[Deathseeker Ogre, Rank 2]

The notification flickered across Azel's vision, and he felt a grim smile tug at his lips.

'Deathseeker Ogre, huh?'

It was really the same as the game. The Boss was a mutated orc that had evolved far beyond its natural state, its body twisted and enhanced through dark rituals until it became something else entirely.

It possessed four arms, each one having achieved complete mastery of a different weapon.

And the most dangerous weapon among them was the axe.

In the game, the monster had been relatively easy to beat once you understood the mechanics.

You simply had to challenge it to an honorable duel and pick your poison… choose which weapon you wanted to face, and the Deathseeker Ogre would fight you with only that single arm.

Azel had replayed that encounter on several occasions during his completionist runs, testing himself against each weapon to get a full understanding of the Boss's capabilities.

He was very comfortable with the sword variant, which was actually the second hardest.

The hardest was the axe… Always the axe.

The monster's four weapons moved in a coordinated blur, each one slashing through the cannonball simultaneously and reducing it to scattered fragments that rained harmlessly across the ashen field.

The precision was terrifying and the collective sound of the elves gulping behind him was almost comical.

'How does the Elf King expect us to beat something like this…?' Feliora thought desperately, biting her lips hard enough to draw blood.

This whole monster would probably kill them all in an instant if it decided to attack seriously.

She had already tried placing a subtle Lunar Illusion on it the moment they had teleported, hoping to at least confuse its perception or slow its reactions.

But just like with Azel, her illusion shattered completely the moment it touched the creature's aura.

The Deathseeker Ogre's eyes… four glowing red orbs set asymmetrically across its malformed skull scanned the group of exhausted elves with obvious hunger.

Before it could take a single step forward, Azel stepped out from the group.

The Bone Sword materialized in his hand.

"Give us some space…" Azel said calmly, not even looking back at the elves.

And they did exactly that.

The elves scrambled backward, creating a wide clearing that left Azel standing alone before the towering Boss.

The contrast was stark… a single human facing down a four-armed monstrosity nearly twice his height.

Azel turned fully toward the monster and smiled.

"I would like an honorable duel where we clash our blades," he announced clearly, his voice carrying across the field.

The whole reason he had used the cannon wasn't to destroy the monster or even attempt to kill it.

To wear down its hands, even if only slightly.

The Deathseeker Ogre looked toward him with something approaching curiosity in its bestial eyes.

Then, slowly, deliberately, it extended all four of its arms in different directions like a grotesque compass.

Its meaning was clear.

'Choose your weapon, human.'

Each arm displayed its mastery…

The massive curved axe dripped with dark energy, its edge sharp enough to split through the strongest of monsters.

The elegant longsword gleamed with unnatural flames, it was perfectly balanced and giving off killing intent.

The brutal spiked club radiated raw destructive power, each spike covered in dried blood from countless victims.

The jagged bone spear stretched impossibly long, its tip coated in venom that hissed as it dripped onto the ground.

'I may be acting like an anime protagonist with this next option…' Azel thought as he lifted his sword with both hands and settled into a proper combat stance.

His feet planted firmly and his crimson eyes locked onto the Boss with absolute focus.

"Use all that you can…" Azel said quietly. "You won't be able to beat me."

The Deathseeker Ogre looked genuinely confused, as if Azel had just spoken complete gibberish.

It glanced down at all four of its arms, then back at the human. Azel nodded once more, confirming his intention.

For a long moment, the Boss simply stared then something shifted in its expression.

Respect or perhaps anticipation.

It had been so long since anything had dared to challenge it at full strength.

Azel poured aura into his eyes immediately, releasing his first aura point and letting the blue energy converge around his body like a living flame.

His vision sharpened instantly and time seemed to slow as his perception accelerated.

Then he activated one of the spells from the Grimoire of Light, channeling holy energy directly into his legs.

[Divine Step]

The muscles in his legs burned with divine power and every fiber enhanced beyond human limitation.

The very next instant, the monster shot toward him.

The speed was incredible… one moment it was standing thirty meters away, the next it was directly above him with its axe descending like the judgment of death itself.

Azel moved.

He didn't dodge backward or to the side like a normal fighter would but instead he moved forward, directly into the monster's guard.

The axe crashed into the ground where he had been standing milliseconds before, creating a crater that spread outward in a spiderweb of cracks. The shockwave alone would have pulverized a normal person.

Azel spun mid-movement, his sword flashing toward the monster's exposed ribs.

But the Deathseeker Ogre defended instantly with its massive spiked club, the impact sending sparks flying as blade met brutal metal.

The force of the block sent vibrations up Azel's arms, but he was already moving.

He dropped low, impossibly low, practically sliding across the ground as he passed beneath the monster's towering frame.

His leg shot upward.

Holy energy exploded from his foot as he landed a devastating kick directly to the Deathseeker Ogre's chest.

The impact sent the four-armed Boss flying backward off the ground, its massive body airborne for a brief, impossible moment but it recovered instantly.

While still in mid-air, the Deathseeker Ogre buried both its bone spear and spiked club into the ground with terrifying precision, using them as anchors to halt its momentum and pull itself back into a fighting stance.

It landed in a crouch with all four weapons raised defensively.

'This will be a lot harder than I expected,' Azel thought, breathing steadily as he held his sword with both hands then he began overloading the blade with aura.

Golden energy poured into the Bone Sword until it burned like a miniature sun with flames of pure power licking along its edges.

'Its defenses are truly top-notch…'

In the game, there were no weaker arms among the four. Each weapon was equally dangerous in terms of raw power.

However, the mastery wasn't the same. The monster was most comfortable using the axe… it was practically an extension of its body, moving with perfect fluidity and devastating precision.

It was less comfortable with the sword, though still terrifyingly skilled.

Less comfortable still with the spiked club.

And least comfortable with the bone spear, which it primarily used for reach and defensive maneuvers.

'I'll pour my efforts into destroying the spear hand,' Azel decided, exhaling slowly. 'Slash it clean off and reduce its options.'

He shot forward in a blur of light.

The Deathseeker Ogre did the same, closing the distance with earthshaking steps.

They collided.

Sword met sword in a shower of sparks and released aura, the shockwave throwing up clouds of ash that spread outward like a miniature explosion.

But Azel was already moving.

He used the dispersed aura around him to create a small platform of solidified energy beneath his feet, then jumped on it mid-combat, launching himself upward.

The sudden change in elevation gave him an immediate advantage… he was now at eye level with the Deathseeker Ogre's head, perfectly positioned for a killing blow.

His sword flashed downward.

But the monster parried with its bone spear, the long weapon perfectly suited for defensive maneuvers at awkward angles.

The spear kept Azel suspended in the air, pressing against his blade with overwhelming strength as the Deathseeker Ogre prepared its counterattack.

Its axe swung toward him in a horizontal slash designed to cleave him completely in half.

The blade passed through cleanly.

But it only cut through an afterimage. The Azel it thought it had struck was nothing more than a simple afterimage created by his impossible speed and the holy energy still lingering in the air from his earlier movements.

The real Azel was already behind it.

His sword carved through the spear-wielding arm with surgical precision, holy energy burning through muscle and bone as the limb separated from the Deathseeker Ogre's body.

The severed arm hit the ground with a heavy thud, the bone spear clattering beside it.

Azel landed smoothly, standing directly behind the now three-armed Boss.

"Using all those weapons must drain you, right?" Azel said calmly, his blade still glowing with residual aura.

He smiled that same confident smile.

"Allow me to enlighten you."

The Deathseeker Ogre roared in pain and fury, its remaining three weapons turning toward him with renewed killing intent.

…

The Elf King was currently seated in an ornate chamber deep within the castle, its tri-tone eyes fixed on a massive crystalline screen that displayed the ongoing trial in perfect detail.

In that room, arranged in a semicircle around the viewing crystal, were several head advsors from the other major clans.

Their expressions ranged from concerned to contemplative when they watched their heirs struggle.

While they weren't particularly impressed with their own children's performances, they were far more impressed with the human on the screen before them.

The one who had somehow taken complete control of the situation.

"My King…"

One representative from the Seatra household spoke up carefully.

"Are they aware that this is merely a place created by you?"

The others immediately glared at him with obvious irritation.

The projection of the Elf King's mind was currently controlling the DeathSeeker Ogre, fighting the human directly.

It needed to focus completely on the battle, and this fool was interrupting with pointless questions.

The Elf King, however, didn't seem bothered.

'What a very interesting human…' it thought while controlling the ogre to attack with a coordinated flurry of sword and spiked club strikes.

The attacks came from multiple angles simultaneously, designed to overwhelm even the most skilled opponents through sheer versatility but Azel simply cut through them in an instant.

His blade moved with impossible precision, deflecting both weapons with minimal effort.

Then, with a casual flick of his own sword, a concentrated blast of green aura shot outward toward the DeathSeeker Ogre like a crescent moon made of cutting light.

The Elf King could immediately feel that this strike was extraordinarily powerful, far beyond what a normal human should be capable of producing.

It raised the ogre's spiked club defensively, pouring mana into the weapon to reinforce it.

The aura slash collided with the club.

For a moment, it seemed the defense would hold.

But then the slash broke down into smaller fragments, each one still carrying lethal cutting power.

While the ogre managed to deflect most of the secondary strikes with desperate weapon work, one smaller slash slipped through its guard completely.

It carved through the entire arm holding the spiked club and the limb fell to the ground with a heavy thud, letting blood pool beneath it.

Two arms down.

'I feel so entertained,' the Elf King thought, its lips curving into something resembling a smile.

This feeling was… unusual. It had been centuries since anything had genuinely entertained it.

'Not only can the human use mana, but aura as well. And his control over both is remarkable for someone so young.'

The battle was essentially decided now, but the Elf King wanted to see more.

It controlled the ogre to release a desperate burst of raw mana, pushing its remaining strength to the absolute limit.

Finally, the Elf King turned slightly toward a maid standing silently in the corner of the chamber.

"Prepare my personal study table…" it said quietly, never taking its eyes off the screen. "And put another chair at it."

The maid's eyes widened in shock.

"Yes, my King!" she exclaimed, bowing deeply before running off to fulfill the unprecedented command.

The clan advisors exchanged surprised glances but said nothing.

…

Azel sighed as he watched the DeathSeeker Ogre release a massive burst of magic in a desperate final attempt.

The creature was truly experienced in using weapons and its technique looked to be refined through countless battles but Azel wanted to finish this immediately.

He had proven his point.

His eyes flickered toward the watching elves, and he caught Alvinar staring at him with wide, disbelieving eyes.

That made Azel's lips twitch upward into a wicked grin.

"Hehe…"

He shifted his stance, settling into the precise form required for the First Style of his Sword Arts.

As he placed both hands on his sword's hilt, preparing the technique, the entire world suddenly turned white.

Color drained from everything and time itself seemed to freeze.

Alvinar's eyes widened even further in shock and recognition.

'It can't be…' he thought desperately.

As a Star Element user, Alvinar could still move during this technique, albeit extremely slowly, as if he were pushing through thick syrup.

He recognized this application instantly.

"Star… Strike."

Azel's voice echoed strangely in the frozen world and then he moved.

So far, for a while now, his Sword Styles had been immensely nerfed in actual combat.

Like that time when he faced Skinbutcher and Star Strike had practically bounced off its meaty body without leaving a scratch.

Or when he tried to use it against Arya during their duel and couldn't remember much of what happened afterward.

He desperately hoped that the DeathSeeker Ogre didn't have some kind of secret defensive technique that would deflect his strongest attack.

Immediately, Azel blurred through the air.

His sword glowed with concentrated starlight, the blade seeming to cut through reality itself as he carved completely through the monster's body in a single devastating slash.

He flashed behind it in an instant, his movement so fast it left afterimages scattered through the frozen space.

Slowly, color began returning to the world.

Time resumed its normal flow.

Azel's sword vanished back into his storage as he stretched casually, rolling his shoulders like he had just finished a light warm-up exercise.

'Good…' he thought with satisfaction.

Though honestly, the DeathSeeker Ogre really didn't feel like a proper Rank Two opponent.

Unlike the last Rank Two he had witnessed… the one that had taken his father a whole special skill activation and an expenditure of divinity just to cut through its defenses.

This one had been far too weak by comparison.

'Or am I too strong now?' Azel wondered idly. 'I wonder.'

Behind him, the DeathSeeker Ogre remained standing for several more seconds then a single line of light appeared across its torso.

The monster split perfectly in half, both pieces falling in opposite directions as its remaining weapons clattered uselessly to the ground.

The Elf King's voice echoed across the trial grounds once more.

"Congratulations for clearing the Trial of Unity."

There was genuine approval in that monotone voice.

"Though your final battle didn't actually use unity… you all came together and cleared it regardless."

A pause.

"As for the human…"

Azel felt the Elf King's attention focus directly on him.

"When you awaken, you will meet one of my maids and be brought to me immediately. We need to see each other."

And with that cryptic statement, a sudden spell rippled through the air like waves on an invisible ocean.

They all vanished in a flash of brilliant white light.

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