Ch.25Ogre (2)

Near the settlement. The small forest, not even large enough to be considered a shallow otherworld, was a typical coniferous forest commonly seen in this western continent.

This forest, composed of conifers with straight trunks growing nearly 8 to 10 meters tall, was quite different from jungle environments where every space is densely covered with shrubs and tall grasses.

To put it in perspective, it was like a unique environment where only trees grew densely on a prairie, making it pleasant enough to walk through without needing to forge a path.

In this forest resembling the birch forests commonly found in Northern Europe on Earth, I was moving forward with extreme caution.

‘Ogre, an ogre….’

Hunter Felix Jaeger had reported that ogres were appearing in this forest, and recognizing this as true, I entered the forest feeling that I needed to eliminate the ogre for the development of the pioneer village….

‘…Found it.’

From the moment I entered the forest, I could sense the ogre’s intense life force. Moving silently, it didn’t take long before I encountered the owner of that life force—the ogre.

Typically, the appearance of ogres in this world is extremely ugly and ferocious.

Their bald, shiny heads—with a baldness rate exceeding 90%—are disproportionately small compared to their bodies. Their mouths are filled with numerous large, sharp teeth to satisfy their endless appetite.

Additionally, ogre skin generally has a strange color somewhere between apricot and gray, and their body proportions are, to put it bluntly, as unsightly as a pot-bellied old man.

Their bellies protrude prominently, and their arms are unnaturally thin compared to their thick bodies, providing them with an abnormally long reach.

Of course, despite their ugly appearance that seems like a distorted version of humans, everything attached to their bodies is pure muscle, giving them tremendous combat power….

But the ogre I discovered now was clearly different from such “ordinary” ogres.

Its body, which should have resembled a form of skinny obesity, was instead composed of firm, thick muscles, and its height exceeded the usual 4 meters, standing at over 5 meters.

Of course, it didn’t have defined muscle lines like a bodybuilder from my previous life, so its overall physique resembled what you might call a “muscle pig,” reminiscent of a professional wrestler.

What appeared to be flesh was actually solid muscle attached throughout its body, making its already fierce impression even sharper. In its hand, just as Felix Jaeger had mentioned, it held a greatsword.

By human standards, it was almost the size of a zweihander… no, it truly was a zweihander, a two-handed sword, but for the ogre, it seemed to be merely a one-handed weapon.

Judging by how it held the sword, it was clearly no amateur, so I couldn’t expect it to swing the weapon around clumsily like a club.

Moreover, beside this “Warrior Ogre” (tentative name) lurked variables that Felix Jaeger apparently hadn’t noticed.

Two lower-ranked magical beasts that were, judging by their size, the largest wolf beasts I had ever seen—presumably hunting dogs or subordinates raised by the warrior ogre.

And suddenly, those two began barking furiously in the direction of my location.

“Kuhung! Kung! Kung!”

“Grrrrrrrr…!!”

Whether they had caught my scent or sensed my presence through their wild instincts, I couldn’t be sure.

‘…Damn it!’

Regardless, the current situation meant that I had been discovered despite my best efforts to conceal my presence. Hidden among the vegetation at some distance, I immediately pulled out a throwing knife from inside my clothing.

Believing that fewer variables make things easier, I had originally planned to ambush the ogre with at least one effective strike before starting the battle. Now, I changed my target to aim for those large wolf beasts… the dire wolves.

-Woooong…!!

I felt as if I could hear the sound of my internal aura activating and rotating rapidly. I pushed aura into the knife, filling every empty space within it.

-Pajiiiiii…

Perhaps this was the price for forcibly pushing aura into something of not particularly good quality.

Holding the sharp, pointed knife that had begun to tremble due to the large amount of energy (aura) I had pushed into the weapon, I clearly fixed my gaze on my target (enemy) before accurately aiming and throwing that unstable piece of metal—

—KWAAAANG!!!

My attempt resulted in the knife embedding itself in one of the dire wolves and exploding.

As if it contained gunpowder inside, the metal fragments that had been rapidly dispersing with tremendous propulsive force penetrated the dire wolf’s body. These fragments, saturated with aura, tore through the beast’s vulnerable flesh, killing it instantly.

Additionally, fragments from this attack also pierced straight through the neck of the dire wolf standing right beside it, allowing me to unintentionally achieve two results with one action.

And immediately after that.

“I’ll—KILL YOUUU!!!”

After recognizing that the ogre, with eyes burning with hatred, was looking in my direction while shouting in the continental common language, albeit somewhat clumsily.

—KWAAAANG!!!

Right after that, rocks that the ogre had pulled from somewhere and thrown began to embed themselves in the ground around me.

※ ※ ※

To be honest, the rocks thrown by the ogre weren’t as threatening a weapon as I had initially thought.

-KWAAAANG!!! KWAAAANG!!!

There was certainly no lack of destructive power, given that a 5-meter giant was hurling basketball-sized rocks with all its might, but the problem with this attack was its significantly poor accuracy.

Perhaps because its shoulders and arms had a structure somewhat different from the human body, the rocks rarely hit me. Recognizing this, after throwing about five rocks, it immediately changed its throwing method.

‘…Shotgun?!’

After crushing a rock in its fist with all its might, it scattered the fragments in a wide-area attack similar to a shotgun blast.

I hurriedly grabbed the kite shield I had strapped to my back, assumed a defensive posture, and wrapped my entire body in aura to increase my durability.

—TUDUDUDUDUDUNG!!

And immediately after that, as small rock fragments showered down on my armor, striking it noisily while I maintained my defensive posture.

Watching the situation by peeking out from behind my shield, I didn’t miss the brief opening that occurred just before the ogre threw another rock.

—KWAAAANG!!!

By kicking off the ground with my legs, I gained tremendous propulsion from the rebound. With just a few leaps, I crossed what must have been tens of meters to approach right in front of the ogre….

—KWAJIK!

‘…Ugh!’

In that brief moment, I blocked the ogre’s sword strike that came in response, feeling the throbbing pain transmitted from my left arm through my destroyed kite shield, and made a cold assessment.

In terms of pure physical ability, I was clearly at a disadvantage in this situation.

The 1.5 times physical enhancement gained from absorbing remnants that couldn’t become factors, the overwhelming physical strengthening effect from aura, the tremendous physical abilities obtained from the “Strong Bone” and “Troll’s Mighty Strength” factors, plus the blessing of strength enhancement bestowed by Joanna, the formal priestess.

Despite all these combined, my strength was clearly inferior compared to the ogre before me—an ogre that had merely enhanced its overwhelming physique with magical power.

Or rather, perhaps I should say that all of this was barely enough to allow me to face the ogre in direct combat.

I think I had momentarily forgotten reality because I had faced so many enemies that I could overwhelm with my physical abilities until now.

Yes, humans in this world, no matter how much they awaken their aura, cannot defeat naturally born mid-tier beings with pure physical ability alone.

Only mutants like me occasionally possess comparable innate strength. In the end, the main reason why humanity as a species gained superiority over powerful natural mid-tier beings was….

The power of humans who reached the realm where they could recreate mysteries through the mastery of weapons—what could be called martial arts, skill, or various other names.

Therefore, I emptied my mind and concentrated my consciousness on a single point.

I excluded all thoughts and distractions. I focused my mind, my heart, solely on targeting the enemy.

There was no one else here. Except for me and the enemy, no one else existed.

I discarded and abandoned everything else useless. I gave up and disposed of them. There, right there in front of my eyes, was the enemy. An enemy that needed to be killed.

Focus your nerves, pour your mind into one place. Unify your heart, think only of one thing, and see the enemy clearly.

And, and…

‘—I will cut.’

Cutting down and killing the ‘enemy.’ Nothing else mattered beyond this.