Green Monster Epic

As Flower Snake charged into the valley, he was fully prepared for battle. However, when a club even bigger than him came crashing down from the sky, he was nearly startled out of his wits.

Relying on his agility, Flower Snake dodged the blow. Before he could identify the attacker, the club swung around again, sweeping horizontally towards him. The narrow terrain of the valley meant that the giant club blocked most of Flower Snake's space. Biting his teeth, Flower Snake bent his legs slightly and exerted force, leaping towards the direction of the sweeping club. However, he knew that his jumping speed was far slower than the club's swing. He held his sword-dagger horizontally in front of his chest, ready to borrow and deflect the force.

"Thud!"

The sword-dagger was grazed by the club, emitting a dull sound. Flower Snake, who had prepared for the impact, felt as if his arms were struck by a heavy hammer. Already in mid-air, he was now directly blasted away.

Fortunately, Flower Snake had calculated the angle beforehand. The direction he was knocked in was precisely the valley entrance he had come from. This sweep actually helped him, sending him flying towards the valley. During the brief moments of flying through the air, Flower Snake wasn't idle. He focused on the end of the giant club, finally spotting the owner—an ogre crouching beside a gray-white boulder at the valley's edge. Its similarly gray-white skin, combined with its size, had prevented Flower Snake from noticing it in time, mistaking it for one of the valley's boulders.

"This is a powerful ogre, even stronger than Allen. I might not be able to beat it!!"

With just a simple contact, Flower Snake made his judgment. Then, taking advantage of his airborne position, he scanned around and discovered another ogre in the other direction.

Flower Snake might be able to handle one ogre, but with two, and if their strengths were similar, defeating them on his own would be nearly impossible. His tribesmen were waiting for him outside the valley. If they rashly entered, Flower Snake couldn't imagine what would happen.

Without hesitation, Flower Snake rolled several times on the ground to dissipate the force. Scrambling to his feet, he fled towards the valley entrance without looking back.

"Enemies!!!"

"Run!!!"

Before even reaching his tribesmen, Flower Snake began waving his left hand, loudly issuing a warning to the five team members.

The five team members were somewhat surprised. Their leader had only been in the valley for a few minutes, so why was he coming out so disheveled? However, they soon understood why. A rhythmic "thump! thump! thump!" sound faintly echoed from the ground. Looking at Flower Snake, the gnolls suddenly noticed two tall, ferocious-looking ogres dragging a giant club, chasing after Flower Snake.

Without needing Flower Snake to say anything, the five tribesmen turned and sprinted in the direction they had come from, not even thinking about greeting Flower Snake.

Thus, two towering ogres chased six relatively short gnolls across the plain.

While fleeing, Flower Snake quickly realized a major problem. He was now controlling his speed to match his tribesmen, but the ogres' movements didn't seem clumsy despite their large size. At least in a straight run, the gnolls were gradually being overtaken.

If this continued, the gnoll hunting team would soon be caught by the two ogres. Flower Snake didn't need to think too hard to guess what would happen next.

"No, this can't continue. I have to find a way to lure the two ogres away."

Flower Snake steeled his resolve and made a decision. He began to slow down and break away from the group, issuing commands as he ran.

"You guys run back to the tribe and warn the chief. I'll help you hold them off."

"Okay!!"

The tribesmen were naturally delighted. They had been anxious all along, the sound of pursuit gradually closing in. With Flower Snake only able to run, the opponents' strength was definitely beyond what they, level 6 warriors, could handle.

Flower Snake's decision wasn't entirely altruistic. If he wasn't 70-80% confident that he could deal with the two ogres and shake off their pursuit, he wouldn't have stepped forward. However, after his previous solo journey and fighting a raging lion alone, Flower Snake's mindset had changed somewhat. At least when facing a strong enemy, he didn't immediately think of running away, but rather whether he could engage them, how long he could hold out, or how to defeat them.

Of course, there was another change: with the birth of his own child, he didn't want his child to live a wandering life, struggling to find the next meal. The Green Field Tribe was doing well. The tribesmen could eat their fill by working hard, and he had the strength to earn more food and snacks for his partner and children.

If he could help the tribesmen escape danger without endangering his own safety, Flower Snake would also have an easier time explaining to Allen. Given his current strength and position, even if he did nothing and abandoned these tribesmen, Allen probably wouldn't do anything to him. However, the other tribesmen might feel some distance, and it might bring some inconvenience to the children's upbringing.

After realizing this, Flower Snake drew a short javelin from his back, turned around, and threw it at the leading ogre. Perhaps the ogre was too large, or perhaps Flower Snake's accuracy had improved, but the javelin passed through the gap in the ogre's raised club, grazing its left ribs and leaving a bloody mark.

"Damn greenskin, I'll tear you apart!!"

The ogre, who had been silently chasing Flower Snake, suddenly roared, startling Flower Snake.

After being injured, the ogre slammed its club on the ground and continued to chase Flower Snake.

Seeing that he had lured one ogre, Flower Snake didn't hesitate and immediately ran in the opposite direction from his tribesmen, separating from them. The other ogre hesitated for a moment, looked at the two separated groups, and finally followed the first ogre's footsteps, chasing after Flower Snake, which relieved Flower Snake's anxiety.

Flower Snake's greatest fear was that he would lure one ogre away, but the other ogre would continue to chase his tribesmen. In that case, it would take too much effort, or even be impossible, to lure the other ogre over.