The ogre’s roar reverberated across the streets as it chased after its prey. Even though it was huge, its speed was nothing to scoff at. With each pounce, the beast crossed ten meters. Its buglike prey took a sharp turn and ran into an alleyway, so it immediately followed behind it, after crashing into a house and demolishing its walls. The ogre rushed towards its human prey on all four. Its eyes were crazed for blood, and the only thing it could think of was how tasty the slightly strong bug would be.

After a couple of minutes of running around in alleyways, the group of humans was finally forced into an open field. Seeing that one of its prey lagged slightly behind, the ogre charged with all of its might and pounced at the unfortunate human.

“Alfonse, careful!”

One of the other humans, a man wearing a full plate of armor, dashed from the side and pushed Alfonse out of the way. The two barely dodged the Ogre’s attack with a hair breath and tumbled on the muddy ground.

“You okay, Alfonse?”

Alric, a tall knight with brown hair and dark eyes, was the one who saved Alfonse’s life from a terrible fate. If the Ogre had gotten its hands on him, it would have eaten the young man alive right then and there, and none of the awakened would have been able to do a thing to stop it.

“Should we run or should we fight it?” Alric asked Alfonse. No matter their difference in age and status, none of it mattered here. Alfonse was the leader appointed by Roy, and Alric was one who adhered to strict military discipline when it came to hierarchy.

At Alric’s question, Alfonse looked around the open field. If all six of them were to run in all directions, at most half of them would die to the monster. However, if they decided to fight the ogre, there was a chance that all of them would perish.

Alfonse knew that as a leader, the right call was to run away and hope that he was not part of the half that the monster would catch. However, the idea of running away and sacrificing half of his friends and those he was tasked to protect did not sit well with him.

“We will fight.” Alfonse stood up and took out his sword, before shouting toward the rest of the group. “Everyone, take up your positions. We will slay the ogre right here and right now!”

Alric stood up and took up the sword next to Alfonse. The group of awakened men slowly circled the Ogre before finally surrounding it. As Alfonse stared at the giant monster in front of him, he could not help but remember the one that he, Robb, and Roy had fought. They were around the same size, and they exuded similar pressures toward their enemies.

With a resolute war cry, Alfonse charged toward the Ogre. As the man and monster were about to clash, Alfonse suddenly changed his direction and dodged the Ogre’s gigantic club.

Without wasting any time, Alfonse and Alric both dashed at the monster and struck him from both sides. They quickly jumped back before the Ogre could regain its balance and attack them back.

Enraged by the humiliation of being wounded by buglike humans, the beast charged at Alfonse with all of its might. Without any hesitation, the latter rolled out of the way of the Ogre’s mad attack.

This time, it was Derek, one of the awakened volunteers, that jumped on the opportunity and attacked the back of the monster before running away.

While the beast was still down, Alric jumped into the fray and charged toward it. Just as he got close, the knight stopped dead in his track to dodge the Ogre’s club swipe. With its torso wide open, Alric stabbed it twice in the stomach before jumping out of its attack range.

The Ogre’s eyes were bloodshot. It roared with a dragon’s rage, and with a voice so loud, it threatened to burst everyone’s eardrums. Alfonse became dizzy for a second, and the monster did not let that opportunity go to waste. It charged madly at the young man with the intent to smash him to pieces.

As he could not dodge this attack, Alfonse jumped back up to the sky and blocked the club with his sword. The impact sent him flying several meters into the air before tumbling and rolling on the ground.

Fred, who saw his friend be thrown like a ragdoll, roared in rage and charged toward the giant monster. Their clash was like David against Goliath. As Fred’s sword collided with the Ogre’s club, the young boys were sent sliding on the ground for several meters. However, he did not fall. His eyes gleamed with resolution and a will to fight as he stared at the giant beast in front of him.

Fred charged once again at the monster, but this time, his attack was a feint. He stopped right in front of the Ogre and changed direction to the side, dodging the monster’s overhead smash. After seeing both Roy and Alfonse fight with the Ogres, Fred was able to learn a few tricks. He understood that most of the giant monster’s attacks were simple in nature and easily dodgeable if you knew they were coming.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Not wasting the opportunity he created, Fred slashed upwards at the Ogre’s chest, leaving it cut open and bleeding. In a fit of rage, the monster swiped at the young man with its club, but its attack was weaker than before. This time, Fred only slid a meter backward after blocking the monster’s strike.

By this time, Fred had bought enough time for Alfonse to stand back up and fight. The latter dashed along with Alric towards the Ogre’s backside, while Fred was fighting it head-on. They slashed at its back and then at the back of its knees before quickly jumping back out.

However, just as they were making space between themselves and the monster, a figure bolted past them. Thomas, one of the two volunteers awakened, charged at the screaming beast with a war cry. Alfonse didn’t have the time to warn him, and could only watch in horror as the beast stood up just as Thomas reached it.

Before the volunteer could slash at its thigh, the Ogre turned around with large power and struck Thomas with a swipe from its club. The young man was sent flying in the air before rolling on the ground and landing on his face.

“Thomas!” Alfonse shouted in horror as the young man groaned on the ground. He then looked at the Ogre with a look full of rage. “You bastard!”

The Ogre stumbled as it walked towards Alfonse. The wounds on its body were numerous. Its chest, its back, its knees, and its thighs were all dripping with purple blood and had large ghastly wounds that showed the bone behind the flesh.

Alfonse charged at his enemy with a cold look in his eyes, but rather than attacking the ogre, he dived down and slid between its legs. The monster who slammed its club at the ground could barely turn around before Alfonse slashed at the side of its rib.

Fred, Conrad, and Alric did not let this opportunity go to waste and attacked the Ogre from both sides. After multiple slashes and stabs, the beast fell to the ground on its knees. It roared in pain, as the humans who it considered prey, drilled holes in its body.

“Get out of the way. It will go berserk.”

At Alfonse’s orders, the group jumped back and scattered in all directions. As the young man had predicted, the Ogre released its red aura and stood up with murderous intent that sent shivers down everyone’s spine.

The beast concentrated its red aura in its legs before bolting towards Alfonse with unimaginable power. Even though the young man had seen and knew about the power up of the Ogre after it shows its red aura, he could not expect such a drastic increase in speed. Knowing that he would not be able to dodge the monster’s smash, Alfonse used the same strategy as before. He jumped back in the air and blocked the club with his sword to minimize the damage.

The impact from the attack sent a loud shock, as Alfonse was sent flying tens of meters in the air before crashing into a wooden house.

The only thing the young man could hear was a loud and unending buzz in his ears, while his whole body throbbed in pain from the Ogre’s monstrous attack. It took all of his will to stay conscious and look at the monster who was charging toward him with blood-crazed eyes.

Just as the monster was about to pounce at Alfonse, an armored figure dashed from the side and attacked it. The monster quickly stopped and dodged the incoming slash.

Alric stood between the Ogre and Alfonse while tightly gripping his sword. The standstill between the two was tense, as both man and monster studied each other’s movement.

The silence was broken as the Ogre dashed towards the knight and swiped its club at him with all of its power. With a red gleam, Alric’s sword clashed with the monster’s gigantic club.

The knight was sent sliding backward several meters before he fell to the ground kneeling. However, surprisingly, the monster was pushed back from the clash too. The Ogre, as if humiliated by this result, dashed towards Alric with mindblowing speed and slammed him with its club to the side. The knight barely had any time to block, and his body was sent rolling on the ground for several meters before he finally landed on his back.

After finishing its fight with Alric, the beast looked at Alfonse with eyes full of rage. The young man was barely able to stand and roll out of the way as the Ogre crashed into the house.

Alfonse ran into the small alleyway to give himself more space while the beast slowly walked out of the hole it had opened in the house. The Ogre charged wildly toward Alfonse, intending to kill him once and for all. The young man, rather than dodging to the side or rolling out of the way, rushed towards the monster to meet him in a clash.

The moment Alfonse entered the Ogre’s attack range, he preemptively spun to the side and dodged the monster’s overhead smash. With every inch of power that was left in him, Alfonse stabbed his enemy in the chest.

A deafening silence engulfed the battlefield. Just as Alfonse thought that he had killed the Ogre, it turned around and looked at him with the most terrifying eyes a man could see.

It grabbed Alfonse’s sword by its blade before it kicked him right in the stomach. The young man felt the wind burst out of his chest as he slammed onto the wall of a house. Even breathing was difficult as he gasped for each breath.

Alfonse looked with regret as the Ogre walked towards him, intending to finish its job. As the monster reached right in front of him and raised its club high in the sky, Alfonse closed his eyes in wait for his eventual death.

However, just in the nick of time, a dark shadowy figure jumped from a rooftop with a ghostly speed before decapitating the Ogre with a powerful downward slash.

As the monster’s body fell to the ground and its head rolled down the alleyway, the silhouette turned towards Alfonse.

“Sorry for stealing your kill,” Robb said with a smile.