CHAPTER 7 - The power of artifact
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Run.
As I was busy fighting my inner instincts to stay calm. Isabella who’s the nearest to the source of terror was not moving a single muscle.
“Isabella!” I call her out.
I think that she was shocked by the final enemy’s appearance. I mean who would not? An ogre is a monster that could annihilate a squad of trained soldiers easily. Soloing that monster is not a simple thing to do as having an overwhelming strength is what makes it notorious.
The ogre’s appearance was extremely menacing. It has held a large two-handed sword using one hand. Its bulging muscle that I and Isabella could fit into its biceps and the extreme terror that it emanates all over the area. These reasons were enough for an 8-year-old child to be overwhelmed by fear.
I tried to take a step forward with great difficulty to assist the terror-stricken Isabella. The ogre who was calmly watching its prey in front of it begin to make its move. The ogre made a huge swing toward Isabella who was still not moving.
“ISABELLA!!!” I shout out loud as tears gush out of my eyes.
I could not believe it was happening, we were just happily joking around earlier why did this happen?
“Gaaahh”
I screamed as my leg muscles were slowly ripped off as I forced them to move. I look at the Ogre menacingly as blood comes out from my mouth because of extreme anger. Even if I were to die here I will avenge my friend.
Suddenly, Isabella who was stunned and not moving a muscle emits an undaunted aura. For a moment she looks like an imposing warrior, it nearly washes off the accumulating terrifying aura inside the room. She moves her sword and blocks the oncoming overwhelming attack of the ogre.
Booooom!!
A shock wave forms as the two weapons collide. The shock wave is so strong that it threw me off the ground. I manage to correct myself and look at the results of the collision.
I saw the frail body of Isabella single-handedly stops the attack of the Ogre albeit with great difficulty as can be seen on her face. She’s gritting her teeth while her whole body was shakingly trying to correspond to Ogre’s monstrous strength.
“You’re kidding me” I muttered from the shock at the state of affairs I saw.
“Kuhhkk, Aaahhh–“
Isabella strenuously pushes her sword upward to break free from the standoff. After breaking free she backs off a little bit and dashes forward in with extraordinary speed.
“Wha–“ I am once again astonished at what was happening.
Isabella who has a body of an 8-year old was agilely moving faster than the strongest person I know off, Fredric.
An imposing aura that could wash terror in the area. A great strength that could match a grown Ogre. An agile speed that could ride the wind.
Is this the power of an artifact? I inwardly thought to myself.
Maybe we can do this. My hopes of surviving this battle got up as I saw how Isabella agilely cuts the helpless Ogre using the borrowed strength from the artifact.
Rooaaar!!
The Ogre who’s seemingly losing his patience from the non-stop onslaught of Isabella let out a furious roar. Isabella who was continuously accumulating damage on Ogre’s body was forced to back out.
The Ogre who got a little bit of free time suddenly lowered his center of gravity. Its muscles on the legs suddenly contract and he put his sword from behind preparing for a big horizontal slash.
Watching this phenomenon made me feel a sense of Deja Vu something from its stance made me feel familiar.
“Isabella careful!” I cry out as I remember that stance.
That stance was similar to one of the skills that Fredric use. I saw it one time when Fredric suddenly stops in front of the monster horde. He went forward paused for a bit and took that stance after that a terrifying orange streak shot forward and all the monsters it passed were annihilated.
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Isabella who likewise senses the danger ahead attentively watches her opponent. A white streak suddenly dashes forward. Isabella’s eyes that were watching her opponent’s action suddenly constrict as a great sword was suddenly in front of her slashing forward unobstructed.
She instinctively put her sword in front to defend herself. The artifact sword that Isabella wields accepted the full onslaught of the Ogre’s skill. The artifact was too strong that it doesn’t even budge from the power and speed that it took from the enemy’s weapon.
However, Isabella who wields the artifact isn’t in a similar situation. She coughs blood as she forcefully defends herself from the skill attack. The body of Isabella who took the impact of the strength of an Ogre combined with the speed and power of skill could not correspond from the attack. Before she could even match the power of the attack she was already thrown off.
Even after the borrowed strength from the artifact she still wasn’t able to match the power of her enemy. After being thrown off by the ogre, she rolled on the ground multiple times. The ogre, however, didn’t give her time to recover and was already charging over.
“Isabella it’s coming” I cried out.
I could only helplessly warn her from the sidelines as I am going to be a burden even if I tried to help. The enemy was in a different class and surviving a single attack alone is already a great feat.
Isabella who heard my warning forcefully gather its position as her foot slides through the floor to gain friction. The Ogre’s speed was again back to normal but because he gained a lot of momentum from the skill he unleashed, Isabella is now the one who was struggling to defend herself from the never-ending attacks of the Ogre.
“Kuhkk”
Isabella helplessly defends and tries to retake the upper hand from the Ogre. The exchange goes on for a couple more hours. The attacks were relentless and the ogre doesn’t even give her time to take a break. However, even with this taxing experience and intense pressure Isabella who was only defending for a long time still comes out on top.
How?
Isabella who was struggling to gain upper hand took a different approach and instead solely focus on defending herself. Eventually, she got her rhythm and it makes easier for her to face her enemy. While the Ogre was relentlessly trying to end the fight while still holding the upper hand from its opponent. In the end, Ogre loses its grasp on it and Isabella took the opportunity to come out on top.
As the Ogre unintentionally loses its sharpness on its attack, Isabella took the opportunity and powerfully parries the Ogre’s great sword. Shocked by the sudden burst of power its hands were thrown off the air and Ogre’s defense was wide open.
Isabella jumps forward with great power as she stabs the Ogre’s head from its left eye. But before the artifact sword could penetrate its brain, the Ogre spontaneously leans and the artifact could only destroy the Ogre’s eye socket. The Ogre grimaced in pain as he skillfully dodge his imminent death in the nick of time.
Isabella who dealt serious damage and crippled her opponent tried to maximize the opportunity. She decided to land at 8 o’clock of her opponent and began launching attacks from there but it did not go as planned.
Puwak!
The Ogre has still his battle instincts despite the long battle and decides to step back his left foot and throws a left straight punch. Isabella who was still in midair was hit by tremendous strength she cough blood as she absorb the impact of the punch. With no footing to hold, Isabella was thrown off by Ogre’s punch at such tremendous speed in mid-air.
Things drastically change for the worse after this exchange. The Ogre who manage to place a great distance on his opponent was freed from the imposing aura that Isabella emits.
My face creased as I immediately felt a great killing intent placed on top of me. The Ogre who was solely occupied with Isabella the whole time place its attention on me. Isabella was still flying in the air when the Ogre began charging toward me.
“EROAN!!” Isabella shout as she helplessly beat around in the air trying to gain a little bit of friction in the air.
I did not manage to hear Isabella’s shout. My senses are slowly being blocked off by the increasing pressure that piles on top of me, as the charging demise closes its distance on me.
Hoooooh
I sucked out a lot of air as I prepared myself for the rampaging death that was coming to me.
“Eroan run!” Isabella who was able to stand on her feet cried out as she close the gap between us at an unfathomable speed.
However, her efforts were in vain as the Ogre was already in front of swinging its blade horizontally to cut me in half.
My eyes were full of focus as time slowed by once again like what happened during the goblin fight. I watch and absorb all the information I saw from the greatest adversary I met in my briefly short life.
I saw the muscle fiber on the arm of the Ogre gradually contract as it swings in the mid-air. Ogre’s hands that gradually grasp the sword handle tighter. The edge of the great sword that is full of dents from the earlier fight. The dents created tiny air turbulence as the edge of the great sword as it strides toward me. Lastly, the eye of the Ogre slowly loses focus on me as its great sword closes its distance. His remaining right eye cautiously look behind before it could even confirm my death.
This Ogre is looking down on me.
Having been given this opportunity I unknowingly smile.
I stab upward my sword while simultaneously lean backward. The Ogre’s great sword met with my sword as it sparks on the impact. As time passed in slow motion, I tried to take advantage and forcefully misdirect the great sword’s path using my own. But because of the poor quality of my sword, it broke off before it could even make a big change.
Watching this I smile in dismay. Still not feeling hopeless I decided to put all my energy into leaning backward and hoping that I could make it in time.
I stared at the ceiling and notice that the crystals placed on the perimeter above were very artistic. At the center was a mural of a very beautiful female with two pairs of wings and holding a bow. Her beautiful green eyes were full of valiantness and even seemingly out-shines the crystals embedded in the ceiling.
What a great find in the most insane situation.
My sightseeing was abruptly ended by a passing great sword. It seems that all my efforts paid off as the great sword pass an inch away from my chin. The wind it carries did not leave me off though as it managed to cut through my chin.
It almost knock me off I crouch as I saw Isabella who was almost caught off. But the Ogre was likewise waiting for Isabella to counterattack. As my head spins from the impact I manage to collect myself and pull my used sword from my waist.
This is my farewell gift to you, my friend. Although you are annoying sometimes, the headstrong attitude that keeps you going forward regardless of the obstacles always amazes me. It makes me proud to have a friend like you despite briefly knowing you.
My thoughts were seemingly passed telepathically on Isabella as her face crumpled.
“DON’T DO IT!” Isabella cried out to me as her tears flowed like a bucket.
But it didn’t sway my decision as I stab my used sword toward the foot of the Ogre.
Roar
The time flows back to normal again as I wake up from the Ogre’s cry. The Ogre look down at me as he saw his blood gushing out from its foot as I thrust my sword deeply managing to penetrate up to the floor. The Ogre who were looking for an opportunity to finish off Isabella were suddenly surprised about the pain. The Ogre look at me with anger that the prey that was supposed to be dead was still kicking and healthy.
The Ogre grip my body and lifted me and we face each other side by side. I could see the pure anger on its face. I grinned and put my middle finger in front of its face.
“Even an ant ca—“
Before I could manage to finish my sentence a crushing force was suddenly put into my body as it crushed my bones and muscles. My consciousness was blacked out afterward.
I died.