Chapter 50: Chapter 50

At the vanguard of the subjugation force, the central unit gathered the largest number of knights.

Most of its members were Old Faith lords from the western region near the capital city of Hasra, along with the knights under their command.

When they first charged toward the ogre, they were brimming with confidence.

They held the firm belief that no matter how large and powerful the creature was, it would never dare withstand a lance charge by knights.

“Charge!”

“You are ogre hunters!”

“Wooooh!”

In the eyes of the knights filled with fighting spirit, nothing could be seen except the ogre’s dark-red skin.

By piercing the creature’s body with lances, felling it, and drawing their swords to sever its head, they would gain immortal fame.

All the lords would seek out the knights who hunted the ogre, promising all kinds of gold, silver, and treasures.

Yet, shortly after charging forward with such hope, the horses of several knights at the lead suddenly tumbled to the ground.

It was because of dozens of pits dug all over the ground.

“Huh…!?”

“What is this!”

Only then did the knights realize with shock that the ogre had dug a swarm of pits slightly deeper than a human knee right in front of itself.

What was worse, the clever monster had dug the holes in horseshoe shapes that opened toward the opponents’ direction.

So that once they entered, they would not notice, but to exit, they would have to turn around.

As the flustered knights came to a halt, having never expected a monster to pull such a trick, the ogre grinned slyly and pointed its finger straight at them.

With that signal, the trolls in the surrounding area began hurling boulders.

“Damn it!”

“Block them!”

Boulders the size of human heads slammed against armor and shields with loud thuds.

As the knights crouched like turtles under the force, which delivered heavy impacts even when blocked with Fighting Spirit, the other large monsters and various beasts like orcs behind them spread out in all directions, swarming the entire central unit.

And their leader, the ogre itself, stepped up to the front and began trampling the knights in earnest.

“Arghhh!”

“Keugh, ack.”

“I am Masio of the Dobel Family… gah!”

The martial arts of the knights, trained over a lifetime, were completely useless in a situation like this.

With boulders constantly flying from around them, how could they possibly fight off an ogre charging at them without even riding a horse?

When they covered their whole bodies with shields after taking hits to their heads and torsos, the ogre’s mace-like fist would fly in shortly after.

After that, nothing remained except a smashed mixture of flesh and metal.

The only ones who managed to survive were the few at the very rear of the formation, who had not fallen into the traps set by the monsters.

Naturally, the soldiers of the central unit, robbed of the knights’ protection, collapsed helpless against the attacks of the monsters swarming from all sides.

*

‘Damn it.’

Spotting the central unit crumbling, Shan quickly checked to the east.

The right unit, fighting the detached force that had sprung from behind the hill, had not completely annihilated the enemy like the left wing, but it was leading the battle fairly advantageously.

‘The center is collapsing, the left wing won, and the right wing is holding the line…’

His mind, which normally did not work terribly fast, made decisions with astonishing swiftness in battle situations.

Retreat like this?

No, while that might avert the immediate crisis, it was a choice with no future.

Human hearts were exceedingly weak, so it seemed unlikely that the central unit, whose morale had broken once, would become a proper fighting force even if they reorganized.

It was better to decide the outcome right now while they were throwing themselves into serving as shields.

Reaching a conclusion after complex calculations in a short span of time, Shan immediately shouted at the top of his lungs.

“There is no retreat! Flank around and eliminate the ogre! I will take the lead!”

His voice, thin and shrill because his voice had not fully broken yet, echoed sharply across the middle of the battlefield.

“Rally with the central unit!”

“Attack!”

Even though a mere knight-errant, not a lord, gave the attack order, the left unit (uncertain of how to act) cleared their minds and began following his command.

What they needed right now was a guide to present a clear direction, whether right or wrong.

Humans were creatures that could become anything from a helpless flock of sheep to a ferocious pack of lions depending on the presence or absence of a single leader taking the front line.

“That banshee over there! Archers, fire if you have silver arrows!”

“Bring down the werewolf!”

“We are joining in!”

In battle, each knight was originally the ultimate warrior as well as a skilled field commander.

Instead of gathering together for a lance charge like before, they coordinated the infantry units they had hired and struck the flanks of the monsters swarming the central unit.

Seeing Shan rush toward the ogre after giving the orders, Lug hurriedly caught up and shouted.

“Sir Shan, I shall join you!”

“Go switch your horse first!”

“Yes, sir!”

Lug’s horse was frothing at the mouth, exhausted from running wildly under its massive owner.

Only then realizing this, a flustered Lug shouted his agreement and quickly headed back toward the infantry.

Shan spurred Arwin to approach the rear of the formation at lightning speed, right where the ogre was raging.

The monster, which had just swung its mace-like arm to instantly crush five soldiers to death, suddenly came to a halt.

Still, as if the leading knights had not been taken down entirely without a fight, broken weapons were stuck across its body, bleeding.

“Phew…”

Inside the two large eyes staring down at Shan, a clever intellect unusual for a monster glinted.

Instead of attacking Shan right away, it raised a massive hand capable of crushing a man to point at him.

Along with that movement, something flew from behind with a whooshing sound.

‘Damn it, ’

Shan, who had not witnessed how the vanguard knights fell earlier, was shocked by the volley of boulders from the trolls.

Fortunately, the quick-witted Arwin galloped away before Shan could even give a command, escaping the net of incoming boulders.

Even so, Shan raised his arm and knocked away one boulder that could not be dodged in time.

“Ugh.”

The small buckler, forged by melting down the shield taken from the knight of the Ajun Kingdom in the past, served its purpose.

Though his arm felt a bit numb, it was manageable enough to withstand.

Expecting heavy stamina consumption ahead, he deliberately refrained from using Fighting Spirit to save it.

As he moved to avoid the shower of hurled stones, the ogre strode toward Shan with massive steps.

Thanks to its considerable leg strength and its ability to move on all fours using its long arms, its speed was frighteningly fast.

Its raised hand instantly blackened the sky, slamming down with the force to flatten both Shan and Arwin at once.

“Dodge!”

With a shout, Arwin leaped away, and a large crater formed where they had been standing just moments ago.

With power of that magnitude, it seemed difficult to block even if he poured all his Fighting Spirit into the shield he currently held.

No, perhaps the shield alone would remain intact while his body was shattered into pieces without a trace.

Maneuvering Arwin’s reins to circle the ogre’s flank and disrupt its line of sight, Shan realized that the creature’s attention had shifted away from him.

It was because a knight from the left wing who had rushed over with Shan earlier drove a spear into its thigh.

While the enraged monster swung its fist and turned that knight into bloody pulp, Shan immediately kicked off the saddle and leaped into the air.

Leaping into the air was usually an extremely dangerous tactic because one lost control over their body, but in a state where he drew no attention at all like now, the situation was different.

The reddish-brown back of the ogre’s head approached in perfect positioning to be pierced.

‘Good, with just one strike like this, ’

The moment he attempted to thrust his spear with anticipation, a boulder flying from behind slammed accurately into his flank.

One of the trolls, which had been hurling rocks regardless of whether their leader got hit or not, had gotten lucky and hit its mark.

It was an attack he would normally never allow, but having all his concentration focused on the ogre proved to be his undoing.

“Keugh…”

Tumbling to the ground after falling several meters, Shan was choked for breath and could not even easily let out a groan.

It was fortunate that he was wearing enchanted plate armor; otherwise, the impact would have crushed his internal organs and killed him on the spot.

Regrettably, Shan was not given much time to wallow in pain.

Because the ogre, finally noticing the position of the enemy who had approached, raised its fist and slammed it down once more.

In urgency, Shan planted his spear at the spot where the ogre’s fist was flying down, then rolled his body with precise timing.

Thanks to the added momentum of the swing, the spear pierced through the fist, passed the wrist, and drove deep into the forearm, embedding all the way to the elbow.

[────────]

In agonizing pain, the ogre roared desperately and wildly thrashed the arm pierced by the spear.

Though several weapons had already been lodged into its body, it seemed this was the first time it suffered an injury of this scale.

Struggling to his feet, Shan deflected another incoming boulder with the shield on his forearm and stepped back.

As an orc saw this and charged toward Shan, Arwin sprinted over, slammed straight into the beast, and came to a stop in front of Shan.

Hit by the body ram loaded with heavy weight augmented by horse armor, the orc tumbled away with broken bones.

“Th-thank you!”

Shan quickly grabbed Arwin’s reins, mounted up, and strove to steady his breathing.

Because the dented side of his armor kept pressing against his abdomen, breathing was uncomfortable.

“Haa, huff…”

Glancing to the side, he saw some of the infantry from the left wing keeping the trolls in check.

Specifically, it was the Altoan mercenary squad led by Roden, and among them, the archers were firing arrows.

When arrows absurdly small compared to their body size grazed and embedded slightly into their skin, the trolls scratched at their wounded spots irritably.

It was thanks to coating the arrowheads with an extremely expensive anti-troll alchemical poison that interfered with a troll’s regeneration, inducing extreme itchiness and dampening their regenerative ability.

No matter how wealthy Roden was, it was an extravagance he would never have dared attempt if the royal family had not covered the costs.

“I have arrived, Sir Shan!”

Just then, Lug, who rushed over with a shout, swung a longsword with his lanky arm and slashed his blade along the forearm of the ogre that was charging to trample the infantry.

The creature howled in pain and tried to grab Lug, but the distance between the two was far too great for that.

While Lug bought time, Shan steadied his breathing and drew the sword at his waist instead of his lost spear.

The magic sword, Guardian of the East, radiated a soft light from the characters engraved upon it.

[GoooOOOO!]

Just as he charged toward the ogre once more, a medium-sized monster blocked Shan’s path and roared.

It was a giant bear covered in feathers instead of fur, with a beak in place of teeth… an owlbear.

At the creature’s appearance, Shan did not stop Arwin, but instead urged the horse to run even faster.

“Hup!”

A slash imbued with the heavy weight of the giant horse at Arwin’s full explosive sprint severed the owlbear’s massive upper body in two.

Because the spell enchanted on the sword amplified its cutting power, such force was unleashed without even spending much Fighting Spirit.

Having dispatched a large monster in a literal instant, Shan rode his momentum and charged straight toward the ogre.

Surrounded by five or six knights, including Lug, the monster was thrashing frantically, swinging its mace-like fists left and right.

“Ugh!”

“Kh…”

Intimidated by the wind pressure of the fists, the knights could not easily move in.

No matter how brave the knights were, approaching a giant over four meters tall swinging its fists like a madman was no easy task.

Of course, that did not apply to Shan.

Riding his horse straight forward, Shan etched each of the monster’s movements into his mind to predict its next motion.

Swinging its arm to the left, using the recoil to swing to the right, taking a step, and then to the right again.

‘Now!’

As Shan’s helmet narrowly grazed past the fist, Guardian of the East swung like lightning, slicing diagonally through the creature’s left arm.

Because of its immense mass, the severed arm did not fall softly, but struck the ground with a thundering thud.

“Ohhh!”

“It worked!”

“Incredible!”

“It is not over yet! Focus!”

Chiding the marveling knights, Shan watched a tremendous amount of blood gush from the creature’s forearm.

With ‘Heartbreaker’ lodged in its remaining right arm, using it properly was out of the question.

Realizing that defeat was now certain, the monster contorted its previously relaxed face into an ugly scowl, turned its back, and bolted away.

Even while unable to use one arm, its speed was astonishingly fast.

“It is fleeing!”

“Pursue it!”

If they lost the monster like this, it would gather monsters somewhere else and act as a pack lord again.

Then they would have to undergo this horrific battle once more.

Knowing this, the knights urged their tired horses forward, sprinting to end the creature’s life.

Shan, who had used a considerable amount of Fighting Spirit to sever the arm, paused briefly before following, only to feel an ominous sensation.

Why did it seem that an unusually high number of knights’ corpses were strewn where the ogre was fleeing.

“Halt!”

Simultaneously with Shan’s shout, the horses of the charging knights caught their feet in pits and tumbled to the ground.

The fleeing ogre quickly spun around and crushed a knight along with the warhorse he was riding.

Deliberating briefly on what to do, Shan dismounted directly from Arwin.

No matter how fine a Mount Horais warhorse was, running across traps intentionally constructed like this was far too dangerous.

Yet leaving the beast alone meant all the knights who fell from their horses moments ago would die.

Contorting its face at the sight of Shan sprinting on his own two feet, the ogre threw its entire body forward instead of swinging a fist like before.

It was a resolve to crush him to death using its massive body, no matter where he ran.

He might kill it by plunging his blade into its thrusting face, but if he did, he would undoubtedly be crushed to death under the crashing mass of its body.

Shan immediately leaped over its body, slashing his blade right across its exposed back.

Crimson blood streamed down, exposing its white spine.

[────!]

What swung with a short scream was its severed left stump.

Even that stump was longer than an ordinary human arm, making it a fairly threatening attack, but Shan dodged by taking a step back and slashed diagonally behind the knees of the rising monster.

Unable to support its giant body with severed tendons, one knee collapsed with a heavy thud.

By slashing the opposite knee in the same manner, both of its legs were completely immobilized.

‘It is over!’

The chest of the kneeling beast lowered to just the right height for him to mount and stab.

Stepping onto its knee as he climbed, Shan thrust his sword straight into the center of its chest.

Having converted nearly all his physical stamina into Fighting Spirit, Guardian of the East smoothly pierced the thick pectoral muscles, sinking all the way to the hilt.

Though unseen, at this depth, it had undoubtedly pierced through the heart and exited out the back.

“Haa…”

Feeling a lethargy identical to when he severed the cockatrice’s neck in the past, Shan let out a deep sigh.

He felt like falling asleep this very instant, but the battle was not over yet.

Since he possessed the Blessing of Vitality, if he rested just a little.

“Ugh!”

Just then, surprisingly, the heartless ogre raised its remaining right arm and grabbed Shan’s body.

Exhausted, Shan failed to react in time and ended up caught in its massive hand.

Inside the creature’s eyes staring at him while squeezing his body, an infinitely deep malice resided.

A resolve that seemed to say: I may die like this, but no matter what it took, I will drag down the one who killed me…

“Keugh…”

Air leaked from his lungs under the grip tightening around him.

Despite the ogre’s monstrous strength, there were a few reasons Shan was not crushed to death on the spot.

First was Thousand Shapes, which he had made as soft as clothing and wrapped around his upper body.

Thanks to instinctively hardening it in the moment of crisis, the True Silver armor protected his body like an exoskeleton.

Second was the spear embedded in its right arm.

Because it had severed several tendons in the forearm starting from the hand, the grip strength of the hand could not be exerted properly.

On top of that, third and last, even an ogre could hardly exert full power with its heart pierced.

Right now, it was literally just wringing out its final strength before death.

Even so, the ogre’s strength was powerful enough to choke off Shan’s breathing.

No matter how much he pounded on the fingers tightly clamping his body, they showed no sign of loosening.

At the crisis moment of nearly suffocating to death.

A sharp shout rang out from behind.

“You monster! Let go!”

Lug, who had fallen from his horse and broken one leg, limped over and slashed the ogre’s fingers with his longsword.

Having loaded nearly all his strength into Fighting Spirit, his longsword severed several thick fingers despite not being a grand magic sword.

As the freed Shan quickly rolled away to safety, the ogre let out a cry filled with frustration and struck Lug as if venting its rage.

The lanky knight flew through the air like a twig without even letting out a scream.

“Keugh, huff…”

While Lug was thrown back, Shan quickly caught his breath twice, charged back in immediately, and shoved his hand into the hole in the ogre’s chest.

And grasping the hard-textured hilt firmly, he ripped it out with all his strength.

As blood erupting explosively from the hole in its heart drenched his entire body, the ogre finally collapsed as if its strength was entirely spent.

*

‘Is it truly dead?’

Even after the ogre collapsed, Shan did not lower his guard and circled around the creature.

Having almost died once from letting his guard down, he had no choice.

Though he had hunted various monsters until now, a beast that displayed this level of vitality with its heart pierced was truly a first.

Even trolls, famous for their overwhelming regeneration, were not to this extent.

‘An ogre can still move even with its heart pierced… I must remember this.’

Of course, whether another ogre would appear during his lifetime was unknown, but recording it would ensure that someone else would not make the same mistake.

Was it not because those who had hunted ogres in the past either did not know this fact or failed to share it that they had suffered such hardship?

Meanwhile, literal chaos was unfolding in the surroundings.

Upon the pack lord’s death, the monsters that had been moving as one until a moment ago began falling into strife with one another or fleeing in all directions to escape predators.

The people who had been focusing on the battle also realized this fact and let out cheers.

“The ogre is dead!”

“We won!”

“Waaaah!”

Since many had despaired of dying here when the central unit was destroyed, the joy of surviving was immense.

While everyone rejoiced, Shan looked down at Lug, who had been struck by the ogre, with a grave expression.

Beside him, priests quickly summoned by Roden examined his condition.

“How is he?”

“It will likely be difficult. He is injured too severely…”

Hit by the ogre’s desperate final blow at the last moment, Lug’s condition was exceedingly grave.

It was to the point where virtually every bone in his body could be said to be half-crushed.

Furthermore, as he kept vomiting blood from his mouth, his internal organs appeared damaged, making it clear his breath would cease before long.

In truth, surviving after being hit by an ogre was close to a miracle in itself.

“I am sorry. Unless there were a priest of higher skill, it is difficult with our power.”

As the priest lamented with a regretful face, Shan looked down at Lug’s face and deliberated briefly.

That was to say, for just about two seconds.

Taking out the red potion given by Cheryn from Arwin’s saddle, Shan poured it straight into Lug’s mouth.