That roar landed like a heavy hammer, pounding hard on everyone’s eardrums.
Irina and Christine’s faces changed in an instant.
“O… Ogre?”
Irina’s voice trembled a little.
“How could that thing be here? It wasn’t mentioned in the commission!”
[Report! This is definitely false advertising!]
[Look at that size, that presence—having a World Boss spawn in the newbie goblin camp, does that make sense?]
Leo was complaining like mad in his heart as well.
[Buy one, get one free? Not like this! Three hundred gold coins and you want me to take that down? Dream on! I’m demanding extra when we get back. Double—no, triple pay!]
But complaints were just that—complaints.
The situation on the field wasn’t going to wait for them.
After the Ogre appeared, the entire goblin camp erupted in frenzy.
They no longer cared about the battered skeleton soldiers, but instead raised their weapons and howled toward the Ogre, as if worshiping their god.
The Ogre clearly enjoyed the adulation.
Its eyes, bigger than bronze bells, swept around the area and finally locked onto the three of them—Leo and his companions—at the forest’s edge.
A wave of bloodthirsty, rancid killing intent rushed toward them.
“It’s just a beast.”
Christine was the first to recover from the shock.
She forced down a trace of unease in her heart and wore her signature, haughty expression again.
“Perfect. Let me show you the magic of the Raphael family.”
[Here we go, here we go, the pay-to-win player is about to perform.]
Leo silently took half a step back, and pulled Irina behind him as well.
Irina poked her little head out and whispered, “Aren’t you going to help?”
“No rush,” Leo replied calmly.
“Let the Investor show us the results of her ‘due diligence’ first.”
He was curious just how powerful the Duke’s daughter’s magic really was.
Christine stepped forward.
A luxurious staff inlaid with sapphires appeared out of thin air in her fair hand.
She didn’t even chant; she simply waved the staff lightly.
“Frost Nova!”
With her cool voice, a visible wave of cold air burst out from her, instantly spreading in all directions.
The air temperature plummeted, and a thin layer of white frost formed on the ground.
Dozens of goblins at the front immediately slowed down, with a few of the weaker ones freezing into statues on the spot.
“Not bad.”
Leo nodded to himself.
Instant-cast, area control—this young lady really wasn’t just for show.
But the Ogre, clearly, was a different story.
The cold wave washed over its dark red skin.
It only shivered and paused for a moment.
“Roar!”
Feeling provoked, the Ogre let out an enraged roar, swung its massive Mace, and charged straight at Christine with heavy steps.
The earth shook with every footfall.
“Hmph, doesn’t know its place.”
Christine showed no fear.
She raised her staff high, and a huge Ice Lance composed of pure ice element quickly formed above her head.
The tip of the Ice Lance glinted with a dangerous chill, its magical aura sending a shiver down Irina’s spine.
“Wow, is she planning to flatten the whole mountain?”
Irina exclaimed under her breath.
Leo narrowed his eyes.
The power of this spell probably wasn’t much weaker than the big fireball Irina once used to blast a griffin away.
“Go!”
Christine pointed her staff downward.
The gigantic Ice Lance, like a ballista bolt, whistled through the air and shot straight at the charging Ogre.
The Ogre seemed to sense the danger too.
It stopped, crossed its arms to guard its chest, and let out a thunderous roar.
The next second—
“Boom—!!!”
The Ice Lance struck true, erupting into a dazzling burst of blue light.
The force sent dust billowing and shattered ice crystals flying like rain in every direction.
The entire camp was engulfed in a foggy white mist.
“It’s done.”
Christine lowered her staff and smiled confidently.
In her mind, nothing could survive such high-level magic.
“Wow! Amazing!”
Irina genuinely exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with admiration.
[Not bad, Missy. That’s some serious damage.]
Leo thought the same.
For three hundred gold coins, bringing a turret of this level along seemed like a real bargain.
However, just then—
“ROAR——!!!”
A roar, even more furious and savage than before, exploded from the center of the dust cloud!
A gust of wind swept through, scattering all the dust and fog.
The Ogre reappeared before their eyes.
It… was completely unscathed.
Well, not entirely.
The arms it had crossed over its chest were slashed open in a few places, oozing some blackish-red blood.
But for a beast that size, that was barely a mosquito bite.
The huge Ice Lance was now just a pile of shattered ice on the ground.
Christine’s smile froze on her face.
Irina’s mouth formed a perfect “O”.
Leo, inwardly: [……]
[What the heck? Where’s the law that says “lots of smoke but no injuries”?]
[Is this Ogre running some kind of anti-death cheat? Maxed out Magic Resistance?]
The Ogre was completely enraged.
Its crimson eyes locked onto Christine like a man glaring at someone who disturbed his sleep.
With a stomp, cracks spread out from its feet, and its massive body shot forward like a cannonball—twice as fast as before!
“Crap!”
Christine’s face went deathly pale.
That big spell earlier had drained nearly a third of her mana.
Now, with her mental energy unstable, she tried to instantly cast a defensive spell but found her magic sluggish.
The Mace, shrieking through the air, was about to smash her in the face.
She could even smell its foul stench.
[It’s over…]
Christine’s mind went blank.
She never thought she’d one day die at the hands of an Ogre.
At that critical moment!
A figure flashed in front of her like lightning.
It was Leo.
No one knew when he’d rushed over, but he shoved the stunned Christine aside in one swift motion.
“Down!”
Almost simultaneously, the Ogre’s Mace came crashing down!
Christine staggered and fell, turning just in time to see the Mace bearing down on Leo’s head.
“No—!” she screamed instinctively.
But the expected scene of gore and carnage didn’t appear.
“Boom!”
A dull, heavy thud.
A thick Stone Wall of solid rock had erupted from the ground, standing firmly between Leo and the Ogre.
The Mace smashed into the wall, sending chips of stone flying and leaving it covered in spiderweb cracks, but it withstood the lethal blow.
[Whoa, what strength.]
[That was almost a wipeout. Good thing I reacted quickly.]
Leo let out a breath of relief, but irritation bubbled up inside him.
He turned to look at Christine, who was still slumped on the ground, terrified and shaken.
“Miss Raphael.”
His voice was calm.
“Your ‘due diligence’ doesn’t seem to be going all that well.”
With that, he ignored the young lady, turning instead to face the now even more furious Ogre.
He slowly raised his hand.
“Warm-up’s over.”
“Now, it’s my turn.”