TL/Editor: raei


    Status: 5/Week Mon-fri


    Illustrations: Posted in discord.


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    A terrifying giant charged from beyond the horizon.


    With each step, the soft earth cratered as if hit by shells. Its thick, swinging arms exuded a more menacing aura than siege weapons.


    This tower monster could easily crumble the small walls of a rural lord''s castle like toy blocks if it charged head-on.


    Yet, instead of cowering at this frightening sight, some were licking their lips in anticipation.


    "Shiik- Such a large enemy, excellent!"


    "My, I''ve read the documents, but seeing it in person is so much more vivid."


    Well, a person and a naga were.


    Manaashi puffed up his muscles like an animal threatening its prey, raised the snake part of his body he usually kept low to the ground, and filled his trident with aura, ready to greet the ogre.


    Meanwhile, Maelis, delighted to observe a named monster she''d only seen as mana stones in the Magic Tower under the hero party''s protection, pulled out a recording magical device from her bosom.


    Seeing these two, completely devoid of tension, the rest of the group also entered battle stance, fingering their sword hilts or tapping their bowstrings. Though they briefly flinched at the 8m tall, elephant-sized beast charging on two legs, our team had dealt with this before.


    "Roland, shiik- I''ll- take- the- shiishii- lead-"


    "Alright, just don''t overdo it."


    "Shiik shiik shiik- What an amusing concern-"


    As the group spread out to surround the ogre, Manaashi, hissing with excitement like a riled-up viper to the point where his words were barely audible, advanced with his trident.


    The ogre, not yet in berserk mode but clearly excited at the sight of humans, charged forward drooling like a rabid dog. Manaashi, hissing harshly, stood rigid and rushed to meet it.


    Though Manaashi was nearly 3m tall, he looked puny compared to the 8m berserk ogre. It''s like how an anaconda might seem huge until you put it next to an elephant.


    "Come on――!"


    "I-I should cast protection, right?"


    "Leave me out of it."


    "Huh? Um, alright."


    Irene was flustered by Manaashi''s boldness in facing the ogre head-on. Still, she wasn''t going to just stand by, quickly casting her barriers.


    Shining white barriers enveloped everyone, starting with Manaashi who had rushed far ahead. I waved my hand, declining the barrier. I''d noticed that if the barrier blocked attacks, my passive skill wouldn''t activate.


    My passive reflected damage, but if the damage itself was nullified, the skills didn''t mesh well. It was a trivial amount of damage compared to the ogre''s health, but the K-gamer mentality in me didn''t want to miss out.


    The close-combat warriors, except for me, charged forward under personal barriers, while Irene, Grace, Han Se-ah, and Maelis took aim at the ogre from within a hefty large barrier.


    "Looks like it hurt more than expected, seeing how it''s freaking out over losing just one arm."


    The ogre''s skin was so tough that no bone fragments pierced through the forearm, creating a grotesque sight, but the huge forearm bent in the opposite direction and dangling limply was pitiful to see. Even Lukius and McDonagh, who had been charging forward, couldn''t help but comment.


    After completely shattering the outstretched right arm, Manaashi moved to the opposite side, using the ogre''s nape as leverage. Though the ogre tried to prevent its other arm from being broken by activating berserk mode and tensing its muscles... it ended up facing our group with both arms restrained.


    Lukius raised his longsword high over his head, seemingly intent on half-swording against the massive ogre that was growing even larger due to berserk mode. He started by deeply slashing the ogre''s broken right arm, initiating the trio of close-combat warriors'' joint attack.


    -At this point, isn''t it more like group bullying? The ogre just seems really pitiful


    -Watching them all rush in to beat it up after tying its arms reminds me of school PTSD


    -Stop it now it hurts the most don''t even blink your eyes ugh


    -Damn, seeing it like this, why does the ogre seem so pitiful? At least when teacher beat it up, it felt exhilarating


    -It''d feel better if he just smashed it with the warhammer, but breaking, snapping, and cutting makes it scarier


    With one arm''s joint reversed and broken, and a high-ranking warrior tightly clinging to the other arm in a test of strength.


    Meanwhile, small human swordsmen burrowed at its feet, slicing away at its calves, heels, and the limp broken arm with aura, creating a rather horrific scene. It didn''t look like a hero party facing a terrifying monster, but more like poachers engaging in animal abuse-level hunting.


    Moreover, with Han Se-ah unable to use magic effectively set aside, Grace persistently aiming arrows at its eyes only strengthened the poacher impression.


    Seeing that it could be handled without my intervention, I paused to watch Katie''s swordsmanship when Maelis''s urgent cry came from behind.


    "Wait, wait a moment! Is it possible to subdue it?!"


    "Huh? Subdue it?"


    "Yes! If we can keep it alive even with its limbs cut off, thanks to its unique tenacity, I want to try dragging it to a safe zone!"


    This suggestion suddenly came from Maelis, who had been recording with her magical device, while Han Se-ah, finding it awkward to use magic, focused on filming.


    Safe zones were originally areas where monsters neither appeared nor approached. So, would monsters react to fake safe zones? Maelis, struck by this academic curiosity, quickly made this request upon seeing the ogre half-dead despite using berserk mode.


    What would happen if we forcibly dragged it in? I''m sure I heard something at the guild about the Magic Tower experimenting with this before Han Se-ah logged in. Wasn''t it that tower monsters, not being ordinary living beings, would get roasted by divine energy or something?


    Certainly, real safe zones were spaces created by the Goddess''s divine energy to block the Demon King''s invasion. So I was curious what would happen if we threw a monster into a fake safe zone. Realistically, it would be safer and more efficient to grab a goblin and toss it in, but...


    "Wow, this sister''s eyes have gone crazy. No, I''m not joking or using a metaphor, her eyes have literally rolled back. She was fine until just now, but while filming with the magical device, her eyes got bloodshot and everything, look at this."


    -We were saying it was brutal when the arm broke, but here she is saying "let''s cut it up" lol


    -Is this like a mage thing? "As long as we keep it alive, we can cut off its arms and legs" wtf lol That''s scary


    -But what happens if you put a monster in a safe zone? There must be a 100% someone who''s done an experiment vlog on this


    -If you catch a horned rabbit or goblin and shove it in a safe zone, it melts into mana stones


    -Yeah, it melts into mana stones, but it dies in a pretty gross way so the video got age-restricted lol


    To a mage consumed by academic fervor, words like ''efficiency'' and ''safety'' might as well not exist.