CH 4

09/06/2022PC

After killing all the ogres in the castle, I took down every ogre that had gathered near it because of the fire.

“A Human?”

It would have never occurred to them that a human was going around killing ogres. None of them were even armed and were completely focused on the fire raging in the castle. It was a simple task to sever the heads of these defenceless monsters.

To think that I was ruled over by such small fry for 18 years.

Without any prior battle experience or training, these ogres have no idea how to handle themselves in a fight. They were simply satisfied with torturing humans who were born with a Level lower than them. Now, the tables have turned.

Alright, only the pair guarding the town’s gate are left.

I knew that having counted the ogres I’d killed so far. I wasn’t just living like a sheep these past 18 years. Not only was I aware of the number of ogres in the town but also where they were usually stationed.

Well then, let’s put on the finishing touches.

I finally began to go towards the town’s gate. The pair of ogres guarding the gate soon noticed me. They probably didn’t know that all the others have been killed. The ogres exchanged glances and then, as if looking at a prey, they thrust their halberds towards me.

“Oi Human, stop right there.”

“………”

I quickly took note of their skill level. Either they don’t consider me to be a threat or they have never used their weapons for anything other than threatening. They’ve already fully extended their arms by carelessly thrusting their halberds before I was in range. Even if you consider the crazy strength ogres have, there was no way for them to quickly switch over to the next attack. I just kept walking forward without minding them.

“Oi!! Who said you could move! Stop right there! Do you want to be eaten?!”

While the ogres were saying something, I kicked the ground.

“Eh…?”

I closed the distance in an instant by ducking under their halberds and unsheathed the knife on my back.

“Eh… Ah…?”

I severed an ogre’s arm and let it fly. The halberd in his hand also danced in the air along with his arm. With the momentum of stepping in, I leaped and caught the halberd midair and then brought it down on the dumbfounded ogre.

“Eh… Ah…?”

The ogre let out an idiotic sound. His comprehension had not caught up with what happened to him in those few moments. Shortly before he could understand, a red vertical line split him in two. The halves slid, and two sounds echoed as he fell down on the cobblestones.

“Na…”

The other ogre stood frozen for a while, when I turned towards him, he panicked and began waving around his halberd.

“You human! Don’t you dare look down on me!!”

I met his halberd using the one I took from the other ogre. Kiiiiinnn!!! Sparks flew and the ogre’s halberd was blown away. His stance broke with the shock of my blow, and he fell backwards on his butt.

“Ha…?”

The ogre gaped because he couldn’t believe that he was overpowered.

“Why..? What..?”

He then saw me and his face stiffened in fear.

“Wha..? What the hell are you?!?”

“Can’t you tell? I’m just a regular human.”

“Don’t lie!! There is no way a Level 1 human has such strength! We ogres are at Level 10 you know?!”

“Is that so? That’s still lower than mine.”

“Eh..?”

“I am at Level 14.”

When I showed him the Level crest on the back of my hand, he stiffened in surprise.

“Wha…Wha…?”

He couldn’t believe his own eyes and was just staring. I had no need to wait for him to snap out of it. I approached the ogre to put an end to him.

“Don’t worry, you’re the last one.”, I told him dispassionately. “I’ve killed all your other friends.”

“Wha…at?”

“Unfortunately, this is an eat or be eaten world. The weak will be eaten. So, don’t resent me for it. If you want to resent something, resent the fact that you were born as a weak ogre.”

“Hiiii…”

The ogre finally realised that he was the prey and not the hunter. Leaking a high shriek and dragging his butt, he tried to retreat.

“Wait, please! Let me go! I’ll do anything you want! You want to leave through here right? I’ll let you go! Th..That’s right! If you’re a human you can’t open this gate right? If you kill me you won’t be able to leave easily.”

“Tell me…”, I interrupted his blithering. “…have you ever let your prey go?”

“Well…that…”

“Of course you haven’t.”

Declaring that, I beheaded him using the halberd.

“Nor have I.”

The final ogre’s head fell on the ground as his death throes still echoed.

“………..”

And then, silence fell. Only the dispassionate crackling of the distant fire was heard. I wiped the spurts of blood off my face and discarded the halberd.

“With this it’s Subjugation Complete1 for all the ogres.”

When I checked the Level crest on the back of my hand, it showed… Level 15. I’ve managed to raise it this much after killing every ogre in the town. This should be more than sufficient for any stray monsters around this area.

“All that’s left now is to leave this town.”

I walked up to the enormous iron gate that blocked the town’s exit. A symbol of oppression for the humans, the thing that kept them imprisoned for so long. This gate is so solid and massive that there is no need to lock it. Even if a bunch of humans at Level 1 try to open it together, they would manage to move it a few millimetres at best. That’s why no one has opened this gate for so long or rather no one has even thought about opening it. I placed my hands on such a gate and…

“Theo, is that you?”

…heard someone call me from behind.

T/N Notes: