Resolve

He swung his sword with such force that it created a gust of wind that knocked two orcs backwards. He then jumped into the air and got right in front of an orc and swung his sword horizontally.

With a loud, metallic clang, his sword slammed into the orcs face, slicing its head off. The orc's body wasn't even able to hit the ground, as it dropped its head.

Dante was still in the air when he did a backflip and landed on its stomach then kicked it upwards, sending it flying into the next group of orcs.

As the orcs were still moving, Dante used his sword with his 4th Stage aura power to open the orc's stomach.

A chunk of meat was exposed to the outside as the orc was sliced open.

Blood started pouring out of the orc in a geyser.

The orcs that were still moving fell backwards, their bodies unable to handle the attack.

More orcs kept coming in and by now, the orc-slayers reacted.

"Push them out and hold the door!" Knight Chad slashed his sword downwards even though he was far from his target. His slash generated a vertical wave of purplish-sword aura that split seven orcs in half.

As the orcs were killed, they were sent flying backwards.

After taking in a few breaths, Knight Chad turned to look at his allies.

"Keep up the pace!"

Gilbert was surrounded by a dark green cloud that was ready to attack if any orc was stupid enough to come near. For now, he was using his aura to hold the orcs back, but he was also making sure to keep a close eye on Dante, who was going all out.

The other orc-slayers were prepared for the upcoming battle.

"Don't let them out, you lazy pieces of crap," shouted an orc as it saw that the orcs couldn't get into the room.

Dante and the orc-slayers were holding their own. They were stronger than the orcs, and with Knight Chad leading the way, they were able to hold the orcs back.

But the orcs kept on coming. There was no end to their numbers.

Dante was in the middle of killing an orc when he saw a large orc running towards him. He barely reacted in time, taking a step to the side and slicing its body in half.

The orc's body was sliced in half, but the lower half of its body was still staggering towards him. He thrust his sword forward, impaling the lower half of the orc's body, killing it.

Then, he quickly turned around and threw his sword at another orc.

It impaled it through the chest, killing it immediately.

Knight Chad simply tore apart another large orc. He was like a slice of meat in a giant blender.

***

Twenty minutes of continuous fighting drained the orc-slayers of their energy.

"They're going to break through soon," said Gilbert.

"Calm down, young man," Knight Chad was putting up a strong performance, but he was starting to slow down. He started to feel a little winded.

Dante suddenly cut in. "We need to get out of here first, there might be surprises waiting for us outside."

He was right, the orcs filled up their vision of the outside. It felt like there was no end to them.

He turned to face Knight Chad. "I'll open up a way."

"There's no need," the knight said to him.

"What do you mean there's no need?" Dante asked, with a hint of anger.

"Behind this door is a small room, and behind that is a room that leads outside," Knight Chad continued, "I'll make the way for us."

Dante was about to tell the knight that he would do it, but he saw how serious the knight was. In fact, Knight Chad's eyes were filled with mana. He was waiting to burst.

Give me ten seconds," said Knight Chad.

Dante nodded and turned towards his comrades. "Push them back with all you got!" he ordered.

Gilbert was the first one to follow the order, dumping more and more mana into his aura. With this, the orcs stopped advancing. They were too afraid to come close to him.

The other orc-slayers followed suit and soon, the entire room was filled with a dark aura, one that even hurt the eyes.

Knight Chad began counting down. "10."

Everyone watched on in anticipation, waiting for the knight to unleash his mana.

"9."

He raised his sword.

"8."

Everyone's bodies began to shake, their nerves on edge.

"7."

The orcs were shaking as well, shaking in fear.

"6."

The air in the room was vibrating, shaking intensely.

"5."

"4."

"3."

"2."

"One." A deep, hair raising voice could be heard and everyone saw the Warchief Ktull right behind Knight Chad, the orcs hand piercing through his back.

Knight Chad's body slowly slid off the blade, his body still in shock and unable to move.

Then, Ktull beheaded him.

"Krrraawrr!" Ktull raised the head in the air, letting the blood fall from the head.

The orcs around him cheered, their morale raised.

Dante's eyes were filled with rage as he saw this. He took a long breath, trying to calm himself, trying to suppress the anger.

The orc-slayers in shock as they watched all of this happen. How did Ktull get inside the room and get to Knight Chad?

The answer was quickly revealed when they saw Lucas levitating 20 meters from them.

"Oops, I did not know that teleportation magic was going to be that effective. You see, I'm just trying to train the power that I was bestowed with." Lucas sneered at the orc-slayers, as if he was already sure of his victory.

"Let's get rid of these weak humans," said Ktull to his orcs.

He leaned down and picked up Knight Chad's head, holding it up. "This is the head of Knight Chad! Once I conquer this place, we will be able to walk around the continent freely, even in the lands of the humans."

The orc-slayers were enraged. They wanted to attack, to kill Lucas, but they saw that the Warchief was heading towards them.

"Dante, I want you to run to the east when I say so." Gilbert whispered to Dante.

"I won't leave anyone behind," said Dante.

Gilbert's eyes stung with tears as he gazed upon the orc-slayers. While he felt pride for their enthusiasm and dedication to protect their home, his heart ached for what was about to come. He knew these brave warriors may never return, and that thought filled him with sorrow.

"I know of a forbidden spell that can help us in this situation, but you should stay alive Dante. You have the most potential out of all of us. You hold the key to our survival."

"No, I won't leave all of you here."

"Please Dante, if you don't leave, my little sister will not have anyone to take care of her. You know my parents aren't here anymore," Gilbert was tearing up.

Dante's eyes were full of focus, darting around and "Then we can all just leave and you can take care of your sister yourself."

"No Dante, we don't have time. I'm activating the spell so you better take this opportunity. Please, take care of Little Lily."

Dante paused, his face clouded with uncertainty. He seemed to struggle within himself before eventually giving a weak nod. His eyes flickered with a newfound resolve that was almost painful to watch. "I'll do what I can," he said quietly.

Gilbert nodded, swallowing his tears. He turned around and faced the Warchief.

Gilbert slashed open his left palm and drew blood. He muttered some strange, ancient language. His aura suddenly rising until it became pitch black.

"We'll help you!" The orc-slayers started igniting their auras. yellow, green, and red auras burst out from their bodies.

They were burning their auras, and by doing so, they were able to support Gilbert. The power of their auras were amplified by the spell.

A blinding light appeared and disabled the orcs' sights before hearing a deafening boom, but at that point, it was too late.

"RUN!"