Say that again!?
[It is as I said, Master.]
[Only 1%.]
"What the fuck!? One percent!?"
"Man, that's a ridiculously low chance to turn this thing into a barbecue."
I glanced back at the others. Seeing their desperate expressions, I instantly knew their chances were even lower than mine—it was basically zero.
Dammit, it's do or die again, then, huh?
"Alright. If this is the only way forward, then get ready to taste the wrath of the man who held the legendary title of Speedrunner in his previous life!"
The Ogre King—a massive beast easily twice my size—felt the shift in the air. It stopped pounding its chest and locked its yellow, slit-like eyes directly onto me.
The passengers who had fled were nowhere to be seen; they had expertly seized the opportunity to escape while I drew the monster's focus.
Those guys... They sure are fast when it comes to running away.
"Now, what do I do?" Evading this giant freak while carrying that naive princess is going to be a real pain in the ass, so I hope she runs away with those people.
However, one passenger remained: Lilia, the young and naive princess who had just been reduced to a slave.
Peering anxiously from behind the thick trunk of an oak tree, she watched with wide, trembling eyes as I confronted the nightmare ahead.
Her heart pounded violently against her ribs—a turbulent mix of overwhelming terror and breathtaking awe washing over her as she witnessed my unyielding resolve.
The Ogre King roared out a deafening challenge. Raising its massive, tree-trunk arms, it slammed its heavy fists violently onto the dirt road, shattering rocks and sending sharp tremors through the earth.
I didn't flinch. Instead, my eyes narrowed as I rapidly analyzed the threat.
This is a mutated variant—an Ogre King, an S-Rank monster possessing extraordinary physical defense and high-level strength capable of crushing massive boulders with only its arms.
With a burst of terrifying momentum, the beast lunged forward, swinging its giant, boulder-like fist.
Maybe Chrono's calculations said I couldn't win this, but I knew this giant's attack patterns inside and out. If this idiot shared the same moveset as its video game counterpart, then that pathetic one percent chance could easily jump to ten.
The first strike gonna comes from its left hand, and the second will be a straight downward slash with that giant axe!
Just as I anticipated, the initial sweep came from its left side.
With my current stats elevated to match an A-Rank, even if I couldn't cast high-tier fatal magic, my speed and physical strength were more than enough to keep up with its movement. It's strenght is insane, but its speed is still in the realm I can touch.
The moment it committed to the second attack pattern, I dodged the falling axe, pivoted on my heel, and lunged.
Clang!
My steel sword vibrated violently as it pierced deep into thick muscle tissue, unleashing a spray of foul, greenish blood.
The Ogre King bellowed in pain and spun, sweeping its massive arm in a wild, horizontal arc.
Relying on my boosted 150 Agility, I backflipped through the air, smoothly gaining distance.
Furious, the monster thrashed wildly, obliterating nearby trees and crushing boulders into dust in a desperate attempt to squash me.
I danced around the devastation, fluidly dodging attacks that were never going to hit, continuously countering by slashing every exposed vital area I could reach.
But my glitched ten-minute time limit was ticking down mercilessly.
The physical strain on my level eight body was becoming unbearable; my muscles screamed in agony under the immense pressure of the 10x multiplier.
"Shit. My attacks are too shallow, and the physical feedback in this real world is way too realistic." I make a distance between us, and my breath is now starting to get heavy.
"If this drags on, my body will collapse before this big guy goes down—or worse, I'll collapse before the time runs out."
Despite being heavily bloodied and scorched from my relentless assault, the Ogre King still possessed over 1,000 HP.
Its massive frame was battered, but its raw vitality remained terrifying.
Snorting plumes of thick, dark smoke from its nostrils, the beast prepared for a desperate final charge, gathering every ounce of its remaining strength to crush me into a bloody pulp.
I braced myself, watching the charging beast. There was no way to finish it off with standard physical attacks alone.
I looked at the HP bar in my status window, and the HP is now at 360/360.
If this were a normal B-Rank ogre, I might have taken a hit or two.
But the risk of taking a direct blow from an S-Rank monster during a desperate charge was suicidal—even with a 10x multiplier. A single clean hit would instantly shatter my full 360 HP in one go.
Just as I prepared to force my aching muscles into a dangerous dodge, the temperature around us spiked dramatically.
"Ignis Sagita!"
A brilliant, gigantic magic circle illuminated the ground, burning with blinding intensity.
A massive, intensely concentrated spear of fire—blazing with such extreme heat that it glowed a pure white—shot through the air.
The fire spear struck the monster with terrifying force, incinerating its entire body and forcing a scream of agony from it.
"Huh!? What now!?"
"Who the hell can use a high-level spell like that around here!? I'm certain no one in that wagon was a wizard!"
Hey, Chrono, did you do that just now!?
As the blinding light faded and ash rained down upon the scorched earth, the heavy sound of galloping hooves echoed from down the road.
Through the lingering veil of smoke, an ornate, heavily armored carriage emerged.
Drawn by two majestic, white-maned horses, the carriage bore a prominent, glittering crest stamped onto its polished wooden door—a symbol of high nobility that immediately changed the entire atmosphere of the battlefield.