Chapter Volume 1, 74: Danger

Volume 1, Chapter 74: Danger

Race Goblin: Level 24

Class: Lord; Horde Chief

Possessed Skills: Ruler of the Horde; Insurgent Will; Overpowering Howl; Swordsmanship B+; Insatiable Desire; King’s Soul; Ruler’s Wisdom I; Eyes of the Blue Snake; Dance at Death’s Border; Red Snake’s Eye; Magic Manipulation; Soul of a Crazed Warrior; Third Impact (The Third Chant); Instinct; Ruler’s Wisdom II;

Divine Protection: Goddess of the Underworld

Attributes: Darkness; Death

Suboridnate Beasts: High Kobold Hasu; (Lv1) Gastra (Lv20) Cynthia (Lv20) Orc King Bui; (Lv36)

In these long and dark halls, I stifle the impatience within me. Every breath I take is accompanied by pain. My lungs ache, blood trickles down my broken right arm. My strength is waning. I wish Reshia was here. No, that’s just my weakness talking.

There’s no point wishing for someone not here.

What matters most now is that there’s an enemy I have to defeat. I can regret and hurt as much later.

I thrust my sword into the wall. It wasn’t a height I could easily climb one-handed. Thanks to that I’m now weaponless. I had a short sword with me but it’s broken now. The ogre had broken it in one hit.

The thickening stench of decay and miasma… The enemy is near.

It’s almost as if it’s wrapped in it.It was chewing on bones and meat when it noticed me and stood up. Then it threw away the meat in its mouth, spitting the rest onto the ground.

A giant door towered behind it. Its skin was brown like the rest of the ogres, but its eyes were dyed in the color of blood. In its hand was a giant axe that looked to have been shaved out of a boulder, and it wore no armor save for a loincloth around its waist. But with the bulging muscles that covered it, that was more than enough to make it seem more indomitable than an impenetrable fortress.

Those red eyes stared at me.

“GUooUOOuuoU!”

Then it bellowed out a great howl that shook everything in the room. It was elated to see me, though I couldn’t say the same for myself. My body felt like it had sunk to the bottom of the ocean, and I couldn’t move. Even breathing was difficult.

“GURUuuuAaA!”

I already know that > doesn’t work, this is just to calm my own nerves. In other words, that wasn’t really a skill but a mere howl. I readied myself.

—This might be my last.

An enemy naturally stronger than me who also happens to be in perfect health while I’m beaten and bleeding all over.

This isn’t a question of odds anymore, this battle is looking desperate.

Death looms, and the battle hasn’t even began. That’s a first.

◇◆◇

Three ogres stood before them. The number still seemed much but that was already roughly half their original number.

“I wonder if the king is safe,” whispered the Sword God’s adherent, Gi Go Amatsuki, who was visibly impatient.

“I don’t know… But I do know that we have to cut these things down.” A look of pain could be seen on Aluhaliha’s face. The Naga Lance he’s been using had burned even his own body, leaving it tattered and scorched.

“We’re safe. We should believe that the king is safe too.” The chief of the Gaidga, Rashka, ran into an ogre, and his right arm flashed black.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try to conclude things on your own.” The goblin set his bow on the foe. He was the greatest of the archers, and for that he was bestowed the name, Gadieta. Two arrows drew a line in the air as they aimed for the ogres eyes, and following them was Princess Narsa’s arrowless bow.

Her bow had no arrows. It relied only on magic, and that meant that she had to focus. Not a waste of a word left her lips as she focused her will and drew her bow.

“The arrow entangles!”Fair Ring Arrow

The two other ogres were stopped in their tracks by Gi Za and the goblins from the Gi Village, the stealthy Gi Ji and the Beastw Warrior Gi Gi.

“Like a strong wind. Like a whirlwind.Wind Cutter”

Blades of wind cut at the ogres legs, and Gi Gi and Gi Ji sent a flurry of attacks toward the opened wounds.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the arrows, the magic, and the screaming ogres, was Kuzan panicking. All the four treasures were here. The king wouldn’t be able to use his power.

Gi Za seemed to hold unconditional faith in their king, but that was only because he looked down on the Ogre Lord.

The power of the Ogre Lord is comparable to the four tribes.

And who could tell what sort of changes might have occurred to it while it was living in the fortress? Only a mad man would believe the king able to live through something like that.

If the king dies, so will her wish.

A meeting with the Lord of Decay will not be possible.

But, on the other hand, using the Death Crystal would mean throwing away her own life.

She held the treasure tightly.

—We need to do something.

She was weak, so thinking was the only thing she could do.

◇◆◇

Overwhelming power.

“GOouuOOAOo!”

Shockwaves erupted as the axe smashed into the ground. Those alone were enough to keep me from closing the distance.

My one saving grace is that my right arm’s stopped bleeding. But just balling my right hand is enough to send a jolt of pain through me that feels unpleasantly close to being set on fire. My left hand is still fine, but just how much can I accomplish with it when I’m right-handed?

Something half-hearted won’t even hurt it. Compared to that, just one moment of negligence is all that’s necessary to send me to my grave.

“Tch!”

Another attack came at me. The ogre lord is relentless.

That sweeping attack looked like it would send my head flying. I drew my head back to dodge it, but just when I thought I was safe, the ogre lord charged towards me. Somehow, I managed to escape by throwing myself to the floor.

As I protected my arm and forgot the pain, I started thinking again.

—What should I do!?

At this rate, I’m going to lose. Is there really nothing I can do about my sealed ether!?”

Suddenly, a chill went up my spine. > kicked in, and my body moved by itself. That boulder-like axe descended right where I was standing at just moments ago.

—What?

That was > just now.

—What’s going on? Aren’t my ether and skills sealed?

I’m sure that the > > > > and > are all sealed. Although i don’t know about the others since I haven’t tested them.

The situation is like this, so I might as well try everything.

I can’t use > and > because I haven’t fulfilled the conditions, but would using > be possible?

The enemy right now is none other than the ogre lord, the leader of the ogre’s horde.

[Skill]> When fighting against another horde chief, Magic Power 20% UP, damage taken is increased by 20% but damage dealt is increased by 30%.

That’s how that skill should work. A single hit is fatal to me right now, and once I turn into A Crazed Warrior, I won’t be able to keep a sound mind.

So, If I’m going to do it, there’s no better time than now.

The moment I activated >, I felt the ether well up from within me. Fulfillment filled me as I tasted the sweet taste of that power.

But still my fists dealt no damage even as I slammed them against the ogre lord’s legs.

—What’s going on?

Then just to make sure, I tried using > again.

“GURUuRUuOOAAA!”

What was normally supposed to weaken the enemy only made it madder.

Next, I tried the second stage of >.

A skill that makes me stronger and faster by 30% but can only activate when half of my life’s been chipped off.

I activated it on top of >, and my body bolted off. I’m not as fast as when I’m using Accel, but my ether, strength, and agility are all far greater than in my normal state.

Using that newfound power, I slipped through as the ogre lord’s axe descended, and attacked it, but it was unfazed.

Is the enemy’s defense that great, or—

There’s one skill left, >. There are two possibilities I can think of.

The next move will depend on which one is right, but—

“Go mad,” I said to my soul. And the > activated.

It reacted as the madness had begun taking over. Strength, agility, magic… each one of them went up by 30%. At the same time, the

mental shackles that kept me from fighting to the fullest against an enemy I’d once lost to loosened. The damage to my fighting spirit lessened by 20%.

“GU… GURUuu uAa A AaAaaA!!”