Ossan Boukensha – 161

Hot Spring Tour: Firefly

---

Not yet!

There was no way that they would die from having their main vein cut.

A human would have died from blood loss. But you could not expect such rules to apply to ogres. That being said, it should not be able to stand up as it is. The male ogre held its leg where it was bleeding, and he was rolling on the ground.
The female stopped and watched him. In the meantime, I put my prosthetic leg firmly on the ground and stood up.

After realizing that I was standing, the female ogre moved back. She looked at me, and then the male. And after a second of hesitation, she tried to move towards the ogre.

“Just you try!”

I swung my sword, blocking her path. She halted in front of the glowing, blue blade.

After the male had been cut, it must look dangerous. Even though it had been bouncing off of them before. In fact, I had just targeted a gap, and it wasn’t as if it was sharper now.

…Wait? Not sharper…huh.

Alright, I will test it.

“Light.”

A sphere of light appeared, and the ogre moved back even farther.
That was fine. I then walked over to the male.

When I raised my sword, the ogre got up on one knee and made a fist. It made the wound bleed even more.
It was quite deep.

“Graaaaagggh!”

And then the female charged. Yes. It would not abandon him while he was still alive.

“Hyah!”

I changed the direction of my body, and swung down towards the female ogre. She stopped and blocked the blade with her arm. The sphere of light vanished, and my sword was swept to the side.

I bore the weight of it somehow. The reason that Mine Breaker felt heavier than usual, was because I had stopped charging it.

“…!!”

I gritted my teeth silently and held the sword. After it bounced off, I swung my blade under its arm, which had been raised in defense.

The arms that had blocked my sword many times twitched and then stopped.

The sword seemed to get sucked towards the part of its skin, and it continued its swing upwards.

And then the ogre’s arm went flying in the air.

“Graaahhh!”

The ogres screamed and stumbled back. I swung down then, but she kicked the dirt and jumped backwards.

Good! It worked!

The reason her defense was delayed was the light. Mine Breaker glowed blue, the more energy it was charged with. During this battle, it had been charged fully. A glowing sword would be easier to dodge. But what if it suddenly disappeared? She had lost the sword for just a moment. And that was all I needed.

The sphere of light was just to add to the confusion. Perhaps it wasn’t necessary, but I thought it was effective as insurance.

“Hyah!”

I swung at the ogre, who was holding her shoulder while trying to stand. Even though I had cut off an arm, I did not feel like I won. There was rage in her eyes, and no resignation.

As she was kneeling, her head was closer to the ground, and so I swung horizontally. She ducked so that the blade hit her horns instead.
There was a loud ring, and my hands went numb. There was no way I could cut through that.

I pulled back my sword and was about to swing again.

“Graaa!”

The male jumped out from behind me. I lept to the side and dodged him.

I couldn’t lower my guard after making it this far. And I knew that it was crawling towards me. Besides, it had charged on one leg, which meant it wasn’t nearly as fast as before.

The two were now standing side by side. He was still bleeding, but not as much now. However, the cut was deep enough that he could not use that leg.

“Graaaaahhh!!”
“Raaaaggh!”

They roared.

I lowered my stance and swung towards the male ogre’s other leg. However, the female kicked as if to prevent it.

“Hyah!”

I jumped back, and then swung upwards at the raised foot. She changed the angle of her leg so that the sword slid off, and then the male’s fist came down.

I retreated and dodged the first. The swing was just with its torse, and lacked strength or speed. though, it would have still dealt a lot of damage.

Then the female stepped forward. I braced myself for a kick, but instead, she let go over her wound and swung her arm.

There was plenty of space. I moved my torso to dodge the fist. She was now open on the other side!

I swung to the side, where there was no arm. But then something shot towards me from the corner of my vision. It hit me in the face and went in my eyes.

What!? Red. Liquid. Blood!?

“Gragh!”

Though I couldn’t see, I felt my blade hit into something. But it was hard. It would not be a mortal wound.

“Damn it!”

I took a step back and wiped my face. But just as I could see again, the male’s food came flying.

“Gah!”

I was knocked off my feet and rotated in the air. It had kicked me by forcefully swinging the wounded leg!
I rolled on the ground and as I pulled myself up, pain shot through me.

“Mei-lei-mote-sei Heal!”

When I looked down, the angle of my arm was all wrong. Tsk. Fractured. One heal was not enough. And that with a weak kick. I wiped my other eye with my hand, and then saw that the female was charging.

…Hmm!? My sword? Where is it!?

“Graaaahhh!”

There! It was on the ground, behind her. Letting go of my sword just because my arm broke. That was no good. My old teachers would scold me for that.
I managed to stand up and unsheath my short sword. Then I lowered my stance.

And then came the merciless kick.

“Gah!”

Before, I would not have been able to dodge it. I could only do it at a hair’s breadth because of my experience.
I moved to the side as it passed. Then I moved under the leg, and pushed against it. However…it did not move.

“Gah!”

While standing on one foot, she started to press as if to crush me.

There was no way that I could beat it in terms of strength. While resisting with my whole body, I thrust the short sword under its knee.

It was for carving and a sub-weapon. A normal thing with no enchantments. Still, it was well-made, and suited for Adventurers. And then the ogre’s strength was added, and it dug into its flesh.

“Gaaaahhh!”

It pulled its leg up and fell backwards. I pulled the blade out and rolled away.

Of course, I was moving towards my sword.

However, the male ogre was also moving towards it while dragging its feet.

It could still walk? Had it healed?

“Mei-lei-mote-sei Heal!”

I cast Heal while running, and treated my broken bones. The pain of them moving was barely noticeable to me now.

The male ogre quickened the pace. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the female was trying to stand up.

I was so close to the sword. I could make it!

I used my prosthetic leg as a spring and leapt forward. Just as I was sliding and stretching my hand towards it. A shadow fell over me.
I looked up and my eyes met the ogre’s as it flew in the air.

It was shooting towards me with both hands thrust out. How had it jumped with that leg?

“Gah!”

My hand gripped the sword. But I would be crushed like this.

The ogre came falling. There was no time to defend myself. And so I just desperately pointed it upwards. The time it takes to charge it is almost instant, and yet it seemed like a long time at that moment.
And then the ogre fell on it.

The tip slid across the skin loudly. Its hands reached towards me. The tip of the blade moved down its chest to its stomach.

“Goooooo!!”

Would I be crushed by the ogre? Would the sword break? Or would it pierce through it. I continued to charge it with magic. Mine Breaker shone brightly, and the light gathered to the tip.

“Gofu.”

The tip tore through the ogre’s skin, piercing into its body before coming out the other side. And thought it fell down limply, it was still on top of me.

I would not be able to move under its weight. And then the ogre’s hand came out and grabbed my head.

What! It could still move!

“Enough already!!”

I twisted the sword while being crushed, and the ogre’s body convulsed.

And then the strength finally left the hands, and they dropped to the ground.

Next Chapter

---

10 bonus chapters courtesy of ShitaiNoKootoRyuu. Thank you so much!