Chapter 7: The Orc Invasion
As the sun began to set, the groups of players that had come to fight were preparing. Unlike humans and most other player races, Orcs and many other monsters had great night vision. As a result, they knew the battle would come after the sun set, when the battle would get the most intense.
And among the various camps, Silvercrest had also set up a camp. A few people wondered why such a small guild was there, but others had heard that Silvercrest was a Guild of Specialists: Small in number but highly skilled.
In other words, they were considered a Tactical Guild. It was a term used for Guilds filled with elites or those who had special skills, instead of relying on numbers for their strength.
Ryuu, Toko, Azra, Rio, and Ria were all prearing, as a messanger boy sent by Soren, the one they had met before, Razler, approached.
"How are things coming over here?"
"we have made some good preparations, but there is still more work to do" Ryuu told him as he prepared some weapons. "I also tried to get some other gear ready, and ended up with a few extra prototypes. Care to take this for a spin?"
Ryuu asked as he showed him what appeared to be a small metal square. When Razler realized what it was, he almost jumped with joy.
"Seriously? What will it cost?"
"Five thousand, provided you can help cover our group during the battle".
"Deal!"
And just like that, he gave the device to Razler while he prepared some other things for the fight. THat said, they would be waiting for some time, since it was yet the time for his guild to act.
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Arsmosis stood in the front lines, waiting as their forces completed the first phase of the plan. It was fairly simple, leading the orcs into the Snaregrass. They objective was simple, defeat the Orc Army. And so far, everything had worked. They had fired at the Orcs from range using the hills right before the Snaregrass, taking out as many as they ccould before they got close. They then pulled back.
The orcs, filled with lust, hunger, and other despicable things, saw the fleeing enemies as a prize, or as prey, and recklessly charged in. Even though they were organized with leaders, this was a natural instinct they could not help. And thus, they fell right into the patches of snaregrass. This got many of them in an instant, caused confusion as the Orcs sank into the ground, and gave the second line time to prepare and adapt.
This was when they began the atillery strikes, using Artillery Level Magic. This was also where Ryuu was at the moment, along with his allies. Next to him was a massive crate of MP potions, provided by Collection Drives from Icarus Post. They had exchanged them with the far more precious potion at the moment, HP potions. As such, the Collection Drive went very well. It used up a good amount of Silvercrest's personal stock, but in exchange, they had gotten a lot of money, potions, and were currently racking up a sizable amount of War Rewards.
There were a few people who somehow had assembled catapults in time, which was a bit amazing in its own right. But Ryuu, using his good sized mana pool and large scale magic attacks, had created a spell which burned through his entire mana pool. Even his new and improved Rings, the Ring of Skill which gave him a +40 to Dex, Endurance, and Agility, and the Ring of Magecraft, which gave him +40 to Intelligence, Wisdom, and MP, that he created were being put to work.
Of course, Dexterity was not just used for crafting, but also aiming, so his large scale Lightning infused Fireballs, which he called Stormflame Cannon, were highly accurate, always maximizing the amount of orcs they injured or killed. As such, it seemed like it was a slaughter...except...
The Orcs just kept coming, stepping over their own dead. They were also coming around the flanks to try and surround them, but they were getting stopped by Thunder God's Empire, led by Raijin. Out of everyone, their guild had the highest morale overall, looking happy, excited, and motivated.
Clearly Raijin had some sort of rediculously high charisma stat.
And on the other side, was another Guild. Kamari, from Dragon Knight Brigade, and his forces also seemed to be rather motivated and pepped up. It seemed that they had managed to rally together as well and cheer up their members with lower mental strength, since they seemed to be really giving it their all.
Then again, this was not just for their survival, but their home. So it made sense that people would give it their all.
Azra looked out upon the battlefield, when he noticed someone taking to the front lines.
"I am going to stretch for a bit".
A few looked a bit worried since they understood what he meant, but he seemed confident it would be fine.
"Alright, just be safe".
"Yeah, I gotcha" Azra said, as he seemed to disappear in front of their eyes.
His destination was a certain party of high level Orcs, trying to come through an apparent gap. However, they had ended up engaged with a particularly vexing enemy. At least, he was until they surrounded him, with a large Berserker going in for the kill with his sledgehammer...
...until suddenly, his head was cut clean through using a powerful Assassin Class Skill, Decapitation. And Azra appeared next to him.
"You know you are now surrounded with me" Azlan said.
"Yeah...but I needed to excercise a little. We will probably be running out of artillery support sooner or later, but it would be a waste to not slow down the orc approach a little and then rest".
The two smiled at each other, as they looked at the prey surrounding them.
These two, which had caused a day known as the Fall of Darkness after they took down a lot of despicable players to vent their frustration a little, were now facing a bunch of Orcs which had low intelligence and even lower impulse control. In other words, it was just like that day.
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"Whoever kills more wins!"
"You are on!"
And the two who had built a friendship over a pile of corpses began a festival of murder, planning to exaust all of their strength in one go and then rest in the rear lines back up to full until the long range bombardments ran out.
And meanwhile, back in the Center, Arsmosis began to stand out in front as a particularly nasty and strong Orc stepped forward. It was level 50, but it was not the Orc King. Instead, it was the Orc General. A powerful Boss Level foe.
"I will handle this...everyone?"
Lulubell cast several enhancement enchantments on him. Another mage also cast a Sharpness boosting enchantment and a wind shield. And a third one added fire and lightning damage to his sword, and enhanced the buffs his gear provided using his unique skill.
And just like that, Arsmosis charged forward. The Orc General did the same, unnaturally fast for an Orc. He dodged all the artillery bombardment, and charged right at Arsmosis while wielding a great sword. Arsmosis countered with his own great sword, and as the two clashed Arsmosis used one of his skills instantly.
"Dedicated Strike!"
"Gugugu!"
Speaking in Orc Tounge, the Orc activated his own skill and blocked the attack. Arsmosis' attack still damaged him, but it was clearly reduced, while the Orc quickly counter attacked immediately and struck with fierce power. Arsmosis had to block this time and then ducked under the second rapid swing that was released, countering with his own blade that managed to strike the Orc General directly.
However, the Orc General was not only fast, but tough too. It didn't take much damage from a normal attack, even from Arsmosis who had Raid Level Gear equipped. Clearly, his enemy was far more superior then he thought. And in the process, a shadow he had failed to notice till now seemed to appear out of nowhere.
"Shield Interception!"
But it was blocked by his trusty shieldbearer ally, Argren, who pulled the Orc Assassin away as he began his Shield Assault on him. Furthermore, even though he was a Shield bearer, he had plenty of offense skills as well. It was a bad matchup for the Orc Assassin, who possessed lower defenses compared to other orcs but high damage. While his damage could penetrate the shielders defense, it meant that he would be exposed to his counter attack.
This allowed Arsmosis to clash swords against the Orc General, in one on one combat. A one on one fight with a Level 50 enemy that was Boss Level, there were few players who could do that. Arsmosis, who possessed an incredible amount of player skill, was probably one of the few.
"Overwhelming Pressence!"
He attempted to apply a status effect to the monster, using his overwhelming pressence, but it seemed the Orc had a skill which made him immune, at least to what Arsmosis did.
The Orc General then did something surprising though, and conjured a fireball in his fist, sending it right at Arsmosis as he gained some distance. Arsmosis took the fireball, and the Orc General used that moment to rush in and deal critical damage against an enemy that just got hit. But Arsmosis expected that, already moving in anticipation of the attack. He blocked it, and then countered, dealing more damage to the Orc General.
And yet, that was when a second fireball hit him. The Orc General was also in range, but it appeared that he was actually immune to his own magic. In other words, it had been a trick. The Orc General made Arsmosis think he could not use that attack in close range.
Now, in this situation, the Orc General was able to rapidly attack and deliver a critical blow, causing Arsmosis to loose a good amount of HP. Several people began to cast healing spells on him, while the Orc General was also regenerating HP. It was the same amount he damaged Arsmosis for with his sword.
A Melee Vampirism skill? I see, this will take more then I thought.
Arsmosis thought that to himself, and rallied his strength. The fight was far from over, as the two began to clash once more.
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Meanwhile, Raijin was freaking out and going into a frenzy of panic, cutting up one Orc after another.
Oh crap oh crap this is scary! Get away from me! Get away get away get away!
Yes, Raijin was panicking like one could not believe. However, this panic was actually fueling his berserker skill, and in his state of panic he was attacking Orc on sight as they came to attack him.
His Guild was cheering him on as they fought as well, unaware of his true mindset. They believed that he was simply charging the front lines, taking most of the attacks and being the vanguard. They had no idea this was just a frenzied panic and that he wanted to go home and sleep. To everyone, he was just being a hero. No, he was a hero if one considered he just took out over 100 orcs at close range.
"Thunder Strike!" he shouted in a booming voice, taking out ten Orcs with a single strike. Although Arsmosis had more skill them him, Raijin clearly had more raw power. And this raw power inspired others to follow behind him, and take out Orcs as well.
It was possibly the greatest con in the history of cons.
But, it was certainly true that he was being a hero right now, fighting all of those forces and dealing a great deal of damage to the enemies trying to flank them. With him there, it would be impossible for anyone to get past that side.
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Meanwhile, on the other side. a black wolf like Halderi player named Kamari, from the Dragon Knight Brigade, was also fighting many orcs. His style was different from both Arsmosis and Raijin though. While Raijin used large power and a large weapon, and Arsmosis used large skill and a large weapon, he utilized two weapons, a katana like sword in each hand, and he was dressed similar to a samurai without the mask or helmet.
With him were the top five combatants with his guild, while the spellcasters and other members would support them from the rear and prevent anyone from getting around the six to attack the others.
And in front of them, there was something that was not quite expected. A War Troll that had been enslaved by the Orcs was heading right for them.
"Guildmaster, that appears to be a Level 50 War Troll".
"Indeed...it seems like we have some interesting prey. Shall we show them the true might of the Dragon Knight Bridgade?"
Hearing those words, the front six smiled. They were the fastest to adapt to the release of the news that this game had become their new world. Their mental strength and endurance was the best, but also in the first place, they played this game because their real lives sucked. Dead end jobs, no real career future, impossible job markets. This was how they relaxed from knowing they would never amount to much in the real world.
And then this became their real world, and they suddenly mattered quite a bit, being some of the strongest fighters who could protect others, especially the weak.
So one could say, this was actually an improvement for them.
And to show their skill, the charged the Orcs and the War Troll. Kamari cut down a few Orc scouts with his blades, needing only a single strike to behead them. His Class was not the normal class one would find, but he had already become an Advanced Class, a Shadowhunter. A Class that is a combination of Warrior and Assassin, they took to the front lines with speed and power. They led the hunt on the enemies, and could even operate in the wilds or in enemy territory for an extended period of time.
ANd fighting monsters like this, based on the lore of the class, was the reason for their existence.
"Shadowstrike!"
He immediately launched himself forward in a coat of shadows and struck at the Troll. Trolls were known for mighty strength, tough defenses, and rapid regeneration. However, his attack took nearly a third of its hitpoints. Kamari had actually hoped to do more, since the skill had a five minute cooldown, but it couldn't be helped.
He moved around to the back, targeting major veins and joints as he attacked. The more wounds he had, the harder it would be to regenerate. His throat already had a major wound, but with such vital points targeted, even while regenerating it would both hurt, and numb his movements.
Some orcs tried to jump him, make him stop and even take him out, but he quickly twisted around and beheaded two of them while another four were taken out by his Guildmembers. Two Orc Mages attacked from a distance, but another Guildmember guarded agaisnt it while the other one took them out as well.
They would cover their Guildmaster, while the people in the backline supported them with ranged attacks and their Guildmaster engaged the War Troll to take it down.
It was an Evolved Varient of a normal Troll for sure, and would not be easy. But Kamari led one of the strongest guilds out there, and he was not easy to beat either. The battle had only just begun.