Chapter 145

The Strongest Predator on Land

A flash of red light.

It tore through space, leaving a faint afterimage, without the slightest hesitation or doubt.

WHOOSH!

The bolt of red light pierced the ogre squarely through the chest.

Its chest split open in an instant. A heart was torn free. Blood painted the air red. Flames engulfed everything.

Only then did the air tear apart.

BOOOOOM!!

With a deafening roar, a shock wave erupted in every direction. The air distorted, dust swirled like a storm, and the ogre's enormous body lost its balance.

The belated shock brought it down. Its massive shadow abruptly sank, raising a thick cloud of dust—

And Brumbar squeezed out every last ounce of strength to throw a punch.

"Aaaaaaah!!!"

Brumbar's taut, swollen muscles powered the blow into the ogre.

BOOOOM!

The ogre's enormous body flew backward.

THOOOM!

The earth shook as it crashed down several meters away.

"Hah...! Hah...! Hah...!"

Brumbar gasped for breath, but did not let down his guard.

He couldn't.

... Because he had seen it, beyond the dust obscuring his vision.

GRRRR!

The ogre's ragged breathing and a bubbling sound. The red light flickering within the dust.

... The ogre that should have fallen had not been defeated.

The ogre's flung body stirred again. At last, it hauled its enormous bulk upright.

The gaping wound in the center of its chest remained. Its torn, scorched flesh had not been restored, for it lacked the ability to regenerate.

But deep within the wound, another heart was beating. It had replaced its heart with a spare.

Clearly visible through the gaping wound, the heart stubbornly kept beating even as blood poured out without pause.

ROAAAAAAR!!

It was making unmistakably clear who the strongest predator on land was.

Its eyes flashed savagely once more.

And—

"Khaaakh!!"

Brumbar had no strength left to stop it.

... He had reached his limit.

It felt as though his entire body had been crushed.

Adrian...

Was out of the fight.

Both his legs had blown apart. Covered in blood, he could not get up. Blackened blood spilled from his mouth.

It was only natural.

That explosive burst of speed he had unleashed moments earlier—the instant it broke the sound barrier, his body had given out and shattered.

The ogre took a massive step forward. Its glittering eyes fixed on Seraphia as she controlled the Arcanoheart.

But anyone who could stop it right now...

It happened just then.

A lone wolf soared above the ogre's head. Radiating blue light, its long golden mane streaming behind it...

It was Kai.

The ogre hastily raised its arm to defend itself. But Kai's sword smashed down with a blow more powerful than its guard.

Wolf's Swordsmanship. Sixth Form.

Meteor Fang.

The sword plunged down in a flash of blue—

ROAAAAAAR!!!

And severed the ogre's entire left arm.

With one arm cut off, it howled in agony. Blood cascaded from the severed flesh.

The ogre's recovery was extraordinary, but it fell short of regeneration. It could only "replace" its organs with spares, not "regenerate" them.

In other words, it could not regenerate a severed arm.

Its eyes twisted with fury, directed not at Seraphia, but at Kai.

BOOM!

The ogre began moving in rage. It was no longer fighting to hunt.

Kai did not stop either. An unrelenting storm of sword strikes rained down on the ogre.

THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!

A blue wolf gasping for breath, and a wounded ogre.

CRUNCH! ROAR!

A bloodied blue wolf, and a wounded ogre.

SLASH! CRACK!

A blue wolf barely able to keep upright, and a wounded ogre.

ROAAAAAR!!

A blue wolf straddling the boundary between life and death, and a wounded ogre.

BOOM!!

The ogre's enormous fist struck Kai. He instantly lost his balance and was sent flying through the air.

The ogre's eyes blazed again with mounting fury.

When that fury turned toward Seraphia once more—

"You think we'll just stand by?!"

"Fight for our brothers!!"

"Aaaaaaah!!"

The dwarves charged forward. They hauled their fallen bodies upright and hurled themselves at the ogre.

But its one remaining arm, its right, smashed their hammers, deflected their axes, and crushed them.

BOOM!!

The impact sent the dwarves flying. They rolled across the ground and coughed up blood.

Yet they did not stop.

"Don't back down!!"

"Keep attacking!!"

They kept getting up. More dwarves rushed in.

With hammers and axes. With fists and forearms.

They attacked with all their might, yet the ogre swept them aside with its remaining right arm.

KA-BOOM!

The difference in size and strength was overwhelming.

Countless dwarves flew through the air. They fell one by one, and their encirclement slowly crumbled.

At last, the ogre swung its enormous fist wide.

Its targets were Seraphia and the Arcanoheart.

Power enough to tear space apart gathered in its fist.

But at that moment, a scattering of red radiance leaped into the path of that enormous fist.

* * *

Dragon Impact[E].

The concentrated explosion had completely blown apart both my legs. Unable to withstand the resistance of breaking the sound barrier, my body had ruptured all over. I could barely twitch a finger.

Breaking the sound barrier multiplied instantaneous damage by twenty-five, but that also meant multiplying the resistance I had to endure by twenty-five.

... I had barely survived thanks to Draconification[E].

But I had expended all my calories on Dragon Impact[E]. There was nothing more I could do.

... Time.

I needed time.

Time to pull myself together. Time to replenish the calories needed for Regeneration[B+]. Time to restore my shattered legs with Regeneration[B+].

And when Brumbar sent the ogre flying, I had been able to pull myself together.

When Kai severed its left arm and drove it back, I had been able to replenish the calories I needed for Regeneration[B+].

I had been able to restore my shattered legs with Regeneration[B+].

Lastly, there was the heart I had torn from the ogre.

Like its enormous body, the heart was immense. Using Predation[S+] on it took a considerable amount of time.

The dwarves had thrown themselves into the fight to buy me that time—the final piece of the puzzle.

My blood boils.

My muscles scream as they sense the change.

I finish preparing to break through the limits barring my way and reach the perfect form of biological evolution—

◆You have devoured the genetic material of the entity 'Ogre'!

◆You have acquired the skill 'Hyperdense Myofibrils[A+]'!

... And the evolution is complete.

An overwhelming sense of density spreads throughout my body. My muscle fibers compress into a hyperdense structure, developing tremendous strength.

My fingertips, my muscles, my strength—

Even I feel unfamiliar to myself.

When I lifted my gaze, the ogre's enormous fist was bearing down, filling my vision.

A roar thundered as though space itself would tear apart.

Draconification[E] had expired. A direct hit would burst my entire body apart—

But now...

I thrust my fist forward.

* * *

Adrian met the ogre's fist head-on.

BOOOOOOM!!

The instantaneous impact tore through the air, sending dust swirling in a storm.

And—

"!!!!!"

"!!!!!"

"!!!!!"

The dwarves' eyes filled with horror-struck amazement. They simply could not believe what they were seeing.

For the one staggering behind that storm of dust...

"Th-the ogre..."

"Was pushed back...?"

Was the ogre.

It was utterly unbelievable. Even with its left arm severed and a mortal wound, an ogre was still an ogre.

The strongest predator on land. A creature that nothing on this earth dared challenge in strength.

Even Brumbar could barely hold out against it. All the dwarves could do was slow it down.

They could never, ever push it back or overpower it.

"H-how...!!"

"Wh-what is that...?"

Every dwarf stared wide-eyed. But their shock was nothing compared to Brumbar's.

"Uh, uaaagh...!!"

Brumbar could not even form words.

He had countered the ogre's strength himself. He had felt its weight with his own body.

"I-impossible..."

That was why he understood better than anyone just how absurd this was.

The scene unfolding before him...

Was something that could not exist in this world.

CRRRUNCH!!

Driven backward, the ogre dug its massive feet into the earth and regained its balance.

But there was no longer rage in its eyes. They trembled with fear.

That mighty predator... now had the eyes of prey.

And the predator hunting the ogre—

BOOM!

With a sudden crash, the ground split apart.

Adrian leaped forward. His hands seized the ogre's enormous body in an instant. Then, concentrating every ounce of strength in his body, he launched it into the air.

BOOM!

The ogre's enormous body hurtled skyward at a staggering speed that defied even gravity.

Airborne, it rapidly receded from the Arcanoheart.

Adrian leaped with transcendent leg strength. The ground cratered explosively as he pursued the airborne ogre.

Then he clasped his fists together and hammered them down into it.

BOOOOM!!

The ogre slammed into the earth. Massive fissures spread, and shock waves exploded in all directions—

"He's overpowering it?!?!"

"H-how!!!"

And the dwarves' astonishment burst forth in fractured cries.

Who could ever have imagined it? The strongest predator on land, being completely overwhelmed.

No one could have imagined it. Yet that impossible sight was unfolding before their very eyes.

Adrian began to fall slowly through the air. Having soared against gravity, his body gradually descended toward the earth.

BOOM!

The impact cratered the ground again. When the rising dust cleared—

"He's... even stronger...?"

Adrian had become something different yet again.

* * *

Another heart torn from the ogre.

I quickly consumed it with Predation[S+] in midair, and as I came down to earth—

◆You have devoured the genetic material of the entity 'Ogre'!

◆You have acquired the skill 'Ultra-Reinforced Skeletal Structure[A]'!

◆Ultra-Reinforced Skeletal Structure[A]

: Upon acquiring this skill, the player's skeleton transforms into a [Hyperdense Structure], increasing bone density by [+35,000%]. The mineral content of bone tissue (calcium, phosphorus, carbon) increases by [+56,770%], and the player gains [+99%] resistance to [Fracture] injuries.

<This is a passive skill and applies permanently upon acquisition.>

Deep within my bones, every bit of tissue changed. The existing structure broke down, and a new, high-density framework took its place.

CRUNCH!

As I clenched my fist, I felt something entirely different from before.

A hyperdense structure that went beyond mere hardness.

My bones had become stronger than steel. Now, I felt as though I could withstand any impact.

And...

No message appeared before my eyes saying I had slain the ogre.

In other words, it was not dead yet. Its hearts had been destroyed and torn out several times, but it kept replacing them with spares, stubbornly clinging to life.

Truly, the strongest predator on land.

But—

"Hand that one over too."

To me now, it was the finest source of genetic material I could ask for.