Four Images Whale Wave

With that, I soothed myself and began seriously channeling my mana.

"GRRRRAAAAHHH!!!!"

A lion's roar erupted from my throat, amplified by the overwhelming mana conductivity. It pierced the arena as a massive shockwave, and the ogre, sensing the prickling mana across its body, flinched and took a step back. At the same moment, its pride wounded by its own retreat, it reddened its now ice-cold eyes again and opened its mouth to bellow its own battle cry.

BOOOOMMMMM!!!!!

A brilliant meteor streaked from the distant mountains like a shooting star, swelling enormously in an instant before slamming into the ogre.

+++

'Whew... fuck. This shit's no joke, huh?'

I glanced back at the mountains behind me, then slowly dispelled the protective aura enveloping my body. A third of my mana had vanished in a chunk just blocking Park Jisu's follow-up attack. My tongue clicked in amazement. Even if she'd gone all-out with a one-shot-kill without holding back, for a B-rank hunter to make an A-rank hunter's blood run cold...

'Picked a hell of a wife, didn't I? Heh heh.'

The thought that the overwhelming force was on my side had me grinning uncontrollably. To properly capture footage worthy of this self-promotion, I fiddled with the bodycam dangling from my temple and slowly scanned the surroundings.

Liquefied rocks, superheated by the blast, flowed red and soaked the ground at my feet. Stepping on the vitrified sand produced sharp cracking sounds with every move. The arena, shrouded in steam from the heat and dominated by a massive crater, inspired awe in anyone who beheld it.

'It definitely twisted away a bit...'

During Park Jisu's shot, the ogre had seen me raise my protective aura at the gunshot's sound and urgently tried to leap aside, sensing something. If it had been at full strength, it could've fully dodged. But thanks to the peanuts we'd harvested from it earlier, its movements were still sluggish, letting the attack land.

Judging by the impact point near its chest, it had probably tried to block with a shoulder or arm. As the dust settled in the natural breeze, the results of the attack I'd vaguely envisioned came into view.

'That's a fucking steal. Heh heh.'

The ogre in sight was hunched over, thick drool spilling from its mouth. The anomaly: its left shoulder and below had vaporized, one arm completely gone. For a melee brawler like me, this was a situation I welcomed with open arms.

Its lower body was already crippled from prior wounds, limiting mobility, and now its main attack arm was fucked too. No way it could drag this out.

'Heh heh. Eat shit—this is human wisdom, bitch.'

Crack!

Grinning darkly, I closed the distance to finish it off properly. Only then did the ogre snap out of its shock and pain, its trembling eyes finally fixing on me.

Where had that arrogant, murderous glare gone? Its eyes now held only hollow despair and raw survival instinct. If I just kept pressing, it'd turn tail without a fight.

'Can't have that.'

This thing was our stepping stone to the world stage, me and Park Jisu's. No way I'd half-ass it in this perfectly set-up scenario and let the gains slip. To get viewers surging with national pride and tears watching the bodycam later, we needed to showcase her feat and mine together.

With that in mind, I flashed a sinister smile and spoke to it.

"Hey, you little shit. When a male takes a hit like that, you gotta charge in ready to die, yeah?"

The ogre, which had been backing away while gauging my intent, froze. It seemed to grasp my meaning from my sneering tone and expression—veins as thick as my forearm bulged on its neck.

"Ah! Sorry. You're a female now, right? Heh heh."

As I finished speaking, I snapped my hips with a quick thrust. For clearer communication, I groped my crotch with one hand as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a bonus.

"Grrrrk!"

Unable to contain its rage, the ogre clenched its remaining right fist until the knuckles cracked. The defeat in its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eyes was swiftly overtaken by fury and madness, igniting its battle will.

'Perfect~'

Satisfied with the sight, I started walking forward slowly, a pleased smile on my face.

Thud!Thud!

The ogre, realizing this was a do-or-die duel, approached with a solemn gait befitting a knight entering single combat—its bloodshot eyes mismatched with the reverence.

Thud!Step.

Soon, in the crater-turned-arena made just for us, the two combatants faced off. At arm's reach, I smiled at it for a moment.

Whoosh!

Its right arm tore through the air with overwhelming force, aimed at my head. Tsking at the cheap shot with no touch-gloves, I wrapped my arm in water energy—now achievable in the blink of an eye—and met its fist head-on.

BOOOOMMMM!!!

Against my will, my body bounced back from the spot. Seizing the chance with its sure-hit blow, the ogre kicked off and pursued. Its body slam, using that momentum, crashed into me, accelerating my flight until I smashed into the crater wall with a thunderous boom.

But ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ignoring that, the ogre charged the embedded me.

Bam!Crack!BOOM!

Quickly adapting to its altered body, it used its feet since one arm was gone, pummeling the wall-trapped me.

Crack!Crack!BOOOM!!!

Drool flying as it savored the battle's advantage and grew frenzied, the ogre's sight had me chuckling despite my predicament.

'Gotta give Plang some deep womb-pounding later.'

The situation looked dire for my survival, but the damage reaching me was negligible. It wasn't channeling mana—just raw physical force from its flesh, which my reinforced body, thanks to protective aura and dragon bone, absorbed with unshakable comfort.

My only worry was Park Jisu stomping her feet in concern. 'Mana's not infinite—time to move?'

I don't do tightrope walks in fights. This was just to gauge the ogre's power and show off its threat on bodycam.

Amid the rumbling ground, I casually raised my arm to meet the incoming right fist.

CRAAACK!!!

"GRRAAAAK!"

The ogre leaped back with a burst sound, dodging nimbly. Dusting off the dirt as it stood, it shook its remaining right fist.

'Oh... withstood the primordial energy?'

I'd aimed to shatter its grip and turn it into a limbless wreck, but seeing the trembling hand still intact as it clutched it to its chest lit a spark in my eyes.

'No mana, but overwhelming mana resistance?'

True to its A-rank boss status—not quite my level, but its tough hide made me frown briefly. Still, I calmly reset my stance.

'No point pussyfooting against a foe this battered—not manly.'

Grinning, I kicked off ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and charged. My footwork, enhanced by the movement art, closed the gap before it could react, slipping me into its guard unnoticed.

Startled, it twisted to evade, but my hand shot out.

THUDDD!!!

I'd aimed a palm strike dead at its gut, but it twisted to block with its ribs—drawing a laugh from me.

"GRRRAK!"

I pressed relentlessly with water aura gathered in my hand. Grabbing its incoming right fingers like swatting a fly, I spun like a circus performer and smashed a kick into its thigh. When it tried shrugging me off with its shoulder, I slid across the ground, evaded, then lunged with a primordial energy-infused palm to its knee, crippling its mobility.

"GRRRNG!"

Fuming at my rat-like dodges, the ogre shook itself, limping on its slow-healing leg from the energy.

"Low kick!"

Before it could act, I thrust my free hand again, pumping primordial energy into the hobbling knee.

CRUNCH!!!

"GRRAAAAHHH!!!"

Something ruptured, and it dropped to one knee, drool pouring from its mouth.

'Heh heh. Crippled bitch.'

Using primordial energy to create openings had drained my mana already against its tough body, but I smirked darkly and rolled my neck.

This was my goal from the start. First time using it, so it should've frozen the target—went pretty well.

Unable to stand, it glared with shallow defeat in its eyes. For the bodycam audience, I needed a solemn scene, so I erased my smile and channeled my remaining mana.

Circulating as per Sipdan-geum's formula, a faint taiji pattern emerged inside my body. Water aura began gathering in my hand. Then, I twisted the mana flow guided by the taiji through my meridians.

The strain made blood trickle from my mouth, mind hazy, but I circulated steadily per the formula. As the taiji twisted direction too, the water aura vanished—replaced by nothing (無). But the blood dripping from my mouth to chest and my trembling hand proved it was martial might (武).

'Hyun-chung, you fucking... kuh!'

The pervert old man's technique was absurd enough to choke on blood, but seeing the ogre kneeling, sweating bullets, eased the irritation. Instinct told it the overwhelming aura from me could kill it.

'Heh heh. Dickless bitch.'

I forced down the bloody saliva and extended my hand toward it.

Swoosh.

My palm sliced air softly. The split energies merged upon activation, forming an alien-glowing orb that rocketed to the fallen ogre's forehead.

Confirming the hit, I twisted the alien energies once more to complete the technique.

Instantly, the mana orb—born from one root but split and repelled four times—erupted in a massive shockwave and light, filling the arena.

BOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!

Centered on the ogre, the mana orb spawned a massive purple vortex like a black hole, beginning to leave destruction in its wake.