Текст книги "Overlord Volume - The Two Leaders"

Автор книги: Maruyama Kugane

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Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

“You need to learn how to read and write, you know.”

Enri’s reply was a mournful whine.

As the village chief she needed a basic level of education, which was why Nfirea was personally instructing her, but Enri’s head felt like it was splitting apart.

“These stupid words, they were made up just to give me trouble…”

“Don’t say that. You’ve already learned how to write your own name, haven’t you? And Nemu-chan’s as well.”

“Mm… well, that is a good thing… can’t I get by with just that much?”

“Alas! These are merely the basics. Look at it this way, you’ve only started learning for five days, we haven’t even reached the important parts yet.”

An ‘are you kidding me’ expression appeared on Enri’s face.

“Ahhh, don’t make a face like that. Once you learn the basics, they’ll serve you well. That’s why they’re so important.”

“Hmph.”

“You look really tired. Then, we’ll stop here for today.”

As though she’d been waiting for this word, Enri sprang up from her seat.

“That’s wonderful! Let’s end early tomorrow too! Thank you, Enfi!”

Nfirea smiled thinly before wiping the chicken scratch-like letters off the slate.

“Then you’d best get a good rest. Tomorrow we’ll start again at the same time.”

“I’m really happy that you’re using your experiment time to teach me all this. But I don’t want to be grateful at all…”

“Mm. Well, that’s how it is. They say it’s better for a teacher to be hated by their students than to be thanked by them.”

“That’s a lie! It’s a total lie!”

“Ahahaha. Ah, I’m out of time. Goodnight, Enri.”

“Mm. Goodnight. Don’t work too hard when you get back and sleep early.”

Nfirea smiled to show he understood, and then he left through the front door. After watching the floating mote of his magical light recede into the distance, Enri returned to her house. In the darkness, it felt especially lonely.

“Ah― I’m so tired…”

Enri lazily stripped off her clothing and burrowed under the covers. She’d been so noisy when learning just now, but now all she could hear were the cute sounds of her little sister sleeping. Enri calmly closed her eyes.

Having worked her brains so hard earlier, Enri was certain she would fall asleep right away. Just as she expected, she passed out within seconds of closing her eyes.

She didn’t know how long she’d slept, but a distant sound woke her from her slumber.

Three knocks. A pause, and then three more knocks.

Realizing what that signal meant, Enri forced her eyes open in the darkness. Having woken with abnormal speed and realizing she was still at home, she practically leapt out of bed. In the same moment her sister bolted awake too.

“Are you alright?”

“Mm.”

Her voice had threads of fear in it, but it sounded like she could still move.

“Get ready now!”

“Mm!”

Lighting a lamp would waste too much time, so Enri prepared herself to flee in the dark.

As the sound of the bells carried over the wind, Enri and Nemu readied themselves swiftly. Theirs was a speed born not just of repeated evacuation drills, but of the old terror that remained from when their village had been attacked in the past. And after hearing Agu’s words, she had an idea of what was to come.

“Nemu! Get to the rendezvous point! I’ll go take care of the others!”

Without waiting for her sister’s answer, Enri grabbed Nemu’s hand and ran out the door.

The bell was still ringing loudly, which meant there was an emergency situation. This was definitely a sign that an attack as coming.

The training sequence for the evacuation repeated itself countless times in her heart, and she couldn’t completely abandon her desire to run away from reality and this, but the chill in the air denied it. It was the same chill that was there when the soldiers attacked the village.

As they neared the rendezvous point, Enri pushed Nemu forward.

“All right, go!”

Nemu nodded very slightly in reply, and then dashed toward the meeting place.

However, as a days-old village chief, Enri had to consider how she would move the whole village.

The bad feelings she had before assuming the position now flowed out uncontrollably from her heart.

“It’s as though the gods want to see me suffer.”

Without thinking, Enri let the words slip out of her mouth. This was the worst-case scenario.

A goblin ran up to Enri.

“What happened? What’s going on?”

“We found monsters in the forest. High chance they’ll be attacking us.”

“Understood, now let’s go!”

With the goblin leading the way, Enri soon came to the main gate. She saw that the night-time barricades were set up and the goblins were massing here. Wearing the weapons and armor Enri had bought for them, they looked like seasoned veterans.

As she drew close she could scent a stink on the air, which clued Enri in to the fact that there were ogres present. The ogres clutched their new clubs, which looked spiky and menacing.

Along with Enri, a panting Nfirea and the members of the self-defence force led by Brita gathered at the main gate. Agu and some of his fellow goblins, the ones who had recovered enough from their ordeal to fight, stood with them as well.

“Is that everyone? How about Madam Lizzie? Did something keep her?”

Nfirea’s grandmother Lizzie was a notable magic caster in her own right. It wouldn’t have been out of place for her to take part in the village’s defense.

“No, Obaa-chan’s not coming here. She’s at the rendezvous point. That place is important too.”

The villagers nodded as they heard Nfirea’s words. Since their family members had fled to the rendezvous point, they had to keep it secure too.

“All those who can’t use bows are already over there. Since you guys are strong, would it be all right for one of you to go over there?”

“We can’t do that.”

Jugem flatly refused Brita’s request.

He hadn’t done this out of malice toward the villagers whom he had lived and worked with. As the surging tension made Enri gulp, Jugem explained his position.

“There’s a lot of monsters. And there are others, in addition to the ogres. Splitting up would be very dangerous.”

“Do you have a clear picture of their numbers?”

“Brita-san, the enemy was lurking in the forest. There’s no way to accurately judge their numbers. However, we did manage to get an estimate… seven ogres, several giant snakes, several wargs, several somethings we think might be barghests and something big following behind them.”

“Wargs, giant snakes and ogres? Is there a druid behind them?”

Wargs were monsters that looked like wolves, but bigger. They were smarter than wolves and bad news if you encountered them in the forest.

“It’s very likely. Things will be really bad if they have a magic caster on their side. We can probably assume that they also have ranged attackers. So it would be better to marshal all our fighting power here, right? Should I call Obaa-chan over?”

“That… is hard to say, Ani-san. The rendezvous point is one of the strongest buildings in the village. If anything happens, it’ll be the final defensive line or in other words, the village’s keep. We can’t let anyone protecting that place leave.”

“…So we’ll be falling back as we fight, then? Where should I go?”

“Brita-san will direct the defense force. I hope you can relay my orders to them so they can understand. Then, act as the situation requires.”

“So we’ll use the second strategy against invaders, then? After feathering them with arrows, we’ll use barricades to keep them at bay while we stab them through the gaps with spears. Doesn’t matter how skilled our people are once they’re that close.”

“Ah, then I’ll leave that to you. However, wargs and barghests are very agile, and if left alone, they’ll cause a lot of damage. Target them first. Also, when their druid shows up, would you mind having the defense force go to the back line?”

“I’m not opposed to that, but will you have enough people on the front without us?”

“…If we’re lucky, we’ll be enough.”

“If it’s like that… as I thought, I’d better tell everyone here to be ready to die. At least, if we’re in the back we won’t be attacked, so we can concentrate fire on the druid. You know, I’ve been an adventurer, but this is the first time I’ve seen such brave villagers… at least, I thought that much when I watched them train with bows.”

“In the past, the village was attacked… and we hated how useless we were.”

Enri, who had been silent up till now, cut in with the sentiments of every member of the defense forces.

Amazingly, there was nobody here who wanted to flee. There was no way around this fight, no way they wouldn’t protect their village for the loved ones hiding behind them.

“Speaking of which, such a large force must have taken some time to assemble. Does this mean they’ve been sent by the Giant of the East or the Serpent of the West?”

“That’s not impossible.”

Jugem softly confirmed Brita’s suspicions.

If that was the case, it would mean Agu had drawn the monsters here. That was why Jugem had lowered his voice, so the defense force wouldn’t pick up on it and direct their aggression at Agu.

The existence of monsters like the Giant of the East, the Serpent of the West and their mutual enemy, the Beast of the South, had already been made known among the villagers.

Although the Beast had been tamed by the Dark Hero, the mighty monster’s form and presence had been etched indelibly on the villagers’ hearts. Fear was the appropriate response to the thought of fighting something on the same level as that.

“So what kind of magic does the Serpent of the West use? Damn, what a pain.”

Jugem nodded to Brita’s mumbling.

“Usually, monsters with innate spells won’t have more than ten of them, but if they can practice and learn magic they’ll have access to many more, which makes them troublesome. If they know magic for crossing obstacles…”

“It’s okay if it’s Enfi or the goblins, but magic-users are cheating bastards.”

Enri said so unhappily, which drew grim smiles from the villagers.

“…But don’t tell Gown-sama I said that, okay?”

That follow-up turned those smiles into laughs.

That should break the tension, Enri thought. Although it would be bad if they were too relaxed, being too tense would also keep them from fighting effectively. Now, the mood seemed about right.

Jugem looked thankfully at Enri. It seemed like he understood why she’d said what she’d said.

“Don’t worry. Just stay behind and shoot. We’ll handle the front.”

The goblins had trained the defense force for precisely this role, which suited them best.

A small village would be hard-pressed to gather armor and weapons, and there simply weren’t enough to arm the defense force. And in the end, they were still villagers. They might have strong arms from working the fields, but that didn’t translate into sword skills. Anyone who could train himself into a warrior that could defeat monsters in their free time between chores would be nothing short of a genius.

With those points in mind, the goblins realized that they couldn’t turn the defense force into frontliners. Instead, they decided to teach them archery to become the rear guard.

Although their technique had improved and they could hit their targets, their bows didn’t have much penetrative power, making it difficult to strike a telling blow on thick-skinned monsters. However, if they were lucky and fired in unison, there was a chance they might hit a vulnerable spot.

“Alright, just like we trained, aim at the other side of the door, and fire in ranks! Agu, your task is to keep the main door from being broken down and stabbing them with spears. Treat Brita-san’s commands as though they came from Ane-san and listen to her.”

“Ohhh! Leave it to me!”

“That’s the spirit. Now, listen up. I forbid you to run. Fight until you die.”

“Of course! I’ll definitely repay the kindness you showed by saving me! In fact, why not put me at the frontline with the ogres?”

“You stupid kid! If I let you do that, you’d just end up killing yourself. You can say that once you get stronger!”

After being scolded by Jugem, Agu’s face was filled with regret and some of the defence force members went to comfort him.

Enri sighed in relief as she saw this. For one, the villagers didn’t see him as the one who had brought the monsters in. For another, it was proof that Agu was accepted by the villagers.

They were the last outsiders to arrive in the village. Although they weren’t shunned or treated badly, there was still a distance between them. However, from the look of things, that gap would vanish if they won today. It was ironic that the battlefield was the best place to build the bonds of camaraderie.

And it was because he felt that gap that Agu fought so fiercely. His objective was to contribute to the village and raise the standing of himself and his people. In human society, they would show respect to people who shed blood for them. Agu and his people had the welfare of his people in mind, so his passion was only natural.

“Enfi, I have something to ask of you.”

Enri stood beside Enfi, and whispered into his ear.

“Oh, no, further a little – ah. Mm. Got it. Then – Agu, I have something to entrust to you. Take these alchemical items and use them well.”

Enfi opened his satchel. Inside were many bottles and papers.

“Use these and throw them at the enemy. You’ll miss if you’re too far away, so try to use them at medium range. You ready?”

“Leave it to me! Watch me accomplish my mission perfectly!”

Agu accepted the satchel, and as they were waiting, one of the goblins shouted down to them.

“They’re on the move! They’re heading this way!”

If one were to listen, they could hear the sounds of the monsters rending the night.

“Defense force to your positions! Ane-san, watch out! Ani-san too!”

“Yes yes, I got it! Don’t any of you die, please!”

“Of course!”

“Now then, Enri, shall we?”

Nfirea ran up to Enri as her escort. Their job was to patrol the houses to see if anyone hadn’t noticed the emergency.

As they watched Enri leave, the goblins stood to battle stations.

“Self-defense force, to your places ― and done. The enemy is entering the target area.”

There was no direct line of fire to the monsters on the other side of the wall. Shooting an unseen target would require firing in an arc, but that wasn’t something any amateur could do, and training to be able to do that would take too long. As a result, the goblins had decided to try something else.

They trained the defence force to land arrows on the other side of the wall. That meant learning how much force to use, and practicing the right angle to shoot at in order to accurately hit a specific area. It was training that was completely useless outside of very specific circumstances. However, since the enemy’s aim was to break down the gate and they were massed in front of it, single-mindedly attacking the gate, the training was very effective.

The main gate trembled under the fearsome cries of the monsters, and the nearby walls shuddered as well.

“Very good! Enemies are at the target area! Suppressive fire ― begin!”

“Begin!”

In response to Jugem’s shout, the goblin archers on the watchtowers ― Shuringan and Gurindai ― began shooting. As long as their target was within their line of fire, the marksmen of the goblins would not miss. Screams of agony rose up from the other side of the door.

The defense force shuddered in fear and tension, as though they would be swallowed up by the air which was filled by the awful din of the battlefield. Amidst all this, Jugem shouted once more.

“Defence force ― hold! Do not raise your bows until ordered!”

They were told not to shoot when the enemy had reached the place they had spent countless hours learning to shoot. However, in the next instant, everyone who looked at the towers understood why.

The monsters had started hurling rocks from the other side of the wall. Each one was about the size of a human head.

Although many went astray, even a lucky hit on the watchtowers made them shudder.

“Rock throwers confirmed! Enemy rock throwers have multiple rounds remaining!”

“Each one has about 3 rocks, and roughly 21 rocks in total ― whoa!”

Another thrown rock struck a watchtower and the wood splintered.

If they began shooting, the defense force would become targets too.

It was true that the defense force was out of sight of the enemy, and their accuracy would be low. However, if they were unlucky, a single hit could kill people. Even a weakly-thrown rock could severely injure someone.

The order for the defense force not to attack could be said to be a safe strategy, because it showed that Jugem did not want anyone to die before the extended battle could commence.

“Don’t think we can’t hit you just because you’re throwing rocks at us!”

Gurindai shouted angrily, and began shooting again while weaving through the hail of flung rocks. The defence force burned his courageous form into their eyes, watching the way he fearlessly returned fire, knowing that he would be severely hurt if he was hit. However, Jugem was not watching him. He quickly scanned his surroundings and found new enemies in an instant.

“Kiumei! Climbing snakes on the left flank! You’ll be alright by yourself?”

“No problems, Leader! Leave it to me!”

Kiumei, who had been standing by in the rear, spurred his wolf forward. Ahead of him were the giant snakes climbing the wall.

“Fifteen, sixteen! You two hang on a bit more!”

There was no need for Jugem’s words. Not a hint of fear could be seen in the shooting stances of the two archers atop the listing watchtower. Not caring whether the tower would collapse under them, they continued targeting the monsters and baiting the rock attacks. On the left flank, Kiumei seemed to be doing well against the snakes.

Finally, the watchtower bent and broke under the barrage of thrown rocks. Shuringan and Gurindai jumped down to the ground, rolling several times to disperse the impact of their fall.

“Defense force archers ready!”

In response to the call, the archers prepared their bows.

“Breathe deep! In ― out! In ― Pull!”

This voice was just like their training, and for a moment, the defense force archers forgot they were on the battlefield. Ignoring the sound of the timbers creaking, they performed the same movements like they did during practice.

“Loose!”

Fourteen arrows traced beautiful arcs through the sky and vanished behind the wall, drawing more screams of pain from the monsters.

“Amazing,” Agu muttered to himself, but Jugem had no intention of giving anyone else the time to watch further.

“Second wave ready! ― Don’t panic ― Breathe deep! In ― out! In ― Pull!”

By this time, Shuringan and Gurindai had been healed and took their places by the defence force.

“Loose!”

Once again, fourteen arrows flew forth, followed slightly later by two more. The door creaked louder as the cries from the enemy intensified. The arrows must have gotten them mad – and made them hit harder.

“Back up! Change weapons!”

The defence force moved as a group behind the barricades positioned behind the main gate. Anyone charging in would be stuck on the sturdy bars and spikes of the obstacle. The arrangement was in an L-shape, leading the attackers to where Jugem and the ogres were waiting for them. For the intruders, breaking through the gate would be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

“If you see any magic casters, get out of their line of fire!”

“Leader!”

“What’s the matter, Agu?”

“Ani-san gave me some alchemical items and there’s glue in there, where do you want it?”

“Will it be absorbed by the mud?”

“Yes, but he said it would only shorten its effective duration.”

“If it’s like that, then wait for a good opportunity and jam up the entrance.”

After showing they understood, Agu and his tribesmen moved off as one. Kiumei returned after defeating the snakes and immediately headed off to the goblin cleric to receive healing.

There was the sound of wood splintering, and one side of the main gate was down. Enemy ogres surged through the breach.

“Kuku, a bunch of brainless fools.”

Jugem mocked the incoming enemies. They had made a fatal mistake.

The monsters had only broken down one side of the doors. Once that side was down, they ignored the other side and forced their way in, especially since they were afraid of being hit by arrows if they remained outside. However, with only one side of the door down, they could only come in one at a time, which meant a lot of enemies were stuck squeezing through the entrance. In addition, they would be caught in the angle of an L-shaped ambush, where all the defenders could focus their attacks on a small number of attackers at a time.

“Welcome to the kill zone. Time to die.”

The armed ogres on the village’s side would have an advantage in a slugging match against their wild counterparts, and the defence force had their spears to assist. Any ogres who tried to break down the palisades would be taken down by arrow fire, magic and Agu’s alchemical items. The goblins would handle any magical beasts who broke through amidst the chaos.

The tactical situation was overwhelmingly favourable to them and there were still the goblin wolf riders standing by in the rear. If the enemy didn’t have any magic casters, their victory would be assured. However—

“—What’s that?!” Panic crept into Jugem’s voice. “Is that a troll out there?”

It looked different from an ogre, but it was about the same size. It lurched stiffly toward the defenders, emitting an oppressive presence as it came. In its hand, it held a greatsword with an unnatural air about it.

A sticky substance flowed in the middle of the blade. That must be some form of magic.

“The boss took the field? …Could that be… the Giant of the East?”

It certainly looked that way. Its strong body looked like it had been trained until it was as hard as steel and it was completely unlike any of the trolls Jugem knew of. At a glance, he could see how it could be on par with the Beast of the South.

Just one troll would require all of the goblins to handle. It was an enemy that was tougher than any they had ever faced.

“If that’s the case…”

Jugem thought about what to do.

It seemed hopeless. The best way would be to cover Enri’s escape. If she didn’t want to, then even if they had to force her―

“…No, that’s not the best way. That’s the worst way, and our last resort.”

Having given up on that course of action, Jugem spoke to his goblin troops.

“…Oi, you lot. Afterwards, every single one of us is going to die. Don’t even think about childish things like falling back. Make sure you brand your heroic deaths into everyone’s eyes!”

The goblins answered with a roar full of fighting spirit. In an instant, enemies and allies alike seemed to freeze.

“Here we go, lads! Let’s show them the power of Ane-san’s boys!”

♦ ♦ ♦

After a circuit of the village, Enri confirmed that nobody was left behind and breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, the sound of something breaking came from the front. It was followed by battle cries from both sides and the resounding deep bass sound made her shudder.

That was probably the sound of the gate breaking and the goblins joining battle. She nearly threw up from stress, but Enri forced it back down. The bitter taste remained in her mouth, but she ignored it to look at Nfirea.

“Enfi. We should be heading to the gate.”

“Understood. But you need to go to the rendezvous point and calm everyone down, okay?”

Enfi’s words had the subtext of don’t get in everyone else’s way.

Although Enri had been trained in the use of a bow, now that the gate had been broken, the battle would have moved into close quarters. To be honest, even if Enri went there now, there wasn’t much she could do.

“I can’t do that. I chose to lead the goblins and the villagers, and as long as I’m able, I need to do that. Although falling back is the correct thing to do, it’s not the right thing to do.”

She had to stand on the frontlines and see how the battle was fought. After seeing the conviction in Enri’s eyes, Enfi hardened his features and nodded.

“That’s true. I understand. I’ll protect you.”

The serious expression on her childhood friend’s usually placid face made Enri’s heart beat in strange and wondrous ways.

“Mm? What’s wrong, Enri? I know, I’m not as cool as Gown-san, but I won’t let you die.”

“…Don’t say die.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. That… that…”

As she saw her childhood friend struggle for the words to use, like he always did, Enri smiled.

“Let’s go, Enfi!”

“Ah, yes! That’s right, we don’t have time to waste on talking!”

The two of them ran to the front gate. Because they’d started running from the rear gate, which was furthest away, even if they ran at top speed, it would take them a while to get there. And with them panting for breath, there was no way they could start fighting right away. In order not to let haste make waste, they proceeded at a moderate speed.

However, they only ran for a few seconds.

The two of them heard a stomach-churning sound and halted in their tracks.

Looking back, they saw someone watching them from above and behind.

It was abnormally huge, far larger than a human being. They couldn’t comprehend it in the moment that they saw it, but that was its true form. It had a hand on the rear gate, which stood four meters tall.

“―That, what’s that? A giant?”

“I don’t know! Ah—”

Nfirea’s words cut off halfway, and his mouth hung open. Enri frantically turned to look at what had stunned him and ended up making the same expression.

Something was slowly climbing the wall.

Something which was far too large to be a human being.

“Could that be a troll?”

As she heard Nfirea breathing those words, Enri stared at the emerging monster.

“What’s that?”

“Although it’s the first time I’ve seen one, it’s exactly like how I’ve heard it would be. If that’s really a troll we’re in trouble… Trolls are opponents that even gold-ranked adventurers would have trouble beating. Honestly speaking, Jugem and the others would probably have a hard time.”

Enri felt the blood drain downward as she heard about something that was stronger than the mightiest being in the village.

The troll that was revealing its massive silhouette snorted, and it started looking around its surroundings.

Grabbing Enri by the hand, Nfirea dragged her into the shadows of a nearby house. Here, he closed his mouth and whispered directly into her ear at a barely audible volume.

“Enri, trolls have very sensitive noses. It is okay for now since we’re downwind, but it’s too soon to rest easy. You need to get out of here… then meet up with the goblins.”

Enri drew closer to Nfirea and whispered back into his ear.

“I can’t, Enfi. If we let that guy go to the main gate, everyone will die in the pincer attack.”

“That might be the case, but right now, we can’t―”

“―We’re the only ones here. That means it’s up to us to stop it.”

Between the gap in his hair, Nfirea’s eyes looked at Enri like he’d just seen a crazy person. Granted, Enri did realize she’d just asked him and herself to do the impossible, but to be honest, there was no other way.

“We don’t need to win or defeat it. We just need to delay it. Enfi, please lend me your strength.”

“―How are we going to delay it? Lure that guy away from here? I suppose I could fight it directly… but I doubt I could take even a single hit from him.”

Nfirea’s calm words revealed a calm determination inside him. In response, Enri laid out her plan.

“I’ve got a plan. For starters, let’s make some ogres.”

♦ ♦ ♦

The troll stared briefly at a wooden, human-made house and made its move.

That was because it thought all the houses had the smell of soft, delicious humans, but that was just leftover scent. After confirming there were no other scents in the area, it began striding toward the direction where the sound of battle was coming from. The sound of humans fighting its brethren made it drool non-stop, and in its mind, it thought of the humans that would be there.

A soft, lovely feast of human flesh.

As a connoisseur among trolls, it loved the meaty limbs and disliked the bitter torso. Therefore, it was rare that it could eat its fill, but now it looked like it would get the chance to do just that.

Its strides grew longer and it started to drool in anticipation.

However, the troll halted and looked carefully around its surroundings. Or rather, he looked into the shadows of a nearby house.

There were ogres.

The smell of ogres was wafting out from there.

It frowned. Although ogres were its allies, there was a slight difference in the scent it was picking up. It was one of which he had no prior memory. And now it was coming from all around him.

Of course it didn’t come to this conclusion because its nose was as sensitive as a bloodhound’s but because it had remembered the unique odor of its ogre allies. As such, it didn’t know how many ogres there were.

And that brought up a question. There was a strange smell here as well, like the smell of crushed grass, but far stronger.

Had an ogre shredded grass and smeared itself with the juices?

It pondered this question and found confusion. The strong herbal odor stung its nose, and its tears were about to flow. If the ogres could endure this stench, it must have been because they had a bad sense of smell.

It could take them on face to face. As a troll, it was much stronger than any ogre. However, that didn’t mean it could escape unscathed, and it would take time to deal with them.

Because trolls had the natural ability to regenerate, their wounds would recover over time. However, regenerating its injuries would still take a while, which was troublesome. Who knew, its fellow ogres might have eaten all the humans by the time it got there.

Then, since the opposition had dispersed, as long as it moved straight ahead, they would all come out to attack it.

It felt a glimmer of pride at seeing through its opponents and slowly began moving again.

It would destroy them all in a short time. Thus, the fact that its opponents had split up was a golden opportunity. All it needed to do was slay the ogres one by one.

It moved slowly, taking care not to make noise, but suddenly, a small shadow dashed out of a nearby house.

It wasn’t a goblin, but one of its favorite prey, humans.

In contrast to the troll who had been surprised into inaction, the caped human splashed something on it…