Chapter 40: Behind the door...

Clang...

The monster deflected my blade with its bony club before counterattacking me with its giant legs, hurling me into the air.

Gasp... Cough...

I was once again out of breath, "their skill to make anyone have their lungs out of breath was amazing".

I was amazed by looking at the monster in front of me because although it might be weak in terms of strength and defense, the battle sense it had developed was the best amongst any monster I had battled till now. 

Even the 'Dire Wolf King' slightly paled in comparison to the monster that was glaring towards me with unbound fury. Dire King battled based on its instincts but the monster here could predict the trajectory of my attacks before counterattacking it just like it did earlier.

''Now, that is fun.''

I wasn't the least bit scared by its ability to predict my attacks, for I had even slain humans who ruled over the world with their intelligence since I was a child. The battle was just going to take longer than when I had killed its subordinate earlier.

"That was all." The Ogre might have great battle sense but without the strength to properly utilize that sense, it was just a powerful ant.

And the battle went as I had thought.

The Ogre was an amazing warrior with its battle sense, but its attribute betrayed it as my attacks were overpowering him, suppressing him just like the Dire Wolf king was able to do with me. I didn't even bother with obtaining insight into its vulnerabilities during the whole battle because I really didn't have any need for that.

"It was a plus point to have strength that surpassed your opponent"; you didn't require any battle sense or flashy moves. I simply dealt with the monster using a downward-sloping swing, overwhelming it with my elite-ranked strength and bringing it down.

Its reflexes, and the ability to predict my attacks that were chaotic as they were, was commendable since my attacks didn't have fixed patterns nor were my movements predictable enough to make it easy for others to predict me as this Ogre was easily able to. It felt like it could gaze into the future for it was almost accurately predicting my attacks while counterattacking me with its own attacks.

" May your soul rest in peace." I gave the lifeless body a slight nod of appreciation before starting to collect the monster cores. After collecting everything I could from the hall, I looked at the bronze door that the Ogre and his subordinate were protecting with their life.

The door was magnificent with battle scenes between Ogres and other monsters that were attacking the lair. The bloody war depicted by the carvings was lifelike, as if they were etched into the door by an expert artist, capturing the soul of that battle, trying to eternally glorify the battle that had taken place in the lair. 

I could feel the palpable atmosphere during that battle along with the battle cries of both Ogres and other monsters that they were battling against. The cries of pain and agony, deaths of several monsters, cheers of victory, and everything that had happened during that war could be felt by looking at the scene etched on this door.

It was a magical sight to behold, especially in the dungeon habituated by the monsters known for their brute strength rather than their mastery of arts and magic. Looking at the door for the last time, I was ready to look at the world behind the door. 

I tried pushing the door as I had done with doors in other dungeons I had visited, but it didn't budge an inch. This prompted me to inspect the door closely, searching for any hidden mechanisms or traps that might be concealed within.

And there it was, a keyhole that blended with the scenery etched in the door, hiding from casual eyes. As for the key that could unlock the door, it was worn by the Brown Ogre(the one with great battle sense) as a necklace, tied around its neck with a string made of monster skin.

____________________________________________

KatchaK….

Unlocking the door was easy, I just had to rotate the key in an anti-clockwise direction for two times before the door was ready to be unlocked. 

"Let me tell you something, just getting the idea about the right way to unlock the door took me ten minutes", as I could rotate the key in any direction and as many times as I wanted to rotate it. Only stopping for about five seconds after rotating it for two times in an anti-clockwise did the door in front of me unlock, giving me the chance to enter the door.

Creak...

The scenery that welcomed me was the series of interconnected chambers and corridors. The walls were built with slightly better stones that radiated with magical energies, adorned sporadically with crude paintings depicting scenes of battle and conquest, showcasing the ogres' brutal nature. These paintings were the continuation of the brutal battle etched on the Door protecting this corridor.

The cheerful Chaotic battle songs and Dancing Ogres that were looking at their Dead partners from time to time were depicted in these paintings. The scenery was filled with eerie portrayals of these Ogres feasting on their dead comrades, munching on their dead carapaces while cooking on the big fire they had created in the middle of the forest.

Several green-skinned Ogres were encapsulating these Ogres within the barrier formed by their magical spells, praying for their god while sacrificing the blood of their enemies to the makeshift altar housing their god. 

The vibrant green aura that propagated from the altar, healing every Ogre within the barricade was a work of wonder as Ogres weren't monsters that could wield such large amount of mana within their bodies to heal every Ogres present there. It pointed toward something even more magical than what we know about these ogres living in this dungeon.

Another painting depicted the silhouette of a Scarlet red Ogre floating above the Altar looking at the cheering Ogres with tranquility. The bodies of dead enemies visibly shriveled into husks before disappearing into the silhouette's body, leaving only skeletons in their wake.

Swish...

"The silhouette looked towards the sky, directly peering at me." It was the sensation I felt before finally getting thrown out of the scenery depicted in the paintings.

Huff....

My body was covered in sweat, my heartbeat accelerating and threatening to break out of my body. 

"It was scary."

Sweeping the sweat on my face, I walked ahead looking at the four corridors that separated the one I was standing into four different areas. As for which corridor to choose, I chose the one that was situated to the extreme left of me, not bothering to think even for a second.

This corridor was littered with several 'Brown ogres' that were way weaker than the one I killed outside the door. It was a blood bath, I had killed every Ogre that attacked me with a single slash of my blade, leaving a river of blood littered with dead monsters in its wake.

Some required around two swings as I couldn't kill them due to their powerful vitality and regenerative abilities. But I was killing them right and left as I walked.

After about five minutes and dispatching around thirty more ogres, I reached the end of the corridor. It opened into a grand hall adorned with paintings and statues depicting ogres of various shades and sizes, with one particularly prominent in the center of these sculptures.

That single statue was the biggest of all and the only one which was scarlet red, reminiscent of the silhouette I had seen in the painting earlier. And at the end of this hall, there was another gate made up of silver that wasn't covered by the scenery but was pulsating with a regal aura. 

As I surveyed the hall filled with statues, all facing the central figure, I also noticed the three other openings leading to this same hall. The echoes of grunts and roars filled the air, for someone had intruded upon their sacred space—a hall housing their deity and brave warriors who had fought in bloody wars to protect their race from foreign monsters that had attacked their world with overwhelming numbers and strength.

Despite the echoing roars of the monsters filling the entire hall, none emerged from the other corridors, almost as if they were afraid to enter. It was both amusing and curious to hear their angry roars while observing their reluctance to step into the hall, as if some unseen force restricted them or instilled fear of what lay within.

Their fear might be amusing but it was genuine, forcing me to vigilantly look at the surroundings while getting ready to deal with anything that is thrown towards me. I had even materialized the shield, holding it with my right hand while my left hand was holding the blade.