Different Monster Wave! (2)

The Monster Wave was only beginning; the monsters that had appeared on day eleven were nothing compared to this.

After that, their numbers exploded, and larger beasts began to appear.

So much so that the head of the guard sent a courier warning that this was worse than the previous Monster Wave.

However, while other regions might be suffering, the north still wasn’t that difficult.

No — only the Rebound Legion had it easy.

The mage representatives cast spells while chatting, and the warrior representatives often climbed down from the wall to sweep through the Monster Belt.

The legion members who stood out most in the fighting along the walls were the Amazoness Liru and the necromancer Jul.

When I first opened her status window and saw her skills — and then discovered the “Red Light” skill — I thought the registration card had swindled me.

But her red light wasn’t the usual meaning everyone knew.

Shortly after the Monster Wave began, she asked me, “Captain. Can I take a lot of throwing spears and arrows?” and I readily agreed.

That day, the spears and arrows from an entire warehouse disappeared.

Liru’s real work on the wall began on the seventh day. When thousands of monsters arrived, she climbed the battlement and left piles of arrows and spears at intervals.

“What are you doing?” Arun asked, but Liru only smiled faintly, finished her task, and moved on.

Her bow unleashed every ranged weapon in rapid succession, turning the mass of enemies into quick corpses—literally fast killing.

Not only arrows: thrown spears left a trail of medium-sized monsters skewered through the torso.

And the arrows were worse. Liru fired three or four at once, fulfilling the role of ten or twenty archers by herself.

Her Wonder Woman-like display on the tall, sturdy wall made people look at her differently.

If Hugo blocked the front while she attacked from behind, the ones under assault felt annoyance long before fatigue.

After Liru shredded the monsters, Jul’s necromancy finished the job.

Thanks to their performances, the others only needed to use divine power or declare an area theirs and descend the wall occasionally; otherwise there would be nothing left for them.

Moreover, from Talis’s brutal training, the Rebound Legion’s most improved stat was stamina.

Those two seemed tireless, slaughtering monsters with faces full of excitement.

But today was different. After eighteen days, a horde of ogres finally appeared.

And these were White Ogres, covered in white fur evolved for the cold northern region.

They resisted frost magic, and ordinary physical attacks could barely pierce their hides.

Above all, their height. The club-wielding ogres were so tall that when they raised an arm, it nearly reached the top edge of the wall.

The ogres’ arrival marked the true start of the war.

“This is for all representatives except the Rebound Legion. Look straight ahead. You only need to bring down the monsters that appear in front of you. Remember that.”

Most representatives flinched at the command, its divine power laced with lethal intent. Frustrated, they clicked their tongues to stifle complaints and called Lee Hyo-ju.

“Command.”

“Where… are you going?”

“Because White Ogres are ‘group.’”

…Yes?

Leaving the puzzled Lee Hyo-ju, I climbed to the parapet above the north gate.

The White Ogres, either not ready to attack or waiting for something, formed ranks and glared my way.

“Huh?”

Then one ogre appeared a full head taller than the others.

As if greeting a king, the other ogres made way and that ogre stepped to the front.

‘Confirmed.’

“Ho?”

Interesting. A White Ogre chief I’d never encountered, even in my previous life… Compared to the Black Oak, he wasn’t quite Lord-level but certainly a Chief.

As if wanting a one-on-one, he stepped a few paces forward and glared at us.

“Lee Hyo-ju, command the others.”

Leaving that, I leapt off the wall.

I heard the legion calling behind me but ignored them, lightened my body, and stood before the Chief White Ogre.

Facing him from the ground, he seemed even larger than from the wall. I had to tilt my head to see his face.

“Puuu—”

A sigh like air escaping hissed from his mouth.

“Huh?”

He was mocking me. It had been a while since I’d been taunted, and it felt grimly satisfying.

“Did this bastard just mock me?”

• “Small one without fear.”

I realized for the first time that the talent Empathy lets you catch some of a monster’s speech when divine power is open.

Maybe it only works on monsters of this level; I couldn’t understand the shouts of the other White Ogres behind him.

“Tch. You think your hide will let you die without pain?”

I spoke and drew a rapier thinner than an estoc from my inventory.

At his mocking huff I briefly considered killing him outright, then shook my head and cleared my mind. Really, I’m not one to be provoked by a monster…

Then I remembered his trait, snorted, and flicked the rapier.

Did he take the motion as an insult? The Chief’s face flushed crimson.

When he screamed skyward, the White Ogres behind him answered with a bellow.

“What the hell.”

The Chief sprang forward, and with his 98 agility he reached me in an instant.

Using the momentum, he brought his dark, hulking club down.

Given the length of his raised arm, the blow came from a height easily exceeding eight or nine meters, driven by brute force.

The wind screamed as the club swelled huge in my vision.

Thud— Woom—!

“Gah?!”

“Whoa….”

“…Ah, captain. Seriously… it’s a monster.”

The rapier filled with chaotic divine power and blackened until it matched the Chief’s club.

That thin blade blocked a club thicker than an adult’s thigh.

“Uh?”

At the Chief’s dull question, I kicked his knee like a soccer ball.

He staggered—

Angrier for being knocked down, his face reddened further and his attacks came like a typhoon.

Each time I held my ground and blocked, his redness deepened. The redder he got, the stronger and faster his blows became.

Whoosh— Kwoom. Whoosh— Kwoom. Whoosh— Kwoooom.

The wind roared with every swing, and all that rang out was club against rapier.

Neither of us moved an inch as he struck and I blocked.

His talents Wild Instinct and Frenzy were powerful in close combat; that a monster had multiple talent categories unlocked made him rare.

However…

• “Huff… Huff…”

I glanced up at the Chief, now panting, looking down at me.

When our eyes met, I curled my lip in a full sneer and moved for the first time.

The Chief looked around for me, visibly tense.

From the air, where I could see the top of his head, I flipped and dropped, thrusting the rapier.

Sshk—

Unlike his heavy swing, the strike made a thin sound of air parting.

Thuk—

The blade pierced the Chief’s skull with ease and turned his brain to mush.

Thud—

The wound on the fallen Chief’s head was only about the thickness of a finger.

I listened with satisfaction as his massive body thudded down and slipped the corpse into my inventory.

Then I turned to the remaining White Ogres.

I played with your leader. What are you going to do now?

I tilted my chin and looked down at them with contempt.

Then,

Uuuuu!!

Kuooh!

The ogres charged in disorder, raising clouds of dust.

Some were trampled by their comrades as they toppled over one another, but neither the trampled nor the tramplers cared.

I considered waiting, but the hides of the trampled were ruined, so I hurried back to the wall.

“I said it clearly. Only deal with the monsters in front of you.”

Saying that with divine power, I sent additional instructions via comm crystal to the legion.

“Handle them cleanly. If you cast lightning magic, I’ll kill you. Cut off the heads and put them in magic pouches.”

• “Yes!”

Each response came through the coms, and we ordered the continent-born mages to fall back.

The battle was fierce, but with the White Ogres enraged our morale rose too, so there was no great difficulty.

[Monster Wave 18th Day Report]

North Wall.

57 minor injuries, 25 serious injuries, no deaths. 511 White Ogres annihilated.

East Wall.

2,117 minor injuries, 398 serious injuries, about 200 continentals dead. 398 Forest Ogres annihilated.

(179 representatives crippled or with broken divine power cores.)

West Wall.

1,019 minor injuries, 316 serious injuries, about 140 continentals dead. 431 Dark Ogres annihilated.

(63 representatives crippled or with broken divine power cores.)