Chapter 19: Danger, Third-tier Magic—Lightning Strike
2024-11-18 Author: Amnesty L
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The pounding steps of the two ogres made the ground shake.
Captain Dosali quickly issued commands while retreating.
"Ler, Rand, you two go block the one on the left. Try to hold it back while conserving your stamina."
"Bask! We'll handle this one. Prioritize attacking its eyes and throat," Captain Dosali shouted.
"Understood, Captain!"
"No problem!"
Ler and Rand spoke in unison, raising their shields and charging toward the ogre on the left.
"I'll provide cover." Bask drew his bow, shooting an arrow at the eye of the ogre on the right.
Whoosh!
The arrow flew.
The ogre on the right immediately raised its broad, rough palm to block its face.
Thwack—
The arrow pierced the ogre's palm but didn't even go all the way through.
"Human, food!"
The intense pain successfully drew the ogre's attention. It furiously pulled the arrow from its hand, threw it to the ground, and roared as it charged at the archer, Bask.
"Good."
Captain Dosali nodded, seeing that the ogre had been successfully lured, but his expression remained exceptionally grim.
For someone of Bask's skill, failing to even pierce this ogre's palm showed just how tough and thick-skinned it was.
Captain Dosali halted his retreat. With a hard stomp on the ground, he bent his knees and crossed his dual swords, aiming them at the charging ogre. "Acceleration!"
A pale blue light flashed around Captain Dosali.
Immediately, his body shot forward, appearing swiftly before the ogre with a speed far exceeding what he had previously shown.
And in that instant, Captain Dosali's crossed dual swords slashed down heavily onto the ogre's chest.
Slash! Slash!
Two deep sword marks appeared!
However, such a heavy blow, aside from a slight spill of blood, was hardly a serious injury compared to the ogre's massive physique.
"Aaargh!!"
The ogre roared in pain, swinging its thick fist heavily at Captain Dosali.
Clang!
Captain Dosali's expression changed, and he quickly raised his dual swords to block above his head.
But the immense power still transferred through the blades, numbing his arms and causing him to almost lose his grip on his swords.
Just at this dangerous moment!
"Double Shot!" Archer Bask's steady voice came, accompanied by the sound of two arrows slicing through the air.
The ogre, just about to press its advantage, suddenly felt its vision go dark, followed by an extraordinarily intense pain spreading throughout its entire brain.
"Aaargh-ah!!"
The ogre clutched its blinded eyes, falling to the ground and writhing in agony.
Captain Dosali quickly retreated, moving away from the struggling ogre on the ground, and only then let out a small sigh of relief. "Thanks, Bask."
"Now's not the time for thanks. While its eyes are blinded, let's finish this one off first."
"Rand and his brother are about to collapse over there. That thing is really tough; it didn't even die after getting shot in the eye."
Archer Bask muttered a curse as he spoke.
Tang Zheng looked at his stat panel. The martial skills used by the Rock Squad members appeared, but he didn't waste any skill points learning them.
These skills weren't strong.
"The gap between demi-humans and humans is truly significant," Tang Zheng thought, observing the battle.
Ogres are a subspecies of Trolls. Compared to Trolls, who possess the "Fast Recovery" talent, Ogres are at most just a bit more thick-skinned.
This talent, which would be entirely negligible in the game, combined with the advantage of physical size in this otherworld, resulted in the entire Rock Squad being completely suppressed.
At the same level, humans in this otherworld were almost incapable of defeating demi-humans and heteromorphic races.
It was no wonder that before the Players arrived, the humans of this otherworld were on the brink of extinction.
In the game YGGDRASIL, human players, through character builds, could gradually close the gap on the racial advantages of demi-humans and heteromorphic races after reaching level 50.
But in this otherworld, the highest level humans could reach was only 40…
"Hah." Captain Dosali exhaled, shook his somewhat numb arm, and with a sharp gaze, walked towards the ogre writhing on the ground in pain.
He aimed at the ogre's heart.
Captain Dosali raised the longsword in his left hand and plunged it in with all his might.
Squelch!
Faintly greenish-red blood gushed out. The ogre's violently thrashing body stiffened, and its thick arms slumped to the ground.
Seeing one ogre dealt with, everyone present let out a subtle sigh of relief.
Captain Dosali looked up toward Rand and his brother, forcefully yanked the hilt of his sword, and stood up, ready to go help.
However!
"Waaaaagh—!"
The ogre, which should have died when the sword was plunged into its heart, suddenly twitched. Then, with a struggling roar, it raised its thick arm to grab Captain Dosali.
It was clearly a final, desperate counterattack!
The sudden change stunned everyone.
"Captain, dodge!!" Archer Bask roared, his face turning pale.
The sudden turn of events caught even Captain Dosali a beat too slow to react; he hadn't expected his previous sword strike wouldn't kill the ogre, but as an adventurer, he maintained his vigilance.
"Acceleration!"
A blue light flashed around Captain Dosali, and his speed instantly increased.
The ogre's original grab for Captain Dosali's waist missed, but it caught his ankle instead, squeezing forcefully.
Snap!
"Aaargh!!!"
The sound of a bone shattering and Captain Dosali's shriek echoed.
"Captain!"
Archer Bask's face went white.
At the same time, Rand and Ler, the two brothers fighting the other ogre, heard Captain Dosali's scream and unconsciously faltered for a moment.
In that instant, their previously close coordination broke. By the time they reacted, it was already too late.
Thud!
Ler was kicked hard by the ogre and sent flying.
Already at a disadvantage, Rand, now facing the ogre alone, was in even greater peril!
Seeing the previously stable situation change in the blink of an eye, Archer Bask could only frantically shoot arrows to help the endangered Rand.
However! While ogres might have low intelligence, they were far smarter than goblins. With its companion blinded, this ogre naturally took precautions, guarding its eyes with one hand while continuously striking with the other.
It seemed Rand was about to be overwhelmed!
Facing this situation, Tang Zheng, though his expression was serious, showed no intention of stepping forward.
Are you kidding? With a master present, why would he need to take risks?
"Grandma!" Nfirea Bale, sitting in the carriage, saw the Rock Squad's plight. His face pale, he quickly looked toward Grandma Lijie.
"With this level of skill, they still plan to become a Gold-rank adventurer team."
Grandma Lijie spoke expressionlessly. Although her words were harsh, she raised a finger, and a dazzling blue-white light bloomed at its tip.
"Lightning Strike!"
Crack!
An astonishingly powerful energy condensed into a bolt of blue lightning, shooting straight forward.
The lightning strike first severed the arm of the ogre grabbing Captain Dosali's ankle, then, its power undiminished, blasted towards the other ogre!
Boom—
As the blue lightning dissipated, a massive, charred hole appeared in the other ogre's chest.
Thud!
The ogre, charred black all over, tilted backward and fell to the ground with a dull thud.
(end of chapter)