On the horizon, knights were sprinting forward with maddening momentum. It was as if they had spotted their worst enemy from the distance.
"It's that f*cking orc!" One cursed before their sprint turned into a hop. Their great sword then arced from behind them towards the ground.
The immediate vicinity shook and cracked with fire emerging from within and burning the Bloodrain orcs. The AOE attack claimed the lives of the orcs easily due to their unprotected bodies.
"Two enemies!" Morn said gritting her teeth. What was it with attacking her tribe?
But Ed didn't think there were two enemies, the way he saw it there was an ally and the invading humans. But to confirm this suspicion he first needed to run an assessment.
[Morn (Outraged)]
{ Leader of the Bloodrain orcs. Morn is a close-quarter fighter who likes to wield two short axes. She has a fiery temper and an aggressive personality. }
'Morn, let's work together' Ed transmitted a message promptly after reading the assessment. It seemed a bit inane to ask such a thing of someone so irate but as long as Ed didn't see something like backstabs people for fun he was willing to offer her a hand.
"Huh!?!" Morn who was having a fit of rage was reeled back to reality by a voice in her head. Why did a mysterious voice want to work with her?
"MORN!" But after hearing a shout which sounded just like the voice Morn was actually even more confused.
Seeing her expression Ed realized that she was in fact of no use.
"Tsk, STOP FIGHTING!" Ed roared obviously aggravated. His shout pierced the heart of those that heard it and that included the humans who momentarily faltered in their advance.
This didn't mean much though, the fight continued as if it had never been disturbed in the first place.
The humans were fighting against the Bloodrain orcs while some of the Sanctuary orcs did the same. At the current rate, however, both sides would meet and be forced into a fight with one another. That was not the way!
Fortunately, the Sanctuary orcs which usually acted like a rowdy bunch all instantly dodged attacks aimed at them and retreated several steps. Some Bloodrain orcs however still tried to continue their pursuit.
"Morn! Stop your group!" Ed said before launching himself towards the orc woman.
'Lofty, stop standing around! Avoid the orcs and press forward!' Ed transmitted in between strides.
"Stop them? Go f*ck yourself!!!" But all Ed received was curses packaged together with an angry glare. Ed was beyond triggered by this response.
"No! You go f*ck yourself!!" Ed said as he reached her person. He grabbed her head and bashed it on the ground before promptly sucking in her consciousness and body.
Since Morn had no plans to cooperate there was no point in continuing to waste time with her. Plus, her uncooperative attitude might spur her tribe members to make a wrong decision.
'Stop fighting this instant' Ed transmitted a message laced with thick killing intent. This shocked all the Bloodrain orcs still fighting and caused them to become flustered.
Just in time too, another volley of arrow spells was launched towards and Ed and the orcs. Just like the last time, Ed rose a wall of earth in an attempt to block the attacks.
To his surprise, however, the earth was attacked by a group of knights before it could soar into the sky.
'Damn! My spell repertoire is too weak!' Ed had been relying entirely on his mana manipulation to craft and control spells. This meant that he couldn't summon a shield and the earth had to rise.
Simply put, this was a weakness.
"ROOOOARRR!!!" Lofty who had been charging forward stood bravely in front of the rain of spells. Ed was having a small sense of déjà vu causing him to momentarily panic. What happened last time was the swift destruction of Lofty.
'Lofty! Don't stop, continue running!' Pestered by the barrage of spells, Lofty's figure had stopped on its track.
"RRROOOOARRR!" Lofty roared in acknowledgment causing it to lose a couple of teeth. Toothless or not, Lofty's goal didn't change. The giant creature slowly pressed forward even as cracks formed on its metallic frame.
"Aaargh!" "Urgh!" AAAAH!!!" Regardless of Lofty's best efforts, one after another orcs were hit by spells and they had one thing in common, whether they wore armor or not didn't matter as the spells killed or incapacitated them in one shot.
In a matter of moments, Ed's militia of nearly 70 orcs was turned back to the regular group of 30 or so armored orcs minus a few.
The spell volley soon stopped but the knights continued to sweep past the Bloodrain orcs. It was especially so after the fright they received from Ed. This, in turn, allowed many of the humans to reach the Sanctuary orcs. Some even circumvented them entirely and went for the big boss.
[You've been dealt damage. -92 hp]
Ed's body was pierced by a spear from the side causing him to take a small chunk of damage.
Before Ed could try and retaliate against the man, a new attack flashed beside him. He was, fortunately, able to spot it and step aside just in time.
Not willing to waste his movement, he had dodged towards the spearman who was out of reach. Or at least, who should have been out of reach.
Ed's mana manipulation was at level 9 for everything, not just the earth. The wind pushed the spearman towards Ed who drew back his fist in anticipation and rocketed a punch forward.
"AAAAAH!!!!" The spear knight was sent tumbling backward. Although wearing a helmet, Ed's attack still managed to force the man into a concussion.
The other attack had been mana-coated daggers that seemed to slice the very air.
[You've been grazed. -21 hp]
[You've been grazed. -19 hp]
[You've been grazed. -23 hp]
These attacks had persisted and Ed was unfortunate enough to fail to properly avoid them. In less than a minute, he had knocked one out and kept another at an arm's length.
While that sounded good it wasn't all that great in reality.
Ed didn't give in to the fact of the matter, spikes protruded out of the ground underneath the assassin. The attacks which were adeptly dodged followed by a swift retreat were familiar to Ed.
'Wasn't this... the guy that caught W?' Ed asked himself dawning upon the answer he'd been searching for. The dungeon told him nothing because the humans didn't leave after being forced to flee! They had to have hunkered down somewhere waiting for a more opportune time to return for revenge.
'This is difficult!' His orcs were getting slain and falling in a group of twos or three every dozen seconds or so. They would all die at this rate!
"I'm taking you down with me!" "A great battle!" "A worthy opponent!" Although the orcs themselves didn't seem to mind their deaths, they definitely hurt Ed.
But Ed couldn't really act. The only reason why he was able to hold the advantage in the caverns was due to the narrow space. Since he knew that he had tried to siphon the humans and it had succeeded but now…
With the open sky and clear support from mages, it was nearly impossible for Ed to protect anyone other than himself.
Lofty, who had been hammered by spells, was mostly fine and should be able to assist but the humans were too small for its attacks to land.
They were sneaky and in no time at all Lofty's feet were laden with cracks and incisions. The poor giant could do nothing but fall pitifully after being mobbed by a group of warrior knights.
With the situation turning increasingly unfavorable, Ed started to rapidly chant a spell. Immediately thereafter, a thick gray mist burst out of his body enveloping the battlefield.
It was the steam spell he had learned from the first boulder he ever encountered.
"Fan it out!" The voice of a woman shouted in command. But by the time they got around to doing it, Ed appeared to have disappeared.
"Where did it go!?" Some humans expressed their confusion while others adopted wary stances. Although some orcs did try to attack them, they were all swiftly eradicated.
If Ed didn't appear soon, it wouldn't be just the ones that were actively seeking death that died but even those trying to defend themselves.
This was the expected result when faced with an unprecedented assault. It was a bit ironic how his surprise attack on Bloodrain had him secretly ambushed by the humans.
The dungeon should have told him something! Those were the words that he kept screaming to himself after he buried himself in the ground. If the dungeon knew the humans were there and actively heading towards their same location why not at least give Prild another prophecy?
'Well, it's not like I brought Prild with me' Ed suddenly realized that his decision to continue attacking tribes might have interfered with this plan. But with no time to think about this and desperate for a solution...
Within the second, Ed was no longer in the dirt. Rather, Ed was in the system space.
'My assimilation is still available' Having planned an attack on the Bloodrain tribe, Ed made sure to leave his assimilation skill at the ready.
[Boulder of Struggle]
'I should have done this much earlier' Ed thought as he approached the blueish gray boulder in a corner of the storeroom. There was no space on the shelves for it so it stood out.
'Let's hope I get something useful' Without having enough time to read what was on the boulder, Ed could only hope that his assimilation would not be wasted.
'No matter what, this is already a loss' But if even he was swamped like Lofty had been and killed… Things would look quite grim....