Horde of Monsters
[: 3rd POV :]
After Daniel had slain the Tyrant Ogre, the earth began to quake again.
It was subtle at first, like a small vibration in the soles of Daniel's feet.
But with each passing second, it grew louder, heavier, more relentless.
Like a storm of footsteps pounding the bones of the world.
Daniel turned his head slightly, his gaze sweeping across the horizon.
"It seems like killing the Tyrant Ogre has attracted their attention," he muttered, voice calm, even amused.
Then he saw them.
Lumbering from behind the shattered ridges and molten valleys came a horde, no, it was a stampede of Tyrant Ogres.
Each one a mountain of muscle and rage, their crimson skin rippling with raw energy.
Their eyes glowed like molten lava, and their footsteps cracked the ground with each thunderous step.
Their roars tore through the atmosphere, bestial and terrifying, enough to send flocks of other monsters scattering into the skies.
Some creatures were unwilling to be caught between the wrath of giants.
Daniel stood still, with his hair fluttering with the wind whipped up by their march.
[: Status Effect :]
[: Tyrant Ogre :]
Level: 115
[: Tyrant Ogre :]
Level: 121
[: Tyrant Ogre :]
Level: 101
[: Tyrant Ogre :]
Level: 131
[: Tyrant Ogre :]
Level: 148
[: Tyrant Ogre :]
Level: 139
[: Tyrant Ogre :]
Level: 112
[: Tyrant Ogre :]
Level: 129
[: Tyrant Ogre :]
Level: 144
[: Tyrant Ogre :]
Level: 150
[: Tyr....
Daniel activated one of his bloodline's gifted skills, which was Eyes of Calamity.
His vision sharpened instantly, displaying their levels and even weaknesses.
Most of the ogres ranged between level 100 and 150, and each one was strong enough to annihilate a squad of seasoned warriors on its own.
But amid them all, one figure stood out like a black crown in a field of red banners.
[: King Tyrant Ogre :]
Level: 250
It stood at the rear, towering even more monstrously than the rest.
It was at least twice the height of an average Tyrant Ogre.
Its muscles were corded like steel cables, and jagged bone armour grew naturally across its shoulders and arms.
A long, pale-white horn spiralled out from the centre of its forehead, pulsating faintly with energy that warped the air around it.
Its aura was suffocating, soaked in centuries of bloodshed.
Even without moving, it dominated the battlefield with sheer presence.
It was like a true tyrant who sent pawns to test the prey before it delivered judgment itself.
But Daniel… didn't flinch.
There was no fear.
No hesitation.
Just the low hum of power building beneath his skin, waiting to be used.
For anyone else, being targeted by over forty Tyrant Ogres, monsters that could crush cities underfoot, would've been a nightmare.
For Daniel, it was a challenge.
"I'm not sure how this will turn out..." he murmured, cracking his neck as a slow grin spread across his face.
"But let's try this."
He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the warm, heavy air of the Forbidden Continent.
The sadness still lingered in his chest with memories of Rika, of Caelira, of Kiel and Manork.
He was truly worried, and he wanted to be with them.
But he pushed it down.
Not ignored it.
But tempered it.
He needed to focus now.
They were all safe, likely back in their homelands, and the only way he could get back to them...was to conquer this hell.
Because the Forbidden Continent wasn't just sealed...it was locked because the Gates are still here.
As long as the gates were here, Daniel couldn't get out.
Moreover, each Gate was guarded by a monstrous overlord, a supreme being beyond even the King Tyrant Ogre in strength and terror.
And only by destroying them all… could the seal be lifted.
Only then could he escape.
And so, as the horde charged with bloodlust in their eyes and death in their roars, Daniel's smile widened.
His aura surged, rippling with dark essence, his shadow stretching unnaturally, his body igniting with the glow of awakened blood.
Black aura flickered around his arms.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
And the sky itself seemed to pause.
"Come on, then," he whispered to the incoming ogres, voice low and filled with promise.
"I'm just getting started."
On the other hand, the horde came fast, massive, brutal, shaking the entire valley as dozens of Tyrant Ogres charged forward like a stampede of living mountains.
But Daniel didn't move.
He stood at the heart of the chaos, calm as the sky before a storm, eyes glowing with a dangerous intent.
Mana shimmered around his body like a living aura, his clothes whipping behind him from the pressure that bled off his form.
"Let's begin," he whispered.
Then, as though the will of the void heard his command, he activated Void Step.
All of a sudden, something had pierced the air as space cracked.
The very dimension around Daniel warped, tearing like glass under unseen pressure.
Reality blurred, and his body flickered, and in a breath, he was gone.
Only a soft gush of wind remained in the place where he had stood before.
Before the lead Tyrant Ogre even had time to react, Daniel reappeared high above them, midair, suspended as though space itself was holding him up.
From his vantage point, he watched the ogres below continue their mad charge.
He raised a hand, and his Eyes of Calamity: Target Locked flared to life.
Five red markers blinked into place over the ogres' heads.
No matter how fast they moved, how deep they hid, there would be no escape.
It was as though their existence itself was locked.
Then came the destruction.
From his palm, five pitch-black orbs spiralled into existence.
Each one pulsed with sheer annihilation, miniature cores of unrestrained destruction drawn directly from his bloodline's power—Indomitable Destruction: Destruction Manipulation.
He gave the orbs a mental command.
They shot forward.
In a flash, five ogres were pierced—no, erased.
Their roars didn't even have time to reach the sky before they were consumed by the void and unmade completely.
Flesh, bone, soul, all of it was gone.
But it wasn't over.
The others had already jumped.
Five more Tyrant Ogres, snarling with rage, had leapt into the sky to meet him.
Their bodies twisted midair as they activated skills of their own.
[: Tyrant Ogre – Skill Activated: Ground Splitter Fist :]
[: Tyrant Ogre – Skill Activated: Bonequake Slam :]
[: Tyrant Ogre – Skill Activated: Flamecore Smash :]
[: Tyrant Ogre – Skill Activated: Thunder Leap Impact :]
[: Tyrant Ogre – Skill Activated: Avalanche Crash :]
Massive fists cloaked in fire, lightning, and earth magic all came hurtling toward Daniel like a meteor storm.
But he didn't dodge.
He didn't even raise a guard.
He…only smiled.
"Try me," he whispered.
BOOM!
The impact was colossal.
The sky shuddered as the combined force of five full-power ogre skills collided into Daniel, the shockwave blasting through the valley, uprooting trees and sending lesser monsters scattering.
But then… the unexpected happened.
Their attacks rebounded.
The five Tyrant Ogres were flung back violently, screaming in pain as their attacks hit them back at twice the power.
Their bones had cracked, with their skin being torn away and their blood spilling like rain.
[: Reverse Cataclysm – Skill Activated: Cataclysmic Repulsion :]
It was the kind of skill where any damage he received would be deflected and multiplied by 2.
On the other hand, Daniel emerged from the dust cloud completely untouched, the air rippling around him like a liquid void.
His eyes burned with quiet intensity.
"…Not enough," he said coldly.
He raised his hand again, this time shaping a weapon from the very core of Destruction Manipulation.
A sword was born and manifested.
It exudes an aura that some of the ogres didn't dare to approach.
It was long, jagged, and pulsing with swirling black and red energy.
The air screamed around it, the very concept of existence fraying where the blade hovered.
It was as though the existence of creation or even the living was crying when the energy of destruction manifested.
Daniel gripped the hilt and descended.
It was only one swing, and that was all.
He passed through the air in a silent blur, his figure flashing like a comet of ruin.
The sword carved an arc of death through the sky.
And the five ogres?
They didn't even get to scream.
Their bodies split apart midair and disintegrated into ash.
Their existence was consumed by destruction so absolute it denied even the chance to die properly.
Where their bodies disappeared, only silence and scorched void remained.
Daniel landed softly on the cracked earth, the destruction sword dissolving into mist behind him.
The rest of the ogres remained still, as not a single one dared to move.