Their heavy footfalls reverberated throughout the cavern, and the trolls' labored breaths hinted at the weight of their armor.

Finally, I saw them: two towering metal figures advanced slowly, flanking the sorcerer. To my astonishment, a fourth individual trailed closely behind them, moving with an unexpectedly light step. I hadn't heard him approaching.

Suddenly, the sorcerer came to an abrupt halt, raising his staff and causing everyone else to stop in their tracks.

A brilliant burst of light emanated from the staff, splitting into four separate beams, each heading in a different direction and converging on the cavern's ceiling, bathing the entire area in illumination.

I held my position, relying on my camouflage to keep me hidden while I attempted to gather more information about them. The troll's armor appeared to be enchanted, and the sorcerer carried some valuable artifacts, particularly that staff he gripped tightly.

They surveyed their surroundings as if expecting a trap, leaving me puzzled about what was unfolding.

"Heavy magic! Powerful magic," the sorcerer muttered softly. "Withdraw!"

I cursed inwardly. A sorcerer capable of sensing magic signatures like an assassin! He had practically detected our magical presence. My attention shifted to the fourth individual, who turned out to be an orc rogue.

The trolls let out a series of grunts, and one of them pounded his shield with a heavy mace, producing a gong-like sound that reverberated through the cavern. Was he attempting to pinpoint our location through sound?

The second troll scrutinized the surroundings intently, hefting an enormous two-handed hammer capable of crushing a rhinoceros's skull like a potato. Hell, I would not feel safe in an armored transporter with that thing moving around, and I'll have to face him together with the rest. Uh, this was not looking good!

A voice murmured in my head:

“Evolved trolls!”

Evolved? As if fucking common trolls would not have been enough trouble?

"Denisa!" the sorcerer murmured, turning his attention to the rogue. "Summon the others. We might require all hands to handle this situation!"

Well, his whisper wasn't discreet enough; he should have employed a spell to mute his command.

I teleported, delivering a swift kick to the rogue's side with my right foot before she could take another step.

<>

No, you're not summoning the others!

As I launched my attack, a nagging doubt crept into my mind. Had I made a hasty judgment? Maybe I should have refrained from attacking. None of us emitted a heavy magic aura except for White Flower, but her aura control was exceptional. She could trick even me!

Perhaps the sorcerer had merely sensed the wolshi, which had oddly fallen silent recently. I couldn't explain why I had been so certain the sorcerer was referring to us. If he had assumed the presence of rational beings here, would he have issued an order that they could hear? Wouldn't his first instinct be to retreat?

But it was too late for second-guessing; I did attack, and now I had to fight this to the bitter end.

The rogue let out a strange sound, almost like a quack, as my heavy foot strike landed. She dodged my next attack, but that was merely a feint as I swiftly followed up with a poisoned katar strike infused with paralyzing venom. The attack seemed mostly harmless, just a scratch, but the venom was potent.

The rogue seemed to possess some resistance to the venom as she managed to move and take a few evasive steps, but her movements had slowed considerably. It proved fatal for her as I closed in and swiftly decapitated her with a precise motion.

One done, three left.

Well, she had been the lowest level in the group; the rest were the real heavy hitters. I didn't feel great about leaving the others to deal with them, but letting her escape could have been a fatal error.

Unfortunately, I had been too slow in dealing with the rogue. Instead of immediately focusing on the Lynx, the sorcerer hit me with a powerful ice spell just in the moment when I dispatched the rogue. I managed to partially resist it; however, the sorcerer followed up with another ice blast and teleported away.

His first strike had lowered my ice resistance, and as a consequence, after the ice blast, I found myself partially frozen and stuck to the floor, with two towering metal figures ignoring the others and closing in on me with their two maces like incoming meteors.

The fairy in my head screamed, "Give me control!"

My eyes widened as I saw them. The two trolls and the sorcerer displayed perfect coordination and appeared to have singled out the most significant threat: me.

I hesitated for a moment, a hesitation that could have cost me my life right then and there.

Why should I let her take control? She has no bloody clue about fighting like an assassin.

I attempted to free myself using the <> spell, but it was in vain. It granted me a bit more mobility within my icy prison but didn't set me free.

Then, I heard the sonic boom of a targeted arrow that exploded, hitting the ice armor of the mage with another loud bang, but the sorcerer shrugged it off as if it were nothing.

The Lynx leaped onto the back of one of the trolls, slowing him down, but the one wielding the two-handed hammer was closing in on me, and it dawned on me that White Flower could free me from the ice.

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"You take the lead!" I shouted desperately, but it seemed to have no effect. I was doing something wrong. I tried again:

"You lead!" I screamed as the hammer bore down on my face, and suddenly, I lost control of my limbs. This time, it worked. I needed to infuse intent into my words, not just shout them. I was aware of this, and yet, in the heat of the moment, I had forgotten.

A massive fire explosion engulfed the cavern just as I moved to evade the hammer hit, but it still struck my shoulder. White Flower hadn't been quick enough to fully dodge it, and my shoulder turned into a reddish jelly.

Well, she did manage to divert my head from the hammer's path; I had to give her credit for that.

The troll bellowed, seemingly undisturbed by the fire explosion, raising his hammer again while a healing wave washed over me as I tumbled to the ground. It was strange to witness the jelly-like substance rapidly solidify back into a limb.

The sorcerer unleashed another ice spell at me, but the flames surrounding me extinguished it before it could reach me as I rolled away, narrowly avoiding the descending hammer.

Were these the two concomitant spells that the fairy had cast, or had she been able to manipulate one spell to add another effect to it? I was impressed!

She sprang to her feet and quickly stepped backward, narrowly escaping another blow, and launched two more fireballs—one at the mage and the other at the pursuing troll.

The mage blinked away, narrowly avoiding the fireball. The troll, on the other hand, took the fiery explosion right in the face with a heavy grunt before raising his hammer again, ready to strike me. Damn, what kind of creature could shrug off a fireball like that? Meanwhile, the Lynx was locked in a ferocious battle with the other troll.

I had to roll quickly to evade the hammer. It wasn't a flawless roll, not as perfect as Cala would have executed it, but it was still sufficient to avoid a devastating blow. The fireball had seemingly caused some discomfort to the troll, as his aim was slightly off. When his meteor-like hammer struck the ground, it sent shockwaves through the cavern, causing sand and pebbles to rain down from the ceiling.

Meanwhile, the mage and Alice engaged in a fiery exchange: ice lances versus hypersonic arrows. However, the mage had superior defenses, forcing Alice to seek refuge behind a large rock to avoid a direct hit. This momentary respite allowed the mage to cast a spell on the Lynx, slowing him down just enough for the troll to land a solid blow with his mace, sending the Lynx tumbling backward.

Fuck.

White Flower unleashed a devastating thunderbolt that shattered the troll, rendering it immobile for a few precious seconds, granting the Lynx a chance to recover. However, that brief moment of distraction cost me dearly as I took a brutal blow to the side from 'my' troll's mace. The impact left my entire thorax feeling like mush, and I was sent flying backward and to the side.

Damn, I was afraid I'd end up plastered on that mace like a squished bug! Normally, I should have been dead; my heart must have momentarily turned into pasta, not functioning for those critical seconds until White Flower managed to rebuild it along with the rest of my thorax.

I might have started to panic. I knew that if that thundering thing would hit my head, that would be the end of the story.

"Don't stay like that, move!! Let Cala's instincts take over!!" - I yelled in my mind.

However, I had to give it to her; she had healed me while I was still flying, ignoring my rant. I flew about 8 meters and crashed against the cavern's wall, but even there, with the back at the wall, still a bit wobbly from the shock, she sent another double fireball, one at the mage and the other at the troll that had catapulted me. Both screamed furiously under the hit while another sonic boom shattered the cave, and this time, the arrow penetrated the mage's armor.

That gave me new hope. We might win after all!

The mage screamed, hiding behind some boulders.

"Per Mephisto!!"

I yelled in my mind:

"Let me lead!"

I was confused for a short moment, still lying against the wall, then I realized I was in the lead.

I had seen that the Lynx was having a hard time trying to stand up while 'his' troll was recovering from White Flower's thunder. I had to get to him before it was too late.

Alice was now shooting at 'my' troll, keeping him busy while the mage was recovering behind those damn boulders.

I cast the <> spell and sprinted toward the Lynx without tending to my own injuries first. Every second counted. I couldn't heal myself while on the move, as casting any spell would disrupt the effects of the speed spell. So, I gritted my teeth, ignored the throbbing muscles and the possibility of cracked bones from my collision with the wall, and sprinted as fast as I could to reach the Lynx. Just in the nick of time, I managed to heal him, allowing him to evade the next swing of the mace.

The Lynx vanished to my left, heading towards the other troll who was attempting to corner Alice. I sprinted in the direction of the mage, who was emerging from his hiding place, paying no attention to the other troll. Unfortunately, the effects of the speed spell had worn off, and I couldn't catch the mage off guard as I had hoped. Nevertheless, prioritizing the Lynx's healing had been the right call.

The second troll, infuriated that the Lynx had slipped away, followed in heavy pursuit. Hopefully, they could avoid being cornered by the trolls.

Before the mage could cast a spell, I hit him with <>, disrupting his incantation.

He cursed once more, shaking his head in frustration.

"Per Mephisto!!"

While I healed myself, I closed the gap between us by taking the next two steps. However, before I could reach him, he teleported away. Recognizing that I was now too far from any target and lacking an instant teleportation spell, those being on cooldown, I made the decision to let White Flower take the lead. I shouted out again:

"You lead!"

Handing over the initiative to her. I hoped she had a spell prepared, but she appeared momentarily bewildered; however, in the next moment, she seized control and unleashed a devastating fireball that engulfed the troll.

Yes, that's my fairy! I love you! The effect was better than what I dared hope for; the troll fell on his ass with a pained grunt. Unfortunately, at almost the same time, the mage blasted Alice with an ice spell that she could not avoid.

Another massive fireball surged toward the mage, but he managed to teleport away just a fraction of a second before it would have engulfed him. The eruption of the fireball caused the cave to shudder, sending boulders tumbling in all directions, and as a consequence, the spell concealing Spartacius and Tina dissipated. Oh, damn it!

Spartacius swiftly dashed away, pulling Tina along with him and shielding them both. Alice quickly consumed an elixir to aid her recovery, allowing her to evade the mage's impending attack. The troll that White Flower had previously sent flying backward with a fireball was now under the Lynx's relentless assault while the other troll pursued Spartacius and Tina.

Damn, I needed to intervene in that chase!

Yet another volley of arrows dissipated harmlessly against the sorcerer's reinforced ice barrier.

It dawned on me with dread that this battle could drag on for quite some time, with the trolls' formidable regenerative abilities countering our efforts while the sorcerer displayed immense strength and an unusually vast mana reserve. He possessed a wide array of ice-mage spells and cast them with a fluidity and speed I hadn't encountered in any ice mage before.

One misstep and we were bound for disaster.