novelraw Chapter 127: When Two Fell Silent II
Chapter 127: When Two Fell Silent II
The first clash rang out.
Metal hit flesh. Shields absorbed crushing blows. A fire spell exploded against an ogre’s chest and forced it back a step.
Then the captain’s voice thundered again.
"Brace! Second class!"
Arthur saw it at the same time.
The two second class ogres lifted their arms together. Mana gathered around them, thick and violent. The air vibrated as if something heavy was about to slam into the earth.
And then..
They moved in sync.
Both of them.
The mana around their bodies spiked at the exact same moment.
For a split second, the squad froze.
"Both?" someone muttered in disbelief.
A shield bearer cursed under his breath. "We can’t take two at once"
Panic surged through the line.
It wasn’t that they didn’t trust Arthur. They did.
But one seismic pulse had already nearly broken them before. It had shattered formation, cracked armor, and drained their strength.
Two at the same time?
That wasn’t just pressure.
That was disaster.
Arthur felt it too.
The raw build up of power was heavier than before. The ground beneath his boots trembled as the ogres prepared to slam their arms down.
If both pulses were released together, the shockwave would tear through the formation before anyone could recover.
But Arthur had already seen it coming.
The moment he noticed how close they stood, he had guessed the possibility.
He inhaled once.
His lips curved slightly.
"Not happening," he said under his breath.
The ogres brought their arms down.
But Arthur moved.
Intent Step activated twice in rapid succession. His body blurred from his elevated position, appearing first near the left second class ogre. He didn’t attack its body.
He struck the ground.
His blade stabbed deep into the stone right at the edge of the forming pulse, and intent surged his mana through it. Instead of clashing head on with the shockwave, he twisted the direction of the force, disrupting the flow before it could fully release.
The ground cracked, but the pulse collapsed inward.
The ogre’s eyes widened.
Arthur didn’t stay.
He was already gone.
Before the second ogre’s arms fully connected with the floor, Arthur reappeared beside it. This time he didn’t aim at the ground.
He drove his blade straight into the ogre’s forearm, exactly where the mana converged.
The impact didn’t cut deep.
It didn’t need to.
His mana tore through the gathered energy and shattered its structure.
The second pulse fizzled into nothing more than a weak tremor.
The cavern shook once.
Then fell still.
Silence.
No shockwave or shattered formation.
No screams even.
It just ended silently as dust settled down slowly in the air.
For a moment, even the ogres seemed confused.
The explorers stared.
One of the shield bearers blinked twice. "It... it didn’t go off?"
Another turned his head slowly toward Arthur.
He stood between the two second class ogres, blade lowered, shoulders relaxed as if he had simply brushed aside an inconvenience.
"Focus," Arthur said calmly, glancing back at them. "The other ogres are still moving"
The tension snapped.
A wave of relief crashed through the squad so hard it almost made them laugh.
"That idiot..." someone breathed, but there was admiration in the tone.
Ryn let out a sharp exhale and grinned. "Of course he can."
The captain’s eyes burned with renewed intensity. He had seen what Arthur did. It wasn’t brute force. It wasn’t luck.
It was control.
Precise, calculated, creative.
"Push!" the captain roared.
The morale shift was immediate.
Fear turned into fire.
The squad surged forward with fresh strength, as if Arthur’s interruption had poured courage directly into their veins.
Arthur stepped back to his monitoring position again, expression calm.
Ryn dashed past him briefly and muttered, "Show off."
Arthur snorted. "Just doing my job. Don’t fall behind."
Ryn’s grin sharpened. "Watch me."
The captain charged into the thick of the first class ogres, his presence alone forcing them to split their attention. His axe swung in brutal arcs, each strike heavy enough to stagger the massive creatures.
With the pulses gone, the formation held strong.
Shields absorbed blows. Casters unleashed spells without worrying about being knocked off balance. The heavy hitters began applying pressure with real confidence.
Arthur watched carefully.
The air felt different now.
Lighter.
Optimistic.
The earlier encounter had done more than give them experience. It had given them belief. And the captain was smart enough to ride that wave.
He fought aggressively, forcing the ogres into reactive positions.
Ryn matched him step for step.
If the captain was raw power, Ryn was sharp precision. He moved around the ogres like a shadow, cutting at tendons, striking weak points, and then slipping away before retaliation came.
At one point, a first class ogre raised its club high above the captain’s head.
Before it could swing, Ryn slid in low and slashed behind its knee. The ogre stumbled forward, exposing its side.
"Now!" Ryn shouted.
The captain didn’t hesitate.
His axe carved into the ogre’s ribs with crushing force, splitting through bone and muscle. The creature fell with a thunderous crash.
The explorers watching couldn’t help but shout.
"That’s it!"
"Keep going!"
It was smooth.
Too smooth.
Ryn and the captain moved like they had trained together for years. One created the opening. The other ended it. Over and over again.
Another ogre tried to adapt, swinging wildly to keep both of them at bay.
Arthur stepped in briefly, striking its wrist at the exact moment it gathered strength for a counter. The disruption threw off its timing just enough.
Ryn capitalized instantly.
He slashed across its back, driving it forward into the captain’s waiting strike.
The coordination was almost unfair.
The rest of the squad kept the remaining ogres contained, harassing them from all sides. Spells burned. Spears thrust. Shields bashed.
No one felt like they were barely surviving.
They felt in control.
One explorer laughed mid fight. "Is this the same dungeon?"
Another replied between breaths, "Feels like a training run now!"