Chapter 3
The Battle in the Lower-Layer
—Raust—
After seeing the figure of me defeating the worm, Narsena finally agreed to head to the lower-layer under the condition that we would turn back immediately if the situation became dangerous .
Thanks to that, we were currently in the lower-layer, except…
「Ruaaaaaaaa!」
「GAAAAAAA!」
「GAAAAAAA!」
「GYAAAAA!」
…… Immediately after we reached the lower-layer, we were surrounded by a group of Ogres and Liches .
Whether an adventurers party is judged as a first-class party or not is depending on whether they can go to the lower-layer or not .
With that reason, it’s easy to understand why there are merely less than 10% of adventurers counted as top-class adventurers .
In short, the lower-layer of the labyrinth is too difficult .
Complex traps are installed in various place, powerful monsters with skills also appear .
But more than that, the most troublesome thing is how the monsters fight changed .
Yes, when it comes to lower-layer, the variety of monsters come together as a party of vanguard and rear guard as they attack the adventurers .
… And, the party of Ogre and Lich is a combination that is said to have a high degree of difficulty in the lower layer .
「Kh! What with a party of ogres and lich immediately after we enter the lower-layer! Onii-san!」
I could see Narsena’s face implying that we should go back to the upper layer .
That would be a natural decision .
Thinking about it normally, Ogre and Lich are not an opponent we could win against .
After all, there is even a strengthened variant of Ogre which is bigger than all the other ogres .
Against this, even top-class party would choose to run away .
… But whether we can escape is another story .
「Impossible . With lich that has magic skill, turning our back is too risky . And if we return to the upper layer as is, secondary damage may occur . 」
「——— Ghh!」
Narsena, who understood the situation from my words, bit her lip while clenching her fist tight .
In the labyrinth, it’s important to know when it’s too dangerous, but retreating without a plan is also dangerous .
In other words, we have no choice but to fight the enemy in front of us .
「It’s fine, if it’s just this much, it would be over soon . 」
「………Onii-san?」
But, I’m not afraid at all in front of these enemies .
There is no doubt that it’s troublesome if I’m just one person .
But now I have a very strong companion .
「Narsena, I will attract all the enemies . So watch the situation and go defeat the lich . 」
「……Huh?」
That’s why, I told that to Narsena as I held a dagger and a throwing knife in my right and left hand respectively .
「Onii-san!」
And the next moment, with Narsena’s voice echoing behind me, I ran toward the Ogres…
「GAAAA?」
「GAAAAAAA!」
「GYAAAAA!」
One of the three ogres who saw me running laughed as if mocking me .
And behind that smile, I understood that the ogres didn’t recognize me as an enemy .
But, that didn’t come from self-conceit .
Even I would think the same if someone as lean as me stands in front of an Ogre with a physique close to three meters, surely the person will be killed instantly, and that’s pretty much the same for everyone .
「GAAAAAAA!」
Hence why, the ogres didn’t show any vigilance to me who came closer .
As if to crush an insect, it swung its log-like arm to me who ran toward them .
「This time ogres don’t have a weapon, so it’s easy to evade its attack . 」
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「GA?」
Seeing me easily evaded its attack, the ogre finally noticed .
The person who they thought to be an insect, someone who they mocked, was never a weak one .
The next thing, the ogres’ face distorted from the anger as it started to recognize me as an enemy .
「I was a bit surprised there is a strengthened variant of ogre show up, but in the end, the ogre that show up in this area is not a big deal at all . 」
——— Apparently, even after I received the attack from the ogre, I noticed that I seemed to still not seen the ogres as a threat at all .
「GYAAAAAAAAA!」
And then, feeling angry at my attitude, the strengthened variant of ogre raised its roar toward me .
Using the roar as a cue, the other ogres started to encircle me .
And then, a one-sided attack by the ogres was launched .
The battle started by the rage of the ogres .
It was really one-sided .
After all, I was just one person .
「Haha . I can do this for a few hours if it’s only this . 」
——— However, the one who laughed in the middle of battle was me .
It was true that currently I was only defending and never attacked the ogres at all .
But that’s not because I couldn’t attack .
It was to focus myself on defense .
And the result of that was none of the ogres’ attacks were connecting to me .
From the side, from the back, from the front .
From all directions, the ogres’ attacks which had attack power and speed incomparable to those of orcs were rained down upon me .
However, I avoided it all or parried them with my dagger .
As if I had eyes in all directions .
Saying it like that didn’t wrong .
After all, I was in a state where I fully recognized the movement of all the ogres .
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I’m a healer who can fight, but that doesn’t mean I have a talent for fighting .
It’s not that I’m completely devoid of talent for fighting, I’m just a jack of all trade .
So I put a switch .
To attack, or to defend, only those two .
——— And so, the attacks of the ogres couldn’t touch me who had already switched to only defend .
「Hahahaha!」
I parried an attack, dodged another, while moving without end, I was laughing mockingly at the ogres .
Making it as if I was having plenty of leeways .
「GYAAAAA!」
And then, the strengthened variant of ogre lost himself in anger from my attitude .
It was leaning forward with its huge body, intending to strike me with all its body weight on its fist .
Whether some kind of skill had activated, its fist was covered in a slight red light .
「Shi-! Comi-」
That was what It was aiming for .
it knew that my posture was crumbling after dodging one of the ogres’ fist .
Seeing my behavior, a happy smile showed up on the strengthened ogre variant’s face .
Apparently, it thought that I was finally unable to dodge .
「Too bad . 」
「GAA, GAAA!?」
「GYAA!?」
However, that was only the misunderstanding of the strengthened ogre variant .
I dodged the strengthened ogre variant’s fist, it grazed me a little and then hit the ogre behind me .
The ogre that was hit by the fist of the strengthened ogre variant that was covered with a skill curled into a ball while letting out a scream of anguish .
「GYA, GYAA!」
「GAAA . 」
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Seeing the sight, the attack from the two other ogres were also stopped .
The Ogre, monsters from the lower-layer of the labyrinth had some clear thought and was upset by the fallen brethren .
The moment I noticed the ogres were shaken, I started running .
It was to the lich I ran to .
I didn’t know whether it judged that the ogres would be fine, or if it was not aware that the fight on the other side was already decided .
However, the lich who was trying to release the magic toward Narsena didn’t notice my presence who was running toward it .
「Ruaaaaa!?」
By the time the lich aware of my presence, its semi-transparent body was already within the range of my throwing knife .
「Rhaaaaaa!」
The throwing knife I threw with full force flew in a straight line to the lich, but it was dispelled with a physical ability that was clearly far from what a human rearguard would have .
Well, that’s what I can expect from someone who has no talent or skill .
Besides, my purpose is not to defeat the lich .
「Ruaaaaaaa!」
But, the lich who didn’t know that, let out an emotional roar and started to give instruction to the ogres .
And when it started to prepare to unleash its magic to attack me……
「Narsena, it’s up to you!」
——— I shouted while smiling .
「Ruaa!?」
Immediately, in a hurry, the lich tried to turn its head .
「Haaaaa!」
But at that time it was already too late .
Without giving a chance for the lich to look back, Narsena’s fist was sucked into the lich body .
「Ruuuaaaaaaaaaa!」
And the next moment, along with its death cry, the lich which was said to be the worst monsters at the entrance to the lower-layer vanished .