The Twin-Headed Ogre and the Endless Extermination
The subjugation was over, yet the valley's ominous aura refused to settle. If anything, an even more sinister pressure began to seep between the cliffs. Thud. Thud. Thud.
From far away came footsteps that sounded like a beating heart. Soon after, two enormous heads rose above the treeline.
“A Twin-Headed Ogre…!”
Veronica’s face hardened at the sight of the literal two-headed monster. This was one of the highest-ranking beasts among upper-class magical creatures.
“Man, that head is ridiculously huge,” Rodin muttered quietly, glancing at Veronica after spotting the ogre.
But the look in Veronica’s eyes wasn’t fear of the massive, grotesque Twin-Headed Ogre. Instead, she stared at it like it was nothing more than a very expensive bundle of cash.
And then her eyes sparkled. She began spitting out commands filled with the absolute determination to turn that “expensive bundle” into the stronghold’s newest asset.
First, she shouted toward Ivona.
“Ivona! Pour every bit of strength enhancement you have into Rodin!”
“Understood!”
Ivona had no choice but to obediently follow Veronica’s commanding instructions.
The next order came immediately.
“Lize! Freeze that thing’s ankles!”
Veronica’s directives rang across the battlefield. Her swift judgment left them no option but to follow her without question. It was the moment her charisma exploded.
“As you command, Your Highness! Oh Lord, grant this man the strength to offer delicious meat to the table!”
Ivona exploded with holy power and reinforced Rodin from behind.
“Freezing ankles? That’s easier than eating cold porridge. Here we go!”
Advanced freezing magic
Restrains target with chains of absolute zero
Lize slammed her staff into the ground. Massive ice chains erupted instantly beneath the ogre’s feet. The ice that surged up in the blink of an eye wrapped around the monster’s thick legs like living shackles.
At the same time, Veronica shouted at Rodin.
“Rodin! Now! Aim for its left heart! I’ve already marked the right one with a magic seal!”
She secured his line of sight as she yelled.
Rodin scratched the back of his head, looking annoyed.
“Ugh, seriously, ordering me around like it’s nothing… Sigh~ Fine, I’ll do it this once. Let’s just finish this quick!”
Even as he complained about how bothersome it was, Rodin readjusted his grip on the pickaxe. The Twin-Headed Ogre roared from both mouths at once, but to Rodin it was no different from a wild boar trampling his fields.
“Alright, time to show them the terror of Black Mane Mountain Stronghold. Everyone, end it in one strike!”
At Veronica’s cry, Rodin kicked off the ground and shot upward.
“Here I go. Tonight’s side dish is meat!”
Rodin’s pickaxe drew a pitch-black arc as it hurtled toward the ogre’s heart. It was the moment their party’s perfect coordination shone brightest.
A nose-stinging metallic stench of blood settled heavily over the humid air of the valley’s lower reaches. At their feet lay a mountain of troll corpses—the very creatures once feared across the continent.
Yet even in the middle of this overwhelming scene of slaughter, Rodin’s expression remained utterly calm. Or more accurately, he looked bored to death.
“Huuu~, finally it’s a bit quieter.”
Rodin casually shook the blood off the rusty pickaxe slung over his shoulder. Sticky droplets of monster blood splattered onto the ground.
To him, this wasn’t some noble battle to eliminate a continental threat. It was nothing more than tedious pest control—clearing out oversized bugs that ruined his cabbage fields.
“Rodin! Stop spacing out and move! The sun hasn’t even set yet!”
A sharp voice rang out from behind him. It was Veronica. In one hand she held a thick ledger, in the other a precision magic calculator rarely seen even in the imperial palace.
Numbers were already cascading like a waterfall inside her eyes.
“Let’s see, troll hides and regeneration cores come out to twenty gold coins already. And this is just the beginning!”
Her mental calculations were complete, and the corners of her mouth began to twitch upward with excitement. The elegant princess from her imperial days was gone. In her place stood a capitalist smile brimming with madness at the sight of the incoming loot.
To her, this valley was no longer a monster den. It was a treasure vault that spat out gold coins.
“Hey, Veronica. We’ve already cleared three spots. The blood on my boots hasn’t even dried yet. At least give me time to wipe off my sweat.”
Rodin grumbled, letting out a huge yawn. But Veronica mercilessly shoved him forward.
“You can rest as much as you want after you die. Rodin! One of these monsters is a whole week’s worth of meat for our stronghold family! And did you forget that grinding those bones produces the premium calcium fertilizer you wanted so badly?”
“Fertilizer…?”
At the word “fertilizer,” Rodin’s hazy eyes snapped wide open. He had been worrying lately because his cabbages’ leaves were turning slightly yellow.
If it’s calcium fertilizer, that changes everything.
Veronica’s single remark made Rodin’s eyes sparkle again.
“Oh Lord! Beyond that hill I see a pack of Blue Fangs! Their tails make such a wonderful nourishing bone broth. Just thinking about serving a bowl to Cult Leader makes my heart swell with holy fervor!”
Ivona had already drawn a kitchen knife wrapped in sacred flames and was humming cheerfully. To her, Blue Fangs weren’t disaster-class monsters—they were walking premium ingredients.
“Saintess, please show some dignity… Well, I do need the freezing mana cores from their eyeballs, so I suppose it’s fine. In that case, shall I raise the firepower this time and roast them all at once… or rather, freeze them?”
Lize condensed violet mana at the tip of her staff and gave a cold smile. As the 7-circle archmage’s mana swirled, the surrounding air screamed and began to freeze.
“Haa, fine, fine. Let’s finish this quickly. I still need to water the cabbages before sunset.”
Rodin rolled his wrist with clear annoyance and took the lead. The age of suffering for the monsters known as the continent’s calamities was about to begin anew.
Blue Fang Habitat.
Owooooooo—!
Hundreds of Blue Fangs poured out from the forest. Each one was an upper-class monster capable of wiping out an experienced mercenary party single-handedly.
Yet the wolves facing Rodin’s group had instinctive terror in their eyes. When an opponent was too strong, fear itself became meaningless. But the humans standing before them didn’t even see them as living creatures.
“Don’t even think about running. This entire hundred-meter radius is my laboratory now.”
7-Circle Wide-Area Freezing Magic
Turns the designated area into absolute zero
The moment Lize lightly tapped her staff on the ground, absolute-zero cold swept across the entire valley. Hiss. Crunch! The ankles of the charging wolves froze solid to the earth in an instant.
Before they could thrash in panic, Rodin’s shadow slipped between them.
“The whole place is an ice rink now. Watch your step.”
Rodin’s voice was lazy. But the pickaxe in his hand was anything but.
Thwack! Crunch!
Every time the pickaxe handle sliced through the air, a Blue Fang’s sturdy skull burst open like a ripe watermelon. He didn’t even need to use aura. Pure physical strength and perfect trajectory. To Rodin, hunting wolves was easier than picking pebbles out of a field.
“Oh Lord, that biggest one over there! Its chest meat looks absolutely first-rate! Cult Leader, left side!”
Ivona shouted from behind while pouring out holy blessings. Hearing her instruction, Rodin lazily flicked his wrist to the left.
Splat!
The pickaxe sank deep into the alpha wolf’s chest. The beast died without even letting out a single scream.
“Here, take it. Meat’s right here. Go ahead.”
“Oh my! As expected of our Rodin, his butchering skills are truly an art form!”
Ivona drew a holy sign in delight and began dressing the ogre corpse. Beside her, Lize frowned as she collected the mana cores.
“Saintess, please stop picking the menu while we’re still hunting. I can’t concentrate my mana. And Rodin, just what kind of muscle structure do you even have? Producing that kind of destructive power without any mana backlash…”
“Stop asking bothersome questions. Just eat well and farm. That’s all it takes.”
At Rodin’s answer, the Blue Fangs fell into despair. The greatest tragedy for them was realizing their lives amounted to nothing more than the farmer’s everyday strength-training routine.
“This isn’t hunting, it’s basically slaughter. Can’t I just go home?”
Rodin’s indifferent remark echoed through the valley. The remaining wolves stopped thinking about attacking and began contemplating how they could die with the least amount of pain.