Colin backed away toward Kase, his eyes fixed on the cave entrance.

It was an Ogre clad in Beast Hide. The creature held a goblin with a crushed skull in its left hand and dragged a large club with its right. Its small, clear eyes scanned Colin and the others.

The group of goblins from before followed behind the Ogre, their ugly little faces filled with confidence.

"Good, good, more little people. Master wants little people." The Ogre mumbled to itself in the Common Language. "Demou found more little people! Lots and lots of little people!"

A few of the Adventurers who had gotten back to their feet hurried over to Colin.

One of them quickly asked, "Sir, what do we do now?"

"You all should head outside the cave first."

After saying this, Colin shouted to the Ogre, "So, who is your master?"

The Adventurers didn’t leave.

Instead, they each picked up weapons the goblins had dropped, looking like they intended to fight alongside Colin and his group.

"Demou’s master is a big fire person, as tall as two Demous. They told Demou to find iron and little people. If Demou finds iron and little people, Demou gets good food. Demou is the best at it..." the Ogre said proudly.

’You’re actually telling me?’ Colin had only been trying his luck, but he quickly committed the information to memory.

But the Ogre’s mind wasn’t entirely slow.

After a moment, the pride on its fat face was replaced by anger.

The Ogre shouted, "You trick Demou! You try to make Demou talk! Demou won’t say another word to you! Either drop your things and lie on the ground, or Demou will break every bone in your body! Every single one!"

Seeing this, the surrounding goblins immediately began to cheer, as if they weren’t the ones who had just been beaten so badly they’d pissed themselves. A few Wargs barked alongside them.

It looked like another great battle was about to begin.

An Adventurer standing beside Colin spoke up. "You must be a Caster, right? Honored sir, that big guy isn’t easy to deal with. He took down our Shield Guard in one hit... Maybe we should run?"

"We can handle it," Colin said lightly.

"I’m serious, Mr. Mage! Those goblins won’t dare retreat with that big guy around!"

The Adventurer was nervous. "If we can’t take down the big one quickly, the fight will be much tougher than just facing goblins. And your Half-Orc companion will probably have a hard time stopping that big guy, right?"

"We can really handle it." Colin waved the Giant Sword in his hand.

Droplets of blood from the blade fell to the ground, mixing with the dust to form little clumps of mud.

Although the other Adventurers were afraid, they still gathered around Colin and Kase, having clearly resolved to fight side by side.

"We’ll hold back the big guy, sir," the Adventurer who had spoken earlier said, his voice filled with do-or-die resolve. "You use this chance to hit him with your Magic. If we’re lucky and can break the goblins’ morale, we still have a chance!"

"It’s just one Ogre. It’s really not that hard to deal with..."

Colin was getting tired of saying it.

’They probably don’t understand Magic and can’t judge a monster’s strength. I can’t really blame them for their lack of confidence.’

Just then, the Ogre in the distance was starting to get impatient.

"Don’t kill the little people!" he roared, swinging his club as he charged forward, looking as if victory was already in his grasp.

Beside him, Kase put away his weapon and took the Battle Axe from his back.

The Shadow Armor on the Half-Orc was still active, and the Power from his [Frenzy] allowed him to wield the absurdly large Axe with ease.

Kase strode forward, charging at the giant Ogre.

The few weapon-wielding Adventurers followed close behind. Though they were scared, they understood that the die was cast.

Standing at the rear, Colin watched the others charge.

Judging by appearances alone, the Adventurers’ worries weren’t unfounded.

Although the Half-Orc was strong, he was considerably smaller than the Ogre in both height and build.

WHOOSH!

In that instant, three rays of golden Flame shot from Ale’s hands, striking the Ogre squarely on its fat belly and burning three black craters into it.

The Ogre cried out in pain, its expression growing even more ferocious.

’He’s pretty tough,’ Colin thought as he rushed forward.

He chanted a Spell, and a silver mist once again gathered from all directions.

[Misty Step]!

Before the mist could dissipate, he chanted another Spell, raised his Giant Sword, twisted his body, and swung behind him. The next moment, the sensation of the blade sinking into flesh traveled up the hilt to his palm. The Giant Sword left a bloody gash on the Ogre’s shoulder.

At the same time, he could feel a slight tremor in the Magic Net around him.

Colin twisted his body in mid-air and looked back at the Ogre behind him.

With his other hand, he pulled out the Casting Materials for [Tasha’s Hideous Laughter]. The sensation of his feet landing on the ground traveled up through his boots to his mind.

Boosted by his [Sword Dance] state, Colin steadied himself and chanted the Spell.

In that instant, he could clearly feel that the difficulty of controlling his opponent with Magic had been greatly reduced.

If using [Tasha’s Hideous Laughter] to control an opponent had previously been like gnawing on a hard bone, now it was as easy as biting into a ripe apple.

The Ogre, which had still been charging, began to laugh uncontrollably.

The creature tripped over its own feet and fell, then lay on the ground, still laughing.

Just then, Kase reached the Ogre.

"ARGH!!"

The Half-Orc roared as he swung the oversized Giant Axe.

The point of light that had just coalesced on the back of the Ogre’s neck, marking its weak spot, was instantly shattered by the blow.

CLANG!

With the crisp sound of metal striking stone, the Ogre’s laughter stopped abruptly. Its fat body convulsed once on the ground, and then it went still.

Colin immediately turned and raised his hands.

As expected, the goblins who had charged in after the Ogre were just about to reach him. Due to their short legs, they had fallen far behind.

The Flame created by [Burning Hand] blossomed forth once more.

The few goblins who still dared to charge forward were engulfed by the flames before they could react, falling to the ground with wails of agony.

White steam rose as the last embers faded.

Colin stood his ground, looking indifferently at the goblins before him.

The Ogre’s severed head spun across the ground, coming to a stop right at his feet. The Ogre’s mountain-like body lay prone, completely silent.

The cave fell silent.

In a single exchange, the once-unbeatable Ogre had become a corpse.

"AHH!!!" "Peh-li-ya! Peh-li-ya!"

A crowd of goblins scrambled away in terror toward the deeper parts of the cave, while many others dropped to their knees, muttering pleas for mercy in the Goblin Language.

"Peh-li-ya" means "surrender" in the Goblin Language.

’So I guess there’s nothing left now,’ Colin thought.

He looked back and saw the few Adventurers still clutching their weapons. They were staring intently at the fallen Ogre, as if it might reanimate and come after them.

"Time to clean up the battlefield," Colin said lightly.

After everything he’d been through in Snow Deer Valley, this kind of thing was nothing to him now.

"Oh, oh... right. It’s over." The Adventurers finally snapped out of it, accepting the fact that the Ogre who had so easily defeated them had been decapitated in an instant.

"Let’s deal with the goblins first," Colin said, drawing his more comfortable Hand Half Sword. "Then we can figure out how to divide the spoils."