Dragonslayer’s Class Regression Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Zeke followed King Fist toward the location where the scent of Gaguk was detected.

Like a true Barbarian who roams the Giant Mountains as his front yard, King Fist ran swiftly between trees like an agile wild animal.

Suddenly, he stopped moving and lay flat on the ground.

Zeke also crouched down beside King Fist.

King Fist pointed somewhere.

Zeke enhanced his dragon eyes to look where King Fist was pointing.

‘It’s a cave.’

His master had said that Gaguk’s hates light and prefers dark, damp places, and the sun was just rising.

It seemed the Gaguk had fled into the cave to escape the sunlight.

Zeke asked King Fist in a low voice.

“Got a way to catch it?”

King Fist responded by opening his palm and striking it with his fist.

It meant he planned to just go and grab it without any strategy.

Zeke clicked his tongue internally.

‘That’s why you keep losing it.’

After quickly surveying the surroundings, he explained his plan to King Fist.

However, for a Barbarian who had little concept of strategy to begin with, Zeke’s explanation was difficult to understand.

Zeke decided to just move on his own.

“King Fist. Go hit prey. Then I hit from behind.”

When he simplified it, King Fist finally nodded vigorously with a satisfied expression.

A Barbarian’s physique didn’t need strategy to begin with.

When you could just rush in and destroy things en masse, what need was there for strategy?

King Fist entered the cave slowly in a lowered stance.

Thanks to his blessed Barbarian physique, he could see clearly even in the dark cave.

He followed the Gaguk’s scent deeper inside.

That’s when it happened.

Thud!

The ground beneath King Fist’s feet suddenly collapsed.

“Uwaah!”

In that instant, King Fist let out a battle cry and used his body’s elasticity to jump high into the air.

King Fist leaped over the trap and landed on the ground on the other side.

Looking down into the collapsed ground, he saw sharp animal bones and human weapons densely planted at the bottom.

The clever Gaguk had set traps in preparation for intruders.

King Fist continued following the scent deeper into the cave.

Then at some point, he saw there was no more path ahead and only a dead end wall.

King Fist detected the Gaguk’s scent strongly coming from below the wall.

Looking closely, he saw something black curled up in a circle.

King Fist steadied his breathing and quickly rushed toward where the Gaguk was.

Then he tried to grab the Gaguk with his tree trunk-like arm and rip its head off in one motion.

Crack!

The head did come off, but something felt wrong.

When King Fist looked carefully, he realized it wasn’t Gaguk but a dead bear that had been curled up.

The Gaguk had heavily marked the dead bear’s corpse with its own scent.

Just as King Fist tried to turn around in surprise, something wrapped around his ankle.

Swoosh!

“Ugh!”

The Gaguk, who had been hiding underground while concealing its scent, extended its long tail and wrapped it around King Fist’s ankle.

When King Fist tried to leap at the Gaguk, the creature hid its form in the darkness using stealth.

While hidden, it continued sucking King Fist’s life force through its tail.

“Urgh!”

Even a Barbarian couldn’t endure having their life force continuously drained.

In contrast, the Gaguk’s body began growing larger as it absorbed King Fist’s life force.

King Fist clenched his teeth and lifted the dead bear’s corpse to throw it at the Gaguk.

Crash!

But the Gaguk easily avoided the bear corpse that King Fist threw.

Then it stretched its mouth wide in a grin, mocking King Fist who was gradually losing his life force.

At some point, the Gaguk emerged from the darkness, stretched its body, and walked toward King Fist.

“Kirrrrr!”

The Gaguk was a demon beast that took the form of a completely black monkey.

It had longer arms than normal monkeys and sharp claws and teeth.

The Gaguk approached King Fist while extending its sharp claws.

“Kerrrr!”

With a chilling laugh, the Gaguk swung its claws at King Fist.

Slash!

The Gaguk expected King Fist’s body to be split by its sharp claws, but the result was completely different.

“Kerrrr?”

The Gaguk made a strange expression looking at its severed wrist.

That’s when it happened.

Zing!

A barrier spread around the cave.

Just as the Gaguk tried to escape by melding with the darkness in surprise.

“Water Blade.”

Zeke’s sword cut through the Gaguk’s body as it tried to dissolve into the darkness.

“Kieeek!”

The water sword was one that could cut even things without form.

The Gaguk tried to escape in surprise, but it was already blocked by the barrier Zeke had set up and couldn’t break free.

The Gaguk bared its sharp teeth at the suddenly appeared Zeke.

Then, seemingly realizing it couldn’t escape, it inflated its entire body and transformed into a giant monkey.

“Kraaah!”

Zeke raised Bahamut as he watched the enlarged Gaguk.

‘Just like in my previous life, it inflates its body when cornered.’

The Gaguk charged at Zeke making the ground thunder with each step.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Zeke swung his sword and sliced the Gaguk’s leg.

“Arghh!”

However, even though the leg was cut, it quickly merged back with the darkness and reattached itself.

When Zeke used his healing factor, he didn’t notice it, but now facing an enemy that kept regenerating, he was getting annoyed.

‘Troublesome bastard.’

It was when Zeke and the Gaguk were facing each other, looking for an opportunity.

Suddenly, King Fist, who had been lying on the ground, got up and grabbed the Gaguk’s waist.

“Kruaah!”

The Gaguk struck King Fist’s head with his elbow.

But King Fist held on without letting go.

It seemed the Gaguk couldn’t merge with the darkness while being held.

Zeke didn’t miss this moment.

Whoosh!

Zeke jumped into the air and swung his sword at the Gaguk.

Dragon Slaying Technique – True Dragon Sword Form

Chapter 2, Verse 1

Earth Slash

Zeke’s sword drew a long horizontal line.

Simultaneously, a red line appeared on the Gaguk’s neck.

“Gurgle!”

A boiling sound came from the Gaguk’s neck, and then his head fell to the ground.

Before the Gaguk could regenerate, Zeke used Gluttony.

Rumble rumble rumble!

Zeke’s shadow rose eerily and first sucked in the Gaguk’s fallen head.

At the same time, the Gaguk’s body, which King Fist was still holding, slowly sank into the shadow.

[You have devoured a corrupted ancient species fully infected by contaminated energy.]

[Your depleted health, mental power, and mana are being restored.]

[You have absorbed the bloodline ability of the corrupted ancient species and gained the active skill Stealth (Rank A).]

‘Stealth skill?’

It seemed to be the Gaguk’s ability to merge with darkness.

Zeke cut off the Gaguk’s arm that was still sticking out, not fully absorbed by the shadow.

He took one finger from the severed arm and gave the rest to King Fist.

“Proof of the hunt.”

King Fist held up the Gaguk’s arm in his large palm and his eyes welled up with tears again.

He looked up at Zeke and said:

“Sniff. Brother Zeke. Thank you!”

King Fist hugged Zeke.

After a moment, wiping his tears, he said to Zeke,

“Brother Zeke. Come visit our village. I catch tasty ogre and cook for you.”

Come to think of it, the Barbarians lived by hunting and eating the monsters that were abundant around them.

This was because the toxins in monsters’ bodies had no effect on the Barbarians’ physique.

In his previous life, Zeke understood this Barbarian culture and occasionally traded monster hides and food with them.

Zeke remembered something and asked King Fist:

“King Fist, which tribe you from?”

King Fist proudly beat his chest and said:

“From super strong Rock tribe!”

Zeke was slightly surprised to hear about the Rock tribe.

This was because the Rock tribe was the largest and had the most fierce warriors among all Barbarian tribes.

‘It can’t hurt to be friendly with a Rock tribe warrior.’

Zeke warmly clasped King Fist’s hand and said:

“Hunt. Was awesome.”

He wanted to say something cool and touching, but there were limitations to expressing it in Barbarian language.

But King Fist seemed to understand, as his eyes welled up again.

Zeke remembered something and cast an area buff to heal King Fist.

Whoooong!

As his body was tinged with golden light, King Fist looked at it in wonder, then seeming to decide it was time to move, he said to Zeke:

“Brother Zeke. Must come visit our village!”

“Okay!”

King Fist took the Gaguk’s arm and ran out of the cave.

Zeke also left the cave, but King Fist was already nowhere to be seen.

It seemed there were no creatures that could properly match a Barbarian in the forest.

Zeke stored the Gaguk’s finger that he had kept earlier in his pocket and headed toward the campsite where Felix was.

He arrived at the campsite shortly after, but Felix wasn’t visible.

“Where did he go?”

Just then, Felix hurriedly emerged from the nearby forest.

“Sir Zeke!”

He ran frantically toward Zeke.

His hair was covered in fallen leaves, and his legs were completely covered in dirt.

Zeke examined Felix with sharp eyes.

“Where were you rushing to?”

Felix awkwardly scratched his head and said,

“Well, I had to urgently relieve myself and ended up slipping…”

Zeke noticed something strange about the pattern of dirt on Felix’s knees and feet.

‘Could he have been watching my fight with King Fist?’

During combat, it was impossible to sense presences from far away, so it would have been hard to notice if Felix had been hiding near the cave.

Especially if he had received special training to conceal his presence, it would have been even more impossible to detect him.

Felix casually asked while removing the fallen leaves from his hair and shoulders:

“Did you catch the monster? And what about that Barbarian who went with you…?”

Zeke answered Felix’s question while maintaining his suspicion:

“The monster is caught. The Barbarian took the corpse to his village.”

Felix brightened at Zeke’s words.

“Goodness! You caught the monster in just one day! You’re truly amazing, Sir Zeke!”

“It’s not over yet. Let’s go down the mountain while looking around, since there might be other beasts nearby.”

Felix was impressed by Zeke’s cautious behavior, being prepared for any possibility despite having achievements worth boasting about.

However, Zeke only cast suspicious glances even at that behavior.

* * *

Afterwards, Felix had to look around various parts of the mountain with Zeke for several more days.

Thanks to that, they achieved the feat of catching several monsters that were hiding in various places.

Only after thoroughly surveying the mountain did Zeke come down to the village.

The village was in a festive mood at the news of catching the beasts and monsters.

The joyful villagers held back Zeke, who was trying to go straight to Atlas.

In the end, Zeke decided to stay for a day and participate in the feast.

The village chief set up a table at the village hall so full that its legs might break, seated Zeke at the place of honor, and made a toast.

“To the knight who protected our village!”

“Cheers!”

The villagers ate and drank until their noses went crooked.

Zeke also drank to match their mood appropriately, but the villagers’ jaws dropped when they saw that Zeke wasn’t getting drunk at all.

The village’s renowned heavy drinkers came to challenge Zeke, but they all collapsed.

After matching the mood appropriately, Zeke said he was tired and headed toward the prepared lodging.

However, at that moment, someone followed behind Zeke.

Zeke already sensed who was following him.

“Felix.”

Felix, who had been following Zeke from the village hall, flinched and revealed himself.

Zeke spoke to Felix in a sharp voice.

“Why are you following me?”

“Well, that is…”

Suddenly, Felix knelt before Zeke.

Zeke spoke toward Felix.

“What are you doing right now?”

At that moment, Felix shouted toward Zeke.

“Please accept me, Sir Zeke!”

Completely unexpected words came out of Felix’s mouth.

Zeke looked at Felix with a suspicious expression and said.

“What do you mean by accepting you?”

Felix looked at Zeke with a serious expression and said.

“Please accept me as your disciple, Sir Zeke!”

“Disciple?”

Felix nodded and stood up from his place.

Then suddenly, he drew his sword.

Woong!

A clear sword sound was heard from the blade.

Felix began to swing his sword with a determined face.

Whoosh!

Zeke was surprised to see the swordsmanship Felix displayed.

‘That’s… the Holy Kingdom’s Paladin inherited swordsmanship?’