In the meantime, the Youngest Division was on their own mission.
And contrary to the expectations of all members of the intermediate class, the members of Jin's faction were faring quite well against the orcs. They had already subjugated 17 of the 25 orcs they were assigned to defeat.
"This makes 18! At this rate, we might all actually return alive with no casualties!"
Scott and Taimont extracted their swords from the orc's corpse.
"Let's return safely and destroy all of those bastards' pride and ego. I was worried we'd ruin the Young Master's reputation, but if this goes on, it might be the opposite instead."
"There are still seven orcs left. We mustn't let down our guards until we subjugate them all."
While Mesa burst their little bubble of excitement, she was actually smiling deep inside.
'It's almost as if we were blessed by the gods. No, it might be Young Master Jin who was blessed by the gods, and his good fortune rubbed off on us as well.'
All the members of Jin's division were of the same opinion.
Normally, orcs moved in groups. However, for some reason, these orcs were appearing one at a time, as if they were asking to be killed. Moreover, they were never in a hurry, and attacked the cadets sluggishly.
No wonder they thought they were extremely lucky.
"Resume scouting the area! Make sure you stay vigilant, everyone!"
The Jin Division cut and stored the dead orc's ear in a bag and returned to their respective positions in the formation.
As they moved through the forest, one man observed the cadets from behind, hidden in the dense, tall grass.
'Once they defeat the remaining seven orcs, I can finally go back home as well…'
The man wearing a bored and dull face was Murakan.
Mesa thought that the gods' blessing was protecting them, but it was in fact the Black Dragon Murakan who was acting as their guardian angel.
Murakan had arrived here, in the unprotected zone of the Curano Dukedom, before the Jin Division and had assembled the orcs.
Afterwards, he told them as such:
—Listen carefully, you stinking pigs. I won't say this twice. From today onwards, you all need to move around alone. If I see a single one of you trying to build a group and gather other orcs, I will personally annihilate you all. Do you understand?
Lowly orcs couldn't go against the orders of the Great Black Dragon.
Moreover, he had spoken to them in 'Dragon-Tongue', the language that represented the authority of the dragons. Dominating the minds of low-class monsters with Dragon-Tongue was as easy as breathing to Murakan.
He was the only reason the Jin Division could safely defeat the orcs one by one so far. Needless to say, the cadets had no idea about this truth.
'Still, it seems like Jin, that kid… he's planning on continuously sending me on these trivial missions. Geez, do you think being the promised contractor of a thousand years makes you the boss of me? Fuck, it does! Dammit! That son of a—!'
The members of the Jin Division managed to subjugate the remaining seven orcs the next day in the middle of the night.
"We did it!"
"We really made it alive!"
This time around, even Mesa couldn't hide her joy and glee, and cheered along with her teammates. They had completed the mission one day earlier than what they had expected.
"We'll take turns resting and keeping watch until the afternoon. Once everyone has gotten some sleep, we're returning to the Garden of Swords! We switch the members on night watch duty every 45 minutes. The one on food duty will prepare breakfast."
And so began their late-night/early morning camp.
Murakan also lied down amongst the tall grass near the campsite. He was planning on spending time until afternoon came by reading the erotic magazines he had brought with him.
As he read the magazines, his annoyance and irritation slowly disappeared. He hadn't been able to spend time reading them until now as he had to keep an eye on the human brats—kids who weren't even involved in his destiny.
'Once we're back, I'm definitely telling the kid to get me several limited edition magazines in return for this favour. Hehe, thinking of it like that, helping these brats on their mission is quite profitable for me as well—'
Floop.
Murakan suddenly closed the magazine he was reading and sighed.
He could sense a dangerous presence in the distance slowly approaching the campsite where the Jin Division was staying. He didn't know who this presence belonged to or what their objective was, but Murakan was certain about two things:
One, the individual was slowly approaching the cadets' campsite.
And two, the individual had considerable power.
'Seems like fate isn't on our side. At this rate, the effort I put in this mission won't match the profit I'll make. Where did this bastard suddenly pop out of?'
Tsk!
Murakan clicked his tongue bitterly and stood up.
Fortunately, the cadets of the Jin Division were only at the 3-star level. Thus, Murakan could erect a large barrier around the campsite, and the kids wouldn't be able to differentiate the darkness of the night from the shadowy hemisphere protecting them.
Ssssssssssssst…!
A handful of shadows gathered in both of his palms.
This was on a completely different scale compared to the demonstration he had done in the underground chamber of the Storm Castle. As Murakan lived alongside Jin on the surface of the continent, he was slowly breathing in some of the abundant shadows around him on a daily basis. Therefore, he had regained some of his strength from the era when he was known as the Black Dragon that shook the world.
"Hm?"
As Murakan covered the campsite in a barrier of spiritual energy, Bellop—who was on night watch duty—tilted his head in confusion.
He felt like his surroundings had suddenly gotten darker than before. However, he didn't think much of it. The boy merely believed they were deeper into the night, and didn't notice the barrier.
As a gust of heavy wind shook the trees, Murakan covered his entire body in spiritual energy as well. Soon, what emerged from his original position was an enormous black dragon. It was Murakan's original form.
Swoosh!
His gigantic pair of wings covered the moon. All the monsters, alongside the animals and other living creatures in the area, began to tremble in instinctive fear and subconscious terror.
Unsurprisingly, the powerful entity that was approaching the campsite also stopped in its tracks; it had detected Murakan.
[Who dares to leak their energy in my presence without my permission?]
Murakan flew into the sky and covered the moon and stars. The black dragon blocking the moonlight exuded a dangerous air that no one would doubt it of being an agent of the gods.
However, there was no answer.
Unfortunately, Murakan wasn't as merciful as usual when in his original form.
Swooooosh! Swooooosh!
With each flap of a wing, a dark storm swept through the area.
A storm of shadows. As the tempest raged in the forest, it snapped large trees like twigs and swirled around the source of this spiritual energy.
Only then did the individual lying down in the distance finally stand up to reveal themselves. Having verified the response from this 'entity', Murakan stopped flapping his wings.
Its gigantic body that could be compared to a fortress was covered in rocks. Beneath the large helmet moulded with ancient magic were two bright-red eyes, glaring at the dragon.
Finally, there was an immense spear and shield in both of its hands.
It was a being called a 'Cemetery Giant'.
[…Oho, I see. It wasn't a living being, but rather an outdated relic from the old ages.]
Murakan was surprised by the appearance of this Cemetery Giant.
The Cemetery Giants had already disappeared without a trace around two thousand years ago. They were tasked with protecting the graves of the deceased gods, but the dragon race had exterminated them.
In other words, this giant wasn't supposed to exist in modern times anymore, let alone appear before Murakan.
As the dragon calmly landed on the ground, the Cemetery Giant raised its shield. For a short while, Murakan looked down at his enemy and felt something was wrong with this situation.
[But I'm not pleased to see you.]
Krrrrr.
The Cemetery Giant let out a disgusting groan and lowered its stance. Murakan tightened his scales as he recalled the ancient war between both races.
He was preparing to release his breath. While it would leave behind traces, he had to finish this fight as quickly as possible.
Murakan opened his jaw and darkness gathered in a dangerous sphere. After a few seconds, he had amassed enough spiritual energy to completely raze an entire mountain range to the ground.
Ziiingggg!
As he fired his breath, the surrounding area was suddenly submerged in total darkness. The Cemetery Giant lowered one leg and hid its body behind its shield, but it couldn't withstand Murakan's strength.
"Guoooo…!"
All it could do was yell one last groan upon death's door, just as the rest of the Cemetery Giants had done two thousand years ago when facing the dragons.
Crumble.
As it breathed its last, the Cemetery Giant fell apart into small pieces, and a rain of rubble came down where it was previously standing.
"Huff, huff…!"
After the end of the battle, Murakan returned to his human form and panted intensely. His entire body felt like it was breaking apart as he had used too much power for the first time in a long period.
'There's no way one Cemetery Giant just randomly survived the war until today and stayed undetected. Fuck, I'm sure that the Zipfels are somehow related to this incident. What on earth is happening around the world right now?'
After pondering for a short moment, Murakan shook his head.
'For now, I shouldn't tell Jin about this. No matter what happens, I just need to protect him. As long as the kid grows steadily for another ten years… he'll be strong enough to face the Zipfels.'
The next day, in Bouvard Gaston's Fragmented Workshop's underground room.
Bouvard was walking in circles and dragging his fat body around; he was anxious enough that he couldn't stop biting on his thumbnail.
Creak.
One man entered the room. With a slick coat and a fierce gaze, this stern individual was Vishukel Yvliano.
He was the vice-leader of the revolutionary group 'Kinzelo'.
"L-Lord Vishukel! A problem has occurred! My work of art… My masterful work of art was…!"
"…I've already been told about it. The Cemetery Giant was destroyed last night, wasn't it?"
"Indeed! Urgh, just who would do such an atrocious act…?! How dare they treat my artwork in such a way! Are they looking down on the soul of an artisan?!"
Vishukel sighed deeply.
In order to achieve Kinzelo's grand objective, this moron who preached about the 'soul of an artisan' was indispensable, and Vishukel found that truth to be unfortunate.
"Bouvard. Your artisan's soul isn't what's important right now. The Cemetery Giant was destroyed by a dragon last night."
"A-A dragon?"
"That's right. In fact, it was a dragon that controls shadows. I confirmed it with my own eyes before coming here."
Vishukel was extremely anxious and on edge that he was about to go crazy.
Kinzelo had prepared their grand masterplan since five hundred years ago.
They were finally putting their plan in action, but this incident had suddenly hindered them. Moreover, most active dragons these days were working for the 'Zipfels'.
Bouvard stopped making a fuss and stared at Vishukel silently.
"…That can't be. Are you saying the dragons have already noticed our movements and plans? Not only that, it was a shadow dragon?"
"Nothing's certain for now, but that was definitely a warning from them. I'll try to have a meeting with the Zipfels sometime soon. In the meantime, make sure you keep an eye on everything that happens in this area. I'll lend you some useful men to work with."
"Understood. Urgh, I can't believe this… Ah, speaking of which, Lord Vishukel, have you had breakfast yet? I'd like to have a sweet potato croquette."
Vishukel endured the boiling rage inside him and barely answered back.
"…Sure, I'll go buy some, so let's eat together."
"Hehe, that sounds good. I'd like some fresh milk as well."
He also vowed to himself that he'd murder this sickening fatass with his own hands one day.