The ogres' gazes all focused on Gavin, who had suddenly fallen to the ground.

After a brief moment of silence, the ogres erupted in a cacophony of noise.

Gavin braced himself for an attack, but despite the ogres' loud roars and howls, they didn't strike. Instead, they seemed to be egging him on, as if he was some sort of entertainment.

Confused, Gavin looked around.

Then, the ogre behind him grabbed Gavin by the scruff of his neck, pulled him to his feet, and pushed him toward the center of the room.

The other ogres pushed Gavin from behind, relentlessly forcing him towards a single ogre waiting in the middle of the room.

Gavin was thrown into the center of the room where two ogres had previously been brawling, but one had retreated to join the ranks surrounding them.

The ogre remaining in the center stood in a fighting stance, beckoning Gavin forward with "Come on! Come on!" Was he challenging Gavin to a fight?

Gavin didn't understand what the ogre was saying, but the surrounding ogres were making a lot of noise, as if cheering him on.

With a deep breath, Gavin drew his sword. The ogre, despite being unarmed, didn't seem to mind. He continued to beckon Gavin forward with a "come and get me" gesture.

The ogre's aura was overwhelming, so much so that Gavin felt his knees buckle. He fought to maintain his composure, and finally, he charged, swinging his sword.

But the ogre easily caught Gavin's blade in his palm. There wasn't a single scratch on his hand. Gavin gasped in surprise. Then, a punch flew toward him.

Gavin instinctively raised his arm to block, but he wasn't sure where the punch landed. He was sent flying backward, crashing into the ring of ogres that surrounded him and tumbling to the floor.

However, instead of attacking him, one of the ogres extended a hand toward Gavin.

No, it was not a gesture of kindness, but a forceful attempt to pull him up and get him back into the fight.

Dragged to his feet, Gavin staggered, his strength nearly depleted by the single blow.

Ryu, who had been watching the bizarre spectacle with his mouth hanging open, finally snapped out of his shock. He teleported between Gavin and the ogre.

"Are you okay?!" Ryu shouted, facing the ogre in the center while checking on Gavin behind him.

The surrounding ogres were barking even louder. Were they telling Ryu to get out of the way?

Just then, Gavin kicked Ryu in the back, pushing him into the center of the ring and then turned and ran.

Gavin didn't know where to go, but he spotted a staircase at the far end of the room and ran towards it with all his might.

As he reached the stairs, he saw Sari descending cautiously, exploring the area. It meant there was an exit. Gavin ran up the stairs, shoving Sari out of his way.

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Gavin's unexpected kick had brought Ryu close to the ogre. Taking advantage of the opening, the ogre swung a punch.

Ryu raised his hand to block the blow.

However, for someone of Ryu's smaller stature (and lighter weight), a powerful blow from the side could send him flying. Even with his strength, there was a limit to how much he could withstand while standing.

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When pushing or pulling while standing, the force you can exert is proportional to your weight. The most obvious example is tug-of-war.

Imagine two teams of six people playing tug-of-war. One team has six people pulling the rope, while the other has only three. But the team with three people has each member carrying an extra person on their back.

If they played tug-of-war under these conditions, the team with six people would lose. The team with the three people, whose combined weight was double, would win.

When two people with their bodies locked together compete in a test of strength, it's a pure battle of muscle. But when "standing", a lighter person, even if very strong, can't transfer their strength effectively.

In a standing position, weight is more important than muscle power. That's why boxers who weigh more are "overwhelmingly" stronger.

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Ryu was about 170 cm tall, while the ogre stood at almost 2.5 meters tall. Ryu didn't look like he could withstand an ogre's punch at all...

But Ryu easily blocked the ogre's punch.

He didn't even flinch. Instead, the ogre was forced backward by the recoil of his own punch.

The truth was, at the moment he blocked the ogre's punch, Ryu had increased his own weight. It was a variation of his space-time magic: gravity control.

Ryu, using knowledge from his past life, knew the advantages of having more weight. He had been practicing this ability in anticipation of needing it.

When dealing with weapons or punches, there are situations where you have to block an attack. Blocking an attack head-on is a bad move in combat, but it can't always be avoided. The larger the opponent, the greater the chance of being thrown off balance due to the weight difference. Rieu had been planning for such situations.

Against an opponent several times his size, Ryu momentarily increased his weight tenfold, effortlessly blocking the attack.

For a bipedal human, temporarily increasing your weight can be a surprisingly useful technique. However, be careful when using it on weak surfaces, as it could cause the floor to collapse. (A clear imprint of Ryu's foot had been left on the ground, but the dungeon's walls were very strong and didn't crumble.)

The ogres around them roared at the sight of Ryu unfazed by their powerful punch.

(As a result, the ogres' attention shifted to Ryu, giving Gavin a chance to escape.)

The ogre who had delivered the punch was stunned for a moment by the rigid, weighty feel of Ryu's palm. But he quickly launched another punch.

For Ryu, whose focus was heightened, the ogre's punch was slow motion. Dodging it was a piece of cake.

Ryu pushed the path of the punch aside with his hand, using the minimum amount of force necessary, and countered with a punch of his own. Since their height difference made it impossible for him to reach the ogre's face, he aimed for the solar plexus.

The ogre, struck by Ryu's powerful blow, crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

The ogres around them erupted in a louder roar.

Ryu, expecting the ogres to attack en masse, was on high alert. But that didn't happen.

Instead of attacking, the other ogres dragged the fallen ogre away to the side, and another stepped forward to take his place, assuming a fighting stance. Was this a one-on-one fight style?

Ryu could have used his space-time magic to instantly kill all the ogres in the room. However, he found the ogres' insistence on one-on-one duels somewhat amusing, and decided to play along.

One by one, he knocked out each ogre that stepped forward.

The challengers continued to come.

If Ryu had punched with full force against a human, they would have been instantly killed. But ogres were tough. Earlier, Gavin's sword hadn't been able to cut through the ogre's skin. The ogres were so tough that cheap swords couldn't penetrate their skin.

Ogres were naturally tough, but they also reinforced their bodies with magic. In this world, everyone used magic to some extent, whether consciously or unconsciously, to strengthen their muscles or enhance their defenses. It was only natural that high-ranking monsters like ogres were so tough.

For Ryu, having so many humanoid opponents he could punch with full force was a rare opportunity. He saw it as a perfect chance to practice his punching technique, and he unleashed punches from all angles.

As he kept punching, Ryu gradually began to understand the technique.

At first, he had punched with his fists clenched tight. This was because he had heard in his past life on Earth that people with strong grip strength also had strong punches. But as he continued, he realized that it was better to relax his hand.

The power of a punch comes from the speed and weight of the fist. The faster the fist, the more powerful the punch. But if you tense up trying to hit hard, your movements become stiff, slowing down your speed. A relaxed fist and wrist allow for greater speed.

It wasn't just about the fist. Tensing muscles makes the joints stiff, which naturally limits their range of motion. Fewer movable joints mean fewer muscles working, leading to decreased agility. Relaxing, releasing unnecessary tension, and moving joints freely allows for the exertion of greater force. Rieu remembered his Earthly physical education teacher explaining this as a basic principle in all sports.

Ryu kept his fist relaxed as it sped toward the target, only clenching it at the moment of impact. He tensed all the muscles in his body, turning it into "one mass" to transfer his weight to his fist.

Then, at the moment of impact, he increased his weight tenfold with his gravity magic, achieving a punch power far exceeding that of a heavyweight boxer.

Initially, his punches were purely brute force. He was strong and his acceleration magic activated automatically, making his movements incredibly fast. But Ryu's punches were still those of an amateur. As he refined his technique, the power grew.

Just like his sword skills had sharpened after he learned swordsmanship from Reynard, even though he was strong enough to swing a sword wildly, Ryu's punches continued to improve.

With each ogre he knocked down, his punches became sharper. Finally, his fists moved faster than the speed of sound, a sharp crack echoing with each strike.

Ryu recalled hearing that supersonic speeds generate immense shockwaves. But a fist the size of his, reaching supersonic speeds for a brief moment, was not powerful enough to cause a devastating shockwave. It merely created a sound.

However, that didn't mean his punches weren't powerful. A fist traveling at supersonic speed, combined with his tenfold increased weight, was like a cannonball. Each "crack" sent an ogre flying.

Eventually, Ryu had knocked out every ogre.

In the end, he had defeated over a hundred ogres.

Ogre bodies were valuable material. But the remarkably tough ogres, though unconscious, were mostly still alive.

Ryu could have killed them all and taken their bodies as material. But...

They had followed the rules to the end, never attacking him all at once or resorting to underhanded tactics.

Ryu, out of respect, decided to leave them be.

Looking back, it seemed like the ogres hadn't actually been trying to kill Gavin either. Perhaps it was a trap where he would be severely injured but not killed.

This could be a very lucrative hunting ground for someone capable of defeating ogres...

Even if they were killed, the souls of monsters who died within the dungeon would eventually respawn.

Would they continue their fight club forever in this room, waiting for their prey?

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Meanwhile, Gavin, who escaped...

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