raknovel Chapter 75 Two-Headed Ogre? Mage?!
Chapter 75 Two-Headed Ogre? Mage?!
Chapter 75 Two-Headed Ogre? Mage?!
"call----"
The sound came in waves, making the three of them afraid to make any rash moves.
Rhodes stepped forward first, listening carefully to the sounds inside. When he sensed that the sound was gradually fading away, he gestured to the others.
"They don't seem to be here yet."
Milan breathed a sigh of relief, then comforted her, "It's just a monster, no need to be so nervous."
She's a mage, after all. What monster can't she handle with a few fireballs?
"Um—" Don Quixote suddenly spoke, "I—it seems I can suddenly see my surroundings clearly."
Upon hearing her words, the three people present were taken aback, especially Milan, whose vision was limited. She then realized that she no longer needed to use her illumination spell to see her companion's face.
"These mosses—" Milan looked at the soft, shimmering vegetation with curiosity, "They seem to be glowing?"
"Hmm," Rod responded, glancing at Milan beside him, and said softly, "Don't you feel like I've seen these pale green fluorescent lights somewhere before?"
Where have I seen this before?
Hearing Rod's words and seeing the familiar light before her, Milan was stunned, instantly recalling the discovery of the goblin's lair.
She took a stalactite from her bosom, which was in a crystal bottle. Although it was much dimmer, a faint green light could still be seen if you looked closely.
Milan held the crystal bottle between her fingertips and brought it close to the rock wall. The stalactite fragments inside the bottle were shimmering with a pale green light that matched the moss, as if they were echoing each other.
A sudden realization flashed in her eyes, and she immediately closed them to sense the energy. She quickly discovered that the two powers shared the same origin, as well as a stronger energy nearby, which immediately excited her.
"It's here, with the same power as back then—"
She looked at Rod excitedly, only to see him squat down and tap around with his dagger, find a soft spot, dig out a patch of moss and soil, and put it into an empty bottle he carried with him.
"The energy in here is too weak—" Milan said subconsciously upon seeing this scene. After thinking for a moment, she followed Rod's example, took out an empty bottle, borrowed a dagger, carefully dug out a piece of moss with soil, and put it in.
She usually handles high-value materials delivered by specialists from the Arcane Society, and is used to directly using purified magic crystals. She doesn't have much experience in personally going out to collect samples.
Given that there were already stalactite fragments, this kind of moss with its thin energy was not of much value to her, and she subconsciously ignored the idea of taking a sample.
After carefully putting away the sample, Milan pointed towards the depths of the cave, her voice low: "The strongest energy reaction is just ahead. Shall we go in and take a look?"
Rhodes nodded, and the three of them tiptoed toward the brighter light.
"Wait."
He hadn't taken two steps when he suddenly stopped as if he remembered something. He turned back to Don Quixote, took out a clean piece of coarse linen from his inner lining, and looked down at Lily on her shoulder.
"Um?
The latter had just opened his eyes wide in alarm, and before he could react, he grabbed his chin with his hand, swiftly stuffed the cloth into his mouth, and tied it into a tight knot behind his head.
"Waaah—!" Lily, whose mouth had been gagged, kicked her legs in anger, her wolf eyes wide open.
It had been planning to make some noise to disrupt things and make it easier to escape, but now that opportunity was completely gone.
"If you want it to shut up, just ask me to cast a silencing spell, why make it so complicated?" Milan raised an eyebrow, her staff glowing slightly.
Don Quixote, standing nearby, flinched, fearing that Milan might silence him if she was in a bad mood.
"Conserve your mana," Rhodes said seriously, withdrawing his hand.
Milan was taken aback, then pursed his lips and withdrew his hand.
What Hiro said makes sense. She doesn't have much magic left, so she shouldn't waste it on such a trivial matter.
The three walked along the mine tunnel, and the space gradually opened up. The pungent smell of medicine mixed with the smell of blood hit them. After turning a corner, the view suddenly opened up before them.
This place was originally a natural cave, which has been transformed into a simple yet well-organized alchemy workshop.
Scattered around were rusty crucibles, cracked glass stills, and rows of dusty medicine bottles, some empty and others filled with blackened, viscous liquid.
The ground was piled with layers of bones, some human and some monster, interspersed with rotting limbs and flesh scraps, just like the corpses on the stone platform outside. They were clearly all discarded products from failed experiments.
In front of the stone platform in the center of the cave, there stood an exceptionally large and bloated figure, its thick, gray-green skin stained with blood and dirt, and the muscles on its arms bulging like weathered rocks.
Besides its frightening size, what's most chilling is that it has two heads, one on the left and one on the right, growing on its thick neck, and they look completely different.
The one on the left has a prominent long tusk, an arched snout that flips up, and it spews out white steam with a fishy smell. It also has a ring of prey skulls hanging around its neck as decorations.
The one on the right, however, had a rough human face, with cloudy and crooked eyebrows and eyes, and dark red scabs on the corner of its mouth. It was muttering something incessantly.
"What is that?" Don Quixote couldn't help but swallow hard. "A monster with two heads?"
She recalled the various terrifying and evil monsters that heroes encountered on their journeys in adventure stories—
"Looks like a gigantic version of a goblin?" Rhode pondered, stroking his chin. "Could it be a mutated one?"
He had been on the outskirts of the Misty Forest for so long and had never seen such a monster.
"It should be an ogre," Milan paused, glanced at the goblin corpses inside, and recalled a monster class she had taken a long time ago, "They would live with goblins and lead them to hunt outside."
"Ogres?!" Don Quixote's eyes widened instinctively. "Do they hunt humans?"
"Um—I remember they eat humans, dwarves, elves, and half-elves?" Milan thought for a moment, "And when there isn't enough food, they even use their own goblins as food reserves?"
Upon hearing this, Alina in the consciousness space flinched.
"Shh." Rhodes put a finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet.
"Roar—"
'
The pig-faced head on the left suddenly shook its head violently, exhaling two streams of white, fishy-smelling breath from its nostrils, and letting out a muffled growl.
Its fangs gleamed coldly in the surrounding fluorescent light, clearly annoyed by its partner's nagging, its face full of impatience.
"Stop howling!"
The human-faced head seemed to have heard something and immediately exploded. Its rough, hoarse voice rose several decibels, and its short, thick hand slapped the pig-faced man's cheek: "Isn't it all because of those useless goblin under your command! You couldn't even catch a few villagers who went into the mountains to chop wood. The ones you sent in were either old or weak. What good could they possibly make?"
It grew angrier and angrier, grabbing a battle axe beside it and hacking open a pile of crookedly stitched-together remains on the stone platform: "Look at these failures! They can't even stand upright when sewn together, they won't live more than three days! It's all a waste of my time and energy!"
"At this rate, when will we be able to piece together someone like us?"
"snort----"
The pig-faced head was knocked to the side, and it could only grunt in its throat. A string of obscure animal language leaked out from between its fangs, as if it was complaining aggrievedly, or as if it was clumsily agreeing.
"You still have the nerve to ask for food, you pig-brain!" the human-faced head roared in exasperation. "If you had even half my intelligence, my experiments would be progressing much faster!"
Hearing the two incoherent shouts, the group looked at each other in bewilderment.
No one expected that this two-headed ogre not only had a human head, but could also speak fluent Common Tongue and curse. What's even more outrageous is that the two heads were clearly two independent consciousnesses.
It was already unusual enough that Lily, the half-human, half-wolf they had encountered before, could speak. Now, even the ogres have mastered human language and are tinkering with alchemical modifications. The situation behind this is far more complex than they had anticipated.
Lily, who was being carried on Don Quixote's shoulders, also had a rather strange expression when she heard these words.
So, he was created by an ogre?
Thinking of this, it felt a wave of nausea.
"Milan," Rod lowered his voice, turning his head to look at the mage beside him, "is fluent in languages, listen to what it's saying."
Milan nodded, lightly tapping the tip of her staff with her fingertip. A faint purple light silently spread out, gently enveloping the three of them.
The next second, the gurgling animal language turned into a mumbled murmur, clearly reaching the ears of the three: "But—humans sewn together with goblins taste terrible—"
Its large, fan-like ears drooped, and its nose twitched, full of displeasure: "I want to eat fresh—soft, human flesh, the kind that oozes hot blood when you bite into it—that little girl you caught last time was pretty good, but I didn't even get a taste before you sewed her into a wolf's body—"
"You're still scolding me—it was clearly you who insisted on sewing the flesh back and forth—"
"7
It grew more and more aggrieved as it spoke, its fangs glistening with saliva. "When I catch a new one, I'm going to gnaw on its two legs first—you're not allowed to take them again—"
"All you ever do is eat!" The human-faced head was furious and slapped the pig-faced head again, making its head tilt to one side.
"Still fresh off the press? Those adventurers in Misty City, why don't you go out and catch them yourself!"
"Didn't you stay in the cave all day and never go out? —" the pig-faced man muttered.
"How dare you contradict me!" The human-faced head turned slightly and roared at it, spitting all over its face.
The two heads were arguing fiercely, spittle flying everywhere. The human-faced head got angrier and angrier, and just as he raised his hand to slap the pig-faced head again, he suddenly stopped.
Its rough nostrils twitched violently twice, and its murky eyes abruptly turned towards the stone pillar where Rhodes and the other two were hiding. Its voice instantly rose, roaring with fury: "Who's hiding there?! Get the hell out here!"
Before it finished speaking, it suddenly raised its short, thick hand, and a ball of scorching orange-red fireball materialized in its palm. With a whistling sound, it slammed into the stone pillar where the three were hiding!
"Scatter!" Rod shouted, grabbing Milan's arm and slamming her to the side. Don Quixote, carrying Lily, reacted a beat too slow and could only roll to the other side, clutching his head.
The deafening roar shook the cavern, blasting away most of the thick stone pillars. Debris mixed with sparks rained down upon them. Smoke and dust instantly filled the air, forcing the three to split in two, their hiding place completely exposed to the ogre.
Milan leaned against the rock wall to her feet, her mage robes stained with dust, and her bangs disheveled. She stared intently at the two-headed ogre before the stone platform, her eyes wide with disbelief: "Fireball? How can an ogre cast spells?"
She quickly shouted to Rhodes and Don Quixote on the other side, "Be careful! This monster is most likely a cannibalistic sorcerer!"
"fart!"
No sooner had these words been spoken than the man's head bristled.
It grabbed the gleaming double-edged battle axe from the stone platform, slammed it heavily on the ground, causing the rubble to tremble. Its hoarse voice echoed throughout the cave: "I am a mage!"
"The great alchemist!"
It held its neck stiff, its rough human face contorted with anger and displeasure. "You weak adventurers who only know a few tricks, what do you know about magic!"
Upon hearing this, Milan wore an absurd and incredulous expression, which was quite fascinating.
A two-headed ogre? A mage?!
If you're a mage, then what am I?
She twitched her lips twice, slammed her staff on the ground, scanned it up and down, and sneered: "A mere demon dares to call itself a mage."
"You dare look down on me?!" The human-faced head was so angry that its features twisted into a grimace, its rough skin turning a deep purplish-red. Its short, thick fingers pointed fiercely at Milan, orange-red flames rising from their tips once more. "Today I'll tear you apart alive and sew you into a goblin's body as an experiment, so you can see what a mage really is!"
The pig-faced creature next to them suddenly became excited, sniffing the fresh scent on them, drool dripping from its tusks, and gurgling as it looked at their faces, "Meat—fresh meat—three—it smells so good, I want to eat it—"
Before the words were even finished, its massive, bulky body suddenly moved.
The seemingly heavy body stepped on the gravel ground, each step causing the ground to tremble slightly, yet the speed was by no means slow.
It carried a heavy double-edged battle axe in one hand and a blazing fireball in the other, charging straight toward Milan, drawing massive amounts of hatred.
"Don't even think about getting close to Lady Milan!" Don Quixote immediately tossed Lily off his shoulder to the side and gripped his greatsword tightly as he charged forward.
The heavy sword was held horizontally in front of him, and it collided solidly with the battle axe that was cleaving down.
clang--!
The deafening clang of metal against metal was so loud it hurt one's eardrums. Don Quixote's feet slid deep into the gravel, leaving two deep marks. His arms, beneath his heavy armor, felt numb, and blood trickled from the base of his thumb.
The ogre's brute strength was even more terrifying than she had anticipated, far surpassing that of ordinary monsters.
"Watch out!" she shouted through gritted teeth, holding the axe blade firmly and refusing to retreat even half a step.
Rhodes had already nocked an arrow and drawn the bowstring to its fullest extent. The first arrow was aimed at the cloudy eyes of the man's face.
The iron arrow whistled through the air, aiming precisely at its target. However, the ogre reacted extremely quickly, jerking its pig-faced head sharply. The arrow grazed its shoulder, leaving only a shallow bloodstain on its thick skin.