CH 208

Every cell in my body is trembling.



Cold sweat broke out on my forehead, and I can’t shake the cold sensation creeping up my back.



My instincts and skills are ringing the alarm bell with all their might.



It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that cry.



I’ll never forget it…… I’ll never be able to forget it.



It’s my trauma, my deadliest monster.



“……High Orc.”



“ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”



With a cry, the High Orc leapt forward.



With the sun at its back, it looked like a huge meteorite as it approached me at breakneck speed.



“!”



I quickly kicked the ground and jumped backwards.



Immediately afterwards, there was an explosion in front of me.



The place where I stood was blown away and a huge crater was formed.



In the center of the crater, the High Orc snapped his neck sideways as if he was testing the condition of his body.



Is this some kind of preparation exercise? It’s as ridiculous as ever.



(Why is this guy here in the first place ……?)



I felt no sign of him at all.



This thing really appeared here all of a sudden.



Another individual?



No, I used my right to ask questions and did as much research as I could on the monster.



As a result, I found out that the higher species of Orcs are called General Orcs, and their skin is ‘bluer’ than normal Orcs.



The only Orc with reddish copper skin is this one, which I call High Orc.



There is no way it could be a different Orc.



Then there is only one other possibility.



“…… ‘reanimation'”.



I can’t think of anything else.



Aiba-san has a skill called “reanimation”.



If it is effective not only against people but also against monsters, it explains why this guy suddenly appeared here.



But at the same time, a question arose.



Why would Aiba “reanimate” a monster?



–My goal is to kill all the people in this world.



The words he had just said replayed in my head.



Don’t tell me, he betrayed us?



[T/N: You guys are not yet allies, stop trusting him so easily TwT] 



I couldn’t believe that his story and the feelings expressed in his words were just idle words.



Is it possible that even that was just an act to create an opening to attack us?



“……! Why…”



I wanted to believe that he was an otherworlder who would be on our side, just like Rebel-san.



I looked at Aiba-san.



“……What, what the hell is this? What is the meaning of this?”



“Eh……?”



Aiba was stunned.



It was as if he couldn’t understand the scene in front of him.



The expression on his face did not look like he was acting.



(Isn’t it…… Aiba’s handiwork?)



But I don’t see how anything other than his skills could have done this.



Just what the hell is going on here?



“Oooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”



“!”



But the situation would not wait.



The High Orc kicked the earth again and attacked me.



The speed was tremendous.



The greatsword he raised was closing in on me.



“But… I’m not the same person I was back then!”



It’s true that High Orcs have a high status.



“Shadow Imitation” revealed that his status was higher than mine right now. And he could also go head-on against Sora.



But the current me can fight.



I wrapped my entire body in shadow to defend against the High Orc’s attack.



I joined both my hands together and activated my ‘advanced ninjutsu’.



“Water Absorption Technique!”



In the next moment, a large amount of water was generated around me.



The water that was produced roared like a living thing and turned into a turbulent stream that attacked the High Orc.



I also deployed my item box at the same time.



I released a large number of plastic bottles from above him.



It’s a barrier of water that covers everything.



“I already know your weakness!”



The High Orc’s weakness.



It’s water.



If you soak his entire body in water, his physical abilities will drop drastically and he will take a lot of damage.



I’ll finish him off with this.



“Gahahaha!”



But he laughed.



He sucked in a deep breath.



“Ooryaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”



The cry echoed through the air.



It became a physical shield that repelled all the water that came at him.



“Wha—?!”



You’re kidding, right?



How can you prevent that?



I’m sure this worked last time, right?



“Gah!”



After that, the High Orc’s eyes glowed red and his whole body turned reddish-black.



Rikka-chan has the same skill – “Berserk”.



It’s not only that the water was blocked, but the moment the water was blocked, the High Orc activated ‘berserk’ and strengthened itself.



It’s almost as if he learned from the ‘last battle’.



” You remember…… don’t you? Do you remember me and that battle?”



“…….”



The High Orc did not answer.



But he laughed again.



He looked happy, like he was having fun.



It’s like an innocent child having fun at a festival.



It spoke the answer more heroically than anything else.



Don’t be silly.



A strong monster would not be looking for new games. 



“Goaaaaa!”



“Che”



I quickly asked Aka to mimic an Orc knife and blocked his attack.



I used the item box to avoid the rain of water.



“Kiki! I’m going to need you to match my timing and ‘reflect’ his attack.”



“Kii!”



Kiki, lurking in the ‘shadows’, raised her voice in understanding.



“Ichinose, you and Sora head out from the nearest coordinates! Keep covering me!”



“Understood.”



“……huhh”



Sora and Ichinose also replied to me.



I couldn’t let them exit from the shadows under my feet in this situation where I was busy fighting the High Orc.



For Ichinose and Sora, it would be best for them to leave the campsite’s range.



(Besides, in this situation, we can’t take advantage of Sora’s strength……)



Sora’s greatest strength is her one-sided attack from above.



She’s able to strike almost instantly with high-powered, long-range attacks, but that’s only possible if there are no allies around the enemy.



“Goaaaaaaaaa!”



“Damn it!”



I activated my ‘Shadow Clone’ technique.



At the same time, he used ‘Zekage’ to restrain the High Orc’s movement – and avoided it.



You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re dodging too many of my attacks!　



You’re not just rushing head-on like last time.



You’re concentrating on fighting me, but you’re also keeping an eye on your surroundings.



What a nuisance.



(But it is still okay. Even if he’s gone ‘berserk’, I can still react to his movements.)



Momo and Ichinose will soon be supporting me.



This way, we can create an opening and be sure to hit him with water.



Then, it will be our victory.



“—Ruo……”



However, my skills reacted to a voice that suddenly came from behind me.



It was a soft whisper, but it reached my ears loud and clear.



“Hey…… are you kidding me?”



A chill ran down my spine.



The Shadow Clone behind the High Orc had a shocked look on his face.



The High Orc himself has an amused expression on his face.



He is probably thinking, the number of ‘prey’ has increased.



The next moment, the surroundings went dark.



It’s as if a huge shadow of something had covered it.



“Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhh!!!”



My bad premonition came true.



The ground behind him rose up and eventually formed a giant golem.



“……Titan.”



Now it’s you.



It’s not just the High Orc that has been reanimated.



“Kiii.”



“Kiiiiiii.”



“Kiii.” “Kiiiiiii.” “Kiii.”



Countless black ants gushed out from under the golem’s feet.



It looks like a large army of scarabs from an Egyptian movie.



“”～～～～～～～～～～～””



[T/N: What is this bunch of ~~~? Are they trying to be cute?]



It didn’t end there.



This time, the surrounding trees started to rustle.



One after another, giant trees sprouted, their branches blooming with bright red flowers.



–Treant with flowers.



This was also the monster I had defeated.



“What is this, a recap or something ……?”



It was like a hero movie.



All the monsters that have been defeated came back to life at once.



If it was fiction, it might be very exciting, but I can’t stand to be the one who gets hit. To hell with it.



This is a bad joke.



“You’re not going to reanimate Peony and Dark Wolf, are you ……?”



The worst case scenario crossed my mind.



No, this situation is bad enough, but if Peony and Dark Wolf show up, there is no way to win.



But it seems that my prediction was wrong.



There was no sign of any more monsters being “reanimated”.



(Although, it’s definitely a bad situation. ……)



There was a High Orc, a titan, black ants, and a large army of flowered treants.



If all of these were recreated by Aiba’s skills, it would be possible to get him to turn off his skills and it would be over…..



“Aiba! Please turn off your skills right now!”



I yelled at Aiba.



But he shook his head.



“I, I can’t….. I can’t! I’ve been trying to figure out the skill all this time and I can’t!”



“Wha……?!”



“No, on the contrary, it’s …… overflowing with more and more power, and I can’t stop it……! What is this!”



What the hell is this?



What is this? Are you saying that your skills are out of control?



Why?!



“Well, maybe it’s the cost of ‘running away’.”



Then Rebel, who was disposing of the monsters next to Aiba, muttered.



“It’s a transfer that took advantage of a gap in the system. I knew there would be some kind of price to pay, but I never expected it to manifest itself like this.”



“No, no…. I didn’t want this to happen….”



Aiba was shocked.



“It has nothing to do with your intentions. I’d look into this right away if I could, but for now, we have to deal with these monsters first…..”



Rebel raised her twig high in the air.



Then a geometric pattern appeared under my feet.



“Summon Ifrit.”



What appeared was a flame-clad giant over two meters tall.



This summoning skill is different from what I have seen so far.



So this is what Nishino and his team have been fighting against for training, this is the first time I’ve seen it in action.



“Come on, Ifrit. This time, you must fight with all your might. Burn all the monsters in this place to the ground!”



“Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”



This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a thing.



In the blink of an eye, the black ants and treants vanished and their numbers dwindled.



“Kazuto! I’m going to take this idiot and head towards the campsite. I’ll take care of the big golem and the metal lizard, and you can take care of the rest. Okay?”



“…..Ah, okay.”



It seems that the Ifrit will take care of the surrounding mobs.



That means I can concentrate on fighting this thing.



I faced the High Orc once again.



“Why aren’t you attacking me? Could it be that you were waiting for me?”



“…… Goa.”



While I was talking, the High Orc remained standing there and refused to move.



The High Orc held up his weapon as if to say, “Are you done?”



He’s a very disciplined guy in a weird way. He really likes to fight, doesn’t he?



I raised my weapon too and faced him.



“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, but let’s get this over with and head to Satsuki’s rescue, okay?”



“Goa ……”



The High Orc smiled viciously, as if to say, “try it if you can”.



Fine then, 



At the same time, he kicked the ground and leapt forward.



The rematch with the High Orc began.