There is No Escaping the Hero
Chapter 14: Ebb and Flow, and Then…
“Ah?”
“Gaaaaah!”
A high-ranking ogre species, an Ogre. Possessing green skin like regular goblins, its temperament was extremely ferocious and cruel. Its physique was also large, easily the size of two ordinary adults.
Such an incarnation of violence cut in and slammed its fist down.
A fist like a rock.
However,
“This isn’t my first time seeing one, buddy!”
The fighting sister, Weiss, had already engaged an Ogre during the initial raid. At that time, fists were a bit of a disadvantage, so she ripped off the metal church cross that she usually directed her faith towards and used it as a weapon—
“FOR A MERE HUMAN.”
“Shut up, pig!”
In a contest of power, they were evenly matched. It became a slugfest. However, in this melee, the human side, inferior in numbers, was overwhelmingly disadvantaged.
In fact, during the first attack, even though she went toe-to-toe with the Ogre, she was forced to retreat due to magic from Goblins and Mage Goblins. Her surroundings collapsed at the same time.
Being evenly matched wasn’t enough to win.
That was the lesson from last time.
But,
“Tower blue, Azul-Proc Fahr!”
A wall of blue flame isolated the one person and one beast from the surroundings.
“…Not bad, little girl.”
“You’re just huge!”
“What, this wall lets sound through?”
Honestly, her thinking seemed loose and naive, so Weiss had assumed on her own that she wouldn’t be a fighting force, but it seemed she held cards that wouldn’t lose even to that iron knight.
Grateful, Weiss laughed.
Now,
“Get crushed!”
“Gagii!”
Just crush the large one in front of her. Simple and clear is good.
Her blood as a former brawler boiled.
Meanwhile,
“Muu.”
Schutz was trying to push through the front lines with brute force using his inherent defensive power, but due to the barrage of thick magic, the situation where he couldn’t advance continued.
Iron armor is sturdy, but it doesn’t mean it has resistance to fire magic. If the firepower is strong, it melts like with Fernig, and even if the firepower is low, repeated hits raise the internal temperature, making it unbearable for Schutz himself.
Above all—
(They look like the same monsters, but they’ve placed strong individuals in the center and thickened it so we can’t break through. Even if there are knights other than me, it’s a formation that can firmly stop them. Receiving in the center, gradually deploying both wings, while the rear row also forms an arc to pour in magic more thickly.)
The enemy’s formation, the deployment of the army was skillful. While Schutz tried to shake them left and right to disturb them, struggling to shift or break the formation, they matched the left and right movements perfectly.
As if observing from above—
(This is not how monsters fight!)
In terms of individual power, he was winning. Not that much of a threat. However, he was suppressed by the power of the group. Moreover, they didn’t mind sacrifices.
They calmly engulfed their own allies with magic.
(This is bad. More than I thought… this horde is…)
The country this town belonged to had connections with the Kingdom of Andreia. In the worst case, retreat, use old connections, and have this country’s forces fight.
Originally, that was the correct procedure, and he intended to do so without hesitation if he judged they couldn’t defeat them themselves. Helping people required them to be alive; there was no need to do what couldn’t be done. However, if the horde was this troublesome, involving manpower poorly would result in greater human losses. In the worst case, if they were defeated, the immense amount of blood would all lead to strengthening the enemy’s forces.
Because it was too troublesome, he thought he had to crush it here no matter what.
He thought so, but—
“Too slow! Schutz, stand out!”
“Soare-sama… I see, as you wish!”
Without chanting, he expanded the iron magic he was currently wearing to make himself look bigger. The inside was hollow, the iron thickness decreased, and defense power only went down.
But his appearance looked huge.
Therefore,
“Proc Ball!”
Fireballs were directed all at once at the conspicuous Schutz. Because they were deployed well, it became even denser than the initial carpet bombing.
To that magic attack,
“Leave it to me.”
“Yes.”
Soare, who had gotten behind Schutz before anyone noticed, switched places with him and took the entire bombardment of fire magic with her body. With her sword sheathed.
Dust piles up to become a mountain.
Receiving all of the tremendous fire power,
“Muu, nn, hah!”
Soare seized control of all that fire, that gathered flame, and made it her own. Born into the clan of Funeral Flames, a chosen one inheriting the blue flame.
Because she was born to manipulate flames, such a rough feat was possible.
“My blue flame, roar!”
Painting all the red flames blue,
“Azul-Proc Leooooooo!”
Mimicking a lion’s fangs and mouth with both hands, she unleashed its roar.
“Gi?”
A colossal blue flash, a scorching heat of Mega-class far exceeding Ga-class, pierced the enemy lines and burned through the enemy’s base, the Demonic Tree Common Oak.
Although she utilized the opponent’s power, it was tremendous firepower.
“Magnificent, Soare-sama.”
“Naturally. I haven’t been playing around either.”
This was the result of her training. The reason she was caught off guard back then was because it was a corner of the royal palace and she was suppressing her firepower—she directed a smug face towards Solo.
But,
“Hey you, don’t look away!”
Solo wasn’t looking at Soare but was looking in a completely different direction. No matter how you thought about it, that was a decisive blow, a moment to praise her, yet she was unexpectedly ignored.
“…Magic is amazing, huh.”
Weiss opened her eyes wide in surprise, but Soare looked slightly dissatisfied being ignored by the one she wanted to show off to the most. However, there was no mistake it was a good hit.
In fact,
“F-For mere humans, to dare, to dare damage my, our dream!”
The King of Small Ogres was furious.
If that blow had been directed a little lower, if they had the spirit to shoot through the horde along with their allies, the King might have gone berserk with anger.
However, that was after all,
“How’s that?”
“It was a good hit. However, that tree extends into the earth. The main body is underground; unless we destroy that, it will not be a victory.”
“…Is that so.”
Just a part of the tree. Of course, with that scale of damage, it wasn’t unscathed, but it wasn’t irreparable damage.
Moreover,
(…The care for the center is too fast.)
Receiving such a blow, it wouldn’t be strange for them to collapse completely, yet the hordes deployed on the left and right were already showing movement to squeeze in and solidify the center.
They couldn’t break through like this.
In addition to that,
“Schutz!”
“…Were they still hiding forces?”
Additional goblins appeared one after another from under the Common Oak. The wound carved by the precious blow was immediately filled, making it even more difficult.
Furthermore,
“Roka Mas.”
“Tch!”
Once fire magic became beneficial to the enemy, they immediately switched to rock magic. Stones and rocks the size of fists, the large ones as big as human heads, rained down.
Countermeasures were fast too. They fought back with magic difficult for flames to handle.
The situation tilted further.
“…Still coming out, huh.”
Before he knew it, one Ogre had its face caved in and died, but he was fed up with replacements springing forth from the back.
Just how much fighting power was contained within?
Not knowing, the unknown was the most terrifying thing.
(Retreat?)
The thought crossed Schutz’s mind. However, leaving this enemy alone to expand its influence was a story he didn’t even want to think about.
The enemy’s forces hadn’t cracked yet.
There was a possibility they would run out soon. As long as everyone was safe, if they positioned themselves where the choice to retreat could be taken at any time, continuing wasn’t bad.
In fact, both he and Soare still had room if just continuing the fight.
Weiss didn’t seem out of breath either.
And—
(We still have fighting power… fighting power… huh?)
There was Solo, the wielder of the Holy Sword they had been saving. His speed would be enough of a threat to goblins and ogres. With that mobility, he could make them waste magic along with Soare. Exercising magic wears down mental strength; it is not inexhaustible.
Thinking that, he looked back, but—
“Schutz?”
“Ah, better not look.”
Noticing Schutz was dumbfounded, Soare also turned her gaze to where he was looking, to the rear. There—
“Th-That, scum.”
“S-Soare-sama, please calm down.”
Was no one.
The figure of the man who pulled out the Holy Sword, Solo, was nowhere to be found.
“Solooooooo!”
Soare’s anger exploded.
**
The King of Small Ogres watched the whole thing from beginning to end. The moment he summoned additional ogres from the tree and showed off his forces on the ground, he fled like a rabbit.
“Gyaggyaggya, as expected, humans cherish their own lives, defective lower life forms. Seeing their brethren in a pinch, gyaggya, to think he would choose to flee without hesitation.”
They completely disappeared from the battlefield.
Disappeared to the rear, into the distance.
With this, he could launch Mega-class magic at any time and bury them all together.
Rather, the problem was—
“Whether the coward causes them to get cold feet or not.”
Whether the prey, the sacrifices, would choose to flee just like the coward. Since they had fought this far and worn down their forces, he didn’t want to let them escape.
Would they fight bravely?
Well, if he saw them fleeing, immediately,
“If I launch it into their escape route, I can involve one or two. I can see everything. Every move you make; the quality of the brain is different from lower life forms.”
Just launch magic factoring that in.
The power of life and death had now completely shifted to the King of Small Ogres.
