Hitori was walking together with Reon on a narrow dark path. Hitori's single flame was flickered in the dark area while he took the lead.
Reon stuck together with him. There was a threat to her as a woman if she sticks with Hitori but there was a bigger threat to her as a player if she goes away from Hitori.
She heard a soft moaning sound coming from the roof which made a chill run down her spine. She gulped and took a step closer to Hitori.
Hitori was totally unaware of the danger he made Reon feel around him but at the same time, he was the only one who could protect her.
"W- what is that… Ryu-san," Hitori lifted the flame above his head.
"...a ghost, or a spirit, I do not know, there is no description." Hitori saw a few spirits floating above their heads while making strange groaning and moaning sounds.
She crept even closer to Hitori, "Reon-san, why did you enter a ghost lair if you are afraid of them?"
"Huh?" she took a step back, "n- no, I am just, I- I hate ghosts, I do not scare them,"
"Of course, you do not SCARE them," Hitori looked at the map which was floating in front of him.
He saw two blue spots walking on the right path from the fork. There were four pink checkpoints in their way, which meant four different monsters.
Hitori's plan was to flee away from as many regions as possible. He did not plan on wasting his mana and time on useless creatures, the main target is the boss.
"I- I mean, I am not afraid of them, I just h-hate them,"
"Then I reckon," Hitori paused when he saw two blue dots approaching the first pink color point on the map, "you will be fine with ogres? Of course, the undead ones."
Reon did not reply, she gulped and stopped walking along with Hitori. It was already too much of a shame for her that she was clinging to a man she met a few minutes ago.
[undead ogres have appeared]
"Stay back, cover me from behind," Hitori stretched out his hand to push Reon back without touching her. It was like a magnet, he stretched out his hand, she repealed and went back.
A large ten feet tall, muscular-looking monster jumped forward. It raised its thick arm. The ogre let out a loud roar as it swung its arm down.
A large chained mace started coming towards Hitori. He calmly stood there and created a wall, "ice wall," a tall, thick wall of ice erupted from the ground.
Reon took a few steps back, she pulled out her gun. Even after shooting the ogre continuously, it seemed to have no effect on it.
Finally, the ogre brought down its mace and smashed Hitori's ice wall. Pieces and blocks of ice fell all over the area. Reon saw that Hitori was not behind the wall anymore.
Reon, once again, managed to grab a monster's attention. She stumbled over an ice block while stepping back.
The ogre looked down at Reon, it raised its chained mace above its head, while staring down at Reon, it swung its mace at her.
She moved her eyes to the ground and pinched closed them. There was no way for her to run away. Even if she gets up and runs, she will be smashed open by the mace.
On her way to bring her eyes down, her eyes had caught a layer of frozen ice. She lifted her eyes open and look straight at the ogre's ankles.
She quickly raised her head up and saw something she was not expecting. The ogre's head was covered in frozen ice. Soon, a kick landed on the back of its head.
The crystal head fell down and shattered into pieces, followed by its body. She quickly got up on her feet and dived out of the monster's radius.
The body fell down on the ground behind her, a huge ripple of air threw Reon a few feet away from its corpse.
The dark area was lit up by the ogre's burning body. Reon pushed herself off the ground and looked behind her. The ogre's body was covered in flames and burning slowly on the layer of frozen ice.
She moved her eyes further up and saw a familiar figure. On top of the ogre's back stood Hitori surrounded by flames. He grabbed his katana which was stabbed in the ogre's back. He pulled the katana out, an arc of orange flames formed above his head.
He dropped down the ogre's body and ran up to Reon, "stand up and fight." he requested. She expected him to give her a hand but that was not going to happen.
"I- I can not," she muttered behind Hitori, "t- they will eat me alive!" she pled.
Hitori sighed and turned around, "you are below thirteen? You are still a kid?" he frowned. He was surprised, in fact.
"Eh?" four more ogres roared from the spawning point, "no…" she shook her head.
"Then you would not be eaten alive," Hitori charged at the four ogres who were coming his way, anyway.
Hitori aimed at one ogre, a wave of ice came from his hands and covered one ogre in ice. He did not even need to do the rest cause another ogre stepped from behind and smashed its companion's frozen body.
'Your enemy is better than your comrade, friend.' Hitori glanced at the smashed ogre in sympathy, 'well, I was going to burn you alive though.'
Hitori jumped forward. He ran towards the ogre's feet. After he had got close enough to the ogre, he made a long pillar of ice which took him up like an elevator.
Hitori jumped off the platform and landed on the ogre's shoulders. "Fire saber, leafcutter," flames of fire engulfed his katana. Hitori gave it a powerful swing, his katana went halfway through the ogre's neck. Hitori had to apply force to cut through the head swiftly.
The bodies of these ogres were clearly tougher than the phoenix's body. Hitori aimed his hands at the ogre's neck opening, "flamethrower!"
Reon stared at Hitori as he scorched the ogre with an intense blast of fire. The flames went out of control to set the whole ogre on fire.
[level up. Reached level 15]
"Would you please cover me?" Hitori landed beside Reon who was still stunned by her shock. He took out three above 19 level ogres on his own.
"Y- yes, Ryu-san," before Hitori could take off to hunt the last remaining two ogres, he sensed a strong blow of air coming his way.
He lifted his katana against his left ear, grabbed the katana in the reverse grip before a mace clashed against his katana. Hitori rivaled the strength of the ogre for a few moments.
"M- move," he grunted. Reon took a step back and ran a few meters away from the ogre.
Just like the guaranteed homerun swing, the ogre's mace hit Hitori and threw him off the surface with just the satisfactory sound of a hammer hitting on a nail.
Reon bit her lower lip, she pulled her gun and aimed it at the ogre. But she stopped when she saw that Hitori had landed safely on the roof.
He tensed his thighs and calves, with a jump start of a rocket, Hitori used the fire magic to jump off the roof and attack the ogre.
He had his katana ready, by his right side. He had covered his katana in flames.
The ogre saw Hitori coming towards it like a comet. Thankfully, moments before the ogre could lift its mace, Reon started shooting it.
Hitori took the advantage of the disturbed ogre. He activated both of his skills, jumped on the ogre's shoulder. His katana went through the ogre's neck as if he was cutting butter.
The followthrough pulled Hitori forward with it, again, it felt as if Hitori's katana went through nothing but air. The same sensation he felt while cutting off the phoenix's head.
Shot!
He raised his head at a bullet that went past him. It was not the surprise that someone shot in his direction but the fact that the bullet was five times bigger than a normal bullet. It had some sort of yellow energy surrounding it.
Snap!
Hitori turned his head behind him while still falling off the dead ogre's body. The bullet shot had gone through the skull of another ogre, right behind Hitori.
The ogre froze there like a statue. Hitori fell down on the ground with the dead ogre. Ripples of air again threw Reon a meter away.
As soon as the ogre banged on the ground, its chained mace lifted off the ground with the swing of its hand [which was not intentional, cause duh, it is dead, it was because of the air momentum].
The mace went high up in the air, Hitori kept watching as the mace smashed the face of the ogre which was shot through its skull.
Green blood sprayed all over, the ogre fell down on the ground, this time, throwing Hitori near Reon.
They both exchanged glances, "you thought I had shot you, did not you?"
Hitori kept staring at her, "thanks for the cover," he nodded his head with a surprised expression.
..
…
Will Be Continued…!