Ambush of the Twin-Head Ogre
“Stay inside. If you come out, you’ll die.”
Esilla left those words behind and kicked open the carriage door.
-Boom!
The moment the door slammed shut, a horrific roar erupted from outside.
“GRRAAAAAH!”
A earth-shaking bellow that rattled the ground, followed by the sounds of something shattering and exploding.
I peered out through a crack in the window.
“Holy shit…”
A colossal shadow loomed against the sunset, large enough to blot out the forest.
Blood dripped from the club the monster gripped.
With two heads sprouting from its neck, its identity was obvious.
Twin-Head Ogre.
Why the hell is that thing here?
Twin-Head Ogres were high-tier monsters you’d only find in deep dungeons or demon realms.
They didn’t belong on some ordinary forest road like this.
Is this another side effect of the increased difficulty?
The main scenario difficulty had gone up, so it seemed the field monsters had leveled up along with it.
“GRRAAH! Meat! Female meat!”
“No! Soft meat! I get to eat first!”
The two heads drooled and yelled at each other.
The right head glared at me inside the carriage, while the left one fixed on Esilla blocking the ogre’s path.
“Disgusting creatures.”
Esilla clicked her tongue in disgust and drew her sword.
-Shing!
A red haze rose from the chilly blade.
Aura.
The imperial technique where knights enveloped their blades in mana.
Just like her red ponytail, the aura blazed like roaring flames.
“That’s my meat!”
The ogre swung its massive club at Esilla.
But she didn’t dodge.
-Clang!
A sharp metallic ring echoed through the forest.
An unbelievable sight.
Esilla blocked the enormous club with her sword—one-handed.
The ground cracked under the impact, but her knees didn’t buckle.
“Just a brute with raw strength.”
Esilla twisted her blade, deflecting the club.
In the same motion, her body shot forward like a bullet.
-Slash!
A red flash grazed the ogre’s ankle.
Its thick hide and muscle sliced clean like tofu.
“GRRAAAAH! It hurts! Hurts!”
The ogre screamed and stomped, while Esilla lightly leaped back.
But it didn’t fall.
True to an ogre’s regenerative prowess, steam rose from the severed wound as muscle writhed and began reknitting.
“What a nuisance.”
Esilla’s brows furrowed.
She regripped her sword and charged into the ogre’s reach again.
Enraged by the pain, the ogre slammed both fists into the ground.
-Rumble!
The earth shook like an earthquake.
The shockwave rushed at Esilla, but she vaulted lightly into the air.
Twisting midair to build momentum, her sword plunged toward the ogre’s chest.
“Imperial swordsmanship: Falling Petals.”
Dozens of blade auras scattered like petals, shredding the ogre’s body.
Blood sprayed in a mist.
I held my breath inside the carriage, watching the scene unfold.
Knight Captain indeed.
It was overwhelming.
Definitely… different.
I’d used it plenty in the game, but seeing it live was something else.
Top of the academy in swordsmanship and captain of the imperial guard weren’t empty titles.
No wasted movements.
Precise judgment, flawless evasion, lethal strikes.
Not just brute force—it was the pinnacle of refined technique.
Like watching a textbook knight in action.
But the ogre wasn’t pushover either.
It swung its arms wildly to ward off Esilla even as wounds opened up.
-Clang, clang!
Esilla parried the assaults, biding for openings, but even her aura-clad blade struggled to inflict deep cuts.
Its two heads scanned different directions, eliminating blind spots, unleashing relentless attacks.
“Die, meat!”
The left head roared, and the club swept horizontally.
Esilla ducked her torso to evade.
But it was a trap.
“Heh heh! Gotcha!”
The right head sneered, lunging with its opposite hand to snatch her.
A signature Twin-Head Ogre tactic: staggered attacks leveraging high intelligence.
“Tch!”
Esilla calmly raised her sword to block the palm.
-Thud!
She skidded back, carving deep footprints in the dirt.
Pure strength contest, and the size difference told.
Seizing the gap, the ogre’s right head eyed the carriage greedily.
Instinct prioritizing the weak prey inside over the tough foe upfront.
“Grrr! Snack! Snack first!”
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Esilla launched herself, but the distance was too great.
The ogre tanked her sword strike with its body and smashed its wooden club toward the carriage roof.
-Crack!
A gruesome sound boomed overhead.
Through the dust cloud, the massive log thrust in, ripping the ceiling away.
This is insane.
“Kyaaah!”
I let out a girlish shriek and flattened myself to the floor.
The roof tore off like paper.
Through the gaping hole, the sky—and the ogre’s hideous face—loomed.
“GRRROOOH! Found it! White meat!”
One head licked its chops, shoving a giant hand inside to crush me.
-Whoosh!
In that instant, a red flash pierced the ogre’s forearm.
Its wrist snapped off, thudding right beside me.
Twitching colossal fingers.
A split-second later, and that would’ve been me.
“Esilla! Go for the neck!”
At my shout, Esilla ran up the ogre’s arm.
She gripped her sword reverse and plunged it deep into the left neck base.
Then twisted, slashing horizontally.
“Grrrk…!”
The left head, half-severed, wailed grotesquely and slumped.
But the right one remained.
Witnessing its brother’s death, it howled in terror and rage.
“I’ll kill you! Little bug! Kill!”
The ogre thrashed wildly, swiping at Esilla atop its shoulder.
But she was already gone.
Using the dangling left head as a springboard, she vaulted into the air before it could react.
Her red hair whipped against the evening sky.
Spinning once midair, she harnessed centrifugal force to drive her sword down.
-Crunch!
The aura-infused blade plummeted vertically.
Splitting from brow to jaw in one stroke.
“Grr…rk…”
The right head’s eyes rolled back.
The massive body staggered, then collapsed, kicking up dirt.
-Boom!
The ground quaked like an earthquake.
I stayed flattened on the floor until the dust settled.
A moment later.
“Hoo…”
With a short exhale, Esilla descended from the ogre’s corpse.
She shook the blood from her blade and walked slowly toward me.
Blood-splattered armor.
Cold, sunken eyes.
Butchering the ogre in seconds had been more terrifying than the monster itself.
“Are you alright, Lady Bellaph?”
“Y-yeah… thanks to you.”
Esilla stopped before me, glancing between the shredded roof and the ogre wrist beside me.
“No injuries, it seems.”
She reached out, then switched hands upon noticing the blood on her gauntlet.
“Come out. The carriage is wrecked—unrideable now. And besides…”
Her gaze shifted to the front.
A mangled wreck, barely recognizable.
Victim of the ogre’s blow, apparently.
“The horses… all dead.”
As she said, the horses were carcasses, and the coachman nowhere in sight—flung off somewhere.
I took Esilla’s hand and climbed down.
Night had fallen; the forest cloaked in pitch black.
“Now what? Carriage is toast. Walk?”
I pointed at the ruined vehicle.
Still a week from the ducal lands.
“No need to worry.”
Esilla pulled a communication crystal from her bosom.
“I’ll request backup. A new carriage from the nearest territory will arrive swiftly.”
“How long?”
“Half a day.”
“Half a day?”
“Yes. So we’ll camp here tonight.”
“Camp? Next to this ogre corpse?”
“Safer that way. The scent of a top predator like an ogre will keep lesser beasts at bay.”
She stated it matter-of-factly.
Sleeping beside this blood-soaked carcass, using the roofless carriage as shelter?
For a moment, I almost missed the prison.