Against the Tide

A flushed face and panic stricken eyes. The girl’s chest heaved up and down as she frantically wiped the sweat from her perspiring cheeks.

“How close are they?” I asked concisely.

“They…they…” She spoke with broken sentences in between heavy panting, only managing to form a coherent sentence after repeated effort. “They’re… only a couple of blocks away… I-it was Hina who spotted them when they were making their way over here.”

I inwardly frowned. Although I expected my estimations to be off, the horde was closing in a bit too fast. I thought we at least had an hour or two left before they could make it this far into the district. Did something happen? What had changed?

As my mind struggled to find an answer, the others came closer. Cielle, Cher, and the President all stared at me with worried expressions.

“How many are there?” Cher asked, already fastening her makeshift sword prosthetic onto her arm.

The girl hesitated for a second before simply replying, “A lot.”

“A lot?”

“Um…y-yeah, that’s what Hina told me when I asked…” She hastily continued, waving her arms fruitlessly in panic.

For a fraction of a second, a grimace contorted my face before I forcefully suppressed it and nodded. The grip onto my sword tightened as I turned towards the others. I looked at Cher and the President.

“How much have you two harvested?” So far, they’ve spent close to an hour and a half stripping down the corpse and collecting the hide, fur, scales, etc. Unfortunately, because of the body’s durability, the progress was slow and arduous.

“We barely finished separating the hide, fur, and scales from one of its lower legs.” The President replied. “We started working on the muscle and meat, but it’s a lot tougher than we originally expected.” He pointed to a spot near the manticore, where they gathered the resources they managed to harvest.

Compared to the rest of the body, the pile wasn’t a lot, but it was still a considerable amount. It would probably fill-up about half of the Humvee’s cargo space.

I thought for a moment, before I nodded my head. “Alright, you,” I pointed to the nervous girl in front of me. “Start loading the stuff onto the car. I’ll call Narise back and get her to help you out later. The rest of us, Cielle, Cher, Prez, let’s go.

We’ll be a bit busy for a while.”

****

I walked onto the open street beyond the school. Aside from the narrow alley ways that weaved in between the houses, this street was one of the only paths that lead towards the east. I approached Hina, who stood next to Kido’s childhood friend and ardently stared out into the distance. In her hands was a pair of high powered binoculars.

I followed her eyes, and looked beyond the horizon. It was hard to make out, but the horde was close. Each passing second turned the distant silhouettes slightly larger. It won’t take long for the horde to arrive.

From what I could make out, the incoming horde was a coalition of hobgoblins and cliff ogres. A mix of walking giants surrounded by tiny brown clusters. They looked like a poorly constructed pack of trail mix. Seeing this scene, the frown on my face deepened. I finally figured out the reason why the horde was so fast.

Two of the opposing monster groups formed an alliance. The infighting that I hoped would delay them did not come to fruition.

I briefly glanced down at the sword in my hand and felt the familiar ridges on [Fynch]’s hilt. Fiddling around in my pocket with the other, I grasped onto the paper clip sized axe and gripped its tiny handle with the end of my fingers. Because of [Extreme Burnout], my active skills were essentially locked out while my stats were greatly limited due to the effects of the various other demerits my body suffered under.

If I were to make a rough estimation based on what I experienced these past few days, then my current strength was probably below half of Cher and the Prez’s. Numerically, that would put me somewhere around level fifteen, not including weapon bonuses.

Fortunately, things weren’t all that bad. I tested it previously, but the weapon skills and weapon bonuses work just fine, although the changes given by [Equip] were not added.

As all the combatants of the group gathered, I took command and implemented one of the key aspects of the [World System] that we couldn’t do previously inside the dungeon.

[Party Formation].

The rest of the group experimented with this feature previously while I was away, and they explained a bit of what they discovered to me yesterday. Parties weren’t really anything special. Creating a [Party] just basically meant forming a group and sharing the experience among the members. This was probably in order to compensate for people with more support type roles. In addition, another feature that parties had was the ability to display the other member’s HP to each other.

When I tested the system yesterday, I confirmed all of this. When I assigned myself as [Party Leader], I discovered an additional feature that the others previously did not know about. I found out I could send brief and short messages to the other members in my party. This message was limited to three to four words, and could only be done every fifteen minutes. I figured this feature was due to the leadership stat I possessed. Since I was the only one with the leadership stat, then it wasn’t surprising that the others did not know about this feature. I also concluded that the limitations to the system were because of my leadership stat. If I increased it, then it was probably possible to send longer messages in much shorter intervals. Heck, maybe I can even unlock other features if I continue to increase my leadership stat.

There were plenty of things I still did not know about this new system. The most worrying question I currently had on my mind was whether there was a limit to the distance between members for the [Party System] to stay in effect. If we separate far enough, will the party automatically disband?

For now, I pushed my worries to the back of my mind and set myself as [Party Leader]. I looked back at the approaching horde. Hina’s previous statement was spot on. There was a hell of a lot of them advancing.

More than thirty Hobgoblins and seven Cliff Ogres. The hobgoblins were similar to the goblins I fought before. They were just a bit larger and had dirty brown skin as opposed to the green I was familiar with. As for the Cliff Ogres, they resembled golems rather than actual ogres.

When I questioned Hina about the Ogres, she briefly stated that the ones today were larger than the few the group fought before.

They were close to ten meters tall and towered over the surrounding houses. The rock like skin covering their bodies was literally rock. The Cliff Ogres looked like giants molded from stone and mountain. Near the front of the horde was a Cliff Ogre that was almost twice as large as the others. Its arms dropped all the way to the ground, and each step it took shattered the underlying pavement beneath. It was clearly an Elite, if not a Named monster.

After thinking for a bit, I asked Hina a question. “How much mana will it consume for you to create a wall of earth?”

She paused for a second before replying with a dread filled expression, “… If it’s a wall that will block the whole street, then… at least seventy percent, probably more.”

Hearing this, a sigh unconsciously leaked out form my slightly parted lips. After a moment of hesitation, I asked another question. “How about fire? How much for a wall of fire?”

Not even a second later, Hina instantly responded. “I have better control over fire, so only twenty percent… but it will immediately collapse if I don’t continually supply it with mana. The wind outside is too strong and the conditions aren’t right for me to perpetually maintain it.”

“…Alright.” I nodded. “Cielle will aim for the Elite Cliff Ogre. Shut down one of its legs. Hina create a wall of fire for… at least sixty seconds. The main purpose of this is to separate the horde. The Cliff Ogres will be able to cross the fire but that’s alright. As long as you can keep the hobgoblins at bay for sixty seconds, then that’s enough.

Meanwhile, Cher and the others will go around through the houses and use the sixty seconds to attack the hobgoblins. There are too many for just three of you to kill, but if you don’t aim to kill and prioritize survival, then it should be manageable. During the sixty seconds, Cielle and I will cut down the number of Cliff Ogres. They are the biggest threat.”

The Cliff Ogres possessed a durable exterior, and in the past, with the exception of Hina, nobody here was capable of doing significant damage to them. Rather than pair Cher and the others against something they were bad against, it was better to make use of everyone’s strength and have them target the weaker, but numerically advantageous group.

“Wait, wait,” Cher interrupted. She looked at me with creased eyebrows. A worried expression masked her face. “Are you sure about this? Aren’t you still…”

I lightly smiled and interrupted her before she finished, “Don’t worry, I’m more than capable enough. I might be like this now, but I’m still stronger than you.” I lied before turning to Hina, “Hina, buff me up with your spells.”

“Alright.” She nodded slightly, before a surge of warmth entered my chest and spread throughout my body. Similar sensations overwhelmed me for the next few minutes.

While Hina hurriedly casted spell after spell on to me, the “Hobgoblin distraction team” set out and hopped from one house to another and quickly got into position. Once the horde approached one hundred meters and once Hina finished casting her buffs, I slightly nodded my head.

Cielle, who received the go ahead, immediately brought forth a bubble of [Black Gemini] that she kept within a canteen strapped to her waist. The dark bubble slowly collapsed into itself before converging into a thin ice-like spear of solid black. After a few seconds, the originally opaque darkness took on a slight shade of green. Cielle used [Acid clad] and imbued her magic with acid.

Cielle’s face was a shade paler than before, and her chest heaved heavily as sweat continually poured down her cheeks. According to Cielle, this one shot alone costs about forty percent of her total mana. Luckily, it was all worth it.

Taking a deep breath, Cielle raised her left hand up, mimicking the stance of a javelin thrower. The spear of dark green matched her posture and floated a few centimeters above her open palm. With one giant step forward, she flung the spear straight towards the incoming giant.

The chunk of [Dark Gemini] flew like a streak of black lightning, piercing through the humid air before stabbing into the Elite Cliff Ogre’s left knee cap.

The corrosion immediately took effect. Because of the Cliff Ogre’s durability, the acid had a lower effect, but it was enough to make a difference. The Ogre marched forward without feeling the impact. It took several steps forward before the acid began to kick in, and its footsteps wobbled. After one more step, its kneecap shattered. The weight of the creature pushed down onto its broken knee and made the situation even worse. It toppled to the floor with an earth-shaking crash, crushing two hobgoblins beneath it.

Despite the success of the first attack, the Ogre did not stop. Its remaining leg wasn’t strong enough to support the monster’s full weight, but it crawled forward using the power of its oversized upper arms. Seeing this scene, I could not help but frown. I assumed Cielle’s earlier attack was enough to incapacitate it, but I was dead wrong. At the very least though, it was moving at a much slower speed than before, buying us precious time.

I turned towards Hina, who was ardently waiting for my signal. “Now.” With one word from me, Hina immediately casted her spell.

A wall of blistering flames erupted forth from the ground about thirty meters away from us. The column of fire was enough to completely cover the street from one end to another.

The wall of fire was easily passed by the Cliff Ogres, but the hobgoblins could not easily proceed forward.

After a few seconds, I heard the sound of battle coming from beyond the wall of flame.

I inwardly smiled and stared straight ahead. Not counting the Elite Cliff Ogre who was still crawling from behind the fire wall, there were six Ogres in front of me. Statistically speaking, that would mean two per person, but that won’t quite work in this situation.

For sixty seconds, Hina needed to maintain the fire wall. Meanwhile, Cielle was limited with what she could do. Based on the exchange from earlier, a cliff ogre was eerily similar to a golem. They could not feel pain and this attribute alone greatly limited Cielle’s potential during this upcoming battle. Spamming [Acid Clad] was her only method of attack, but this consumed too much mana. In this regard, it might have been better to send Cielle off with the others to fight the hobgoblins. Unfortunately, I deemed shutting down the Elite Ogre more important to the overall battle.

Well, that was alright. This situation was what I expected. It just meant I had to take on more than two golems.

I walked forward with calm and leisure steps. The approaching Ogres saw me. The closest one immediately barreled towards me, its arm already swinging downward. Considering how tough its skin was, I returned [Fynch] back into the make shift scabbard I hurriedly crafted yesterday. Instead, I felt for the familiar weapon in my pocket as I narrowed my eyes and stared at the incoming giant.

A sigh leaked out from my thinly parted lips.

Right now, I only had two weapon skills available to me, [Devour] and [Shift]. [Devour] wasn’t a combat skill in the first place, and [Shift] had a massive setback. It was a good skill, but the kickback was a major problem.

While suffering massive kickbacks wasn’t exactly ideal, given the situation, I wasn’t left with much of a choice. The Ogre rapidly closed the distance between us.

Cliff Ogre – Level 37

1000/1000 HP

It towered over me. I doubted that this creature was a real ogre. Its skin genuinely looked like it was crafted from gathered rock, and every time it moved, I heard the sound of two boulders grinding against each other.

It swung its massive fist towards me. I stepped forward and felt the rush of wind past by me as I narrowly avoided the blow by a hair’s breadth. I grabbed the tiny axe within my hand and reared my arm back before I swung forward, imitating the golem and activating the weapon skill.

[Shift!]

I roared in my heart as a flash of white metal sliced through the golem. Almost immediately I felt a huge force push back against my shoulder. It felt as if the nerves in my arm were being grinded and torn apart repeatedly.

I gritted my teeth till my lips bled and stomached through the pain. In an instant, the small paperclip sixed axe turned into a giant weapon of destruction the size of a small car. The tip of the blade was embedded firmly into the pavement while the Ogre in front of me had a giant gash on its torso.

Looking into the wound, there was no blood or muscle beneath its rocky exterior, but rather, only more rock and stone. A crumbling noise resonated within the air as the gash cracked and enlarged before finally the Ogre’s entire torso snapped in half.

The Cliff Ogre fell to the ground, its body cracking and breaking before completely falling apart in a heap of rock and dust.

I killed it with one hit.

I looked at the scene in front of me with a dark smile. I killed it with a lucky fatal blow, but the kickback shaved of more than half of my HP.

“Next time, I won’t let the size difference be too great…” I grimly muttered to myself as I carefully shrunk the axe into the size of an ordinary hatchet, and looked at the rest of the battlefield.

The Elite Ogre was in the midst of crawling through the wall of fire. It was slow going, but it was eventually drawing closer and closer.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Ogres rapidly approached. They numbered five, and were working together in order to encircle me.

The nearest Ogre slammed its arm down towards me. I dodged the incoming strike by stepping to the side. The Cliff Ogre’s enormous fist smashed the ground beneath and shattered the concrete. My face remained indifferent even after seeing such a feat of strength.

In one quick breath, I jumped onto its hand and ran up its arm.

The Ogre furiously shook its body, but I maintained my grip by grabbing onto the cracks and crevices that covered the monster’s entire body. With one pull, I jumped upward and reached the Ogre’s shoulders. I ducked and narrowly avoided the golem’s incoming fist, before I continued forward and climbed on top of its head.

From my new vantage point, I looked down on everything and surveyed my surroundings. Behind the wall of flame, Cher and the others were fighting a desperate fight against the hobgoblins. A few corpses littered the street, but an overwhelming amount of them continued to fight. On my side of the wall, the rest of the Ogres surrounded me.

One particular Cliff Ogre swung its fist towards me, not caring at all for the Ogre I was standing on top of.

The Ogre’s fist was short of its mark and landed a heavy blow onto the monster’s face. The Ogre’s whole body shook, patches of rock and dust fell from its face while an unearthly groan escaped from its broken jaw. I was almost knocked out in the process, but I hid behind the Ogre’s head, and mitigated some of the impact.

Another Ogre quickly approached and mimicked the first one and attacked me, only to hit the Ogre I stood on once more. The oversized fist smacked into the Ogre’s shoulder, shattering a good chunk of it off while toppling the Ogre over at the same time.

Seeing this situation, I pushed off with my legs and jumped onto another Ogre. I clung to its face, desperately maintaining my grip onto its nose, and avoiding its open jaw.

The Ogre in response bellowed out in anger, my body shook like an autumn leaf due to the reverberating shock waves. In its anger, the Cliff Ogre swung its arm towards its own face, a bit too eager to knock me off. From the corner of my eye, I saw the approaching mass of grey and swallowed the numbing fear in my heart.

I immediately loosened my grip and fell down. As I stared up above me, I saw the Ogre’s giant fist smash into its own face, sending rock and pebble flying everywhere.

I dropped down a height of ten meters and landed on the floor by the Ogre’s feet. My legs took the brunt of the fall, and I felt my knees go numb from the landing. Due to my greater vitality stat, I luckily did not break my legs, but the fall was enough to shave off a fair bit of my HP.

I drew a shallow breath, swallowing the pain down as I swung my axe once more. [Shift] immediately activated, and instantaneously grew into about eight times its previous size as it sliced through the air.

I lobbed off one of the Ogre’s legs. The sudden loss of support immediately brought the Cliff Ogre toppling down. I rolled out of the way just as the Ogre fell and crashed onto the street floor. The resulting impact pushed me back a few meters away and I barely avoided getting squashed like a pancake.

As I recovered, I was met with another wave of intense pain. The resulting use of my weapon skill activated an incredible amount of kickback and when coupled with the fall from earlier, shaved off another thirty percent of my HP.

As the start of a frown began to form on my face, I suddenly felt a warm sensation flow through my chest. I briefly looked back and glanced at Cielle. Her eyes were fixated on me as she gently nodded, a trail of [Blue Gemini] floating harmlessly around her.

After a brief pause, I nodded in appreciation and smiled. Even though I was fighting alone, I wasn’t without support. Cielle was silently supporting me and healed me when my HP dropped down to dangerous levels. With Cielle around, surviving through the kickbacks wasn’t even an issue anymore.

At this point, the wall of fire from up ahead sputtered out, revealing the hobgoblins in mid conflict. Quickly counting the bodies, about ten of them died, but they still greatly outnumbered the trio they faced off against. Rather, it was Cher and the rest of them who found themselves in a dangerous situation. They looked bruised and battered, their bodies riddled with wounds and injuries.

“Cielle, the hobgoblins! Hina, change targets, give me a foothold!” I yelled out loud as I ran towards the group of Ogres in front of me.

Five of them, with one trying to stand back up. An Ogre’s attacks was slow, and it wasn’t difficult for me to avoid. I weaved through their clumsy but powerful strikes and jumped forward.

Using one of the Ogre’s extended arms as a spring board, I pushed off and propelled myself forward towards another Ogre. Just as I was about to step onto empty air, a column of stone shot out from the Ogre’s stone skin, creating an immediate foothold for me.

Seeing this, I cracked a slight smile. As I fought against the Ogres, I quickly understood that they really were made out of stone and wondered whether Hina’s [Terakinesis] worked on their bodies. I’m happy that Hina understood what I meant and I’m even happier that it worked.

I lightly stepped onto the foothold, and once again, pushed up with my legs. Another foothold quickly appeared above me and I used it to propel myself to the Ogre’s head. From the corner of my eye, I saw the other Ogres quickly surround me. But before they could react, I took a deep breath and swung the [Spriggan War Axe] at the Ogre in front of me. The tip of my blade was aimed at its stocky neck.

The weapon rapidly shifted size, growling larger and larger as it cleaved through the air before the metallic blade completely severed the head from the rest of its body.

The Ogre immediately died and its stone constructed body began to crack and fall apart. As the body leaned forward, I jumped down. In midair, from the far back, I saw Hina concentrating with a serious expression on her face. Her eyes remained locked onto my battlefield.

The crumbling ogre’s body suddenly paused mid fall and sent out a full powered fist towards one of the other Cliff Ogres. The fist shattered on impact, along with the rest of its body. The resulting blow landed onto a Cliff Ogre’s chest and sent him reeling backwards.

Seeing the spectacle unfold in front of me, I could not hide my amazement, and briefly glanced at Hina. Her expression as an odd mix of nervousness and relief. Through the sound of crumbling rock and chaotic fighting, I heard her speak out loud, “…I can’t believe that actually worked.”

I inwardly laughed just as I landed onto the floor and turned back around towards the remaining Ogres. I dodged an incoming fist as I counted the remaining Cliff Ogres. Outside of the Elite Ogre, who was still crawling towards us, there were four golems left, with one of them still on the floor and unable to get back up.

Without hesitation, I ran forward and climbed on top of the fallen Ogre’s back. Two Cliff Ogres responded and sent a flurry of attacks my way. I danced and dodged and weaved through the incoming rain of fists. The other two Ogres repeatedly threw punch after punch onto the prone Ogre, littering its body with cracks and holes. When I stood on top of its head, a fist from above came barreling down and smashed into it. I dodged to the side while the Ogre’s head splintered and cracked like a dropped egg, the Ogre’s head completely shattered, immediately killing it.

Following up, I jumped to the floor, and ran forward, dodging an angered giant’s foot in the process. I ran between the legs of one of the Ogre’s, before I twisted my body and jumped forward. A pillar of earth shot out from the ground beneath my feet. I used the pillar as a foothold, and pushed off, propelling myself forward onto the Cliff Ogre’s back.

The Ogres seem to respond more to vision since the moment they lost track of me, they frantically searched the area to no avail. My position was compromised only when the third Ogre spotted me clinging onto its fellow Ogre’s back.

Without hesitation, it threw a fist aimed directly at me. Pushing off using the Ogre’s back as a spring board, I jumped and landed onto the attacking Ogre’s extended arm. I ran up its arm, dodging its swatting hand along the way, before I reached its shoulders.

The Ogre that got its back punched, turned around, and saw me standing on another Ogre’s shoulder. It lumbered forward, reeling its arm back in the process. I jumped to the Ogre’s head just as the approaching monster aimed its arm and fired. A fist the size of small car came barreling forward, directed at the other Ogre’s face.

In front of my eyes, its hand warped and a giant stone drill formed at the end of the Ogre’s fist. Almost immediately, I figured out that Hina was behind that sudden change and knew almost instinctively what she was planning.

I jumped off of the Ogre’s head as the drill shaped fist bore into its face. The sound of grinding stone filled the space around me just as the drill pierced a giant hole in between the Ogre’s eyes. The Cliff Ogre toppled backward and immediately crumbled into falling rock and dust.

Meanwhile, I was falling in midair, directly to the attacking Ogre’s exposed head. I raised the shrunken axe above me, and just as I landed, I brought the weapon down with all my strength, activating [Shift] in the process.

A giant slab of metal cut through its thick skull, and bisected its entire head all the way up to its neck. The resulting impact and the subsequent kickback was immense, sending a shockwave of pressure and pain through both my arms. The force behind it caused me to lose my grip on the axe’s handle.

I fell down ten meters, and landed on the street floor just as the Ogre’s corpse fell and shattered beside me. Amidst the rising dust, and debris, I shook my arms, trying to ward away the numb sensation but to no avail.

Behind me, the Elite Ogre was already close, less than ten meters away, while in front of me, the remaining Cliff Ogre approached.

The Elite Ogre roared loudly, as it struck the ground with its open palms. The pavement cracked and the earth briefly shook as it continued its angry approach.

“Hide, Dodge!”

I heard someone cry out. My mind did not have enough time to register whose voice I heard before my body instinctively moved in response. I threw my whole weight to the side, just as a massive column of fire swept past my surroundings.

At first, I was surprised at the size of the flame, but after feeling the mild intensity of the fire, I knew that it looked more formidable than it actually was. The column of flame was weak and its role was not meant to kill but rather, it was a distraction, a smokescreen without the smoke.

The flames engulfed the two Ogres just as I hastily escaped. Since Cliff Ogres possessed terrible intellect, I used this opportunity to escape from their sight and hid within the rubble and wreckage of the killed Ogres.

Hidden amongst the rock, I observed quietly as the flames dissipated, revealing two angry and confused Ogres.

The Elite Cliff Ogre shuffled around, scanning the nearby area before it bellowed in anger. The other Cliff Ogre mimicked and searched the nearby area for anything substantial. ­ I breathed out a shallow sigh as I took this opportunity to catch my breath. My arms were still numb, but I wasn’t completely out just yet.

If I retrieved the war axe, I could probably use [Shift] at least one more time. The problem were the Ogres around me. If I stayed hidden for too long, then they would undoubtedly shift their attention over to Hina and Cielle.

Looking over at the two girls in question, I noticed both of them hard at work. Cielle was busy supporting the fight against the hobgoblins from a distance, while Hina was making panicked eye contact with me, furiously trying to think up a solution to my current predicament. Judging by her expression and demeanor, I guessed that because of her recent attacks, she probably lacked the mana to pull off any flashy spells.

Just as I deliberated over what to do, a deafening roar echoed throughout the neighborhood. The tiles on the roof shook, the powerlines vibrated while a few of the glass windows cracked. A feeling of heavy oppression seeped into the street. It was a suffocating sensation that made it hard to breath.

All of the monsters, from the Hobgoblin down to the Elite Cliff Ogre, knelt down on their knees and lowered their heads. Their bodies trembled uncontrollably while they remained absolutely silent. Even when Cher and the Prez picked off the kneeling Hobgoblins one by one, the monsters still did not react. No matter what happened around them, the monsters remained silent and immobile, their heads lowered all the way until their foreheads touched the pavement.

A sense of dread immediately filled my heart. This sort of pattern… it was obvious what was coming. I stood up, not caring for the two immobile Ogres by my side as I reclaimed my war axe and ran back towards Cielle and Hina.

Noticing the obvious change in the situation, the duo also ran up to meet me, but just before I could say anything, the echoing roar rang out once again, this time much louder than before. When the ground started trembling, the nearby monsters all started whimpering.

From the horizon towards the east, I saw the silhouette of a monster. Each lumbering step it took shook the ground beneath, and it towered over all the nearby houses and buildings. In fact, it was almost three times as tall as the manticore, and just as bulky. Beneath its feet was a cloud of dust that followed it.

I glanced over at Hina and saw the look of fear that contorted her expression. “Where’s the binoculars?” I asked hurriedly.

Her mouth hung open but no sound came out. She could not respond, but her body moved by instinct and handed over a pair of high powered binoculars she fished out from her backpack.

I pointed the binoculars towards the giant and peered through the lenses.

Grey skin covered in cracks. Ruby red eyes and a perpetually opened mouth. The giant looked identical to the Cliff Ogre I killed. No… that thing that was almost five times larger than an ordinary Cliff Ogre was definitely a boss class monster… I can’t make out its status window from here, but it was probably just as strong… maybe a little weaker than the manticore. I also noticed that the clouds beside its feet wasn’t dust, but rather an army of monsters.

A massive coalition consisting of hobgoblins and Ogres. I can’t quite make an accurate estimation, but at least a thousand hobgoblins and two hundred Cliff Ogres. Just counting the number of elite monsters on the front lines alone, already they numbered within the double digits.

The images I saw through these lenses were worrying, but what sent a shiver down my spine wasn’t something as obvious. A lone silhouette stood on top of the giant Cliff Ogre’s head. A humanoid figure covered in head to toe in rusted armor, a giant claymore strapped to its back.

Focusing the binoculars, I could make out its brown, almost dark grey skin as well as a pair of pointed ears. It was a hobgoblin. If it was an ordinary hobgoblin, then I wouldn’t be so worried, but what type of hobgoblin had the power and status to stand above that giant Cliff Ogre’s head?

Without a doubt, it was another boss monster and judging by its relationship with the giant Cliff Ogre, it was probably the stronger of the duo. Two boss monsters working together… it was no wonder they made such fast progress… in fact, we were lucky that they launched their full-scale invasion the day after I returned. Any earlier and who knows what could have happened.

With a heavy sigh, I lowered the binoculars and turned towards the rest of the groups. The fatigue I felt seemed to grow heavier, while the wounds that covered my body ached even more.

I handed the binoculars back to Hina, and spoke with a defeated breath, “We’re no match for that. Call the others back, we’re retreating.”