Ronnie slowed down, but kept his cool of thought and put the gun in its holster and in a lightning motion took the rifle off his shoulder and pointed the muzzle of the Barrett and tried to shoot standing up. The orc pulled out a flute and played. The .50 BMG whizzed past the caster's head. He laughed, grinning his fangs. The warriors who had died in battle rose from the dead. They surrounded Ronnie on all sides. The pad of his index finger pulled the trigger with ease. The bullet hit the caster in the shoulder, wounding but not killing. Shooting standing up is always a futile venture, he thought. The orc caster stuck a finger in the gaping wound, twisted and regenerated and burst into laughter and said something.

Ronnie decided to break through the enemy's lines. He did not give up. A vertical crease formed between his eyebrows. He scrolled in his head how many orcs and where he'd killed, turned around in fear that the archers behind him had risen too. No. The least of them is on the right. He hanged the Barrett behind his back, drew his pistol and ran forward and fired nonstop. The dead orcs were no match for the bullets. The "Furious Rhythm" skill wasn't over yet. Ronnie burst into the crowd, dodged the slashing and stabbing blows, tried to run as far as he could. However, one orc still caught up to him. He kicked the sniper in the gut, throwing him off-balance, and swung his club and struck him in the back. Ronnie fell, exhausted and helpless, clasping his eyes, ready to accept his execution.

At the last moment, he heard a blade cutting through the air, felt a strong wind. The decapitated bodies of the orcs fell on him and pinned him down. Ronnie cursed and barely made it out from under the corpses. When he looked toward the orc-summoner, he saw a humanoid monster next to him, reminiscent of the doppelganger from Otron. Only this one was different, not as shabby, full of strength. He stood there staring at Ronnie. The orc grinned.

The doppelganger pulled the arrow from inside its shirt and tossed it under Ronnie's feet.

“Is that Sitting Bull’s arrow?” he asked.

There was no reply.

The doppelganger strode toward him, coming within arm's length of him. Ronnie felt the chill of its breath, though he could not see its face. The monster nudged him slightly and he took a couple of steps back and touched the bark of a tree and turned around and saw the cursed symbol activate. A fog enveloped Ronnie's body and he became agitated, but his face did not change, still the same serious and angry face. When the activation of the curse ended, nothing happened to him. The doppelganger pulled the amulet from under its armor.

It's the same as mine... Only the color is a little different.

Ronnie pulled out his amulet and saw how it glowed and drew in the remnants of the magical mist. He looked at the doppelganger sideways. A sphere the size of a soccer ball appeared in the monster's hands, shimmering white and black mist inside. He held it out forward. Ronnie stepped toward it and touched it. The sphere pulsed and shook, the colors mingled, and then the “glass” cracked, and magical particles spiraled out, surrounding Ronnie and disappearing ten seconds later. A notification appeared in the HUD that his level had risen to 23 and his experience level was 43%. In the sniper's mind, a brief memory of the last second of Sitting Bull's life flashed through. He nodded in understanding. The doppelganger stepped even closer and held out his amulet and leaned it against Ronnie's amulet and wheezed and said something in a language that seemed to consist of only consonant sounds. He pointed to his heart and then to Ronnie's heart. The orc-mage behind them laughed and clapped. The doppelganger took two steps back and pointed his finger at the totem and twirled it from left to right.

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Ronnie returned his pistol into its holster, adjusted his rifle, and looked at the orc, who pulled a chain-linked amulet from its pocket and said: "ma c glvju grts hsdysa, bytw" and laughed. The monsters looked at him, he at them. All had a look filled with anger and vitality. Ronnie spat dryly, his head in confusion. The doppelganger shook its head, as if said, "Go away," and he walked away.

Totem destroyed, he wrote in the group chat.

Everyone paid attention to Ronnie's level and Lalludious asked who he killed there that he got so much experience all at once?

Some huge orc summoner.

“Are you all done?” Ona asked.

Latludious saw the message, but could not respond, he was a little distracted. He dodged three orc spears the first time, then the second time, he could dodge indefinitely, thanks to his high reaction stat, but decided to finish the fun. The mage grabbed the first spear, pulled it towards him and stabbed the orc behind his back, then twisted, repulsed the blow from the right, released the shaft and tripped his enemy, the latter fell comically and a second later heard the crunch of his own cervical vertebrae. Latludious was left alone against the last enemy, who had no intention of retreating. He roared and cackled, drooling with rage. The mage dodged five stabbing attacks in a row, shortened his distance, grabbed the orc under the elbow, and broke his arm. The next blow came with an elbow to the lower jaw. The dazed enemy dropped its spear. Latludious continued his attack. He put his right foot behind his opponent's left, turned sharply, and with his knee plunged into the hamstring of the orc's leg. The monster fell to its knees, and the mage stood behind it and wrapped his arms around its neck and twisted its head 180 degrees. Latludius kicked the corpse away from him with his foot and looked at the totem and pulled out a lighter and a fireball spun in his palms, which flew out as fast as a bullet and blew up the last target.

I'm done, he finally wrote.

Tina and I took care of mine, Faolandan wrote. What will be the orders?

Ona, try burning the totem again.

Okay.

Ona covered the eye totem with three C4 explosives and stepped back to the chicks at a safe distance of fifty meters and covered them with her body just in case and said:

"You won't stand a chance this time."

The eye darted around, looking up, down, to the sides, and at her. Ona pressed the button and the totem shattered into splinters. Dust and smoke enveloped the clearing. She covered her ears. The explosion was louder than anticipated. The cubs were fine. The flamethrower bared her right arm and her eyes widened.