《RE: SYSTEM // SUMMONER - A Litrpg Apocalypse Redo》(8) Destruction Boss, Part 2
Advertisement
The feeling of invincibility didn't last long.
With a roar of fury, the ogre smashed its manablade cleaver down - not on Levi, but through one of the pillars.
Chunks of stone scattered like shrapnel from the impact and dust rose in a cloud. The ogre rampaged on past heedlessly while the pillar dropped, tilted slowly, then toppled to the ground with a thunderous crash. Corrosive orange goo splashed out in every direction from the depression at its top, far more than Levi would have imagined it could hold.
Skarm squealed in pain, and a quick glance at his minion menu showed his gremlin’s health at below half and dropping.
The ogre swung its cleaver wide, the tip slicing through his shirt effortlessly and drawing a line of hot pain across Levi’s back. He'd been in too many battles to flinch. Jumping aside, Levi sprinted in a new direction, ducked behind a pillar and continued running.
His momentary distraction had almost gotten him killed.
Warm dampness spread down his back, every movement sending fresh waves of pain, but he couldn't do anything about it now. He didn’t have another restorative elixir to provide a buffer. Any injuries he accrued, he had no choice but to fight through. The best thing to do would be to kill the boss fast and reach level 3.
His pulse raced in his ears, throbbing in his fingers where he gripped the dagger. Another pillar crashed down, turning the room into more and more of an obstacle course. Levi would have to vault or detour around the fallen pillars, while the ogre was large enough to jump up on them in a simple step.
Maybe the boss wasn’t as stupid as Levi’d hoped. It was reshaping the arena to its preferences, done letting its enemy dictate its movements.
Or, he thought as it broke one of the fallen pillars in half before charging on, maybe it just liked smashing stuff.
In the meantime, Skarm’s health continued to drop. If nothing changed in another minute or two, he’d be dead. Levi didn’t know any healing spells, that hadn’t been his department, and he deeply regretted the lack now.
No time to waste. He desperately wanted to capture the ogre, but he’d really underestimated it. He knew it wouldn’t lie down easily, and right now Levi didn’t have the sheer strength or numbers to force it into checkmate. It would still be deadly dangerous right up until the last moment, and his current resources simply wouldn’t be enough to subdue it safely.
Advertisement
But before he could do anything, he needed to get it out of enrage and into exhaustion so they could do some real damage. Ogres had incredible burst strength, but less endurance.
Unfortunately, it seemed the boss wasn’t going to wear out on a timer like normal ones, and even if it would he was running out of time. If he had to guess, he’d assume the boss’s trigger would be dropping further in health. Dungeons weren’t meant to be run solo, after all. An ordinary group would have mage and ranged support, certainly not just two fighters.
Another pillar crashed down, leaving eight upright. The battlefield hardly resembled its former condition now, with bubbling puddles of the orange goo pooling around the tops of the fallen pillars, chunks of scattered stone littering the ground where the ogre had smashed through, one pillar shattered in the middle, another having cratered the floor around it, the third broken in three pieces.
Reluctantly, Levi admitted he had to change his plan. Kill it now, tame it later once it respawned. Or its cousin in another dungeon; it didn’t have to be that exact ogre.
Levi ducked as one of the pillars he’d been approaching burst a globule and sprayed corrosive, but compared to the deluges when the pillars fell this was hardly worth mentioning. Still, it would have been a problem if he’d taken it full to the face.
As it was, he had some of the nasty goo clinging to his right side, slowly burning away at his arm and leg, leaving uneven holes in his clothing and dropping his health regen into the negative.
Levi instinctively tried to push mana into his dagger as he went on the offensive, but without an activation stone the dagger couldn’t hold the power.
“Skarm, hit it from behind with everything you’ve got!” Levi shouted. He took a running jump, scrambled onto the top of a fallen pillar, and ran down its length to intercept the berserking ogre. He launched himself into the air, leaping off as he neared his target.
Level 1+
(Cave Ogre)
Health 47%
At least the splashes of corrosive were having some effect on the boss, though not nearly enough to matter in the long run.
Levi slammed dagger-first onto the ogre’s back, wrapped one arm around its neck to anchor himself, then stabbed the back of its head. But, he’d again forgotten that this dagger didn’t have a power stone equipped yet, so instead of slicing through bone and into the ogre’s brain, it skidded across the skull leaving a deep gash but nothing that couldn’t be healed in time.
Advertisement
Skarm’s attack coincided almost perfectly, skewering the ogre with his horn through the leg.
Level 1+
(Cave Ogre)
Health 41%
Levi got in two more quick dagger stabs before the ogre slammed the hilt of its cleaver into his skull, jolting him and dropping his health to below half. He clung to the monster, stabbing the back of its neck, trying to get past all its muscle and to a vulnerable point, but ogres were much sturdier than humans.
With an angered roar, the ogre jumped in the air, then twisted and dropped. Levi had just time to realize its intention and let go before it slammed down on its back on the ground.
If Levi had still been on its back, he’d have been crushed to paste.
As it was, the ogre’s shoulder slammed down on his legs, pinning him on the ground.
Levi heard something crack. If there was any pain, he was too overloaded with adrenaline to feel it, but his leg wasn't responding as he tried to scramble free. Levi cursed his low stamina's inability to protect him. This was exactly the sort of thing that he'd never had to worry about in years.
If the ogre were smart, it could have finished him off while he was helpless. Luckily, an infuriated berserker, it was past the point of making plans.
Instead of rolling over and simply crushing Levi beneath its bulk, it jumped to its feet and swung its cleaver up to finish him off as he desperately scooted back away across the floor.
He wasn't going to make it. Levi automatically tried to push mana into his feet to boost him away, but Empowered Leap cost far more mana than his tiny pool could offer and the spell failed.
The ogre's blade started to descend in a wide sweep.
Skarm got there first, just in time.
The brave little gremlin threw himself at the ogre’s arm, impaling it with his horn and clawing viciously enough that the ogre’s aim was thrown off. The blade cleaved through the floor with a resounding clang, leaving a gouge in the stone as long as Levi’s body, but thankfully missing him entirely.
Level 1+
(Cave Ogre)
Health 36%
That bought him a few seconds. Levi took quick stock of his options, which were not looking very good. His right leg still refused to move properly, he couldn’t even stand. And the boss still had over a third of its health.
Skarm got in another few scratches before the ogre grabbed the gremlin’s head in one huge fist.
A resounding crack echoed through the room as the ogre slammed Skarm's skull into the nearest pillar.
Skarm's struggles immediately ceased, his body falling limp in the ogre's grasp.
In Levi's interface, his minion information dimmed to grey.
The fact that it didn't disappear entirely gave Levi hopes that his minion could be brought back somehow, but he didn't have time to worry about it.
He gritted his teeth, let the deep anger of losing yet another comrade to pointless death flow through him, and pushed aside any thoughts of what came next. Right now, he had only to survive. Fight and win, just like every other time.
The pillar splintered at the impact and began to tilt, dripping orange goo in a wobbly line of viscous globs that hissed and burned the floor where they landed.
The ogre tossed aside the dead gremlin, then turned back to Levi.
The teetering pillar slid a few centimeters, stone clattering, and Levi made a sudden snap decision.
He wasn’t going to make it if he fought fair. He’d underestimated the dungeon, or overestimated himself. But he still had a chance. There was always something that could be done. No challenge was truly insurmountable. He just had to find the way forward.
Levi changed angles, dragging himself across the floor and toward the path of the slowly tilting pillar, drawing the ogre after him. Then he pushed all his mana into the most directed, focused mana burst he could muster. He'd never been much of a spellcaster in his past life, but there were a few utility spells everyone knew.
The ogre crossed into its path just as Levi’s supercharged focused mana ping hit the already-damaged pillar, knocking the broken chunks loose. With a sudden clatter of crumbling stone, the pillar lurched and fell forward in a cloud of dust.
Advertisement
- In Serial606 Chapters
Dragonborn Saga
Meet Jon Dare, your every day's 25 years old who one day wakes up in Honorhall Orphanage in the city of Riften in the Kingdom of Skyrim. He reincarnated in his favorite game 19 years before the start of the game’s events. Armed with knowledge about the future and full potential in Magic, Combat and Voice, the Nord kid will set out from Riften to find himself becoming a Hero way before the start of the game events.
8 1811 - In Serial10 Chapters
Iron and Wood - A Tale Of Empire and Clans
For centuries, the Midlands had been split into fragments. A once glorious, united Empire has become a shadow of its former self. Unity has not returned, and not for the lack of trying. The greatest of these successor states were the Li Dynasty to the south, the rulers of old, and the Emerald Empire to the North, with its vibrant vitality. Unity is the end goal, and both will sacrifice anything to attain this elusive dream. For unity would surely solve the conflict that had long plagued this once prosperous continent. The Ironwood Clan was a prime player. Some would consider them the ones holding the reigns to the horse named 'Unification'. Iron and wood were the backbones of civilization; similarly, the Ironwoods were the backbones of the Northern Empire, and by extension, the people of the Midlands. Their methods, as questionable as they might be, had strengthened the North. Yet, were they enough? In the midst of it all, a young Ironwood who had lost his path must once again find his way. For the sake of his own wellbeing; for the sake of his clan; and for the sake of the Empire and its subjects. However, is he willing to sacrifice for the good of all? Is he willing to condemn some for the sake of others? Is he willing to make the right, albeit harsh, decisions? Only the heavens would know. Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Additionally, any views and beliefs expressed by the characters are not the author's own. The story is also not an endorsement of any actions taken within. The 'profanity' and 'sexual content' warning tags are there to be safe (and to leave room for potential future changes), but for now these two things are not inside this novel. This is my take on 'cultivation', though it might be somewhat disconnected from the general idea of the genre. Release schedule: Two chapters a week. The cover was created using wombo art. While I believe that creations using the app are in the public domain, if that is not the case, I will take it down.
8 133 - In Serial82 Chapters
Mind Linker
Demons are prowling the city floor, and Alexus had never believed that demons existed until now. Luckily, he was resurrected back from his heart attack in the hospital, bringing with him a unique ability. He can see energy as if it was the back of his hand and see beyond the thick veil of the paranormal. What's even crazier is that he is now called an Ouroboros, a being that is not entirely human anymore but something more. He fights to survive in a world where Demons possess the human body, and the demons attempt to kill every last Ouroboros they can find. Still, in a world where Ouroboros are just beginning to bloom, would he be able to make a future for himself or die like every other Ouroboros out there who couldn't make it to Seventh Sanctum. A place where either it's his salvation or his doom. A place where even more dark secrets lie. Is Ouroboros a hero or a villain? Or are they the bringer of destruction to the world?
8 186 - In Serial16 Chapters
Sad oneshots
Dark stories about life. Just read if you want to. Not recommended if you don't like the following things: demons, voices, cutting, suicide, psychotic stuff, dead etc.✨Also please don't think this is who I am, I'm a writer and experience things, but not all of this✨🌸names won't be included🌸❄️slow updates❄️
8 138 - In Serial32 Chapters
Reincarnated in a Post-Apocalyptic World as a Krsnik...
Full Title: Reincarnated in a Post-Apocalyptic World as a Krsnik, so I guess I'm a Vampire Hunter now, and nothing will ever be the same After dying a horrible death in the stomach of a dragon, Kai is reincanated thousands of years later in a post-apocalyptic world as a Krsnik, a shapeshifter, whose destiny is to defeat the Kudlak and the Demon Lord that rules over all... if he doesn't somehow make everything 10x worst. RPK is a RealRPG fantasy set in a post-apocalyptic world with cultivation. (This is just the first draft and as such will have grammar issues, inconsistencies, and plot holes. -- Thank you!)
8 183 - In Serial160 Chapters
Life Quotes
Quotes to help you reflect or remember times from your life. VOTE | COMMENT | FOLLOW MY PROFILE | CHECK OUT MY OTHER STORIES
8 205