Strength of an Ogre
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“Noriel, is that really worth that much…?”

 

Aria looks worryingly at Noriel when she says that.

 

“I don't know what you had in mind when complying with that shady merchant, but I don't think taking only 10% of what we would have earned is really beneficial just for a little more information about silvery hair people.”

 

Noriel veers from her thoughts and meekly looks at Aria with a troubled face.

 

“...sorry. I was too absorbed into knowing what ended up with that girl in the story.”

 

After saying in a guilty voice, Noriel slumps her head downward and releases her eyes from Aria.

 

Aria and Helson heard Noriel's regret and are surprised to have known the simple reason for Noriel's actions when the merchant was offering them.

 

It would be absolutely within their justification for scolding harshly at Noriel, but seeing Noriel's unusual crumpled form from her own actions, Aria and Helson can not help but feel pity at her, therefore easing her instead.

 

“It is alright. Things like this rarely happen to us and we did not lose that much compared to our savings.”

 

“That's right, Noriel. Though that decision was bad, it won't affect our future course.”

 

Aria warmly says that to the cast-down Noriel while Helson reassures her with hopeful certainty even though they both know the rewards from completing the commission will easily reach half of it.

 

Noriel gradually raises her head with her face still in dark, however, it is in a better state than before Aria and Helson amicably says to her. Tears seem to have welled a little in her eyes when she tries to look at them.

 

“I'm really happy to have all of you...”

 

Noriel seems to have only realized that she is weeping as she quickly wipes the gently running tears on her cheeks. She embarrassingly tries to hide her reddened face with her hands while avoiding the gazes from Aria and Helson.

 

However, before they can tease Noriel, the curtains behind the wagon's front seat are opened, revealing the merchant's dark face and wary eyes.

 

“All of you, go check what's outside.”

 

When the merchant says that with a low volume, he carefully goes inside the inner space and sits silently in the middle of it.

 

The mercenaries witness the merchant's waryful behavior, causing them to grab their weapons before cautiously going outside through the wagon's open back side.

 

Borvon was still poking Reina's cheeks, so when the merchant suddenly did that, he had gently put Reina's small body on the ground beside him before going out.

 

Helson and Borvon immediately stand guard in front of Noriel and Aria. Given that night shrouds the current time, the outside and places far from the wagon are considerably dark. It is not a total darkness but it severely hampers their capability to react against abrupt threats.

 

The only sources of lumination are the lanterns hanging around the wagon's body and an unfixed lantern sitting on the wagon's coachman's seat. But even if they bring that loose lantern and use it, it would only hamper their battle capability would it happen.

 

Without a signal or a word, Noriel casts a magic barrier that encapsulates them before she casts an orb of light beside her, hovering it across their front surroundings.

 

Patches of grass and rocks that have been previously hidden are now observable from where they are standing. Noriel continues moving the orb until they can deem their surroundings free of hostiles in certainty.

 

Thus, seconds have passed. Minutes begin. They diligently watch for any dangers, sharpening their eyes at anything strange and moving.

 

However, after some time has passed, they eventually deem the back side of the wagon safe before making their way to the front side.

 

Borvon did not move with them so that the vulnerable back side of the vehicle was not left defenseless. Noriel had also casted another magic barrier for Borvon and the vehicle open back side to prevent any creatures from entering.

 

As they slowly tread there, they are ceaselessly monitoring their surroundings while making sure to stay within the protection of the magic barrier.

 

When they reach the horses' side, they can see the distressed movements being exhibited by the horses. They are moving frantically as if the darkness contains something sinister masked within.

 

“Noriel, raise it above.”

 

Helson whispers at Noriel without breaking his line of view at the darkness.

 

Noriel silently nods and creates another orb of light beside her. She then raises it upward and after a certain distance away from them, she amplifies its luminosity by adding more magic into it, causing their entire environment to light brightly.

 

However, it only takes the orb a second to light before exploding, spattering its light further before completely evaporating.

 

With a tense atmosphere, the mercenaries instantaneously fortify their stances.

 

“Shit, there are at least 30 of them!”

 

Immediately after Helson says that, multiple goblins launch at them from every side exempt from their back side since it has the vehicle blocking them.

 

The goblins quickly reach them, however, the magic barrier prevents their clubs from clobbering the mercenaries as they are merely knocked back by the magic barrier. The frantic horses are also being protected by another magic barrier.

 

Without hesitation, Helson makes short of the muddled goblins, piercing their bodies with his sword and decapitating the others. Aria pulls her bowstring before releasing a barrage of rippling arrows at the goblins aiming at them with their own bows.

 

With Noriel's aid, Aria successfully kills almost all of her targets before they can hide behind the stones and sparse trees. Noriel is manipulating another orb light she had quickly created to move speedily across the area, creating another orb light as the previous is put at where the goblins are.

 

These orb lights have their luminosity increased to a certain amount of mana. They do not shine brightful like the raised orb light but it is imperative they do not explode after a certain time passes.

 

Thus, the ensuing battle is riddled with splattering of blood and flesh in seconds. Countless goblins fling themselves towards the magic barrier and destructively clobber the magic barrier, causing their heads to roll to the ground the next second with their detached bodies crashing to the ground. Some goblins are lacerated and pierced with the bloody sword depending on Helson's mind.

 

At the same time, Aria continuously makes a gaping hole on the goblins' heads with her weapon. Some of the arrows penetrate through the back and hit another, oozing their blood and brain matter through the crevices of the impact before feebly removed from their lives. The dead goblins' liquid and matter pollutes the serene scenery of the environment because of that.

 

Noriel actively places the orb lights while casting a magic that creates an encirclement of sharp magic-rods around a goblin before mercilessly piercing them from all sides, utterly rendering them incapable of escape. Each time she does that, geometric shapes and magic scribings would appear beneath her.

 

Noriel also occasionally cast a sharp-wave magic that would kill the goblins through a barrage of the magic that effortlessly cut their bodies in a single turn. But due to the destructive nature of the attack which would also mess the environment, she only uses it on closer goblins.

 

Rains of arrows showers both sides with one of them being one-sided massacred. The magic barrier is also gradually losing its integrity from the onslaughts, which Noriel repairs it through enchanting it but each time she does so combined with her other use of magic, her mana is being drained substantially.

 

“Haha, take that!”

 

“Hieeeekkkk!!!”

 

Behind the wagon, numerous goblins have also filled the space. Despite their overwhelming numbers, they are mercilessly destroyed by Borvon's pure prowess.

 

As Borvon would move energetically, Noriel had made his magic barrier to diligently follow every ounce of his bulging muscles. His magic barrier was set so that it would only intercept range attacks and increase the longevity of its integrity. But for Noriel's group, she had planted it to only allow its inner encapsulations.

 

“You're not going through me!”

 

Borvon accelerates his shield towards a pack of goblins and hauls them to the ground. Then, the goblins are forcibly compressed into chunks of meat and bones as their eyeballs propel violently out of their heads, tainting the shield with a grotesque paint of torn tissues and dripping liquid.

 

When another pack of goblins storm towards his side, the sword in his hand swiftly turns in a horizontal line before he looks at the hideous goblins and instantaneously mows them, detaching their upper bodies from their lower bodies.

 

From a single man, fountains of blood and living tissues would come gushing out whenever he moves. The spilling mutilated organs and bones from the goblins' bodies stains the ground, creating a horrifying scene of pure living mayhem.

 

Borvon's magic barrier is also endlessly being stormed with soundless arrows from the goblin archers shooting in the dark. Needless to say, he can easily annihilate the entire force, but he has to prevent the goblins from even touching the wagon and with the presence of a little girl he had just met sleeping inside, his spirit goes through the roof.

 

“Don't think you can even see that girl!”

 

Another pack of goblins is forcibly shoved to the other side, coursing extreme force through their bodies which causes their bones and organs to quickly shatter as the goblins scream in agony, throwing their limp bodies to the ground before falling into silence.

 

Inside the wagon, the merchant who has been sitting in the center distraughtly witnesses the ongoing battle while trembling in fear.

 

“There's too much. This is simply too much!”

 

As he stares at Borvon's battle, it would seem that the mercenaries are holding against the relentless hordes without much difficulty, however, he is certain that having that much of an army entails a bigger and formidable force hiding within the ranks.

 

When the merchant thinks of the current situation, the current battle only serves as a waste of energy for the upcoming stage of the battle and an ogre would likely be the next line of force.

 

Ogre and goblin do not necessarily always come close together and they may even kill each other given contacts, but ogre is also the only species to have a closer possibility of working together with a goblin since it shares the most similar characteristics with a goblin.

 

The main disparation between the two is that an ogre is smarter, bigger, stronger and most importantly less repulsing to the eyes.

 

Thus, the mercenaries would have to fight an ogre with their resources and mana near complete depletion. Fighting against an ogre, let alone multiple of them would be tantamount to prolonging their inevitable death which only lengthen their sufferings.

 

Pessimistically, the merchant seems to be deranged about that outcome that he thinks is certain.

 

“There must be something to turn the tide over! There must be!!!”

 

He scrambles through the items on the ground with desperation. The items he had harvested from the outskirts of the Death Land, a largely undiscovered colossal area that contains only enormous trees and lushful plants choking the very atmosphere.

 

Death Land contains abnormally vicious animals and these animals had only been discovered purely by luck from the fortunate survivors that managed to escape their incomparable appetite. Of course, the natural resources born from such an extreme place are exceedingly valuable and some can only be grown within, thus most of the wagon's items are from it, though they are only the smallest value of all.

 

The amount of lucrative increases the deeper you go, but the merchant prioritized his life first.

 

While scrambling through his harvest, he coincidentally glances at Reina sleeping near the side of the wagon. Because of that, he abruptly sees a faint shimmering inside Reina's partially closed hand.

 

“Is that…”

 

He immediately thinks of a magic item as Reina's hand continues to leak out faint light-bluish light from inside, leading him to its place.

 

He then quickly grabs Reina's hand before completely opening it. The moment he does that, the opened hand reveals a piece of stone with its engraved markings releasing the faint light.

 

He is perplexed to have only known the girl he thought was nothing important has truthfully worth in her before he grabs the stone, bringing it closer to his face for detailed inspections.

 

In a momentous time, his instinct as a merchant clouds his mind.

 

“This is…”

 

After further observations, he seems to notice a bit of peculiarity from the stone as he keeps rotating it.

 

“There's something out of my expectation, but this is surely a magic tool!”

 

Immediately after he says that, the ground tremors before a sound of something violently crashes the wagon's frame.

 

“Gaahhh-!”

 

“Hieekkkk!”

 

Without a second, the silhouette of a huge man is seen sticking with the outer side of the wagon of where it has impacted, decorating the fabrics with blood before the silhouette disappears away from the casting of the light.

 

Soon after, the ground tremors again but with reverberating deep growls.

 

“Ogres…!”

 

The merchant shudders uncontrollably at that thought. His mind is instantly assaulted with pictures of everything being reduced to fragments, his smashed body in the center for the extra topping.

 

However, the hope from the magic stone in his hand gives him the bravery to withstand the pressure. He clasps it tightly in his hand and blazes out of the wagon through the front.

 

Just as his head pokes out the curtains, he can immediately see the surroundings littered with bodies of goblins and the stench of a bloodborne mist.

 

He eventually found the mercenaries which are currently fighting three sight of ogres with modified large stones in their hands. Two of them are fervently striking their weapons against Borvon while one repeatedly tries to forcibly destroy the magic barrier protecting Noriel, Aria and Helson.

 

Looking at them, Borvon has clearly received a lot of attacks from the ogres, causing him to slightly stumble at certain points. Noriel's group is occupied with an ogre, so she does not have the leisure to heal Borvon for she needs to actively drain her mana to repair the magic barrier's integrity while Helson and Aria cautiously and swiftly hit the ogre with their weapons.

 

Fatigue and anxiousness flashes on their faces, particularly Noriel who has to actively maintain all of the magic barrier's integrity while killing those close to the wagon using magic. Various geometric shapes have already been plastered beneath her, luminating a small circle around her while her mana is obviously being raced to zero.

 

The situation is dire, even a monkey can imagine so. It is to say that mountains of arrows and hordes of goblins are still present in the area. Some of them have even started to capture the wagon but due to the magic barrier enacted by Noriel, their efforts are rendered useless while the disarrayed horses are crushing the goblins' heads through their kicks.

 

As several arrows keep being deflected from reaching the merchant's head, he shouts at the mercenaries as he waves the magic stone.

 

“Mage girl! Use this!!!”

 

Before he can throw the stone at them, Noriel has the chance to glance at him before her eyes widen in shock.

 

“Don't throw that at us! That's exploding!!!”

 

Against the fiendish battle, his ears pick up the last words spoken by Noriel, causing sudden coldness to stream across his body before he unhesitantly throws the visibly shining magic stone far at the middle of the ogres.

 

Yet, even before the magic stone collides with the grass, the whole area is instantaneously engulfed in darkness.

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