Volume 10 Bugs Chapter 20 Father's Promise
I thought I knew what war was.
I should be considered the first warrior on this continent to take up arms to resist foreign aggression. As early as when the invading army of the Doomsday Empire first set foot on the territory of Falvi Continent, I had already taken up arms and participated in the "server merging battle" that broke out in the Cloud Fortress without hesitation. I have been born and died in that battle of hundreds of thousands of people, and I have witnessed the most heroic death and the most meaningless sacrifice in the world. The stagnation of blood, the wailing of life, the madness of iron and fire in despair, people have personally opened up a vast and smooth road leading directly to life and death.
Yes, I should know what war is. In fact, I am part of war myself—I, you, and all of us! War is like a giant spoon held tightly in the hands of the gods, stirring constantly in this vast world, stirring up an extremely huge vortex, and then sucking in all the lives in this world. No one can escape.
But do I really know what war is?
On the battlefield, I witnessed cruelty, witnessed sacrifice, felt despair, and caused death. However, the thing that left the deepest mark in my heart was something else.
--magnificent!
Yes, what I experienced was a magnificent war, I lived in a magnificent era, we were a group of magnificent warriors, destined to accomplish a magnificent cause and create a magnificent history. Everything caught up in the vortex of this era was so magnificent that cruelty was magnificent, sacrifice was magnificent, despair was magnificent, and even death was magnificent.
Yes, I am a timid and lazy person, I like a peaceful and tranquil life. However, life is such a contradiction. When everything goes as you wish and you are truly in peace, you will be dissatisfied and turn to desire another kind of life.
So, sometimes, deep in my heart, I would feel an inexplicable gratitude - I should be grateful for this war, because it brought something that could be called "great" to my mediocre life. If it weren't for it, I might have stood in front of that busy city gate in a daze for the rest of my life, being a mediocre city gate guard until the end of the world. Even if I escaped this fate, at most I would be an ordinary adventurer wandering around doing nothing, and my life would not leave anything truly memorable.
I don't know what you think.
Are you, like me, full of enthusiasm and eager to fight for the arrival of such a great era? Have you ever been immersed in the pursuit of victory and glory, excited by the great achievements you have created with your own hands? Have you ever been eager to prove your worth in this war and become a legend praised forever?
If your answer is "yes", then I want to tell you that you are wrong!
This is not the truth about war!
In other words, this is not the whole truth about the war.
Because, perhaps, in some places you can't see, something is happening that you don't know about. Some people you don't know have paid a price for this war that you can never imagine.
That's not a price everyone can afford...
…
In this battle to eliminate the Corrupted, I think the best choice I made was to use the "Shield Strike" skill to knock out the weak Chief Hondos at the last moment of the battle.
No matter from which perspective, this was a wise decision: not only did I successfully delay time and win us the opportunity to eliminate the beast bone berserker Big Fok, but I also got rid of my anger and vented the painful experience of being dragged down by Chief Hondos along the way, and resolved the personal grudge between us.
The best part was that, even after getting beaten up, he still had to be grateful to me because I had managed to save his life.
The Beast Bone Berserker was blocked by Nocturne in B-flat Minor and Fairy Descending to Earth. He had fallen into complete madness at this point, ignoring the attacks that came at him, letting them fall heavily on his body, taking away his already very scarce vitality. He opened his big bony mouth irritably, biting it up and down, making a terrible "crackling" sound. There was no muscle on his face, so there was no "expression" to speak of, but I just had this feeling: he didn't look like he was shouting wildly, but was groaning in pain. He waved his spear wildly and without any rules, and it didn't seem like he wanted to kill the enemy in front of him, but more like he subconsciously wanted to use it to vent some kind of pain from his soul.
He is a skeleton, without nerves, blood vessels, muscles or brain. I cannot feel where his pain comes from, let alone understand his current perception.
I just know why he is suffering.
From the beginning to the end, the Beast Bone Berserker's exposed eye sockets only had the figure of Chief Hondos, as if the Chief's presence was greatly disturbing his emotions, causing the soul fire in his skull to burn particularly strangely. The rough and simple spear in his hand attacked like a hurricane, and every ruthless swing would produce a powerful group attack effect, while causing great damage to all the opponents in front of him. However, his attention was not on the enemy at all. He seemed to only want to disperse or deal with the two troublesome guys in front of him as soon as possible, and then get close to Chief Hondos.
Looking back, I don't even think he was consciously attacking the chief. He might have just been influenced by the faint consciousness that remained in the depths of his soul, and he unconsciously wanted to approach the chief, get close to him, and communicate with him.
However, the broken soul of the Corrupted One only allowed him to understand killing as the only way to communicate.
So, he couldn't do anything to the Chief except hurt him.
In any case, his struggle had come to an end. Although the life of the dwarf bard and the elven druid girl was rapidly decreasing, their original vitality was very full and they were not in any danger of life. Every counterattack they made was an irreparable loss for Big Fok. In addition, Ding Ding Xiao Ge and his ice witch stood in the distance and kept firing hidden arrows. The road of the beast bone berserker had come to an end.
My joining was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Two sword strikes, just two light strikes, and the last hundred or so points of life of the beast bone berserker disappeared completely. The huge skeleton, which was still struggling to death, immediately stopped all movements. He opened his mouth wide and made a painful "crackling" sound, as if he wanted to pull his spine out of his mouth. The soul fire that was originally burning hot suddenly calmed down, returned to its original lifeless dark red, and extinguished little by little, until finally, it became only a soybean-sized dot.
The extinction of the soul fire meant that the undead magic cast on him was gradually losing its effectiveness. As the fire died out, his thick and solid bones quickly lost their smooth color, and the skin of the bones began to turn gray and soft, and then many cracks appeared on them. The skin of many bones turned into gray powder and fell off.
Finally, the doomed rotten man could no longer maintain his balance with his broken limbs, and fell to the ground with his back facing the sky. After a loud bang, all the bones below his waist were shattered, and his ribs and left arm bones were also broken.
But he still tried his best to raise his skull, which was glowing with a faint soul fire, and struggled to crawl towards Chief Hondos.
The shield strike had expired and the chief regained his consciousness at this time.
Surprisingly, at this time, Chief Hondos had completely lost his previous fierce and violent behavior. He did not rush forward with a loud roar and vent his hatred for the brutal and corrupt people with his own iron fists.
He simply stumbled forward, bent down gently, and held the broken bones of Big Fokker in his arms:
"It's over, Fokker. It's all over. I'm here to pick you up..."
"…Dad is here to pick you up…"
The chief's voice was hoarse and low, so gentle that it seemed like a gust of wind could blow it away. But when it reached my ears, it was like a thunderclap that almost shattered my eardrums.
dad?!
This brutal corrupted one, the leader of all the corrupted ones in this valley, this beast bone berserker who almost took his life, was actually... his son?
The chief held the skull of Big Fok gently in his hands, his arms trembling. A sad lightning flashed silently in the air, illuminating the face of the chief. I knew that the chief had entered old age, but it was not until then that I realized how old he had become. The wrinkles on his face piled up loosely, and I didn't know if it was rain or tears that covered his face. The orc's originally strong and straight hair was no longer upright, but turned into a bleak gray.
I don't know if he has always been like this or if he just became like this...
"...Fok, my little Fok. When the disaster came, you led the young men of the tribe and covered the women and children of the tribe to escape. You knew what would happen, we all knew it, but you did not flinch. You are a good boy, the bravest greenskin..."
Chief Hondos murmured, and I could not tell whether he was speaking to his son's bones, or to himself, or to us:
"...I left the flag of the tribe to you. The eagle gave you the courage to fight, and the mountain gave you the strength to fight. You blocked them and saved the entire tribe. I said, if you are still alive, light this bonfire, and I will come back with reinforcements to save you..."
I already knew what had happened here. The half-orc-shaped Decayed in the valley, the scarred armor on Big Fok, the only burning bonfire - everything that happened before my eyes was like a silent narrator, telling us the tragic story of a group of brave young orcs who fought against powerful enemies in order to protect their tribe, but ultimately failed. The evil great lich Mackenskar did not even spare their corpses, transforming them into unconscious Decayed, letting them guard the passage to the Stone Fortress for him, fighting with their relatives and friends.
This is a brave story!
This is a sad story...
The protagonist of this story possesses the best virtues that an intelligent creature can have. He is steadfast, brave, kind, and willing to sacrifice. If everything develops like a clichéd legend, he will surely be greeted with victory, honor, and a happy life.
However, life is not a legend after all. When facing unimaginably powerful enemies, the stories of warriors often end in tragedy.
"...These rotten beasts, what have they done to you..." My heart was trembling with the chief's voice. The intense sadness was like a rusty saw, tearing my chest. "...Your body was so strong, your voice was so loud, but...but now...how did you become like this..."
"…But no matter what you have become, you are still my little Fokker. I see the fire here, and I know you are still here, still waiting for me to come."
"Now, everything is over, my good son. Dad is here to take you away. You kept your promise and protected our tribe. Now, it's time for me to fulfill my promise..."
Big Fok raised his right arm with great effort, still holding the spear with the totem flag in his hand. He pointed the sharp tip of the spear at the chieftain and moved forward inch by inch. I don't know what this means, maybe it means that this orc who has been transformed by the great lich Mackenscar has completely lost his mind and still wants to kill the living person in front of him.
But I would rather believe that he wanted to express something.
Perhaps, he just wanted to return this flag, which symbolized his father's majesty and love, to his hands.
Chief Hondos did not stop him. He sat cross-legged on the ground, letting Big Fok's head rest on his knees, and then sang a sad foreign ballad. I could not understand the muddy orcish language, but I could understand the sad tune. In this sad chant, I felt my soul was gently soothed and became calm and warm.
The chief sang as he stretched out his right hand. A layer of blue magic shone on his fingers, but the light was not strong. The chief slowly reached into Big Fok's skull and gently pinched the last breath of fire inside.
That was the soul fire that symbolized life. For the Corrupted, no matter what his soul became, no matter how much he remembered about his past life, no matter how bloodthirsty and brutal a monster he was turned into by the great lich's magic, as long as that flame was not extinguished, this life would not be over.
In this sense, Big Fok, the young Orc warrior, is still alive. Maybe he no longer recognizes his father, maybe he has lost his courage and honor as an Orc, maybe his consciousness and soul are suffering endlessly in this cruel magic, but the flame still retains his last ray of life.
He is still alive!
With a twist of his fingers, the red flame went out. The thick skull lost the last bit of its magical light, and the inside was dark, completely devoid of life.
Chief Hondos extinguished the flame himself.
He extinguished the fire of his son's life.
The moment the flames went out, the chief's eyes suddenly dimmed and lost their luster.
A part of his own life also left this body along with the extinguishing of the flames.
This is the saddest thing I have ever seen. The father killed his son with his own hands, fulfilling his promise:
Save him, take him away!
It starts with life and ends with soul. Today, right here, I witnessed the deepest and most painful fatherly love, and I also got to know the greatest father.
Today, I am here, in this hot and humid wetland, and I have discovered the other half of the truth about war that I have always ignored. Extraordinary bravery and heroic deeds are not all of war. Behind those glorious heroic deeds, we often overlook those who did not persevere to the end.
They used their fingers, which had withered to joints, dipped their own blood and wrote their names in the corners of this history. These names do not represent glorious memories, but a great sadness that even this vast and solid land cannot bear, and is forever engraved in people's hearts and cannot be erased...
The chief sat there silently, like a statue, like a dead man, without a sound or movement.
The rain kept falling, the thunder roared, and the lightning flashed, as if the whole world was wailing for the sacrifice of a father.
My eyes were wet and sore, and the tears that kept falling from the corners of my eyes flowed down my cheeks into my mouth, feeling indescribably bitter and sour.
That's not rain, no...
In this tragic farewell scene between father and son, my friends who are involved in the sky were also moved. The corners of their eyes were red, and the elven druid girl bit her lips tightly, and the corners of her eyes were also crystal clear.
"Hurry up, we should go get the mission reward." Niu Baiwan sniffed, quickly calmed down, and said in a way that spoiled the mood. He walked up to the chief in a grand manner and received a cloak with not very good attributes, sixteen gold coins, and more than seven thousand experience points. The Paladin, who was almost level 50, was upgraded in this way.
I really didn't want to disturb my father who was in extreme pain, so I could only give Niu Baiwan a harsh look.
I understand very well that my friends will never feel as deeply as I do about such separations of life and death.
For those who are involved in the sky, the best thing about this world is that no matter what happens to you, no matter what misfortune you encounter, you can start over and start over. You have the opportunity to correct your mistakes and make the right choices until everything develops as you wish.
For them, countless sorrows can be turned into joy, failures can be turned into victories, death can be turned into survival, and farewell can be turned into reunion. There is nothing in the world that is truly annoying and sad.
As they said, this world is just a "game" to them. Here, they can have fun to their heart's content.
But for natives, this is not the case.
In our eyes, this is a destined world. Everything that happens in this world cannot be reversed or changed. We only have one chance, and if we lose it, we will never get it back.
Just like Chief Hondos and his son, no matter how many times this task is repeated, no matter how many people come to help the chief fulfill his wish, his son will always become a corrupt person and can only lie in his arms, waiting for his father to use death to redeem his soul.
There is no going back. Living in this cruel world, we cannot look back and can only accept the allocation and arrangement of the gods and move forward blindly and arduously.
I don’t know how this road that has been laid out before me will end...
