The swiftness of his strike was astounding. It was even faster than the thrust Almark had used on him in martial arts class. With a sharp thwack, the branch struck the jaranon hard on the jaw. The blow came faster than the eye could follow, leaving the jaranon unable to counter. But the next second, Almark took another step forward, landing a sideways blow on the jaranon’s jaw. Blood spilled from the vicious ogre’s mouth.
As he overwhelmed the jaranon, Almark thought to himself that this really did feel different. If he had his sword, he’d have severed its head with the first swipe and finished the fight right then and there. But the thing proved oddly resistant to blunt trauma.
The jaranon screeched in anger and swung its claws at Almark, but its attacks failed to so much as scratch the boy. Even dressed in a robe that made it harder to move, he overwhelmed the monster with his nimble footwork.
And whenever it attacked, it left itself open to retaliation. Each time the jaranon swung at him, Almark dodged and slammed the branch into its face. The attacks landed with dull thuds, each one strong enough to leave a human opponent dazed, but the jaranon was unfazed.
Still, Almark was successful in drawing the ogre’s attention, gradually pulling it away from where Eldo was. Tohrk approached the fallen boy, still gasping. Clearly, Almark could handle the monster alone just fine. With that in mind, Tohrk turned his eyes to Almark—only to see something that defied belief. As Almark fought the creature, another jaranon was silently emerging from the bushes behind him.
“What…?”
Tohrk was stunned. Almark dodged the jaranon’s attack effortlessly again, but it seemed he didn’t notice the second one creeping up on him from behind. They were going to pincer him.
Tohrk gritted his teeth. Ugh, dammit. I shouldn’t have come here…!
“Almark! Behind you!”
Almark looked back with a start, just as the jaranon creeping up on him swiped its claws. For a second it looked like the claws successfully hit Almark, but the next moment, he jumped away, landing beside the two jaranons. He moved fluidly, like he was parting his way through the branches, and the next moment the second jaranon groaned, cradling its mouth.
Tohrk just barely made out what happened. At the same time Almark dodged its swipe, he landed a counterattack on its face.
He really is absurd…
Astonished by Almark, Tohrk finally arrived at Eldo’s side. He gently slapped the boy’s pale cheeks, which made him groan. He was alive. Having confirmed this, Tohrk swiftly cast a spell. It wasn’t precise and could end up hitting Almark, but Tohrk decided it was Almark’s fault if he wasn’t good enough to avoid a spell of this level.
Five flames formed in Tohrk’s hand, one for each finger. This was Flame Fingers, a spell that was an offshoot of the will-o-wisp spell. Tohrk kept the five flames to a minimum, clenching his hand into a fist as he turned toward Almark, who was still maneuvering around the monsters. Then he opened his hand.
The five small fireballs went flying, each traveling along a different path. Three of them crashed into the first jaranon, which had its back to Tohrk. Meanwhile, the other two whizzed toward Almark, who—just as Tohrk expected—jerked his head aside to dodge them, with one fireball hitting the second jaranon right in the chest and the last missing its mark and hitting the ground instead.
Perhaps the fatigue had gotten to him and made his control of the spell waver. Tohrk clicked his tongue in displeasure. But the spell was still highly effective. The jaranon that had been hit by three of the fireballs fell to the ground in agony, its back smoking—likely because its fur had caught fire. The other one flinched away from the sudden fireballs.
Heh, inferior lifeforms always fear fire. Tohrk nodded to himself.
Almark seized the opening and swooped onto the second jaranon. Realizing blunt blows would get him nowhere, he mercilessly thrust the branch into the creature’s sole eye.
Tohrk winced and looked away.
Unconcerned with the possibility of breaking the branch, Almark buried it deep into the jaranon’s eye socket. Even as blood sprayed over him, Almark’s composure didn’t falter, save for his expression hardening slightly as he gritted his teeth and applied more force to the blow. The jaranon gave one last bloodcurdling screech and fell completely still.
Only one remained. Almark turned to face the jaranon rolling on the ground in an attempt to put out the fire on its back. With the branch having snapped a moment ago, he was now unarmed, but Almark didn’t seem daunted by that at all. He glared at the jaranon with cold eyes.
Is he going to be all right? Tohrk clicked his tongue and started to cast a spell.
But then, Almark suddenly waved his right hand. The jaranon staggered back, holding onto its sole eye painfully. A hard fruit went rolling across the ground.
When did he pick this up?
Tohrk stared in disbelief. Almark had just flung some fruit he had picked up from the ground at the jaranon’s eyes.
Almark then leaped toward the jaranon and pinned the creature down. The jaranon snarled in anger and flailed its arms, trying to shake its attacker off. Almark swiftly snaked over to the thrashing ogre’s back and wrapped his legs around the creature.
Already unsteady, the jaranon stumbled backward, losing its balance. Sensing this, Almark pressed his arms hard against the jaranon’s chest. The creature tumbled to the ground, almost as if it were a puppet under the control of a much smaller boy.
This jaranon had been standing next to its dead comrade. At some point, Almark had positioned the dead one so the claws on its right hand were pointed upward. The jaranon fell over with Almark straddling it and fell directly onto the claws, which pierced through its chest.