Chapter 30 :

Episode 7 : Captain (4)

Turquoise suggested to me. "I advise you to stand back, ‘Last’ player." 

A portal was spawned above me, spiraling with magical particles until it was as big as the giant hole. 

Not wasting a single second, I heeded Turquoise's advice and fled the area that I was at with Mirai, Raiden and Behemoth.

The portal now had red particles dropping down from it. As soon as one of the particles touched the ground, it underwent a significant change by morphing itself into an ogre. 

With its huge disproportionately head having a bloodthirsty expression on its face. One could tell that it was an ogre. Voracious and man-eating monster that only appeared in mythology, folklore as well as fiction, was currently in front of my eyes.

Because I was already used to seeing these types of monsters in the past, I wasn't a bit fazed by such a creature in front of me.

"1..2. 3.." I counted how many the ogres show up while running away from them.

———

"This human is fascinating." Zircon mumbled.

Tanzanite heard her sister and spoke with her sparkling eyes. "Sister! You've never been this interested in something before!"

Turquoise realized Tanzanite was ignoring the strange things that happened before. ‘How can anyone be equanimous in this situation?’

She was rubbing her temple from this whole tiresome problem, but eventually gave up worrying about this and continued reading her book.

Zircon observed the human with his friends closely before answering Tanzanite's question. "Is that so?"

"Yeah~! I can tell from your face~!" Tanzanite cheerfully said.

"I admit that I'm interested in this human." 

"Why~? Was it because of his hidden quest?"

"I'll let you guess." Zircon smiled, teasing Tanzanite in the process. 

"Hmp~! Sister!" Tanzanite pouted and came up with an idea. "Sister~ how about we do a bet? Since we have a lot of time, I presume it's better to have some fun while we're at it."

"A bet? What bet is it?" Turquoise joined in after finishing her book. 

"Hehe~ The bet is the ‘Last’ player's survival."

"What is the win and lose condition?" Turquoise asked.

"The loser will bring the ‘Last’ player and his friends to the surface."

Turquoise thought for a bit before she said. "All right then. If we are thinking logically, I bet he won't survive." 

"I'm with Turquoise as well~ He can't survive something like this~ What about you, sister?" Tanzanite stared at Zircon.

Zircon mused. ‘Those two were worried about his life before and now they're betting for his survival? Really.. I can't understand them at all..’

"I'm certain that he has a plan, which is why I'm betting he'll live." Zircon's answer gave Tanzanite and Turquoise quite a shock as their eyes grew bigger.

Zircon noticed their astounded faces watching her and asked. "What are you looking at? Dear sisters?" 

"N-Nothing~! Let's watch the show~!" Tanzanite nervously replied. 

The three sisters watched the human, now at a safe place when the portal stopped pouring out ogres.

———

‘The portal has stopped.. and there are 100 ogres from what I have counted.’

During the time when we were running, Mirai would stare at me continuously and I wondered why. 

I shifted my eyes to Mirai and I found her staring at me again. "Mirai. What are you doing?"

Mirai blushed and looked away. "I was making sure you were my captain, b-but now I know you truly are my captain."

I grinned, flicking her forehead. "Silly girl. This isn't the time for a reunion."

Mirai became flustered as she touched her forehead. "H-Hai." 

Raiden who was standing behind Mirai, slowly put Behemoth down.

I quickly grabbed hold of Behemoth which surprised Raiden. 

"Sensei?" Raiden spoke while being nervous. 

( ‹Sensei›, Japanese word for ‘Teacher’. )

I responded. "We'll talk later." 

Oddly, I could see that he was embarrassed when he was nodding obediently.

At the same time, Behemoth jumped off from my hands while I was holding onto him. 

"Master!!" He suddenly landed on my head to nuzzle my face.

"I see you are as energetic as ever." I grabbed Behemoth again to pull him off my face. "I need you to do something for me." 

"Can I rest on master's head if I follow your order?"

"...Are you being jealous of Mirai again?" I sighed with a facepalm.

Behemoth exhaled a burst of air to hiss at Mirai, which Mirai saw and stuck her tongue out at him. "I can smell Mirai's scent on master's head. So she must have slept there!" 

The noise of ogres stamping toward us forced the ground to shake to a frightening degree. 

"No time to talk." I told everyone before whispering my plan to Behemoth. 

After I was done, I questioned Behemoth. "Can you do that?" 

"Master! Who do you think I am!? Of course, I can do that!" 

"Good." I turned to look at the approaching ogres. ‘Lucifer?’ 

"Yes, master." Lucifer who was a katana, shapeshifted to a sling. 

At the same time, Behemoth shrunk down to the size of a rock, falling into the sling pouch and grasping to it firmly. "I'm ready!"

I looked at the ogres while spinning the sling in a figure eight motion to gain momentum.

[Subtracting Stats points from ‘Agility’, ‘Intelligence’ and ‘Luck’.]

[Adding all Stats points to ‘Strength’ and ‘Dexterity’.]

[‘Strength’ Lv. 10 → Lv. 20.]

[‘Dexterity’ Lv. 10 → Lv. 20.]

I could sense my body strengthening itself from the extra stats that I put into. 

With no further to do, I observed the charging ogres when I assured my accuracy. 

I flung Behemoth up high into the air. And thanks to my skill, ‘Weapon Mastery’ and my stats, I was able to use the sling correctly.

‘Shortswords’ I ordered Lucifer and he shapeshifted to what I demanded. 

I dual wielded the shortswords, preparing to block in a cross. ‘Sometimes I wish a shield was a weapon.." 

Mirai understood the situation and created a shield, covering herself and Raiden inside a transparent shield bubble made from silk. 

With Behemoth being in the air as he slowly descended right in the center of the crowded ogres, he opened his mouth wide to generate a ball of combust energy. 

Within only one second, the small ball increasingly changed to a humongous size, hinting for Behemoth to blast the entirety of the ogres beneath him.