## Chapter 74 – Ogre Raid
“So scary. So scary, Barbarian. Comfort me quickly. Sing me a savage song of courage.”
Copson approached me, trembling. He was spouting nonsense, so his confusion seemed severe. This bastard’s completely lost it.
Well, I have to give him credit for his survival skills. I was just following Cloudie and avoiding the ogres, but Copson avoided them with his natural abilities alone. He seems to have a knack for that sort of thing, as much as he wanders around.
“I’m fucking scared too, you son of a bitch.”
I muttered. He was scared, but I wasn’t in any state to comfort anyone.
“My whole body is shaking. I’m worried I’m going to die here. No, I might actually die.”
“Me too, you fuck.”
Copson’s hand, gripping his sword, trembled. Every time an ogre appeared, someone disappeared. We were all being careful, trying to prepare for an attack, but we were being kidnapped helplessly. No one could stop a 4-meter giant sprinting at full speed.
ㅡKYYYAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
And, as always, a scream echoed from the darkness. The kidnapped person’s end wouldn’t be good. Everyone knew it firsthand.
I was starting to doubt whether we could even catch the ogre. The ogre avoided the Young Lady, Cloudie couldn’t find an opportunity because so many people were running away, and Winnia’s magic was a step too slow. The people were out of control.
“This is a fucking disaster.”
“Don’t worry too much, Katt. I think we’ll be able to catch it soon.”
Cloudie said, putting her arm around my waist. Did she think of some brilliant method? I asked her, wanting to hear her reasoning.
“Did you figure something out?”
“Well… not really a method, but if the number of people decreases like this, it’ll be a little less complicated, right? That’ll be enough. I wish about ten more people would disappear.”
“Huh?”
I looked at her in surprise. But she just avoided my gaze, embarrassed that I had suddenly met her eyes.
Did she just say… that it would be good if ten more people died…?
I suppressed the ominous feeling that was trying to grip my heart. It’s okay. She’s a mixed-race, so her sense of morality might be a little different. I can fix that kind of thing while we live together.
“Ten people…”
How much more time would it take for ten more people to die? Probably not long. The ogre was tired, but we were tired too. It felt like the intervals between attacks were getting shorter.
Unlike the ogre, which attacked and ran away, we were stuck here, waiting for an attack that could come at any moment, maintaining a fierce state of tension. The consumption of physical and mental strength was greater on our side. At this rate, ten people would disappear in an instant.
“That cowardly ogre! No matter what, I won’t feel better unless I personally cut off its head and take it to Father!”
The Young Lady shouted at the top of her lungs. She was frustrated because the ogre wouldn’t fight her no matter how much she charged at it. Only five of the soldiers she brought were left.
ㅡKUUUUUUR!!!
Then the ogre charged again. The adventurers, who had decided to stick together, scattered in panic once more. Winnia fired a Flame Arrow. It struck the ogre’s side, but the ogre ignored the burn and kept running.
“Eek!”
The Young Lady blocked its path head-on. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her greatsword seemed to be howling with murderous intent.
ㅡGooooooo.
A red aura swirled around the massive sword.
It was a preparation for a transcendent strike using mana.
Cloudie dodged the fleeing people and got behind the ogre. Indeed, its movements were better than before, thanks to the reduced number of people.
ㅡKUR!
But the ogre snorted as if scoffing and threw its body to the side, rolling away. Because it rolled on the ground, Cloudie couldn’t target its legs.
If the adventurers and soldiers had surrounded it from both sides, we might have been able to finish it off. But the adventurers were only focused on running away. The Young Lady’s soldiers tried to do something, but there was nothing they could do with only five of them.
“How long are you going to keep running…!”
The Young Lady, having finished charging, broke through ten meters in an instant with a single step. As her sword swung wildly, the ogre—
ㅡThump!
—jumped high and avoided the strike. The Young Lady’s greatsword created a crater in the ground as it embedded itself. No matter how strong the strike, it was useless if it didn’t hit. The ogre knew that.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
The ogre, having avoided the strike, ran on all fours, snatched another adventurer, and disappeared.
“Damn it, damn it!”
The Young Lady cursed, unbecoming of her station.
“Fuck! This is so frustrating!”
Only that was repeated. The rain continued to fall, the sky was dark, and our bodies were getting soaked. The dropping body temperature and the soaring body temperature from the intense movements were disrupting the body’s balance. I felt dizzy. The heightened senses from the constant tension were also overclocked. Someone, looking exhausted, sat down on the spot.
“We’re all going to die…”
“Don’t say that. Didn’t you come here to make money?”
Copson picked him up. Then a scream was heard again. The two of them flinched. I also felt a deep fatigue. When we first clashed, our morale was high, and we could swarm and slash at it like a pack of dogs, but as soon as the ogre changed its tactics, everything went to shit.
The adventurers weren’t soldiers. They didn’t know how to form ranks, and even if they did, they didn’t have the ability to maintain them. Above all, they had never received any training to prepare for this kind of situation. So they couldn’t cope.
They had only ever hunted in small parties of individuals, and they had never worked together with dozens of people to kill such a powerful enemy. Therefore, they couldn’t take advantage of their numbers, no matter how many there were.
By the time we realized that, it was all too late. A lot of adventurers had already died. We couldn’t overwhelm it with numbers.
In the silence, Cloudie said,
“Okay, Katt. I think it’ll work now. It’s thinned out enough. Can I ask you for one thing?”
“What are you going to make me do? I’ll do it, so explain.”
“Distract it from the front. The ogre doesn’t try to fight the Young Lady. I’ll talk to the Young Lady about it.”
Her expression looked utterly serious.
“What the fuck? Will that work? If I get hit once, I’ll fly all the way home, you know?”
“You’re the only one I can trust here. It’s okay. We can finish it this time. I’m getting tired too. I want to go down now.”
“…Okay.”
It was nonsense, but I trusted Cloudie. I nodded. It wasn’t a big deal. If the ogre charged, I just had to stand there and block it from the front without getting scared. Then Cloudie would somehow take care of it.
Cloudie approached the Young Lady. They talked, and the Young Lady’s face lit up.
“Oh, what a courageous person! Are you… a Barbarian? You are a Barbarian, aren’t you?”
The Young Lady said to me, clasping her hands together. I had never talked to a noble before, so I had no idea what to say. It was important to be polite… I bent over 90 degrees.
“Yes. I will take the front. I will block it with my life.”
“I, I see! You are a Barbarian after all! A race of valiant warriors! Please raise your head!”
Standing in front of the Young Lady, who was making racist remarks, I raised my head, glancing at Cloudie. What did she say? My eyes met the Young Lady’s.
“Indeed, you have the appearance of a warrior! Very well, I will trust you with it! Take the front! I send my praise to your valor and will surely succeed!”
The Young Lady said that and returned to her place. Cloudie approached my bewildered self.
“Got it? The front. Just block the ogre from the front. Actually, you just have to stand still…”
“I’m so scared. I’m fucking scared.”
“Can’t do it?”
“No, I have to. Trust me, you fuck.”
“Hehe.”
She grabbed my face and kissed my forehead. It was a skill with a buff of +100 attack power and +100 courage. Greatly excited, I suppressed a scream.
Time passed in that state. An unprecedentedly large fighting spirit overflowed from my forehead and spread throughout my body.
Good.
I can draw its attention.
I was the kind of man who could do that.
Of course, I can’t do the next part. But that’s not my job.
ㅡThump.
The earth-shaking footsteps of the giant were heard again.
I identified the direction. North? South? They were in completely opposite directions, but I couldn’t tell which one it was. It sounded like it was coming from the west too.
“It’s east, Katt.”
“Ah.”
Cloudie, who whispered the direction in my ear, disappeared.
ㅡFuck, everything’s wrong.
I put the strength of my whole body into my lower body. I fixed my posture as if rooting myself in the ground. Less than 5 seconds stretched out like dozens of minutes. The footsteps were close.
When the approaching footsteps caused an earthquake,
ㅡKURRRRRRRRR!!
The ogre appeared.
It never got tired of using the same tactics and charged straight ahead. At the end of that direction was me. I swallowed. If things went wrong, I might die.
ㅡThump! Thump! Thump!
A giant 4 meters tall was running towards me.
I’m scared, I’m so fucking scared.
I’m not lying, I’m so scared I feel like I’m going to throw up. It would feel similar if a giant dump truck was rushing towards me at 100 km/h. My body vibrated with the ogre’s footsteps. It’s getting closer.
I said I would do it, but now that this shit has happened, a fear beyond the world has rushed in.
“ㅡUgh.”
Only 5 seconds.
Less than 5 seconds.
In that time, the ogre could either kidnap me or trample me, depending on its preference. Where’s Cloudie? Where’s the Young Lady? Where are Winnia and Copson? Where are the other adventurers?
In a world where one second was stretched out, there was only me and the ogre. I gripped the sword in my hand. It wouldn’t be very useful, but I took a stance.
I took a stance and—
“KYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!”
—I let out a battle cry towards the ogre. I unleashed a roar that broke through the limits of my vocal cords like a beast. By doing so, I provoked the monster and summoned courage.
ㅡkUUr?
The ogre flinched at the roar. I kept shouting.
“ㅡEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!”
ㅡKKKUUUUUUUUURRR!!!!
The ogre, which was running, also roared wildly.
It didn’t avoid me. Was it annoyed that I was trying to make a louder noise than it, or did it think it would be okay because I wasn’t the Young Lady? It only looked at me and ran to crush me. It accepted the provocation.
It felt like there was less than 1 second left until the collision. Now it’s all or nothing. I stabbed the sword as if bursting the muscles in my shoulder. No matter how thick the ogre’s skin was, considering the final blow I had gathered from my balls and the ogre’s speed, it might penetrate its abdomen.
“DIE, YOUUUUUUUUUUU!!!”
Since it was a gamble anyway, I closed my eyes tightly. And then.
ㅡKUR?!
“FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINALLY!!!!!!!!!! I CAUGHT ITTTTTTTTT!!!!”
ㅡThwack!
Along with the Young Lady’s insane scream, I heard a sound like a pile of flesh exploding.
With a strange sense of floating, I opened my eyes.
“Good job, Katt.”
“Uh…”
I was being held by Cloudie. The ogre was getting farther away. She had jumped out at the moment of crisis and snatched me. I flew like that for a while, then rolled on the ground with her holding me.
“You maggot-like bastard! I finally! Caught it!”
ㅡKkKkKkKkkKkKkUuuuuuuuuRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
The ogre’s ‘scream’ erupted.
“Oh my goodness.”
I witnessed the scene. The ogre, a giant with a body of 4 meters. Its side had literally ‘exploded’. The Young Lady’s massive greatsword was embedded in its side.
ㅡThwack!
The Young Lady pulled out her greatsword from the ogre. Eww! An unbelievably large, bright red sausage was caught on the sword and torn off. The ogre screamed again and convulsed.
ㅡKUR! KUR!
It tried to get up, but it couldn’t move with its side torn open.
The ogre, who had fallen into a pool of its own blood, cried out pitifully as if looking for its mother.
“Ohohohohohohohohoho!”
The Young Lady laughed maniacally as she watched the scene.
