Chapter 144

Ogre (3)

The fallen dwarves staggered to their feet. Struggling to steady their bodies and minds, both battered by the ogre’s roar, they barely managed to raise their heads.

And what they saw was... Adrian, who had drawn the ogre far away from the Arcanoheart. He stood facing it head-on. He had become its target.

“Hahahahahahaha!!”

Yet Adrian was roaring with crazed laughter.

... He wasn’t in his right mind. Frankly, he had to be mad. How could he laugh like that with an ogre right in front of him?

... No matter how they looked at it, he wasn’t sane.

The ogre’s eyes flashed—the gaze of a predator that had spotted its prey.

BOOM! BOOM-BOOM!

Adrian and the ogre charged at the same time.

KABOOM!

An explosion shook the space around them. It was Adrian who went flying. The ogre hadn’t yielded a single step.

Adrian instantly regained his balance in midair. He thrust both arms forward.

BOOM!

The blast shot straight toward the ogre.

The ogre did not dodge it.

KABOOM!!

An explosive report rang out. Its skin was scorched. The blast had some effect, but very little. It wasn’t fatal.

The ogre clenched both fists. The destructive power within them unleashed a heavy, enormous shock wave that engulfed the entire area.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Waves of force spread in every direction with the impact. The earth exploded, the shattered soil crumbling into dust.

... And Adrian?

He was pinned beneath the ogre’s fist. Forced down until he nearly touched the ground—

... But he was holding on. Even as every tendon in his body snapped and ruptured, he kept regenerating, kept enduring.

“Wh-wh-what...!”

“How is that even possible...?!”

The dwarves’ astonished cries echoed.

Adrian stepped forward. With his nails sharpened, he tore through the ogre’s hide and bones alike. In an instant, its arm was shredded.

The ogre recoiled in pain, taking a great step backward.

“He made the ogre...!”

“Back away...?”

... It was utterly unbelievable.

Adrian and the ogre. This was not prey against predator.

It was predator against predator—a battle to determine which of them was the strongest predator on land.

But that... made no sense. None whatsoever.

How could a human body challenge an ogre?

ROOOOAAARRR!!!

The ogre’s roar filled the air. Its dizzying resonance blurred vision, and Adrian’s breathing faltered.

He took a single step back, his eyes widening. But the emotion in them was not dismay.

Exhilaration. Or perhaps ecstasy.

Those emotions burned in his eyes—

BOOM!

A blast shot straight toward the ogre.

* * *

KRRRABOOM!

The explosion erupted with a thunderous roar. Sharp killing intent stabbed mercilessly into every inch of me.

I kicked off the ground and hurriedly put some distance between us.

KABOOM!!

The instant I pulled away, the ogre’s fist slammed into the spot I had occupied. A fraction slower, and my entire body would have burst apart, killing me.

If my heart was destroyed, I couldn’t use Regeneration[B+].

The ogre, on the other hand, didn’t have Regeneration[B+]. But its ability to recover was abnormal.

Without Bone Blade, Monomolecular Blade[S] could only do so much damage. ... I couldn’t land a fatal blow.

The damage Dragon Burst[E] could inflict was limited, too.

‘... I can’t take it head-on.’

It wasn’t even a contest. The fundamental gap in our strength was far too great.

The only reason I could hold out was Draconification[E]’s calorie conversion. The ogre’s monstrous strength translated into enormous amounts of calories.

I had to avoid blows that would kill me instantly, but otherwise, I could use Regeneration[B+] virtually without limit.

I could somehow win if I dragged this out into a battle of attrition, but...

‘I don’t have much time.’

... Draconification[E] didn’t last forever. Once Berserk[?] ended, Draconification[E] would deactivate as well.

Then... I couldn’t win.

I needed one blow. One decisive strike that would let me pierce through and tear out the ogre’s heart.

What if I used Wrath of The Frenzied Dragon[L]?

I could kill it in an instant.

‘That won’t work.’

Not only would the ogre refuse to stand still while I activated Wrath of The Frenzied Dragon[L], but the Evolution Quest required me to devour it, not hunt it.

Wrath of The Frenzied Dragon[L] would obliterate it without leaving so much as a speck of dust. I would have nothing to use Predation[S+] on.

Even so, if the situation demanded it, I would have to use it without hesitation. I couldn’t sacrifice people for a mere Evolution Quest or a chance to use Predation[S+].

And that was all the more reason—

‘I can’t use it.’

I couldn’t use Wrath of The Frenzied Dragon[L]. The Arcanoheart might get caught in the blast radius.

No, it definitely would.

It was already extremely unstable. Seraphia was giving everything she had to keep it under control, but another impact would make that difficult even for her.

‘Still, if there’s no other way...’

I would have to use Wrath of The Frenzied Dragon[L].

Fortunately, the fallen dwarves were waking one by one and getting to work. They were repairing that spatial-something device used to transport the Arcanoheart.

But the ogre—

Seemed to have noticed.

Suddenly, it raised one foot high. Its gaze was no longer fixed on me.

It had stopped fighting to hunt.

Thanks to Draconification[E], it saw me as a dragon hatchling. One that regenerated endlessly, at that.

Now that I had proven difficult to hunt, it no longer regarded me as prey. I was its sole natural enemy—one it had to kill to ensure its species would prosper.

It now saw our fight not as a hunt, but as a struggle for survival.

Ogres weren’t unintelligent. More precisely, whales weren’t unintelligent.

Whales had the intelligence to communicate with their own kind, understand themselves and their surroundings, and make judgments according to the situation.

An ogre was a mutant whale. In other words, it was smart enough to realize I was protecting the Arcanoheart.

And it was trying to exploit that. It meant to turn the tide of battle through strategy, not strength.

Then its enormous foot slammed into the ground with all its might—

KABOOOOOM!!

The earth burst apart, and the surrounding ground collapsed entirely.

It didn’t stop there. The ogre immediately stamped down with its second foot.

KABOOM-BOOM!!

The collapsed ground split violently once more, massive fissures spreading in every direction.

The ground, weakened by the battle, finally reached its limit and heaved—

RRRRRUMBLE...!

Shattered rocks from the mountain came crashing down.

An immense landslide.

Huge boulders fell mercilessly, demolishing the barriers the dwarves had hastily erected.

KABOOM!

At last, one of the rocks struck the Arcanoheart.

It didn’t end there. Countless more rocks were falling toward it.

“Goddammit!!”

Gritting my teeth, I swung Monomolecular Blade[S] at the rocks crashing down from the mountain.

* * *

A boulder had struck the Arcanoheart directly.

“It’s... over.”

One of the dwarves muttered the words. No one argued.

With that last impact, the Arcanoheart’s runaway reaction...

KRRRRRACKLE!!

Finally went beyond overheating.

Now Feractrum, and the dwarves—

“It’s all...”

“Over...”

Were utterly finished. There was no longer any way to stop the rampaging Arcanoheart.

RRRRRRUMBLE!!

A tremendous vibration churned the air as though it were boiling.

Despair spread among the dwarves. Not one of them entertained any hope.

Just as they became certain there was no way out—

“It’s not over!!”

A shout rang out.

Seraphia had been containing the Arcanoheart’s runaway reaction. Her power was astonishing, but it had reached its limit. She could no longer stop the reaction.

Yet she showed no intention of giving up.

And her reason for refusing to give up—

“We don’t need some runesteel vein!!”

Was not greed for the deposit.

“Buuut—!!”

She gritted her teeth and extended her hands, even as the runaway Arcanoheart’s fierce magical power sent her small body staggering.

“Without it—!!”

Even as her bloodshot eyes shed tears of blood. Even as blood poured from her nose and bright red rivulets seeped between her tightly pressed lips.

“We won’t be able to protect your precious home!!”

Seraphia kept fighting.

That was why all of them were fighting.

Her brother, tearing apart the rocks tumbling from the mountain—

“My brother, too—!”

Kai, desperately hauling his battered body upright—

“And Sir Kai—!”

And Seraphia herself.

“They’re fighting to the very end without giving up!!”

So—!!

“Please don’t give up either!!!”

EEEEEEEEEE!!

A strange power that transcended her limits erupted from her small body, penetrating even deeper into the runaway energy.

But that spurred the ogre into motion.

Its savage eyes slowly turned toward Seraphia.

ROOOOOAAARRR!!!

With a tremendous roar, its gigantic body charged toward her.

At that moment, the ogre’s survival instincts identified Seraphia as a natural enemy more dangerous than a dragon.

“Human woman!!”

“Get out of the way!!”

Seraphia did not dodge. She did not run.

To the very end, she refused to lower the hands controlling the Arcanoheart.

—Right then.

“Raaaaaaaagh!!”

Brumbar sprang forward with a fierce cry. Every muscle in his body swelled.

“I am Brumbar!!”

As though proving the weight that name carried—

“As long as I live, no brother of mine will scream in pain!!!”

Fist against fist. Strength against strength.

Two tremendous impacts collided, becoming a single explosion.

KABOOOOOOM!!!

“Chieeef!!!”

“Everyone, help the chief!!”

“But we c-can’t get close...!”

“Aaaaaagh!”

The shock wave swept the dwarves away.

Brumbar hadn’t escaped unscathed either. His bones screamed, and his muscles tore apart.

The ogre was unaffected.

Its strength was formidable enough, but the skeleton supporting that strength was one reason it was called the strongest predator on land: the finest, strongest frame on earth, possessing overwhelming durability and shock absorption.

That was why it needed no technique. It overwhelmed everything with strength alone.

Brumbar’s abilities... could never match it.

But he would not retreat. Not a single step.

The Arcanoheart... Feractrum...

The dwarves...!

And the humans who, for the dwarves’ sake—

“Haaaaaah—!!!”

Were risking their lives in battle instead of fleeing—!

“Raaaaaaaaagh!!!”

He had to protect them!

KABOOM! KABOOM! BOOM!

The intervals between their clashing fists grew shorter.

BOOM, KABOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!

The explosive reports came in ever-quicker succession.

Brumbar did not retreat. The ogre did not give ground either.

Their fists collided again and again, and every muscle in Brumbar’s body ruptured. His bones broke, his joints shattered.

Even so, he did not take a single step backward. He did not fall. He did not stop.

His feet remained planted firmly in the earth, and his fists still met the ogre’s—

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!

Even the ogre could not break Brumbar. It could drive him to the brink, but it could not bring him down.

The ogre was Impregnable.

Yet even before it, Brumbar became a barrier no one could shatter.

Unbreakable.

* * *

It looked as though the entire mountain were collapsing. Falling rocks rained down from every direction.

Once I had cut apart and scattered every dangerous rock—

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!

I could see Brumbar holding out against the ogre.

The allied army’s hero stood Unbreakable[A+], trading blows with the ogre.

But he wouldn’t last long. He was already at his limit. Every time their fists met, Brumbar was surpassing that limit.

At last, he vomited a mouthful of blood.

“Khaaagh!!”

Dark blood splashed across the earth as his limits overflowed.

Still, he didn’t fall. Instead, he dug his feet deeper into the ground and clenched his fists harder.

The time Brumbar had bought us. The time he was still buying us.

... There wasn’t much left.

Too late. Getting too late. It would be too late.

I had to find a way. But how...?

I couldn’t use Wrath of The Frenzied Dragon[L]. Dragon Burst[E] wasn’t powerful enough.

... Think. ... Remember. Remember that day.

Don’t look away. Face it to the end.

[“Swiftness is speed.”]

The despair of that moment.

[“Try picturing lightning.”]

Lightning never hesitates. In a fleeting instant, it splits the sky and strikes straight down.

There is no hesitation in its movement. No regret. It simply takes the shortest path to a single target.

... Right now, I had to do the same.

◆Activating derived skill, Dragon Burst[E]!

With Dragon Burst[E], I could choose any amount of calories I wanted.

... I wouldn’t think about what came afterward. Without hesitation. Without wavering for even an instant.

Every calorie I had left—

‘I’ll detonate them all.’

Once my calories ran out, I could no longer use Regeneration[B+]. Then it would all be over.

But I wouldn’t think about that. Without the present, there was no future.

FWOOSH, FWHOOOOSH!

Every calorie ignited, flames surging through my body.

Dragon Burst[E] released an instantaneous explosion of energy by concentrating calorie consumption in a body part of my choosing.

So the part where I would detonate all my calories now was—

My lower body. In other words, I would concentrate everything in my legs.

While Brumbar held the ogre in place, I had to rip up the ground, move faster than its nerves could react, and pierce a single point.

Without hesitation. Without wavering for even an instant.

For a single target, I had to stake everything I had!

My senses focused on a single point. My muscle fibers contracted beyond their limits.

My nerves grew acutely sensitive. Pressure surged through my legs, threatening to burst them apart.

The explosive energy condensed in both legs, compressing, compressing, and compressing again—

◆Dragon Burst[E] is diverging!!

Divergence. A transformation into a new form while retaining the original characteristics.

◆You have acquired the divergent skill, Dragon Impact[E]!

◆Dragon Impact[E]

: When this skill is activated, the player concentrates a [desired amount] of [calories] in their [legs], then triggers an instantaneous explosion to launch themselves along a [straight-line path].

If the concentrated calories total [30,000Kcal] or more, the player surpasses [the speed of sound (1,235km/h)], increasing [instantaneous damage] by [25 times] and triggering an explosion at the point of impact that deals an additional amount of [area damage].

<This is a divergent skill that diverged from Dragon Burst[E].>

Before I even had time to read the description—

◆Activating divergent skill, Dragon Impact[E]!!

My body was already hurtling explosively through the air.

* * *

The ogre’s fists kept coming without pause.

... He was at his limit.

‘I...! Can’t take any more...!!’

Just as Brumbar’s consciousness began to fade—

He saw him.

Adrian stood atop the rocky mountain, searing flames coiled around both legs.

Slowly, Adrian lowered his stance. He raised his fingertips, his red eyes fixed on the ogre.

And when those eyes flashed—

Beneath this sky, the true strongest predator on land awakened.