What did it mean to become a warrior for the sacred tribe? Hugolm, a young orc, had just found out what it meant. The moment he took up his armor and weapons he was destined to take the life of another.
That was alright, it never bothered Hugolm.
"Aaargh!" The pained scream of the youngster who they surrounded on the wall didn't make him rethink his choice either. It didn't bother him.
Because in death one gets to meet the grace of God, to kill the orc that was nothing more than a child meant to prevent him from committing sins from a younger age. What was wrong with such a thing? Nothing!
So even as he saw the young orc's bloodied body fall off the ledge with unyielding eyes, his only thought was to locate the next heretic. To kill more, make more sacrifices for their god!
That feeling was euphoric! Hugolm couldn't get enough of it, he was lusting for more blood!
"Hugolm, you are in charge of captives, stay back" A burly voice and a rough hand shoved on Hugolm's back. It was their captain for this venture, Gorlag.
Those words however doused his enthusiasm.
"...OK" Hugolm replied with a hint of reluctance. It was nice to have a considerate captain but… he didn't want to be in charge of captives!
Still, he knew it was an important thing. Sacrificing those captives would get them food just as sacrificing those of their tribe would. Safeguarding the captives meant safeguarding more of their members' lives.
Hugolm knew all too well that it was an important role. His brother had once been chosen to be sacrificed. To engage in this crusade also meant to prevent more of his tribesmen from going through the same experience.
Although they would be sent to god and be in its care, a death, a loss, of friends and family was never something to be happy about. One could at most force a smile.
Thus, Hugolm who was initially against leaving the battlefield now perked up. He was more than happy to tend to and take back the captives.
Gorlag hadn't paid him any mind though, he was preoccupied with assessing the new heretic army and the barrage of wind that darted towards their location.
"Orcs! Get ready to spill more blood!" Gorlag yelled as he raised his heavy stone sword into the air. He then swung down the large blade to block the blades of wind that were aiming for his person.
The other orcs beside him did the same although not all of them were as lucky or skilled. Their armor ensured that the attack wasn't life-threatening but they had indeed suffered injuries.
Gorlag noted down the names of those failures inwardly. He would have to double their training. Suddenly, Gorlag looked down the settlement wall and noticed an oddity.
"He still lives?" He was obviously referring to Dakgu. The childish orc must have pulled off some sort of desperate move to save himself.
Gorlag found that intriguing but he didn't care about it anymore. He instead roared fiercely towards the empty sky.
"Kill them!" The orcs beside him had their morale instantly boosted by his ferocity. The thundering command reached the ones down on the ground who immediately put that plan into action. They ran out of the settlement to enthusiastically engage with the new heretics. Seeing the sight, Gorlag started going down the settlement's wall himself.
Sharog got to witness the whole situation from her position. That included Dakgu's weird trick of attempting to slow down his speed by using his lightning steps on the wall. In a way, he had been really lucky. If he was pushed instead of forced to slip off then he would have splattered on the ground.
"Get ready to hold your ground!" Sharog screamed at her allied orcs. She did not suggest confronting the enemy directly since they might need to retreat. The plan was to assist the thunder cry tribe but they had been nearly annihilated. Dakgu who was one of the survivors didn't show any signs of getting up from the location he fell, Sharog was also not willing to go over to retrieve them.
They weren't capable of holding out for as long as the thunder cry tribe had. They didn't have any sort of fortifications or traps to make use of, they weren't inside of a settlement after all.
While she had considered all of these factors, the much simpler orcs hadn't. Sharog's words therefore didn't enact the same effect as Gorlag's.
If anything they were rather disheartening. Was she implying they couldn't eliminate the enemy? They, who were so valiant and fierce? The enemy had been in a fight for hours too!
Sanctuary's orcs roared loudly as they were ready to intercept the sacred tribe's armored goons. They would clinch victory and prove their strength! They even had a number advantage of more than 20 orcs.
They all started charging forward following their vicious roars. Even those of Sharog's bloodshed tribe had charged forward perhaps getting caught in the bloodthirsty atmosphere.
That was not in line with Sharog's intention but there was nothing she could do about it. Her leadership had not really been acknowledged.
By taking command of the settlement she showed that she was able to think and also able to make use of resources. In the orcs eyes, however, that wasn't her strength. To make them acknowledge her implied showing her battle prowess. This was her first battle in which they could witness it though.
She brought out a green wind crystal from her shamanistic robe. She knew a couple of wind spells that could prove useful there.
The mana inside her whirled as she cast the incantation for the vortex spell. She used the crystal to improve the distance and summoned a whirlwind within the ranks of the approaching enemies.
The whirlwind had at most slowed down the enemy orcs. Its lethality could be improved but given the distance she had summoned it from, it would require much more mana.
"Aaah!" Still, There were all sorts of screams inside that immediate area. Most were stubborn screams and roars of the strong orcs and their indomitable will.
"Get that b*tch!" Some even yelled while pointing their blades towards the somewhat distant Sharog. She was behind the frontline fighters making such a deed a tall task but none of them seemed intimidated, only invigorated.
"Yeaaaah!" There were more cries of agreement. The rowdy bunch was just about to meet the sanctuary's orcs.
A slugfest began. Both sides attacked with their fierce weapons and even kicks wanting to tear one another to pieces. The sanctuary orcs had shiny new weaponry from the C and B class adventurers making their attacks tough to handle.
On the other hand, the sacred tribe's orcs wore armor crafted with arguably poor craftsmanship and weapons that were in a similar situation. They were more balanced in attack and defense.
Gorlag who was in the backline due to starting off from atop the settlement walls started sprinting towards the battlefield with his heavy blade.
"HAHAHA! MAKE WAY!" He yelled and the sacred tribe's orcs immediately parted.
Gorlag shifted the momentum from his sprint into a devastating overhead swing that struck down on the ground with great violence. The ground nearly shook from the force and some of the nearby orcs were forced back or crushed.
Then a flurry of wind charged towards Gorlag's location. The wind was in the shape of javelins Sharog was trying to skewer Gorlag after he had left himself open to attacks.
The javelins cut through the air but most missed their marks as Gorlag used his heavy and thick blade to guard himself. The one that did hit pierced straight through his shoulder and another one near his abdomen.
"Argh! This f*cking-!" Gorlag was infuriated by the backline mage. Judging by Sharog's figure he could even snap her like a twig. It was only a matter of getting closer.
"I'm coming for you!" Gorlag declared as more of his foes charged towards him with their sharp weapons.
Gorlag ignored his bleeding and injured shoulder as he lifted the blade and performed a sweeping strike.
It seemed rather slow given that the attack was done hurriedly and without much force but the orcs were still forced to back off. They didn't wear armor and they all weren't willing to sacrifice their bodies just yet.
Sharog threw forward another volley of attacks. There was a mix of javelins and blades. Pierce and slash. Most were targeting Gorlag as he was most open but others were also darting towards nearby opponents.
Gorlag didn't try to block such a thing and instead planned to retreat. That was when he felt a force suddenly push him forward.
His eyes widened and in realization but he was very much unwilling to die so simply.
The blades of wind starting to cut his body and the many javelins pierced right through creating a seave out of Gorlag's body. Still, as blood dripped from every orifice, Gorlag still stood.
He made sure that each javelin missed the vitals and that each cut was superficial. Even as his body was drained of color from the lack of blood Gorlag stood tall.
Sharog on the other hand tossed aside the wind crystal. She had expended most of its energy. She had used the breeze spell and the crystal to push Gorlag back into the barrage.
"Don't get too cocky" Sharog said from her position. Most of the enemies were likely not able to hear her but those words were undoubtedly full of sass.
Gorlag could not have heard her words either but...
"This is just an advance party" Gorlag said and chuckled finally dropping to one knee.
They could keep up the meaningless fight, in his eyes, they wouldn't amount to much.
"Hahahahaha!" Gorlag laughed as blood continued to seep from his body and he inevitably fell on the grassy ground with a thud.. The worst had yet to come.
