Cannibal (1): An Ogre?!
The sudden scream sent Veronica bolting upright. Even the cat that had been dozing nearby shot its tail straight up like a bottle brush.
“Fuck this. I wasn’t going to him, so the bastard decides to come to me and throw a tantrum.”
Cursing under my breath, I threw on my armor. Once I’d finished gearing up and gripped my spear, Veronica cried out in alarm.
“Fight or run, we still have to go see what the hell is going on!”
Mana gathered between her horns as Veronica burned with fighting spirit. I was both the one who had saved her life and the key to breaking her curse; she couldn’t afford to lose me. Loyalty and self-interest—both gave her ample reason to fight.
“──That ogre might use rune magic! Be careful!”
I shouted the warning but didn’t wait for a reply. I kicked the door open.
─Bang!
Tirsi burst out of the adjacent room at the same time. We exchanged a quick glance, sharing our thoughts without words, then rushed out of the inn. Tirsi spotted Veronica following me and startled.
“Nord! What is that bicorn behind you?!”
“She’s an animal friend! I’ve got a wide network, you know!”
I gave a half-assed answer and stepped into the street. The sun had already set; the rural village without a single streetlight was pitch black.
“Friar’s Lantern!”
Tirsi raised her wand and activated the spell. Familiar blue lights flooded the road, illuminating the scene. On the opposite side from where the villagers were fleeing in panic, a single ogre was strolling toward us.
Little shit. It really is the size of my dick.
Just like the orcs had described—a massive, four-armed ogre built like a fortress. The creature was dressed in clothes, and two of the four arms sprouting from its shoulders gripped clubs. Its cannon-like hands looked strong enough to rip a human head off while the victim was still alive.
“To the shelter! Head to the chief’s house!”
“Kyaaaaaaaah!”
“Hey, militia! Where the hell are those useless parasites?!”
The appearance of a man-eating monster sent the villagers running without a backward glance. Even the drunkards seemed to have sobered up from pure terror; their feet moved perfectly fine. Yet the ogre wasn’t chasing any of the fleeing people.
Thud…… Thud……
It ignored the prey running right in front of it and simply strolled forward at a leisurely pace, like a tyrant out for an evening walk. I found the creature’s relaxed attitude incredibly irritating. Because I was watching it so intently, I noticed something.
……Is that bastard looking at me?
Could it have followed me here? Even though I’d kept my Face Disguise active on the way back to the village, the smell of blood soaked into my clothes from the orc settlement probably still lingered. If it was an ogre, it wouldn’t be strange for it to recognize the blood of its own kind. But why the hell would it come after me?
Actually, the reason didn’t matter. Since when did monsters need a reason to attack people? It might just be stocking up on calories before hibernating for the winter.
Tirsi pointed her wand at the ogre, biting her lip.
“If the people don’t evacuate, I can’t use my magic……”
She trailed off. The ogre had raised one of its empty hands—the one growing from its shoulder—and pointed it directly at us.
"Hagalaz."
⟨ Rune of Hail ⟩
─Whoosh!
The moment the ogre finished its incantation, a fireball the size of a basketball formed in its palm. It hurled the flaming orb at us like a baseball pitcher.
"Thurisaz!!"
⟨ Rune of Thorn ⟩
Veronica was the next to chant. She didn’t use telepathy this time—her voice rang out clearly. Between her horns, the same shape as a ram’s, glowing runes appeared. It was the same magic-resistance rune Tabula had used before. A translucent shield formed, trying to block the flaming sphere.
The ogre wasn’t about to let that happen.
"Isaz."
⟨ Rune of Ice ⟩
A rapid-fire chant followed, striking like a machine gun. A wave of ice surged forward in the blink of an eye and shattered Veronica’s rune shield.
Veronica was visibly shocked. It meant she had no counter in her hand against the ogre’s magic.
I spun my spear like an oar and charged toward the fireball. Tirsi, who couldn’t use offensive magic because of the civilians, pointed her wand at my back.
Wind-attribute speed enhancement spell
─Whoooosh!
It was the same movement-speed buff I’d received once before.
“Thanks, Tirsi!”
I adapted smoothly to my suddenly faster body and sliced the fireball apart like a lacrosse player catching a ball.
─Slice!
The mithril spearhead cut the orb cleanly, triggering an explosion. I twisted away from the blast radius. The missed flames simply burned some village timber in vain.
Fwooooosh……
The fire burned brightly, driving back the darkness. Tirsi canceled her Friar’s Lantern, probably to conserve mana. Even though the spell could suddenly increase its brightness for support purposes, it was useless right now. If the blinded ogre started flinging magic everywhere, it would only cause trouble.
I took up a stance exactly as described in the spear manual.
Shit. Since when do ogres use magic this well?
Weren’t ogres supposed to be brain-dead muscleheads? I was actually getting a little pissed off. This thing didn’t have two heads giving it double the average ogre IQ, did it?! If it were just a brute that only rampaged with its body, we could pin its feet down while Tirsi and Veronica bombarded it with spells.
“──Hoh.”
At that moment, the ogre kept a distance of about ten meters and stroked its chin.
“Two suitable opponents. How fortunate.”
“……The fuck?”
What the hell? I doubted my own ears and widened my eyes. The phrasing was a bit archaic, but it was perfect human speech! I finally understood why monsters and animals always looked so shocked whenever I spoke to them. I never imagined how horrifying it would feel to have an opponent use our own language.
"Hagalaz."
⟨ Rune of Hail ⟩
The ogre fired off the spell instantly, as if it had expected our shock. This son of a bitch—!
“Using conversation to set up a stun?! The ‘talk-no-jutsu’ is supposed to be a Korean exclusive!!”
I shouted while scooping Tirsi up and leaping sideways.
Krrrrrrung—!!
A lightning bolt moving at ridiculous speed, nothing like my own Lightning Missile. The ultra-fast strike slammed into the spot we had just vacated. Fortunately, Veronica was a master of rune magic; she managed to dodge the ogre’s spell without my help.
Lightning was the classic symbol of ‘unexpected disaster.’ Using Hagalaz to attack an enemy with lightning was practically a cliché.
“That’s just static electricity, you idiot!”
I set Tirsi down and shouted, but I couldn’t close the distance. If I left her side, that lightning magic would roast her.
Did this bastard analyze our team’s power balance in that short amount of time?
The moment it bluffed in human speech, I knew it wasn’t ordinary. Fighting it felt less like facing a monster and more like facing a person.
Screw it. Then I’ll just treat it like a human and crush it.
The flashy fire show had made all the villagers run away. I asked Veronica,
“Veronica. You think we can’t kill that thing with magic?”
Unlike when I spoke out loud, Veronica answered through telepathy. This way the ogre bastard wouldn’t be able to overhear our plan.
“Can’t you do the same thing?”
“I’m counting on you.”
Just interfering with its concentration and draining its mana would be incredibly helpful. It would lower both the enemy’s combat power and our chance of success.
I glared at the ogre and spoke to Tirsi in Romanian.
Tirsi. That thing can destroy any magic it already knows. I’ll block for you, so please attack with spells it probably doesn’t know.
Understood. Nord, in an emergency, please escape without worrying about me.
I’ll make sure that emergency never happens.
Even while we were discussing our strategy, the ogre simply stood still.
What the hell? It’s making me nervous. Usually these other-world villains don’t give you time to make plans.
My suspicion was spot on. Although rune magic didn’t require a verbal chant, it still needed focus and mana control. While ignoring our conversation, the ogre had been secretly preparing its own spell.
"Jēra──!!"
⟨ Rune of Harvest ⟩
The ogre activated the rune with what sounded like its first real shout. Its empty hand suddenly emitted light, and wind began rushing into its palm at tremendous speed!
“Ugh!”
It wasn’t wind. That was only how it felt. This magic had nothing to do with generating physical energy. I staggered as I felt blood being sucked out from every single one of my pores.
“Damn…… it……!!”
"Hagalaz!!"
⟨ Rune of Hail ⟩
Even while feeling the same dizziness, Veronica fired her magic. A boulder materialized in the sky and smashed down toward the ogre’s head.
“Hmph.”
The ogre snorted and retreated, easily dodging the rock shower. For such a huge body, its footwork was ridiculously fast. Veronica gathered mana in her horns and shouted.
Goddamn it! What kind of ogre has a mana-drain pattern?!
While having our mana sucked away, Tirsi and I began chanting.
“Lightning mana flowing through the heavens! Become seven talons and pierce the foe! Lightning Missile!!”
I finished my shorter chant first. But the ogre didn’t even pay attention this time. The moment my spell touched its body, it scattered harmlessly.
“This bastard’s using the Thurisaz rune too!”
My magic lacked firepower. Just like Tabula, it seemed physical-type rune casters treated magic-resistance accessories as must-have items. But the feeling was slightly different from Tabula, who had been half-human. This thing was 100% ogre. Not a human with wild instincts, but a beast with intellect. After seeing so many monsters that walked the line between man and animal, I was certain.
“An offering to the god of decay. The warmth of wave winds. The wild sheep in white clothes. The birch tree. I, who continues the rites of the small bay. With a single harpoon, I shall raise the marker that binds the gods!!”
Having seen the result of my spell, Tirsi changed her chant. Her hand slipped into her bag and pulled out a small bottle. It contained liquid paralysis poison.
Paralysis-binding spell enhanced with poison
─Clankclankclankclank!!!
The chains of paralysis wrapped around the ogre and stopped it cold. The mana-absorption rune must have been canceled, because strength was returning to my limbs!
“For an inferior species, your head works surprisingly well.”
I tried to dash forward, not missing the opening Tirsi had created, but the ogre twisted its lips as if to say I was more capable than expected.
“However, I have already lost interest in you lot.”
─Flex!
The ogre poured so much power into the hand holding its club that veins bulged. Was the paralysis not working? I had assumed it would swing at me and kept my guard up while closing in, but the choice it made was something I had never anticipated.
“With my iron mace, I raise the banner of victory.”
The ogre slammed its club into the ground.
─Kwaaaaaang!
Whether through some trick or not, an unnatural cloud of dust erupted. The sudden loss of vision forced me to stop.
“Tsk!”
I leveled my spear and heightened all my senses. If the bastard charged through the dust cloud, I would meet it head-on. It was a cowardly move for something that had acted so arrogantly, but expecting honor from a monster was ridiculous anyway.
──But that very assumption had been naïve.
“Nord! It’s a trap! Ice Missile!”
Tirsi used the fast-casting, no-chant Ice Missile to blow the dust away. The cold exploded and scattered the cloud. When the dust cleared──
Not even the ogre’s shadow remained.
─Crackle, crackle.
The flames, now cooling from the ice, still burned as if to prove the previous battle hadn’t been a daydream. I muttered in utter disbelief.
“What the hell???”
He just ran away like this?