Marcus already ran towards the source of the sound. It was due north from his relative position and the nearer he gets, the louder the scream. He doesn't know what he is running into since this is a new world but when someone cries for help, it's only an instinct for a soldier to go and save it.
He panted as he ran over the uneven terrain of the forest and moments later, he could see what was happening.
He behind a tree and peeked through his scope.
100 meters away from him, there are men armed with swords and shields, and they don't look like a knight that he'd expect to see in a medieval fantasy world. Perhaps they are simply armed men protecting themselves. They number around 12. No 11, when one of them got smashed by a huge bludgeoning weapon made out of wood.
He looked at the attacker, and there he saw something out of the ordinary. It was not men but what could be described as a monster.
It stood eight to ten feet tall with a hulky and muscular build and it only wore a tattered loincloth. There are eight of them, and they are easily taking care of the men who were fighting them.
One of them raised its bludgeon and swung it down with force that crushed a man an instant.
The gruesome aftermath caused the others to momentarily lose their will to fight. And there are not only men in the scene, there's also civilians, women, and one of the monsters approached that woman.
"No, get away from me!"
"Leila get out of there!" shouted the man from the back.
But the women couldn't seem to move, possibly out of fear. The monster grabbed her by the arm and ran its tongue on her face.
One of the armed men tried to save her but he swatted away like a fly, whose body flung towards a nearby tree and died in an instant.
They were being massacred. He has to step in and help them. After all, it's the only way for them to be saved.
He looked down on his rifle.
"Would this be enough?' he muttered under his breath. Well, looking back at the scene, it seemed that a sword and an arrow could wound the monster. Then it's enough.
With a decision made in his mind, he rushed and trained his M4 Carbine forward. He aimed for the head of the monster and pulled the trigger.
Three rounds hurtled towards the monster and pierced through its head like it would ordinarily would to a human.
The sudden change in the scene caused the men and civilians on the ground to stop as they witnessed one of the monsters that was about to take Leila, collapsed lifelessly on the ground.
"Where did it come from…"
The answer came in the form of another sharp crack.
They turned towards the source of the sound.
A lone figure broke from the tree line. Wearing a dark uniform, a strange hat, and a strange metal staff braced against his shoulder that spat fire and thunder with every squeeze of his finger.
The nearest monster—mid-swing with its wooden bludgeon—jerked as three rounds punched into its upper torso. Each impact snapped its massive frame back a fraction, thick muscle rippling under torn skin.
It roared in anguish.
Marcus shifted aim.
Two rounds to the throat.
The creature's roar turned into a wet choke. Dark blood sprayed from the wound in a heavy stream.
It still advanced.
Marcus planted his feet.
The red dot climbed to the face.
He pressed the trigger twice.
The first round struck the cheekbone and ricocheted slightly, tearing a groove through bone. The second drove through the eye socket.
The back of the skull erupted outward in a burst of shattered bone and gray matter.
The monster's momentum carried it forward one more step before its legs gave out. It crashed to the ground, shaking loose dirt and splintered wood.
Three more monsters pivoted toward him.
Their small eyes locked onto the source of the noise.
One beat its chest and charged.
Marcus adjusted his stance, left foot forward, knees slightly bent.
He exhaled halfway and squeezed.
The rifle bucked rhythmically and rounds tore into the charging monster's chest.
The creature stumbled but did not fall.
It raised its bludgeon overhead and let out a guttural roar that rattled the trees.
Marcus shifted aim higher.
One shot to the jaw.
Another to the nose.
The final round punched directly through the center of the forehead.
The skull split. The creature's head snapped backward violently, spine arching for a split second before the massive body collapsed like a felled tree.
Two left on his side. He inserted a fresh mag, slapped the bolt release with the heel of his palm and rolled the selector switch down to AUTO.
The two monsters roared and charged together.
They rushed him head-on with their clubs raised.
He pressed the trigger and held.
The M4 roared.
The muzzle climbed and he rode it, dragging the burst from the first creature's abdomen up through its chest and into its face.
Rounds tore through flesh in rapid succession.
Blood misted into the air, bones fragmented.
The monster's torso shredded under sustained fire. Chunks of muscle ripped free. Its collarbone exploded outward.
It stumbled mid-stride, legs tangling beneath its own weight.
Marcus shifted right without releasing the trigger.
The stream of fire walked across to the second charging brute.
The rounds hammered into its ribcage. Impacts punched holes clean through, each one jerking the massive body backward.
It tried to keep moving.
Tried to force momentum through sheer size.
Marcus dragged the burst higher, tightening his grip and forced the barrel down just enough to center on the face.
Rounds tore through its jaw and cheek, and then skull.
The head snapped violently to the side as multiple impacts caved in bone.
The creature collapsed forward, sliding across dirt in a heavy heap only a few meters from him.
Marcus released the trigger and immediately scanned the surroundings for more threat. There were still three of the monsters, but they were not in an immediate threat range.
He showed himself up to the group and saw clearly who he had just saved. They were possibly travelers as there are six carriages and some of them are designed for hauling goods.
Then at the girl, whose voice earlier could be the owner of. And something stands out from her appearance, she's young, about less than a year or two compared to him. The appearance that stood out was the long ears of that of a bunny.
Beastwoman! So multiple species exist in this world huh?
He looked around again and saw the men who were fighting the monsters earlier. They looked tense, possibly from battle, and there's a relieved expression flickering across their faces.
Just as he was about to speak, he noticed the ground shook softly. He turned around and saw one of the monsters approaching. And it's faster than the earlier ones.
The men, armed with swords and shields, rushed to meet it. But it leapt over them and raised its wooden bludgeon. Based on its trajectory, it was descending towards him.
"Shit…"
Marcus grabbed the lady by the arm and jumped to the side, barely clearing the impact zone as the bludgeon came down.
The wooden club smashed into the ground where they had stood a second earlier.
The force split packed earth and sent a spray of dirt and stones into the air. The shockwave hit Marcus in the chest even from the side.
He hit the ground hard, rolling with the beastwoman still in his grip.
The monster didn't pause.
It ripped the bludgeon free in one smooth motion and pivoted instantly, feet digging into the soil as it locked back onto them.
It was fast.
Too fast for something that size.
Marcus shoved the girl away from him.
"Move!" he shouted.
Fear snapped her body back into motion. She scrambled backward on hands and knees, then stumbled to her feet and ran toward the carriages.
Marcus rolled to one knee, and raised his rifle.
He pressed the trigger and the rifle roared.
A stream of rounds tore toward the creature's upper body.
But the monster reacted.
It raised its left arm across its face and chest, its forearm was as thick as a tree trunk. Rounds slammed into and got absorbed.
Marcus adjusted his aim lower, trying to break its legs.
The burst walked down its torso to its thigh, and the rounds punched through muscle, shredding its flesh.
The creature stumbled—but didn't fall.
It closed the final meters in a heartbeat.
The bludgeon came around from the right in a brutal horizontal swing.
Marcus saw it coming.
Too late to fully evade.
He dropped backward and twisted his torso.
The club missed his head by inches.
But the edge caught his vest and shoulder as it passed.
The impact was like being hit by a car.
He felt the IOTV plate take the brunt, the force slamming him sideways across the ground. Air blasted from his lungs as he tumbled.
The rifle almost slipped from his grip.
The monster recovered instantly.
Its injured left arm hung partially shredded, but it ignored the damage. It stepped forward and raised the bludgeon high with its right hand for a downward smash.
Marcus rolled onto his back, boots digging into dirt.
The red dot snapped up toward the creature's exposed ribs beneath the raised arm.
He squeezed the trigger again.
Full-auto.
At point-blank range.
Rounds tore upward from abdomen to chest in a violent line. Each impact punched fist-sized exits through its back.
The creature roared but forced the club downward.
Marcus rolled to the side as the bludgeon slammed into the ground beside him, splintering roots and sending dirt into his face.
He came up low—inside the monster's reach.
The raised left arm, shredded and bleeding, no longer shielded its head.
Marcus jammed the barrel upward under its chin.
He fired.
The burst ripped through the underside of the jaw, through the skull, and out the top of its head in a violent spray.
The creature stiffened.
The bludgeon slipped from its hand.
For one suspended second, its massive body remained upright.
Then its knees buckled.
It collapsed forward.
Marcus rolled clear as the corpse hit the ground with enough force to shake loose leaves from nearby branches.
He lay on his side for half a second, breathing hard.
Then he forced himself up and returned to the group. There's two monsters left, and they seemed to be watching. What are those creatures?
"Mister are you alright?"
Asked the girl he had just saved from earlier. It's so convenient that he could understand her.
"Yes, what are those monsters?" he asked.
"They are ogres mister," the girl replied, her voice was shaky, still recovering herself.
"Ogres huh?" Marcus repeated, so they are ogres. The two remain standing there as if deciding whether to attack or flee. The armed men nearby repositioned themselves in front, ready to meet the ogres.
And the two ogres stepped forward as it decided to confront the group.
"Brace yourselves!" said the man in front, who seemed to be the leader. "An outsider killed six of them already with his explosive magic. We have to give him the time he needs to recover."
"Yes sir!" the men intoned.
"There's no need," Marcus muttered, though no one heard his words. He pulled two grenades from his vest and pulled the pin. He threw each one of it to the ogres who caught it mid-air and stopped.
One turned it over, sniffed it, then bared its teeth in a wide grin. The other barked something in a guttural tone and thumped its chest.
They thought it was a stone.
Or a toy.
Marcus didn't wait.
"Down!" he shouted to the group, dropping flat behind a broken wagon wheel.
The beastwoman flinched and threw herself to the ground instinctively.
The armed men hesitated for half a second.
Then—
The first grenade detonated.
A sharp, concussive blast tore through the clearing.
A sphere of dirt and shrapnel erupted outward from the ogre's hand. The explosion shredded its forearm instantly, bone and muscle blown apart in a spray of blood.
The second grenade followed a fraction of a second later.
The blast engulfed both creatures.
Fragments ripped through thick hide, embedding deep into muscle. One ogre's face vanished in a red mist as the shockwave tore through it at close range.
The other was thrown backward several meters, its massive frame tumbling across the dirt before slamming into a tree trunk hard enough to crack bark.
Silence fell for a heartbeat.
He pushed himself up immediately and aimed his rifle to where the ogre was standing. They collapsed to the ground.