The Ogre's Rage
I wasn't fighting alone. Scattering Flame Marks like blazing petals, I darted through the air for several minutes. Chiiiiik—! The ogres I'd struck didn't even flinch anymore. They simply stared up at me with the bored expression of predators waiting for their prey to fall within reach.
'If I focused on just one, I could deal way more damage than this. At this rate, it'll take forever. These disgusting bastards.'
I clicked my tongue inwardly at the ogres' horrifying regenerative ability.
"······!"
My comrades gaped in horror when they saw me flying toward them with eleven ogres hot on my tail. They immediately dropped into combat stances. The thirty-two Rakan troops, having already spotted the ogre pack, bared their long claws and flashed their eyes with the thrill of the massive battle to come.
Werewolves who grew even more ferocious at the sight of overwhelmingly powerful monsters. They could be a handful to control, but that very trait made them a promising force for the future.
Thud—! Thud! Thud-thud-thud—!
The ogre pack chasing me must have caught the werewolves' scent. They began pounding the ground furiously as they charged forward.
- Whoa, whoa... Are those really ogres?
- Why the hell are there so many of them all of a sudden?!
As the colossal ogre horde drew close enough to reach in just a few steps, my comrades couldn't hide their tension even while sheltered beneath the Castle.
When the ogres finally closed within thirty meters of the Elder Golem, the sound of my comrades' ragged breathing grew heavier.
"Haa— Haa—"
But their eyes burned with absolute clarity about what they needed to do. The Rakan troops standing before them were practically vibrating, ready to hurl themselves at the ogres at any moment.
Right before they could charge, a torrent of intense black smoke poured down from the sky and swallowed the ogres whole.
It didn't even have a proper skill name. It was simply the creature spitting out its raw source power. But I'd already experienced its terrifying strength firsthand.
Because we were in a dense forest, the drake couldn't fully spread its wings, which limited its mobility. Still, using its ability didn't seem to be a problem.
"BWOOOOOOORRRR!!"
The ogres caught in the breath had their outer hides peeled away in an instant. Blood sprayed wildly into the air.
"Nice."
Yeonhee nodded in satisfaction as she watched the suffering ogre pack, then immediately dismissed the Shadow Drake. She was probably planning to resummon it once the breath's cooldown ended. This kind of tactic had only become possible after her mana capacity increased dramatically.
With the Castle, the Rakan troops, and now the Shadow Drake, this combination would have been too burdensome before she consumed the spirit medicine. But it seemed Yeonhee could now handle it with room to spare.
The moment she dismissed the Shadow Drake, Yeonhee began merging the orc units first. Her skill in commanding large-scale forces grew more impressive with each passing day.
"KWOOOOOORRR!!"
'The breath really landed hard. Is it because it doesn't count as magic?'
The ogres who'd taken the Shadow Drake's attack directly were sent sliding backward quite a distance. Their brows were deeply furrowed and dark blood kept gushing from their mouths. It looked like they'd taken quite a shock.
- Huff, huff—
The ogres were struggling to recover from the impact of the breath.
'The Shadow Drake really is something else.'
Since the System had certified it as a Great Success, its performance was guaranteed.
Lightning Step
Flame Slash
Slash—!
While the ogres were still disoriented, I took the chance to stack another Flame Mark on each of them. I focused my attacks on their protruding calf muscles. The sensation of slicing through them was exquisite.
'Cutting them off completely might be too much.'
I'd thought it might be possible, but their skin was incredibly tough—like paper folded dozens of times.
Whoooosh—!
'Ugh! Danger!'
I'd approached stealthily and slashed, but two of them immediately counterattacked. I barely dodged in surprise.
Crack—!
Their clubs grazed me, causing a portion of my Flame Armor to burst apart.
'What the hell are these guys?'
Among the eleven, there were a few with noticeably superior stats. If I took a solid hit from one, I'd lose a huge chunk of health that even my defense couldn't fully mitigate. Their reaction speed was top-tier too. For some reason, these ogres felt significantly stronger than the ones I remembered.
'This won't be easy.'
If it were just one, I could treat it as practice against a Chaos Residue and go all out. But three of them were sticking close together in formation, making it difficult to approach.
The safest approach was to keep harassing them like this and steadily stack marks one by one.
'If they manage to grab me, I'll have to self-destruct immediately...'
Or maybe sever the caught limb.
The ogres soon noticed that another Flame Mark had appeared on their shoulders, but they couldn't rush me. That was because the Rakan troops waiting atop the Castle finally lost patience and charged into the ogre pack.
The Rakan troops latched onto the ogres like rabid dogs, drooling madly as they attacked without restraint. Even the ogres couldn't easily ignore their ferocity and stopped paying attention to my marks.
"Ice Field!"
"Boulder Slam!"
Ju-a and Ha-yoon's spells struck at the perfect moment against the ogres trying to meet the Rakan charge. Eun-young poked her head out from the Castle and even sang a song to boost the mages' magical power.
"In a sky filled with stars and moonlight— The melody of the wind and the tune of eternity— From the mountain peaks to the ends of the sea, this song of magic shall last forever—♪"
Her gentle song spread through the air, infusing the two mages with invisible power. Thanks to her support, their spells became far more potent than usual.
Crrrrrack—!
"Krrk?!"
Several ogres whose legs had frozen from the ice magic panicked. They grabbed their knees, desperately trying to move their frozen limbs.
'Wow... They actually froze an ogre?'
These creatures had exceptionally high magic resistance and even possessed the ability to shake off status effects. Yet it still worked. It had to be the synergy between Ha-yoon's ability and Eun-young's support.
The instant their legs froze solid, hundreds of fist-sized stones materialized in the air and swirled like a storm.
Bam-bam-bam! Bam!
The stones slammed into the frozen legs, creating cracks. The limbs shattered like glass.
'Oh... The ice and rock combo is seriously strong.'
Especially impressive was the new skill Ju-a had just shown. Those weren't ordinary rocks. The carefully polished round stones felt far harder than normal stone.
'Ju-a's spellcasting speed is impressive. How many spells has she used already?'
But the ogres' shattered legs regenerated at an astonishing rate.
"W-what?! They're recovering that fast?!"
"It's way faster than what we heard about!"
Ju-a and Ha-yoon, leaning against the Castle's arm as they watched, were stunned. The mages weren't mistaken. These ogres looked similar to the regular ones found in our world's dungeons, but they were on an entirely different level of power.
'Still, if they keep regenerating from injuries like that, they'll eventually run out of strength.'
No living thing could regenerate infinitely. Whether it was the Chaos Residue or these ogres, there had to be a limit.
Crunch—! Stab—!
Next, two or three werewolves pounced on each ogre, clawing and biting wildly. The relentless assault made the ogres thrash even more violently.
Boom!
Soon, one Rakan was snatched by an ogre and slammed into the ground. Its body exploded like a firecracker. Another had its neck twisted several times over, bent like a pretzel.
Arin and I took advantage of the moment the ogres focused on the Rakan to target their legs again.
Slash—!
We'd strike, then immediately retreat the moment they reacted, waiting for another opening before striking again. We repeated this pattern over and over.
'It's been a while since Arin and I fought together like this.'
The hunter carrying two bolts of lightning swept across the battlefield, constantly searching for openings in the ogres' defense. This strategy was only possible because the two of us possessed the highest-tier movement skill, Lightning Step.
Before long, I'd stacked four Flame Marks on most of the ogres. A faint smile appeared on Arin's face as she fought alongside me. She'd seemed troubled earlier, but coordinating with me like this was gradually bringing back her usual self.
Especially now that her mana had increased, allowing her to use her skills freely. It seemed to have given her more freedom.
"Hup— Ha!"
Even with an ogre right in front of her, she calmly dodged their attacks at close range and steadily built up damage.
"Haa— Haa—"
Her weak stamina hadn't changed, but compared to how she'd used to run out of energy in under thirty seconds, this was tremendous progress. I remembered that using Lightning Step repeatedly used to have side effects for her, but those restrictions seemed to have been greatly lifted.
Boooom—!
"Kyaaak!"
Her breathing faltered for a moment while using her movement skill, and she was clipped by an attack. She was sent flying quite a distance. Fortunately she wasn't badly hurt, but from the look on her face, it seemed her stamina had taken a heavy hit.
'I just need to reinforce her stamina.'
I kept mental notes of each comrade's shortcomings and constantly thought about ways to compensate for them.
"Grrrrr—"
Ogres were undeniably strong. If they'd only faced the thirty-two Rakan troops, they would have subdued them in minutes. But with us constantly providing support from the sides, the ogres were too busy defending to mount a proper offense.
On top of that, the merged Deonni brothers had joined the fray. Especially the fused Deonni No. 1, who cast a sandstorm that greatly disrupted the ogres' focus.
'Ooh— He's finally using the sand attack in real combat.'
The ogre pack, their vision obscured by the sandstorm, could only barely grab nearby Rakan troops, crush them, or slam them into the ground. And since Yeonhee kept resummoning the fallen Rakan, it must have been pure torture for the ogres.
"Kuuuuurgh!!"
Perhaps deciding this was unsustainable, the ogres whose stamina had been greatly depleted suddenly began to swell. Their bodies bulged as they prepared for a transformation.
The incredible ability that made even high-ranking hunters fear ogres was activating. All their stats would skyrocket, and random attributes would be added to their ordinary punches. The insane ability had finally been triggered.