Chapter 318
Chapter 318 – We Need to Build Tension (2)
Vanessa swallowed dryly and cautiously asked.
“But… will that monster really come out around that time?”
“Yes, it will definitely come out. We need to use that to build tension. If we don’t tighten things up now, it’s only going to get more dangerous.”
“Still, it might be good to give a warning…”
“Then it would be meaningless. No matter how much I tell you not to relax, words alone are useless. You have to experience it firsthand.”
Whatever happens, knowing in advance lessens the shock. So Giselle had decided, for the first time in a long while, to let people confront the monsters without any preparation.
From his perspective, it was the perfect situation to instill tension in the people.
Vanessa understood Giselle’s intentions but still couldn’t shake off her lingering doubts.
“Didn’t you say that even the Lord hasn’t been past the entrance? How do you know so much…?”
“Um, I’ll tell you later. Anyway, once we get there, you’ll believe it.”
Giselle chuckled wryly, knowing that this was not the time for explanations. He had no choice but to dodge the question.
After all, he was already dressed up as someone who possessed a wealth of mysterious knowledge. Adding another piece of knowledge from an unknown source wouldn’t make much of a difference.
Vanessa nodded along, accepting it. Although she was curious as a mage, she believed there was a reason Giselle couldn’t share.
Throughout their time together, Giselle had always explained things that she needed to know.
With a worried expression, Vanessa went back to the mages to explain what they needed to prepare.
From the point where the path ended, they would essentially be starting anew.
The forest had become dense with trees and darkness once again.
“From now on, let’s progress a bit slower. Raise the alert level, and let the knights and soldiers lead. Laborers should continue building watchtowers in the back.”
To secure a territory, it’s not just about securing the area; you must also be able to defend what you’ve secured.
As the secured area expanded, Giselle also paid attention to the facilities to protect it.
Now they were entering the territory of a new monster. Giselle approached cautiously, recollecting memories from his past life.
[In this area, there resided a monster we knew well. A creature that wouldn’t tolerate any disturbances in its domain, often referred to as the King of the Forest. It was a powerful monster, but we were so familiar with it that when it revealed itself, we thought we could deal with it using the vanguard’s strength.]
Boom! Boom!
To clear a path and secure territory, trees had to be felled. With thousands of people moving, it couldn’t help but be noisy.
That commotion finally poked at the nerves of the master who ruled this place.
KRAAAAH!
A monstrous roar echoed, shaking the sky.
It was completely different from the cries of the monsters that appeared at the entrance. The soldiers felt a chill run down their spines as they paused their work.
“Everyone, combat preparation. Step back a bit and form ranks. Knights, step forward.”
At Giselle’s command, the personnel quickly got into battle formation. Something was charging from afar, seemingly furious, shattering trees as it advanced.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
They could feel it closing in. Just its footsteps seemed to shake the ground.
CRASH!
“KRAAAAH!”
And when it appeared before them, everyone’s eyes widened.
“An ogre?”
Ogres aren’t common, but they’re famous monsters that can take on hundreds of soldiers and dozens of knights by themselves.
Its presence and power earned it the title ‘King of the Forest.’
The soldiers stared in shock at the ogre.
“That thing is no joke in size, huh?”
“What on earth has it been eating…”
“Why do all the creatures in this forest look like that?”
It was indeed an ogre, and this one was massive. It seemed to have a head that was at least a size larger than a usual ogre.
In terms of size, it looked no different from a higher tier known as the Twin Head Ogre.
The size of a monster correlates with its combat capability. At that size, it clearly would be much stronger than the average ogre.
Even hunters who had seen ogres a few times in the Shadow Mountain Range wore expressions of surprise.
“Wow, but at that size, it should be worth quite a bit?”
“With that size, the quality will surely be better.”
“Hehe, this is going to be fun.”
Nobody seemed scared at all. After all, they had come this far too easily, despite the ogre’s strength.
The ogre was said to be able to take on hundreds of soldiers alone. But here, they had over 4,000 troops. With 400 knights and 300 hunters as well.
The size was intimidating, but numbers were even more intimidating. With this many people, it would be absurd not to take down just one ogre.
Additionally, there was someone here who held the unique title associated with ogres.
“Haah, looks like I have to handle this again. You all just sit back and watch.”
Kaor stepped forward with an arrogant expression.
He had single-handedly taken down Twin Head Ogres before. Even if this ogre was of a similar tier, he was confident he could handle it.
After all, he had gained realization and surpassed a wall last time.
Kaor waved his sword and spoke to the people.
“I’ll take it down alone, so don’t interfere, got it? Just watch.”
He was known as the ‘Ogre Slayer’ after all. Naturally, he had to step up when facing an ogre.
“Wow! It’s Kaor, the Ogre Slayer!”
“Show us your skills again!”
“You won’t go down to just one, right?”
As the people cheered, Kaor puffed out his chest proudly.
Everyone was acting like they had come out to enjoy a casual spectacle.
The knights weren’t particularly tense either. They couldn’t take an ogre by themselves, but there were people here who could take one down alone.
Not just Kaor, but Belinda, Gillian, and Vanessa all had the skills to handle an ogre alone.
There was no need to mention Giselle, who could probably take down several by himself.
After having relaxed since coming this far, the spectators seemed to treat Kaor and the ogre as mere entertainment.
Only the mages kept their expressions serious as they focused on the ogre.
Giselle turned to Kaor, who had stepped forward.
“Are you really going to handle it alone?”
“Of course! As the ‘Ogre Slayer,’ I have to deal with it myself. You think you’ve all seen me take down an ogre before?”
Kaor twisted his shoulders and stepped forward a bit more. Until then, the ogre simply growled and stared at them.
The ogre behaved oddly for one notorious for its ferocity. Typically, it should charge without regard for the number of enemies.
“Look, it’s scared. It must have caught the scent of my blood. The blood of my kin.”
Kaor snickered, but suddenly his expression turned serious. Something felt off. At the same time, Belinda and Gillian’s faces also turned slightly tense.
Boom! Boom!
Another ogre burst forth, smashing through the trees.
“Um… two of them…”
Two would honestly be a bit challenging. A slight sweat formed on Kaor’s back. Yet he couldn’t back down now; that would be too embarrassing.
The knights and hunters wore expressions of intrigue, and the people cheered even more.
“Woohoo! Two of them!”
“Try taking down two!”
“You can do it! Kaor!”
With the crowd’s cheers, Kaor boldly shouted.
“Alright! I’ll show off my hidden strength today!”
Two might be tough, but if it gets too dangerous, he could fall back. If it really gets dangerous, the lord or someone would step in to help.
With people like these around, taking down two ogres would be a piece of cake.
Just as Kaor was about to move a little further, yet another ogre sprang out.
Boom!
“Three?!”
That’s impossible. It would be a matter of life or death. Just one mistake could lead to death. If he stepped in now, it would be sheer recklessness.
But that wasn’t the end.
Boom! Boom!
“Five?”
Kaor took a step back. Belinda and Gillian gripped their weapons tightly.
The ground trembled as a sound echoed like thunder, with fierce roars coming from every direction. They felt something barreling towards them.
[Ogres are monsters that inhabit their own territories and do not live in packs. So, we thought this would be the case in the Forest of Monsters as well. But that was our mistake. The monsters here could not be judged by our common sense.]
“KROOOO!”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ogres roared fiercely as they erupted from various spots.
Nine… ten… fifteen…
With each one that appeared, the expressions of the people hardened. The soldiers grasped their weapons tightly and lowered their stances.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom…!
At last, the sounds quieted down. The number of ogres that appeared was over twenty.
If that many ogres gathered, they could easily wipe out a small territory.
Indeed, the Forest of Monsters was no ordinary place. With strong monsters abound, even the solitary ogres seemed to evolve to live in packs.
The soldiers and laborers still hadn’t properly grasped the situation.
“Aren’t there fewer of them than the Giant Mantis?”
“We’ve taken them down easily so far, right? We should be able to handle this one too, right?”
“I… I don’t think so this time?”
The atmosphere felt extremely strange. The knights, who had been relaxed until now, were tense.
Finally realizing it, the soldiers and laborers understood. The monsters that had appeared were on a different level than any they had encountered before.
They recalled that ogres were known as the Kings of the Forest.
“W-what… we can’t catch them?”
“We could catch them, sure… after a lot of people have died…”
“Damn, snap out of it!”
The soldiers were gripped with tension as they clutched their weapons. If they fought those ogres alone, at least half would likely die.
Considering that the monsters of the Forest of Monsters are stronger than those outside, they could face total annihilation.
The laborers also sensed that the atmosphere was not right. Panicking, they hurriedly stepped back. They swayed as they brushed shoulders with each other in their haste.
And in that moment, the mages began stepping forward slowly. The elves also drew their bows with serious expressions.
“Combat preparation! Combat preparation!”
Finally regaining their wits, the commanders urged the soldiers to form ranks. These were veterans who had followed Giselle into battle.
They held the authority to act autonomously based on the situation without needing precise orders.
The soldiers hastily formed their positions and raised their shields. Yet the tension was evident on their faces.
The ogres were wielding massive trees. A single swing could send dozens of soldiers flying.
At that moment, Giselle, who had remained silent until now, looked around at the people.
“This is the Forest of Monsters. You never know when or what monster might jump out. A dozen ogres are a commonplace occurrence here. It’s a place filled with incredibly bizarre and dangerous creatures beyond imagination.”
“…”
“Don’t be complacent. Don’t let your guard down. One mistake could cost you your life in this Forest of Monsters.”
The people were left speechless.
These were soldiers who had followed their lord and achieved numerous feats. Even they had been secretly complacent, having received the title of the strongest in the North. They believed in the power of numbers and had let their guard down.
They had trusted that the exceptional knights and the lord would handle everything easily. They thought they could just tag along carelessly.
Giselle had pointed that out. Living like that could lead to death.
‘This is… the Forest of Monsters…’
‘How ridiculous, acting cool in front of ogres. We just barely passed the entrance, and now ogres live in a place that’s not even the center.’
‘My lord almost died here before; that wasn’t just a rumor.’
One must experience things firsthand to feel them. The soldiers and knights who had never been here before finally realized how dangerous the Forest of Monsters truly was.
The hunters had also forgotten their earlier confidence and were now swallowing hard. While they had occasionally seen ogres in the Shadow Mountain Range, they had never seen ogres living in packs.
The only time ogres appeared together was during a monster wave.
‘Is this truly not a monster wave but simply ogres ganging up?’
‘Craziness… is this forest always in a monster wave state?’
‘No wonder it felt overly easy until now.’
The once confident Kaor halted his advance.
The initial ogre that had appeared now approached with a savage glint in its eyes.
The blue-haired Kaor, who had been glaring at the ogre, suddenly turned away with an awkward smile.
He looked to Giselle and the knights as he spoke.
“Help me.”
The embarrassment was momentary. It’s not the strongest that survives, but the one who survives is the strongest.
No matter how much he felt embarrassed, he had to survive. He couldn’t possibly face that many ogres alone.
The moment he engaged, he’d surely get beaten so bad that he couldn’t even scream.
Kaor’s plea seemed to resonate strongly.
“Alright, I’ll help you.”
Giselle chuckled as he grabbed his greatsword and stepped forward.
