMPORTANT PERSON TO ME! AND FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE! HE HAD A FIANCéE AND A FAMILY WAITING FOR HIM AT HOME! AND NOW HE'S DEAD! IT'S ALL THAT KID'S FAULT!
YOU THINK I'LL FORGIVE HIM?! YOU THINK I'LL SYMPATHIZE WITH YOU!
NO WAY! 𝘧r𝑒𝘦𝒘𝘦𝙗ｎovel.𝐜o𝒎
NO WAY!
NO WAY!
THERE'S NO WAY I'M GOING TO FORGIVE THAT KID!
I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THAT SON OF B*TCH!
NEVER IN MY LIFE I WILL FORGET THIS!!!
NEVEEEEER!!!—
-SQWELP!
Behind him, Maurice shot his arrow. The arrow was his God's blessing, an arrow of aura, it was a paralyzing arrow that pierced Arthur's back.
"I told you I don't want to stay in this dungeon any longer," Maurice said.
Arthur fell, feeling incredibly sleepy. He tried to grab his loose sword and vowed
"Lord Waldo, I will surely avenge your death."
And finally, he fainted.
After Arthur fainted, the Queen Orc turned her body to look at Allen, then fell. She had heard Leofric's words agreeing to her request earlier, so there was no more regret in her mana.
Queen Orc reached out to Allen's body and hugged him while he was falling asleep.
Allen, who Queen Orc hugged, was sleep-talking deliriously.
"Mom? Did you finally sleep with me?"
"Yes, Allen"
"You're not going anywhere, are you?"
"Yes, Allen."
Allen smiled, and he buried his head into Queen Orc's chest. Queen Orc's body was now limp. She didn't have enough energy to do anything. Even so, she tried, using her hand to stroke Allen's hair.
'Why didn't I do this to him before? Sleeping together like this is very warm and pleasant, so it's something like this that you've always wanted.'
After rubbing Allen's head a few times, Queen Orc said
"Allen?"
"Yes, mom?" replied Allen, who was still asleep.
"Humans hate monsters, not fellow humans…
so don't hate humans…
because you are also a human…"
Her body went limp, and slowly the hole in his stomach enlarged again. Blood flowed again from all over her body, and the mana inside the Queen Orc's body came out of her body, like an aura floating into the sky.
