Chapter 20 - Adventure in the goblin forest part 5

The thin icicles that were shot from Tianna’s staff rained down on the goblins like a hail of bullets.

“Gugyaah!!!???”

“Wha-what!?”

“Humans!”

The hobgoblins and the ogre reacted with broken language and by shaking in anger.

“Eh… They evolved to the point where they can speak!”

And that was when Nick bolted in a straight line.

By himself.

“W-Wait, Nick!? Why are you jumping ahead!?”

Karan got a late start.

She hesitated and looked back before she started running.

She wondered if she was being abandoned again, and couldn’t shake off that fear.

But when she looked back, Nick wasn’t there. He noticed Karan’s hesitation and went first.

“Kuh…!”

Karan started running, but she had to cut down the hobgoblins in her path, which delayed her further.

“Guhahaha!!! You come alone!? Idiot!!!”

“And you’re going to be defeated by that idiot.”

“Hmph! Take this!!”

The ogre swung down his big club.

“Nick!!!”

Karan cleared away the hobgoblins that tried to follow her.

There were too many for Tianna to take down by herself, and Karan could’t reach the ogre.

And then they heard a terrifying sound, right out of their nightmares.

“Nuh!?”

It was the sound of the ogre’s club hitting the ground.

Nick nimbly dodged it, and jumped on it to use as a stepladder to cut the ogre’s upper arm.

“Eh… What’s wrong mister oni!!!?”

The ogre swung its arm in anger, and even just that turned into an incredibly powerful attack, but Nick easily dodged it.

Nick dodged a big swing from the ogre and went around to its defenseless back, where he thrust his short sword.

The ogre writhed in pain and anger, and rampaged.

Nick treated the ogre like a child, toying with it as if he were dancing.

Both his partners and the hobgoblins were shocked by this strange sight.

“W-What…? You’re faster than a monkey…?

“I’ll take that as a compliment. My master used to get mad at me for being slow.”

“W-What…?”

“My master, Argus, is a prodigy and a master of all sorts of weapons. His style is the same as his nickname, 【Weapon Master】, and I studied it too.

“Weapon master!? You’re just using a short sword like a little boy!”

“That’s right, I don’t gain muscle easily, so I can’t use more potent weapons for monster hunting like longswords, axes, or longbows. But I did learn some tricks, for example…”

The ogre tried to kick Nick, who was behind it, with its heel, but Nick kicked its pivot leg with all of his might, as if he was waiting for it.

Nick’s boot had a steel plate inserted in it, and while it didn’t cause much damage, it was enough to break the ogre’s balance.

“Gah!?”

The ogre fell just like Nick thought it would. That big body put a lot of strain on its legs.

That was precisely what Nick was aiming for.

“The short sword techniques I learned from my instructor Argus, and close quarters combat.”

◆

While watching Nick’s vigorous fighting, Tianna mumbled.

“…Hey Sem.”

“What is it Tianna?”

“Didn’t Nick say… He couldn’t take down an ogre on his own?”

“He did.”

“But isn’t he actually pretty strong?”

“He is…”

They talked while taking down hobgoblins, and when Nick saw that, he angrily yelled.

“Don’t just watch, help me! I’m reaching the limit of what I can do with a short sword!”

“Can’t you take it down on your own? If you can fight it… Can’t you break its bones or strangle it?”

Tianna’s silly response reached Nick.

“An ogre isn’t like a human with a strong body that you can break or choke, its build is completely different. Karan!”

“Y-Yes!”

“Help me!”

When Nick’s words reached Karan, she moved faster and swung her dragon bone sword more lightly, and some hobgoblins fell down flat in a second.

“Guh, gah!!!??? A human like you…!!!!!”

“Yes, a human like me! I’m getting close to my limit!”

It was not like Nick was playing around with the ogre because he could beat it easily, he was concentrating all of his nerves to dodge and taunt it.

If he let himself become even a little fatigued, he could very well receive a hit. A hit from the ogre would put him near death or instantly kill him, depending on where the hit was.

So…

“It’s alright… Take this…!”

The blade of Karan’s dragon bone sword started burning red, and it felt like the heat wave coming from it alone could burn skin.

The hobgoblins stopped and cowered in fear, and Karan wasn’t letting that chance get away.

Cold as an ice stake, Karan stabbed them all.

Before they knew it, the only enemy left was the ogre.

“Wha… What is that strength…? Eek!?”

The ogre tried to get up, and Nick ran. As the ogre was realizing what an absolutely unfavorable situation it was in…

“Fire Dragon Slash!!!”

It was cut in two from shoulder to waist.