155. Tell Me Your Wish (10)
155. Tell Me Your Wish (10)
A two-headed ogre.
The creature, which could only be called a Twin-Head Ogre, roared while both pairs of eyes glared at us.
Everyone instinctively covered their ears against a roar loud enough to burst their eardrums. I scanned the party and found a sea of pale faces.
A monster at least on Cerberus's level—perhaps even worse—had appeared.
Had the first principal gone senile?
[Contractor, wouldn't the smart move be to run?]
"Do you think we can get away?"
Even at a glance, the monster stood around five meters tall. No matter how fast we ran, the bastard would catch us in three or four strides. It probably wouldn't try to kill those who came after the first principal, so we were unlikely to die, but serious injuries remained possible.
Fortunately, it remained still as though announcing that this was a test. Watching us blankly without attacking first made it look somewhat stupid, but a creature with two heads was unlikely to lack intelligence.
First, I had to restore our broken formation.
"Pull yourselves together and listen! Gather around me!"
"B-but then that monster will..."
"It's fine. It doesn't seem likely to attack unless we strike first."
Refusing to attack first appeared to be Andras's final shred of conscience, so we could exploit it as much as we liked. I looked around at the party gathered in a circle around me.
"I've never seen a two-headed ogre before..."
"I myself only just learned that such a variant existed..."
"C-can we r-really take it down...?"
"Old man, didn't you definitely say this wasn't going to be such a tough place?"
Everyone's eyes turned to me at Viola's words. I had certainly said that. I shrugged and answered.
"The difficulty seems to have changed because more people entered than expected. We can still defeat it."
"B-but ogres are s-strong to begin with, and a t-two-headed variant is..."
"There's no need to be frightened before the fight begins. Lewis, what did I tell you to do when you encountered a powerful monster?"
At my question, Lewis stared into space for a second as if searching his memory, then met my eyes and answered.
"Calmly aim for the vitals. If you can't aim for the vitals, create a situation where you can."
"Correct."
Just as even the mighty Hydra had surrendered its necks to a thorough strategy, this mutant ogre could be defeated if we moved tactically. I turned to the Wizard group.
"Shuri. Name the ogre's characteristics."
"Ogres are rare in the Empire, but sometimes appear in the forests to the east. They are known for skin so tough that even steel blades struggle to cut it and strength sufficient to lift and throw a cow with one hand."
"Yes, that's correct. Elisa. What other characteristics are there?"
"Uh, I-I heard their m-magic resistance is so high that even T-Third-Class Magic barely h-hurts them..."
"Correct."
That was why ogres were considered troublesome monsters in Survival Academy. They were horrifically durable and possessed some of the greatest physical power among monsters.
In the game, the standard strategy was to have a tank block its attacks while high-powered magic finished it, but using the same method in reality presented a problem.
First off, we had no tank.
An evasion tank was still a tank, perhaps, but our opponent was an ogre. At Lewis's current level, he couldn't evade or block every attack. The ogre's reach matched its enormous body, so continually dodging it would rapidly drain his stamina.
Reni could pick her nose with one hand and casually swing the other like a flyswatter, and the ogre would still be torn apart, but she was never an option. If I had brought her, a monster at least as powerful as Hydra would certainly have appeared.
Then we truly would have faced a bloody fight.
But this was only a training ground.
Unless the first principal had truly gone senile, he should have set the difficulty at a beatable level. We would not know until we fought it, but it was probably adjusted so our group could defeat it.
"Martina. Do you know the textbook strategy for ogres?"
"I do. The standard strategy is for the vanguard to pin it down while the rear line steadily accumulates damage."
"Correct. But we can't fight it that way. Do you understand why?"
"...Is it because we have no vanguard that can block the ogre's attacks?"
"That's also correct. But the biggest issue is this location."
"May I ask what you mean?"
"This space has no obstacles. Nothing restricts its movement. Even a mindless charge would be devastating to our current party."
Allowing it to charge would mean game over, but stopping that charge would not be easy.
Moreover...
My Craft Skill would probably be ineffective against it. An ogre's disgustingly tough body was difficult to pierce even with steel, and no matter how high-quality the stone floor was, it remained stone.
We did not have enough time to dig a proper pit, and the party would likely be torn apart before I finished.
In the end, I had to make full use of the party to defeat the Twin-Head Ogre.
Still, it probably wouldn't be that hard.
The stone floor offered us one advantage as well.
"Listen up. I'm going to tell you how we fight from here on..."
-------------------
'Up close, the ogre was enormous. Could I stop it?'
Lewis barely calmed his pounding heart and tightened his grip on his sword. Twenty paces separated them. The monster stood at ease, as though it could slaughter the likes of them whenever it pleased.
"Lewis. It's only an illusion. It won't try to kill us, so remain calm."
A low voice came from behind him. Hearing it steadied Lewis's mind.
The fierce-looking man carrying a mithril shovel had taught him so much that he was effectively Lewis's mentor. Lewis had never called him that directly, but he regarded him as one.
Since the second semester began, Lewis had clearly felt himself improving under Yohan's instruction. It had become difficult to find an equal among the students in his year.
'Aim for the joints whenever possible and draw its attention...'
He took his stance and held his sword horizontally at shoulder height. Roughly twenty paces remained. When the ogre began moving as the distance closed, Lewis swallowed hard.
"!@*(&!(*$#!!!"
The roar shook his very soul. Lewis forced himself to ignore the cry that threatened to tear his eardrums and circulated mana through his body. Using aura from the beginning wasn't ideal when he could still handle so little of it, but he trusted his leader.
'We would finish this in a single decisive battle.'
Because that had been his declaration.
"!@*)(#)(!!"
An arm as thick as a pillar crashed down toward him with enough force to reduce the body of a young man barely past boyhood to a crushed tomato. Lewis hurled himself right, then immediately targeted the ogre's knee.
His sword, coated in blue aura, cut the ogre's hide before sliding away. Lewis's aura could not yet inflict meaningful damage on its body. It would be different if he relentlessly attacked the same spot, but...
"Lewis! Pull back!"
Lewis kicked off the ground with all his strength and shot away from the Twin-Head Ogre. At the same moment, a red flash and thunderous explosion shook the chamber—the Wizard group's magic striking home.
"!@*(&$!!"
A scream, or a roar of fury?
At the cry mixed into the explosion, the Wizard group immediately began preparing the next spell.
Second-Class Magic that would blow away the ogre's head.
"Elisa, can you cast it again immediately?"
"I-I'll try!"
"I'll share my mana with you!"
Shuri poured mana into Elisa. The mana expended in a huge burst to cast Second-Class Magic began returning, but Shuri restored only about half of what the spell had consumed.
Second-Class Magic.
Flame Lance.
Fifteen seconds to gather the mana.
A short time.
But right then, it was a long time.
"Craft."
A shallow pit. The dungeon floor made digging deeply impossible, but he could still make the ogre lose its footing. Yohan made the place where it was about to step cave in deeply.
"!@*ㅕ)!#$!??"
The ogre staggered without falling, and Lewis's blue sword energy targeted its knee. Instead of helping Lewis directly, Yohan called to Martina.
"Martina! Spray the ogre's body with oil!"
"Got it!"
Combustible oil formed from mana sprayed over the ogre. It did little by itself beyond making the body slippery, but it would restrict the monster's movements somewhat.
"How much longer until the spell is ready?!"
"Five seconds left!"
'Five seconds.'
It was not long at all.
But it was enough time for the ogre to swing once. Yohan rolled aside from the arm sweeping toward him.
"Lewis!"
"My sword keeps slipping because of the oil!"
"Then pull back!"
Getting oil on themselves would only make matters worse. Yohan and Lewis retreated as far from the ogre as possible.
"Flame... Lance!"
A terrifyingly large spear of flame, enough to skewer the ogre, buried itself in its belly. A firestorm that could have swallowed an entire house then engulfed its body.
"!()@*&()$#&!)!"
'It was imitating a living creature, so the flames should have had some effect.'
It might not have been a troll that lost its regeneration when burned, but being engulfed in flames could hardly leave it unharmed.
Yohan stared at the heads of the rampaging Twin-Head Ogre as flames covered its body. True to its toughness, which surpassed even an elephant's, it glared at him with hatred while it burned.
"Persistent."
So even burning it wasn't enough to kill it.
That left no choice but to add another attack.
"Wizard group, withdraw and deploy defensive magic."
At Yohan's order, the Wizards hurried backward. The burning ogre had not yet regained its senses. Yohan spoke to Viola, who had been waiting in front of the Wizard group with nothing to do.
"Viola. Throw every explosive reagent you have on it. Now!"
"Okay!"
The explosive reagents hanging from Viola's waist flew in an arc. She wasn't strong enough to throw them beyond the ogre's feet, but that was close enough for a monster already engulfed in flames.
"!@*#&!#$*(!"
The explosions were weak compared with Second-Class Magic, but explosions were still explosions. The ogre, which had barely maintained its balance, toppled onto its back.
"It fell!"
Shuri's voice rang through the explosions.
Yohan immediately charged with his shovel.
Only about ten meters separated them. He had to press the attack before the ogre recovered.
"Lewis! Aim for the left head!"
"Yes!"
A silver flash gleamed over the head of the fallen ogre as it thrashed.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Even as the heat seared him, Yohan repeatedly drove the shovel blade into the ogre's head. The skin on his hands had melted and stuck to the shovel.
He couldn't protect his body with aura, leaving him no other choice. His reckless actions alarmed the others, but Lewis understood his intent.
One could not hesitate when an opportunity appeared.
Lewis drove his sword into the ogre's left head and forced aura into it with all his strength.
The ogre's left head finally died while still engulfed in flames.
What remained was the right head.
Perhaps because two minds shared one body, the Twin-Head Ogre could no longer control half of itself and thrashed helplessly. It was time to deliver one final decisive blow.
Yohan pulled out his shovel, retreated, and gave Viola an order.
"One explosive reagent to the right head."
"Got it!"
The instant he finished speaking, a glass vial scattering rainbow light struck the ogre's right head and triggered a chemical reaction.
An explosion loud enough to cause immediate ringing in their ears engulfed the ogre's right head.
Then the corpse of the Twin-Head Ogre greeted them, its flames gradually dying as its body scattered like ash and vanished.
"We won."
"Yohan!"
Everyone rushed toward him in alarm. Lying flat on the floor, Yohan looked at Millia and Karina as they hurried over.
"It's hot. Karina, please heal me."
"Don't you ever act this recklessly again!"
Karina's entire body was trembling.
Seeing that, Yohan gave a faint smile to show he was all right and closed his eyes.
"I'll rest for a moment."