A White Ogre?!

“Ha… to think a monster like that was hidden in this country.”

The one who spoke in a voice filled with curiosity, bewilderment, and something close to a sigh was none other than the wizard Kreba. They formed an investigation team and moved to track down the “wizard who controlled the weather.” If there was anything fortunate, it was that they were acting based on materials gathered by the secret police, the Mauter.

Since they had some leads to work with from the start, they were able to produce results quickly. The traces found starting from the capital eventually led all the way to this southern metropolis, Trizen, with the help of Wizard Kreba.

After a difficult pursuit, they discovered traces of a particular kind of magic, and that brought them here. And as seen, they infiltrated what looked like an ordinary building—but contrary to expectations, they found something sizable in the underground facility, and soon laid eyes on that monster sealed inside a container.

‘It resembled the ogre I saw in the monster compendium, but it was something altered into a different form.’

He had previously heard through reports that the Magnia Empire had deployed and used a bioweapon called “Grow” on the battlefield. He did not know the details since it had been acquired at an organizational level, but those creations—born from advanced biotechnology—were bizarre beyond words.

‘A being that should not be possible, yet was made. And they look similar, yet different.’

Since it felt closer to an “evolved type,” he began to suspect the Magnia Empire might have hidden something like that here. And just as that thought crossed his mind, he saw the Expert named Camyu moving swiftly, carving into the monster’s flesh.

‘In terms of raw strength, Camyu is stronger.’

He thought that with enough time, Camyu might be able to win even alone. Of course, there was the difficulty that it would take many steps to get to that point. Then—bang! bang-bang-bang, bang!—gunshots erupted in rapid succession. Agents who had come with the investigation team were firing their pistols.

Naturally, pistol rounds could not leave even a mark on its skin. Even so, they kept firing to distract it as much as possible and support Camyu. At that moment, one agent rushed up to Wizard Kreba and spoke urgently.

“Sir Kreba! You should fall back farther for now.”

“I am fine. I want to examine it more closely.”

“Still… are you sure you’ll be all right?”

“Hoho. Do not lump me together with ordinary wizards.”

As he spoke, he slammed his staff into the ground—thud—and the agent could not help nodding. They had not confirmed everything yet, but from what they had seen so far, they knew he possessed power beyond common sense. They had even seen him casually bend something like a fork with his fingers.

“Police units and military forces will be deploying soon.”

“If they bring even artillery, that thing won’t come out unscathed.”

“That’s what we’re counting on. I contacted them in advance—told them to bring the biggest they could.”

“Well done. Though… those people are something, too.”

Ten more people approached as if joining the fight. They had the nerve to charge head-on at that monster—something anyone would call reckless. But their movements were beyond ordinary.

They rushed in and fired pistols nonstop, and the moment it swung an arm at them, they leapt away cleanly—proof they weren’t normal people either.

Of course, they didn’t move like an Expert. Most of them only barely avoided getting hit. A few, trying to hinder its movement, grabbed fist-sized stones from the ground and hurled them hard into its legs, again helping to distract it.

With that support, Camyu went for its neck in a single stroke. The aura-infused blade sliced through flesh—and bone—but then he had no choice but to hesitate.

‘He only cut halfway.’

Even with an aura-infused edge, he couldn’t fully sever the neck bone. That meant the bone itself was extraordinarily dense. It was dangerous and uncanny enough to make one think, Could such a monster truly exist in this world?

‘While I turned my back on the world and stayed holed up in a lab, something like this was created… things have changed that much.’

Even as he thought that, he realized that killing it wouldn’t be possible with ordinary attacks. At minimum, they would need a large-caliber cannon to deal it meaningful damage. And as that thought formed, police cars came flooding in with blaring sirens.

Watching them, Wizard Kreba looked on with concern.

‘They won’t be enough.’

And at that moment—whoosh—someone flew through the air, smashed through the glass of an approaching police car, and slammed into it. It was one of the special agents—hit by an attack he failed to evade, sent flying all the way into the vehicle.

Crash—! The car’s direction twisted as it toppled onto its side.

“Oh no!”

Other police cars braked hard, and as officers poured out, shock spread across their faces. A monster like an ogre with pure white skin—everyone looked rattled. Seeing that, a Mauter agent shouted at the police as if barking an order.

“Snap out of it! Fire as much as you can and distract it!”

“W-Who are you to order us—”

“Mauter!”

“Huh!?”

“Move, now!”

Flashing his identification as he shouted, the agent sent the police scrambling to obey. The monster terrified them, but the Mauter were known among police as grim reapers. As a result, they moved briskly, pulling out rifles and squeezing their triggers.

Bang! Bang-bang-bang! Bang-bang-bang! Bang-bang!

Gunfire thundered as they aimed at the monster, but as expected, no bullet could pierce its skin. At most, the impacts left shallow dents. The police could only stare in horror.

Even so, Camyu and the special agents kept moving with speed, targeting it—yet now, rather than closing in, they focused on distraction. They were buying time.

Then, after observing for a while, Wizard Kreba finally gripped his staff and began murmuring. He started chanting a spell, joining the battle as a wizard. As he moved, a blue magic circle formed in midair.

Before that magic circle, a single ice spear three meters long appeared. As if the chant had ended, Wizard Kreba thrust his staff forward and cried out a spell command.

“ᛒᛤᛔᛄ￡∂-!”

With a voice that carried a strange resonance, the ice spear shot out—bang!—and flew straight toward the ogre’s body. Startled, it swung a fist at it.

Kwaching—!

Its fist froze solid. At the same time, the length of the ice spear vanished as if it were boring into the arm. The entire arm froze over—and then, crack!—with a shattering sound, one arm broke apart into fragments.

Seeing attack magic like that for the first time, everyone’s eyes widened as they stared at Wizard Kreba. But Kreba himself shook his head. The spell might have been powerful, yet it was neither easy nor satisfying.

‘The attack magic I can use is horribly inefficient.’

After the decline of magic, the number of wizards had decreased even further, and the variety and overall power of spells had also fallen behind. In the end, the destructive power of a gunpowder shell far exceeded most attack spells.

In earlier eras, magic might have seemed nearly omnipotent, but in this era, it simply wasn’t that overwhelming. Above all, its range was far too short. No matter how large the spell, it couldn’t fly more than a kilometer.

It was shorter-ranged than a bullet that could travel several kilometers.

‘All I did was remove a single arm.’

Even so, for a brief instant, magic could show formidable power. And if there was any comfort in being a wizard, it was that applied magic had advanced beyond comparison with the past. Even if raw power was weak, its practical usefulness was enormous.

With improved engines enhanced and hardened through magic-circle modifications, all kinds of applied magic could push existing technology even further. And one example of that was arriving now—grrrr—an engine roar, and then tanks rolled down the road toward them.

They were Frei Tanks, the Polia Kingdom’s main battle tanks. Since they were deployed for major-city defense, they were warm-off-the-line production models. Even if they hadn’t participated in war, they had invited many experienced personnel and, based on that input, produced a tank far more advanced than the early model.

It had a more improved engine and upgraded armor. And on the rotating turret atop the tank, instead of the old 40mm gun, a 50mm tank cannon had been mounted.

Even the 8.1mm machine gun had been upgraded to 13.1mm. Because of that, everyone called the improved model “Frei 2” like a nickname—and now four of them had arrived here. Those who saw them lit up with relief.

The barrels shifted, and the muzzles aimed at the white monster—then they fired. Boom! Boom-boom! Boom! Four shells flew toward the monster. Three struck nearby and exploded, while one hit its thigh directly.

Crash!

With a sizable explosion, it cried out—Kraaagh!—and staggered backward. Looking closely, its thigh had been punched clean through. No matter how tough its skin was, it couldn’t endure the destructive force of a 50mm shell.

Tududududu—! Tududududu—!

Heavy gunfire followed as countless 13.1mm rounds poured into the monster’s body. Compared to ordinary bullets, the impacts pressed much deeper into its skin. Shells pierced it, but sadly, it still seemed able to withstand machine-gun fire.

Even so, perhaps the pounding rounds weren’t something it could fully ignore—it raised its three remaining hands to cover its face. And then, as if reloading had finished, the tanks fired again.

Boom! Boom-boom! Boom!

The tank hulls rocked as the shells launched, and this time two hits landed. Its abdomen exploded and was pierced through, and its shoulder also blew apart—then it toppled backward from the blast’s force. Seeing that, everyone cheered.

“Tank cannons really are something!”

“Kill that thing already!”

“Finish the monster off!”

Even amid the shouts, the tanks loaded quickly and kept firing at the monster. It writhed and tried to rise, but with shells hammering it, it couldn’t figure out what to do.

“Fortunately, since the first hit punched through its thigh, it lost a lot of mobility, so dealing with it became easy.”

“Looks that way. And maybe it has little resistance to explosions—the healing speed on its blast wounds seems noticeably slower.”

Wizard Kreba focused on that point: wounds that had been regenerating rapidly were now rebuilding far more slowly. It wasn’t an invincible target, and as the shells kept landing, the monster gradually lost its shape—revealing one clear fact.

“If a hundred of these monsters came at once, it would be quite dangerous.”

“Indeed. Even with four tanks firing continuously, it’s not dying immediately.”

“It’s tenacious, but what is there to worry about? If it’s on the order of a hundred, then bringing even more tanks would be enough. And tank technology will keep advancing—dealing with them will only become easier.”

“That’s true. Unless an even stronger version appears, the threat level will drop.”

For a nation, it was ultimately just a single bioweapon. If there were many of them, the state could develop or mass-produce even more countermeasures to match.

Considering that the Polia Kingdom currently had about 2,700 tanks deployed on the mainland, it wasn’t a national-level danger. The only ones truly at risk would be the soldiers who had to face it directly.

In the end, the monster lost so much of its shape that it could no longer regenerate. The tanks stopped firing and maintained a guarded posture. And now, a large force was approaching this area.

At the very least, more than three thousand troops had converged here. And if time passed, it was certain that tens of thousands would eventually arrive in the city. Meanwhile, Wizard Kreba looked at the barely remaining mass and asked the agent beside him whether they could investigate it.

“If you’re going to take that for investigation, could I participate as well?”

“I’ll ask His Majesty first. If the King permits it, you’ll be able to take part.”

“Hm. Tell him quickly. I’m dying of curiosity—how did they create and modify a life-form in that shape?”

They had modified an ogre—an extinct monster. That meant the creators’ level was undoubtedly high. The key question was who those creators were: the Magnia Empire, or some secret organization?