Getting Caught

Cliff went to the entrance, keeping an eye on what was trying to enter, unlike earlier, he was now armed, it was a short sword, which strongly resembled a dagger, but it was quite long and wide to be considered a sword.

Her nervous gaze fell on Yadha and another young woman who seemed to be a little older than her, they were hurrying to round up the wounded.

Cliff hadn't wanted this but he was forced to leave the dead behind, they had died in excruciating pain, and even after their deaths, they were not given a proper funeral. They were left in a corner where they might end up being eaten by ogres or scavengers from the woods, depending on the end result of the situation.

Frustrated, Cliff was gritting his teeth, he was nervous and in no condition to make good decisions, he wasn't used to these types of situations, everything was on his will at the moment everything he had to do to do was… to fall back.

"They're coming, we don't have much time left" he said, trying to keep the nervous tone out of his voice.

His voice only dampened the murmurs of complaints from the room, everyone was scared, what could be worse than their situations right now, they were already hurt, others wouldn't. probably couldn't even move their bodies, but this man out of nowhere kept saying that someone was approaching and the nervous look on his face proved that he believed it too.

Sweat had already soaked his entire body, he gripped the wrist of his blade tightly, his brown eyes, although nervous, were determined on one hand. He was ready to slay anything unwanted that tried to pass through.

Once everyone was ready to exit, Cliff took one last look around the corner of the room, those who were supposed to stay were the ones who didn't make it and yet in one corner of the room, Cliff could still enter. a heart that was beating even if it was at a very slow pace, the person still seemed alive and was almost abandoned for dead.

Moving closer, already a few steps away from her, Cliff could see the pitiful situation she had been in, her body had been savagely sabotaged, her arms and legs were crushed, as if her attacker had done it on purpose. to flatten them under something heavy. And at his throat, it seemed to have been compressed and crushed, preventing him from even emitting the slightest cry.

She had this empty look, as if her entire existence had been violated.

It itched to Cliff's core, why make her suffer such a martyrdom, isn't she a descendant of the ogres? Are ogres so racist that he considers half-ogres so inferior for treating them like this?

And how did she manage to survive despite all this?

Yadha felt Cliff's gaze on her, but without hesitation, she took the initiative to carry the injured woman on her back. She made sure that the injured person was well supported and not too shaken. Together they headed towards the door.

Cliff was in front, using his "Echolocation" skill at full level, he guided the troop of about two hundred injured people under the debris, they did not have the ability to accelerate their marches, they were forced to counting their steps to advance unlike their attackers who were advancing quickly and were already close enough that we could hear their macabre laughter and the greed that they no longer even tried to hide in their voices.

"I'm sorry, master," Yadha apologized, the resignation in her trembling voice reaching him like a knife violently thrust into his heart.

"You have nothing to blame yourself, Yadha. I recognize my shortcomings and take responsibility for this situation. All of this could not have happened if I thought more carefully about a plan. I underestimated the situation." He replied, lowering his gaze covered in shame.

Yadha tried to continue the conversation, but quickly stopped when she felt something aimed in her direction. Taking support on his left leg and took a backward momentum while paying attention to the injured person as he landed.

"MASTER I AM TARGETED!!!" she shouted.

Unfortunately, she could no longer defend herself since she was carrying the injured young woman. She called on Cliff who stood in front of her and made his body a shield to protect her and the injured woman.

"EVERYONE, SHELTER YOURSELF." Cliff bellowed.

Cliff had become sensitive enough to detect the trajectory of the arrows, but his body and mind were not yet adapted to intercept them. In addition, the debris sent at him went faster than a normal arrow. Cliff had already transformed into his horned bear form and huddled on top of them, receiving all the projectiles against his bushy body and tough skin. He had stayed like that for almost ten minutes, receiving projectiles probably made of stones, he didn't know. All he knew was that every blow he received ignored his resistance to pain, he hurt...very bad.

Once the hail of projectiles had stopped, Cliff felt disturbed by the sudden silence. "That doesn't mean anything to me," he said to himself. As he tried to get up, something suddenly grabbed his muzzle and, with uncommon strength, he raised his gigantic body as if he were carrying anything light.

Cliff came face to face with one of the two fearsome variant ogres, its rough skin and their piercing eyes staring at him hungrily. His heart was pounding as he wondered how he was going to escape this terrifying creature... the ogre's fist, imbued with a delicate and tender destructive force, moved with such grace and love towards his beau face.