The human expedition boasted a great number of 25 knights, 10 mages, 5 archers, and finally the adventurers that Samuel hired. That was a grand total of 43 humans each equipped to the best of their abilities.
Their route was rather orthodox. They were taking the most direct path to the exit portal possible. The only thing that was odd was their choice of transporting the item in a cart. Wouldn't that slow them down?
But the decision had been made by the base's leaders and Agalia herself. They were the only ones that knew why they were transporting the cart as well.
The team's formation however was not too farfetched. The knights were practically surrounding the cart and the mages and archers were also inside this encirclement. Lastly, Agalia and her two party members were on the cart.
When taking breaks, some scouts would like Roi would be sent off to take a short look around the perimeter. They never wandered too far though. Just enough that even if they were taken down, the others would notice the anomaly of their disappearance.
Needless to say, they were all being very thorough in protecting against Ed and his odd behavior.
But having been traveling for over 2 hours now, Agalia was feeling rather relieved. The orc's appearances weren't without rhyme or reason as they had learned. At many times, it did feel like that but in reality, it was no different from the other orcs in terms of behavior.
When the knights were attacked underground they were in its territory. When they were attacked at the orc settlement, they were actually the ones that started the attack so they weren't really attacked.
Overall, she felt that the orc would not be wandering this far out for no reason.
"Let's take a break for now" Just as Agalia finished her sentence, a knight from the side managed to catch an odd glimpse under the cart.
"Lea- Leader! There seems to be mushrooms growing under here!" The knight said.
"Mushrooms?" Agalia asked back surprised. The darkness of the forest canopy did make it a good place for mushrooms but there had been no reports of mushrooms in that floor until now.
"Can you remove it?" Agalia reigned in her surprise and asked the knight who nodded.
"Wait!" Wiley the Spearman suddenly shouted. He jumped off the cart suddenly and looked underneath it.
"My danger senses are tingling" Wiley said while observing the ominous black mushrooms. They weren't very eye-catching but they did seem dangerous upon closer look. That made it very suspicious.
"Can we get some mages to move the cart off the ground?" Wiley asked not wanting to damage the cart.
Agalia nodded and commanded for the sole earthen mage they brought with them to do just that. The cart was pushed back and all that remained was a small patch of odd mushrooms semi-hidden behind the grass
Wiley didn't say anything from there. He only went to the cart and took out a wooden spear which he then shot at one of the black mushrooms. The spear throw was divine but what followed it was anything but.
A fiery red explosion filled with traces of death was ignited and everyone that watched couldn't help but gulp. It was really fortunate that the cart did not drive over it. Agalia's timing had been impeccable there.
Suddenly, another unexpected occurence took place.
"ROOOARRR!!!!" The humans were alarmed as they started to hear the roar of orcs from around them. The explosion had to have been some sort of signal.
"Orcs! Prepare yourselves!" Agalia said before unsheathing a thin sword from its scabbard. Her graceful figure as she did so was awe-inspiring but in what would soon become a battlefield no one spared her another glance. Her orders were both vague and clear. Prepare yourselves!
Orcs wearing armor appeared from all around and were rushing forwards with axes lifted and ready to press down on the bodies of some humans.
"ROOAR!" "AAAAAAH!!!" "HERE I COME!" The sonorous battle cries of the orcs were not outdone by the cries of the humans but it wasn't a battle of vocal cords.
A blade coated in green rapidly slashed towards an approaching orc. The blade seemed to have influenced the wind as the shaft of the axe the orc carried split in half leaving him barehanded
With their beastly nature, however, the orc continued pressing forward. This time, they were ready to lunge and tear at the human with their bare hands.
An arrow got the best of them, however. It narrowly made it past their helmet and embedded itself into the orc causing them to falter and have their head cleanly lopped off in a follow-up attack by the knight.
A spear thrust, an axe swing, a whizzing an arrow, a darting fireball, a battle promptly ensued and the participants were not evenly matched. Actually, the orcs seemed to be at a disadvantage.
"Aaaargh!" That was at least until Ed appeared from whence they came.
"It's the orc!" Some shouted terrified.
"Mages! Perimeter!" Agalia shouted and while the mages were initially confused, they quickly understood after Prissy started casting a wall of fire.
The knights came closer and the orcs which were pressing towards them were forced to make a choice... Be roasted or continue the pursuit.
[You've been burned. -1 hp]
Except for Ed of course. He jumped past unimpeded. Even as the earth rose to try and stop him it had no choice but to stay its hand with a single stomp from Ed.
'A small hiccup but all is well' Ed thought as he summoned out an axe from his storeroom and swung down.
"Argh! My arm!" A limb went flying armor and all from the sheer strength in the swing. What followed was a tackle that practically sent the knight flying backward. They crashed onto the car pushing it forward.
But the knights who were in front of it were pushed towards others like a chaotic domino effect.
"Hey watch it-!" An axe came whizzing past and with lightning-fast speed and precision. It hit the knight and dug into their armor.
"F*ck! An assassin orc?!" The knight was dazed by the probability. The orcs outside this dungeon weren't so special in their eye! They tried keeping an eye out for this but Dakgu was constantly moving about.
The instructions he received from Ed were clear, pester them. That was his task and Dakgu did not want to disappoint so he stuck to it. He snuck around rapidly but without flashiness.
When he struck was the only time the humans were able to get a glimpse of the lightning daggers he threw. While the lethality of doing this was questionable the humans were put on edge
This wasn't very obvious on Ed's side however as he was attacked not by one, but three people.
[Agalia (Magic Swordsman)]
[Prissy (Mage)]
[Wiley (Magic Spearman)]
Ed assessed the three but wasn't really able to read their descriptions. The three were simply working together quite well.
The Wiley personage would use the long-range of their spear to keep Ed at bay and any attempts to get closer would result in paper-thin cuts. The worst part was the spells which he was being forced to tank, however.
A sharp spear thrust. Rather than deflect it or dodge, Ed rushed forward.
[You've been dealt damage. -32]
The narrow miss he aimed for resulted in minimal damage but… Both of Ed's eyes were streaked across by a thin blade blinding him almost instantly.
'You've learned to go for the eyes huh?!' Ed complained inwardly before exploding into a powerful radiating heat. This was a heat storm spell he acquired from the boulder of struggle.
The suffocating heat forced Wiley to his knees and Agalia to back up.
"Awesome!" Wiley said after seeing Ed's axe dart beside him. What a good battle-!
Wiley's thoughts were then suddenly interrupted and his body was sent flying. He had been hammered from beside by a sudden jerking motion. Ed had purposefully held himself back to give the knights a surprise.
"We- We need to form a path of retreat!" Agalia said to everyone. The orcs were being made clean work of but Ed was quickly gaining the upper hand.
The battle seemed to be brief enough that it would conclude in under 5 minutes but the problem was that in such an occasion Ed would likely be crowned the victor.
Though thinking about it again, Ed never lost anything from the encounters. The orcs could respawn and were worthless in their eyes. The humans were the ones in trouble.
"Argh! Urgh-!" Prissy who was at the back was suddenly impaled by an earthen stake.
"P- Prissy!" Wiley who had been thrown aside shouted after seeing her state. Wha- What was happening?!
The earth magician from earlier keenly took notice and managed to turn over just in time to prevent Ed from impaling her further.
Ed's body then suddenly bolted forward with a slight hop. His palm opened wide and grabbed the head of Agalia before pressing down on it with the full force of gravity.
The swordswoman didn't even have a chance to utter out a pained grunt as her head was dug onto the forest soil. Her head was ringing and a concussion could be considered a good outcome.
Ed stored and withdrew the axe quickly to slice Agalia cleanly but was stopped by a short volley of arrows and spells.
The arrows imbued with elements and the spells were enough for Ed to do a double-take and back away.
Wiley took the opportunity to dart past and grab Agalia up off the ground. She seemed to be unconscious.
"Retreat!!!" Wiley shouted with a mix of fear. His usual flippant attitude failed him after seeing his friends in danger.
"Prissy…" Wiley wanted to grab her too but… She was smiling a bloody smile. She was satisfied, that the spell she cast managed to save a friend.. To Wiley, it was a depressing sight.