The Ogre Demon’s Lightness Skill

The ogre demon came rushing toward me at incredible speed, gliding over the ground. The moment I saw that, I knew I had lost when it came to Lightness Skill.

“What good does it do to admit defeat?”

I fired myself up and began refining my qi. Floating Yang Qi began flowing through my yang meridians, and Heavy Yin Qi through my yin meridians, and by using the key principles of the Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique to apply pressure to the Floating Yang Qi, my senses sharpened and I entered the state of Moment of Foam, making it feel as though time around me had slowed.

Even so, the ogre demon was still plenty fast.

“It’s an ogre demon!”

I shouted at the top of my lungs. At that, the ogre demon’s face twisted in displeasure. It probably did not want a commotion. It had been about seven meters away from me, but from there it leaped and came flying at me.

Its long claws slashed down toward my neck. When I deflected them with the staff, the black claws shaved away the surface of the wood. Those claws seemed to be as sharp as blades.

I had hoped the ogre demon would lose its balance after having its attack deflected, but there was not the slightest sign of that. On the contrary, it stepped in and launched a continuous series of attacks.

I jumped backward to evade the attacks. Seeing that, the ogre demon leaped to pursue me. I grinned and brought Yang Fox-Flame down on the ogre demon. After confirming flames bursting from the tip of the staff, I swung it at the ogre demon’s chest.

“Guh.”

The ogre demon drew its dagger and blocked the Yang Fox-Flame. However, it had not blocked it completely, and the force of the Yang Fox-Flame sent its whole body flying.

“Good.”

I thought that even Yang Fox-Flame used through a staff might be able to defeat the ogre demon. However, if I simply attacked using only Yang Fox-Flame, it would probably deflect it. I needed attacks that skillfully mixed truth and falsehood. In this case, if the true strike was Yang Fox-Flame, then an ordinary fast attack would become the feint.

In other words, I would have to launch attacks mixed with feints. First I went for a diagonal overhead slash, then thrust at the ogre demon as it jumped backward. I had expected the ogre demon to dodge sideways. But instead, it slashed the staff with its dagger about thirty centimeters from the tip.

The staff was sliced cleanly in two. I had been ready to follow up with Yang Fox-Flame if it dodged, so I panicked a little. The next moment, the ogre demon grinned. Expecting a counterattack, my heartbeat quickened.

The ogre demon unleashed a swift thrust with its dagger. If I had not been in the state of Moment of Foam, I would have died without being able to follow its movements. It was that fast. I barely dodged the dagger attack. At that moment, I heard voices.

“Your Highness, it seems a scream was heard from the training ground.”

Prince Lianghong, who had been asleep, was awakened by one of his guards.

“…What kind of scream?”

“It was someone shouting, ‘It’s an ogre demon!’”

Those words woke him completely. Prince Lianghong hurriedly changed clothes, took up a weapon, and headed for the training ground with his guards. On the way, Elder Mon joined them as well.

“Elder Mon, it is dangerous, so please return to your room.”

When Prince Lianghong said that, Elder Mon shook her head and refused.

“Kou was supposed to have gone to the training ground.”

“That’s right. Let us hurry.”

When the prince and Elder Mon reached the training ground, they realized someone was fighting there.

“That is the ogre demon. Kou is fighting the ogre demon.”

Elder Mon cried out in shock.

It seemed the ogre demon had heard the voices I heard as well. Its gaze shifted toward the source of the voices. In that instant, I gripped the ground with the qi released from my feet and leaped with all my might. It was a jump that combined the Shrinking Earth Method of Meisen Swordsmanship with the techniques of Lightness Skill.

And at the same time I leaped, I threw the staff toward the ogre demon. Reflexively, the ogre demon knocked the staff aside with its dagger. That became an opening.

I instantly flew into the ogre demon’s reach and drove Lightning Palm Strike, the secret technique of Thunder Technique Fist, into its chest. At that moment, Heavy Yin Qi and Floating Yang Qi were released simultaneously from my palm, and with a roar like lightning striking, the ogre demon was blown away with the force of being hit by a truck.

The ogre demon flew through the air, slammed into the ground, and rolled. I heard Prince Lianghong and the others cry out as they watched.

“What a ferocious battle. We cannot interfere in this.”

Prince Lianghong said that, but one of the guards seemed to think the opposite and saw it as a chance.

“We can kill it now.”

Saying that, he drew his sword and ran forward.

“Don’t!”

Elder Mon tried to stop him, but the guard refused to listen. The guard ran up to the ogre demon and tried to skewer its chest with his sword. At that moment, the ogre demon, which had been lying on the ground, slammed its right hand against the ground and used the recoil to spring back up. It all happened in an instant.

The dagger in the ogre demon’s hand swept across the guard’s neck. A great spray of blood burst from his neck, and in the morning sunlight that blood shone like rubies.

The next moment, the ogre demon started running toward the capital’s defensive wall. I thought of chasing it, but then remembered that I had no weapon.

“Someone, please lend me a weapon!”

Hearing that, Elder Mon threw me the slender sword she had been carrying. Catching it, I started running. Just when I was about to catch up, the ogre demon leaped toward the wall. The defensive wall surrounding the royal capital was about four meters high, but the palace wall was about seven meters high.

It was too high for even an ogre demon to clear in a single leap. The ogre demon kicked off the wall once and sprang straight upward, escaping outside the palace. I also leaped toward the wall and tried to kick off it to go over. But I fell just short of the height and landed back on the ground.

“Hah… hah… I failed.”

I returned to Elder Mon and gave back the slender sword.

“I am sorry. It got away.”

“You did not have a proper weapon, so it could not be helped. More importantly, Prince Lianghong, please inform the extermination squad of this. And have the guard unit pursue the ogre demon that escaped.”

Prince Lianghong nodded and began issuing orders. Elder Mon turned her eyes toward me.

“Kou, you should practice Lightness Skill a little more.”

I had no reply to that. It seemed she had gotten a very good look at my pitiful Lightness Skill.