Kai watched Thalion diving down unnoticed by the orcs. It was always fascinating how good the man was with his sneak attacks. Soon after, one orc was sent flying from the tower, crashing on the ground. Before it could get up, one of the archers finished it off. The mages had started the bombardment of the wall so they could get closer. Kai, Annie, and Jakob were still standing back for a bit to check for elite orcs. Annie was also firing ice spells at the orcs, but they ducked behind the battlements, which infuriated her since she was not able to land any of her spells. The next time an orc came up behind the battlement, lightning dancing around his hand, but before he could unleash the spell he had charged up while hiding, a red thorn hit the orc in the head from above, killing him in an instant.
This happened to multiple orcs on the wall, and he saw Thalion standing on the tower, firing spells at the orcs. The precision and speed were just insane, the guy was even faster than himself. But enough time thinking, "Let's go, I’ll take the lead," Kai said and sprinted for the wall. The other men had already arrived and climbed it in seconds. The ten-meter-high wall of stone was nothing for a human after the integration into the system. Kai jumped to the top of the wall in one go and ran for the archers in the distance. Even though it looked like they were winning hard, it was just one section of the blockade. They needed to help their people soon.
Kai was running as fast as he could on the wall that completely circled Kael's base. The first orc reacted too slowly, and Kai cut his head off before the archer could react.
The two orcs next to him didn’t fall as quickly. It took a bit longer to cut them into pieces. Before the blessing, it would have taken him much longer to eliminate the orcs, but now it was different. He was different. He could almost anticipate their attacks by watching which muscles were starting to move. He was never where the orc swung its sword, and his blade cut through the orc's flesh like butter.
He glanced into the camp of the orcs and saw how the red orc Thalion had warned them about screamed, pointed at the tower, and began running at Garrick's attackers.
This was bad, but there was nothing he could do from his current position. Annie and Jakob, however, could. They were casting spell after spell. Annie fired icicle after icicle at the orcs below, wounding them and sometimes even killing them. Still, the icicles were not as strong as Thalion's blood thorns. The man clearly was in a league of his own. Jakob summoned spears made of rock, almost in the shape of a harpoon, and fired them at the orcs. The three-meter-long spell hit the orcs with the power of a truck, throwing them around like children. The downside was that it took him way longer to conjure the spell than Annie, but soon the orcs saw them and started attacking. They didn’t have much time since their men were also climbing the wall and jumping down to fight the orcs in melee. Kael's men were just so many, swarming the now desperate orcs.
Kai spotted a group of healers hiding behind a wall of orcs who tried to block their view so they could heal their comrades. Kai signaled to Jakob and Annie where the healers were hiding, and soon after, they were bombarded with spells. Jakob's first attack completely ripped apart the defenses and even speared the healers hiding behind the big warriors.
With the breach in the defense, Annie bombarded them with icicles and speared multiple healers. Their guards tried to protect them as best as they could, even blocking the spells with their own bodies, but it wasn’t enough, and they all fell to the bombardment. The whole area was now swarmed with warriors from Kael's base. It was a good thing the red orc had left a moment before. The big fireballs had stopped their bombardment a moment ago. He hoped Garricks fighters were fine.
<--
Kargul saw how the red orc and his minions were attacking their mages. With every swing of his giant axe, he slaughtered the humans. Kargul was still staying back, hoping that the mages would hit the big orc with one of their spells, but the orc was cunning, fast, and strong. The red orc dodged the spells with ease, and every red wave slaughtered dozens of human fighters. The tremendous output of energy wasn’t even weakening the orc. Instead, it strengthened him. With every dead human, the orc got even faster and shrugged off minor hits with ease, the wounds on his skin healing quickly.
Kargul grabbed his mace. It was time to fight. The humans were now running away from this beast of an orc after the first groups were slain. At least they had breached the walls in a different area, but the bad news was that the mages were the next target of the furious orc. The red one charged a new giant slash with his axe and fired it in one big swipe at the mages. Most defenses were still strong enough to block the attack, but some were breaking down after.
"Wait until I slow him down," Kargul said to the mage next to him, who had conjured an ice shard in panic to attack the red orc.
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The red orc was throwing out a red slash again, but Kargul jumped in and smashed the spell into pieces with one swing of his mace.
"So you are a traitor to your own race!" the red orc screamed in anger.
"Quiet," Kargul retorted in a deep voice, positioning himself in front of the mages.
The red orc didn’t take his response well, screaming in anger, "I am Grommash, the great chieftain. You are nothing!"
"Quiet," Kargul said again. What was up with this guy? Just attack.
The red orc's eyes widened in rage, and he charged at Kargul, who grinned wildly. This close, it should be easier for the mages to hit the guy, and he would smash him real good before that. The axehead glowed with red energy as it swung at his head. The orc was the same height as Kargul but had more muscles. Kargul blocked with the shaft of his mace, deflecting the blow to the side, but his hand vibrated from the strength gathered in that one blow.
The orc was faster than him and was already swinging again, but Kargul intercepted, not fast enough to strike, so he smashed into the orc with his shoulder, throwing Grommash to the ground. Kargul raised his mace and swung at the orc's head. He had done this move multiple times, and it had worked well so far... just not against this enemy. The orc rolled to the side and sprang to his feet, only to be hit by a charged fireball empowered by a magic circle. The orc was sent flying a few meters back. The fireball was even burning Kargul a bit. The other mages started firing at Grommash, but the orc sprang back to his feet. The burn marks and the broken bone in his right arm were healing with speed visible to the naked eye. The red orc huffed in pain as the bone snapped back into place, summoning a red barrier to block another fireball.
"Quiet," Kargul said again after hearing the yelp of pain. The other orc screamed in rage like a furious animal and charged him again, now even faster and dodging the spells with ease. The burn marks that Kargul had from the fireball earlier had also healed, thanks to Evelyn, and he felt as good as new.
When the red orc was close enough, Kargul stomped on the ground, making it vibrate and causing Grommash to stumble, losing his agility. Kargul activated a skill that allowed him to speed up for a short duration and shot at Grommash, swinging down with his mace. Grommash dodged to the side and swung back, slicing Kargul's right arm almost to the bone. Kargul didn’t miss completely. His mace partly struck the orc’s shoulder, smashing his bones into pieces, making the arm useless. Grommash screamed in pain from the shattered bones.
"Quiet," Kargul said, swinging again to finish it, but the orc jumped back, his bones rearranging and healing. Thankfully, he got hit by another spell, this time a giant boulder the size of a small car crashed into Grommash, throwing him back over ten meters. The boulder on top of the orc exploded, leaving a heavily injured Grommash. Then it happened. All the corpses nearby were drained of blood, and the blood shot at Grommash in small rivers.
The mages didn’t let him finish the spell and threw fireballs at the orc. Grommash tried to block with a shield, but it got smashed by the first fireball, forcing him to dodge to the side. All the while, Evelyn fully healed the cut on Kargul's arm, and he was ready to go for another round.
The orc summoned a blood spike and shot it at the mages, who no longer had the protection of the defensive arrays. Some dodged, others were speared and thrown out of the circle, and some summoned mana barriers only to be pierced as the blood spear broke through. One arm still hung limp, but the orc already looked healthier by the second, so Kargul charged at him.
The mage next to him, luckily still protected by the defensive array, shouted, "Just throw him to the ground or make him stumble, and I can hit the fucker!"
Kargul nodded, rushing forward to smash the red orc for good. But the red one was slippery, dodging and throwing red spikes at him whenever he had the chance. Of course, they didn't make Kargul scream when they hit him. He was an expert in smashing and had focused on fully using every ounce of strength he had, while ignoring the pain. But he didn’t manage to land a big hit on the orc, so he tried to go for smaller hits. After swinging with his mace using one hand, he pushed the damaged shoulder of Grommash with the other, making the orc scream in pain as the almost-healed shoulder shattered again. The pain distracted Grommash long enough to be hit by a giant wind blade from one of the mages, cutting deep into his chest and causing the orc to stumble back.
"Just how much can the fucker tank?" Kargul thought. He would be dead many times over if he got hit by so many attacks head-on, even with Evelyn healing him.
Kargul swung at Grommash and followed up with a kick that sent the orc stumbling back. Grommash managed to dodge an even stronger wind blade with a quick step to the side. Then, an icicle pierced his skin from behind, and Grommash turned around to see four human mages standing on top of the wall, firing spells at him.
Grommash summoned a blood barrier surrounding him completely and looked at Kargul with eyes burning with hate. "This is not over!"
"Quiet," Kargul retorted, swinging his mace at the barrier. But before the other orc could reply or his mace could hit the shield, Grommash simply disappeared into nothingness. Kargul began smashing the ground where the red orc had been standing, just in case he had turned invisible, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
"He teleported to the next stage," Evelyn said, exhausted from healing all the mages who hadn’t died instantly from the blood spikes.
"But he just said it wasn’t over," Kargul said. "Do you think he lied to me?"
"No, he meant that you would be fighting again soon," Evelyn sighed.
Hmm, that makes total sense, Kargul thought. Sometimes he was a bit slow when it didn’t involve smashing things. With that, he stayed with Evelyn and the healed mages. If someone attacked them now, they had no chance, especially since he hadn’t forgotten about the missing shapeshifter.