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Chapter 38 – part 8

「You probably just barely exceeded the A-rank, right? Most likely, with both Cordelia and Lilith working together, you are at the level where they can deal with it sufficiently.」

As soon as I landed, I spoke those words.

Without any delay, with literal blood fountains spraying, the Ogre Emperor collapsed to the ground accompanied by a deafening explosion-like noise.

Then, from the direction of the gate, the knight captain who had been observing the situation, his knees giving way, made a sound as he squatted down on the spot.

「Th-the… Ogre… Ogre… Emperor… with a single blow?」

It’s no wonder the knight captain was astonished.
In the first place, the fact that I overwhelmed the Ogre Emperor is something that shouldn’t be possible.

However, his true surprise wasn’t about that.

「Why… isn’t the Ogre Emperor… regenerating?」

Yes, the Ogre Emperor possesses a demonic self-regeneration ability.
It’s the kind of monster that can regenerate even if you cut off one or two of its limbs in less than a minute.

Certainly, I delivered a strike at a level of a lethal wound.

However, this time, I didn’t completely bisect its body with a single slash; it wasn’t an instantaneously fatal wound.

So, under normal circumstances, the Ogre Emperor should have been able to activate its regeneration ability to its fullest.

Of course, it shouldn’t have collapsed.
It should have somehow managed to hold its ground.

But, the Ogre Emperor couldn’t do that this time.
Why?

――Because I didn’t let it.

The sword I used this time, Excalibur, is endowed with the attribute to slay gods.

It’s something that eradicates beings from the astral plane.
Bypassing the physical body, it inflicts damage that annihilates even gods, who are spiritual entities, and it’s not something that can be easily regenerated from.

Then, I looked around.

The Ogre Generals had started to flee in all directions now that the Emperor had been defeated.

There are twelve Ogre Kings present in this location.
Unlike the Generals, the Kings seem to be still highly motivated.

They slowly approached me, and proceeded to surround me.

I need to deal with this place and then head to the other gate for reinforcements.

「So, I’ll take care of you in an instant!」

I pulled out a knife, having about 15 centimeters in blade length, from under my coat and threw it at an Ogre King.

It’s a throwing knife just as its appearance, a blade with low power but useful for surprise attacks.

As I threw the first one, I simultaneously pulled out a second knife from the sheath hidden inside my coat.
And I also threw it.

A thudding sound resounded as the first one fell.
And a bit later, the sound of the second one falling.

I continued to throw knives, third, fourth, and onwards.

The current ace pitcher seems to be in good form today.
There isn’t a single ball thrown off target; all of them are direct hits on the vital points with fastball strikes down the middle.

「Tch!」

But then and there, I clicked my tongue.
When aiming for the ninth… I aimed for the heart, but it slightly veered and pierced into the left lung.

At this rate, I won’t be able to kill it in one hit.

I reluctantly threw one more ball at the ogre.

In quick succession, I continue to throw three more knives.

――The time it took is exactly three seconds.

There are twelve Ogre Kings and thirteen knives thrown.

Regrettably, I missed a perfect game, but it’s still a shutout.
It’s safe to say it’s a satisfactory performance.

Nodding in agreement, I heard the voice of the knight captain.

「Oh… oh… the ogres… the Ogre Kings… being taken down one by one with throwing knives… huh?! Huh?! What?! The Ogre Kings?! Like trash?! Huh!!?」

The knight captain’s eyes were darting around, but I paid it no mind.
In fact, since I killed the Ogre Emperor, it’s only natural that I can do something like this.

Well, from the perspective of an ordinary person, seeing Ogre Kings being killed one after another with thrown knives is a terrifyingly shocking sight, I understand that.

Anyway, I organized the situation.

It seems like the north and south are sorted out.

And, I’ve taken care of the western gate.

「…Now, it’s the troublemakers’ turn, huh.」

Facing east, I muttered that and started running.
Based on the scouting results, so far, the instructors and students from the magical academy stationed in the east shouldn’t have encountered the group of ogres.

Both the eastern and western gates are straight down the main street of the city covering a distance of about 5 kilometers.

If I set my mind to it, I can reach there within 30 seconds, but moving at near-sonic speeds through the city draws too much attention.
Or rather, the city is obstructed purely by people, and high speeds aren’t feasible.

「Yeah, I’m getting impatient!」

As if pushing through the waves of people, I sprinted to the east in a zigzag pattern.

And then, from about 10 meters diagonally ahead of me, a woman’s scream rang out.
Without much delay, the scream spread among the people.

Furthermore, from the location where the scream originated, people began to scatter in all directions, racing to escape.

Curious, I headed in that direction.

And there, I was rendered speechless.

The buildings facing the city’s main street are equipped with sewage systems utilizing the flow of rivers.
And it seems like that has become the bane.

The scene before me…
It was a scene where sturdy, muscular, red-skinned demons were continuously surging out from the manhole covers.

Up until now, I had only scouted the above-ground areas.

In a rush, I started scouting the underground areas too.

And, at the same time, I clicked my tongue.

「Damn it! What kind of fortified city is this…? The underground is wide open, they’re just pouring out from below…!」

Before my eyes, an old woman stumbled and an ogre tried to strike her.
I took a knife from my pocket and threw it.

Naturally, I took it down with a single hit.

But I sighed, wondering what to do.
Based on my scouting, it seems like the surprise attack force from the underground sewers doesn’t have Ogre Kings, let alone Ogre Generals.

However, they are a significant threat to the civilians in the city.
If left unchecked, there will undoubtedly be a significant number of casualties.

As I thought about it, ogres kept crawling out one after another.

Like spitting out the words, I muttered while gazing at the eastern gate.

「Now, what to do? Bring the situation under control here… or head to Saegusa’s location, even if it means sacrificing a few… there’s only one of me after all.」

The scene shifts to the eastern gate.

「Hii… hii… hiiiii! It’s… it’s… the Ogre Emperor!」

「Father! That’s why I didn’t want to go to the magical academy!」

「H-help… help… Aaaaah! Instructor!? What should we do? How about us?」

「Retreat! Everyone, retreat! We instructors are nobles’ children’s protectors… We’ll evacuate the priority scholarship class students under our escort! We won’t babysit the regular class students! Withdraw on your own responsibility!」

「Ugh! Aaaah!」

There was no combat at all.

The appearance of the Ogre Emperor alone was enough.
With that alone, the students and instructors’ will to fight was lost.

――It was a scene of pandemonium.

A mob of people running in a frantic scramble.
The only organized group was the scholarship class led by the instructors.

They forcefully, almost violently, pushed away regular class students as if they were obstacles on the escape route, and marched at full speed into the gate’s interior.

To put it in analogy, it’s like a herd of wild bulls fleeing as a unified current, and a herd of deer scattering individually.

And among that herd of bulls, a single deer was caught.

「…Huh? Huh? Um, everyone, I’d be troubled if you suddenly come towards me with scary faces… huh? Won’t you stop? Stop, I said!」

It would have been better if she had veered off to the side of the road and escaped, but Saegusa Koharu couldn’t manage that.

Seeing the Ogre Emperor triggered her trauma from a past incident where a demon wiped out her village, causing her to panic.
And above all, she was a bit absent-minded herself.

Anyway, Saegusa, who was at the front, was pushed by the fleeing special class students and fell right there.

And there was no one in this situation who would go out of their way to avoid stepping over Saegusa on the road.