Their sacrifice

"Josh, do you know the Ork numbers?" Endrick and the village defenders are currently at the entrance to the village.

"Not exactly, but I'm told there shouldn't be that many, twenty to forty Orks." And there are only thirty of us, most of us are just citizens. "It would just seem like a small gang wreaking havoc wherever they go."

"Okay, we have to hold out, at least long enough to drive the citizens away as much as possible. These savages have already destroyed five of the villages I have under my wing, in one night, by the way." Many will die, no, maybe all... but at least I hope their sacrifice will be worth it.

"Lord! I see figures in the distance." one of the soldiers calls to me, drawing my attention to where he is pointing.

'They have arrived.' I draw my sword, the soldiers do the same "Okay soldiers, the time has come for us to show these savages that we won't leave our home so easily in their hands. This is where you worked, this is where you ate, here it's where you slept with all your families and loved ones. It's been a good and a very bad time, but you've all been through it together, and this is where we will overcome this overwhelming wave UNITE!" I try to motivate both soldiers and citizens who are clearly afraid of the arrival of the Orks.

'I only see about twenty, will the rest come after the first wave?' I don't see as many orks as Josh told me.

A band of 2m tall savages in mixed armor is approaching us, very fast. They have no precise patterns, some carry a two-handed axe, others a spear and others a sword and shield.

"Training!" shout to everyone present. The ten soldiers, myself included, will be the vanguard and the twenty citizens with Josh will be support.

Soldiers have sword and shield, while citizens have various weapons: swords, hammers, spades and more.

I position myself in front of the men, waiting for the orcs to charge.

Twenty meters, the tension becomes palpable.

Fifty feet away, cold sweat drips from the despondent faces of the men, even though they've been motivated.

Ten meters, the hearts of those present seem about to leap out of their bodies, no matter how hard it beats.

"CHAAAAARGE!" I charge with the sword, followed by the soldiers behind me.

The two sides engage, I strike a blow at the first Ork I kill, armed with two-handed axes. I rip open his chest, but he doesn't give up and starts launching assaults with his weapons. I dodged every blow from him and finally pierced his head, pouring a great deal of black ichor from his limbs.

'The next.' incacio the second Ork, the latter is armed with a spear. He begins to sink with a lot of speed of the blows, trying to pierce my vital points, but I avoid everything that comes towards me. As soon as I notice a flaw in his attack pattern, I dodge the spear sideways and with one cut I split the wooden shaft that had been constructed in half, then cut off the orc's head. A fountain of black blood gushes from his severed neck.

But I don't have time to watch as a third Ork attacks me from the side with a greatsword. I block his slash with my sword, making a loud clanging noise as our blades collide.

'It's stronger than the other two, but it's not enough to kill me.' I activate the Astra in me, awakening the power of my class, namely the Warrior, the class that possesses most of those of noble blood. A white aura emanates from my body, the ork before me opens its crimson eyes wide, noting the emanation of my power. I manage to massively overwhelm this ork's strength and finally push his greatsword aside and cut the big man's body into two perfect halves. 'What a dreadful breed' the ork's eyes widened not in fear but in excitement at having found a worthy mate.

With the activation of my class, I have more time to study the situation around me. And as I feared, the Orks are getting the better of us. Half of the soldiers are already dead, even if they are at 20th rank, which is the same as orcs, they can't match their strength. Let's not forget that they have never faced such a threat, after all they are not soldiers fighting on the borders.

'Josh is better.' Josh is facing an ork wielding a two handed axe, I notice behind him he has left the corpses of two orks, for only being in the 25th rank he's doing just fine. While the citizens are almost all dead, which pains me, but it had to be done to allow the majority to survive.

"ARRRRHHHH!" an ork pounces on me brandishing sword and shield. I carelessly dodge the blow, cut off his hand, but he doesn't lose heart and charges me with his shield, I make a big jump and cut his head open.

"Less than ten left, we have to do it." I charge another ork, it's another one, as long as no greenskins are still alive. 'we have to regroup.'

I turn to check the situation. Only two of the ten soldiers are left and five citizens are still alive. 'Counting me it's Josh, there are nine of us...less than half, but he doesn't surprise me.'

"Let's arrange the corpses of our fallen, now we don't have time to bury them. Let's repair our wounds to the extent permitted and prepare for another wave." the eyes of the citizens are clouded by this news, they believed that the worst was over, but unfortunately it was not.

"Milord, the next one will most likely be the last battle I will face at your side... I wanted to tell you that it has been an honor for me to serve him, and I feel the same when I served your father." Josh joins me in revealing his words "Even though the rest of the nobility feel disgust for the Duschin house, I feel nothing but pride in having served your family."

"Thank you so much Josh, you were an excellent assistant as well as a great mentor when my father passed away and I was very young to take over the reins of our house. And thank you for sticking with us even though the kingdom has downgraded us to the rank of baron." I put my hand on Josh's shoulder, sincerely thanking this man who has always served my family faithfully and has been like a father to myself.

"They are coming, my lord." one of the two soldiers warns me, I look into the distance and see another twenty Orks arriving, not at all discouraged by the carcasses of their dead comrades, lying in front of the village.

"Get ready men!" I reposition myself in front of everyone, with Josh by my side, this time there will be no vanguard or rearguard, just the main force.

'What?' but as I prepare to face the arrival of the orks, an object lights up on my finger, a silver ring with a small red pearl. Its color lights up with an intense red.

"NO!" I immediately get ready to activate my aura, and immediately start running towards where the ring was leading me.

"My Lord?!" Josh yells at me in panic, watching my figure move away from them.

"Because..." were the old man's last words, as the gang of orcs charged at him and the last men left to defend the village, also abandoned by their baron.