"Vorgarag!" Sharog yelled out in alarm as she averted her eyes.
The bright explosion was blinding and hot. Sharog could feel the sweltering heat just as if she was inside of the fire. Thankfully she wasn't… Vorgarag had kept her outside of the blast zone with his earlier words of reasonable concern.
This made Sharog realize that he had intended to blow himself and his enemy apart from the start. Blowing yourself up usually isn't a split-second decision anyways...
Even though she didn't get to know Vorgarag for very long. She was still both shocked and saddened. The humans were a threat beyond anything they could handle! If Vorgarag hadn't taken care of him then she would have been next.
Shel and Durgash already didn't seem to have had a peaceful end. She could only hope both of them were at the least still alive. As long as they were, the potions should be able to bring them back.
The fiery explosion eventually subsided, flames were all that was left on the settlement walls. The fire showed no signs of going away either. It threatened to burn the walls down. Sharog didn't pay attention to this though. She was currently looking at a humanoid figure.
Drake, at the time of the explosion, used up all of his mana to try and reinforce his body. The amount was more than he could handle though resulting in his parts of his body becoming a mangled mess.
He was burnt to a crisp. His steps were slow and arduous. It was a miracle he was still alive.
"I've made it through worse…" He tried to convince himself in his near-death state.
But truthfully, even Clarys wouldn't be able to help at this point. At most, his demise would only be delayed. Burn wounds were one of the most troublesome things to heal.
Sharog got a grip. She had no time to confirm if Vorgarag survived, she now needed to finish the job.
"Cough, Urgh" Drake who was tumbling out of the fire, felt something rise up his throat. His battered body threw up blood and bits. The retching sounds reminded him of his weak state. No longer being capable to endure the pain, he fell just outside the zone of the fire.
His eyes were full of unwillingness. He had nothing to fight for, but he didn't want to die! Not once did he get to do the things he yearned to do!
As a kid, just like anybody else would, he dreamt of forming part of a happy family. But his dreams were inevitably shattered when his young self was struck with the realization that he was poor. He was abandoned by his father and was left alone for his mother to take care of. She couldn't possibly support him!
Inevitably, he ended up getting into lots of trouble. He had fought a lot, more than he would like to admit. This was when he first noticed he had a knack for fighting. His mother… she had a knack for crying…
What was she supposed to do? She was raising a miscreant! But she only ever blamed herself. Knowing this, why did Drake keep fighting?
It was his only form of respite, the only time he felt superior, for once he could feel like a winner.
Eating nothing but scraps and getting into endless scuffles. Eventually, he became a teenager. He made a decision. Since all he could do was fight, he would earn money for doing it. He needed to make it up to his mother.
He sent all of his earnings to her. He did his best to make up for his early years. But… she died. Barely a year had passed but she died! Before he could ever show her he was any competent! Before he could convince her that she hadn't made a mistake! It wasn't her fault!
He turned to alcohol, he turned to women. This was naturally not something a boy his age should do. But he did it anyway. He started to adventure alone. He wanted to border between life and death, he wanted to feel the thrill of battle and forget his troubles.
He began to rise up the ranks forgetting about any worldly matters. The stronger he became, the greater the challenge he needed to face. Why was he, who actively sought death, now feeling unwilling?
"No…" He started to cry. Why was his life so miserable? It seemed he would never know.
Sharog bashed Drake repeatedly on the head with a staff she kept handy. Although she was weak compared to other orcs, she was still stronger than a human. Blood splattered all over her robe but it really didn't matter.
She didn't even look at Drake's mangled and burnt corpse. She only stared disappointedly into the fire. There wasn't a second figure as she had hoped…
Sharog ignored her emotions and chose a logical next step. She needed to know if Shel and Durgash were still alive.
***
Earlier, Ed had just cast a spell towards the injured Samuel.
He had cast earth shot towards Samuel. Who, not so nimbly, dodged. Without his sword and his surely hurting legs, Samuel was at a distinct disadvantage.
Ed then prepared himself to cast more spells. But not before taking care of the sword stuck in his arm. He had no hand handy so there was only one option.
The sword was sent away into his storage space. It took more time than storing other things for some reason but Ed's mind was on other things.
Samuel on the other hand was surprised. He was surprised to see his newly acquired sword disappear. It reminded him of using a storage ring or a similar device. Speaking of…
Samuel's sword appeared in his hand. It was his usual trusty blade. The one that had weathered through thick and thin with him.
"I am going to have to put you out of retirement buddy" He addressed the sword while glaring at the chanting Ed. Maybe this was a way for him to relieve some stress and get peace of mind.
Ed cast a fireball, fireball after fireball rained towards Samuel.
The reason why he didn't use other spells was quite simple. Although the spell was fairly slow, allowing Samuel to dodge them with fair ease even in his injured state, they were still explosive. If Samuel's dodging was any less than perfect than he would still be struck by the aftereffect.
The continuous dodging was also bound to wear him down. Not only that, but other spells had a chance to let Samuel block or deflect them with his sword. The earth shot spell was a prime example.
[??? has leveled up]
'Huh?' Ed was in the midst of casting when he was caught off guard by a message. His system link skill had leveled up! As he was still in the middle of battle, it took him a bit to realize the likely culprit.
'Soul calling skill' How could he forget? This was one of the reasons why no matter the outcome, he wouldn't truly lose. Deaths on either side would ultimately benefit him. Be it the souls of the adventurers or the consciousnesses of the orcs.
Suddenly, Ed felt hot. Not only that, but the sight in front of him also started to look somewhat distorted. Sweat trickled down his forehead. Samuel was soon also affected by the scorching wind.
His already troubled breathing became much more troubled. It was if he was in some sort of sauna, the only difference was that this one made his blood boil and didn't relax him in any way.
Samuel covered his entire body with the element of the wind. He felt much more refreshed now, although still sweating. Ed coursed the cooling water mana through his body for a much better effect.
Soon after, the orcs and adventurers were also hit by the wave of heat. The orcs' large bodies weren't helping them. Regardless, their unyielding spirit and natural battle instincts allowed them to still perform near their max, even if at the cost of their health. The adventurers on the other hand…
Some were facing a gruesome death, while others, mainly the B-class ones. Were now simply expending some more mana.
[Champion has met the conditions to level up, do you want to be recalled? Y/N]
The adventurers were dying, enough so that he could level up again! But now wasn't the time. He needed to quickly deal with Samuel in order to help out Vorgarag and the others. He had let Drake climb up the walls, he couldn't do much without being hindered by Samuel but… He couldn't help but worry.
To make matters worse, as he had gotten rather close to the settlement walls, he couldn't see anything that was going on up there.
The heatwave was then gone with the wind, just as it came. But there wasn't anything wrong with that. No spell could last forever without an infinite supply of mana.
But… something far more distressing happened instead.
The sound of an explosion occurred. Bright orange flames danced atop the settlement walls. The sound wasn't quite deafening but that didn't mean that the strength of the explosion was to be underestimated.
Ed's heart skipped a beat, he had a bad feeling. Samuel was no different. As a matter of fact, he was far more worried.. He had felt apprehensive of the whole trip.