The ogre snarled after feeling the intense magical energy now flowing in the air. From just his eyes, it could tell that Bairon wasn't going to be an easy target like the humans it had killed before. "Hmm…another one? How many of you am I going to have to destroy to show that I am unbeatable?" its deep voice echoed throughout the floor's walls. While its sinister presence and disgusting stench filled the air to distract Bairon's senses.
'So it can speak human tongue…a very intelligent one indeed.' He smirked at his discovery before his face recovered back his serious self.
"I've never heard of ogres that hide within dungeons; your kind usually hides in the mountains. What are you doing on human territory?"
The confidence in his words showed no sign of fear despite standing in front of something ten times his size.
The beast was impressed by the boy's courage. And its eyes shimmered with excitement as it started to growl at him like a fierce lion about to attack its prey. "You speak with courage young human, but you should know by now that I am not a normal ogre," it spoke.
"Answer my question. What are you doing on human territory?" he asked.
"Don't make me ask again," Bairon lowered his tone, his eyes now burning with bloodlust.
The ogre was quickly enraged by the boy's threat and charged at him with another vicious roar that sounded more like a battle cry. Stomping the ground with brutal strength.
Bairon prepared himself in a combat-ready position as the beast launched itself at him. Its giant fist pitched through the air with incredible strength following it.
**Cackle.
The lighting surged through his body. And the beast ended up punching the air after he moved out of the way. The punch's effect sent a blast of air that almost destroyed the wall behind them.
'I could have died…'
Bairon's thought was cut short when the surprised beast stomped the ground with a thundering force that made the ground explode outwards in a way that made it look like earth magic. Quickly, he channeled lightning into his right hand and sent it into the ground, creating an electrical pulse that neutralized the waves forcing the ground to explode spontaneously.
And then, it was calm for a moment.
The ogre was stunned and confused by what Bairon had just done. "I've never seen someone go against my power so easily, you're indeed a worthy opponent. I'll stop holding back!"
Bairon straightened himself and scoffed at the ogre's words. There wasn't a hint of excitement on his face. This fight was boring.
"Does that require me to use five percent of my power?" he shrugged, intending to taunt the ogre even more by mocking its power.
The ogre increased in size as its muscles popped and its skin turned a darker color. Its eyes flashed a brighter green as it tapped into its greater power, one that its body wasn't used to. Its veins ruptured, bursting with blood, and its muscles tore as the beast's aura transformed into something unbelievable. It no longer looked like an ogre—this was a demonic monstrosity.
"So you're not even an ogre," Bairon noted, seeing the form the beast had taken. It even had a pair of horns above its ears.
"I was, but this…this is so much better than before." It picked up a normal sword from the ground and used magic to transform it into a sword that could fit into its hand. Meaning it was larger and even longer than Bairon himself.
'Transformation magic.' Bairon recognized the ogre's magic.
"I guess I have to use more power."
"Aaaaggghhh!" It roared in a beastly fashion before vanishing.
The dull sound of impact hang in the air. And in that moment, Bairon was flung off his feet and thrown into a wall. The attack almost felt invisible as he couldn't even see his opponent. He had never seen something so big move so fast in his entire life.
He sensed another attack coming for him so he used his lightning magic to speed out of the way before the entire wall was demolished by a force that could only be compared to an explosion.
"Too slow! Too flimsy! Too frail! These are the knights that will protect the Southlands from the demons. How pathetic!" The ogre aggressively hounded.
With another thump, Bairon was catapulted backward by more of the ogre's invisible attacks—they were quick, heavy, and merciless. The ogre possessed an overwhelming force in its attacks.
The beast thought it had the upper hand in this fight. By attacking at all times, the boy wouldn't have time to predict his moves and counterattack.
But it was wrong.
"Hgh?!" The ogre whined when blood erupted from its chest. It noticed the laceration—one that breaks past the surface of its skin. It halted in one place for a split second, but its wound recovered fast enough to get back into the fight.
"When did you…"
"I adapt quickly, it's one of my many talents," said Bairon, cleaning the blood off his blade. He was only fifteen, but his knowledge of swords was top-tier. He used a short sword that was only a few inches longer than a dagger because he found it more comfortable holding something like this since it was light enough to not slow him down.
He had no scratch on him despite all the powerful attacks that had been made on him—the only damaged thing on him was his uniform.
"I guess I underestimated you," the ogre shrieked and started to accelerate, slashing its sword through the air the moment it reached its enemy.
Bairon put his sword forward and blocked its weapon.
'Impossible!' it screamed from the inside while glaring into the boy's fierce blue eyes.
Bairon then added more force to his sword and cut through the monster's like it was made from paper instead of metal. There was clearly a power imbalance between the two of them.
"What…what the—" the monster was still in shock when it was struck by a blast of lightning that burned through its magic-resistant skin and sent it flying to the other side of the dungeon floor, before skipping on the like a rock. This was the first time Bairon had used magic to fight directly.
"Terrible," Bairon stated. He now sensed a lot of fear coming from the beast. But that's not the thought he was looking for.
"What…what…are you? You're…not human. Why can't I heal?" it cried.
Bairon sighed ignoring the ogre's questions. "I'll ask you again, what are you doing on human territory?"
"You know nothing…Nothing you damn humans!" the creature barked, pulling every bit of magic from the air. Although the magic it was pulling was burning its body, it no longer looked like it cared at all.
"Cursed energy…" Bairon gasped after identifying what the monster was trying to do. He prepared his sword and exhaled sharply, ready to end this in one move.
The ogre rose to its feet, its sword reconstructing itself. "No more ga—"
It was sliced in two—by an unconstrained swing of a sword. It hurled down with ease, bisecting through it all—its sword, its enhanced magical powers, its enhanced physique.
"What is this?" the ogre muffled seeing the cold gaze in the boy's eyes. It could now see the monstrous aura he had been concealing all along. Compared to it, he was on another level.
It was a single strike that destroyed everything. The boy's sword had cut through its blade, magic, flesh, and bones. It was a strike fortified with impenetrable magic, titanic strength, sonic speed, and most importantly…natural talent.
It was perfect. The boy was truly holding back this entire time.
"I guess this is it…." The ogre muttered as blood rushed out of it.
It tried to regenerate the bisection, but using cursed energy had already affected its body terribly and was now rotting faster than it could heal. Death was inevitable.
It glanced up. "All…my years I've never seen such a gifted human. But you are not strong enough to stop the darkness of this world. They are too strong."
"I don't intend to fight the darkness, but you need to tell me why you're here."
"I was looking for a demon candidate, they told me he would be here…" it exclaimed weakly, trying to gasp in some air.
"Who is 'they'?"
The ogre cackled forcefully at his question. "I would rather die than say who they are…"
Its core shattered and the beast instantly exploded into a black smoke like all magical beasts. Since they were born from mana, they returned to mana once their beast cores are destroyed. Although beast cores were usually contained and sold by adventurers. The higher the beast's class the more expensive the core would be. Classes were used to identify the strength of every beast in the magic realm—they ranged from S to E, S being the strongest and rarest because they usually occupied the deepest parts of a dungeon and were even capable of ruling over the weaker beasts.
The ogre Bairon had just fought was an example of a stronger beast controlling goblins. Though it wasn't an S-class beast, this one was mutated after it used an alternate version of mana. The same energy that was commonly used by demons as their form of magic.
"A B-class beast shouldn't be that strong. If I wasn't an A-ranked student, I would be dead."
An A-ranked student measured to a B-class adventurer, but as a Dark knight, he wasn't even close to a bronze class which was the lowest rank. Dark knights were divided into three classes: bronze, platinum, and gold. Gold was the highest class and only three people have ever gained it currently, one of them being the king himself.
Bairon let out a short groan after getting nothing from the beast's mind. It had perfectly fortified its mind, and the only thoughts it let out were feelings. All he read until its demise was fear.
'I guess I will find out if I go deeper.'