Raid

“Lu-Luna noona! The monster is talking!”

“M-monsters can t-talk in some c-cases.”

“Oh, really?”

“Y-yes. But I’ve n-never heard an o-ogre talk. It m-must be the highly i-intelligent special entity O-Ogre Champion.”

The Ogre Champion is already super strong, and it’s a special variant of an Ogre Champion?

This is driving me crazy.

But that doesn’t mean we can be intimidated and cower!

-Kuooooooo!

Moreover, that incredibly tough Ogre Champion was still running and coming toward us.

If it charges like this and reaches the recovery area, it would be terrible!

“Luna noona!”

“Y-yes!”

“It’s time for us to take more action! Let’s go down!”

“A-already?”

“We need to distract that ogre. It can’t be allowed to enter the recovery area!”

“Y-yes!”

“Then I’ll go down first!”

I grabbed the rope that Luna noona had used to climb up and descended.

Whoooosh!

“Ugyagyagyagyak!”

My hands are burning!

“J-Jin-sangaaaaa!”

I jumped down at once, causing tremendous friction between the rope and my hands, which was extremely hot and painful.

After somehow getting down to the ground, I immediately cast Heal on my palms.

…Next time, I’ll go down in small increments.

Thud!

At that moment, Luna noona jumped down and landed beside me, asking.

“J-J-Jin-sang! A-are you okay?”

“I’m fine with Heal, noona! But… you came down right away, aren’t your feet hurt?”

“Huh? Ah, he-hehe. Th-this much is fine! D-don’t worry!”

Hmm~ I used the rope because I thought that height would hurt.

Sometimes I’m saddened by the huge difference in physical abilities between Luna noona and me.

Well, anyway!

“Yah!”

I immediately got behind Luna noona, clung to her back, and shouted.

“Noonaaaaa! Go go go toward the Ogre Champion! Make its eyeballs spin with dazzling movements!”

“Y-yes! G-go go!”

Tap tap tap tap tap Luna noona carried me and ran forward.

“Huh!? Hey! Why are you going!”

“Jin-sang?”

“Jin-sang-kun?”

Samurus, Bleks-ssi, and the Guild Master were perplexed at the sight of Luna noona and me rushing out.

I looked back and quickly shouted to the raid party members.

“Everyone follow us! We can’t fight near the area, right?”

And thanks to Luna noona’s rapid movement, we were able to approach the Ogre Champion, which was swinging its club and charging against the magic attacks.

“Luna noona! For now, without using skills, quickly attack that thing’s legs to draw its attention! Stamina Heal!”

“Y-yes!”

Whoosh! Luna noona’s speed immediately increased.

A speed somewhere between her usual fast running and skill-using speed.

But that alone was sufficient to attack the Ogre Champion’s legs while avoiding the impact of magic concentrated on it.

Slash!

Luna noona’s dagger slashed the Ogre Champion’s thigh.

“The s-skin is tough!”

But as expected of an A-rank monster, Luna noona’s attack, which wasn’t even a skill, didn’t penetrate properly.

However.

-Kuooo!

The Ogre Champion stopped running and looked at us, which was enough to achieve our purpose.

Good! Here, let me taunt it more to make it an easy target for backstabbing!

“Hey! You drunk ogre bastard! How much alcohol did you have to drink to make your whole body that red! I’ll make you a hangover soup!”

“J-Jin-sang?”

Just once isn’t enough!

Behold my dazzling tongue technique!

“Ebebererere! You couldn’t even counterattack after getting hit once! And you call yourself a champion! You’re a slug!”

-Kuoooooooo!!!

The Ogre Champion’s veins popped out as it roared at us and began running thud! thud! toward us.

Uhyahyahya!

After all, it’s just a monster! It falls for such provocation so easily!

“Noona! Let’s dodge around and annoy it! To make it easier for others to attack!”

“Y-yes!”

The Ogre Champion approached us angrily and swung its club.

A speed that was quite fast considering its size.

A speed I could never avoid if I were alone.

But.

That’s only if I were alone!

Swoosh! Luna noona easily dodged the Ogre Champion’s club while carrying me.

“Uhyahyahyaha! Our Luna noona is the faaaastest in the world! Such slow attacks won’t hit us! Bererererere!”

“J-Jin-sang! I d-don’t think we sh-should tease it too m-much.”

“How much faster can that guy get just because he’s angry! Uwahahaha!”

“It’s, it’s getting faster.”

“Oh, really?”

-Kuooooo!

Whoosh!

The Ogre Champion swung its club even faster than before.

Luna noona easily avoided it, of course, but the large club slightly brushed past my hair.

“Eeeeek!”

“Idiot! Taunt within reason! Dodge, Luna! Storm Arrow!”

As Samurus instructed, Luna noona increased her speed and swish created some distance.

Whoooosh!

The arrow wrapped in storm cast by Samurus directly hit the Ogre Champion’s back.

-Kuaaaak!

The Ogre Champion screamed.

But despite the scream, Samurus’s arrow didn’t seem to do much damage to the Ogre Champion’s thick skin.

The Ogre Champion turned its body toward where it felt pain.

There stood the raid party that had followed behind me and Luna-ssi.

The Guild Master, Bleks-ssi, Samurus’s party, and other B-rank adventurers.

I shouted to these brave individuals.

“Everyone, do your best! As long as you don’t die, I’ll go and recover you right away!”

“Let’s go! Brave adventurers!”

Starting with the Guild Master’s shout.

-Die! Humaaaaans!

“”Haaaaaaah!””

The most important raid of the Monster Parade began.

◈

20 minutes.

The battle continued for a full 20 minutes.

This talking Ogre Champion was truly tough, solid, and strong.

Even when struck by Bleks-ssi’s axe.

Even when cut by the Guild Master’s sword.

Even when hit by Samurus’s arrows.

Even when continuously receiving magicians’ magic on its body.

The Ogre Champion simply wouldn’t fall.

20 minutes is quite a long time.

How long?

Long enough that while we were raiding, the remaining 300 or so monsters behind were completely annihilated by the magicians’ and archers’ magical baptism, giving them the margin to help us by firing magic at appropriate timing.

Yet this Ogre Champion stubbornly refused to fall.

Rather.

BOOM!

“Guhuuurgh!”

“Rian!”

“Luna noona, go!”

“Y-yes!”

The more wounds it received, the more violent it became, to the point where the frequency of injuries on our side increased.

“Heal!”

As soon as Luna noona moved and approached, I immediately used Heal to treat the blown-away adventurer.

“Are you okay!”

“Thanks. Ugh! How can it be so energetic while covered in blood!”

The adventurer frowned and complained about the Ogre Champion.

As the adventurer said, the Ogre Champion is covered in blood now.

No matter how tough and powerful an A-rank monster it might be.

It couldn’t possibly remain unharmed after being attacked by adventurers who recover immediately after being injured during 20 minutes.

In addition, all the monsters it had gathered as subordinates had been defeated, and whenever there was an opening, it was continuously hit by magic that would deplete all the magical power of a normal magician after a single use.

By the way, I quickly went near the wall in the middle and spread the Mana Heal Area again, so we were fine for about 10 more minutes.

-Ugh! I’ll kill you, humans…! I’ll kill you all! And use you as the cornerstone to rebuild my horde!

Even monsters know the word “cornerstone.”

The Ogre Champion looked at us with eyes full of malice.

Its originally red skin, now dripping with blood, and its strong grip on the club made it a monster overflowing with intimidation.

Our side’s health is always in optimal condition.

None of the participants in this raid party had depleted health or were unable to move due to injuries.

Nevertheless, we couldn’t let our guard down seeing the Ogre Champion, which still maintained its fighting spirit and killing intent toward us, despite continuously being wounded and hit by magic many times.

We needed an opportunity.

I instinctively felt that we needed an opportunity to drain its health more or make it show signs of weakness so we could attack more aggressively.

“Luna noona.”

“Y-yes, Jin-sang.”

“Is that guy’s movement… slower now?”

“Y-yes. B-but the p-power behind it s-seems stronger.”

That’s right.

It became rougher, more powerful, and more intimidating, making it more difficult for adventurers to attack than before they were injured.

“Still… Luna noona can dodge it easily, right?”

“Yes. W-why?”

“Good. Then… Guild Master.”

I addressed the Guild Master who happened to be nearby.

“What is it, Jin-sang-kun.”

“Luna noona and I will go on the offensive.”

“You two?”

“J-Jin-sang?”

“It might have been different at first, but now that Ogre Champion is wounded all over and dripping blood. If we target those spots, Luna noona’s attacks will be effective. So we’ll quickly attack those wounded areas multiple times to greatly reduce its health. Luna noona, can you do it?”

“W-with Jin-sang, it’s p-possible.”

“…”

The Guild Master was silent for a moment, then nodded and said.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Hehe! Leave it to the strongest combo of me and Luna noona! Luna noonaaaa!”

“Y-yes! G-go go go!”

Luna noona, now understanding my intention without me having to explicitly say it, kicked off from the ground.

Uwahahahahaha!

From now on, our strongest combo will perform at its best!

I clung to Luna noona with more strength.