A spark of hope in despair

"Good time to… pray…"

The hooded individual pointed out while shaking off scraps of blood and meat from his mace to the side.

"I b-believe in the g-goddess Perseverance. E-enduring hardships is th-the highest virtue. S-stone enchant."

The black-haired girl breathed out and shook her head before reaching out her hand and touching the hooded individual's side.

The next moment, his worn-out weapon and dented shield grew a layer of stone—smooth on the shield and bumpy, almost spiky, on the mace.

"Stone spear. Enchant Stone."

The girl then chanted and firmly grasped her new weapon as her body got covered with elemental armor.

"...bhuh… let's make… your goddess proud, so we could boast... when we met her..."

The hooded individual grunted, checking out the enhancement and loosening his shoulders.

"I-I believe she l-likes her believers t-to stay a-alive, th-though."

"Bhahaha!"

The black-haired girl gulped down her saliva and pointed out with a nervous smile, making him laugh.

"Bu-hi."

"Buh!"

The Boarkin orc Chieftan squealed at one of his underlings, who responded with an affirmative nod. Both of them kept their beady eyes on the hooded individual.

"..."

The five remaining smaller boarkin orcs stepped aside, both to observe and to prevent the pair from slipping out. None of them looked excited anymore. They appeared disappointed and even ashamed to some degree.

One of them—the one that stepped in the girl's trap—was still wincing and lifting his wounded foot, as the injury slowed him down. Otherwise, he would have been one of the first ones to attack the girl, but he got pushed aside by his brethren.

Funnily enough, that was lucky. If he was at the front, he would be sharing the fate of the few Boarkins, dead in the bloody mud at the feet of the black-haired girl and a hooded individual.

All of the smaller boarkin orcs were actually on the larger side of their species. They were strong too, even the weakest amongst them was over level 40 and at least the black-haired girl would stand no chance against them if not for the sizable susceptibility to magic damage and physical attacks infused with mana - a weak point that the Boarkins all shared.

But the luck of the girl and her hooded savior has run out.

The humans would categorize all Boarkin Orcs above level 40 as Veterans, but the actual distinction wasn't that simple.

The ones that were stepping in were the real deal.

A proper name for them would be Battle-scar Blood Boarkin Orcs - the title that a Boarkin Orc would receive after slaying a hundred adventurers.

And the ones present?

All thirty-four well over level 55.

Truth be told, the armor the smaller orcs were wearing were merely leftover scraps that the Battle-Scar Blood Boarkin Orcs had tossed aside. The whole thing was an initiation, an opportunity given to them so they could prove themselves worthy of joining the band.

Even without a commander, those thirty-four were a force that could erase villages, topple towns, and threaten the cities belonging to any of the so-called intelligent races.

But there was a commander, in fact.

The one monster controlling them all.

The black-haired girl was wrong in her assessment.

It wasn't a Boarkin orc Chieftan, whom a boarkin orc leading a group could become as early as at level 45.

The one present there was…

Boarkin orc Warchief.

The simplified classification method humans used would make him… a Veteran Chieftain of sorts.

Standing there with his arms crossed, the monster given the highest special title a wild Boarkin Orc could achieve without being born with the General, Champion, Lord, or King title.

He was…

Smiling.

The Boarkin Orc Warchief at level 72 was smiling with excitement, staring at the hooded individual, completely losing every ounce of interest he could ever have in the black-haired female human.

The entrapped pair stood there in wait. The reckless charge would only get them killed faster, and they still didn't lose the hopes for survival.

Adorably refusing to give in to despair.

Too bad for them…

"...buh…?"

As some fine pieces of dirt and gravel fell down on them from the top of the cliff, the pair was too focused to pay attention to it - but the Boarkin Orc Warchief let out a cautious grunt and glanced up…

"!!!"

And then his beady eyes widened as its beastly face twisted, taken in by surprise.

"BUUUU-HIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

The monster let out a desperate squeal while raising his hands, about to take a step forward.

"...!"

"?!?!"

The reaction of his underlings and the candidates were completely different - the Battle-Scar Blood Boarkin Orcs immediately jumped back without a second of hesitation, backing off behind their leader, while Boarkin Orc Veterans just stayed in their places, looking around for a reason for such behavior.

"BUU-HI!"

"!!!"

The Warchief let out a fierce grunt and stomped on the ground - and the earth under his hoofed foot trembled and erupted into a twenty-foot-tall rampart shielding him and his forces from…

The black-haired girl and the hooded individual…?

"L-let's m0make a break f-for it!"

"STOP!"

Seeing the strange behavior of the deadly foe made the black-haired girl gasp, reading her stone spear to charge the confused monsters left behind, but the hooded individual growled, barring her path with his shield.

"Wh…?!"

The girl started to cry out in desperation-fueled anger, but right then, a six-foot-wide fireball dropped down onto the three Boarkin Orcs the girl was about to charge.

"BU-GHUIIIIIII…! Ghh…!"

"BHIIIIIIIIIII!"

'BUUUGHGHGHGHGH…!"

The horrible dying squeals of the orcs affected caused the girl, the hooded individual, and the remaining two boarkin orcs to flinch in fear and disgust.

But that didn't make them miss the point that instead of dispersing and dealing the area damage with its blast, the massive fireball just… stayed there.

Hovering around a foot or two above the surface of the earth, with the crimson fire composing it, howling as it coiled around itself.

It was emanating scorching heat, but it didn't behave like a fireball should…

And it moved?

There seemed to be some kind of movement to the massive fireball that wasn't just the burning of the fire, but it wasn't changing its position…