Wildness and Masks

"Frost, bind it! (Frost Nova)" Countless icy blue lights appeared instantly at the tip of Foucault's staff.

Under the guidance of the staff, these lights surrounded the enormous goblin, and in an instant, countless crystals climbed up, attempting to freeze the unusually large goblin in ice.

However, the frost barely covered half of its body before it began to crack.

Its size was both its strength and its weakness.

Such a massive form made it an easy target for magic, yet it also granted it the ability to ignore most binding spells.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

Thrandic had just slain the last goblin shaman, and now, trapped in a heap of demon beasts, the thought of breaking free seemed like a fool's dream.

He had ventured too deep.

"Go!"

Instead of retreating, Ogre charged forward, sweeping his spear left and right, taking down goblin after goblin.

‘Not enough time...’ Ogre calculated the distance, feeling a chill in his heart.

...

At this moment, Thrandic was already facing the giant goblin, as large as a green giant.

It wasn't that he wanted to confront it, but he simply couldn't run anymore.

The massive fist swung its club, and even the wind from a missed strike could force a person back several steps.

Even with Thrandic's agility, he couldn't avoid being hit by the flying remains of goblin corpses.

No one doubted that a strike from that club could be fatal.

The wide sweeps and strikes left Thrandic exhausted, and the pile of goblin corpses he had excitedly slain earlier became his biggest obstacle in escaping.

Just four or five consecutive sweeps and strikes left him with no room to dodge.

‘Damn it, I can't dodge!’

"Beast! I'm not afraid of you!" Seeing no way to evade, Thrandic gathered all the Battle Qi he could muster to withstand the blow.

A pale golden power covered most of his body, leaving only his head uncovered, a choice Thrandic made to unleash his full strength!

Power gathered in his fists, Qi concentrated in his arms—Overlord Lifts the Cauldron!

Crack—!

Before the pain hit, Thrandic heard the sound of his bones cracking—

Then came the intense pain, his hands, feet, then legs and arms, his hands and feet—were crippled.

"Ugh..." A mouthful of blood spurted from Thrandic's mouth.

The only reason he hadn't lost consciousness was due to the adrenaline.

Screech—!

A piercing eagle's cry shattered the sky.

Thrandic saw the sky, covered by the massive club, suddenly brighten again, but unfortunately, he no longer had the strength to run.

At this moment, his lower body was almost completely driven into the mud.

"Ogre, Lange! Get everyone out of here! Leave this to me." Foucault's voice came from the sky.

It was he, or rather, the griffin beneath him, that had forced the giant goblin back...

Looking again, the pendant on Foucault's chest was gone—he had finally used his trump card.

After releasing the Frost Nova, he didn't hesitate to use the pendant he carried, which contained a High Rank magic—Beast Shadow Engraving!

A High Rank Mage who mastered transformation, mana shaping, mimicry, and puppet spells could use a demonic beast to replicate a mana shadow with sixty percent of its original power, controlling it until the mana was exhausted.

And Foucault's trump card was a Beast Shadow Engraving sealed with a griffin's shadow!

But limited by his own strength, this griffin could only exist for five minutes, and because he wasn't the original caster, Foucault couldn't control the griffin as easily as his own limbs, only issuing simple commands.

Yet even so, this trump card was invaluable, as even a griffin with sixty percent strength possessed Professional-level power.

"What a loss... You better not die." Foucault muttered before commanding the griffin to charge, forcing the giant goblin back dozens of meters.

Foucault could have easily left this golden-haired boy, whom he had only met a few times, to his fate, but he chose to step forward.

This young master from the inland, who not long ago would vomit from the harsh environment, had unknowingly gained some resolve.

"Thrandic!"

As Thrandic fell, a hand caught him; it was Ogre, who had rushed over.

"Senior Brother... apologize to... Teacher Yard for me..." Thrandic struggled to squeeze out a faint smile.

"What are you talking about! If you want to see the teacher, go see him yourself!" Ogre scolded.

He could clearly see that the previous blow had left Thrandic with more breath going out than coming in...

"Thank... you..." After saying this, Thrandic's life force plummeted, and even his bloodshot eyes closed.

"Don't close your eyes! You can't give up yet!" Ogre calmly used his other hand to open the pouch on his back.

‘There's still hemostatic powder... Damn it, I should've kept the healing potion!’

Though Ogre's mind was calm, his heart was pounding...

He was nervous.

"Ogre! Catch!" Lange's voice came at this moment.

A bottle containing red liquid, wrapped in protective Battle Qi, was thrown over, tossed by Lange, who had hurried over.

Ogre raised his hand to catch the flying healing potion, then crushed the bottle with his hand despite the pain.

The red potion flowed down Ogre's hand, dripping onto Thrandic.

As the potion made contact with Thrandic's body, his breathing noticeably steadied.

Though he still looked like he was on the brink of death, that last breath was held on to.

"Gah!" A goblin's scream came from beside Ogre.

It was an archer goblin killed by the glass shards Ogre had thrown.

Ogre's peripheral vision was always on alert, guarding against any ambushers.

"Ogre! Thrandic!" Lange finally arrived, taking out a second healing potion from his belongings.

"Lange, take care of my junior brother."

Ogre dug Thrandic out of the dirt and handed him to Lange.

"What are you going to do?!" Lange said as he poured the healing potion, "We can't participate in this battle, let's leave quickly, and wait for the young master to come out..."

Before Lange could finish, Ogre had already pulled out the spear stuck in the mud.

"Please."

Lange had never seen Ogre so cold and fierce, and for a moment, he forgot to stop him.

"Wait, you don't mean to!" Lange guessed Ogre's intention and reached out to stop the irrational Ogre.

But it was destined to be in vain.

Because he couldn't abandon Thrandic, who lay dying in his arms.

"I want to—get it back!"

Ogre clutched his chest with one hand, holding the spear with the other.

Step by step, he walked resolutely towards the giant goblin being held back.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but with each step, Lange saw a fleeting spark of electricity on Ogre.

Boom, boom, boom—!

Drumbeats, from who knows where, suddenly filled the battlefield.

As Ogre slowly released his hand from his chest, the drumbeats grew faster, clearer, more rhythmic.

Now, looking at Ogre's exposed hand, one would see—all his veins and blood vessels were bulging.

Thump, thump... thump!

As the sound grew clearer, Lange realized—it wasn't drumbeats, it was the sound of a heartbeat!

The heartbeat sound even made Lange's heart involuntarily speed up, and he looked ahead in shock.

He discovered—the strange drumbeats were actually Ogre's heartbeat!

This was Ogre using electricity to forcibly accelerate his heartbeat and blood flow to gain power!

Now, he was stronger than ever before!

"Only four minutes..." Ogre estimated his stamina and murmured.

Ogre was adapting to this power.

This move was something he discovered during training over the past two days, not yet mastered, requiring preparation and adaptation each time.

"But it should be enough!"

Under the mask, Ogre's mouth twisted into a grimace.

This was Ogre enduring the pain brought by the move.

Faint blue patterns appeared under Ogre's skin—this was the ogre physique manifesting to resist electricity and repair the body.

The ogre physique's repeated activation not only represented the resistance level of Ogre's ogre physique but also indicated his stored energy was being rapidly consumed! Hovering between damage and repair.

After three breaths, Ogre's body, feeling the pain, cooperated by secreting hormones, temporarily strengthening him.

"It's time."

Now, the move was complete!

Ogre's hands tightly gripped the spear, his eyes, crackling with electricity, locked onto the raging giant goblin.

Everything was ready!

Next, a striking spark appeared at the spear's tip.

In a flash, Ogre vanished from his original spot!

Not far away, Lange finally snapped out of the heartbeat drum's shock.

He blinked, looking at the ground where Ogre had stood—only to see a footprint at least four fingers deep...

‘How can there be such a gap!’

At this moment, Lange's heart was filled with both joy and sorrow.

Joy that Ogre's displayed strength might truly help Foucault kill that creature.

Sorrow that his chance to redeem himself seemed to be slipping further away.

At this moment, his pride was utterly shattered...

"Better get everyone out of here."

Lange only let his emotions run for a moment before regaining his composure.

He glanced at Thrandic; with two healing potions, his life was temporarily saved, but how much he could recover was uncertain.

"Sigh..."

With a sigh of regret, Lange hoisted Thrandic onto his back.

To be honest, he quite liked this boy of similar age, but seeing his condition, even if saved, his body would have significant impairments, which was quite fatal for a knight who hadn't completed the Circle of Life.

He could only hope the priests here were competent; otherwise, this guy's path as a knight might be abruptly cut short.

"Gah!" (Goblin language: Kill!)

"Loo... gah!" (Goblin language: Kill this intruder together!)

The chaotic voices interrupted Lange's wandering thoughts, pulling him back to reality.

He looked ahead.

It was the remaining goblin troops; they hadn't fled and wouldn't flee, for this was their home!

"Just right! I'm full of anger too!"

Lange held Thrandic with one hand.

With the other, he lifted his single-handed sword.