I'll show you even more.
"As planned — leave it to you, Disciple Number Two."
"You're really making me do this? Fine, but if I screw up, don't come crying to me!"
Disciple Number Two began constructing the magic.
Hmm.
Slow.
Oh, you already learned that structure the other day.
Ah, you're adding unnecessary thickness there again and wasting mana.
Not good enough.
After quite some time, Disciple Number Two completed the magic.
A mass of air plummeted from the sky and smashed into the ground.
Storm Magic: "Sky Fall."
Originally, it wasn't a spell designed for killing power — it was meant to halt large enemy forces. But crank up the intensity, and it could crush opponents flat. A wide-area spell, in other words.
The magic detonated the magic swords buried in the ground, just as planned.
Seriously, how many did you bury?
That whole stretch of ground just blew apart.
If we'd charged in blindly, we'd have been wiped out.
"I can't… anymore…"
Disciple Number Two collapsed face-first, mana spent.
Well, she did pretty well, all things considered.
"Now's our chance! All forces, charge!"
At Niodoz's command, the knights surged forward.
Hm?
Something's flying in.
Are those… swords?
Sure enough, multiple swords streaked through the air and embedded themselves in the ground.
"They're going to explode! Stay back!"
Niodoz shouted a warning, but to me, those didn't look like swords that would detonate.
The knights were too far away.
The swords had landed in ground offset to the side of the knights' positions.
Every single sword had been thrown to avoid the knights.
Even if they exploded, the distance was great enough that the damage should be negligible.
This attack had some other purpose.
What exactly were they after?
As if answering my question, more swords flew in.
This time aimed at the center of the knight formation.
Immediately after, purple lightning erupted.
Thunder spread in all directions, ravaging the knights.
And then, as if pressing the advantage, more swords kept flying in — each one triggering another thunderous blast.
"Oh ho! Look at that! Isn't it magnificent!"
I shouted in excitement.
Magnificent!
This wasn't simply detonating lightning-imbued magic swords.
The swords embedded in the ground first — they were absorbing the lightning.
Magic swords positioned to surround the knights.
Those swords likely had the ability to absorb and collect lightning.
Lightning that would normally only affect a tiny area was being drawn toward the swords and dispersed.
Right through the area where the knights stood.
They'd positioned the swords with exactly this in mind.
Well played.
"Who would have thought those magic swords could do something like that! Magnificent, truly magnificent! Ha ha ha!"
"M-Master, this is, kind of, not, a laughing, matter."
"Indeed! Anyone who can move — do something about those swords stuck in the ground!"
Oh, stop that!
My protests went unheeded, and one of the relatively unscathed knights pulled a sword from the ground.
The magic sword immediately detonated, and lightning incinerated the knight's body.
"A man who goes to the trouble of building such an elaborate trap would hardly neglect a countermeasure for when someone pulls the swords out."
A new sword plunged into the ground right beside where the knight had fallen.
"It's certainly tempting to keep watching, but if this continues, we'll be wiped out. Can't be helped. Time to get serious."
The ogre's abilities and its tactical use of them were genuinely impressive, but if we kept this up, we'd be the ones finished.
As much as it pained me, I'd have to put in some real effort.
"So then — go get 'em, Niodoz."
"Hm!?"
Through my Farsight, I confirmed the ogre's position.
Teleportation magic — activated.
Niodoz appeared directly in front of the ogre.
The ogre's eyes went wide with shock.
Niodoz seemed startled too, but to his credit, he recovered quickly — as expected of the man.
Niodoz's sword closed in on the ogre, which blocked with the magic sword at its hip.
They clashed, and both were flung backward simultaneously.
And then the duel between Niodoz and the ogre began.
Without Appraisal, I couldn't analyze their stats, but from what I could see, they were roughly evenly matched.
Niodoz was called the Sword Saint, after all.
He was unquestionably the highest-Level swordsman among the Human race, but this ogre was his equal?
In my assessment, Niodoz had the edge in sword technique.
The ogre had the advantage in raw strength.
But that report about its rapid power-up was concerning.
If Niodoz went down, defeat was a real possibility.
He'd probably refuse any help out of that insufferable sense of honor, but I was going to lend a hand regardless.
Fire and lightning were attributes the ogre could use as well, making them likely to be less effective.
That left light as the best long-range option.
I began constructing the magic.
And fired.
The advantage of light magic was that launch and impact were virtually simultaneous, making it easy to target precisely.
Thanks to that, I could avoid Niodoz — who was moving furiously — and strike the ogre directly.
The light magic pierced through the ogre's foot, just as planned.
"As expected — that's beyond human capability," Disciple Number Two murmured, but if I couldn't do something like this, I'd be in trouble going forward.
Hit by the direct strike, the ogre's movements slowed.
Niodoz seized the opening without hesitation and lunged.
The ogre swung the sword in its right hand, and flames erupted from its tip.
The blazing fire, however, didn't reach Niodoz.
The sword Niodoz wielded was also a magic sword — imbued with wind magic.
A howling gale deflected and scattered the flames.
Better yet, Niodoz cut straight through the fire and charged the ogre.
The ogre caught the strike with the magic sword in its left hand.
Lightning erupted from that left-hand blade.
Niodoz's body was sent flying.
But something like that wouldn't kill him.
Niodoz had been pushed aside, creating a momentary opening — and my magic struck the ogre once more.
This time with more power than before.
The ogre's head was pierced clean through.
Even something like that couldn't survive a headshot.
The ogre's body tilted.
As it fell, it hurled the sword in its hand.
A final desperate gambit — the lightning-imbued magic sword struck an approaching knight dead, stealing its life.
What an unlucky knight.
But that should be the end of it.
And yet, the ogre immediately flashed with light and rose to its feet.
The wound I'd punched through its head had vanished.
Impossible!
I'd heard about its complete recovery ability, but could it even heal fatal wounds?!
This wouldn't do.
It was like fighting an invincible monster.
If a headshot could be healed before the body finished regenerating, the only option was to obliterate it so thoroughly there'd be nothing left to put back together.
Just as I was beginning to contemplate the possibility of actual defeat, the ogre turned on its heel and fled.
Its speed was astonishing — it must have used that power-up ability I'd heard about to escape.
Why flee after recovering?
Did its recovery have some kind of condition, making it something it couldn't just use freely?
I didn't know.
I didn't know — but we may have just dodged death.