Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Ogre, Later Still

One black silhouette after another emerged through the gate before us.

Low, rumbling roars. Massive bodies. Muscles developed to the point of distortion. Savage faces, tangled fur, and torsos wrapped only in beasts' hides. That was the true shape of those shadows. And as the black light flickered across the ceiling, enormous weapons began appearing in their hands as well.

Spiked maces, double-bladed axes with long hafts, gigantic iron hammers... one monstrous weapon after another appeared, so huge they were enough to leave anyone speechless. One, two, three... their number could not even be counted, and they kept pouring out of the gate without end, as though there would never be a final one.

Ogre, Level 45, ordinary beast. Description: Ogres are a branch of the beastfolk. Most of them possess almost no intelligence; what they have instead is boundless appetite and an endless thirst for slaughter. They are killing machines born for battle.

"Everyone, begin the fight!"

I shouted, and my staff once again turned into a pillar, knocking over one of the ogres. At the same time, Long Xin unleashed a barrage of magic, and the others followed with every skill they had. A storm of attacks rained down on the roaring ogres.

But those ogres swung the weapons in their hands and blocked many of our attacks, and the damage we dealt to them was clearly not small. "Brother, this looks a little troublesome," someone said, while tossing out a Meteoric Firestorm, sending it racing toward the ogres in front.

Clang! Clang! The ogres used their weapons to meet the incoming firestorm, smashing it into nothingness. Though most of the Meteoric Firestorm was deflected, there were so many projectiles that after many were blocked, quite a few still struck the ogres' bodies. The flames only made their already dark skin even blacker; the damage was far from ideal.

"These things have absurdly high magical defense," Long Xin said, frowning at the effects of her spells.

Xiao Ai merged with her angel, then summoned row after row of white spears and hurled them at the ogres. The ogres again raised their weapons to block them. Although a few spears pierced their bodies, none of it caused much damage, much less anything fatal.

"How annoying. Even my Spear of Light doesn't work," Xiao Ai complained.

"I'll try!" Ye Shuang shouted, slamming his fists together before sending a green spinning blade crashing toward an ogre. But even the immensely powerful Rift-Cleaving Wheel was blocked. The ogre simply shoved it aside with brute force, and its body showed no sign of injury at all.

"Whoa, whoa! That's so strong! These ogre monsters... the system really made something this disgusting. How are we supposed to fight that?" Ye Shuang said angrily.

It was true. Those ogres were definitely no ordinary foes. Still, there had to be a way to deal with them. At least one thing I was thankful for was that they had not rushed us on their own. I watched the ogres, still increasing in number, and began to think about a response.

From what I could see, the ogres had extremely high resistance to long-range attacks, and their magical defense was also excellent. Our spells could not inflict much damage, and I could see with my Fiery Eyes that they could even regenerate. Killing them would not be easy.

"Brother Long, you all fall back a little. I'll take care of these trash myself."

To everyone's surprise, Amaterasu appeared beside me without making a sound, drew her twin blades, and walked forward.

"Amaterasu, are you sure? If you're going alone, don't push yourself too hard."

I knew her strength was formidable, but this enemy was not only numerous; its power was no joke either. No one could afford to be careless. Her attack power was even higher than Dragon War's, but her health and defense were far lower. I was starting to worry. I did not want to see one of our key allies fall before the mission had even begun.

By then, Amaterasu had already walked toward the densely packed ogres ahead.

"Roar!"

Sensing that they were being looked down upon, the ogres let out earthshaking howls and launched into a furious charge. The enormous weapons in their hands tore through the air with shrill, whistling screams.

More than a hundred ogres charged wildly at Amaterasu. The distance between them was not great, and their massive footsteps shook the entire hall as if an earthquake had struck. They brandished their colossal weapons and roared furiously, coming on like a force that would crush everything in its path.

Before that mad collective assault, Amaterasu stood her ground. She threw off her cloak and mask. Her red eyes flashed with a chilling light, and her blood-colored hair spilled down her back. Her face held no expression at all.

"Argh!"

A monstrous roar burst out before her like thunder. The devastating charge was already only a few yards away. The fierce wind from their advance even lifted her long red hair.

As though determined to mince the one who had dared despise them into meat, all the ogres gripped their weapons with both hands and hacked down mercilessly at the girl before them.

Clang!

A tremendous crash rang out. In that instant, dozens of weapons came down on Amaterasu. For someone only about half as tall as an ogre, taking on that many attacks would have been nearly impossible. Yet Amaterasu silently scattered a shower of throwing blades, driving them into the ogres' eyes. The ogres who had reached her first immediately suffered a terrible loss, and then Amaterasu swiftly unleashed Blood Storm, sending every one of those weapons flying back.

Then her twin blades danced again in a brilliant flourish as she moved among the ogres before her.

—4222

—4102

—3942

—4122

...

A series of horrifying damage numbers flashed up over the ogres' heads. In an instant, the advance guard was wiped out, but the real battle had only just begun. Once the charge was broken, the other ogres immediately surrounded Amaterasu.

Amid the thunderous howling of the ogres, countless enormous weapons slashed toward her body, but Amaterasu used Blood Storm to block them all, then roared and knocked them all away.

But that was not the end. Black crosses flashed into being, and the sounds of blades tearing flesh rang out. Then came rending, severing, dismembering... Under the eruption of Amaterasu's terrifying 4,200 attack power, those massive ogres were reduced to ruin like oversized dolls gone wrong. Bright red blood sprayed through the air, and all kinds of weapons were shattered. Nothing around her remained intact.

Hands, feet, heads... severed limbs kept falling to the floor. Endless blood splattered across every inch of the hall. Crimson and black flashes continued to flicker around Amaterasu.

Countless ogre corpses, ripped apart and mangled, piled up like small hills on the ground. They would stack, vanish after reaching a layer or two, then be replaced by new ogres spawning in their place, after which the heap would begin to build again. Slaughter and death cycled on without end, an uncontrollable, unstoppable dance of death, leaving behind only a sea made of corpses and blood.

Standing in the center of that sea of flesh and blood, Amaterasu's bright red eyes, her loose red hair, and the twin blades stained even redder by countless murders made her look, to the ogres, like the reaper come to harvest their lives. The ogres let out wave after wave of anguished howls.

But while the ogres suffered, we were thrilled beyond measure. The experience these ogres yielded was incredibly rich. Watching the screen of experience points flood before my eyes, I even began to think that the more monsters there were, the better. When I lost count of which ogre it was that Amaterasu dismembered, everyone except me had leveled up by one. My own experience bar had risen as well, and no new ogres were spawning anymore. Before us now lay a road formed entirely of blood.

The entire hall was filled with a stench of blood so thick it was almost impossible to breathe.

"Not enough..." Amaterasu murmured softly. Then she sheathed her twin blades, picked up her cloak and mask from the floor, put them back on, and walked over.

"Brother Long, let's hurry."

When she came back, Amaterasu said that to me. I nodded, and then everyone quickly left the blood-soaked hall.