Chapter 17: First Blood.

"We can't keep going like this! Our stamina is getting drained!"

Kennen expressed his concern and followed with a plan.

"You guys at the front need to go up and kill them!"

That certainly would be riskier for them but it was also easier for them to get kills compared to the shooters.

Meanwhile, those at the back would only attack when there was an opening.

Evan attracted the attention of the armored orc so only Frank was free to do some damage to the other pig orcs as his superior agility and experience allowed him to stab those pig orc's side while they were too busy holding a corpse as a shield.

This strategy allowed them to kill a few more pig orcs while slowing the pace at which their stamina dwindled.

Brandi was still refusing to step forward and stayed near the backline. James also stayed back and only moved when Frank told him to stop slacking but he was still hesitant. Only doing something meaningful when Amelia or Rafael fully restricted the pig orcs.

The other augments also stepped up and started to imitate Frank and James as they also attacked when it was safe for them.

With time, they either did enough damage to kill a pig orc or made an opening for Enzo and the goblins to kill them.

Hope was starting to come back and Kennen could see a way for them to all survive this as they slowly trimmed the numbers of pig orcs.

That armored orc would follow soon after the moment the other pig orcs died and they get some space.

One of the augments, Kevin, who could surround one of his hands with a blade made of light, even started to feel himself as he jumped and thrusted his hand into the chest of an exposed pig orc.

No way the orc would survive this blow but didn't instantly kill it as the orc grabbed his arm to prevent Kevin from pulling it out of its chest and was prepared to follow that with a last ditch effort punch.

"Let me go!" Kevin yelled, which attracted the attention of the rest of the group.

Enzo immediately buried a power shot into the head of that pig orc.

That stopped the punch, but the pig orc fell back and took Kevin with him before the grip loosened.

The two didn't go very far as the dead body was stopped by another pig orc right behind.

"Don't let them get to him!" Frank yelled as everyone else put pressure on the other pig orcs so they were focused on defense or being restrained.

It gave enough time for Kevin to make a run but he tripped on blood when just barely took one step forward.

"Jason, help him!" A woman nearby, who could shoot needles, yelled toward an augment.

That augment could charge at high speed and power for a short distance, not that it was very useful in a stairs battle.

"I… I can't, there are too many of them!" The man named Jason refused to move from his spot.

Frank tried to go help Kevin as he slowly got to his feet after tripping but was suddenly barred passage by the armored orc who was previously battling Evan who had the help of Rafael.

Without even looking, that armored orc kicked Kevin back down toward the other orcs.

The power behind that kick wasn't very strong as the armored focus was on Frank and Evan but it was still enough to make Kevin tumble down a few steps.

"Kevin!!!"

The girl yelled.

"Help me!"

Kevin yelled back.

The people at the back let go of all restraint as they free fired to prevent the orcs from touching Kevin and the crowd control team also did their best but the people at the front were blocked by the armored pig orc alone.

But all of that didn't prevent Kevin from taking a punch to the face before he could even get onto his feet.

That punch nearly knocked him out unconscious as teeth flew out of his mouth. Kevin gurgled in pain as he extended his hand to the others for help, he couldn't even form a sentence anymore.

"Kevin!!"

More yelling ensued.

However, all of it was useless as they gradually lost sight of Kevin due to the pig orcs advance and stepping on it.

Kennen couldn't even hear him anymore.

It was their first casualty.

"Shit! It's your guys' fault! He wouldn't have died if you didn't shoot your arrow into that pig's head!"

Michael blamed it all on Enzo.

"His head would already be caved if it wasn't for me! You're the last person who should blame anybody is you! You're fucking useless!" Enzo retorted

A shouting match ensued as some blamed the frontline for not stepping up to save Kevin.

"Shut up! We're in the middle of a fight! Leave this when we make it out of this alive!"

Frank calmed things down as people refocused but the woman, who could shoot needles, was probably out of the fight as she was sobbing and stopped doing anything else.

Kevin's passing didn't change much as most of the heavy lifting was made by Kennen's friends and the frontline continued their previous tactics of picking up the normal pig orcs while Evan and Rafael occupied the armored orc.

Kennen saw they already backed up to the fifth floor. They still had plenty of floors to go and hoped that they would be able to kill off all of them before they get tired out.

That hope was crushed when another armored pig orc came up to the front.

The two basically tanked everything they threw at them and slowly pushed them back.

All their attacks were useless and it was practically a waste of stamina.

"Shit! We're just slowly running up the stairs at this point!"

Evan pointed as they were already on the seventh floor.

They couldn't keep going on as they would reach the roof soon and it would be an open area. Not a favorable terrain when the pig orcs still had numerical advantage and half of their team couldn't even take care of a single pig orc by themselves.

This slow status-quo also frustrated the armored orcs as they roared in visible anger and the uninjured one sped up.

Evan stood before the orc to stop him but he was pushed away as he tried to block the swing by the orc.

Frank wanted to stab at the exposed part of the armored orcs as the orc received the binding and mental disorientation. That didn't stop the armored orc from waving his free arm around to keep Frank from approaching him.

Then out of nowhere, the orc threw his metal club in their direction.

That took all of them by surprise, Frank was able to dodge it as well as James with his power activated but Jason couldn't as the club hit the hand that he used the shield himself.

Kennen was sure his arm was broken after that.

"Get him away!" Frank said.

James helped him up before handing him to the needle woman.

"F*ck! We're all going to die at this rate!" Michael chose this moment to let his inner snake express itself, "You shits hold them off! Maybe they'll leave after killing you!"

He then pushed Amelia down and ran away.

Everyone was in state of shock for a second before those from his group also followed him, except the augment that could charge an attack.

"Get back here you coward!" James yelled as he helped his girlfriend up.

Kennen and his friends were too busy holding the orcs back tondo anything against this.

However, Kennen was fuming as he promised he would get them if he ever survived this.

"Can't go to the roof now!" He warned his friends.

"Can't we just bust down the door and force them to fight!?" Rafael said as he stopped the armored orc from attacking Evan.

"And count those guys to have our back? I rather trust the pigs!" Evan retorted.

Them leaving wasn't a drastic change in power. They weren't that useful anyway except Julio who could buy a few seconds.

"Let's get out on this floor!" Kennen said after he saw they were on the eighth floor.

This would be their last stand.

The narrow corridor could only fit two orcs side by side and the flat terrain may help Frank and Evan deal with the attacks.

However, things didn't change much and they would soon run out of place to back out.

"We need to kill those armored guys."

But Kennen didn't know how as they tanked everything.

Frank and Evan also started to run low on stamina.

His only idea was that they ganged on them from all sides and strike on their blind and exposed spot but they needed space for that and stop the other pig orcs from providing help.

He decided to have his goblins take out their daggers and hold off the others pig orcs while his friends fought the two armored orcs.

For that to happen, Frank and Evan each needed to take the aggro of an armored orc.

And they pulled it off.

On a flat surface, Evan could block the strikes without wobbling after impact so he kept one of two armored orcs busy with Rafael and Enzo helping him from time to time, the other augment was also there to give his help whenever he had charged a strike.

Frank attracted the attention of the other one by being a pesky presence as he would try to stab the orc's side or feet whenever the other orc tried to swing at Evan.

Successfully drawing his attention, he pulled the orc away from where Evan was and fought him by dodging the club swings but couldn't get too close as the orc would often reach out his hand to punch or try to grab him.

The goblins used the space to pass through them and go hold off the other pig orcs from joining.

Hopefully, Kennen and his friends finish the two armored orcs before the three goblins get overwhelmed.

Amelia and Rafael used their crown control to give opportunities for them to strike although it wasn't highly effective since it lasted only a second at lost against the armored orcs.

Enzo couldn't hit any good spot with all the movements so he mostly shot to distract the orcs.

The orc missed once again another swing at Frank and this time, Frank was at his right and the orc's free left hand couldn't defend that side so he got close and stabbed at the exposed side with the javelin.

The armored orc ignored the pain and immediately shoulder-bashed Frank in retaliation.

Frank was sent flying as he slammed against a room's door and broke it as he flew inside.

James was in Frank's group but let Frank fight the armored orc and get the orc's attention alone as he stayed back. James finally moved when the armored orc had its back facing him and was about to go into the room where Frank was thrown into.

James came from behind the orc and stabbed deeply into the exposed armpit.

The armored orc showed its resilience again as he instinctively backhanded toward where his assailant was.

The hand connected as James was sent sprawling into the ground disoriented.

It wasn't a gentle slap.

It was a slap coming from the hand of a 200kg monster wrapped in a steel gauntlet.

"Frank!" Amelia cried out as she used her ability on the orc.

Rafael also helped to restrain the orc.

"Bran, help him! Please!" Amelia begged her friend.

As usual those restraints weren't that effective or lasted long against armored orcs.

The orc has its attention downed James, ready to finish him off.

Brandi still didn't move as her legs stood frozen on spot.

"Bran!!!" James recovered a bit and yelled loudly as he saw the orc lifting his club highly, ready to smash him but his head was still ringing and he couldn't move that well yet.

That seemed to make Brandi spring into action.

"Haa!"

Brandi screamed on top of her lungs and charged at the orc with an overhead slash .

The armored orc saw her coming from a mile away and just parried her slash before kicking her away.

Sending her flying back to where she came from.

Brandi stayed down on the ground as she clutched her stomach. She was out.

The armored orc stepped on James to prevent him from getting up and lifted his club again.

Rafael and Amelia tried their best to stop the orc but the disorienting and binding still didn't prevent the swing from coming down.

"Noooo!!!! Please!!!" Amelia screamed and put her all into her powers.

Sadly, the club connected to James' head even with everything poured against the armored orc by Amelia and Rafael.

James' head popped and got crushed like those games where people swung a bat at a watermelon.

Instead of fruit juice and watermelon coming out, it was blood and mashed brain splattering everywhere.