A part of Orion knew this battle couldn’t end any other way than with their complete victory. No matter how powerful this orc shaman might be, it would never withstand a single serious blow from Seothyn, who had to be watching them from somewhere nearby.

  He knew that, but he was also aware that just a small mistake, a brief moment of hesitation or distraction, could lead to tragedy.

  Since it appeared to be in no rush to attack again, he examined the shaman.

  [Gaturarh - Lv. 102] [Soul Whisperer - C-rank]

  The only thing that made him think he might have a chance was that the orc was the same rank as him, even though it was two tiers above him. It happened sometimes, with both monsters and people, but it became increasingly rare to see at higher levels.

  This Gaturarh must have been a runt of some kind, but clearly, that hadn’t stopped it from working hard and reaching a level of power that no other orc in its tribe could match.

  The second thing Orion noticed was that Gaturarh had a class. He wasn’t an expert on monsters and had only fought relatively weak ones, so he couldn’t tell whether it was a unique phenomenon caused by his higher intellect or something every beast experienced after reaching tier three. However, the fact remained that he had never seen a monster with a class until now.

  That is probably a bad thing.

  The orc seemed content to leer at them for now, but Orion could see its eyes assess the [Light Shield], examining its strength and composition.

  “We need to make enough noise to let everyone know we found it,” Ophelia said from behind him, watching the monster warily, even as particles of gold began gathering around her hands.

  “We can’t,” he replied with a bitter twist of his mouth. [Verification Principle] made that much clear to see. Before they noticed Gaturarh’s approach, it had already set up a sound-dampening spell around them, preventing noise from escaping the encampment. “It’s muffled the area.”

  It wasn’t even a particularly good piece of magic, more like a blunt object, but it was powered by enough mana to make it impossible for them to overcome, especially if they were busy fighting the damn orc at the same time.

  Ophelia grunted in acknowledgment and went back to summoning her golden gloves. He didn’t know what she planned to do with them against a monster that didn’t even need to get within a hundred feet to kill, but it was better than giving in to despair.

  A few more seconds passed, and Orion realized Gaturarh wouldn’t make the first move. Whether out of pure sadism or because it was testing them, it didn’t really matter, especially since he knew no help would come unless things got really dicey.

  Paradoxically, in this case, fighting is the option that will reduce danger. Stalling for too long might cause it to lose interest, and I don’t want to find out what that means.

  Snapping his fingers and flooding the CC with mana, Orion didn’t hesitate any longer to cast. “[Penetrate], [Infinite Laser].”

  The concentrated beam of pure light that materialized could not be avoided. No matter how superior the orc was, it couldn’t match c.

  It could, however, tank the blow. A grunt of pain was all he got for his efforts before he had to cut off the mana to avoid exhaustion.

  Gaturarh slowly tilted its head down and looked at the spot where the laser had struck, noticing a patch of reddened skin that had clearly been exposed to high temperatures and stress, with a hole at its center. Yet, less than an inch of flesh had been cut through, despite it being Orion’s most reliable weapon.

  With the same lack of urgency, it looked back up, its eyes meeting his, and its tusked maw spread into a mocking grin.

  Wisps of red energy escaped its skin, converged on the wound, and covered it; a moment later, they dissipated, revealing a patch of unblemished flesh.

  The entire exchange probably took only a few seconds, but Orion could already see Gaturarh’s preferred hunting method.

  As a lower-ranked creature, it had undoubtedly endured a great deal while living in the wilds. Advancing to the third tier must have required immense effort, especially considering the tough environment in which it lived.

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  Now that it was stronger than almost anything around it, it would no doubt turn that same pain it had been forced to endure against its enemies.

  In essence, Gaturarh was a sadistic monster who delighted in breaking its prey piece by piece, proving its dominance at every turn.

  I can use that. I’m not confident in controlling my most powerful spell, but if I can get it to lower its guard, I might be able to steer it in a way that doesn’t cause too much damage to our surroundings or to us.

  Ophelia had different ideas, and she yelled in frustration at the silent mockery, punching the air toward the orc.

  A wave of gold rippled through the air, and this time, Gaturarh reacted before it could reach it. Again, red smoke left its skin and coalesced into a strange sigil.

  The moment Ophelia’s spell touched it, a burst of energy spread in all directions, knocking down several mud huts and forcing Orion to devote more mana to his shield to keep it from failing.

  Gaturarh was clearly surprised by the outcome, as it staggered back with a shout, staring down at the dark, molten mass of metal where the two magics had exploded.

  A new gleam appeared in its eyes as it realized they wouldn’t be helpless prey, and it began slowly stalking toward them, skirting around the smoking lump and advancing, while more red mist started escaping from its skin. It opened its mouth, revealing sharp, dark teeth behind the tusks. “You… are… dead…”

  Orion’s mouth hung open. He had not expected the orc to speak, not after every other one of its kind had failed to do more than bellow and grunt, but clearly, Gaturarh was in a league of its own.

  Then, the meaning of its words filtered in, and he prepared for a tough fight. He was still layering dozens, then hundreds, and finally thousands of lines of calculations into the CC, trying his best to turn the greatest energetic event in the universe into a safe and controlled spell, and the further he went, the more he realized he might never be able to minimize it that much without stripping it of everything that made a gamma ray burst a gamma ray burst.

  Meanwhile, Ophelia wasn’t about to go down without a fight and slammed her now golden hands together before thrusting them toward the ground, which buckled and started bubbling, rapidly transforming into something else.

  Gaturarh didn’t seem willing to give them more time, however, because it stomped its right foot, causing the red mist around it to explode outward, and Ophelia cried out as her spell was blocked.

  Pressure started to mount on the outside of the [Light Shield], gradually turning into a vice grip that Orion knew would eventually crush his magic too.

  And that wasn’t to say anything about the horrifying images that started floating around them. With each passing second, faces became more identifiable, until Orion could make out all the details of the tormented humans Gaturarh had somehow trapped within its red mist.

  Well, that explains the why of “Soul Whisperer”.

  Whether that was truly a soul he was seeing—something he was uncomfortably unable to refuse, given his own transmigration—or simply a replica of a human, it didn’t matter. He doubted anything good would happen if he let the mist touch him.

  [Light Shield] began to erode at the edges, unable to maintain its coherence without his full attention, and Orion was still using his full processing power to guide the CC in crafting the best [Gamma Ray] it could, even if it was increasingly clear he would never achieve a fully satisfactory result.

  Ophelia, on the other hand, had recovered from the backlash she received when her magic was disrupted and had seemingly decided to go for a more direct attack.

  Gold particles started gathering between her hands until they formed into a lump, which then lengthened and smoothed out until a dagger took shape.

  She bit her lips so hard that blood came out, and a thin rivulet of it dripped onto the weapon, which shimmered with a dark glow and started vibrating, producing a dangerous hum.

  “Let’s see how you like this,” she grunted as she thrust her hands forward, and the dagger shot out, passing through the shield without issue.

  They’d never find out what it would have done to Gaturarh, as a human face appeared in its path and took the blow for the shaman, breaking apart into red mist again, while the dagger fell to the ground, spent.

  The gap in power between Ophelia and Gaturarh was simply too great, no matter that their rank was the same. The orc could overpower them at any time and in any situation.

  Just as the shield protecting them from possible eternal imprisonment finally started to fall apart, Orion decided his preparations would have to suffice and finally gave the CC the order to activate the calculations.

  The Mana Field buckled, and space warped strangely around them, drawing tortured groans from the trapped souls, while Gaturarh shouted in anger and surprise.

  Ophelia screamed, clutching her eyes and ears, trying to make herself as small as possible, while Orion fought off a rising bile as his body glowed from the inside out, as more mana than he could safely channel flowed through him.

  Unlike his initial desperate attempt at casting [Gamma Ray], he had included enough safety measures to prevent burning himself out, but the experience was still extremely unpleasant, and he knew without a doubt that the true power of the spell was still beyond him, regardless of what he produced this time.

  Then, the sun winked out, and all light concentrated before him. Between his hands, for just a fraction of a second, more energy than should have existed in such a small space gathered.

  Gaturarh clearly realized something was terribly wrong and shouted something, waving its clawed hands and causing the red mist to bellow angrily.

  Orion didn’t care. All his attention was on the force of nature he held in his hands, along with the realization that even his best efforts might not be enough to fully protect them.

  I just have to hope the others are far enough away and that it won’t swallow us because once this thing goes off, there is no stopping it.

  Then, the moment passed, the pressure became too intense, and Orion was forced to let go or risk cooking himself from the inside out.

  Light, then silence, and finally, the crack of a terrible explosion followed.

  By the time Orion regained consciousness, the ambient light had returned to normal levels. He propped himself up on his elbows, groaning in pain and confusion at how he had ended up on the ground, before the sight in front of him snapped him back to full awareness.

  A narrow band the size of a man had been carved into the thicket, starting from his position and extending outward for several hundred feet until the spell had begun to fade, hitting only the trees before finally disappearing into the horizon.

  Gaturarh had been hit. Orion vaguely remembered the orc trying to defend himself, probably attempting to disrupt his spell just like it had done to Ophelia. However, [Gamma Ray] existed in an entirely different realm and couldn’t be blocked by a barely sapient creature with more power than understanding.

  It had been hit, yet even that wasn't enough to kill it, as the spell vaporized an arm and a leg but left the rest intact.

  That should have been a death sentence for them. Orion was simply too exhausted, and Ophelia too weakened to face it, but he knew they were safe.

  His mother had arrived, and her arm was elbow-deep in the shaman’s chest until she pulled back, revealing a purple, beating heart in her grasp.