SSS Awakening: I Can Create Skills By Will

Chapter 133: Throne of Stone

The lean ogre vanished from the spot as it became a blur.

In a heartbeat, it appeared inside their formation.

Explorers were thrown aside by a sweeping strike that cut through their spacing. One shield bearer was sent tumbling. Another lost footing completely.

The ogre moved like wind wrapped in muscle.

It wasn’t bulky like the others.

It was lean but thick with compact power. Its muscles were tight beneath dark, hardened skin. Its legs were longer, built for bursts. Its arms were corded with strength, one slightly larger, veins raised along it.

Its eyes were sharp.

Mindless and focused on the assault it carried out.

Ryn reacted first as he stepped in and blocked a crushing strike aimed at one of the casters.

Steel met flesh.

The sound rang.

Ryn’s boots slid across the ground.

His teeth clenched. "Strong!"

The impact nearly threw him off balance.

Before the ogre could follow through, the captain swung from the side with controlled power.

The blade cut through the air.

But the ogre twisted.

Blurred.

And disappeared again.

It reappeared several meters away, crouched low, watching them.

Yet another stone flew from behind it.

But Arthur paid attention to the battle as he destroyed it instantly.

The squad tightened formation again.

Arthur’s eyes moved between the lean ogre and the distant shapes beyond.

Two threats.

The fast one in front and the artillery behind.

"They’re coordinating," Arthur said.

The captain’s jaw tightened. "So the launcher hasn’t even shown itself."

Another stone soared from deeper in the cavern.

But Arthur fired again.

BOOM!.

The explosion lit up the space briefly, and this time they saw it clearly again.

Farther back, elevated ground.

Massive shapes moving around crude siege structures.

But beyond that...

A larger silhouette seated higher than the rest.

Still and watching.

The pressure in the air thickened.

The lean ogre in front shifted slightly, positioning itself between them and whatever sat deeper inside.

A guard.

Ryn exhaled slowly. "So this one’s just the welcoming party."

Arthur nodded faintly.

"And the real problem is still behind it."

Another stone launched.

Arthur destroyed it once more.

He kept his eyes on the lean ogre in front of them.

It stood low, weight balanced, watching for a gap. It wasn’t rushing blindly. It was waiting.

Behind him, the captain’s voice cut through the tension. "Reform! Shields up! Casters behind second line!"

Metal scraped against stone as the formation tightened again. Faces were tense now. No one was pretending this was routine anymore.

Another stone whistled through the air from deeper in the cavern.

Arthur stepped forward without being told.

"I’ve got it."

He raised his hand and felt the mana settle into place. The stone entered his perception, its speed, its weight, the moment it would detonate.

He slowed it just enough.

Then..

Fire spear.

BOOM!

The explosion lit the dungeon in orange and gold before the shockwave rolled over them. Shields braced. Boots dug in.

The lean ogre moved at the same time.

It dashed forward the instant the blast sound faded, sweeping its arm through the outer edge of their formation.

Clang!

A shield bearer blocked but was thrown back two steps.

"Hold your ground!" the captain shouted.

Arthur clicked his tongue softly. "They’re syncing."

Ryn, who was fending off the lean ogre’s second strike, growled, "Yeah, I noticed!"

The pattern was clear now.

Stone from behind.

Explosion.

Close type rushes in during the confusion.

Step back.

Repeat.

It wasn’t random aggression.

It was coordinated pressure.

Arthur felt it too. The others did as well. That uncomfortable feeling in their chest wasn’t fear alone. It was the sense of being guided somewhere.

Like prey being pushed.

But they couldn’t retreat. Not with artillery watching their movements and a fast predator in front.

The captain made a decision.

"We push!" he ordered. "Advance through it!"

They moved forward together, shields overlapping. Arthur intercepted another stone midair.

BOOM!

The lean ogre darted in again, but this time the warriors were ready. Two blades came down at once, forcing it back. It twisted and blurred away, landing several meters ahead.

Arthur’s gaze sharpened.

They were getting closer.

The distortion ahead grew heavier, thicker, pressing against his senses like fog soaked in iron.

Then the space opened up even more.

And they finally saw it clearly.

First, the long range ogre.

It stood tall near a raised stone platform, thicker than the others, with arms built like siege engines. Around it were piles of carved boulders and a crude structure that looked like a catapult reinforced with bone and scrap metal. Ropes were pulled tight between stone pillars, and the ogre handled the mechanism with frightening familiarity.

It wasn’t a wild thrower.

It was operating it.

"So that’s the bastard," one explorer muttered.

The sight alone would have been enough to unsettle most squads.

A coordinated artillery ogre and a speed type guardian.

But then their eyes lifted higher.

And they saw the throne.

At the center of the cavern, slightly elevated above everything else, a massive ogre sat upon a stone seat carved into the rock itself. The throne wasn’t decorative. It was shaped to its body, like the dungeon had grown around it.

It was larger than the others. Broader. Heavier.

Its skin was darker, almost like aged granite. Thick muscles rested under it, but it wasn’t moving. It didn’t need to.

The pressure rolling off it told them everything.

One of the explorers swallowed hard. "Boss..."

No one argued.

Behind the throne, glowing faintly, was the dungeon seal.

And around it...

Arthur’s eyes narrowed.

Marks.

Carved lines in the stone floor.

Circular patterns.

Symbols etched into the rock around the seal.

"These aren’t natural," Arthur muttered.

Ryn followed his gaze. "Ritual markings?"

Arthur nodded once. "Someone tampered with it."

The seal looked intact, but the ground around it told another story. The patterns weren’t part of the dungeon’s design. They were added.

That meant interference.

The heavy mana distortion he had felt earlier wasn’t just from the boss.

It was layered.