The instant Rin and the others made it into the fortress, the barriers began wavering due to the sheer amount of projectiles being launched at them.
It seemed like the orcs were saying, "well, surely, if we shoot them enough times, eventually that damned barrier will break, right?" And they were seemingly right, given how the barriers were gradually cracking.
"Attack!" Dominic called out, racing toward the nearest orc, raising both his axes high into the air. As he brought them down on his first opponent, Rin heard a loud roar to her right and found that her first enemy was closer than she realized.
Seeing one of these things up close for the first time, Rin grimaced. Displaying a pair of thick tusks, beady black eyes, dark green skin, chubby, four-fingered hands, and short mohawks, these were by far the ugliest monsters she'd encountered thus far.
The one closest to her ran up, dragging behind it a lump of wood that Rin guessed the monster intended to smash on top of her head.
The arrows, bouncing off the barrier currently protecting her, made it hard to focus but Rin put her fists up, trying to do just that. She was shaken, however, when the orc surprised her.
It raised its club much faster than Rin had anticipated, judging by its massive, bulky frame. Then, with both its meaty hands wrapped around the tool, brought it down.
It crashed into the same barrier the arrows were currently running into, but the magical structure cracked further on impact.
"Hey!" A voice called out to her and Rin turned toward it. Alea glared hard at her, both her hands extended in Rin's direction. "I can't hold that barrier forever, idiot! Do something!"
As annoyed as she was, she knew Alea was right.
While the orc looked down at Rin, confused as to why its club hadn't turned her head into a red mush, Rin dashed forward. She brought her right foot up and slammed it sideways into the beast's abdomen.
The hit staggered the orc, pushing it back, but that was it.
"AAAAGH!" The orc roared, angered by the event.
Rin took shallow breaths as she immediately understood something.
[... I put a lot into that kick and this orc is still standing. These things are way stronger than any other monsters I've fought. I guess the gap between Rank D monsters and Rank C monsters is that wide.]
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Dipping her head lower, Rin briefly closed her eyes.
[I can't afford to hold anything back.]
At her current level of power, it felt like she was going to need to use *that skill* in order to have any effect on this battle. So, she quickly drew the spellsign for her Spirit Flame in her mind.
Up until now, she'd viewed that ability as, essentially, her ace in the hole. An ability she could pull out that gave her such a significant boost in power that she could use it to surprise an enemy. Here, she knew she would need it from the very start.
Once she finished the unique process of internally drawing the spellsign, her arms were set ablaze.
"Euurgh!?" The orc's confusion grew.
Rin didn't give it any time to internalize this new information.
She ran straight into it, her fists ready at her sides. Closing the gap nearly in an instant, she propelled both her hands forward and landed both her fists onto the orc's core at once.
This time, her strikes hurt.
There was a loud crack. The orc was sent back. The monster flew through the air, rolling to a halt just shy of the fortress's wall. White flames lingered on its body, marking the spot Rin hit.
The orc curled up in pain, holding its ribs. It was alive, but it didn't seem like it would be getting up anytime soon.
Still, Rin couldn't just leave it there. She'd learned from what happened at the raid she'd spectated before. One oversight could mean the end of someone's life. So, she sprinted toward it. Arrows clanged off the barrier on her, falling to her sides and leaving behind a makeshift trail as she made her way to her fallen opponent.
"Ergh?" The orc looked up just in time to find Rin's foot crashing down onto its head.
Once was not enough. These things were sturdy, after all.
Two, three, four stomps later, Rin successfully caved its skull in.
That marked her first kill during the raid. Hopefully, it would not be the last.
[Okay, good. Now, who do I...?]
She stopped.
Rin turned away from the corpse, looking around to find that the fortress had quickly devolved into chaos.
The barrier over her was the only one still active. The other mages were now focused on trading attacks with the orc's own mages and archers. This gave the warriors on both sides the space they needed to fight peacefully, being able to crash their weapons into each other's flesh without having to fear any stray arrows piercing their heads.
Alea, however, insisted on keeping that barrier up over Rin's head, still holding her hands in Rin's direction, even as no arrows fell on top of her.
It wasn't that the orcs weren't aware of the mage's presence. No, the fact that as Rin looked back at her, she saw that Alea had to move from side to side, dashing and ducking to avoid spheres of flames, spears of ice, and regular arrows, made it clear that she was just as much a target as any other of the mages on their side.
It just seemed like she thought that barrier was still needed, for some reason.
"You really do like standing around and doing nothing, huh?" Alea asked loudly, her voice soaring even over the sounds of magic being cast and skulls being crushed. "KEEP. FUCKING. FIGHTING, dumbass!"
[... My bad. Sorry.]
Rin tried to do just that, trying to find another orc to punch while Alea continued maintaining the barrier over her.
[I guess I should just be grateful, though. Don't waste the opportunity she's giving you, Rin. Find another target and keep fighting.]