Chapter XXVIII - Orc Camp (part 4)

"Look out, Rize!"

JREKKK!

I held my second sword on the hilt, with the sword's blade facing down. I swung it sideways backwards, and it stabbed the orc in the head piercing the skull. The red orc that was rushing at me from behind was stabbed on the head from the side, not knowing how it even happened.

"I thought you're supposed to protect me."

I asked to Valey as I pulled out my blade from the orc's skull, and the best female archer only pointed at her quiver on her back.

"Can't you see that I ran out of arrows!? We've been fighting for so long!!"

Yeah... I know. This situation sucks.

The quiver on her back is empty. At the moment, she is using her short sword to defend herself, but they won't be enough to kill even a single red orc.

And now, there's over ten of them surrounding us.

We are currently surrounded by ten red orcs and three high orcs in a closed area inside the cave. Hod was nowhere to be found, mainly because we got separated after he somehow fell into a hole trap. He glided down the slope until he arrived at another room inside the cave, and he shouted from the bottom that he could find another way out.

And now, we've lost our main protector. With me running quite low on energy, we're just sitting ducks surrounded by hungry cave pigs.

"What do we do now...?"

Valey asked while we stood back to back, facing the orcs. She really can't do anything without her arrows. All her abilities focused on her bow and arrows, and without them, she only got the short knife.

"Don't you have more arrows on your ring?"

"I... don't. Though that does sound like a good idea."

"Any hunter with a right mind would have more than one set of arrows stored on their ring!!"

"I used to have it!! But I think I ran out..."

"NOW!? Of all days!?!"

While arguing, the orcs saw this as the perfect chance to maul us.

"Huh??"

"ROAA!!-"

SLING!!

That orc lost its head after the foolish decision to rush me.

"Stupidly rushing, this is what orcs are."

I said confidently, but deep down, I know that we are in trouble.

I don't have enough energy to fight them off. My legs can barely move due to the lack of energy, and I have to protect Valey on top of all that. 

Am I really running out of energy? No, that can't be right. I have way too much to be getting tired now. I should've regenerated a few during our walk here, right? At least half an hour has passed since we entered the dungeon, after all.

Whatever... I just need to do it. It's a do or die situation, and I can't just sit here and wait for the orcs to make a mistake. If it's a battle of waiting, the orcs will win since they don't get tired or hungry easily.

I have to make a move. Now.

And so, I put my mask back on. I already wore the brown robes before I came to the cave, so I'm good with spraying blood. There are nine more red orcs and three high orcs to be killed, and for sure this would've been much easier with a full stomach.

Can I... do it?

Doesn't matter. Otherwise, Valey will die.

"Valey."

"Huh?"

"I will go berserk again. In the count of three, I will throw you up. You have to stab the ceiling with your knife and not fall down... Or else I'll have to protect you."

"Oh... Huh!?"

"One."

"Wait, wait, Rize!!"

"Two."

"Heehhh--!!??"

The orcs are starting to approach Valey with their large blade. They must've noticed that I am about to make a move. 

And props to them for noticing, because this will be the end.

"Three!"

"Uwuu--Waaaahh!!!!"

JREB!!!

Valey's short knife successfully stabbed onto the ceiling, and she is holding on to dear life. The knife is stabbed quite deep into the walls, and thank god she didn't bump her head too hard to the stone ceilings.

"Hold on to it, Valey! Don't come down until I say so--"

CTANG!!!

All of a sudden, the blade of the orc that was swinging towards Valey hit me in the mask. I was able to dodge it slightly, but it still resulted in my wooden mask getting cut.

"ROAHAHAHA!!... Haa?"

My vision turns red. Not because of blood, no. That fucker just damaged my mask.

SREBB!!!

The red orc immediately got sliced in half after a single powerful swing from me. Seeing that my aura has changed, all the other orcs in this cave room turned aggressive.

"ROAH!!!"

"ROAAA!!!!"

All the red orcs and high orcs responded to that death. And within seconds, all of them started rushing at me.

"Come then, pigs!!!!"

SRING!

JREBBB!!!!!!

SLINGG!!!!

One by one, the orcs fell down to the floor in a piece or two. I can feel my cuts aren't cutting it as well as before. The magic enhancement on my cuts were lowered due to my lack of magic energy, but it was still more than enough to kill. I just have to do more movement to compensate for that power loss.

And from my many battles against Jrake, the goblin king, and numerous other enemies I've fought against, I realized that my unpredictable movement has been a great weapon. I'm fast, skinny, and rash. This became my greatest strength in sword combat, especially in this situation.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of standoff in this large cave room, all the red orcs are dead. The high orcs finally made their move, and the first high orc slashed using their gigantic sword, a giant scimitar with some rough edges. 

BARR!!

SLING!

Just like that, the high orc had their brain cut in half. It didn't even last a second against me when I'm going berserk like this, what a laugh for a Yellow ranked monster.

"Amazing..."

Valey mumbled from the top, and two more high orcs arrived in front of me.

I can still feel my eyes red. I mean, because my vision is all red, possibly because of the blood spraying inside the mask from the eye hole. But aside from that, my moves are getting lighter. My senses are sharper, and I can hear everything and sense everything. 

This feels... odd, and there is also this unwavering rage inside me. I just can't contain it.

"HooaaAAAAAA----!!!!"

CTAANGGGG!!!!!

I hit the high orc's great sword away in one swing. The large great sword impacted against my tiny, thin, and fragile orcish sword, and it flew backwards until it stabbed the ground, pulling the orc with it until it fell to the ground too.

The second high orc doesn't feel fear. It swung its great sword horizontally, but I simply jumped high. The high orc turned confused about where I went.

"Hey, I'm right here."

The high orc turned and looked at its blade, and I'm standing on top of the giant blade quite calmly.

SLING!!

And so, another high orc had died. I looked at the last one, and... Oh dear.

The last high orc is still pulling the sword from the ground. Apparently it was stuck very deep, and it wasn't strong enough to pull it out. It's really a funny look.

Should I kill it?

"Horyaa!!!"

JREB!!

"ROAAAA!!!!..."

The high orc fell to the ground in a thud, with a short sword stuffed on top of its bald head. Meanwhile, the hero who murdered the giant stood on top of the tall orc's back that had fallen on the ground.

"Why did you jump down, Valey?"

"Well, I saw an opportunity. Hey, at least let me kill one high orc!"

"Sure. Kill that guy."

"Yay! Wait, I did kill it."

"No... you didn't."

Valey looked at the dead body, but the high orc was now lifting its body up. Valey quickly jumped away out of fear, and the orc immediately start pulling the short sword from its head.

"Haaa!!! Rize! It's still alive!!"

"You kill it."

"Haa!!!"

"ROAAA!!!"

The high orc shouted very loudly. Its eyes are blood red. The same thing that happened to the goblin king, a glare of rage.

"Oh dear, it's mad."

"Oh..."

"Go ahead Valey."

"E-Eh!? L-Let me borrow your sword, at least!"

I threw the goblin king sword to the ground next to her feet. She picked it up and stood while shivering.

"I can do this. I can do this."

Then, she blindly rushed forward.

"Horyaa!!!"

Oh, dear... She really has no experience fighting close range.

ZRRIIIIINNNNGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All of a sudden, the high orc started to freeze from leg to top. A large amount of ice crystals formed by the orc's legs, freezing all the way to the top until the orc got covered in ice entirely.

Hah... How heroic.

From the side entrance where the orcs came from, a guy walked in with his hand lifted forward. Seeing the familiar light blue hair, Valey turned glad.

"Hod! I-I was about to kill the orc!... Hod?"

Hod got... even messier. His hair is now everywhere, dust and blood are covering his face, both his sleeves are gone, cut marks on his right hand and left leg, and he somehow managed to lose one shoe. Most of his attire is now covered in blood and dust. He actually has gone through hell.

"Hahh... Rize... How did you even... fight that many red orcs...?"

"Buddy, are you okay?"

"I'm... Fine..."

Oh, no. You're not fine.

BRUK!

He fell on the floor, face first. Valey came to aid, and I quickly used my healing magic on him. However, I am conserving mana as much as I can, so I can only spawn five light balls.

"Uhh..."

"Don't talk. Save your energy."

"This is... A dungeon..."

"Yeah. I think we know."

"There's so many... orcs..."

"Yeah, I think we know that as well."

"There is... A boss room."

Hod suddenly mentions, and I turned to Valey with a concerned look. That's something we should've known, but didn't realize until he mentioned it. 

Valey returned with the same glare, but it seems like we both had different opinions.

"Then, let's go and kill it."

"But, you both are already too tired!"

I know, Valey... there's no hope for me. I can barely move, especially after that little berserk moment to kill the orcs. Hod is also in no shape to fight, so that leaves just one person.

Me and Hod both grinned at Valey, who is still in full energy.

"W-What?"

"You know, I tried learning bow and arrows, just like you."

Hod suddenly says, and I like where this is going.

"What?"

"And I somehow bought two sets of quivers so that I can keep on training."

"What?? Wait!?"

Hod summoned the two quivers inside his storage ring that he used for training bow and arrows, and I can tell that these are in good quality.

"Wait a minute, Hod!? Rize!?"

"You are a Blue, Valey. Surely the boss will only be... White ranked?"

"What the hell did you just say, Rize!?!?"

I finished the healing and lent my hand for Hod to pull. He lifted his body up and realized that he is all good now, and he thanked me for healing him.

"Okay, all set. Hod, can you stand now?"

"Yeah. I can't fight anymore though, but I can still stand."

"Neither can I."

We both then glared at Valey again, and the best female archer can only turn so afraid. For sure, this is the first time she got put into this condition.

"Hiiii!!!--"

"You can do this, Valey!"

"Yeah. It's only natural."

All of a sudden, Valey suddenly stopped breathing. Her body then collapsed to the side and fell head first to the stone floor.

... She fainted? Just from that!? We were joking, though!?

I almost used my healing magic when Hod immediately carried Valey on his back. Hod looked at me.

"Are we seriously fighting the boss?"

"Definitely not. I can't even move my legs."

I said while sitting with my legs spread, and Hod noticed just how tired I was. He too laid his back on the ground again, and it seems like we're both too tired to move.

"Do you remember the way out, by any chance?"

I asked Hod because I definitely don't, but he only turned to me confused.

"I fell into a hole. My way back is the way back to the hole. If anything, you should've been the one to know..."

... Haha. Oops.

"I guess we'll just have to explore--"

VWOOMMM!!!!!!

All of a sudden, a cold breeze went past our bodies. Hod quickly turned shivering from the wind, but my reaction was far too extreme.

I stood up very quickly, and I stared straight towards the path Hod came from. Both of my swords appeared on my hands, very ready to fight anything that might come out of it.

"... Rize?"

"You said... there was a dungeon boss?"

Hod quickly realized the reasoning behind my reaction, and he too stood up from getting it.

"The path near the hole where I fell. It's a large door."

"Did you see the boss?"

"No, the boss was inside."

"Did you notice... the boss' pressure?"

Hearing that last question, Hod only turned surprised. He shook his head, and I let out a sigh at how much this situation sucks.

"Grab Valey... we'll be taking a look."