[Subjugation Quest: Ogre Anomalous Individual] [An ogre has appeared in the nearby forest. Unlike the standard ogre species, this is an anomalous individual with exceptionally high combat ability. The advance party has been nearly wiped out. Based on survivor accounts, the ogre is believed to possess several special abilities. Estimated threat level: B or above.]
A crowd of people stared at the quest posted on the guild's quest board.
These were high-ranked adventurers who had been away on other quests or on leave when the ogre appeared, and thus had not participated in the subjugation.
They all had one goal: to accept the subjugation quest for the ogre's anomalous individual.
Vengeance for guildmates who had been killed, a stepping stone to raise their rank, the gold reward, the Experience Points earned from the kill—each had their own reason, but every last one of them had their sights set on the ogre.
However, their target was an anomalous individual with little available intelligence.
Moreover, it was dangerous enough to have repelled multiple adventurer parties of C-rank or above, turning back every single one.
A threat level of "B or above" meant a minimum of B, with the upper limit still unknown.
For that reason, the Guild Master had opted for a strategy of gathering a large number of adventurers and crushing the target through sheer numbers.
Those who had assembled at the guild were the adventurers who intended to take part in the subjugation.
"Gentlemen, thank you all for gathering here!"
The Guild Master addressed the assembled adventurers.
"As you are no doubt aware, our target this time is an anomalous individual of the ogre species! Its Status is believed to exceed that of a normal ogre, and its Skills—including unknown ones—surpass those of the standard species!"
The rough-and-tumble adventurers listened silently to the Guild Master's words.
"There are three key characteristics to note!"
This was intelligence brought back by the handful of surviving advance-party members.
"The first is an abnormal recovery ability! It heals in a manner that cannot be explained by any known Skill—an utterly extraordinary way of recovering! Apparently, the ogre's body suddenly glowed, and in the next instant, its wounds vanished without a trace! There are even signs that it recovered MP and SP as well! There were parties that had the ogre cornered, but because of this recovery, they ended up being the ones taken down!"
The Guild Master's words stirred the adventurers into a murmur.
Amid the noise, there was a young man biting his lip.
A young up-and-comer named Luxo.
He was one of the survivors of the advance party.
He had healed his wounds and joined the subjugation quest to avenge the companions who had sacrificed themselves to let him escape.
"The second! A rapid increase in combat ability! It's similar to Ki Combat Arts, but clearly different! The activation time is short, but while it's active, the user's Stats skyrocket! There's no visible change, so you'll have to react on instinct!"
A rather vague countermeasure, but that was the nature of an adventurer's battle.
Adaptability.
That was both the fundamental principle and the ultimate technique of any adventurer.
"The third! The ogre possesses magic swords! And not just one—two!"
A clamor even louder than before erupted.
Magic swords imbued with special power were exceedingly rare items.
And the ogre had them.
The weapons a normal ogre carried were roughly on the level of wooden clubs and stone axes.
This was abnormal.
"Silence!"
The Guild Master's sharp bark cut through the noise, and the adventurers fell quiet all at once.
"Gilmas. I've got a question."
A man raised his hand amid the silence.
It was Gotoh, an A-rank adventurer.
"After the ogre is subjugated, what happens to ownership of those magic swords?"
All eyes turned to the Guild Master.
There was naked desire in those stares.
Possessing a magic sword was something every adventurer dreamed of, and it served as a pure Status symbol as well.
"They'll go to the two contributors with the greatest achievements."
Cheers erupted.
The adventurers' motivation soared in an instant.
"Then—move out!"
Morale was high, training was high, and numbers were high.
That was precisely why the thought of losing never crossed their minds.
"I don't remember agreeing to this, damn it."
Amid the battle cries erupting all around him, Gotoh alone wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
A crazed adventurer sprinted past Gotoh's side—and the lower half of its body was blown away.
The ground, which moments ago had been perfectly ordinary, erupted in a sudden explosion.
Caught off guard by the mysterious blast attack, the adventurers were plunged into a vortex of chaos in the blink of an eye, their numbers dwindling one after another.
They couldn't even tell where the attacks were coming from.
Even if they wanted to flee, they had no idea where to run.
They simply ran around and got blown up.
A living hell was unfolding before them.
If any Reincarnators were present, they might have recognized it as the landscape of a minefield.
The adventurers thought they were fleeing from mysterious attacks, but in reality they were charging straight into mines of their own volition.
The mechanism was simple.
Using Fantasy Weapon Forging, one merely forged magic swords loaded with self-destruct effects and every fire attribute available, then buried them in the ground.
The self-destruct effect was exactly what it sounded like.
It detonated the energy stored within the magic sword in a single burst, producing destructive force far beyond a normal strike.
The trade-off was that after a single use, the magic sword would lose all of its durability and shatter.
As the adventurers scrambled through the minefield in disarray, ranged attacks now rained down on them from afar.
The adventurer struck dead-on was punched clean through, a gaping hole torn through their body as they were sent flying.
It looked as though a cannonball had hit them direct.
But what had flown toward them was a sword.
A sword specialized for durability was placed inside a tube-shaped container, and the blast from the self-destruct magic sword was used to launch it forward.
An improvised cannon.
Mines from below, artillery from afar—the adventurers were mercilessly assaulted from every direction.
Gotoh assessed the situation and turned back.
With his sharp eye for observation, Gotoh had already deduced that the explosive attacks were not occurring behind him.
If he retreated, the blasts would not reach him.
Gotoh was running.
And why wouldn't he?
There was no chance of winning.
Mines below, artillery from afar—and where was the ogre itself?
Gotoh saw the answer.
Through his Farsight Skill.
There stood the ogre, casually tossing aside the severed head of Negg—an A-rank adventurer Gotoh knew well.
As far as Gotoh could recall, Negg had once said that ogres were roughly the same height as humans and grew larger with each Evolution.
The ogre Gotoh now saw through Farsight was a full size larger than a human.
It had Evolved, gaining the power to crush even A-rank adventurers without breaking a sweat.
On top of that, it wielded unknown Skills that created this hellscape.
On that day, Gotoh survived—while the vast majority of the other adventurers were ravaged.