The blue-haired female ogre barely made it into the deep part of the forest away from the orcs. She was out of breath but thankfully escaped with little to no injuries aside the ones previous to her fight with the orc general. Her large claymore was sheathed into the scabbard on her back as she leaned against a tree to try to recover. The rain made it hard for her to see far, but it was enough to be able to safely navigate the forest.

"What an awful day..." she said to the empty forest as she forced herself to keep moving after a short break. Who knew were the orcs were headed next? At the very least, she hoped that it wasn't towards the young master and the rest of the survivors of the village. She had seen the three of them escape successfully, so as long as they avoided doing anything rash like turning around to attack the orcs, they should be safe.

The ogre climbed up the tree nearest tree after deciding that traveling with a height advantage could be the difference between life and death at the moment. Indeed, she was smart as she saw not too far away the orcs making their own path through the forest. The trees that fell to their massive army didn't even hit the ground as it fell, but was rather thrown to the side since the massive orc army simply lifted it and tossed it aside like a twig.

The girl had no time to process the grief after she left the village, her sole focus on escaping the orcs and finding the survivors of the attack. She kept moving, stopping by the river only to rest for a short while before moving again to avoid allowing the enormous orc army to catch up while she was searching for her friends. After all, the forest of Jura was huge and searching through this whole forest would take forever. Despite that, she was determined to find her friends, even if it meant she would spend the rest of her life scouring the forest.

~~~

The rain continued to pour as the red-haired young master started to lead the group away from their demolished village. There was nothing there for them anymore except burnt wooden planks that used to be the houses they lived in. Not a single body was left for either the ogres or the orcs. It was weird that there wasn't a single corpse in sight, but there was no time to dwell on it at the moment.

"Let's head south for now, since the orcs look like they headed to the east." The red-haired ogre pointed towards the direction of fallen trees to the east. Clearly they had torn a path of their own.

"Do you think that perhaps they were chasing something?" the pink-haired princess suggested hopefully. "What if Little Blue is still out there? What if she didn't perish?!"

"Stop that," the young master said, his voice pained as he thought of his friend. It was never good to get your hopes up in such a desperate situation. The chance of her surviving was so low, especially after they had left her in her rage. It was suicide to go against the orc general while in the midst of his army.

"We have no proof that Little Blue is dead!" the princess argued defiantly. "What if she's out there being chased by the orcs and she needs our help?! What if -"

"We have no proof she is alive!" The young master interrupted his sister with a strong punch into the trunk of the nearest tree as he hung his head. They all flinched at how much pain was laced through his words. Of course, no one more than he would wish that she was still alive, even more than her own cousin. After all, this was the girl that he loved with all his heart. "The orcs devoured everything in sight and even took all the weapons and armor. We have no way to know that she survived the fight and fled. We can hope all we want, but the reality is that she is most probably dead."

"Brother..." the princess trailed off. She wanted to cry, but she also wanted to console her brother. He must've been taking it harder than anyone else, especially since he was always expected to take care of his village. Now, that was all gone thanks to the orc invasion. Adding on top, his childhood friend that always was there to support him was gone without even a body left behind to mourn.

"Let's keep moving," the blue-haired ogre insisted. The group solemnly nodded, continuing their south into the forest to hopefully avoid the orcs.

~~~

To the east, the blue-haired ogre girl sighed in relief as she finally managed to shake the orc army off her tail. They had been following her through the forest, tearing it up along the way as they created their own path of destruction. She felt bad, but they had only stopped after she had accidentally ran over top a goblin village. The guilt of letting them die ate at her, but this world of monsters was survival of the fittest. As the orcs got distracted, she made a wide circle around them and headed back to her ruined village.

She hoped that they had turned back after the army had left, though she wouldn't be surprised if they were far off. If she knew the young master well, he would be smart and lead them away from the orcs and in the opposite direction. However, this left all options open except east.

As she arrived back at the village, the rain was starting to let up, turning from a downpour into a light shower. However, the sky was still overcast, dark clouds blocking the light as if reflecting the ogre village's tragedy. As she made it to the center of the village, she saw the same thing that the others had seen: an empty, desolate village void of a single being, dead of alive.

She scoured the entire village, walking sadly through the streets at a fast pace, her head swiveling back and forth as she looked down the former alleyways and in between the boards of the burnt houses in case there was any survivor. After an hour of searching, she finally gave up, fighting back tears as she hoped that the others had escaped safety. She didn't know what to do if she became the last ogre alive after the massacre of her village.

The young ogre reached up and took the flower clip off her hair, holding it gently in between her palms. The red blood had washed off in the rain, staining her kimono and her hair red, but the flower was clean. She smiled a bit sadly at the flower.

"I need you until this flower dies, so please be alive," she pleaded to open air, addressing her best friend. She brought the flower close to her heart before gently clipping it back into her hair. With a new resolve, she headed off toward the south of the destroyed village, praying that her instinct was right.

~~~

"There are goblins and wolves ahead," the blue-haired male reported as the rest of them silently gathered around their makeshift camp. It had been a few days since the orc army had rammed through their village. They had successfully avoided the destructive path of the orc army, but just earlier today, the group had run across a group of wolves and goblins.

"Try to avoid them. The goblins and the wolves are not our enemies. It's the majin and those orcs we're after," the young master sighed. After an exhausting battle with the orc army and the grief of their losses, the group was battle-weary. Weaponw-wise the ogres surely could overpower the group, but they simply had no reason to fight goblins and wolves. The purple-haired ogre had lost her weapon in the escape from the orcs, but had managed to pick up a weapon that essentially was a giant, spiked metal ball on a stick. The blue-haired ogre wielded dual swords and the young master had his katana that glinted dangerously in the light. Lastly, the largest ogre had made himself hammer in the forest that could withstand his strong attacks.

However, their hope to avoid them was to no avail as their presence startled the goblins and wolves, causing a couple of them to launch a preemptive attack. Swiftly, the red-haired young master and his blue-haired friend repelled the attackers. With just a backward glance from her brother, the pink-haired princess quickly put most of them to sleep, with only three of their opponents too far out of range for her magic. The three that remained consisted of a wolf with a star on his forehead where his horn protruded and two goblins, one with a red cloth on his head. Both the goblins were armed with swords, albeit they were but mere twigs when put up against the ogres.

"You two take care of the wolf," the young master ordered to the large ogre and the blue-haired ogre. They both nodded, swiftly splitting off towards the wolf as the young master and the white-haired ogre took care of the goblin.

"Take care of that goblin with the red cloth," the young master called to the purple-haired ogre before heading straight off into battle. She nodded, heading in the opposite direction to engage with the second goblin that had a red cloth tied around his head. This goblin appeared more like a hobgoblin than a goblin, so the purple-haired female made a note to be wary as she lifted her spiked weapon and engaged in combat.

To be honest, the smaller goblin wasn't lacking talent, but the two ogres he was fighting were stronger. Compared to the more peaceful goblins, ogres, as a warring race, were sufficiently trained in combat of all types with at minimum the ability to defend themselves. The small goblin put up a good fight, but the older white-haired ogre ended it quickly with a swipe of his sword to the goblin's chest. The goblin tumbled back in pain.

"I'm gonna die!" the goblin cried as he tumbled head over heels. "I'm dead!"

As he collapsed a figure appeared behind him, crouching down behind to assess the damage. It was the masked human; at least, that what it appeared like. The young master stood still, observing the figure. The blue-haired humanoid figure crouched behind the goblin and seemed to hold a position of power above the goblin. The young master narrowed his eyes. Normal humans had no means to command or control monsters.

"Finish with the wolf and come back here," the young master commanded the other two ogres who were still occupied with the wolf. "We may have run into a majin." Immediately, the two up in the air seemed to fight harder, wanting to quickly end the battle so they could aid the young master in case it was another enemy.

The two males jumped up, meeting the wolf midair, their weapons clashing with the wolf's surprisingly sturdy horn before they disengaged. Before the two ogres could land on the ground, the wolf turned around, howling as he blasted the two ogres into the trees with a strong gust of wind. Both parties, however, landed on the ground with no harm to either side.

Once all four paws were on the ground, the wolf took off, heading straight towards the two ogres he had met midair while the two ogres readied their respective weapons. This wolf was a harder opponent than all the others combined. Before the wolf could make it to the two, a wall of blue flames erupted, separating the ogres from the possible majin and his army. To be specific, this was the Princess' blue flames. The wolf skidded to a stop, managing to steady himself just a couple centimeters away from the scorching flames.

"Ranga!" the masked figure called. Immediately, the wolf heeded the command, turning around to regroup with his master. As the wolf turned around at his command, the ogres immediately assumed that this was a masked majin, similar to the ones that had attacked their village. Monsters wouldn't bow to a mere human, so there had to be some type of power this majin had.

"Master! Forgive me. This happened while I was here." The wolf bowed his head in apology. Before the majin could reply, the clash of metal weapons caught his attention, drawing it to the purple-haired ogre who was still fighting with the hobgoblin with the red cloth. Surprisingly, he was keeping up with the ogre's strong attacks, albeit he was stuck in defense as he protected himself from her strong strikes.

"Come back, Rigur!" the majin ordered him again. As the purple-haired ogre struck down from above, he quickly dodged and jumped back, quickly retreating back to the majin's side.

"G-Great Rimuru... I am sorry!" The goblin winced as he collapsed onto his hands and knees in front of the majin. The ogres took this chance to regroup, all of them eyeing the majin with anger.

"Don't worry. Leave this to me and get some rest," the majin said kindly, throwing some kind of blue orb to the hobgoblin. Immediately after being splashed, the hobgoblin seemed to heal in an instant. However, this only made the ogres more wary and enraged as they had never seen a power that could fully heal anyone.

"Ranga, what happened to the ones that have fallen?" the majin asked the wolf.

"They've been put to sleep with magic. That pink-haired one did it," the wolf reported back. The fallen goblins and wolves had injuries, but they were minor at most and were of no worry. It seemed that the ogres weren't aiming to kill them. At least, not yet. As the wolf and majin turned their gaze to the princess, the other ogres quickly stepped in front of her, blocking the youngest from view as they stared angrily at the majin.

"Magic, huh?" the majin repeated. "Looks like these guys are going to be trouble."

"How humiliating. I never thought we would run into ogres," the hobgoblin said behind the majin. He was down on his knees, his red cloth hat a bit torn after the exhausting battle with the ogres.

"Ogres?" the majin asked, confused. He stared at the six in front of him for a while. The ogres themselves didn't make a move since they weren't quite sure how to take on the majin just yet.

"Hey, you guys," the majin called as he took a few steps forward. "I don't know what happened, but sorry about what my guys did. Would you be willing to talk this out?" The ogres said nothing, only staring and trying to examine the majin in return. To avenge their village, they needed to defeat this majin.

"Show us who you really are, evil majin!" The young master called out.

"Huh?" The majin seemed surprised. "Hey, hang on! What did you call me?"

"Enslaving monsters is not a feat just any human can accomplish!" the young master declared harshly while pointing a finger at the blue-haired majin.

"Huh?" The majin tilted his head in confusion.

"You may hide your appearance and suppress your aura, but it won't work!" the young master yelled angrily.

"Reveal your true identity!" the white-haired swordsmaster called.

"For the mastermind to approach us himself is most convenient," the blue-haired ogre stated. His eyebrows were furrowed in anger as he glared at the majin. His own cousin most likely perished in the battle and the thought of it made his hate for majin skyrocket.

"Hey, listen, guys..."

"We have no intention of listening to you," the young master declared, placing a hand on the hilt of his katana. "That mask tells us everything we need to know!" Swiftly, the young master drew his blade.

"My mask? Wait a minute! Aren't you making some kind of mistake?" the blue-haired majin quickly refuted. "This is just a keepsake of -"

The majin was interrupted as the young master pointed his blade at him. Quickly, the majin raised both his hands up with his palms facing outward.

"If it will serve to repay even a billionth of what was done to our brethren and to Little Blue, we will have your head!" the red-haired ogre declared. "You friend of those evil pigs!"

"What shall we do?" the wolf whispered the majin.

"Do?" the majin repeated. He stared at the group before replying quietly. "I mean... You take care of the pink-haired one. And don't kill her. I think there's more to this. Just get in their way a bit. I'll take out the rest."

"But that would mean you'd be taking on five ogres," the wolf replied, concerned for his master.

"Not a problem," the majin replied confidently. "I won't lose."

"You underestimate us," the young master said, a bit miffed. "Are you truly brave or just foolhardy? Out of respect for your sheer nerve, I'll go along with your provocation. I hope you don't regret it later."

With that being said, the young master readied his blade before dashing straight towards the blue-haired majin. He lifted his blade high, bringing it down on the majin, only to cut into a blade of grass. Wind blew the dirt up from the sheer force of the attack. Surprised, the young master spun, only to see that the majin was standing in front of the large black-haired ogre. The large ogre lifted his wooden hammer, ready for an attack.

"You can just take a nap," the majin said, lifting a hand and single-handedly incapacitating the ginormous ogre with [Paralysis Breath]. The majin took a step back, allowing the black-haired ogre to fall forward onto the ground with a thud. Enraged, the purple-haired female ran forwards, swinging her spiked weapon toward the majin who ducked just in time. She had cut off at most a few split ends.

"Sorry but I saw you with magic sense," the majin said calmly as he turned around to face her. Before she could attack again, the majin's eyes focused on her large chest.

"Huge!" he suddenly commented, making the female falter. Quickly, the blue-haired majin tried to correct himself. "Well, that's not what I meant by 'I saw you!'" Not taking any of it, the purple-haired ogre swung her weapon downwards, the spiked metal ball smashing into the ground easily as the majin nimbly avoided the attack.

"Don't get me wrong!" the majin shouted as he released a barrage of [Sticky Steel Thread] that entangled her, her weapon out of reach and her arms bound tightly to her sides.

"Looks like you're about to fall, miss," the majin said lightly, referring to how she was suspended above the ground by just the threads.

Quickly, the blue-haired ogre followed up his comrade's attack, dashing forward quickly with one of his blades aimed perfectly at the majin's mask. As he approached, instead of hitting the mask, the blade broke in half after it was met with the [Body Armor] skill. With a strong, well-aimed punch, the majin threw back the blue-haired ogre, launching the ogre into a tree where he fell to the ground, slumped over in pain. The princess wanted to aid the battle, but the wolf growling continuously in front of her kept her occupied.

"They beat us that easily..." the pink ogre stated in fear.

"So, that just leaves..." the majin looked towards the two remaining ogres which happened to be the red-haired young master and his white-haired instructor.

"What'll it be?" the majin asked. The two ogres eyed him warily.

"The Evil Centipede's [Paralysis Breath]... The Black Spider's [Sticky Steel Thread]... The Armorsaurus's [Body Armor]..." the white-haired ogre listed off. "He may have learned the skills of many other monsters, as well. Do not lower your guard, Young Master."

"Can we stop this?" The majin asked extending his hands to his side. "I'd like you to hear what I have to say now."

"Quiet, evil majin!" the young master yelled in reply.

"Okay, um... So, listen..." the majin trailed off.

"I admit you are strong," the young master declared. "That makes me all the more certain."

"Certain of what?"

"You are one of them! It is unthinkable for us Ogres to be defeated by mere Orcs!"

"Orc? H-hang on, what makes you -"

"Quiet!" The red ogre interrupted. "I know it was all the work of you and your majin comrades!"

"Wait! You've got the wrong -" The majin was cut off as the white-haired ogre appeared behind him, ready to behead the blue-haired majin. Despite missing his intended target, the ogre still managed to cleanly slice off the majin's arm as the majin dodged and jumped away. Behind, the two goblins voiced their worries while the wolf briefly took his attention off of the princess to growl at the white-haired ogre.

"I must be going senile. I was certain I cut off your head," the white-haired ogre mused as he stood where majin once was.

"I'm fine!" the majin caled to his wolf. "Don't let your guard down!"

"Next time, I won't miss," the white-haired ogre threatened, fully meaning his words.

"Looks like you were just foolhardy after all," the young master taunted. "I commend your courage to remain calm after losing an arm. However, the pride that compelled you to take us all on alone will be your downfall! Regret your folly in the next life!"

Instead of reacting to the young master's words, the majin calmly picked up his severed arm. The ogres watched as the severed arm exploded into a light blue blob before the majin absorbed it in. Immediately after, the severed arm was regenerated. The ogres gasped in shock.

"Did you think you'd beaten me just by cutting off one of my arms?" the majin asked, waving his regenerated arm at them.

"F-Foul beast!" The young master lifted his sword and activated his skill [Ogre Flame]. The flames raged in a whirl, extending upwards like a tornado where the majin had been standing. As the young master released his powers, he felt the familiar heat burning inside of him, but forced it down. Little Blue wasn't here anymore to help him. He had to win this for her sake and for the rest of the village. He couldn't let a small thing such as his rampaging powers stop him from taking vengeance.

"Young master..." the white-haired ogre trailed off.

"Did I... get them?" Their joy of defeating the majin was cut short as the majin casually walked out of the fire, not a single burn on him.

"Too bad," the majin said as he calmly exited the fiery spire. "Fire has no effect on me. You were right though. I did underestimate you."

Reaching up, the majin removed the mask and released the aura. The ogres hesitated, feeling the immense energy of the majin in front of them. Perhaps they had picked a fight they weren't going to win. However, they still would fight until their last breath for the honor of their village.

"I'll show you what I'm like when I'm serious," the majin threatened. In response, the young master took up a stance to engage the majin. The majin didn't move, but instead let his aura shine through. "Take a good look."

He raised his hand, a black flame appearing, and lifted it above his head. A tornado of black fire spiraled upwards towards the sky, turning the sky an ashy grey. The ogres all glanced up in shock as the majin put more power into the fire, causing it to expand outwards into the sky, wind blowing harshly around the forest opening.

"That's... That flame is..." The pink-haired princess stared up in fright. "It's not produced by using the surrounding magicules! The only thing forming that flame is his pure strength! And the size of the flame mirrors the size of his powers..."

"I'll show you something even more interesting," the majin announced, easily controlling the flame with just his one hand. "This is my true power!" turning to face a boulder not too far from him, the majin activated the skill [Black Lightning], demolishing the rock into electrifying shards. The ogres quickly raised an arm, covering their faces from the particles of rock and dust that flew towards them.

"What now? Still want to fight?" the majin asked. The young master gritted his teeth.

"Young master, please take the princess and flee," the white-haired ogre urged. "I will end this."

"Quiet, old man," the young master said, barely looking back at the elder. He wouldn't run away from this fight. If he did, he wouldn't be able to face the villagers after he died, much less Little Blue. He turned back to the majin, his blade still held out in front of him. "That is intense. It saddens me to say it, but it seems we are no match for you. Still, I have my pride as the next leader of the powerful Ogre clan! And what leader would fail to avenge his slain brethren?! Even if I can't win, I will still fight back!"

"Young master, if you fight, I will fight by your side!" the white-haired ogre declared strongly as he stepped up beside the red-haired ogre.

"Wait, Brother!" the pink haired princess cried, running to step in front of the young master who had his blade raised. Her arms were spread wide and her back faced the majin.

"These individuals may not be our enemy!" the princess yelled at her older brother.

"Move!" the young master commanded.

"No!"

"Why? He's a masked majin, just like the one who attacked our village! You said so yourself..."

"Yes... but please, try to think this through calmly. Why would such a powerful majin use such underhanded tactics as forcing the pigs to attack our village? It makes no sense. He surely has the power to kill us all on his own, if he so desired. There is no doubt that he is unlike us, but I don't think he has any connection to the ones that attacked our village." The red ogre gasped slightly, the words of the princess processing in his mind. He looked up at the majin, his offensive stance weakening just a bit.

"But what about Little Blue?" the young master asked, pain laced through his tone as he brought up his best friend and the girl he had fallen in love with. The princess winced at the reminder of her friend, her face downcast as she remained silent for a moment.

"Little Blue was attacked by the same majin that attacked our village. If this majin truly has no connection to the attack, then he hasn't harmed Little Blue," the princess said strongly. She was still convinced that the blue-haired female was out there, alive somewhere in the forest. She knew it was horrible to get her hopes up, but inside all of the group, she knew there was a spark of hope that she was alive somewhere. At her words, the young master lowered his blade a little more.

"Feeling a little more willing to listen now?" the majin asked. "I don't need this anymore, right?" With that being said, he absorbed the black flame back into his body, the sky once again lightening. Swiftly, the wolf retreated to the majin's side.

"Who are you?" the young master asked.

"Me? I'm just a slime." The majin held up his hands. "Rimuru the slime." He dispelled his mimic and took his original form. The ogres gasped in shock. He truly was a just a slime, not even a majin. The small blue blob jumped up onto the wolf's back.

"I-It's true..." the red-haired ogre stated, staring at Rimuru. Rimuru produced the mask from inside his body and offered it to the ogre.

"And this mask if a keepsake from someone I knew. Feel free to see for yourself whether it's the same one that your attacker had." The young master reached out and took the mask into his hands.

"It does seem similar but..." He was cut off by the princess.

"This one contains anti-magic power."

"But the majin from back then wasn't concealing their aura..." the white-haired ogre supplied. Realizing that they were wrong for attacking Rimuru on the presumption that he was the majin, the young master quickly knelt down in front of Rimuru.

"Forgive us. It seems our desperation cause a grave misunderstanding. Please accept my apology."

"Sure I accept." Rimuru said easily. After all, they hadn't been aiming to harm until Rimuru arrived. That and there seemed to be an underlying issue with the ogres that caused this attack. The slime, being the leader of the goblins and wolves, needed to find out. Swiftly, Rimuru released the purple-haired ogre that he had tied up and woke up the other two. Similarly, the princess dispelled her sleeping magic and allowed the other goblins and wolves to rejoin their leader.

"Well, this is no place to talk. Let's head back to the village. Come with us," Rimuru invited.

"Are you sure?" the young master asked in shock.

"Yep. I want to hear about what you've been through."

"But we wounded your companions."

"And we did the same to yours. But no one died, so we'll say it's all good. Besides, we're having a feast today! The more, the merrier, right?" The ogres all gathered around Rimuru as the young master let out a small smile and agreed. With that settled, the group of goblins and wolves, which the ogres learned were named the Goblin Riders, led the way back to the village.

"By the way, what's your name?" Rimuru asked the young master who was walking beside him.

"Oh, we have no names," he replied a bit dully. He had been thinking of Little Blue.

If she was still out there, he felt like he should go look for her. Yet, what good was it to keep hoping that she was alive when there was no proof that she was out there? If it were up to him, he would want to spend the rest of his life searching for Little Blue because, no matter what he told his younger sister, there was a part of him that stubbornly insisted that Little Blue was alive somewhere in the forest, fending for herself and trying to survive. However, he had to think about the survivors and the best way to avenge his fallen brethren. The young master felt the rise of his rampaging powers again as he fought himself over how to best handle the situation. Once, again he forced it down the best he could, though he could feel it festering inside. The only one who would successfully take care of this was Little Blue, who wasn't here at the moment.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, most of you don't," Rimuru said in response to the young master's answer, snapping the young master out of his thoughts momentarily. "That's right..." the slime repeated as he trailed off. After that, the slime said nothing more, allowing the ogres to continue the rest of the way in their own thoughts, which mostly surrounded the same subject.

Hopefully Little Blue was still alive, and if she was, how were they to find her in this massive forest?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey everyone!

Not much of Little Blue in this chapter unfortunately, but Rimuru and the ogres finally met! I don't tend to like posting these author notes, but I find that it encourages readers to sorta voice their opinion on the chapter, so just let me know if it bothers you that I'm adding the authors notes at the end. I'll keep them short for the most part <3

As always, let me know what you thought of this chapter since all of y'all comments are the highlight of my day <3 If anything doesn't make sense, please comment or let me know so I can either fix it or clarify it <3

Stay safe and healthy!
ThePurpleDragon