The ogres’ roars and howls came interspersed by Camila’s angry shouts. Allen guessed he would have no more than a minute before he would have to get back into the fight.

He looked back at Amelia and smiled. “Stay close and be ready to heal,” he said. Out of the many healers that Allen knew, Amelia showed a level of composure that few could match.

The healer smiled back and nodded.

Allen turned to Christopher. “How will you support?” he asked.

The professor cleared his throat and put on a serious expression. “The same as before,” he began. “You should all try to stay as close as possible to me and Amelia, but if the ogres begin to overwhelm you, I will point you out of danger. Also, I believe I will be able to scramble, or at least reduce, the effects of the chieftain’s fear and domination skills. They both seem to be a form of tethering magic.”

Nodding once, Allen turned to leave the cover of the trees. The ogres were nearing the area just beyond the foliage, running towards him with reckless abandon and empty minds.

“Don’t die,” Amelia said as he left.

“Tell Ty and then Camila to switch out for healing,” Christopher added.

Allen smiled to himself and waved back at the two before he stepped into the camp. A fifteen-meter-wide path through the camp revealed itself, curving out of sight in both directions.

Christopher was pointing him down the path to his left. Allen glanced that way, clearly hearing the monsters approaching from around a bend and out of sight. With a deep breath, he ducked behind a pile of smoking wood and cloth near the edge of the path. A moment later Ty and Camila appeared running down the path with the enraged chieftain mere steps behind them.

Ogre Chieftain

Ogre – Monster – Level 38

“It’s showtime,” Allen thought, chuckling to himself as he sat in hiding with sweat forming on his face.

Ty and Camila reached Allen’s position in seconds, the former wheezing audibly and the latter not entirely present with her third tier Rage skill in full effect. Ty was in much worse shape though. Blood was streaming down his face while his body and shield looked beaten up. He was actually carrying the piece of equipment with his right arm while his left looked dislocated again.

Both stopped suddenly and jumped to the side as the chieftain bounded forward and smashed its morning star into the earth where they had been moments before. The blow sunk into the packed dirt and sent a tremor that rattled Allen’s skull from a dozen meters away.

“Ty, heal!” Allen shouted from his hiding spot, knowing the Ogre Chieftain was too focused on Camila to hear him.

Ty immediately backed off from the ogre and ran into to the woods bordering the camp, doubtlessly guided by Christopher.

Camila roared back at the chief ogre as it ripped the massive morning star out of the ground. Allen noticed how even the monster itself seemed to struggle with its own weapon.

“A weakness to exploit.”

Camila launched herself forward, strength and endurance boosted considerably by her Berserker skill. She jumped around the ogre’s weapon as it trawled the thing across the ground towards her. Then she darted away from a kick and dove under another downward bash from the morning star. Coming up with a roll, she was then in position to thrust her claymore at the inside of the monster’s knee. Her blade bit in by the length of a hand, but compared to the size of the chief’s leg, it was no more than a mild cut. It was a vulnerable spot, yet the ogre roared in anger more than pain.

“It’s has a bigger share of points in intelligence and wisdom, that’s for sure.” Allen watched Camila jump around the monster, barely keeping out of its reach. “I’m gonna have to deal as much damage as possible in my first attack,” he thought.

The problem was finding a weak spot. The Ogre Chieftain had a much higher resistance than the Pyrokinetic and it was twice the size. It would be impossible for Allen to reach its neck and a backstab wouldn’t get deep enough. He was also running out of time; the other ogres would catch up soon enough.

Allen decided to make his move when the chieftain had its back turned to him, distracted by Camila. He darted out from his hiding spot with Silent Step and came up behind the boss. Using Killer Instinct, Allen mentally tried ten different attacks in the span of a split second. However, he failed to find one that he thought would deal enough damage.

“Fuck it,” he said to himself and made a gamble instead.

He lunged at the monster and squeezed his knife hard in a reversed grip, bracing the pommel with his other hand. All his strength, his weight, and his full Assassinate skill went into the attack, sending the knife towards the ogre’s heel as it strained to lift its weapon. The knife dug into its Achilles Tendon, causing it to snap audibly. The ogre howled in pain as its entire calf muscle shot up the back of its leg, sending it to a knee.

Allen tore his knife out and jumped backwards, barely avoiding a backhanded fist from the monster.

Camila shouted incoherently and slashed at the ogre’s lowered face, drawing the monster’s attention back to her. She dodged a heavy swipe of the morning star but was caught by a surprise punch instead. She tumbled away with an angry shout, quickly getting to her feet again to continue her assault.

Allen watched as the remaining ogres charged at them from both sides. The Ogre Chieftain roared in anger and pain, trying in vain to stand again. Its destroyed leg only spurted sticky green blood and would not support its weight.

The other ogres were closing in, but at least five of them had been frozen in place by the chief’s roar. Allen watched their eyes roll back before they collapsed to the ground where others trampled them to paste.

“Must have been Christopher,” Allen guessed, “We’re going to need more than that though… and where is Ty.”

The Ogre Chieftain was still struggling to stand. Allen shifted his focus back to the fight and took the opportunity to jump onto its back and stab his knife into the monster’s neck. It roared as Allen stabbed it repeatedly while sending Surge of Pain into its head with his free hand.

Camila ran her claymore through the ogre’s stomach, but the sword got stuck. She ripped it halfway out before she had to jump away from the morning star. The ogre didn’t stop though. It pushed off its uncrippled leg with enough force to send itself flying towards the Berserker. Allen was flung off by the force of the monster’s leap.

“Damnit, I can’t cut deep enough,” he cursed at himself.

Camila dodged the morning star that destroyed the earth just next to her, but she was unable to escape the follow up attack. The monster smashed its fist into the Berserker, sending her tumbling towards the incoming wave of minion ogres.

Allen jumped on the monster’s back again and stabbed at its neck for the second time. He got three clean cuts in before the monster shook violently. Allen slipped and it got a hold of his leg. The ogre’s grip was like steel, instantly shattering his shin bone under the force.

“Oh fuck.”

Thankfully the ogre only decided to fling him away rather than use him as a living club. Allen landed hard in a pile smoldering debris, feeling a few of his ribs break. His mind went blank for a brief moment before returning in a haze. He tried to move but his body was numb. He choked on blood when a growl came from his right. He looked up to see an Ogre Brawler lift its club. He didn’t even have time to react before the monster was body slammed to the ground, leaving Ty in its place.

“Get a heal!” he shouted, a wall of fire surging forth behind him to cut off the other ogres.

The Ogre Chieftain howled with rage, but the sound was muffled to Allen. He looked down at his leg and noticed that his foot was facing backwards. “Motherfucker,” he thought.

“Can’t… walk!” he yelled back.

Ty wordlessly grabbed the Assassin and hauled him away from the battle. Allen felt his vision tunnel as he was set down somewhere behind a pile of rubble. He looked around but Ty had already left.

A warm feeling spread over him a moment later and Allen found Amelia kneeling beside him, her hands on his head. “Hemorrhage,” she said, “I’ll get your leg next.”

An indeterminable amount of time passed before Allen felt his senses return to normal, most notably his feeling of pain. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck—” He forced his mind under control and looked over at the healer. “How… long has it been.”

Amelia reached down and grabbed his leg with a bright and fearless smile. “About a minute,” she said.

“…Thank you,” Allen began, “I think we have a chance at killing the boss, the only problem is th— AHHH BLOODY FUCKING HELL!” Allen screamed uncontrollably as the pain in his destroyed leg suddenly multiplied a hundredfold.

He looked down to find his foot pointing in the right direction again. The pain faded just as quickly but it was still worse than a moment before. Amelia was pushing tons of mana into his leg to heal it quickly, and Allen could feel every part of his bone and flesh moving back into place and solidifying.

Another minute of agony passed but Allen stayed conscious.

“That should be okay for now,” Amelia said with a nod. “Good job staying awake,” she added.

Allen sighed; the leg was still sore, but he could use it. “Right,” he said and quickly got to his feet. “Camila should head over here next.” Allen continued with a nod, pushing the pain to the back of his head before running off to rejoin the fight.

He dashed back into the pathway filled with ogres and quickly searched for one with its back turned. He stabbed it in the heart though its back, then slit its throat when it spun around to defend itself. Allen repeated the same tactic three more times before ducking back into to cover. He had only taken a single punch to the shoulder, not enough to break it.

The Ogre Chieftain was limping on one leg while propping itself up with its morning star. Camila was slashing at the chief’s knees while Ty was keeping the normal ogres away from her. The Ogre Brutes and Brawlers seemed to have gone completely mad, some of them even attacking each other.

Ty blocked a Brute’s club before another flaming ogre tackled it. The chief ogre allowed itself to fall forward to gain the leverage with which to swing its morning star overhead. Camila dodged the weapon with superhuman speed, the impact landing on an ogre instead, instantly turning it to green pulp.

While it was down, Allen jumped on the Ogre Chieftain’s back for the third time. Assassinate was used up, but he would still get a ten percent bonus for being out of the monster’s line of sight. He plunged his knife into the wound in its neck yet again, this time slicing deeply. Two more stabs and Allen ripped its throat out.

The Ogre Chieftain gurgled and fell to its hands and knees. Camila instantly reacted to its moment of weakness. She jumped to its side and started hacking at its neck with her full strength. Allen jumped off the monsters and opened the wound on its stomach, spilling guts and green blood over the dirt. Camila continued to chop at its neck, easily avoiding the monster’s pained swipes at her arm. Blood poured from the chief’s many wounds as it struggled to move.

It took almost twenty blows from Camila before the ogre’s head finally fell, followed by the rest of it.

Allen glanced at Camila as he caught his breath. She was coated in blood, both red and green. Cuts and bruises covered her body and her eyes were filled with almost as much blind rage as the ogres’. Yet somehow, she was still in control, just looking over at Allen, chest heaving with each breath.

“Heal!” Allen shouted over the noise.

Camila just grunted in response before darting off.

Allen sighed as he turned his attention to the remaining ogres. They were in complete chaos, some biting and tearing at each other while the others began swarming around Ty. “All that’s left now is clean up,” he mused.