The ogre blasted forward, grasping out with his massive green hands. He was so close before I knew he moved that I could see blood and fur of some monster under his nails. I moved, pushing my dragon power skill and my body to its limit. My brain overheated, melting out of my ears to give me even the slightest chance to dodge the ogre’s first swipe. Dust erupted all around me from the swipe as my feet moved agonizingly slow to get me out of danger. My body lit up with dragon power overflowing to let me dodge even a single swipe from the rank 3 ogre. I couldn’t help but wonder what would I do about the second swipe.
It was funny how the mind worked when it was under intense stress. Even while I moved out of range, I struggled to position myself to flee. I couldn’t take my eyes off the monster. Its intelligent eyes were too concerning to look away until dust obscured them.
Ogres weren’t supposed to be intelligent enough to make complicated plans. The village could be explained by hobgoblins; they were tricky, networking, and industrialist. Few ranked up into ogres for fear of losing intelligence. Yet this ogre could hold back his rage long enough to choose a grab instead of crushing me into paste.
Two shots rang out, and I was already moving. Earth spikes blasted up from the ground, uprooting trees and blocking off my 9. I consciously decided not to go right and fall for his trap. Instead, dragon power charged into my legs before I jumped, shooting myself backward as I fired down on the ogre’s position.
Each shot missed as the ogre’s charge accelerated to the right of the quickly forming second wall of earth spikes. I would have been captured if I had tried to outpace his earth spikes and managed to run to the right. Instead, my feet touched a tree branch, and I fired 8 shots, dropping 4 hobgoblins.
I moved away from Jackson city. Alice needed time, and the ogre wanted me bad. I heard barks all through the forest and felt the hobgoblins charge after me. Alice and her group had already gotten some distance; I needed to buy them time and slip away.
Killing was the only thing keeping me going; the fallen hobgoblins’ qi fed my regeneration. I fired on them when I sensed a hobgoblin that wasn’t blocked by a tree. If I didn’t, then I wouldn’t last five minutes. Dragon power tore through my body, and only regeneration kept me going; if I didn’t dump in more fuel, I wouldn’t last. So I took off towards Jackson City as the trees around me were torn apart.
A roar throttled the air as the ogre charged more like a force of nature than a mere monster. The ground shook, and stone spikes shot up everywhere. I moved towards the city at an incredible pace with the jaws of death close behind.
My mind blanked out when I sensed a sudden explosion of power. Something was happening behind me, and the ogre would catch me if I didn’t move even faster. I didn’t look back. I knew then that if I looked back, I would die. The ogre was about to unleash a power I couldn’t counter; its power practically filled the forest. It felt like a giant filled with malice had turned its full gaze on me. With so much attention, all I could do was run.
I stopped long enough to force more dragon power into my legs as stone spikes shot up around me. They weren’t my concern; I felt for the charged qi and angled myself parallel to where I thought the strike would land. Then, with a shove, I pushed off before the stone spikes blocked my way forward. A rockslide of force raged beneath me as I traveled beyond its reach.
Trees exploded all around me as the wind tossed my hair around. I could hear the whistle in my air as the ground was upturned, and an entire section of the forest was being cleared. The ogre had only swung his ax once, and he cleared hundreds of acres. His cuts were messy things that exploded the wood more than slicing it. Those few surviving stumps quickly turned grey, becoming what I assumed was stone. Not only was the ogre powerful, but he could also petrify his enemies. I blinked and suddenly realized the monster’s secret; it should have been impossible.
Except the stronger boss monster mod was active along with better monster AI. Monsters could rank up and down to gain multiple skills of rank variants. Trolls could infuse their attacks with petrification. The ogre had spent time as a troll before ranking down to a hobgoblin and up to an ogre. It was one of the only ways for a monster to rank up into more obscure rank variants.
After making preparations, I put my guns away and ran for Jackson with all my might. The ogre went from hundreds of acres away to half the distance. My mind scrambled for anything I could do to fight the monster but came up blank.
The distance between us halved again, and I was sure the ogre could track me by scent, if not qi. I couldn’t explain its ability to find me any other way. All I could do was increase my speed and hope my body could take it.
I was only halfway back to Jackson, and the girls were 4/5ths the way there. So the distance wasn’t incredibly far, except I took the scenic route to buy Alice time. Nevertheless, my body shivered when I thought about an actual fight with the ogre. A single blow from him would end me.
As an ax blade sliced a strip out of my jaw, I threw myself to the side. Seconds ticked by before the new wound started bleeding. The air shot out of my lungs, and I smashed through a nearby tree. The ogre caught the sliver of my cheek out of the air and tossed it in his mouth. I watched the monster chew it for a while before swallowing it. Sawdust slowly fell around us from the ogre’s earlier attack, almost like rain, camouflaging the beast as the sawdust clung to its sweaty body.
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I pulled my gun and aimed it at the monster when he spoke. “Too much adrenaline, you’ll make a poor meal, but I will eat your flesh and crunch your bones. But first, you must release my women.” The ogre smiled viciously. “You can do so now or after I start cutting pieces from you. I would prefer now. I’m sure they are hungry too.”
My heart thudded in my chest as I squeezed the trigger. I shot him with my handgun, but they bounced off his skin. The ogre only smirked at my attempt. “Is that the best you can do? I concentrated my dragon power just where I needed it and threw a grenade. They were made to be used by tamers to equalize the power gap between the ranks. There were two types of grenades commonly found in cities. One exploded, but the other released blinding light and sound.
My kickoff happened when I threw a second explosive grenade at him. The air rushed past me as an even bigger explosion went off. The sawdust had caught fire, and I was going to make it. I gathered the last dregs of my power, kicked off another tree, and felt it crack as I launched myself.
There was silence for a few minutes, only my heart hammering in my chest and the wind whistling through my ears. Then, the ogre took off in the wrong direction before turning towards me slowly. The city walls were in sight, and I ran with all my might towards them. I knew I was safe when I stepped over the boundary line. Alice was in view along with the orange dinofu.
Her eyes widened when I felt the ogre suddenly close the distance. I ran as I felt doom bear down on me. There was almost no qi left in me when I felt the ax bite into my side. Simultaneously anti-monster cannons fired with one shell hitting the ogre. Before the ogre could finish the blow.
I grabbed the ax's handle and struggled to push it out. My eyes turned to the ogre as it moved through shelling artillery. Its body healed even while it was destroyed.
Alice led the other six to my side, unleashing their breath attacks together. The ogre didn’t make a sound as the fire raged and artillery cannons fired. I pushed the ax out of my body and used the last of my qi to seal the wound. I used the massive weapon as a crutch to move back closer to the walls as I watched the ogre burn and get riddled with holes. The monster never stepped back as it marched through its destruction. Its hands reached out like claws to deal the final blow.
I raised my gun and shot him in the left eye. He had been so weakened by the fire and artillery that he couldn’t dodge. More rounds tore holes through him while I carefully aimed and removed his other eye. Another round of black breath tore into the ogre as we waited for the juggernaut to die. Except it kept moving through the flames and artillery blind.
The monster took a step, then another, gaining speed. The artillery cannons stopped firing to reload, and the monster smiled. The ogre started laughing as it charged while I fiddled with my pack before I found what I needed. Then I stepped forward and rammed the onifu’s scimitar into the ogre’s chest. Blood poured down the ogre’s face as grisly black veins quickly extended around the monster’s chest like spider webs. But it still grabbed me.
Even with all my strength, I couldn’t move the monster’s fingers as it crushed the bones in my shoulder. I watched the black veins spread over the monster’s body while it crushed me. My ribs cracked, and my collar bone would crumble soon.
I wanted to yell but couldn’t; the monster’s hold was too great. So all I could do was endure the pain and push against it with dragon power.
Then the force stopped.
The rank 3 monster finally died, and I eagerly took the lion’s share of his qi as it poured out of his corpse. With that infusion, I could feel my wounds heal, and I realized it was over. I took everything the ogre had, and it was my triumph. First, I could sell most of the waifus and reap a massive reward. Then I could collect favors from the tamers who owed me.
Zoran
Skills
Dragon Power: Intermediate 90%
Regeneration III: Beginner 15.79%