Chapter 30: Ogre Subjugation (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 30: Ogre Subjugation (5)
Just as Count Raikel had said, there was an ogre by the lake deep in the forest. The beast was tearing apart a large deer, eating it as if it were a chicken leg.
‘About ten meters tall. It's using a thick wooden club as a weapon.’
It looked exactly like what one would typically imagine a fantasy ogre to be.
“Its presence is overwhelming. A single mistake against this opponent would be fatal.”
Lorian said, swallowing dryly.
He and his party members were visibly tense. It was understandable, seeing that massive club. A direct hit from that thing would flatten them like a fly against a wall.
“We should formulate a proper strategy before we proceed.”
Lorian, his party, and Frillite began to devise a plan to subjugate the ogre.
It wasn't a particularly special plan.
The shaman in Lorian’s party would cast debuffs on the ogre.
The warriors on the front line would prevent the ogre from rampaging, while the mages would inflict damage by pouring magic into it.
Then, when the exhausted ogre showed an opening, Frillite would finish it off with a powerful technique.
It was a standard strategy for a group taking down a single, powerful entity.
Once the plan was set, Frillite approached me.
She spoke in a cautious tone.
“You must want to play your part as the hero. I'm sorry. I would normally want to give you that experience, but it's impossible this time. That thing is too dangerous for you. I'm sorry, but I hope you understand.”
She spoke as if she were placating a child. I was so stunned I was momentarily speechless.
‘How long has it been since I’ve been treated like this...’
Meanwhile, Frillite seemed to interpret my silence in her own way and gave a small smile.
“Usually so playful, but you know when to be serious. I like that about you.”
My favorability with Frillite had gone up just by keeping my mouth shut.
This was only possible because I was handsome.
‘Seriously, how the hell did the original Cloud get cucked with a face like this? Was getting NTR'd his special talent or something?’
I was marveling at this internally when the shaman laid out his materials and began chanting an unintelligible spell.
As the chant continued, the materials began to disappear. By the time the spell was complete, they had vanished entirely.
In their place, a black, gaseous substance floated before the shaman’s eyes.
“Cognitive Decline Curse!”
As the shaman shouted, the black gas flew toward the ogre. The beast, busy chewing and tearing at the deer, didn't notice the spell coming. The black gas was absorbed into the ogre's body.
“Graah..?”
The cursed ogre rubbed its eyes, but that wasn't about to break the spell.
After rubbing its eyes for a while, the ogre seemed to realize something was wrong and began to look around.
“Curse of Weakness!”
Taking advantage of the opening, a new curse flew at the ogre.
Even with its blurred vision, the ogre seemed to see the black gas clearly this time and swung its club at it.
But there was no way to dispel a curse with physical force. The black gas, which had split in two from the club's swing, reformed into one and was absorbed into the ogre's body.
“Graaaaargh—!”
Only after being hit by two curses did the ogre grasp the situation.
Having located us, it kicked off the ground and charged.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The ground shook with each of its steps.
“Now!”
As expected, Frillite was the first to move. She drew her greatsword and dashed forward. The ogre swung its massive wooden club, trying to crush her.
She leaped to the side, dodging by a hair's breadth, and swung her sword through the air.
A red blade of sword aura cut through the wind.
Slaaash—
A long gash appeared on the ogre's side.
“Gaaack!”
The ogre let out a pained groan. This was a creature with a 50% immunity to physical damage; it wouldn't be accustomed to pain.
“We’re going in!”
Taking the ogre's groan as their signal, Lorian and his party members also began to move.
They moved according to their plan, surrounding the ogre.
“Hah!”
Like Frillite, Lorian also manifested his sword aura.
In the game, using the Sword Aura skill would convert a portion of one's attacks into magic damage for five turns.
Therefore, using sword aura against the ogre was a wise decision.
Sh-sh-sh-shk!
As the blue sword aura danced, more wounds appeared on the ogre's legs. But none of them were fatal.
‘Can he not project his sword aura like Frillite?’
If that was the case, instead of making all these shallow cuts, it would be better to just sever its Achilles tendon.
I entertained the thought for a moment before dismissing it.
The subjugation itself was proceeding smoothly.
“Cognitive Decline Curse!”
“Curse of Weakness!”
The shaman continuously applied debuffs to the ogre. It seemed to be the first time the creature had experienced its body becoming so sluggish, and it grew flustered. Its movements became as simple as a child holding a sword for the first time.
No matter how powerful an attack, it's useless if the movements are monotonous.
Lorian and his two party members easily dodged the ogre's attacks while landing their own.
Frillite, on the other hand, was watching the ogre's neck, waiting for the right moment to kill it.
With the front line holding strong, the mages in the rear could safely cast their spells.
The intermediate magic spells Flame Spear and Wind Blade rained down on the ogre.
The ogre's tough hide was pierced by the flame spears and torn by the wind blades.
‘If it keeps going like this, they’ll catch the ogre easily.’
All I had to do was discreetly absorb its soul after it died to create a mark. I watched the ogre subjugation with a relaxed expression.
Until the beast took a deep breath.
As it inhaled deeply, its belly swelled up like a balloon.
‘Is that… No, it never used a skill like that in the game.’
Despite my disbelief, my body instinctively followed the ogre's lead and took a deep breath.
A moment later, the ogre exhaled all at once.
A tremendous roar echoed through the area.
*
[The Ogre used Piercing Shriek.]
[Frillite has been confused.]
[Lorian has been confused.]
[Lorraine has been confused.]
[Lisbeth has been confused.]
.
.
.
.
[Eri has been confused.]
[Cloud used Sound Barrier. Cloud was not confused.]
[The Ogre swung its club wildly.]
[Critical Hit! Lisbeth has taken 1785 damage.]
[Lisbeth is incapacitated.]
[Marietta is protected by Divine Grace.]
[Marietta has taken 550 damage.]
[Marietta has been stunned.]
[Critical Hit! Lorraine has taken 857 damage.]
[Lorraine has been stunned.]
[Critical Hit! Halberd has taken 1129 damage.]
[Halberd is incapacitated.]
[Critical Hit! Lorian has taken 200 damage.]
[Critical Hit! Lorian has taken 189 damage.]
[Critical Hit! Lorian has taken 257 damage.]
[Lorian has been stunned.]
[Frillite has dodged the attack.]
[Frillite has dodged the attack.]
[Frillite has dodged the attack.]
.
.
.
.
*
A high-pitched ringing echoed in my ears. The tinnitus gradually subsided over time.
Eri clutched her throbbing head and looked up.
“...Huh?”
A gasp of disbelief escaped her lips at the unbelievable sight before her.
Lisbeth, who had always looked down on her along with Lorraine, had been smashed by the club. Her body was mangled beyond recognition.
Marietta, who had never directly bullied Eri but had never helped her either, was lying on the ground, her face crushed, barely breathing.
Halberd, who had always stared at Eri with a lecherous gaze, was collapsed in front of a rock, his waist bent at an unnatural angle.
Lorraine was slumped against a tree, unconscious, and Lorian was also on the ground. In his case, however, the ground around him was dented, as if he had been beaten repeatedly.
“Wh-what is this...”
Eri’s last memory was of the ogre's belly swelling like a balloon, followed by a sudden, deafening roar. She had been disoriented for a moment, and when she looked up again, this was the scene.
‘This can't be real...’
Eri hated Lorian's party.
How could she like them when they openly ostracized and ignored her?
But apart from that, she had acknowledged their skills.
She had thought the difference between her old party with Cloud and Lorian's party was like heaven and earth.
For a party like that to be wiped out in an instant... and not by the Demon King's army, but by a mere monster.
It was a truth she found impossible to believe.
But she was mistaken about one thing.
An ogre wasn't some common monster you find everywhere.
It was a high-tier monster, on par with dragons.
If an ogre wanted to, it could destroy an entire city on its own.
On top of that, Lorian and his party members were at a lower level than the ogre.
It wasn't strange for the party to be annihilated in the blink of an eye. In fact, it was a wonder they had been pushing the ogre back until now.
‘In that case, what should I...’
“Down.”
Cloud placed a hand on Eri's head and forced her down.
Whooosh!
A fierce gust of wind brushed past her back.
Eri looked behind her.
A path had been cleared.
The dense trees had been swept away by the club, and the same went for the mages and the shaman.
They had been knocked unconscious by the flying trees.
‘The club came straight for me.’
If it hadn't been for Cloud, Eri would have ended up just like those trees.
The thought sent a chill down her spine.
She had just been on the verge of death.
A meaningless, empty death.
The fear of death began to eat away at her. It started with her legs trembling, and soon her entire body was shaking.
“Get a grip.”
Cloud slapped the back of Eri's head.
He didn't hold back in the slightest.
The stinging pain snapped Eri back to her senses. She turned her head toward Cloud.
“Cloud, run...”
Eri, who was about to tell him to run, froze.
Unlike her, he was not steeped in fear. He was staring at the ogre with a cold, settled expression.
This wasn't the Cloud she knew.
As she felt a sense of unease, Cloud removed his hand from her head. He reached for his waist and drew his sword.
Shing—
With a metallic ring, the silver sword was unsheathed.
Eri, who had been staring blankly at this unfamiliar side of Cloud, snapped out of it when she saw the sword he drew.
“Cloud, what are you doing?! You're not thinking of fighting it, are you? No! You'll die! You saw what happened! Lorian's party was defeated. What do you think you can do?!”
Eri tried to grab him, to stop him, but her hands grasped at empty air. He was already charging toward the ogre.
“Ghehehet!”
The ogre sneered at him.
Without the humans who threw strange fireballs and wind, the rest were nothing but toys to it.
At least, that's what the ogre believed.
The ogre clasped its hands together and brought them down toward Cloud.
Thump!
Its clasped hands struck the ground with a dull thud.
A cloud of dust rose.
“Cloud!”
“No!!”
The voices of Frillite and Eri.
“Ghehehet!”
The sound of the ogre laughing.
Ignoring them all, Cloud pushed through the dust cloud. He hadn't even been grazed by the ogre's attack; he had used a footwork technique he knew to evade it just before impact.
Breaking through the dust, Cloud arrived in front of the ogre's Achilles tendon.
There was an old saying.
An ogre's tendon is harder than rare metal.
And it was true. The ogre, with its tough hide that could deflect all manner of blades and spears, had abnormally strong tendons as well.
Strong enough to withstand not only ordinary weapons but even a knight's sword aura.
It would take a Sword Master renowned throughout an era to be able to sever an ogre's tendon with a sword.
And Cloud was a master swordsman.
Cloud drew out his sword aura.
A pure, unblemished sword aura touched the ogre's tendon.
Slice—
The ogre's Achilles tendon parted smoothly, without resistance.
“G-Graah?!”
The ogre realized something was wrong too late. Its center of gravity was already shifting to the side.
“Frillite!”
Cloud called out to her, intending to leave her the finishing blow. He could have finished it himself, but he didn't want to stand out just yet.
Crash! Crack!
The moment the ogre fell, a massive sword of aura, centered on her greatsword, pierced its neck. It was one of the secret techniques of her family, the Ferdiac Duchy.
The ogre flailed, clawing at the ground.
But with more than a third of its neck pierced, there was no way for it to survive.
Before long, its meaningless struggles ceased.
Cloud reached out to the dead ogre's corpse. He could feel its soul, what was left after being chipped away for experience points. Perhaps because it was a high-tier monster, its soul was still powerful despite the loss.
‘Come to me.’
Cloud's mark spread wide, enveloping his arm. The mark on his arm began to absorb the ogre's soul.
The ogre's soul struggled to resist being absorbed.
But its soul had already been diminished once, and with Cloud as the master of the mark, resistance was futile.
Soon, the ogre's soul was absorbed into the mark.
Sizzzle.
A searing heat, like a hot iron pressed against his skin, spread across the left side of his upper body.
‘Is this the process of the mark being engraved? Interesting.’
Cloud waited patiently for the mark to be completed. When it was done, he instinctively understood its effects.
*
[Passive]
-Reduces physical damage taken by 25%
-Increases Strength by 20%
[Active]
-Temporarily doubles Strength
-Armor Penetration 50%