Chapter 146: Fighting the Ogre (Placeholder)

The ogre (placeholder) roared once, his eyes glowing like stars. Sssssss!! Sssssss!! He must have stepped into the realm of the non-human. His skin looked oddly dark in the night, as if sunburned to an unnatural black. Burned skin shouldn’t look this black, right?

We had our backs to the wall, so if the ogre (placeholder) came at us it would be bad. I dashed in and slashed at his thighs!

CLANG! The sword snapped! What?! My sword broke when I cut his skin?! What kind of skin is this?! Or is there something under his pants? Or is my sword blunt?! While I was panicking, his greatsword came slashing toward me. The wind pressure was terrifying! I backstepped on instinct, but his blade sliced through my leather armor!

"Lord Robby?!"

"Are you okay?!"

Lily and Stevie cried out in panic.

"I’m fine. It was paper-thin."

I discarded the broken sword and took a replacement from my magic bag. The three of us surrounded the ogre (placeholder).

"Lord Robby! Channel mana into the sword and it will become stronger!" Lily shouted. Of course I would have heard that before. Is there some chant that makes the sword special? Like a holy sword? My sword has no engraving, so maybe that’s why it failed?

I tried channeling mana into the new sword with both hands. Ugh... I don’t know. Suddenly saying something and expecting it to work perfectly isn’t realistic.

Bwah! Bwah!

The ogre (placeholder) was saying something. It sounded like mockery, but since my translation function wasn’t working normally, it wasn’t actually human words. The ogre (placeholder) took one step toward me. Just as I was about to leap in, he narrowly missed me and his sword slammed into the ground with a thunk. I had almost dodged it — barely. That was dangerous!

Lily and Stevie attacked from both sides. The ogre (placeholder) lightly backstepped with unnatural grace, then blocked Stevie’s sword with his greatsword and slammed it into the ground with his foot. I didn’t block — Lily and Stevie somehow dodged and kicked? Stevie dropped her sword and leaped back. Stevie also pulled a replacement sword from her magic bag. Hmm... Stevie’s sword got blocked by the greatsword, mine got blocked by the thighs. What’s the difference? Is it the mana channeled into the swords? Is he looking down on me?

"Eeeeeeeeee!"

A security team member leaped from the side and slashed at the ogre (placeholder). What a cool jump! But his guard was wide open! If he had been in the air, he wouldn’t have been able to block, and shouting his intention would have been obvious!

As expected, the ogre (placeholder) raised his greatsword and sliced the security team member from below. Blood splattered across his face. Lily seized the moment and slashed across his thigh, but her swing was shallow — she only cut the skin slightly.

"Wubuu?!"

Even so, it had some effect. The ogre (placeholder) let out a pained sound. I followed up with an overhead strike aimed at his leg, but he swept it away with his greatsword. Why did my sword snap too?! What is happening!?

Thieves came up from behind the ogre (placeholder), probably to help him. He tried to walk past them, but the ogre (placeholder) swung his greatsword and cut them down in one stroke. Gueh! Does the ogre (placeholder) not distinguish between allies and enemies? Or is he high on drugs and can’t tell?

I didn’t have time to worry about that. I took out the sword the old man gave me — the final reserve sword. I channeled mana into it, and to my surprise the mana flowed into the blade extremely easily. The moment it did, the sword glowed faintly. It felt like the sword had gotten stronger. A light sword? I hope so! I didn’t want a sword that only glowed — I wanted real power!

I raised the sword and slashed at the ogre (placeholder) again. The ogre (placeholder) smirked and punched my sword with his fist bone. Stop mocking me already! While yelling in my mind, I strengthened the mana around my sword just before it touched the fist bone and drove it downward into his hand. Slowly, the sword slid between his index and middle fingers. The tip went all the way to his wrist and then cut straight through. It cut nicely! I looked up at the ogre (placeholder) with upward eyes, and he looked shocked too. He’s flinching! The sword is going in! It’s reaching the bone!

"Gyaaa—!!"

The ogre (placeholder) roared and leaped back, clutching his hand and collapsing. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks, but his skin seems to have changed color. Like he’s lost some iron and is becoming more human. He was rolling around in pain.

Hearing all the commotion, windows all over the neighborhood houses opened, illuminating the thief house. With the fire inside the house and the lights from the surrounding houses, it was now bright. The ogre (placeholder) was still clearly an ogre.

I slashed at the rolling ogre (placeholder). His huge body was covered in muscles, and he was still moving, but my sword didn’t go in deep. I could cut his tendons, though. Lily and Stevie followed me and slashed at the ogre (placeholder). The ogre (placeholder) swung his greatsword wildly, but his speed had dropped.

I channeled as much mana as possible into the blade and sliced the ogre (placeholder)’s swinging arm. The blade cut through like cutting tofu. The arm holding the greatsword was completely severed and flew away.

"Gwaaaaa—!!"

Blood sprayed with his scream. The ogre (placeholder)’s blood is red.

"Finishing blow!"

""Yes!!""

Lily and Stevie rushed in and slashed at the ogre (placeholder)’s neck, shoulder, and anywhere without bones. He no longer had the hardness that could bounce off our swords like before.

"Hardening from mana seems to have run out," Lily said. Stevie nodded.

"Berserker?"

Lily and Stevie looked at me with surprise. Lily asked,

"You know?"

"Yeah."

I couldn’t say "in isekai novels," so:

"I read a book."

"Lord Robby has been studying!"

Stevie accepted it immediately, but Lily didn’t. Is Lily no longer willing to trust people? Even if I was suspicious, she could have just said "Amazing!" like before.

I stabbed the ogre (placeholder) near his heart. He twitched and finally went still. At that moment, something entered my body. It felt like it had been absorbed. Bikun! I looked at Lily and Stevie, and both of them raised their heads and looked shocked. So they absorbed something too? What if it was Berserker? If he can’t distinguish allies and enemies, it would be an instant seal.

After that, it was a clearing-out battle. Weak characters tried to flee, but Lily and Stevie cut them down in one stroke. Captain Howe said it was fine if they didn’t kill — just stop them — but they didn’t listen and kept killing without mercy. Both girls were covered in blood.

Bloody Lily and Bloody Stevie lowered their blood-stained swords and smiled at me. They probably looked like they were about to faint from the smell of blood.ℴℴ𝘮