Gather Divine Coins and Gacha! - Chapter 139

 Yesterday, Liesel and the others departed for Rutor, and in addition, adventurers who had been staying in the capital also began to move together.

However, not all adventurers were moving, as there were still those who had been active in the capital originally, and others who were waiting for sufficient information to be gathered, so it was still busier than usual.

"I guess the middle layer, huh..."

Personally, I find it easiest to hunt orcs in the upper layers, but... there are still many adventurers around here.

Although we managed to breach the corridor last time, it was our first attempt at breaching, and perhaps we were too cautious, leading us to retreat in the face of the unexpected intelligence of the ogres.

I'm not trying to push too hard, but I'd like to hold out a little longer today.

Since there were six last time, the goal is to add one more, making it seven!

With renewed determination, I arrived at the corridor.

It's just moving near the ceiling, so it's easy up to this point.

"There you are...!"

I advanced about a third of the way through the corridor with various items activated when I sensed the ogres' reaction.

They're still in pairs, and they seem to have noticed me approaching and are preparing to throw stones.

I hold the umbrella I carry on my back and open it.

After returning from the dungeon last time, I made sure to check it thoroughly, and there wasn't a single scratch on it, thanks to its good material.

I guess I've been using it right.

"Alright!"

I accelerated at once, pushing through the corridor while dodging debris haphazardly with my umbrella, and closed it when I reached a few meters further, then accelerated even more, aiming to the right.

"Hah!"

I started with a kick from the front, destabilizing the stance, then swiftly rotated three-quarters while severing the neck, and executed the same combo on another ogre on the left side.

"They're not coming..."

While Akame crushes the cores buried in the heads that fell to the ground, I observe the ogres in the back. Although they seem to be aware of us, including the other stone-throwers, they aren't moving.

Last time, they had already started ascending at this point, and I somehow felt like the boss had become aware of us.

Maybe going up wasn't the best idea after all.

Now, about today's ogres...

The strongest one is in the center, with others stronger than the rest positioned around it.

It's hard to count since I can't overlook them from above, but there are 18 of them.

Considering I've already defeated two, that makes it a group of 20...

Well, no big difference.

Let's start from the edge for now.

Deciding so, I circled around widely while closing in.

"Mmm..."

Last time, we were put on alert from the start, and then we spent too much time dealing with the stone-throwers, unable to attack due to their formation, and had to retreat.

This time, they seem to have noticed us, but they're still not on high alert.

However... there are simply too many of them.

Regardless of their formation, it takes some courage to charge into that mess.

I stopped my approach about a third of the way around the hall.

Going further would put me within range of the stone-throwers, but upon further thought, this isn't a bad position.

There are three regular ogres directly ahead.

Behind them are the stronger individuals... let's call them chiefs.

There's one chief.

I can also see the stone-throwers on the edge of my vision.

"Alright... Let's do this!"

Let's start from the front!

◇

"Hah!"

Approaching to about five meters, I quickly accelerated and delivered a kick, followed by a spinning cut.

Then, Akame dove into the floating head, crushing the core, and I moved into the gap.

This combo is reliable.

That's the second one down, but the ogres still aren't making any big moves.

One of the stone-throwers is hurling rocks, but it feels more like a distraction and doesn't seem very motivated.

Can I keep going?

"Take this!"

I repeat the combo I've been using on the last ogre from the trio in front, successfully breaking down another corner.

With this pace, the stone-throwers... huh?

"What?!"

Just for a moment, I glanced back, and in that instant, the chief approached, reaching out with its arm.

If it had been a strike or a sweep, I might have managed, but being grabbed like this caught me off guard, and I instinctively tried to retreat upward.

"Oh..."

By ascending, I caught the boss's eye, and it let out a roar that echoed through the entire hall.

This is bad... Seems like I have a habit of trying to escape upward whenever anything happens.