319 – We need to create some tension. (3)
Chapter 319: We need to create some tension. (3)
Belinda, Gillian, and the knights followed Ghislaine.
As the soldiers and elves tried to follow, Ghislaine waved his hand.
“Soldiers, stay back. There’s no benefit to facing an ogre head-on. Vanessa, prepare as I instructed, and knights, form up.”
Dealing with a powerful monster like an ogre is better done with an elite group. If they attacked haphazardly, the damage could be severe.
Of course, a typical commander would use the soldiers as shields to grind through. Losing soldiers is preferable to losing knights.
But sacrificing soldiers to drain their strength was not Ghislaine’s style. He had already told Vanessa to prepare alongside the mages.
He had also given Belinda and Gillian a slight hint, but Kaor was out of the loop.
“Grrr……”
The ogres, too, were not making any brash movements. There were simply too many humans.
However, ogres do not tolerate territory invaders. The ogres tightened their grips on the wooden clubs and lowered their stances.
Matching their crouch, Ghislaine continued.
“Vanessa, start.”
“Kuoooor!”
At the same time, the ogres leaped. Their leaps showcased immense strength, reaching impressive heights. But as the monsters soared into the air, Ghislaine shouted.
“Close your eyes!”
Trained to respond immediately to Ghislaine’s command, the knights shut their eyes. Behind them, Vanessa’s voice boomed.
“Flash Bomb.”
Bang!
A tremendous flash burst forth right in front of the ogres.
“Kaahhhk!”
Following suit, other mages cast the same spell as Vanessa.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The dozens of flashes obscured the ogres’ vision. Temporarily blinded by the instantaneous light, the ogres stumbled and rolled on the ground.
There were indeed higher-tier spells that could more permanently impair vision, but the reason for using the flash bomb was specific. Ogres are innately strong against magic.
While directly casting a spell might result in longer-lasting effects, there could be ogres that were unaffected by the magic. Therefore, the strategy was to blind them for a moment with a strong light.
“Graaaar!”
Being agile creatures, the ogres quickly stood up after rolling, yet their surroundings remained a blur.
The leading ogre, driven by instinct, swung its massive club immediately.
With their great size and equally massive weapons, the range of their attack was immense. Because of this, an ogre rising right next to it got smacked.
Bang!
“Kuueeek?”
The hit ogre was shocked, overwhelmed by pain. It almost fainted.
In a situation where it couldn’t see who attacked, the ogre instinctively moved to protect itself.
With all its strength, it swung the club in the direction of the attack.
It didn’t matter that it couldn’t see. It just had to swing towards where it had been struck.
This was a shared instinct among monsters. The stronger the monster, the more pronounced this behavior tended to be.
Bang!
“Graaaar!”
In their obscured vision, the ogres tangled with one another, swinging clubs wildly without understanding who was who.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Ouuaaargh!”
The ogres’ attacks could crush even towering trees in a single blow. No matter how tough the ogres were, they couldn’t ignore such powerful strikes. Every time they got hit, they howled in pain.
The attacks from the enemy could shatter even the mightiest trees in one blow. No matter how tough an ogre was, it couldn’t ignore such powerful strikes. Each time they were hit, they let out painful screams.
Thinking the enemy’s attack was anything but trivial, the ogres swung their clubs harder against one another, going wild.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Heads cracked open, blood flowed, and the number of broken-armed ogres grew. The more pain they felt, the angrier they became.
“Graaah!”
As the screaming ogres blinked several times, the effects of the flash faded, and their vision began to return.
They were blinded only for a moment, but the damage they had sustained was significant. Realizing they had been fighting each other, the ogres turned to rage at one another.
“Kaaargh!”
“Kuoooh!”
It was a comical scene, like a tragic comedy of blame. After a while of squawking, the ogres ceased their brawling and turned around.
“Kuuk?”
And above their heads, a human leaped high with a greatsword in hand.
Ghislaine activated his Stage 3 core, leaping swiftly and driving his sword into the head of the nearest ogre.
Swoosh!
“Graaah!”
Despite the sword piercing his head, the ogre didn’t die instantly. Being from the Forest of Monsters, it was incredibly tough.
Boom!
As the sword lodged into its skull, the ogre swung its club. Ghislaine nimbly backed away and shouted.
“Attack!”
The knights quickly darted forward. They had also trained for monster confrontation. Ghislaine, an excellent hunter, had trained them on how to face monsters whenever there was a gap.
The knights quickly formed up, placing a knight with a large shield at the forefront, and charged at the ogres.
“Graaah!”
The ogres were already injured from their own chaotic brawl. However, the strikes aimed at the leading knight were still formidable.
“Shield.”
Zing—!
As the mages shouted, a magical barrier enveloped the knights in front. The knight with the shield charged right at the ogre’s attack.
Boom!
“Uwaah!”
The shielded knight was sent flying back effortlessly after just one attack. Such immense power it was.
Although he couldn’t hold firm, having blocked even a single strike was sufficient. That brief window created an opportunity.
“Fireball.”
Whoosh!
Dozens of fireballs launched towards the ogres’ faces.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Graaah!”
The ogres were momentarily stunned by the hits, but the mages were not surprised at all. After all, this attack was also meant to create another chance to blind the foes.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dozens of swords pierced the bodies of the staggered ogres. No matter how tough the ogres were, they couldn’t easily withstand the explosive attacks from the knights.
The knights, fully aware that failure meant death, poured all their strength into stabbing and slashing.
“Graaah!”
The screams of the ogres echoed from all directions. The knights didn’t waste any time.
“Quickly, close in!”
“Cut their tendons!”
“Disarm them!”
The knights clung to the ogres’ arms and legs. They clung on desperately, stabbing their swords relentlessly.
The ogres with broken arms or shattered ribs couldn’t even fight back properly. The relatively uninjured ones were dealt with by powerful fighters like Ghislaine, Belinda, and Gillian.
Took charge.
Paaah!
The daggers extending from Belinda’s body pierced through the ogre’s weak spots: its eyes, ears, and mouth. Gillian kept hacking at the ogre’s neck with his axe, the knights clinging on for dear life.
It was such a violent display that you could hardly tell who the ogre was!
Kwahng! Kwahng! Kwahng!
“Graaah!”
The ogres couldn’t hold on. Right from the start, they had been attacking each other, their combat power significantly diminished.
With the knights swarming them in that state, even throwing them off was no easy task.
Amidst the chaos, ‘Ogre Slayer’ Kaor stood there, dazed and just watching.
Ghislaine brought down his weapon one more time on the noggin of an ogre whose head was still foggy.
Pwoosh!
As if that was a signal, ogres began to drop like flies all over the place.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dozens of ogres fell without putting up much of a fight. Their reputation as the kings of the forest was rendered meaningless by such a tragic end.
The fallen ogres looked so beaten that they resembled rag dolls.
The soldiers gaped in disbelief at the unbelievable feats. The chain of attacks flowed like water, almost as if it had been pre-planned and prepared.
Did Kaor feel that too? He stammered his question to Ghislaine.
“What, what’s going on? Did you know this would happen again?”
Thinking back, even when the ogres appeared, Ghislaine didn’t hurry to command as usual. He just stood there, blankly watching.
Belinda and Gillian were surprisingly calm compared to before.
Ghislaine drove his greatsword into the ground and said,
“Yeah, I knew the ogres would show up. I told the mages in advance to prepare for the battle.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“Just to bring back a bit of tension. Everyone was too relaxed.”
With that, Kaor and the soldiers fell silent. Honestly, they had come in so easily from the start that their tension had loosened a lot.
Ghislaine looked around at everyone.
“Did you all enjoy the show?”
“……”
The soldiers bowed their heads in embarrassment. Once again, they hadn’t done anything. They had just treated the Forest of Monsters like a joke, laughing and chatting.
If the lord hadn’t prepared ahead of time, they would have been ambushed by so many ogres and lost countless lives.
Ghislaine continued in a low voice.
“The monsters we’re targeting now are far more dangerous and difficult to handle than these. This time, we managed easily because we were prepared, but next time, even with preparation, I can’t guarantee victory. Everyone must stay alert at all times.”
Hearing this, the soldiers took a deep breath, straightening their backs. They began to put some strength into their bodies.
The lord was right. If they hadn’t anticipated the ogres’ appearance and prepared, they would have faced serious damage.
It was clear that if a large number of ogres had suddenly ambushed them, it would have created a horrific situation.
‘But… how did the lord know?’
‘Did he learn it by chance last time he came?’
‘Truly, our lord knows everything.’
As these events played out repeatedly, they began to feel more than just awe for Ghislaine; it was almost akin to a kind of faith.
It wasn’t just his strange knowledge. What about his fighting skills? It felt like he could triumph over any enemy, instilling a sense of trust.
However, they weren’t going to just lean on Ghislaine and take it easy. The soldiers steadied their own minds.
“I wasn’t thinking of doing that. The soldiers steadied their minds.”
‘One mistake could mean death.’
‘The Lord can’t save us all.’
‘Let’s stay sharp and move.’
Suddenly, the appearance of the ogre made everyone finally feel the tension. Not just the soldiers, but also the mages and elves felt it too.
Especially the tension among the elves tightened even more. Being sensitive to the energies of nature, they sensed that the Forest of Monsters was strange much more distinctly than others.
“It’s odd… This is a forest, but it doesn’t feel like one.”
“The monsters are all absurdly huge. No matter how strong the aura of this place is, it shouldn’t be like this.”
“Has such a place ever existed in this world?”
In a normally quiet and vibrant forest, elves should feel very comfortable and stable.
It’s due to the energy the forest itself contains, regardless of the presence of monsters.
However, this place exuded a very alien and ominous energy, quite different from an ordinary forest. The more they moved inward, the stronger that alien energy became.
As if it were not a part of this world.
That’s why the elves, who pursued harmony and balance, felt an intense discomfort and dissonance.
Ascon continued to scowl and mutter.
“I feel a shit-like energy… This is a shit-like place…”
No one paid attention to his words. Ascon often spewed such curses even in the territory. No, it wasn’t just ‘often’; it was simply part of his daily life.
But Lumina was different. Ghislaine listened to her words with keen interest.
“Lord, are you really planning to go deeper?”
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“Well… There’s something strange about it.”
“What is it?”
“The energy flowing in this forest is weird. It’s very ominous… and creepy…”
At those words, Ghislaine chuckled. The Forest of Monsters was already infamous as a cursed place. Anyone who entered ended up dying, so the rumors couldn’t possibly be good.
“Sure, it is a bit odd. There are a lot of weird monsters too. But there are also valuable resources that are hard to come by. We have to go get them.”
“That’s not it. So… This place, this place…”
“This place?”
“It’s different. The lives here aren’t normal. Something… something is artificial. So, what I’m saying is…”
Lumina seemed to be unable to explain properly, babbling incoherently.
After awakening her empathic abilities, she was able to hear the sounds of nature even a little. Of all the elves in Penris Territory, Lumina could hear the sounds of nature the best.
“They are whispering to me.”
At her words, Ghislaine tilted his head. He couldn’t hear anything.
“What? Who? What is whispering?”
“The forest.”
“The forest? Is it speaking?”
“Yes, it keeps talking to me.”
Since she entered this place, Lumina had been hearing a strange whisper.
At first, she couldn’t really catch it. The sounds of people laughing and working were too loud, and the energy of the forest was weak.
Every time people cut down trees and cleared the forest, that energy diminished even more. The places trampled by people inevitably suffered from a fading natural aura.
But as they moved deeper, that energy grew stronger and the whispers became clearer.
This forest was continuously whispering to her.
To become one with it.
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