“Noel! Gordy!”
Klaaaang!
They slammed their shields together with a deafening crash, then braced against the orc king’s massive body. In the blink of an eye, the monster sent them both flying backward.
They stopped the charge of a great boar, but they can’t stop an orc king?!
Their efforts altered the orc king’s trajectory, however, and he charged right past me. He kept going, his momentum carrying him right toward a nearby field.
“Graaaaargh!” He quickly turned back, roaring again. He was over three meters tall, bulging with muscles. Seeing him up close made his sheer size even more overwhelming.
“Luke, get back to safety!” Seren shouted as she charged toward the massive monster.
Noel and Gordy, seemingly okay, regained their footing, took up their shields again, and followed Seren. The rest of the hunting team followed suit while the elven warriors readied their bows.
“Be careful, everyone!” I stepped back, retreating to safety while I glanced toward the western sky. Luckily, it was nearing sunset. It wouldn’t be long now...
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The elves loosed a volley of arrows. One after the other, the projectiles cut through the arrow and riddled the orc king’s massive body. Rather than harm him, the ranged attack just seemed to piss him off. His skin and muscles were just that thick.
At that moment, Seren charged in.
The orc king swung his arm, trying to smash her. She narrowly dodged, slipped past him, and fired a spell at point-blank range. An ice arrow jutted out from his right leg, but that didn’t seem to faze him much either.
Watching her engaged in the tense battle made me so nervous I could scream. Can you please be more careful?!
“Cover the rear!” Noel shouted.
“Captain Seren, focus on magical attacks from the rear!” Gordy yelled, rushing forward alongside Noel. They must have been thinking the same thing as I was.
They took the brunt of the orc king’s attacks while the others laid into him with arrows, magic, and other ranged assaults or tried to find openings to use their swords and spears.
The only problem was that the orc king’s brutality was too taxing for the shield bearers to manage for long. They took hit after hit, sometimes getting knocked clean off their feet, but they stood their ground, covered in cuts and bruises.
“Noel, don’t tell me you’re about to fold! You’ve got that fancy Shield Mastery Gift, remember? It’d be pathetic if a dumb brute like me outlasted ya!” Gordy shouted.
“I’m fine! I can still fight! I’ll protect this village and the mayor—no matter what!” Noel yelled back.
I could tell both were way past their limits. I thought about using one of the rare potions the elves had given us to heal them, but we just couldn’t afford to use them.
“Damn it... This isn’t working...” Seren’s face twisted with frustration as she kept casting spells. I knew she could tell how bad the situation was.
A hulking figure suddenly stepped onto the battlefield. “Looks like you folks could use a hand,” he rumbled.
He was easily as big as the orc king we faced.
“Y-You’re—!”
It was Doriel, the former boss of the bandit gang. He held a huge shield like the kind Noel and Gordy used.
“Can’t say I’m a shield expert or anything, but hey—it ain’t like anyone else’s steppin’ up.”
“What are you doing here?” Seren asked.
“Don’t ya remember? I told ya when the time came that you really needed my strength, I’d be there for ya. Pretty sure this qualifies.” Doriel snorted and lifted his shield, charging straight at the orc king with a thunderous roar.
“Gork?!” The massive orc king staggered, thrown off-balance by Doriel’s shield attack.
It was just as I’d expected—only the former boss could take on the orc king.
“Thanks, Saten.”
“Honestly, I wasn’t sure whether he’d actually help...”
I’d used Telepathy to ask Saten to get in touch with him. I’d had my doubts about letting him out of the cell, but at the very least, it meant Noel and Gordy didn’t have to take the brunt of the attacks anymore.
“Argh! Damn it, this overgrown pig’s strong as hell! I’m not gonna last long at this rate!”
Well, maybe even he isn’t a match for an orc king.
Sure, he was built like a tank, but his Gift was Axe Proficiency. He’d never trained with a shield before, so expecting him to perform at Noel and Gordy’s level was asking a lot.
Still, just having three shield bearers made a huge difference in stabilizing the battle.
Rand darted between them, waiting for the opportunity to thrust his spear. Barlatt and Peren struck in hit-and-runs, slashing from behind and retreating. They were starting to deal some solid damage.
Seren and the other Gifted magic-users continued blasting away nonstop, burning through their mana without hesitation.
Even Philia and the elves were still firing arrows like crazy, their fingers bleeding from how many times they’d drawn their bowstrings.
“Blaarghhh!” the orc king roared, stumbling.
All that effort was adding up, little by little. The orc’s body was covered in blood by this point, but his monstrous strength seemed inexhaustible. Even now, one swing of his arm could launch our frontliners, shields and all, into the air.
I watched them fight, holding my breath. “Just a little more, guys... We’re almost there...”
And then it happened.