Chapter 44: Let’s Dance!
Chapter 44
Jace hadn’t even finished dealing with the ogres in front and behind him when another guttural growl rumbled from the side. His eyes darted to the sound just in time to see a massive club swung toward his face with frightening speed, the air around it hissing as it cut through. His eyes widened in horror.
’Shit! I really thought we would be able to get out of this.’ The thought stabbed through his mind in panic, but then he grit his teeth, gripped his sword tighter for a moment, and finally exhaled as he relaxed his shoulder and let the weapon slip free from his hand.
The sudden shift caused the ogre in front of him to stumble forward in confusion. Jace used the opening instantly, bending backward and kicking off into a backflip.
Water swirled around his feet like a living tide, amplifying the force of his movement. He smashed his heel into the ogre’s jaw, a wet crack following as the creature skidded away, spitting blood and broken teeth.
BOOM!
The same momentum carried his legs down onto the skull of the ogre behind him. The impact resounded with a bone-jarring crash that shook the ground, sending the beast sprawling unconscious into the dirt. Jace landed lightly, muscles coiled like a predator’s, before bolting toward where his sword had fallen.
He rolled across the floor just in time to avoid another club that pulverized the ground where he had been. Dust and splinters of rock sprayed into the air.
With a burst of speed, he reclaimed his blade, water immediately spiraling around it like a serpent answering its master’s call. Jace swung in one clean, merciless motion.
SHLICK!
The edge bit through flesh and bone with ease, decapitating the ogre in a flash. Its head rolled across the ground as its hulking body crashed lifelessly beside it.
HUFF!
PUFF!
PANT!
Jace staggered slightly, chest rising and falling as he breathed heavily. Pain gnawed at his muscles, exhaustion threatening to drown him, yet he forced his body to move. The stunt had drained him more than he cared to admit.
’My essence... it’s dwindling the longer this fight drags on. And I haven’t even faced the boss yet. Even if I tried to reassure the others, a B-rank monster is too much, even for me. Are we really going to die here? Just like this?’
Before the thought could settle, one of the ogres he had struck earlier regained its footing. With a roar that rattled the chamber, it barreled toward him and swung its spiked club in a vicious horizontal arc.
Jace ducked low, sidestepping by the narrowest margin. The spikes tore past his face, grazing his cheek with a sting. With precision, he retaliated, swinging his blade in a clean arc.
A crescent of water exploded outward, a shimmering wheel that tore into the ogre’s chest and ripped it apart in a violent splash.
But he had no time to regain balance. The last ogre came from behind, smashing its club into his back with merciless force. The impact launched him forward like a ragdoll, pain detonating across his body.
"Aghh—dammit." Jace coughed, landing hard and struggling to rise. Blood trickled down his back, warm and steady, trailing across his skin like tears sliding down a broken face.
He forced himself to his feet, scanning the battlefield with sharp, pained eyes.
Aria, Erin, and Kael were still holding their ground, each of them fighting fiercely, though the fatigue on their faces was unmistakable. Their movements were slowing, their strikes less crisp.
Zen, battered and bruised, faced off against a new wave of four ogres. To Jace’s surprise, he was holding his own, weaving through their attacks with reckless determination.
But Rina—she was nowhere to be seen. No matter how hard he searched, no glimpse of her appeared in the chaos. Dread sank into his chest, heavier than the wound in his back.
He couldn’t let it distract him for long. The ogre in front of him charged again, club raised high, aiming to crush him outright.
’Slowly, their numbers are dwindling. But along with them, our essence is fading too. When the boss shows itself, will we even be able to stand? This is bad...’
Jace launched himself upward, twisting in midair as the club roared past beneath him. He focused everything he had left into his blade, whispering the words through clenched teeth.
"Water Veil: Wheel of Death."
He spun in the air like a raging current, his sword slicing in endless arcs as water wrapped around him, frothing into a violent vortex. With a deafening splash, he came down, crashing upon the ogre’s skull.
The blade split the beast cleanly from crown to gut, tearing it apart in one savage stroke. Its body quivered, then collapsed into halves, lifeless.
Jace stood panting, his blade dripping with both water and blood. His chest heaved as he looked at the battlefield once more, knowing this was only the beginning.
Jace tumbled as he quickly used the flat surface of his sword to whack the black blood that was sprayed towards his face away.
Quickly catching his footing, he huffed and puffed, beads of sweat cascading down his face as he scanned the whole room, trying to size up the remaining threat while loud clangs filled the air continuously.
’Twenty beasts left, the group is injured, the healer is nowhere to be found, and we still have no damned hope against the boss. Are we cooked or what?’ Jace thought as he felt all the hairs on his back stand up.
Reacting quickly, he rolled to the side just in time as an ogre smashed its club into the ground where he had knelt earlier. Regaining his footing, Jace glanced up, only to see three more ogres surrounding him like predators waiting to strike.
With a sigh, he shook his head and slowly stood tall. "As their leader and the one who brought them together, there’s no way I can show weakness to them. Otherwise, their hopes would be dashed."
He muttered this to himself as he lifted his katana, pointing it toward the ogres with a calm, eerie smirk on his face. Water suddenly washed over the blade, rippling and flowing as if alive.
"So come on, let’s dance." He smiled, and without hesitation, the beasts bolted forward.
__
Meanwhile, a few metres away from Jace, Aria, Kael, and Erin were constantly doing all they could against the beasts that came at them in waves without a single break.
"Isn’t there any end to this?" Kael shouted as he ducked under the wild swing of a beast. In response, an arrow sped forward, impaling the ogre directly in the eye.
Quickly lifting his head, Kael swung his shield, slamming it into the arrow that was lodged in the beast’s eye, driving it deeper and causing the creature to writhe and thrash in agony.
"We have no choice. If we want to leave, we kill them." Erin coldly added as an ogre thrust its club toward her abdomen. She quickly swung her sword down, blocking the attack, the impact forcing her backward and sending her skidding across the ground.
Before she could even think of moving again, another club was already heading toward her head. She leaned back swiftly to avoid the blow, but the spikes from the weapon tore through her hood, ripping it apart and exposing her face to the team for the very first time.
Kael, who had glanced behind him to see who needed help, found himself momentarily stunned by what he saw.
Erin’s silver locks fell like a curtain over her beautiful oval face, and her piercing, cold blue eyes glared at the ogre in front of her with deadly anger. Despite the fury in her gaze, she looked absolutely stunning.
She was the kind of beauty that could stir even the lifeless. The type that if she walked past a cemetery, the dead would claw out of their graves just to behold her. Her smooth, flawless skin only added to her ethereal charm.
"Absolute cinema," Kael muttered unconsciously, his words slipping out before he realized. A growl from his right snapped him back into reality.
"Slice and Dice," he mumbled beneath his breath as he swung his shield with all his strength, causing it to spin into the air with immense speed. It cleaved the beast in half before returning faithfully to his hand.
"Almost there, guys! Let’s keep pushing!" Erin shouted as she kicked off the ground, shoving the ogre in front of her back before spinning gracefully. She slammed her icy feet into the second ogre’s face, sending it flying across the room and crashing into a wall.
"Just as Aria said, we can get through this," Erin added with determination as she landed with a huff, her breath fogging in the cold air her power released.