Chapter 45: The Ogre King’s First Move!
Chapter 45
CLANG!
BANG!
HUFF!
PANT!
DAMN IT!
BOOM!
The dungeon chamber quaked again and again from the relentless clash of steel against flesh, the roars of monsters, and the heavy breaths of the young Reavers who fought with their very lives on the line.
Their bodies bled, their essence dwindled, and their determination wavered. Yet, even in their battered state, they kept pressing forward—step by step, slash by slash, scream by scream—until finally, the hundred ogres that filled the room collapsed one after another.
When the last beast fell with a resounding thud, silence swept over the chamber, broken only by the sound of ragged breathing.
They regrouped, faces smeared with blood, arms trembling from fatigue, backs and shoulders burning with deep cuts.
But despite the carnage, not a single one of them chose to fall. Small, exhausted smiles crept across their faces as they looked around at the lifeless ogre corpses carpeting the floor.
"Shit... my... my essence is depleted." Jace muttered, his hand pressing weakly against his chest, his gaze locked on the hulking figure that still sat at the far end of the chamber—the Ogre King.
Unlike its fallen underlings, the beast hadn’t moved an inch. Its massive eyes glowed with eerie amusement, as though watching a play put on solely for its entertainment.
"You can say that again." Kael added with a dry, humorless chuckle. His head pounded, vision blurring at the edges, and every fiber of his body screamed to collapse. Still, he forced himself upright, refusing to bow in front of the monster looming over them.
"Now where the hell is Rina?" Aria snapped as her sharp eyes darted across the battlefield. Her tone carried both fury and desperation.
"Right here."
A timid voice drifted out, and the group turned their heads toward the source. Just behind a large glass case sat Rina, stepping out from her hiding spot.
Inside the case, something shimmered faintly, but none of them paid attention to it because their eyes were solely on the healer, untouched by battle, her robes spotless.
"You sneaky little..." Kael exhaled, relief washing over him despite the circumstances. "I always thought you were foolish, but thank goodness you had a few brain cells."
"For calling me foolish, you’re not getting any healing anytime soon. You’ll wait in line." Rina scoffed, though her lips quirked in the faintest smirk. She hurried toward Jace first, hands glowing with a radiant white light.
The warm essence spread through him, knitting flesh, mending bone, soothing pain. Within a minute, Jace stood good as new, though his sharp eyes never left the Ogre King, who remained seated like a ruler atop his throne, grinning wider as if the group’s struggles entertained him.
"Me next, please." Erin’s soft voice rang out as she stepped forward, her posture graceful despite the bruises she carried.
The request yanked everyone out of their grim focus. Zen and Rina both froze mid-thought, their mouths slightly agape as they took in Erin’s presence.
’Even though I’m a girl, why am I jealous?’ Rina thought bitterly as her hands trembled with the healing light. ’She... she’s too perfect. Too flawless.’
Zen, on the other hand, could barely believe his eyes.
’In all my years of college,’ he thought, his chest tightening, ’not once did a girl ever leave me speechless. But this... this is unreal. I don’t even know what to say. How can someone be this beautiful?’
{Yeah, keep drooling.} The System’s voice cut into his head like a knife. {Too bad you’ll be six feet under before you even learn her favorite color. Lol.}
Zen blinked, his lips parting as his attention snapped back to reality. His eyes widened.
The Ogre King’s chilling grin stretched even further, its tusked mouth curling upward as if savoring their distraction. Its massive frame leaned forward slightly, exuding a murderous pressure that swept over the group like an icy tide.
’Fuck! We don’t stand a chance against that monster.’ Zen’s heart raced as dread coiled in his chest. ’We... we need something. Anything!’
System! he screamed in his mind. Pull up my rewards for slaying those beasts!
{Rewards calculated...}
{Rewards for slaying beasts are: +200 XP for all beasts that fell by your blade; +6 STR; +50 NP. One skill added...}
{Error. Error. Error.}
{Skill will be rewarded as soon as the dungeon is cleared. That means—kill all beasts, including the boss.}
{XP added! Congratulations! Host has leveled up. +1 to all stats.}
Zen’s lips curled in frustration as his fist tightened around his weapon.
"Damn it! I should’ve known the system would pull a prank at a time like this."
His gaze lifted once more, locking on the Ogre King’s glowing eyes. The beast’s grin widened, promising blood.
{Status}
{Name: Zenixx}
{XP: 20/550}
{Level: 6}
{HP: 20/45} {STR: 28}
{AGI: 21} {INT: 31}
{NP: 70}
__
’Crap! Even my HP is low. I...I need it to... huh?’ Zen thought as he finally snapped out of his worries and noticed Rina’s hands glowing faintly over his body. Beads of sweat cascaded down her pale face, yet she still managed a wide smile.
"I have healed everybody. You are the last," she said with a weak smile. Zen’s gaze, however, was glued to his HP bar.
{HP: 30/45}
Warmth surged through his veins. He could feel his flesh knitting itself together and his body growing stronger. The bar filled little by little, steadily climbing upward.
Cough! Cough!
Rina bent forward, coughing out specks of blood. Alarmed, Zen quickly moved away from her trembling hands, the glow flickering like a dying candle.
"That’s enough. You have done more than enough for us," Zen said with a small smile, though his eyes were firm.
"But...but I need to completely heal you," Rina whispered desperately, her eyes pleading.
Zen shook his head. "You’ve done enough, and I mean it."
{HP: 40/45}
"Just go and hide for us," Zen added, shifting his focus back toward the throne where the boss sat, its grin stretching unnaturally wide.
"Fine," Rina muttered reluctantly. She cast a glance at the ogre king and then at every battered face around her. "Please, guys, don’t die. I’ll hide and try my best to recover my essence but...please, don’t die."
"We won’t. And I won’t let a single person die on my wa..."
CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.
Jace’s voice froze mid-sentence as a loud, ringing clap echoed throughout the massive chamber. The sound bounced against the stone walls, each impact like a thunderous strike in their ears.
Every single one of them froze in place, eyes widening as cold dread coiled around their hearts. Their blood ran ice-cold, and every hair on their bodies stood on end.
With a loud gulp, they all turned their heads slowly toward the source. From atop the throne, the ogre king finally rose to its full terrifying height. Its eyes gleamed with sadistic amusement, and a chilling grin split its monstrous face.
"Fuck. Rina, go hide now!" Jace roared. The healer didn’t hesitate this time—she dashed away, vanishing toward the safer shadows.
The others tried to steady their shaking limbs. They forced their bodies to move, weapons trembling in their hands as sweat poured down their faces. The ogre king lifted its massive war hammer and leveled it at the humans. The grin never left its face.
"Gu...guys. Ca...can we even win this?" Aria stammered. She clutched her bow tighter as her throat bobbed with a hard gulp. The boss loomed less than eight meters away, its oppressive presence swallowing the room.
Then the air shifted. The temperature plummeted several degrees in an instant. An oppressive aura slammed into them like a crushing tide.
Their knees buckled, their legs shook uncontrollably, and their breaths grew ragged. Zen was hit the hardest. His system notifications flooded his vision in a relentless cascade.
{Beast Status: Hostile and ready to eradicate}
{Error! Error! Error! Host needs to escape now!}
{Recalculating survival chance...}
{Calculation complete...}
{0 percent survival chance. RIP host!}
"Fuck," Zen muttered, his chest tightening as fear coiled around him. His eyes widened in horror as the ogre’s grin grew even broader. The head of its hammer began to glow, brilliant yellow light bursting forth and crackling violently.
"Guys! Move!" Zen shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice straining with desperation.
But it was already too late.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion tore through the chamber as a massive fireball erupted from the hammer’s head. The flaming sphere hurtled toward them, its blazing heat scorching the air, threatening to consume them all in an inferno of destruction.