Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

In the meantime, the orc closed the distance between us and swung his axe.

"Roaaaar!"

"Damn it..."

Kwaaang!

"Ugh!"

With the orc's roar, the axe came crashing down. Derek quickly used the shield he had obtained earlier to block it, but the impact was strong enough to make him fall to his knees.

"Derek!?" Rachel shouted.

"Never mind me, just attack! Black Missile!" Justin shouted, finishing off the sixth hobgoblin.

Ethan was already slashing at the orc with his sword, but the orc snorted and raised his arm.

Slash

"Crazy!"

The muscles were so tough that the sword couldn't cut through the arm. The orc, irritated, swung the arm with the sword half-embedded in it towards Ethan.

Thud

"Ugh!"

"Damn it...!"

Ethan was thrown backward from the impact of the orc's punch, and Rachel quickly swung her mace, but the orc blocked it with his shoulder. The mace made a dull sound as it struck, but the orc only grimaced slightly—he felt the pain, but nothing seemed to be broken.

"Humans! Annoying!"

"This is insane!" Rachel gasped, seeing the orc still standing unfazed.

The orc tried to lift his axe to attack Rachel, but as soon as the weight of the axe shifted, Derek lunged forward.

"Did you forget about me, you bastard!"

Bang

"Graaaah!"

This time, the orc let out a cry of pain from Derek's mace strike. Although the orc had underestimated him, Derek's physical strength was the greatest among the group, and the orc had learned this the hard way.

However, even after the strike, the orc only staggered but did not fall.

"You stubborn creature! Just die already!"

"No! You die...!"

"Double-enhanced Black Missile."

Before the orc could lift his weapon and attack, Justin had finally finished dealing with the hobgoblins. He quickly double-enhanced his Black Missile and aimed at the orc's head.

"Black Missile!"

Boom

"Ugh..."

The orc, with a hole pierced right in the center of his forehead, fell lifeless to the ground. Seeing the small hole in the fallen orc's head, Justin sighed.

"That's all it did, even after all that."

Against hobgoblins or gnolls, the Black Missile would blow away half of the head. However, against the orc, even with the double enhancement, it only left a small hole. In terms of durability, it was on par with the field boss gnoll warrior.

"If I hadn't enhanced it, it would've taken two or three shots to take it down."

As Justin clicked his tongue and turned away, Rachel and Nathan looked at him, shocked.

"Why is this monster so strong? Is it a field boss?" Rachel asked.

"No, it's just a regular monster, like the gnolls," Justin replied.

"This is a regular monster!?"

"To be precise, it's a monster that's suitable for hunting at level 30."

In other words, it was a formidable opponent for their current level in the early twenties. Derek and Ethan knew this well, which was why they were so tense.

Finally, after catching their breath, the two of them slumped to the ground.

"Damn, what an awful combo—mixing in all those weaklings with a single orc," Derek said.

"We were lucky to clear out the hobgoblins quickly. If the orc had thrown his axe while we were still dealing with them, it would've been fatal," Ethan added.

The hobgoblins were weak, but that didn't mean their attacks could be ignored completely. If they were allowed to attack, injuries and pain were inevitable. Their attacks also distracted the defenders, weakening their defenses.

Mixing in an orc, who could kill with a single mistake, in such a situation was truly a nasty combination, just as Derek had said.

"From now on, I'll ignore experience distribution and kill the orc first if there's any risk. Someone could easily die."

Fortunately, this time there were few enough hobgoblins to handle, and it provided a chance to train the warriors against the orc. However, risking injuries or worse for the sake of combat experience or experience points would be counterproductive. In critical moments, it was better to just take out the orc without hesitation.

"Can everyone move?" Justin asked.

"I'm fine. I was just a bit shocked, but I'm not hurt," Rachel replied.

"I'm fine too. But let's rest for a bit," Ethan added.

It wasn't their bodies that were the problem; they were mentally exhausted after facing such a strong opponent. Justin nodded, and they all sat down to rest.

After about 15 minutes of rest, they resumed moving. Fortunately, there were no more attacks after the confrontation with the orc and hobgoblins. It was as if that first encounter had been a test to remind them to stay alert. Whatever the reason, it was a relief after the intense battle.

They continued walking until they reached a point where they stopped.

"The material of the ground here is completely different," Justin noted.

"Definitely a trap," Nathan agreed.

All eyes turned to Nathan, who stepped forward as if it was his time to shine. Activating [Trap Detection], Nathan examined the area and frowned.

"If we move forward, the ceiling will collapse."

"The ceiling?" Justin asked.

"Look above."

They looked up, and sure enough, there was a distinctly square stone block in the ceiling, ready to fall as soon as they stepped on the trap. Seeing the deadly trap, they all gulped nervously.

"Why is the difficulty so high? Are they trying to kill us all?" Derek complained.

"They wouldn't make it this obvious if they intended to kill us outright. Is there a way to disable it?" Justin asked.

"It's simple, but..." Nathan hesitated before replying.

"Once triggered, it won't activate again until it resets back up. So we just need to make it fall once."

"We don't need a sacrifice, right?" Justin asked.

"No, it seems any weight will do, even a dead body."

"Should we go back and get a hobgoblin's body?" Rachel suggested.

"No need for that," Justin stepped forward, smiling.

"We have a perfect offering right here, why bother dragging a body?"

"A perfect offering?"

As everyone blinked in confusion, Justin grinned and shouted.

"Summon Imp!"