Chapter 118: How to Reverse the Domino (2)
“Bibeo-beong!”
Boooom! Bibeong’s savage roar boomed across the land. But his blow was louder than his roar, as it sounded like a peal of thunder. The result of his blow was destructive.
“Gargh….?”
Megalania’s head was hurled to the side, with more than ten of its teeth flying through the air. It was only natural. Bibeong boasted a towering height of 328 feet. Even without the tail, he was 262 feet. He had a chubby physique compared to his height, which made him weigh over 3,000 tons. The punch contained every fiber of his massive weight. But there was something else more to his mighty punch than his weight. It was Bangul, his first love. She was watching him from behind. And so, Bibeong had poured every bit of strength he could muster into that punch.
“Bibeong! Bibeo-beong! Bibeong!”
Wham! Thwack! Crash!
Left foot, right foot, left foot. The Megalania was sentenced to three 3,000-ton punches, each blow sending the monster up in the air like an ankle sock swirling in a tornado.
“Gaaarrrr!!”
A scream escaped out of its mouth. The counterattack was unthinkable because its body was a mere 164 feet. And its body was 1/4 the size of Bibeong, weighing only 700 tons.
“Bibeong!”
Bam! Bibeong wielded his front arm once again.
“Gargh!!”
Five punches were thrown in a row, but they were enough to make Megalania severely groggy. And Bibeong threw one more final blow.
“Bibeo-beong!”
Crack!
He bit the back of Megalania with his large teeth. Then he hurled it high and shook and let it go.
Whoosh! The 164-foot height and 700-ton Megalania was catapulted high in the air, flying about 400 yards. And it fell.
Boom! Crash! After being sent away for a couple of yards in the air, it hit the ground, leaving a large hole. That alone compromised Megalania’s combat power”
“Grrrr…. Garggh….”
The Megalania, beaten to a pulp, slowly rose from the ground. It was lucky that it wasn’t dead. Its whole body was shaky and trembling. Six more Megalanias were around the injured one. But none of them dared to extract their fangs as the one thrown to the ground was their leader.
“Garrrr!! Garggh!”
The horribly injured Megalania turned and began to run eastward, its tail dragging low to the ground. As the leader left, the others followed suit.
“Bibeo-beong! Bibeong!”
Bibeong let out a roar of triumph, and he stole a glance to the west where Lloyd and the others were. To be exact, there was Bangul, who was perched on Lloyd’s shoulder.
Bibeong, Bibeo-beobeong…
Bibeong direly wished that she saw the awesome feat he had achieved. He feigned some coughs, which brought Lloyd to smile wryly.
My, that beaver is too obvious.
Lloyd noticed how clumsy Bibeong was and thought that there was a reason why he was single. But that side of him appealed to Lloyd, who felt a sense of camaraderie from Bibeong.
“Bangul?” called Lloyd.
“Bangul!”
“I have a favor to ask you. Could you jiggle your bell once for Bibeong?” asked Lloyd.
“Bba-bangul?”
“You know, just to boost his spirit.”
“Bangul!”
Bangul nodded her round head up and down. Bangul, too, didn’t dislike Bibeong. But her feelings were that of friendship and nothing else.
“Bangul! Bba-bangul! (Good job, my new friend!)”
Bangul slightly lifted her tail up and jiggled. The vivid noise rang aloud, instantly bringing a pinkish smile to Bibeong, who was breathing heavily from the hard punches.
Hmm. This is just perfect”
Now that the appropriate reward had been given, it was time for Lloyd to do his job.
“Everybody, please wait up here for a while.”
Lloyd asked his delegation to stand by and made for the east alone, crossing the calming sand storm. He saw hundreds of orc warriors standing as they chatted. He then raised his voice toward the biggest orc warrior among them.
“Long time no see, chief!”
“Eh? Oink?”
The biggest warrior was Akush, the chief of the Sand and Steel tribe. He perked up his ears. Actually, he was in a state of considerable dismay as astonishing events had taken place in series.
What is this situation, oink?
Monsters had been invading the village in series lately, and yet, Akush had been fighting indomitably against them. The same went for today. There was a violent and savage herd of Megalania, and he was fighting against six of them. He let out a roar in the frontline and threw a javelin to make sure that his warriors would not lose courage and retreat. But all of a sudden, something hurtled toward his way with impressive force and stomped by. And in one powerful blow, the intruder threw a hard punch against the Megalania and bit it up to send it flying away beyond the village territory.
What in the world is that, oink?!
Beating the daylights out of the Megalania was hard enough. And yet, the intruder hurled it away in the distance. This intruder was a giant monster that resembled a beaver. And now… he was hearing a familiar voice from behind.
This voice seems to be Lloyd, an honorable warrior of my tribe but a weak human, oink.
To Akush, Lloyd was kind but weak. That was how Akush remembered Lloyd. He turned around, thinking about that recollection, and found Lloyd walking over to him”
“Hoho, oink?”
A friend. A smile naturally formed on Akush’s face. Chief Akush smiled as he revealed his large fangs. Worm-like veins popped on his huge pecs.
“What brings you here, my friend? It’s dangerous here today. It is dangerous, especially to a weak friend like you, so you better go back home, oink,” advised Akush.
“Dangerous? Is it because of the monsters?” asked Lloyd”
“Yes, oink!”
A smile vanished from Akush’s face. He held up his ax and pointed toward the east, where Bibeong was standing.
“Countless monsters are invading these days. Today, Megalanias have come. But right now, a worse one has appeared. It is very dangerous, oink.”
“Oh,” Lloyd replied, “are you talking about that one?”
“Yes, oink.”
“Then, you have nothing to worry about. I am his owner,” said Lloyd”
“What, oink…?”
“I mean it. His name is Bibeong.”
“…”
Lloyd masters over the monster that defeated Megalanias with one punch? What is he? Akush was slightly overwhelmed by his presence.
Feeling such, Akush asked, “So? What brings you here, my friend? Have you come here to fight with us, oink?”
“Well, something like that.”
Catching up can happen later. Right now, it was time for business.
“I am sure it was a tough ride for the last few days. The locusts, Mastodons, and the Megalania. It was one heck of a ride, wasn’t it?”
“Hmph! It was fine. Perfect days for working out, oink!”
“Yes, yes,” agreed Lloyd, “I am sure they were perfect. But do you happen to know the reason why these incidents occurred?”
“No, oink!”
“And so I am here,” said Lloyd, “to give you the cause and solution.”
Lloyd grinned. From now on, it was time to stop the monster domino phenomenon and lay a massive counterattack to the sultan kingdom responsible for this mess.
The counterattack operation took place in a breeze. Lloyd walked Akush through in great detail the unforgivable actions of the sultan’s kingdom. For obvious reasons, Akush blew a fuse. But not just him. Every member of the orc warrior was enraged, and so they readily participated in the operation.
“The operation is simple. From now on, for the next few days, we are going to lay an indiscriminate attack on every monster milling around this area. Of course, Bibeong will be at the center of the offense.”
The orc warriors were assigned to threaten the monsters aghast by Bibeong’s attack. They were responsible for rounding up the monsters to the east.
“However,” Lloyd explained, “you must keep something in mind. Monsters can get injured. But don’t kill them. Let them stay alive as they run away.”
“Why, oink?”
“So that they will spread rumors among the surviving ones. Then–”
“Then what? Oink,” hurried Akush.
“The monsters charging from the east to this place will reverse their path. Just like when they came here. They will make way for the east, and thus, turn the direction of the domino.”
“Woah, oink!!”
“Do you get what I am saying?” asked Lloyd.
“No, it’s complicated, oink!”
“Well, anyway, what we do will cause serious trouble to the sultan kingdom’s western border.”
“I like that. Let us get right to it, oink!”
And thus began the operation. It started immediately. And no one felt a pang of guilt in doing so. The western border of the sultan kingdom that was to be affected by the monsters was thankfully unpopulated.
Its western border is bare. No fiefdoms or villages. Just the forces that defend the border.
So there would be zero innocent casualties by Lloyd’s counterattack. Plus, since the forces on the border are protected by the fortress, no one would really get hurt.
But they’ll be super busy taking care of the herds of monsters. The senior leadership will also learn something from it.
It was that the sultan kingdom wasn’t the only one that could stir the monster domino. The kingdom could do it as well. So, the act of enabling the monster domino phenomenon could be counterattacked and retaliated against. Lloyd wanted to plant that message to the leaders in the sultan kingdom.
That way, they’ll never dare to try to do this tomfoolery again.
The principle was similar to nuclear deterrence. If a country owned a nuclear weapon, it was harder for another country to use it. The message was the same here: You’re not the only one with the weapon. Sending the message was the objective of this operation on top of the revenge”
“So now, let’s get started.”
There was no reason to waffle. The mission was initiated right away, and Bibeong, the orc warriors, Javier, and the White Cavalry performed extraordinary feats. They scavenged every corner of the wilderness in a frenzy, rushing to anywhere they could find a strand of monster hair. They beat, strangled, bent, threw, roared, and threatened. Every monster that got the taste of their reckoning fled to the east in fright. The operation lasted for six days. By that time, not a single monster was to be found in the area because they spread the rumor among themselves and rushed to the other end. In other words, their mission succeeded.
“Whew, since we’re on the topic anyway…” Lloyd started.
This conversation took place after the reverse domino operation had succeeded. Lloyd and Akush were at the center of the orc village, which was almost in ruins by the incessant invasions of monsters.
“I am quite wary of saying this, but how about moving the tribe’s village to somewhere else?” suggested Lloyd.
“Move the orc village? Oink?”
“Yes,” replied Lloyd.
Tossing the sandburs branch into the crackling bonfire in front of him, Lloyd spoke.
“Certainly,” he said, “I understand this land is precious to you as you have lived here for generations. But think about it. As this incident has revealed to us, the village has little defense because it sits in an open area.”
“But we are strong, oink,” rebutted Akush.
“I am aware. But I am bringing this subject up because you will be stronger once you move your village,” reasoned Lloyd.
“What? We will be stronger, oink?”
“Yes.”
“How so, oink?”
“Um, I’ve actually wanted to tell you this for a long time. I know I built a seokbinggo for you earlier, but this wilderness suffers from a severe food shortage. So, it is very unfortunate. This is not a great place to build muscle from a nutritional standpoint,” said Lloyd.
“What…? Muscle, oink?”
At the word “muscle,” Akush’s eyes flew wide open. The same thing happened to the other orc warriors that sat in groups near the fire. Lloyd noticed that his plan was working. Smothering the grin, he spoke up.
“You must rest and eat well. Those two are just as important as working out. This, however, is something you know very well, correct?” Lloyd said as he looked at Akush.
“Yes, yes, oink.”
“And so, my heart aches to be honest. It aches because of your tragic reality, where you and your men fail to enlarge your muscles by the shackles of your tradition.”
“Enlarge muscles, oink?”
“Yes,” replied Lloyd.
“H-how do I do that, oink?”
“It’s actually not that difficult. Um, I normally don’t tell this to others. But are you interested in hearing it?”
“Tell us now! Oink!”
“Okay, good. Look over there.”
Lloyd held out his hand, which pointed to the eastern range that spanned like a folding screen.
“Deer with luscious and rich hair run about the grass, and fat wild boars enjoy the flowery gardens. Overhead, mountain pigeons and pheasants flutter their wings. Just imagine it. The breast of the mountain pigeons that fly mightily. Imagine the juiciness of the breasts of those pheasants which pulse so fiercely.”
“Y-yummy, oink.”
“Yes, that is right. But that’s not all. The creek is so rich that it’s half filled with water, and the other half is fish. Since it’s the best of the best water, lobsters inhabit there. Imagine steaming a lobster compact with protein. Where do you think it’ll go when you eat it?”
“To my m-muscles, oink?!”
“Truly, you are the chief. You know it very well,” complimented Lloyd”
“Then, do you suggest that we move to the eastern range, oink?”
“Of course. What’s more, technically speaking, you are not breaking tradition by doing so,” Lloyd reasoned”
“How so, oink?”
The word “tradition” made Akush flinch in guilt. Lloyd then spoke up to relieve him of such a burden.
“Just think about it,” cajoled Lloyd, “your ancestors were muscular orcs, weren’t they?”
“Of course, yes, oink!”
“What do you think they would want their children to be?” suggested Lloyd.
“Muscular! So much so that it’s going to burst, oink!”
“That’s exactly what I mean. I knew you would understand. You are so wise even when I don’t say anything aloud.”
“Are you saying that my ancestors would want us to eat well and enjoy bulky muscles, oink?”
Just then, a glint of hesitation appeared in Akush’s eyes. He, too, was aware that the eastern range held an abundance of games. That was why he occasionally sent his warriors to the range. But still, the efficiency of settling down in the lush woods could not be compared to that of dispatching some men there. Right now, it took them several days just to get there.
“B-but, I cannot leave the land of my ancestors… Oink…”
“Your ancestors will be pleased as well,” cooed Lloyd.
“If we have bulky muscles, oink”?
“Of course.”
Lloyd’s whisper sounded sweet and provoking to Akush’s ears, which were muscular as well. Lloyd’s tempting words pierced deep into the hearts of orc warriors around him. And at last, a decision was reached.
“Good! From today on, our land is the eastern range. Do lead us, oink!”
And just like that, the Sand and Steel tribe moved to the eastern range. This move was exactly what Lloyd wanted.
Bibeong conquers Lake Kapua. And now, the orc tribe will settle in the eastern range. Two great walls will defend my fiefdom from now on.
And should something happen to the fiefdom, Lloyd could now ask for help from the orc tribe.
So I can now say goodbye to this sickening physical threat. It’s over.
Lloyd was certain it was over. When the financial crisis was overcome, next came the physical threat that imperiled his fiefdom. That dangerous element was, at last, overcome. Lloyd felt light and weightless as he went back to the barony.
One last thing remains right now.
Lloyd thought to himself. It was something he desperately wanted to take care of. Debt clearance. And now, the time had come for him to pay the entire debt with the money he’d earned from the royal capital.