Chapter 13: The Rematch [2]

Letting out a furious roar, it threw its full weight into a violent shove that sent me flying backward.

I hit the ground hard, rolled several times, and finally crashed back first into a tree, the impact sending a jolt of pain through my spine.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself up.

There was no time to rest.

The ogre staggered back to its feet, its face and chest slick with black blood as ragged, furious breaths tore from its lungs.

Yet even after everything it had endured, the monster refused to stay down.

With a deafening roar, it charged once more, a walking avalanche of muscle and rage barreling straight toward me.

Behind me lay the shattered trunk of a tree the ogre had uprooted during its battle with the humans.

Planting my feet, I reached back and dug my fingers into the splintered wood before heaving with everything I had.

Every muscle in my body screamed in protest as the immense weight fought against me, but inch by inch the massive trunk rose from the ground.

The moment the ogre closed the distance, I twisted my hips with a roar of my own and hurled the enormous trunk straight into its charge.

WHAM!

The ogre barely had time to register what was happening before it got wrecked.

The massive tree crashed into its ribs with a sickening crack, and the overwhelming force actually lifted the monster off the ground.

A creature that easily weighed over a ton was sent flying like a rag doll, soaring through the air before slamming into the dirt with an earth-shaking thud that sent a cloud of dust exploding in every direction.

The beast groaned as its limbs twitched weakly beneath the settling debris.

It was down, but not dead. I released the tree from my grip, letting the enormous trunk crash onto the ground with a heavy thump that made the earth beneath my feet tremble.

My hands trembled from swinging something so heavy, the strain burning through my arms, but I ignored it.

There was no time to stop or catch my breath.

I sprinted toward the axe lying half-buried in the dirt, its blade stained dark with dried blood, and wrapped my fingers around the handle.

It was heavy, far heavier than any weapon I’d ever held, but the weight only tightened my resolve.

Behind me, the ogre stirred with a low groan, slowly pushing itself onto its elbows.

It looked groggy and dazed, its massive head swaying as it struggled to regain its bearings.

It was still alive.

But not for much longer.

Tightening my grip, I raised the axe overhead, every muscle in my body tensing as I poured every ounce of strength I had left into a single throw. Then I hurled it straight at the ogre’s skull.

The axe spun through the air, a blur of silver that sliced through the dust and fading light.

For a split second, time itself seemed to slow as the ogre’s glazed-over eyes flickered with the faintest trace of awareness, its massive head tilting upward just as the spinning blade closed the final stretch between them.

SCHLUNK!

Bullseye.

The sharpened steel cracked through bone and buried itself deep between the monster’s eyes, drawing a broken, gurgling grunt from its throat.

Its enormous body staggered where it stood, every muscle twitching in stubborn defiance as though refusing to acknowledge death, but the struggle lasted only a moment before its legs finally gave out and the giant collapsed to the ground with a thunderous crash.

The ground shuddered beneath its weight before a heavy silence settled over the battlefield.

I stood there with my chest heaving, every inch of my body buzzing with adrenaline as the pounding of my heartbeat filled my ears, drowning out the rest of the world for a brief moment. Then, unable to hold it back any longer, a grin spread across my face.

I won.

I had just killed an ogre with nothing but a tree and a throwing axe.

Now that was some crazy stuff.

I let out a sharp breath as I rolled my shoulders, my body still thrumming with the high of battle, every aching muscle reminding me just how close that fight had been.

Unlike every battle before this, this was the first time I’d actually had to go on the offensive to win.

Sure, the ogre had already been half dead by the time I reached it, but even reduced to a fraction of its strength, the monster had still come dangerously close to ending my life.

If it had been at full power... yeah, that would’ve been a completely different story.

Still, a win was a win, and I wasn’t about to complain.

As I stared down at the massive corpse lying at my feet, glowing blue text suddenly flickered into existence before my eyes.

Ding!

[You have killed a level 5 Ogre]

[You have levelled up]

A grin slowly spread across my face as I looked back at the ogre, my fingers flexing with anticipation.

It was time to devour.