Disciples Storm the Ogre Den
The Central Continent Plains region. A vast expanse of land situated just below the northern territories—here, Lea's disciples, including Haring, had arrived at the ogre settlement.
Normally, they'd need to secure the main quest chain, linked quests, and the key to enter the "Ogre Den" where the Ogre Lord resided. Even for top rankers, that would've taken a solid three months.
But the moment they hit the capital, Haring went straight to Adella.
"You've gotten even stronger in the meantime. Here to take down the Ogre Lord?"
"Could the Knight Captain write a recommendation?"
Adella was the one who'd tipped Lea off about the Ogre Lord's existence in the first place. Meaning, with her influence, they could skip all the pointless quests.
Of course, Haring had no clue about that. Her brother Hajin had just said something like, "Schmooze the bigwigs and good stuff happens," so here she was.
"Quick skip, yay~."
"Yay~."
"Is this Lea-chan's buff...?"
By stacking up "trust" through their capital exploits, Haring's crew skipped straight to the ogre settlement.
All that was left was grabbing the key to open the Den's door. Sure, the drop rate was trash, so they'd have to farm elite ogres—nearly 200 of 'em—but...
"Keys? Got extras, take some. Been stockpiling while hunting."
"But gimme some of our guild's loot in return."
Haring's big bro Hajin handed over two keys. Raids consumed one per party, with a 20-man limit. For their six-person squad, it was more than enough.
Crunch!Scraaaape!Boom boom boooom!!!
"Phew! Cleared here!"
"This side's wiped too."
"We're totally OP now."
"This area's done!"
They bulldozed into the ogre settlement, mowing down ogres like weeds. Even if gear or skill was iffy, their levels were late 50s. Way beyond the mid-30s to early-40s ceiling of past rankers.
Plus, becoming Lea's disciples had netted them a massive hidden piece boosting all stats. Ogres? Child's play.
Hummm!Hummm!Hummm!
Kabooooom!!!
"...NyaNya, for real?"
"Hehe. Grown a bit, right?"
The standout was NyaNya. She unleashed a barrage of mana waves—her "Mana Surge" spell—wiping dozens of ogres at once. And without her frost staff, no less.
As the others gawked in awe, NyaNya sheepishly scratched her head.
"Second-circle mages are on another level, huh."
"Ehehe... Not quite yet. My second star's not fully formed."
"NyaNya's amaaazing~!"
"But what's second-circle mean?"
"Two cores, two stars—'second-circle' just sounds cooler."
"Groovy?"
Anyway, ogre settlement cleared. These mobs respawned over time, so they had to hustle.
Finally, Lea's disciples stood before the towering altar.
A structure stained black and green, roughly 30 meters tall in a square formation. At the peak loomed a sinister black skull radiating ominous energy. Black demonic ichor oozed from it, trickling down the steps.
NyaNya gulped and gripped her staff tighter.
"Kinda creepy..."
"That's what makes it a boss fight. Alright, everyone ready?"
"Yep!"
"Been set five minutes ago."
"We got two shots, so no sweat if we don't clear first try. Patterns memorized—stick to formation."
"Roger."
"Smash and dash."
"Let's go."
Haring took point, key in hand. She jammed it into the altar's central slot—the apparent entrance—and space warped.
Creak.Rumble!
"Oho."
"Here we go."
Rumble!Rumble!Rumble!
The ichor-dripping altar had transformed into a ritual chamber etched with bizarre runes. Walls lined with inverted goddess statues, black ichor weeping from their eyes.
Six heroes dropped into the chamber's entrance. From a massive throne, the 10-meter Fallen Ogre Lord rose to meet them.
Haring drew her sword, stepping forward. Fellow warriors Yugi and Hidni flanked front. Archer Yongba hung back at rear. Mages NyaNya and Kazen prepped spells from mid-line.
A beat of silence.
Hummm!Hummm!Hummm!
"Incoming!"
"GRRROOOOAAARRR!!!"
Phase 1 kicked off with the Ogre Lord's roar—a sonic attack dealing light damage and inflicting fear on sub-30s or weaklings.
Lea's late-50 disciples? Scratches. Living with a dragon made ogre bellows background noise.
Slash!Crunch!
"Grk?!"
"Hit and dip!"
Haring's blade and Hidni's spear grazed the ogre's flank. It swung its massive club—but whiffed.
'Ogre Lord's attacks auto-hit if the striker's nearby.'
'Per-target reset around... 3 seconds?'
The Fallen Ogre Lord's special: "Revenge." ~10m radius, forcing melee to space out hits.
Club slicing air, Yugi's twin axes crashed into its nape.
Crunch!
"Tough nut."
"Bounce!"
Whoosh!
Yugi backflipped clear before the club smashed down. Attack miss reset cooldowns—Haring and Hidni dove back in.
Mages and archer held, targeting ogre—pre-planned strat.
'Phase 1's melee-doable. Aggro on ranged screws revenge math.'
'Could zerg with firepower/numbers, but we're short-staffed?'
'Save it then. Go ham in Phase 2.'
Krunch!!
"Haha! Can't even touch us!"
"No slacking."
"It's a joke!"
As Yugi gleefully hacked away, the ogre couldn't tag the darting heroes. A level-30 would've eaten club after one poke, but these were late-50s. Hit-and-run from 10m? Easy.
About 10 minutes of pummeling later...
"Grrr..."
"!"
"Phase 2!"
"Ready up! Mages, prep!"
The Ogre Lord's eyes glowed red, dripping green-black blood. Black steam vented from its bulk; its club sharpened into a rune-etched dark blade.
Gripping two-handed, it locked on Yugi—the top damage dealer.
'Oh, and one sacrifice.'
'Name's Revenge for a reason. Phase 2 blasts the top DPS with sword qi—basically instagib.'
'At Phase 2 start, send top hitter to opposite side.'
'Blockable? Eh... never tried.'
"W-We can block it!"
"Probably?"
"Gotta! Uh!"
Shiiiing!!
Sword qi incoming—chamber-spanning, even if the ogre lumbered.
Yugi, opposite the party, gritted his teeth.
Hummm!!!
Thirty layers of shields from the two mages enveloped him. Peak output from dual two-star casters.
And—
Shatter!!
Shields pulverized, cleaving Yugi in half.
"Can't block."
"Nope."
"Yugi-farmer... he was a good man."
"Kaviyo."