Chapter 41
The ground trembled and the treeline shook as the massive slothling ogre broke through. The trees toppled behind it and blocked off the path its huge body had made. Even though Adam had defeated it before, the sight was no less intimidating.
The four-metre-tall ogre pulled itself forward on its two massive arms and basically dragged its small legs along behind it. First time he’d seen it, he’d thought it was like a gorilla with the way it walked, but he now felt that its posture wasn’t actually comparable. The legs were feeble, incapable of holding up its weight properly and so it was forced to rely on its bulky arms to move.
Adam immediately shot the screw-shaped barrier at the ogre’s fuzzy black torso, aiming to avoid its lower body, legs, and arms which were covered in the dense bone-white armour. It had been incredibly difficult to pierce during his last loop, so instead he focused on where he knew he could deal damage.
KHA-KHA-KHA! the beast laughed, its violet eyes transfixing him while its needle-toothed underbite smirked at his obvious discomfort.
As the screw shape spun through the air, Adam backed away from the giant and tried to maintain enough awareness of it to not get himself squashed. He managed to pierce it through the side of its torso with his barrier, and it dug in quite deep. But as it partially left his line of sight, he lost control of the transformation and the shape unfolded violently.
The ogre groaned in pain and Adam switched tactics, turning the barrier into the many-toothed sawblade and sending it at the monster’s neck while spinning.
A deep thrum emanated from the barrier as it spun, but when it struck the ogre’s neck, a crack formed. Then the dented crown triggered fervour and the sawblade glowed red, picking up speed.
Black fur and blood spattered from its neck as he continued to press his barrier into it, but then the ogre reached up and grabbed the disc with its left arm, before smashing it into the ground.
Adam lost sight of the barrier under the ogre’s fist and, since he still relied on visual contact to manipulate it, it returned to its square shape. But the monster was strong enough that it could not fully unfold below the weight of its arm.