Despite his oblivions, Oughan can't help but notice the dangerous glow around Irvine's army knife. His instincts scream "This thing's sharper than Oogorim's wit!" With a sense of urgency, he decides to intervene.
"Oogorim! That's enough!"
In the meantime, Oogorim's horn is still stuck on the concrete pillar. Oughan helps him get out of there, and how does Oogorim thank him? By slamming him into the wall, of course.
"This freaking bastard!!!"
Fed up, Oughan snatches a handgun from one of the cops, aiming it squarely at Oogorim. But before he can take any action, the cops tackle him in panic.
Meanwhile, Oogorim's face is now as red as a boiled lobster, and his pupils have shrunk to beast-like slits. Hot steam blows out of his nostrils as if he's about to star in a bullfight.
With a huge roar, Oogorim charges at Irvine again, his remaining horn gleaming like a misplaced unicorn's. And Irvine, he looks so ready to have a death fight with him.
"This is it!" Irvine shouts, his adrenaline kicking in. "Time for my revenge!"
After flipping his army knife once, Irvine leaps forward while preparing himself to deliver a diagonal down stroke. At the same time, Oogorim tilts his head a bit to the left with the intention of welcoming Irvine with the tip of his right horn, while also preparing his right arm for a huge swing, talk about two layers of attack in case one fails to hit the target.
However…
Srak!!!
Irvine, who was about to hit Oogorim's head, misses his target and instead cuts Oogorim's horn. The blade embeds itself in Oogorim's shoulder, adding insult to injury.
Before Irvine even lands on the ground, Oogorim delivers a punch so powerful it sends him flying into the glass wall.
Prang!
The glass shatters, and Irvine's flight ends with a crash against a tree outside. The tree soon breaks, and slowly falls to the side.
Meanwhile, inside the lounge room, Oogorim is screaming wildly while holding the right side of his head.
"WOOOORRRRGH!!!"
"My horn!" he howls. "HE CUT MY FUCKING HORN!!!"
Adding to his misery, blood drips from where his right earlobe used to be. It seems Irvine's attack had been a two-for-one special, a horn and an ear, gone in one slice. But losing one horn is the kind of tragedy Oogorim finds the need to mourn.
Oogorim's rage shifts into full-blown madness. Steam gushes from his nostrils like he's a broken radiator, and his remaining horn glints menacingly in the dim light.
"Kill! KILL!!!"
Snorting and pawing the ground, Oogorim gears up to charge through the shattered glass wall, intending to finish what he started.
But before he can take off, Oughan leaps onto his back like an unlicensed rodeo cowboy. Locking his arms around the Orc's neck, Oughan pulls him into a chokehold.
"I said enough!"
Despite his hunger and that much blood loss, Oogorim is still able to stand on two feet while holding Oughan's weight on his back. It is just that he, who is not really that smart, has really become even more stupid because of the mounting anger.
Not a single bit of his squatted IQ thinks about the best way to escape Oughan's grip. He only grunts and spins around like a mad gorilla while blowing hot steam out of his nostrils.
The Orc, being more brute than brain, tries to shake Oughan off by slamming him into the concrete pillar, his go-to problem-solving method. But Oughan clings on for dear life, determined not to let go.
After nearly ten minutes of flailing, Oogorim finally starts to weaken. He drops to his knees, his rage fizzling out like a deflating balloon.
"Hey! That's enough!" one of the cops shouts.
"You're gonna kill him!" another concerns.
Oughan, still panting, keeps his choke tight. "Heh! This guy could survive an apocalypse. I'm not going to stop until I take him to a nap for sure."
At that moment, Aezel walks in, flanked by a few of the team, all looking half-asleep and annoyed. Jack is notably absent, probably off drooling over some imaginary fantasy girl. Rebecca and Litzy, could be still in their room, tired after whatever naughty thing they did last night.
"Oughan! What's going on here?" Aezel demands.
Oughan releases the Orc, who collapses to the floor in an unconscious heap. "Sorry, I had to knock him out. He went full crazy after missing his dinner, and tried to kill our skinny guy."
"Our skinny guy?" Aezel raises an eyebrow. "Where is he now?"
"Over there," Oughan says, pointing at the tree outside.
Through the broken glass wall, Aezel spots Irvine slumped against the broken tree, looking like he's either passed out or deep in existential contemplation.
Her gaze shifts to the unconscious Orc, noticing the missing horn and bloody ear. Then she picks up Irvine's knife which is still stuck on Oogorim's shoulder, examining it with disbelief.
"This knife… cut through Oogorim's horn?"
She looks perplexed, because she has witnessed how Oogorim's horns blocked sword attacks many times before this.
"Yup," Oughan says, smirking. "Turns out our skinny guy is not so useless after all."
Aezel sighs, clearly more frustrated than impressed. "Great! First, the food's gone. Now, our team is tearing itself apart. What's next, mole chimeras hosting a dinner party? Anyway! Did he tell where we had been last night?"
"He said he had searched the entire island for mole chimeras," Oughan replies, "and got frustrated for not being able to find a single one of them. Isn't that weird to you?"
"You can't rely on the search results of a hungry madman like him," Aezel weaves a sigh. "After breakfast, we'll split into two teams and start hunting those monsters while collecting some food in the woods."
"What about our way out of this island?" Lily asks. "If it's okay with you, I can swim to the mainland and look for help."
"You are not the only one who can swim," Elea chimes in. "This is why we never worry about this issue. We will exterminate the monsters first, and think about getting out after that."
Aezel also ignores that issue and turns around, looking for someone to treat Oogorim's wounds. But she can't find Maya, whom she believes was there with her moments ago.
Later, she notices the timid girl outside rushing to help Irivine. However, Irvine waves her off and stumbles away like a drama king who's just quit a bad movie.
"Hey! Come over here!" Aezel tells Maya to come back inside. "Next time, prioritize who needs help first. Look at him! With injuries this severe, he could die of blood loss."
Maya nods meekly, casting one last glance toward where Irvine left.