Ossan Boukensha – 159

Hot Spring Tour: Echo

---

As the ogre’s fist swung down, I swept it to the side with my sword. It was too heavy for a full on parry.
After that, I slashed to the side.

“Hyah!”

But it’s elbow blocked the attack, and the sword bounced. And my body nearly lifted off of the ground.
And then its hand, sharp claws extended, rushed towards me. It was so fast!

I desperately held my sword up so that the hand slid upwards and away.
Sparks flew, and our eyes locked onto each other.

Our positions switched, and our movements stopped.

It was fast…but I was able to keep up!

The reason that I was able to do it. It was because of the planning I did during the past four days. Even if my skills did not go up in that time, I had fought it once already.
The fact that this one was different, did throw me off a little at first. But as we continued, I was able to apply what I learned.

The first was to focus on defense and counters. Limit my options in order to raise my reaction speed.
This was natural for me, as fighting with a prosthetic leg already limited my movements. Even though leveling up increases my strength, it does not affect mobility.

But this style worked well with the ogre, who attacked aggressively, which resulted in a combat speed I had never experienced before.

And there was one other thing.

I dodged the ogre’s kick by a hair’s breadth. I tried to target the leg it was standing on, but the other leg came down over me.

“Damn it!”

I swung upwards in retaliation. The ogre spun around to dodge it. And upon landing on the ground, it turned to look at me.

Tsk! It was dexterous. In any case…that’s right. I had felt good about how things were going earlier. There was no doubt. The ogre was dodging my sword without being hit. Its skin was tough enough to block my sword, but it stopped its kick anyway.

In the previous fight, when I had thrust towards the ogre’s palm, it had stopped its attack and became defensive. And that with the short sword, which was not as sharp as Mine Breaker. So the palms must be soft.

Also, it took on the sword attacks from the front.

Their hardened skin covered their whole body like armor. The hard parts were too tough for Mine Breaker. However, it was a strange material that had soft parts as well, allowing them to move.

With the kick earlier, I had been targeting the part of its leg that was behind the knee. And the ogre dodged it.

Last time, I was too overwhelmed by the ogre’s speed. And its extended arm had looked so tempting. And I had taken the bait.

Indeed, the ogre was fast. But if all I did was react to it, then I would always be one step behind.

The ogre swung its arm.

“Gah!”

I met it with my blade.

However, not to just block it. I took half a step forward, and with my arm folded inward, held the sword with one hand and then extended it out.
The ogre’s body was about two meters tall. And so its arm was not longer than a two-handed sword. I had the better reach. As the sword thrust out, the ogre stopped its attack and jumped back

First, keep up with its speed. Then target the weak part of its armor. And then you will eventually be able to deal a blow that is a threat. That way, even if it was faster, you won’t fall behind. That is how you deal with an ogre’s AGI and VIT.

This was not a wager. I was confident after the last encounter.
Use traps, poison. Burn the mountain. I had thought of other measures, but all of them were not guaranteed to succeed.
Besides, I had not trained to do that kind of scheming. And I did not want to risk my life doing something like that. It was best to use the skills I had honed over the years.

“Woah!”

The ogre’s arm passed in front of my eyes. I had no countermeasure for its STR. I just had to avoid being hit.

However, this was a world of humans and monsters. If strength was all that mattered, then humans would have gone extinct.

“Hyah!”

I thrust my sword to the back of the ogre’s knee. The ogre twisted its leg so that the blade hit its shin instead.
There was a loud, Clang! I gripped my sword tightly and pulled away. Turning the leg meant turning its waist. So there would be an opening as it went back into position.

“Hyah!”

The ogre thrust out its arm to block the blade. A metallic sound rang in the air.

I know that move! And so I had struck lightly. The blade slid up over the arm, and then transformed into a thrust that was headed towards the ogre’s throat.

The ogre staggered backwards.

Now!

“Argghh!”

As the ogre bent backward, the neck was exposed. And the blade lay against it. And just like that, I pulled down to the side.

“Gaaaahhh…”

Blood sprayed into the air. However, it was not a deep cut. Still, I just need to keep up the attacks!

As the ogre stumbled, I continued to strike.
It swung its arms wildly.
But I ignored them, swinging wide and cutting into it.
The ogre held a hand over the wound and moved back.

“Hyah!”

I thrust once again. This time, the ogre was not able to retreat in time, and the blade pierced through the elbow joint.
But even then, it rolled back on the ground, avoiding anything too deep.

I felt faster than usual. As if the high-speed combat had pulled my body. I couldn’t help but smile at this unprecedented feeling. Even though my life was in danger. Yes, my brain was definitely releasing some kind of strange chemical.

“Gugugu…”

The ogre got back up onto her knee, and laughed. And then she bared her fangs and slowly retreated.

I took one step forward, she took one step back.

“What now? Come and get me.”

I said provokingly, but the ogre did not attack. It was much more cautious now that I had wounded it.
That being said, the fire was still in its eyes. And it gritted its teeth angrily. It still meant to fight.

I took another step. This time, the ogre did not retreat. And then it widened its eyes. The hand that held the wound was lowered. And then turned into a bloody fist.

Here it comes. We both prepared to attack.

“Graaaaaaahhh!!”

However, right before we could do anything, a different roar was heard.

It echoed through the valley. It was close. The male!? So soon. And right when I was so close. What a jealous bastard.

Upon hearing the roar, the female ogre jumped back. It was cautious, and now it had backup. Closing in was not an option.
Should I leave before the partner arrives? If I started to retreat now, it would follow me. And it was faster on its feet. I did not want to run into the forest, where my sword would be restricted. It was better to fight in a wide open area.

I slowly moved back, but the gap between us was the same. And then another figure jumped out of the forest.

It stood in front of the female, and glared at me with rage.

The taller frame. The shape of the horns.
I could tell, as it was humanoid. The same one I fought the other day.

Five days later, I returned! You male…ogre!

Next Chapter