Chapter 397 360 – The Six Ogres

Takumi withdrew his consciousness from Boosted Gear.

The awakened sword spirit did not follow him out.

She was now completely bound to the gauntlet itself.

She could move freely if she wished, but only with Takumi's permission.

Even though Takumi was willing to let her move around on her own, the sword spirit had no such desire.

The kind of idleness experienced by an artifact spirit was different from Takumi's.

Having lived as a human for so long, Takumi might become unbearably bored after sitting still for only an hour or two.

But the sword spirit could remain seated in the same place for a year, ten years, or even a hundred years while thinking about what she wanted to do.

At present, she simply had no idea what she wanted, so she chose to continue living inside the gauntlet and spend some time thinking.

Naturally, Takumi did not force her to come out and play.

He could always visit her himself later.

The sword spirit now possessed a physical body, and with such an obedient personality, even some extremely difficult requests should probably be possible.

Just as Takumi became excited by that thought, a considerable disturbance erupted along the distant border of the empire.

"Is this… an invasion?"

Takumi rubbed his chin and watched with interest.

At a glance, he recognized the intruders as six members of the Ogre tribe.

The relevant information immediately surfaced in his mind.

Once he learned what they had gone through, the killing intent in his heart faded.

At the same time, Kagali's communication image appeared before him.

"Master, you aren't occupied at the moment, are you?"

"No. What happened?"

"We've detected six Ogres who have entered into conflict with our personnel."

Kagali spoke quietly.

The six Ogres were not actually a major threat.

Their strength was respectable, but compared to Takumi's Demon Shadow Army, they were extremely weak.

According to Kagali's deductions, the reason they were causing trouble was probably some sort of misunderstanding.

Takumi had previously ordered that the empire's expansion should prioritize absorbing monster tribes.

That was why Kagali had not immediately sent the Demon Shadow Maidens to kill them.

"Master, we still hope to persuade them."

"But right now… aside from you, we don't have anyone available who can speak with them."

"Could I ask you to go and persuade them?"

"If that isn't possible, I can temporarily put aside my current work and go there myself."

Kagali hurriedly added the final sentence, doing her best to explain that she had no intention of ordering Takumi around.

In truth, she had another concern.

As emperor, Takumi really ought to show his face occasionally.

If Kagali handled everything herself, what if the monster tribes that had surrendered misunderstood the situation?

What if one day they started demanding that she ascend the throne herself?

Then she would truly be doomed.

To prevent that, Kagali felt it was necessary for Takumi to appear before the monster tribes more often and preferably display some of his power, ensuring that they never forgot the authority he represented.

Takumi saw through Kagali's thoughts immediately.

So she was afraid of being forced onto the throne.

Takumi had never considered such a possibility, but that did not mean Kagali could afford to ignore it.

He understood her concerns, and he happened to have nothing else to do.

"I'll go take care of it."

Takumi nodded slightly and accepted Kagali's suggestion.

Meanwhile, along the empire's border, the six Ogres were locked in battle with several Amazoness warriors under Takumi's command.

"Slaughter Frenzy!"

The Amazoness warrior fighting at the front erupted with surging blood energy, and her aura suddenly multiplied several times over.

"This is bad!"

The black-haired Ogre fighting her immediately felt an overwhelming force bearing down on him.

The blue-haired Ogre beside him also realized the danger and quickly joined forces with his companion to defend.

At that moment, the blood energy surging around the Amazoness warrior condensed into a long blade in her hand.

"Mountain-Crushing Strike!"

She slashed through the air, unleashing a raging wave of blade energy and blood force that tore through the atmosphere and crashed downward!

But the instant she attacked, the Amazoness warrior suddenly saw the two Ogres dodge to the left.

She immediately redirected the blood-red blade aura, sending it after them with lightning speed.

Boom!!!

The ground shattered and exploded in an instant.

The sharp force stretched for dozens of meters, reducing the surrounding trees to splinters.

Yet when the Amazoness warrior looked up again, she discovered that her attack had missed.

"Illusion magic?!"

Her powerful combat instincts immediately made her turn toward the pink-haired female Ogre hiding behind a large tree.

When the Amazoness warrior's gaze swept over her, fear appeared on the pink-haired Ogre's face.

At the same time, the other Ogres retreated more than ten meters, putting distance between themselves and the battlefield.

"This is hopeless. We're completely outmatched."

"We should retreat while we still can!"

They exchanged glances and saw the same helplessness in one another's eyes.

There were only three patrolling Amazoness warriors, yet a single one of them had already been beating two Ogres at once.

Without the illusion magic covering them, they would probably have lost long ago.

Even the hot-tempered purple-haired female Ogre had begun considering retreat.

The iron club clenched in her hands had several fist-shaped dents smashed into it by an Amazoness warrior's bare hands.

Fortunately, she had possessed both a weapon and numerical superiority during the fight.

Had she lacked even one of those advantages, she might have fallen here today.

What the Ogres did not know was that the Amazoness warriors had actually been holding back.

Both Takumi and Kagali had instructed them to defeat their enemies rather than kill them whenever possible.

That was why they had not truly aimed for fatal blows during the battle.

At that moment, Takumi, who had been watching from a distance, slowly revealed himself and descended from the sky.

The three Amazoness warriors immediately dropped to one knee when they saw him.

"Lord Chief God, we have disgraced ourselves before you. Please punish us!"

The captain lowered her head in apology, her expression filled with devotion and guilt.

They had failed to subdue the enemies before Takumi arrived.

That was their fault.

Takumi had no intention of making things difficult for them.

His own orders had been the reason they could not fight freely.

When the Amazons fought among themselves, they always aimed to kill.

Now that they were suddenly required to spare their opponents, their battle rhythm had been disrupted, leaving them restrained and unable to display their true strength.

"Why would I punish you?"

"You did well and did not disobey my orders."

Takumi's approval immediately brought delighted expressions to the three kneeling Amazoness warriors.

When he raised a hand and told them to stand, they rose and followed behind him with devout expressions.

Takumi then stepped forward and faced the wary Ogres.

Realizing that the powerful Amazoness warriors were merely Takumi's subordinates, the Ogres' expressions turned extremely grim.

...

For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.

Read 50+ chapters ahead on Patreon! [/METARLN]