My job list is full of alien girls.

Chapter 76 My Magic, Where Did All My Magic Go?!

"Shoo-One"

The arrow grazed its thick, grayish-green hide, leaving a shallow bloodstain. Far from causing serious injury, it only enraged the monster.

Rod frowned when he saw this.

Iron arrows enchanted with the "Armor Upgrade" skill already possess far greater penetrating power than ordinary arrows, easily piercing the flesh and bones of ordinary monsters. However, when they land on this two-headed ogre, they only manage to pierce the thick outer layer of skin. To inflict damage, one can only try vulnerable areas like the eye sockets.

What's even more troublesome is that Don Quixote is engaged in close combat with his opponent. The two figures are intertwined, and the gap between the axe blade and the sword blade is extremely narrow, making it impossible for him to aim at vital organs such as the eye sockets or throat.

If it weren't for Don Quixote's armor providing protection, even a slight deviation in his arrows could have accidentally injured his teammates. He could only rely on positioning and maneuvering to find opportunities to aim accurately, unable to unleash his full power.

The pig-faced head let out a deafening roar, and its thick arms swung the battle axe down with tremendous force, each blow carrying the power to split mountains and shatter rocks.

"Roar!"

It became more and more excited as it fought, its body swaying left and right with the axe's movements, completely ignoring the rhythm of the other half.

The human-faced head was already gathering a rolling fireball, just about to find the right moment to throw it at Milan behind Don Quixote, but the pig-faced head suddenly twisted its waist and caused its arm to tilt.

boom--

The fireball slipped from his hand and smashed onto the stone platform beside him, shattering the medicine bottle on the ground and spreading the pungent smell of burnt medicine everywhere.

"Idiot! You better behave yourself!" The man-faced head, veins bulging with rage, turned and sprayed dog blood all over the pig-faced man's head. "Can't you see I'm casting a spell?"

Pigface shrank back as he was scolded, his nostrils emitting two puffs of white breath in grievance, but he didn't reduce the force in his hands at all, still slashing fiercely at the greatsword, only the amplitude of his swings was slightly smaller.

"We will not let you take another step!" Don Quixote gritted his teeth, holding his greatsword above his head to block the axe blade. His arms were numb from the impact, and cold sweat seeped from his back beneath his heavy armor.

The opponent's brute strength far exceeded that of ordinary monsters. With each block, the pebbles beneath her feet sank a little deeper, but her feet remained firmly planted in front of Milan, without retreating even half a step.

With Don Quixote holding the line, Milan seized the opportunity to leap back several meters to create distance and prepare to cast his spell.

"As heroes, how can we possibly lose to a mere evil, man-eating monster!"

Before she finished speaking, she suddenly lowered her waist and mounted her horse, channeling all her strength into her arms. The muscles under her heavy armor bulged, and the greatsword, which had been slightly bent under the weight, suddenly straightened.

"drink--!

'

With a roar, the gravel beneath her feet cracked and shattered, yet she managed to push forward a step against the immense force of the battle axe.

The enormous ogre had not expected that such a small body could contain such brute force. Caught off guard, it staggered back three steps, its heavy feet thumping loudly on the ground.

"roar?"

The pig-faced creature was momentarily stunned, shaking its enormous head as if it couldn't comprehend how it had been pushed back.

"waste!"

The human-faced head was initially angry and was about to curse the pig-faced one for being useless when his gaze fell on Don Quixote and suddenly lit up, his turbid eyes emitting an almost fanatical light.

"Excellent! Excellent power!" Its voice trembled with excitement, its short, stubby fingers pointing directly at Don Quixote. "Such a sturdy body, such explosive power—he's the perfect test subject!"

"As expected of an adventurer, you're much better than those useless villagers. You certainly won't die so easily!"

Looking at the experimental materials delivered to his door, he was radiant, and even the anger he felt from being interrupted while casting his spell had subsided considerably. He looked at them as if they were some rare treasure.

"That's wishful thinking."

Milan coldly rebuked, seizing the moment when the ogre was distracted, and suddenly pointed his staff forward. Purple light surged, and a long-brewing fireball roared out, slamming solidly into the ogre's chest and abdomen.

With a loud bang, orange-red flames instantly engulfed most of its body.

Even though its skin was far tougher than that of ordinary monsters, it couldn't withstand being burned by high-temperature flames for a long time. The smell of charred flesh mixed with a stench instantly filled the cave.

"Ouch—!" The pig-faced man's head throbbed with pain, and he let out a shrill howl with his mouth wide open.

The human face contorted in pain, and it was so angry that it couldn't help but curse, but it had to control its body and, together with the other head, resist Don Quixote's attack.

"With your slow casting speed, you dare call yourself a mage? Our apprentices are all faster than you!" Milan seized the opportunity to mock him and distract him.

"You're asking for it! You forced my hand!"

It clumsily patted the flames off its body as it staggered back to the stone platform, its short, rough hands frantically rummaging through the mess of utensils, cursing under its breath.

Its short, stubby hands rummaged through the bottles and jars on the stone platform, crushing the valuable equipment, and finally pulled out a small bag from under a pile of bones. Inside, transparent gems of varying sizes refracted a dazzling iridescent luster in the dim light of the moss.

Milan's expression changed drastically upon seeing this.

As a mage with orthodox lineage from the Arcane Academy, she knew all too well:

Most low-level spells can be activated by using gems on wands instead of simple materials;

Once a mage uses precious gems as spellcasting materials in battle, the resulting spell will undoubtedly be terrifyingly powerful and should not be underestimated.

"Interrupt it! Don't let it unleash its spell!" she cried out to Don Quixote beside her and Rhodes not far away.

Magic power was rapidly gathering at the tip of her staff, as she tried to blast the opponent before they could finish casting their spell.

Upon hearing this, Don Quixote immediately charged forward with her sword, but was forced back by the ogre's backhand axe. In order to withstand this attack, she had no choice but to stand still and resist, protecting Milan behind her.

The axe blade grazed the heavy armor, sending out blinding sparks. The swirling force that struck the greatsword and armor made her sway, losing her balance.

call out-

Almost the instant Milan gave the order, Rode was energized.

The bowstring was taut to its limit, a surge of magic power coursing through its hand. The enchanted iron arrow, glowing with a bluish-gold light, aimed straight at the wrist holding the gem, intending to knock the material away and interrupt the spellcasting.

This time, the arrow finally broke through its defenses.

With a soft "thud," the arrow pierced deep into the ogre's forearm, but it only let out a muffled groan.

"Hmph—" The human-faced head grinned as it finished reciting the last incantation, then clenched its fist tightly.

The diamond in his palm was instantly crushed into dust by the violent magic, and a cloud of gray energy surged through his arm and body, covering every inch of his skin in the blink of an eye.

【Stone Skin Treatment】

The thick, grayish-green skin hardened rapidly, transforming into a rough, dark gray rock texture with stone patterns emerging on its surface. Even the bloody hole from the arrow wound was slowly filled in by that energy.

boom-

Milan's fireball arrived shortly after, bursting forth with orange-red flames and surging heat waves, but only producing a burst of white smoke.

After the thick smoke dissipated, only two shallow charred marks remained on the stone surface, without even a crack on the surface.

"Roar—" The pig-faced head grunted triumphantly, its eyes flashing with cruel light.

"Hmph, your doomsday is coming soon," the human-faced head laughed maniacally.

Click—

As it spoke, it casually pulled out the iron arrows embedded in its body. With a slight exertion of its thick fingers, the shafts of Rhodes' fine iron arrows bent and deformed, and were casually tossed into the pile of rubble.

"Now, let's see what other tricks you have up your sleeves." The man-faced head laughed loudly, while the pig-faced head patted its chest triumphantly, making a thud.

"Why don't you try this one?!"

Milan gritted her teeth, ignoring the waves of emptiness emanating from all parts of her body, and poured most of her remaining magic power into her staff.

call--!

The purple light at the tip of the staff suddenly expanded, and a fireball nearly twice the size of the previous one roared out, carrying a scorching wave of air, and slammed into the ogre's chest.

With a deafening roar, orange-red flames nearly engulfed most of its body, and heat waves swept away debris in all directions.

But after the thick smoke dissipated, the stone skin remained intact, except for a dark charred mark.

"How could this be—" Milan's breath hitched, and her hand holding the staff trembled slightly.

How could a fireball spell with such immense power not even break through the opponent's defensive shell?

Unfortunately, after fighting all the way, her magic power was starting to run out. The purple light on her staff flickered twice and then gradually dimmed.

"Drink!" Don Quixote's situation is even more difficult now.

The ogre, relying on his Stone Skin spell, swung his heavy battle axe with unbridled force, each strike carrying the power to split mountains and shatter rocks.

Boom—

She gritted her teeth and took more than a dozen blows. Her once shiny and smooth heavy armor was now pitted and uneven, with a deep dent in the breastplate and a hideous crack cleaved into the left shoulder armor by the axe blade.

Another heavy axe cleaved the sword's spine, the immense impact causing her helmet to tilt violently to one side, the strap snapping instantly. The helmet clattered to the ground, her slightly curly brown hair soaked with sweat and plastered messily to her forehead.

"We will not be defeated by you!" She staggered back two steps, her heels hitting the cold rock wall, with nowhere left to retreat.

His hands, gripping the greatsword, were split open at the base of his thumbs, blood dripping from between his fingers. His arms trembled violently, yet he still held the sword horizontally in front of him, blocking Milan's path with unwavering resolve.

"Ms. Milan—you retreat—we can still hold on!" She gasped for breath, her voice trembling, but she refused to move an inch.

The battle was completely deadlocked.

The Stone Skin Technique, as solid as a copper wall, acted as an unsolvable barrier, blocking all three of their attacks. If this continued, they would eventually be worn down.

Rhodes squinted as he hid behind a stone pillar, his fingertips tracing the cold arrow shaft, his mind racing through all the combined skills.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened, and he remembered the support skill [Reverse Current Absorption] that Aphrodite had brought him earlier.

This support skill was of little use against low-level monsters along the way, and apart from replenishing a pitiful little bit of magic power, it was almost invisible.

But perhaps this two-headed cannibalistic mage is the best target for absorption?

Without the slightest hesitation, the cyan-gold light at his fingertips quickly receded, leaving only a very thin layer of energy on the arrow tip, just enough to meet the requirements of [Reverse Absorption] without excessively wasting his remaining magic power.

call out-

The bowstring twanged, and several iron arrows shot out in succession, lightly striking the ogre's chest, abdomen, and arms, making a tinkling sound, without even scraping off any fragments of the stone's surface.

"Is that all the strength you've got?" The man-headed figure laughed even more arrogantly, deliberately puffing out his chest to take two arrows, his tone full of disdain. "These weak arrows aren't even worthy of tickling me!"

"Let me crush this little knight's bones first, then I'll slowly deal with you, you hiding rat!"

It laughed loudly, completely ignoring the harmless arrows.

In its view, that sneaky wanderer was useless and only had a showy facade.

The real threats are the heavily armored knight and the foul-mouthed mage in front of us. Once we deal with those two, the remaining rangers will be easy prey.

"roar!"

It swung its battle axe, pressing forward relentlessly, occasionally raising its hand to unleash spells at Don Quixote and Milan.

Milan, not far away, watched the faint, almost invisible blue light on the arrow, and his heart sank to the bottom.

Is even Rhodes's magic power almost exhausted?

A wave of intense self-reproach washed over me.

Ultimately, it was her eagerness after discovering the shared magical power that led her to insist on exploring the source, causing the entire team to stumble into this deadly trap.

I thought it was just an ordinary monster stronghold, but who would have thought that it would hide such a bizarre two-headed ogre that can cast spells and knows alchemy.

If all three of them perish here today, it will all be her fault.

She bit her lower lip, desperately trying to squeeze out a little more magic, but her limp body felt empty, unable to even condense a single flame.

Watching Don Quixote's swaying figure, she gritted her teeth, filled with frustration.

Rhodes, however, remained unusually calm behind the stone pillar.

With each arrow that struck, a barely perceptible wisp of gray energy was drawn from the surface of his stone skin, silently flowing into his body along the fine threads of magic.

The once-dry magic pool is gradually warming up, and my sore arms are regaining their strength.

The trigger frequency of [Reverse Absorption] is higher than expected. This ogre has brute strength, but its control over its own magic power is ridiculously crude. It was completely unaware that most of its magic power had been stolen.

"Huh? Our magic—it's actually been restored?" Alina's surprised voice rang out from her consciousness space.

Rhodes responded, but his eyes remained fixed on the stone-like skin of the two-headed ogre.

"Um?"

It looked at the fireball that was gradually condensing and slowing down, and asked in confusion.

At first, I just thought it was a problem with the flow of magic and didn't think of anything else.

But after a while, the human-faced head saw that Tangjihede was at his last gasp, and grinned as he tried to condense a large fireball to end the battle.

But just as the magic power surging from its fingertips was halfway through, it suddenly stopped abruptly.

His body was completely empty; the magic power that had once been abundant within him had vanished without him noticing. He couldn't even squeeze out a tiny spark, let alone a large fireball.

"What's going on?" Its expression changed drastically, and it tried to activate the magic pool twice more, but the magic pool still did not react.

It hurriedly looked down at its arm and saw that its once rock-hard skin was now covered with fine cracks, and gray stone chips were falling off, revealing the thick gray-green skin underneath.

The Stone Skin Technique should last at least half an hour, but it's already on the verge of collapsing after only a short time!

"My magic, where has all my magic gone?!" the human-faced head roared in shock and anger.

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