They’re a bit Tough

「…There sure is a lot of them.」

I was faced with an abnormal situation right off the bat. Just ahead of me was a group of monsters.

I say “abnormal” because there were four different kinds of monsters in that group: Wolves, Vampire Bats, Wild Scissors, and a Hungry Ogre.
Completely different kinds of monsters were creating a group.

Normally, this wouldn’t happen, but when there’s a strange phenomenon going on, this happens sometimes. And the Hungry Ogre’s outbreak counts as one.

Some of the Hungry Ogres led and commanded other monsters in the area and formed a group. The monsters are treated horribly, though.

If the Hungry Ogres get hungry, they get eaten. If they run, they get killed and then eaten. And unfortunately for the local monsters, Hungry Ogres are voracious. I suspect that more than half the reason why monsters are getting out of the forest is that they don’t want to be part of the Hungry Ogres’ emergency rations.

「Aight. Let’s do this.」

I carefully moved closer to the group so the Hungry Ogre doesn’t see me. In this case, the Hungry Ogre’s lackeys will get used as decoys. If I killed that decoy and showed my strength, the Hungry Ogre will escape.

So I need to take some measures.

「Oops.」

As I was inching closer, the Vampire Bats spotted me. They can fly so they have incredible scouting abilities.

The Vampire Bats screeched as soon as they saw me. I’m guessing they’re saying something like “We found food!”.

Upon hearing their cries, the Wolves and Wild Scissors gathered around as well. They sure are passionate about their jobs when they’re just gonna get eaten anyway. If the Hungry Ogre does eat me here, its hunger will only get delayed. They will still get devoured later.

And so I ran.

「No! Go away!」

I cried while I sprinted away with the monsters hot on my tail. It goes without saying, but monsters are faster than humans. They caught up in no time, but I still ran while deftly dodging their attacks.

The monsters howled and shrieked in rage as they chased me. They were probably getting pissed because they couldn’t catch someone who’s just running about and unable to strike back. That goes the same for the Hungry Ogre.

「Gaaaaahhh! Goooaaaaahhh!」

While it looked like it was just screaming in fury, it was actually giving out orders. The monsters that simply chased haphazardly gradually moved to surround me.

And my only escape route was in the direction of the Hungry Ogre. The monsters were trying to lead me to their leader.

「H-Help me!」I cried while running straight to the Hungry Ogre.

Seeing me dashing to him, the Hungry Ogre waited ecstatically for me. The moment I was before its eyes, it tried to swing its hands at me. But what he grabbed was a Wild Scissor that was trying to corner me from behind. The fool failed to get out of the way. I dodged the Hungry Ogre’s attack and quickly moved behind him.

The Hungry Ogre lost sight of me and grunted in confusion. It clearly didn’t expect that I wanted to kill him. It was written all over his face. Understandable. The prey he thought he had completely cornered escaped his grasp.

「Flame Circle.」

Since they tried to corner me, all the monsters were gathered near the Hungry Ogre. Now I can take them all out in one attack. Mana is an important resource so I wanted to kill them all at the same time.

Enveloped in flames, the monsters shrieked and howled in agony. I shot Sticky Bombs at the ones that tried get out of the flames to hold them in place. None will be left alive.

Delivering a final blow will only reduce my mana, so I waited for them to be roasted. Fire magic has incredible power for its low mana cost. It’s very convenient to have, so long as you’re careful not to start a fire.

「Gaaaaahh.. gahhh.」

As I watched the monsters burn, the Hungry Ogre collapsed. The rest of the monsters were weaker so they were all wiped out. Though something’s off…

「They’re quite tough…」

As soon as they were caught in the Flame Circle, the Hungry Ogre’s underlings should’ve died right away. But it looked like the monsters were able to withstand the flames a bit.