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Chapter 37 Part 2 – The dog with Blood Redemption. A cunning monster, a prideful man, and a merciless battlefield

 

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Ranzan

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There were now four heads emerging from the dog’s torso.

They glared at the astounded knights and then like a group of snakes, attacked.

They even slipped through the attacking spears of the Guard, who were stiff with fear.

「What?!」「No way!」

Bradd turned pale and moaned when he saw the Guard attacked.

「That blasted dog! They might be able to determine the real one if they’re strong, but, then again…! 」

Matzo’s voice then shouted from the bottom of the hole to Bradd, who was about to jump off the horse to help.

「No help needed! Just do what you need to do! No matter how many heads this bastard has, it only had one body! If so, we can defeat it!」

Matzo slipped through Gallam’s four heads and jumped at his body.

He held the giant dog tightly and his shoulders and back muscles swelled.

「Agghhh! Don’t think you can stop us with an illusion! Think you’re that smart? Don’t mock the Royal Guard! We’ll teach you some human cunning!」

And then Matzo reached into the body of Gallam, the dog larger than a bull and picked it up overhead with both hands and slammed it into the ground.

The ground swayed.

Then he punched the dog in the back and the dog choked.

At the same time, the phantom heads disappeared.

「Wahahahah! So that’s how long your trick lasted?! You should have increased your body size by three as well!」

Matzo laughed at the dog with his wide eyes as the dog flailed around.

「Go ahead and bark! Come on you three! Go!」

Matzo smiled with a gentle look instead of focusing on the dog.

「…let’s go…」

A knight accompanying us said.

Then Matzo waved farewell to us and then glared back at the fallen demon dog.

「…you don’t understand true pride! We protect those with trembling souls, who have no words! As long as my back holds, I’ll stand to fight you over and over! That’s what a knight does! What can you do now!? Get your weapons and show this dog the strength of the Royal Guard!.」

All them men heard Matzo roar and answered back.

The roar was just as loud as Gallam’s.

A huge pillar of blood mist erupted from the dog as if trying to swallow the heroes’ screams.

It looked like a sinister lava erupting from a crevasse in the ground…the air shook eerily.

Like the lid of hell had lifted, I felt a sinister wave shake through the air.

A cold sweat hit me like a bad premonition.

But, we couldn’t watch what was happening anymore.

The knights with us restrained their desire to fight with their brothers and clenched their lips, leaving the place on their horses. I could see Mary’s face nearly in tears.

In the moonlight, we headed to the pond on our galloping horses.

It was a darkness near dawn, and our final battle was about to begin.

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Scarlet’s worries were right.

The blood mist of the demon dog had turned into a poisonous mist.

It covered the bottom of this hole with no escape.

And this poisonous fog, heavier than air, was trapped inside this hole with the men.

The Royal Guard was strong, and even if the demon dog used his illusion technique and raged around, they would have climbed over their brothers’ dead bodies and finally killed the dog.

They were just that courageous and faithful.

However, the poisonous gas made by the demon dog invaded the nerves and destroyed a man’s consciousness.

The knights, who had never experienced poison gas, could not recognize what happened.

They had no response but just passed out into the bottom of the hole.

The demon dog Gallam had used the poisoned blood-cherry curse.
It was a skill that even Bradd, the eldest son of the Lawless Crew, didn’t know.

Because of the inhumanity and indiscriminate nature of the attack, it is kept secret by the chief of the Lawless Crew until the next chief succeeds him, and then he is secretly instructed by his predecessor.

The demon dog Gallam had revived it from the ancient darkness.

Gallam looked around and glared at the unconscious knights. He grinned and snarled, and then lightly jumped out of the bottom of the hole.

「…bastard! I won’t…let you…go!」

The only one still awake, Matzo, who was crawling around in the bottom of the hole, hit by the poison, reached out at the dog desperately with all his might, but his fingertips barely scraped the dog’s hind legs.

The demon dog had disappeared into the darkness, chasing after Scarlet.

The shape of the demon dog faded, as did the vision around him.

Matzo slumped to the ground, stood, and then fell again.

There was now power in his knees…the poison gas was robbing him of his legs and vision.

It was nearly the end as the depth of the hole was three meters above him.

There was no escape from this hole covered with poison…Matzo clenched his teeth and his fist.

His beloved Royal Guard would be wiped out at the bottom of his hole.

By the time he realized this was a gas attack, he was already unable to move.

There were no volcanoes in Hydrangea, so there was no knowledge of poison gas like sulfur dioxide.

The poisonous fog of blood was heavier than air, did not diffuse, and accumulated at the bottom of the hole.

Still, the Captain’s spirit was alive. He slammed his fist into the side of the mud wall.

Blood spewed from his eyes, nose, and ears, irritated by the mist from the dog. He waved his fist in front of his face with all his might.

Instead of using his damaged eyes, he felt the clay with his fist. It seemed like a crazy notion from a man that was under the influence of the poison.

But Matzo wasn’t crazy.

And after slamming his fist into the side of the wall thirty times, his consciousness had reached its limit. His body sunk back to the bottom of the hole. Just as his consciousness was about to leave him, he heard Mary’s words again…like the moon at night, his heart relit.

「Captain Matzo, I’m sure your fist has touched my son in heaven…I will thank you again, someday…So don’t die!」

Although she looked so young, she had the deep sorrow of a mother that had lost her son.

She nevertheless remembered compassion for others and you could see her strength as she tried to live on.

「Nnnnuhhh!」

The flame of fighting spirit revived in Matzo’s eyes.

He stopped himself from fainting.

If he died here, she would again shed tears of sorrow.

Would he make her go through the same pain that she went through with her son?

No, if he abandoned that monster dog, her life would be ended as well.

Compared to her, he had the body to do something!

She had a frail body that had been put through so much, while he was blessed with muscle and power.

There was no reason for him to give up!

Remember it again!

Who are you!? What are you fighting for?!

Matzo asked himself this as he roared in the moonlit night.

「I can’t be beaten! I am Matzo Jedit Noel Valentine! That demon that makes women cry must be crushed by this iron fist! I can’t let him win and escape!」

His limbs shook like they had been struck with lightning. He stood.

Then he clenched his fist and punched both arms into the sky.

「HAAAAAHHHH! GOT TO BUST THIS UP!」

The double sledgehammer of his fists slammed into the the hole.

He slammed open a fallen part of the tunnel through the wall and it collapsed at once, opening up another cave.

The mist was pulled into the new cave as the air rushed out. The poisonous mist of the dog dissipated and was swept away in the blink of an eye.

When he realized he couldn’t escape the hole, he found another method to save his beloved brothers…and only his strength could accomplish it.

「Okay…Here we go…I used the same cave that the dog did.」

While breathing in the new air, Matzo smiled and rubbed his eyes.

His pale skin regained its color immediately.

His eyes opened suddenly.

He wiped the blood off his eyes and blew off the nosebleed with a snort.

「Hm, the poisonous mist seems to lose its punch when it’s swept away…if I breathed anymore, I’d be dead.」

After confirming that his own body was safe, he took a deep breath.

There was a voice like a lightning strike.

Then the fallen knights all heard the roar of Matzo and jumped up.

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