Guide to tamming vilanesses

Chapter 204: Third stage

The ogre’s fists descended one final time.

BOOM!

The punch struck Mora squarely in the stomach, compressing her entire body as the force exploded outward. For the first time since the battle had begun, she coughed up blood.

The monster’s crimson aura erupted. Its already enormous frame swelled even further. Muscles expanded until they looked ready to burst through its skin, while crimson veins spread across its entire body like burning cracks.

Jagged horns grew a little longer, and its eyes lost every trace of reason, becoming two blazing spheres of scarlet hatred.

The pressure pouring from its body became overwhelming. Without another thought, the ogre seized Mora by one leg and swung her overhead.

Then it threw her. She became nothing more than a blur before crashing through dozens of ancient trees, disappearing deep into the forest with a thunderous explosion.

"Mora!" Shin shouted instinctively.

"Roar!" The ogre’s gaze fell on Shin with a predatory intention.

The man didn’t have an instant to react. In the blink of an eye, the monster lunged toward him, its massive foot shattering the ground.

Even with all his experience, he could barely follow the monster’s movement. One instant, it stood far away. The next, it was already upon him.

"Medea!" Octavia cried.

The exhausted mage forced herself upright, refusing to let Shin face the monster alone. Scarlet magic circles ignited around her.

"Crimson Firestorm!"

A raging torrent of flames surged across the battlefield, swallowing the charging ogre in a sea of blazing crimson.

For a heartbeat, the inferno concealed everything. Then a monstrous silhouette burst through the flames.

The fire couldn’t even slow it down. The ogre tore through the magical storm with sheer brute force, its burning body emerging almost unharmed as the remaining flames scattered behind it.

Medea’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"Impossible..." The last of her mana vanished.

Her grimoire slipped from her trembling hands as she collapsed onto both knees, breathing heavily.

"I... can’t..."

You could add a brief action beat like this:

The ogre answered only with a deafening roar.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The sound shook the battlefield. Its third stage had elevated it beyond anything they had prepared for.

It was simply too powerful.

Before Shin could even raise his sword, the ogre’s massive backhand crashed into him. The impact sounded like thunder, hurling him across the battlefield.

He smashed through several trees before finally skidding to a stop, coughing up blood as every bone in his body screamed in pain.

Somehow, he still forced himself back to his feet, gripping his sword with trembling hands.

But in an instant, the ogre was in front of him again.

He was so powerful that Shin stood no chance against the vile creature. Yet, at that very instant, Martena finally opened her eyes.

Her chest was no longer heaving; in fact, it looked smaller than usual. Her eyes shone with a peculiar light, and in a heartbeat, she locked onto Shin.

Before anyone could react, the succubus moved. She became a blur, accelerating with all her might to save her king. Just as the ogre brought its club down for another strike, Martena appeared, snatching Shin away and pulling him into her embrace.

"Please, consume me," Materna said, a magical circle forming as she pushed Shin against her tits.

By instinct, the man began drinking on that delicious source of life, and all his wounds disappeared almost instantaneously. His exhaustion vanished, and his muscles throbbed, an immense power cruising through his body.

Slowly, the man got up again, his mana exploding; he felt so much energy coursing through his body, he was not even sure how to use it.

"This is all I could do," Materna said with a tired tone. "Now, conquer the world, my loved king."

"Leave it to me," Shin commented, smiling softly.

His grip on the obsidian sword became tighter as he poured his mana on the blade. It was not the time to be cautious, so he used everything he had.

"Roar!" The ogre assumed a fight stance, apparently feeling his enemy was now a real threat.

Then Shin lunged forward like a bullet.

The ground exploded beneath his feet as he crossed the distance in an instant. His obsidian blade met the ogre’s massive club with a deafening crash, the collision sending a shockwave through the forest that uprooted nearby trees.

Neither yielded.

The ogre swung again, every blow carrying enough force to flatten a house. Shin narrowly slipped past the strikes, his enhanced body moving at its absolute limit.

His sword left black arcs through the air, carving deep wounds across the monster’s chest and shoulders, but the beast answered every cut with another earth-shaking attack.

Steel and flesh collided relentlessly.

Shin ducked beneath a horizontal swing and drove his blade into the ogre’s ribs. The creature roared, seized him by the arm, and hurled him through a boulder.

Before the dust had settled, Shin burst back out, blood running down his face, and slashed across the ogre’s torso.

The battle became brutal, as both of them attacked with everything they had. Shin couldn’t keep fighting like that for long, but the ogre also couldn’t keep his transformation for long.

"I only need... one more opening..." Shin murmured to himself, pushing himself more and more.

Finally, the ogre raised its club overhead for a finishing blow. Shin gathered every remaining drop of mana into his sword. The obsidian blade shone with a dark radiance as he dashed forward.

Their final attacks landed at the same instant.

The club smashed into Shin’s side, smashing him against the ground, his whole body aching in extreme pain.

At the same time, Shin’s blade sliced cleanly through the ogre’s shoulder. Its entire left arm spun through the air before crashing onto the scorched earth.

The giant staggered backward, then dropped to one knee, panting heavily. Blood poured from the severed shoulder, yet the hatred burning in its crimson eyes had not faded.

"It’s... still standing..." Shin muttered, exhausted.

His legs finally gave out. His sword slipped from his fingers as darkness crept into the edges of his vision.

"So... this is my limit..."

The ogre forced itself upright, gathering the last of its strength for one final attack; however, its movements were slow, and it could barely move.

Then a razor-thin flash cut through the air. The ogre froze for a second, and its head slowly slid from its shoulders before crashing to the ground with a heavy thud. The enormous body remained standing for a heartbeat before collapsing like a mountain.

A familiar voice giggled.

"We won," Yasmin shimmered into existence beside the corpse, casually twirling her bloodstained dagger before smiling triumphantly.

At the same moment, Octavia rushed forward. She caught Shin just before he hit the ground, gently supporting his exhausted body.