by Funa
“There aren’t any trees near the entrance, are there? I should be able to use fire magic this time.”
“And then at the end, I can pour my hot magic into the tunnel to clear out the rest!”
“Mile, when we’re down to the very last of the enemies, is it okay if I practice with my True Godspeed Blade EX?”
“That should be fine. Oh, I’d like for you to try using your Wind Edge at the start, though. It would be good to figure out just how effective it is against these ogres, for later. I’m not sure it’ll really work as much more than a smoke screen or diversion for now…”
The Crimson Vow discussed the battle as though it were already won, without even knowing the number of ogres they would be up against. Hearing them, the dwarves could only look on, utterly resigned…
“Wind Edge!”
“Crimson Hellfire!”
“Hyper Hot!”
Mavis let off her Wind Edge attack, and a beat behind her, Reina and Pauline fired off their own attack spells. If they acted any sooner, it would have made it impossible to determine the effects of Wind Edge. Pauline also had a trick to try, with an upgraded version of her hot magic serving as the ace up her sleeve.
After approaching the tunnel, the reclamation team had launched their surprise attack on the few ogres who were standing outside of the tunnel as lookouts. So as not to be detected too quickly, they had made sure that they were still downwind and then launched a ranged attack from their hiding place in the trees.
The Wind Edge struck the ogres first. Mavis used the spell with the understanding that, while it might work against humans or goblins or kobolds, it was not likely to land a fatal or even severe blow against orcs or stronger monsters. It just had the advantage of allowing her to strike from afar without being able to use magic. No matter how much she trained, this particular technique wouldn’t get any stronger; the most it could do against these abnormal ogres was inflict a scratch or two. It would be more effective to strike them in the eyes, but the ogres weren’t going to stay in one place long enough for her to try to aim that precisely. The most Wind Edge could do was serve as a diversion when her allies were in trouble…
Still, even being able to use that kind of ranged attack gave Mavis an edge as a hunter. As far as the members of the Crimson Vow knew, there were no hunters other than Mile who could call themselves a “magic knight.”
Well, there was the boy named Veil, whom Mile had also trained. He probably wouldn’t be claiming such a title for himself, though.
While Mavis did not believe that she was using magic, but rather, her “spirit,” the others had convinced her that she should pass the technique off as wind magic, so as not to “reveal the secrets of the Ascham line” to outsiders. And so, that was what she did.
Wind Edge: Honest-to-God wind magic, being passed off as wind magic by someone who thought her claim was false.
…It was a deception of the highest order.
As expected, Wind Edge glanced right off the ogres, who began to look around them for the source of the attack. Then came the second and third strikes.
“Guhgyaaaaaaah!!!”
First Crimson Hellfire, Reina’s specialty.
Then Hyper Hot, one of Pauline’s most underhanded spells—her normal hot magic, remolded into something even more devilish. The ogres were struck in not only the eyes, nose, and mouth, but also in the wounds that had been inflicted by Mavis’s Wind Edge, which made the pain all the more unbearable.
Whipped up by the wind, the fire magic raged into an even greater blaze, while a red mist emanated from the hot magic…
Ka-shnk!
The air began to shudder, and a sword-wielding human appeared from out of the mist, slicing one ogre in half.
Naturally, this was the work of Mile, who had sat out from the magical onslaught in order to cloak herself in a visual, auditory, and olfactory barrier.
Gwsh, ka-splt, kshnk!
Mile dispatched the ogres, already frenzied by the magical attacks, within an instant and then immediately retreated to the dwarves and the rest of the Crimson Vow, all of whom were now on the advance. The ogres, who had no concept of siege warfare, were certain to come rushing out in defense of their lair—and they had just as certainly heard the screams of the lookout ogres and the sounds of battle.
They cleared enough space for all the ogres to exit, with Mile, Mavis, and the dwarves lining up to surround them. Pauline and Reina were a little bit farther away, concealed in the surrounding shrubbery. There was no need for a mage, who could use ranged spells, to actually get anywhere near the enemy.
Thus prepared, they waited a short while. There were no signs of the ogres.
Judging by what the investigation team had reported, there should have been at least seven or eight of them. The fact that not another one had yet to show its face must have meant that they were all off hunting or that the only other ogres were females and children, who were typically noncombatants. Unless they thought that the lookouts would be enough of a force…
“Fireball!”
With tentative consideration of the tunnel’s stability, Mile fired a fairly powerful attack into the mouth of the structure. After a brief pause, the ogres came flooding out. One after another they appeared, consumed with rage—twenty of them in total.
“Wh—?! There were still that many in there?!” shouted one of the dwarves. He could talk all he liked, but it would not change the fact that the ogres were there.
Once these ogres had been wiped out, Mile thought, they would move into the tunnel to rout out all the females and young. And just as she was thinking this, following after the twenty ogres who had already exited, came the others.
Ogre warriors, hyper ogres, and ogre kings. The whole of the evolutionary line.
A horde of unique creatures, the likes of which had never been seen in this area. They had probably moved in from somewhere else. Taking caution, collective action that was unlike their species, they’d stationed lookouts at the front of the tunnel.
“There must be a leader, huh?” Mile muttered as the answer dawned on her.
Mavis did not appear to be particularly perturbed by this conclusion. In their commitment to fulfilling their duties of their station, a knight placed very little value on their own life. The dwarves, however, were at their wit’s end. As skilled craftsmen, they could run the necessary calculations. They could tell just how much stronger these special ogres were compared to normal ogres, and they knew that no matter how much strength they mustered, the battle would be dire. And then there were the regular ogre warriors, the regular high ogres, and the “ogre kings,” the mere knowledge of the existence of which was almost enough to make them abandon their village and run as fast as they could.
A single squad of elite units could never have faced them. No matter how strong the Crimson Vow were, they were still just four C-ranked little girls. They couldn’t possibly take on an entire army. Even if they ran, they would be overrun from behind, picked off one by one and killed, with no hope of defending themselves.
“It’s over. This is the end of our village. All we can do now is send word to the villagers to take refuge. Then, we have to tell the humans and hope that these creatures don’t begin to multiply and spread across the continent, and set all of the sentient races on the road to annihilation…” The leader spoke in a calm voice, so as not to rile the ogres prematurely. “This is no longer a matter of pride. This isn’t a dwarf problem or a human problem or an elf problem—this concerns the continued survival of all of our races. If we can get word out, even if we should all perish, at least our names will live on in dwarven history as the heroes who saved everyone by delivering the warning.
“Mavige, Llewbert—stand down and head back to the village as quick as possible. Tell all of the villagers to evacuate and then inform the humans. Everyone else, let’s try to buy as much time as we can before the fighting starts and then drag it out for as long as possible before we all die. We have to let t
hose two get away safely. Looks like you guys get the short end of the stick, though. Sorry ’bout that…”
And suddenly, now that he had given up on the idea of returning home alive, a defiant air overtook him.
“Heh! We knew it’d come to this, huh? We accepted this the moment we volunteered for the reclamation squad! Ain’t that right, everyone?!”
“Yeah!”
The dwarves gave a powerful yet reserved response, careful not to pull the trigger on the battle just yet. Their voices and legs were trembling, but a man who would calmly face an enemy like this…was nothing more than an idiot. Foolishness did not constitute courage.
Knowing the difference in strength between you and your enemy, quivering in terror and despair, and fearing the inevitability of your own defeat—likely even your own death—experiencing all of that and yet standing firm, refusing to run away…
That was what people called “courage.”
“All right. For now, let’s just keep staring them down. Try not to startle the ogres… Mavige, Llewbert, go!”
The two, who had probably been selected as messengers because they were the youngest of the group, silently nodded and began to break away from the circle. But just then—
“Firebomb!”
“Frozen Helix Shot!”
Reina used her favored fire magic, while Pauline tore into the enemy by mimicking an earth magic technique that she had seen Reina use previously. It was a nasty attack that was likely to be able to pierce through the ogres’ hides. Pauline’s specialties were water and healing magic, and this attack had the greatest piercing strength that she could hope to achieve.
As for her hot magic? Well, she couldn’t use that when her allies were about to jump into the fray.
Ka-slam!!!
Shnk shnk shnk shnk shnk!
“Let’s do it!”
As the attacks spells landed and Mile issued her decree, she joined Mavis, who had already taken it upon herself to take a dose of Micros, and they both flew straight into the horde of ogres.
“Hyaaaaah!” the two shouted.
“What the hell are you doing?!” the dwarf leader cried at the top of his lungs.
To buy time in a protracted battle, the best thing to do was to hold the enemies’ gaze in a standoff as long as possible. Especially when it came to an enemy as strong as these ogres.
The leader wailed in sorrow as all his careful plans were laid to waste. “You’ve gotta be kidding meeee!!!” he screamed, but it was already too late to take back what the girls had done. He waved his hands, sending the two messengers off toward the village as planned. Then, he and his fellow dwarves turned back toward the ogres.
Their fate was already sealed. They had lost seven men getting to this point, and now there were more than twenty more ogres to face—including several individuals of a higher order entirely. They had absolutely no hope of winning.
If they were to rush in, they would just be demolished, and if they were destroyed too quickly, the two messengers would be overrun. Their only hope now would be to hold back and land the finishing blow on the ogres after they had been worn down and injured by the Crimson Vow.
These girls, still so young, who had offered themselves up to aid the dwarves, were about to become mere pawns in this sick game they were all playing. Guilt lay heavy on the dwarf leader’s shoulders.
But just as he steeled himself to make his tragic decision…
“Hyaaaaaah!!! Secret Technique, True Godspeed Blade EX!!”
“Supreme Secret Technique, Godkiller Blade!”
“What?! That’s so much cooler—no fair, Mile!”
“That’s not my problem! Go think up your own cool name!”
“Fire Spear!!!”
“Drill Javelin!!!”
The number of ogres steadily continued to fall. The dwarves observed the scene, their eyes glassy. Would they actually be able to make it through this?
Just as the thought occurred to the dwarves…
“Gwah!!”
Mavis took a blow to the side from one of the advanced ogres.
She might talk a big game, but she always took combat seriously, never letting her guard down. However, given the strength and number of their opponents, Mavis had realized that the battle might drag on for a bit. This meant that her body, enhanced by the Micros, would reach its limits in the middle of battle, and she would collapse, no longer able to fight. That would mean death for Mavis, as well as destruction for the party, which would not be able to fight effectively with their melee forces halved.
With all this in mind, Mavis had suppressed her ridiculous speed as much as she possibly could, trying not to make any powerful moves that would damage her muscles—and this had made her unable to avoid the monster’s attack. While she was expecting the speed of a normal ogre, the attack had been one step higher in power and speed, and she had misjudged the distance.
To take an attack straight to the side like that would probably mean several broken bones.
“Mavis!”
Mile turned her attention to her injured companion.
No matter how fast or strong she was, Mile was essentially still a complete amateur when it came to battle. Even these high-ranking ogres, who were experienced in battle, could anticipate her softheartedness.
Mile relied on her speed and power to avoid and deflect enemy attacks, and the moment she turned her attention away…
“Eek!”
She took a full-force hit from one of the advanced ogres, and though she had managed to meet the blow with her sword, the sheer force of it was enough to send her flying. Her low body weight was a disadvantage in these situations.
The dwarves were now left face-to-face with the ogres.
“………”
It was all over, the dwarves thought. And yet, they stood steadfast on trembling legs. They had to buy more time—no matter how brief.
Reina and Pauline launched two more shots but only substantially injured one normal ogre. Reina had been firing simple spells in order to avoid friendly fire, but now resigned herself to catching her allies in the crossfire and began incanting a hot magic spell. Pauline dashed out from their hiding place in the brush to rush to Mavis’s side. Thankfully, Mavis had been tossed a fair distance from the ogres, which made it safe for Pauline to reveal herself and go to her.
What about Mile? She was known for her ungodly durability, and it seemed she had been able to block this latest attack with her sword. Plus, the only sound she had made was “Eek!” If she had really taken any serious damage, it should have been something like “Gyah!!” or “Gwahh!!” Making such a cute sound meant she hadn’t been seriously injured at all, and so neither Pauline nor Reina was particularly concerned about her.
For now, their top priorities were to defend the dwarves and buy a bit of time until Mile and Mavis could return to the fight.
Normally, using hot magic would be a job for Pauline, who was the originator of the spell. But while even Reina could use crude hot spells, Pauline was the only one of the two of them that could use high-level healing magic, and getting Mavis back into the battle as quick as possible was a priority.
Of course, Mile could also use healing magic and was actually the closest one to Mavis, having been thrown in her direction by the ogre’s blow. However, if she had the energy for that, it was better that she utilize her skills to stand between the dwarves and the ogres. Even Mavis, writhing on the ground in agony, recognized this.
Before Reina could even finish her hot spell, which should have bought them a little bit of time, the ogres came bearing down on the dwarves.
The attack was overwhelming.
A one-hit K.O.—a massacre.
Unable to withstand a full-force attack from the ogres, the dwarves were smashed into the ground or blown away one after another. They desperately scrambled to protect their heads, so they were able to avoid being killed instantly, though their limbs were wrenched and their ribs smashed to pieces. Even that was o
f sheer luck…and their luck was about to run out.
One ogre’s great, log-like arm went swinging at full power. Directly in its path was one dwarf’s head. He’s dead! the dwarves all thought.
And then, with a loud thump, the ogre’s arm fell to the ground.
“Hold it right there!”
Without missing a beat, Mile swung her sword right into the next enemy. Because she was so light, Mile had taken little damage when she was thrown by the enemy and had been swift in returning to the front lines. As she moved to protect the dwarves from attack, one of the ogres swung its club forcefully toward her, making a priority of eliminating this vexing creature. The attack came from directly overhead, meaning that she could not simply shove it off. She blocked the blow with her sword, but the clash swiftly became a contest of strength.
This was a bad situation. If Mile was pinned in place, the other ogres would turn their attacks right back toward the dwarves. Furthermore, some of them would probably come gunning for Mile while she already had her hands full.
Previously, Mile had assumed that her physical strength and toughness were roughly half that of an elder dragon. However, in the battle against the elder dragons, it had become clear that her abilities weren’t quite at that level. Logically speaking, no matter how scientifically advanced her pseudo-God was, it was patently impossible to produce a human that had even a sizeable fraction of the strength of an elder dragon. When organizing one’s base materials into a plausibly human form, there was no way to avoid the vast differences in muscle and bone mass between an elder dragon and tiny little Mile. The only way to make such an achievement possible would be to construct Mile’s body out of some manner of advanced alloy, and if that were the case, then Mile would not be human.
Furthermore, Mile’s height and weight were not at the median between the greatest and smallest living things in the world, nor were her reasoning, faculties of memory, voice, or other such abilities at the average point between all things. In other words, the only areas in which God had granted her the true “average” were the ones that would not make things too inconvenient for Mile.