"Everyone fall back—now!" Sera shouted as the massive creature's gaze swept over them with predatory calculation.
The silverback ape let out a roar that shook the very foundations of the forest, causing birds to explode from their roosts in panicked flight. Without warning, the beast vanished from sight, leaving only empty air where it had stood moments before.
"Where did it—" Grimbold's question was cut short as the ape materialized directly beside him, one massive fist already descending toward his head.
Sera's newly acquired Mirage Blitz activated instinctively, his body moving with supernatural speed as he tackled Grimbold out of harm's way. The ape's fist cratered the earth where the young ogre had been standing, sending shockwaves through the ground.
"It has the same ability as the monkeys, but evolved!" Sera realized with growing dread. "Everyone stay mobile—don't let it pin you down!"
The ape's enhanced Mirage Rift activated again, but this time Sera could track its movement patterns. Five to seven mirage projections scattered around the clearing, each one capable of triggering pressure-based attacks. The real ape emerged from behind a tree, its claws raking across Sera's shoulder before he could fully dodge.
Pain lanced through his body as crimson blood began to flow, but Sera gritted his teeth and countered with his own Mirage Blitz. He appeared behind the ape, stick raised for a devastating blow, but his weapon simply passed through another afterimage.
The ape's true form materialized above him, descending with crushing force. Sera barely managed to roll aside as the creature's massive frame impacted the ground with earth-shaking violence.
'This is bad,' Sera thought as sweat beaded on his forehead. 'It's not just faster than the monkeys—it's smarter, and those projections can actually cause damage!'
Nokka and Gia had positioned themselves behind trees, launching stones with precise timing, but their projectiles either struck false images or bounced harmlessly off the ape's thick hide. Grimbold had recovered and was attempting to flank the creature, but the ape's enhanced spatial awareness made such tactics nearly impossible.
The silverback's eyes suddenly blazed with an even more intense red glow as its Apex Instinct activated. Sera could sense the dramatic shift in the creature's aura as all its physical capabilities surged beyond their normal limits. The ape had recognized them as a genuine threat to its survival.
"Something about this ape just changed becareful!" Sera warned his companions. "Its power just doubled!"
The enhanced ape launched into another Mirage Rift sequence, but this one was different. The creature gained a short directional shift mid-dash, allowing it to change trajectory in ways that defied physics. Sera's eyes widened as he realized his previous pattern recognition was now useless.
One of the mirage projections triggered a pressure trap near Gia's position, sending her tumbling backward with a cry of pain. The real ape followed up instantly, appearing beside the fallen girl with claws extended.
Sera's mana reserves were running dangerously low, but he couldn't let his friend be slaughtered. He activated his golden energy enhancement one final time, his body blazing with the golden energy as he intercepted the ape's attack.
The collision between enhanced ogre and berserk ape sent shockwaves through the clearing. Sera's stick splintered against the creature's reinforced claws, leaving him weaponless and vulnerable.
The ape's massive hand wrapped around Sera's throat, lifting him from the ground with terrifying ease. As consciousness began to fade and darkness crept around the edges of his vision, salvation arrived in the most unexpected form.
[Ding!]
[The system has noted that the host's life is in danger. Precautionary measures are being enforced]
[Your skill Ogre Chief's Blessing C has been activated]
[A chief does not die easily. You are receiving external energy. Your spirit power has increased to 200/50]
Like lightning striking through storm clouds, energy flooded through Sera's body in torrents of pure power. His muscles surged with newfound strength as he grabbed the silverback's massive hand with both of his own, prying the crushing grip open with supernatural force. Freedom tasted sweeter than honey as air rushed back into his lungs.
"Round two," Sera whispered, his voice carrying an authority that seemed to resonate from the very depths of his soul.
His mana reserves remained nearly depleted, but his body thrummed with energy as though he had been struck by celestial lightning. Every fiber of his being vibrated with power that felt both foreign and intimately familiar.
Without hesitation, Sera struck the ape's temple with devastating precision, the impact sending the massive creature stumbling backward. The blow disrupted the ape's Mirage Rift ability for a crucial moment—long enough for Grimbold to capitalize on the opening and land a perfect strike across the creature's eye with his weapon.
The silverback roared in fury and pain, crimson blood streaming from its now-blinded eye as it glared at the young ogres with murderous intent. Its remaining good eye blazed with hatred and desperation.
In that moment, something extraordinary occurred. Sera began to exude an aura of pressure that rivaled that of a true chief—as though Sarion himself had manifested through his son's form. The power was intoxicating yet dangerous; Sera instinctively understood that his current physical form was far too weak to handle the full might of a chief's authority for long.
Golden tendrils of power danced around his frame like living electricity, creating patterns in the air that seemed to bend reality itself. The silverback, despite its savage nature, recognized what it now faced—a genuine predator that had awakened to its true potential.
[Ding!]
[The host can only maintain this form for another 2 minutes]
The system's warning rang through Sera's consciousness like a funeral bell. Time was running out, and he had to end this battle immediately or risk complete physical collapse.
As he centered himself in preparation for the final assault, ancient memories stirred within the depths of his divine consciousness. 'When I was a god, there was a martial art I admired above all others. The user of this technique... I believe he was called Kaine. He used this very art to slay the Devourer God himself—an art of ten sacred forms known as the Transcendent Fist Arts.'
Even in the presence of such a formidable foe, Sera found an oasis of calm within the storm of battle. He placed one palm forward in a classical stance while drawing back his other fist, coating it with the remnants of his mana while circulating the energy throughout his entire body. As he performed the ancient motions, something profound revealed itself to his understanding—a fragment of divine knowledge that had been locked away until this moment of desperate need.
With deliberate provocation, Sera flicked his extended palm in a taunting gesture toward the silverback.
The ape, driven beyond reason by pain and fury, took the bait without hesitation. It charged toward Sera with all the force of an avalanche, its massive frame thundering across the forest floor.
In one fluid motion that seemed to transcend the boundaries of physical possibility, Sera drove his fist forward to meet the ape's charge. The impact was unlike anything his companions had ever witnessed—there was no thunderous crash, no explosive sound of collision. Instead, an eerie silence fell over the battlefield as fist met flesh.
The ape stood frozen in confusion, expecting the devastating blow that never seemed to come. Sera's friends felt their hearts sink, fearing that their leader's final gambit had failed completely.
But Sera understood the deeper truth. In a voice that carried the wisdom of ages, he spoke words that seemed to alter the very fabric of reality: "Nothing is stronger than something... emptiness is strength Transcendent Fist Art - Echo Fist Of Silence."
In the instant those words left his lips, the true power of the Transcendent Fist Art revealed itself. Ripples of invisible energy began dancing around the ape's form like ghostly flames. The creature's eyes widened in sudden understanding as blood began seeping from not just its wounded eye, but from every orifice on its head. It coughed violently, crimson droplets staining the forest floor.
The ape's Apex Instinct made one final, desperate attempt to preserve its life, fighting against the inexorable force that was unraveling its very existence. The battle of wills manifested as visible waves of power that rippled through the air itself, warping reality around both combatants as they were pushed to their absolute limits.
Finally, with a sound like reality itself shattering—like breaking glass mixed with the final tolling of a cosmic bell—the ape's enhanced state collapsed entirely. The creature staggered backward, its once-magnificent silver fur now dull and lifeless. Its body convulsed once, twice, and then with a final shuddering breath, the silverback ape collapsed to the earth.
Dead.
Sera's knees buckled as the Ogre Chief's Blessing finally exhausted itself. He collapsed to the ground, completely drained of both mana and spirit power, barely clinging to consciousness. But somehow, impossibly, they had not merely survived—they had triumphed over a creature that should have been far beyond their capabilities.
[Ding!]
[Combat experience gained!]
[1,200 exp gained]
[Current exp: 1,200/4,291]
[Congratulations! Host has learned an art: Transcendent Fist Art ??? - A martial art devised to kill even gods]
[Note: Host cannot use this art unless when utilizing the Ogre Chief's Blessing skill]
As Sera struggled to catch his breath, each inhalation feeling like he was breathing liquid fire, he realized that this battle had fundamentally transformed him. He had discovered not just new applications for his abilities, but had touched something far more profound—a connection to his divine past that transcended his current mortal limitations.
But more importantly than any personal growth, he had protected his friends. Even as his vision blurred and exhaustion threatened to drag him into unconsciousness, Sera smiled with genuine contentment. This was what it truly meant to grow stronger—not just in raw power, but in purpose, in bonds forged through shared adversity, and in the willingness to sacrifice everything for those who mattered most.
The four young ogres helped each other to their feet, battered and bloodied but victorious in the truest sense of the word. They had stared death in the face and emerged not just alive, but fundamentally changed—tempered by the sacred flames of genuine life-or-death combat.
Their childhood adventures had just taken a decidedly more serious turn, and none of them would ever be quite the same again.