“What should we do, Ogerpon?”

“Um…”

Ogerpon replied, “Ogerpon will listen to Damien.”

Ogerpon knew she wasn’t the brightest, and that was fine.

Like a Pokémon, following the trainer’s lead was nothing to be ashamed of.

“If it were up to me, I’d play it cautious.”

Damien was just thinking aloud; he didn’t actually expect Ogerpon, the little goof, to have any grand insights.

“Cautious?”

“Yeah.” Damien nodded. “The camp’s destruction makes me just as angry. I want to charge in and wipe out those disgusting bugs.”

“But we don’t know their numbers or the strength of their strongest fighters.”

“Rushing in blindly isn’t wise.”

Hearing this, Ogerpon felt a pang of guilt. “If only Ogerpon were stronger.”

That way, Damien wouldn’t have to hold back.

They were the ones being targeted, yet they had to swallow their anger.

“You’re already plenty strong.” Damien said sincerely. With Ogerpon’s B-rank evaluation, she could take on A-rank monsters and hold her own.

In the Jura Forest, that put her firmly at the top of the food chain.

Only A-rank monsters with a Disaster rating could make Ogerpon think twice.

“Here’s the plan.” Damien decided. “No matter what, we need to find the source of these bug monsters and pinpoint their nest’s location and distance from us.”

Whether they were relocating to a new base or preparing to counter the bugs’ attacks, knowing the target’s location was critical.

Plus, Damien had his eyes on these bug monsters.

Before Ogerpon could evolve into a Demon Lord Seed, her Unique Skill Grower required a large number of monsters to fuel its accelerated growth.

Defeating or slaying them would help Ogerpon level up quickly.

“I don’t know how many bugs there are, but there’s definitely a lot.”

“If we can take them all out, Ogerpon’s existence value might break past 10,000, reaching A-rank.”

With an A-rank Ogerpon by his side, Damien’s safety in the Jura Forest would be secured.

It would also give him more options when traveling to other worlds.

So, Damien shared his plan with Ogerpon. “In simple terms, we find their nest first, then assess their strength.”

“If we can take them, we go all in and turn those bugs into experience points for you, Ogerpon!”

“If we can’t, we pull back.”

As the saying goes, as long as you live, there’s always another chance.

It’s not cowardice… it’s a strategic retreat.

“Once you hit A-rank, Ogerpon, we’ll come back.” Damien added, “and crush them!”

“Yeah!” Ogerpon wasn’t afraid of a fight. “Ogerpon will follow Damien’s lead!”

“Haha.” Damien chuckled, patting Ogerpon’s small head before crouching down to activate the Ranger class skill Tracking.

In an instant, magicules rippled outward from Damien, spreading in all directions.

Trees, bushes, rocks…

A flood of information filled Damien’s mind.

He felt immersed in a grayscale world, his senses carpet-searching for traces of anything and everything.

“Got it.”

Three minutes later, processing the skill’s feedback, Damien opened his eyes.

His expression was odd.

“What’s wrong, Damien?”

“There’s a group of presences heading toward the bug nest.”

As he spoke, Damien cast several spells.

[Stealth]

[Presence Concealment]

[Trace Erasure]

Three Konosuba Hunter skills activated in succession, and Damien signaled to Ogerpon. “Let’s go check it out.”

“Bo-ne!”

With their presences hidden, Damien and Ogerpon followed the bug monsters’ tracks.

They traveled for about half an hour.

At their speed, they covered over 200 kilometers.

“Damien, it’s the bugs’ stench.”

Ogerpon’s nose twitched. “And another smell I don’t recognize… some kind of monster.”

Bang!

Boom!

Skreee~~

Damien’s sense of smell wasn’t as sharp as Ogerpon’s, but he could hear the sounds of combat ahead.

“The bugs are fighting someone.”

“Looks like we’re not the only ones in the forest being targeted by these insects!”

Without revealing themselves, Damien remained cautious.

Ogerpon, meanwhile, displayed the stealth skills she honed on Oni Mountain.

The two silently climbed into the treetops, using the foliage as cover to observe the fierce clash in the distance.

They saw over thirty tall, humanoid creatures with muscular builds, horns on their foreheads, and skin in shades of purple, red, and blue… unlike any human.

“The Ogre Tribe?”

Almost instantly, Damien recognized these humanoid monsters.

The creatures battling the bugs were none other than the B-rank Ogre Tribe, native to the depths of the Jura Forest.

His gaze fell on a red-skinned ogre wielding a blade and a purple-skinned, one-horned female ogre brandishing a long sword.

“Benimaru and Shion?”

Their appearances differed slightly from the anime Damien knew, but they were similar enough.

That made sense.

They hadn’t yet been named by Rimuru, so they retained their ogre forms.

Plus, transitioning from 2D to 3D naturally altered their look.

“The ones fighting the bugs are the Ogre Tribe.”

Noticing the scattered, broken bodies of ogres on the ground, Damien quickly pieced together the situation. “The bugs must have attacked their village, so the ogres sent a team to find the nest, and now they’re clashing.”

“But…” Damien frowned. “Was this in the original story?”

“Or did my presence cause a butterfly effect?”

He wasn’t sure which it was.

Not dwelling on it, he focused on the current situation.

“There are at least 500 bugs down there.”

“Over 300 C-rank monsters, more than 100 C+-rank, and a few dozen B–rank.”

Seeing the dozen or so mangled ogre corpses, it was clear the ogres were losing this fight.

“With so many bugs ganging up on forty ogres, no wonder they’re taking such heavy losses.”

Damien considered intervening, perhaps forging a connection with the Ogre Tribe.

He glanced at Ogerpon, weighing whether to let her join the fray.

***

Bonus Chapter:

100 Power Stones = 1 BC

300 Power Stones = 2 BC

500 Power Stones = 3 BC

700 Power Stones = 4 BC

1000 Power Stones = 5 BC

***

If you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don’t hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (remove space)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep