Bang! Bang! Bang!
The ground shook as the two ogres charged forward.
Captain Dosari quickly retreated, giving orders in rapid succession.
"Le'er, Rand, the two of you go stop the one on the left and hold it back as much as possible."
"Basque! Let's take care of this one—attack the eyes and throat first!"
Captain Dosari shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos.
"Okay, Captain!""No problem!"Lele and Rand responded, raising their shields and charging toward the ogre on the left.
"I'll cover you." Basque pulled back the bowstring and fired an arrow at the ogre on the right.
Whoosh!The arrow flew through the air.
The ogre on the right immediately raised its large, rough hand to cover its face.
Puff—
The arrow embedded itself into the ogre's palm, but it didn't penetrate the thick skin.
"Food!" the ogre bellowed, its voice a guttural roar of pain.
The intense agony caught the ogre's attention. It angrily yanked the arrow from its hand, threw it to the ground, and charged toward Basque with a roar.
"Very good," Captain Dosari muttered, watching the ogre's movements. However, his expression remained grim.
At Basque's level, he couldn't even penetrate the ogre's palm with his arrow, which showed just how tough the beast's skin was.
Bang!
Captain Dosari paused in his retreat, then stomped hard on the ground, bent his knees, and crossed his swords in front of him as the ogre rushed toward him. "Speed up!"
A flash of light-blue energy enveloped Captain Dosari.
In an instant, he shot forward, moving faster than anyone would have expected.
In the blink of an eye, Captain Dosari appeared before the ogre, his swords raised.
He swung them down with force.
Puff! Puff!
Two deep gashes appeared across the ogre's chest.
However...
Despite the powerful strike, the ogre's massive body absorbed the damage with little more than a trickle of blood spilling out.
"Ahhh!!"The ogre screamed in pain, swinging its thick fist at Captain Dosari.
Bang!
Captain Dosari's face contorted in pain as he raised his swords to block, but the force of the blow still traveled up the blades, numbing his arms and almost making him lose his grip.
At that dangerous moment, a calm voice rang out.
"Double shot!"
It was Basque. The sound of arrows cutting through the air followed.
The ogre, mid-swing, suddenly felt a sharp pain in its eyes. It screamed in agony, its hands instinctively flying to its face, trying to block the blinding pain.
"Ahhh!!"
The ogre staggered backward, clutching its eyes, and fell to the ground, rolling in pain.
Captain Dosari quickly pulled back, creating distance from the now-blinded ogre, and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Basque."
"This isn't the time to thank me," Basque snapped. "Let's finish it off while it's blind."
"Brother Rand's holding on by a thread. He survived a direct hit to the eye with that thick skin of his."
Basque cursed inwardly as he spoke, his eyes fixed on the battle.
Minori observed the battle intently, his thoughts focused on the attributes of the "Rock" team. Their martial arts skills appeared on his attribute panel, but he didn't waste any points on learning them.
The skills were nothing special.
"The gap between sub-humans and humans is really obvious," Minori thought, quietly analyzing the situation.
Ogres were a subspecies of ogres, and compared to regular ogres who possessed the "quick recovery" talent, these creatures were only slightly thicker-skinned and tougher.
In a game like "YGGDRASIL," such differences could be balanced at higher levels. However, in this world, humans could only reach level 40 at most, making them hopelessly outmatched by sub-humans and other alien species.
"Huh." Captain Dosari exhaled sharply, shaking his numb arms as he eyed the ogre still writhing in pain on the ground. He then raised his sword and thrust it into the creature's heart.
Phew!
Green-red blood spurted from the wound, and the ogre's violent struggles stiffened before it collapsed, its arms falling limply to the ground.
With the ogre defeated, the group let out a collective sigh of relief.
Captain Dosari raised his head, glancing toward Rand and Lele's position. He gripped his sword tightly and prepared to move in to help.
"Wow—"
The ogre that should have been dead jerked in a sudden, violent spasm. It twisted its body and let out a final roar, raising its thick arms to grab Captain Dosari.
It was a desperate, dying counterattack.
The unexpected change caught everyone off guard.
"Captain, get out of the way!" Basque shouted, his face pale.
The situation shifted so quickly that even Captain Dosari was a fraction slow to react. He hadn't expected the ogre to keep fighting, but as an experienced adventurer, he remained alert.
"Accelerate!"
Captain Dosari's body glowed with blue energy as he dashed away.
The ogre, aiming for the captain's waist, missed and instead grabbed hold of his ankle, squeezing tightly.
Snap!"Ahhh!!!"
The sound of bones breaking echoed through the battlefield as Captain Dosari screamed in agony.
"Team leader!" Basque cried, his face drained of color.
The brothers Rand and Lele, who were engaged with another ogre, faltered for a moment when they heard Captain Dosari's scream.
For just an instant, their coordinated actions broke down. By the time they realized what had happened, it was already too late.
Bang!
Lele was sent flying by a powerful kick from the ogre.
Rand, already struggling, found himself facing the ogre alone, his chances of survival dwindling.
Basque, in desperation, fired arrows to help, but the ogre was more cautious now, protecting its eyes with one hand while continuing to hammer away with the other.
It seemed like Rand was about to be overwhelmed.
Nfirea, watching the scene from the carriage, turned to his grandmother Lizzie, his face pale with concern.
"With this level of skill, are you really planning to take your adventurer team to gold rank?" he asked, fear and disbelief in his voice.
Lizzie, her expression cold, raised a finger, and blue-white light began to gather at her fingertips.
"Lightning strike!"
Crack!
The energy surged forward in a brilliant flash, first severing the ogre's arm that had grabbed Captain Dosari, then blasting through the other ogre with the same intensity.
Boom!
A huge, charred hole appeared in the chest of the second ogre, its body blackened as it collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.