BSS 40

Chapter 40

“It’s all or nothing now! Undine! Ador!”

$Yes,Master.$

$You’recallingmequiteoftentoday,Master.Forthefirsttime,Ilikeit.$

When Ador appeared, the area brightened slightly.

I turned my gaze toward the ogre.

To be honest, I hadn’t properly tested this yet, so I couldn’t guarantee its power—but I was the only one here who could use magic.

And objectively speaking, ogres took more damage from magic than from physical attacks.

The real problem was… that I was ten years old!

“Undine! Aqua Ball at the ogre!”

SPLASH.

After practicing the spell several times, Undine had gotten a little faster.

Leaving tiny droplets in the air, the Aqua Ball shot forward and hit the ogre right in the forehead.

I didn’t expect the spell to deal any real damage anyway.

The ogre ignored the Aqua Ball completely and continued trying to tear Kenta apart alive.

“I don’t want to see that! Undine, keep firing!”

Startled by the sudden rain of Aqua Balls, the mercenaries stepped back.

The ogre, irritated by the continued water attack, hurled Kenta aside and charged straight toward me, its single fused eye glinting menacingly.

“Ugh! This is why I didn’t want to do this…! Undine, keep going!”

Three Aqua Balls flew quickly, but the ogre didn’t dodge—it took them head-on as it thundered toward me.

Its upper body was drenched.

“Ador! Your turn!”

The mercenaries, who had backed away from the Aqua Balls, raised their weapons again but immediately retreated at Shabel’s hand signal.

I covered my ears.

$WhatshallIdo,Master!I’malreadyprepared!$

“Dump all remaining mana into it! Shock!”

I didn’t have much mana left, but even if this failed, I believed the mercenaries would cover me. Worst case… I’d go flying in that giant fist.

CRACK‑CRACK‑CRACK!

When I poured all her remaining mana into the Shock spell, golden sparks flashed over the ogre’s water‑soaked body.

“GRAAAH!”

The light was so intense that my vision went white for a moment, and even though I covered my ears, the explosion made them ring painfully.

Did it work?

The ogre froze in the middle of its charge, but I still couldn’t relax.

“……”

Everyone held their breath.

A cold breeze blew from somewhere—and then it happened.

The ogre staggered violently and collapsed to the ground.

Its massive body hit the earth with a boom, shaking the ground and sending dust flying toward me.

“…Was that… a success?”

Even I couldn’t believe the result.

My mana ran out and Undine and Ador were forcibly unsummoned. My stomach churned.

I had used my mana too quickly—I felt nauseous and dizzy, like motion sickness.

Maybe it was because my vision blurred, but the pitch‑black, burnt ogre looked unreal.

“We did it!”

“Incredible, Genie!”

It felt like a long moment. The mercenaries burst into cheers, breaking the silence.

I lost all strength in my legs and plopped down on the ground.

“Uwoooooh!”

“Genie! Genie!”

Anel came over and helped me to my feet.

The mercenaries swarmed around me, their rough hands ruffling my hair.

My head shook wildly, making me even more disoriented—but I couldn’t stop grinning.

“You’re pretty good for a kid!”

“What was that flashy thing?”

“…My spirit!”

“I don’t know much about magic, but that was amazing!”

“I said it was my spirit!”

My mana was completely drained and my body felt hollow, but that emptiness was filled with a warm, overwhelming sense of victory.

My first proper win.

Before I knew it, I was sitting on Kenta’s shoulders, and from the higher viewpoint, the ogre lying on the ground looked a little smaller.

$Maaasteeer\dots tothinkyouforgotaboutme\dots sob.$

“Rai?”

Right—Rai! When I last saw him, he had been clinging to the ogre’s wrist!

Only now did I remember Rai’s existence and look for him. He was still attached to the ogre’s wrist, but his once glossy scales were severely damaged.

I climbed down from Kenta’s shoulder and picked Rai up. When I touched him—pitch‑black like charcoal—soot stained my hand.

“Ugh! What is this? Did your shell melt?”

$It’syourfault,Master!$

“Sorry… What should we do?”