Chapter 67 - Volume 2 Chapter 28 (1/2)

—Raust—

A few seconds later, Narsena and I arrived right before the horde of monsters.

Being in front of them made me feel more intimidated by the sheer number of monsters.

It was better than the mutated hydra.

My feeling hadn’t changed even now that we were getting closer.

However, I couldn’t imagine a future where I defeated the lich who was trying to activate its magic while handling this many monsters.

And yet, if we don’t stop this magic, Labyrinth City will surely collapse.

There is no other way but to defeat the lich.

Inspiring myself, I slashed at the orc at the frontmost of the pack.

「Move!」

Unlike the hobgoblins, the orc responded to my dagger’s movement.

It lifted its thick arm and positioned it to protect its vital from my dagger.

However, it was useless, with my running momentum and the momentum of the swung-down dagger, I sliced off the orc’s hand and neck at the same time.

「Gah-!」

As I caught the orc’s head flying off out of the corner of my eyes, I was convinced this orc was also reinforced.

At least, the orcs I faced so far were incapable of reacting to my slash.

Having said that, the reinforced orcs weren’t difficult enemies either.

Before, I might have struggled somewhat, but not for the current me with strengthened body reinforcement.

I felt a little relieved as I attacked the next orc.

……But, soon that margin disappeared.

「…!」

「Guga-!」

The next orc I attacked also responded to my attack and raised its arm to protect its neck.

Like before, the orc’s arm flew off, but my dagger didn’t slice its head off.

「KILL!」

Probably thinking it was its chance, one of the orcs beside me launched an attack.

It swung its thick as a log arm to try to mow me down, but I avoided the attack by bending down just in time.

This time, the orc that swung its arm exposed a big opening, I stabbed its heart as I stood up while leaning against its body.

「Shhh!」

The reinforced orc lived even when its vital was stabbed with a dagger.

It desperately stretched out its arms and tried to resist.

Ignoring that, I kicked the body, forcibly pulling the dagger out of the orc’s body and turned around to cut off the head of the orc that was trying to attack me with one hand.

My belief that I wouldn’t be blindsided just fighting enemies like these orcs strengthened as I watched the monsters feeling shaken that their comrades were killed in an instant.

The same was true for Narsena and Zieg-san.

However, after fighting the orcs, the frustration inside me became stronger.

——I had a feeling that it would be impossible to get through this pack of orcs and kill the lich in a short time.

「…Kh-!」

I wouldn’t lose just fighting them, but needing to get through them in a short amount of time is a different story.

The orcs are definitely reacting to my movement and can’t be overwhelmed like the hobgoblins.

Unlike the hobgoblins, they don’t have weapons, but they have enough strength to fill that gap.

As a result, the battle with the orcs will surely cut down our precious time, realizing this, my face twisted in frustration.

「If I use a greatsword, then at least…」

Recovering from my anxiety, I cut off the arm of the orc that attacked me with my dagger.

This dagger was by no means a low-quality weapon.

On the contrary, it was a masterpiece that could be called a quasi-magic weapon.

Even so, at present, the dagger clearly didn’t have enough killing power.

I reaffirmed that as I decapitated the orc.

If it was a great sword, then I would have been able to kill this orc in a single attack even if it protected itself with its arm.

「KEEP THE PRESSURE!」

I bit my lip as I moved to the side to avoid the orc’s fist coming from behind.

And that wasn’t the only problem.

「…!」

The orc’s fist grazed my shoulder even though I should’ve avoided it.

It was then that I noticed the difference between my image and the actual movement of my body.

Now, I was more mobile than I was when I strengthened myself with magic power and ki.

Unbeknownst to me, I was still not able to fully control my enhanced body.

Yes, I was currently too mobile for my own good.

In my current state, there was no way for me to reach the source of the magic, the lich.

When I realized that, I looked sideways at Narsena and Zieg-san while being hopeful.

I thought they would be able to do something about it.

——That was naive of me.

「Haaaaaaaaaa!」

Using her fast movement, Narsena toyed with the orcs that surrounded her and beat them with only one blow.

The skill she developed through years of study had unmatched accuracy, the orcs, afraid of friendly fire, couldn’t even launch an attack and collapsed.

Despite this, the face Narsena made under this situation showed her frustration.

It was true that Narsena, with her skills as a martial artist, boasted tremendous strength against a single enemy, as evidenced by the orc corpses lying around her feet.

However, the skill of a martial artist wasn’t the kind that could annihilate a large number of enemies with overwhelming firepower.

Narsena would have a hard time reaching the lich too.

And she was aware of it herself.

Zieg-san wasn’t in a good situation either.

Among the three of us, although Zieg-san had the slowest moving speed, he used a greatsword, a magic sword that highly destructive.

…… But, because there was an ogre that kept him occupied, he couldn’t fully utilize the destructiveness of his sword.

「Graaaaaaaaaahhhh!」

「GAAAAAAAAAA!」

After raising their war cry, Zieg-san and the ogre started the fight.