The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 964: No Longer Pristine

The speeches were interrupted by the sound of alarm bells being sounded all over the city.

At first, Karl thought that it might be about the people who had dropped dead due to the resurrection spell, but the alarms were continuing, and a secondary tone was introduced after the first few seconds, as if the situation had been upgraded.

The Councillor raised his voice. ”Everyone, remain calm and prepare to defend yourself. The city is currently under attack, both internally and externally.”

That did nothing at all to help calm down the crowds.

There were elderly and children gathered in the square. Both for their daily activities, and for the announcement that had just been made, so the ”stay calm” recommendation was generally ignored.

Instead, everyone was trying to get the vulnerable ones, the children and the lower Ranked, to safe spots, while arranging for defence of those spots, but nobody in the area knew what the threat was yet.

Then a trio of Ogre Lords simply appeared in the middle of the market and began roaring and attacking.

”Fuck.” Tessa breathed as she realized what was happening.

”Monster Spawn inside the city.” Ophelia agreed.

Karl and Dana were already in motion, intending to intercept the attacks of the Ogres towards a group of Dwarven children who were huddled together in panic.

Dana called her Golems to block one Ogre, while it was faster for Karl to move himself than to activate a skill.

The sound of shattering stone told Karl that something was very wrong.

A single strike from the Ogre had shattered both of Danaʼs stone golems, just before Karl slammed into the second ogre with a shoulder tackle, taking it to the ground, but not causing any visible damage.

The Haint Claw equipped itself on both of his hands as Karl began to tear at the shoulder muscles of the downed Ogre, but even his claws were only making shallow cuts with each strike.

The breaking of the curse had triggered a Totem Rank Ogre Spawn.

How long had the curse of pristine appearance been holding off spawns in the area that this much magic had built up to be unleashed the moment that the curse was no longer in effect?

Karl called for the bodyguards to protect the group from the third Ogre, which was currently engaged by a humanoid Thor. Raeʼs Golems had taken over from Danaʼs which were now trying to attack the Ogre from the back.

The Dwarves werenʼt cowards, and a dozen Overlord Ranked warriors had charged the Ogres, screaming battle cries at the sight of their ancient enemies.

The Council had scattered, each taking a district of the city, but they had forgotten one important factor. The central district near the City Lordʼs manor was supposed to be covered by the City Lord.

He was gone, so there was currently no Totem Rank or higher defender for this district, where there would normally be the strongest fighter in the city.

Karl caught the Ogreʼs arms as it reached up to choke him, and the two became locked in a stalemate, while the Dwarven warriors began to hack the oversized monster apart.

Ninety percent damage reduction was a lot. But not enough when you were faced with dozens of Dwarves wielding axes, plus a Karl who was constantly bombarding the Ogreʼs face with [Void Blasts].

The Ogre to Karlʼs left, the one that was facing off against Raeʼs Golems, shrieked in pain, and Karl heard the spider laugh, a raspy whistle, as her natural form had no vocal cords.

[Oh, thatʼs a good idea.] Cara realized, and another mournful howl filled the air, while the Dwarves cheered.

Karl looked up and found that Cara was attached to an Ogreʼs back by her claws, right in the middle of his back where he couldnʼt reach her. That would explain the frustration, and it was a pleasant change from all the things that Karl suspected that the Void Badger might have done to him.

The Dwarves had encircled the Ogres, and they were cutting them down with brutal efficiency, despite the Ogres thick hide and vitality.

Karl could see soft matter through the bone of the Ogreʼs skull, and one final [Void Blast] ended its struggle, as well as eliminating most of its head.

Then the body vanished from underneath him, and Rae transformed to help Karl to his feet.

”Good work, that one is almost intact.” She congratulated him, then transformed back to finish off the one she was working on.

It wasnʼt giving up, and the Golems were being replaced every ten seconds or so, but nobody except Karl and Cara had an appropriate attack skill for dealing with a threat of this level.

Cara got busy making Ogre insides into Ogre outsides after she got through its hide, and Karl switched to his bow to effectively cripple the remaining Ogre without getting in the way of the Golems.

The air cracked as Karl let loose the first supersonic arrow, punching deep into the Ogreʼs chest. The Dwarves turned to stare at him in shock, stunned at the pure physical strength needed to draw a bow that would fire that hard.

Karl frowned, and deactivated [Haste]. The bow was not intended to be supersonic, but the spell effect increased his attack speed, which apparently included arrows.

Karl continued to fire arrows, now at slightly less than the speed of sound, while the Ogre struggled to swat away all the annoying summons that were continually harassing it.

They were never ending. The moment that he killed one, two more appeared.

The Ogre glared at Karl with unfettered hatred in its eyes. This was all the fault of that damnable cat demon. A mighty Ogre should be able to squish all this Dwarven filth. But that demon and his odd allies were here to torture it.

An arrow took the Ogre in the throat, and it collapsed, gurgling with rage and unfulfilled murderous intent.

[Hawk, what group is closest?] Karl asked, knowing that the bird was around somewhere.

[What? Oh, yeah. Just stay there, a pair are coming from the south toward you now.]

Hawk was clearly distracted, but not by the Ogres.

[Where are you now?]

[Sand mice.]

Karl shook his head and turned to the south, where a running battle between a Totem Ranked Dwarf and a heavily armoured Ogre Lord was going on.

The Dwarf was doing his best, but the Ogre was more interested in keeping him at bay while hunting civilians.

Karlʼs first arrow pinged off its helmet, and the Ogre Lord turned to see who had the audacity to fire arrows at it.

Karl waved a greeting, and the Dwarf hacked a deep wound in the monsterʼs already damaged right knee.

It was standard Dwarven tactics against Ogres. Hack them down to size, then fight them when they were easier to reach.

Now that the majority of the public space had been cleared of noncombatants, Thor transformed into his natural state and Tessa vaulted onto his back, prepared for the charge. That got the Ogreʼs full attention. The Behemoth was the first thing in the city that was larger than a Totem Ranked Ogre Lord, as Ophelia was fighting as a Werebear and not in Dire Bear form, which would have risked stepping on someone when the area was still packed with bystanders.

From the east, an Ogre roared in victory, and Lotus whistled, indicating that Karl should follow her.

[Good luck buddy. Ask Sister Cara to buff your horns if you need to stab him harder.] Karl instructed Thor as he turned to face the new threat.

[Weʼve got this.]