"Don’t attack!"

Elianna shouted to try and stop a conflict from erupting.

Her voice cracked with a sense of desperate urgency. She could see the situation spiraling out of control in real-time. The massive wooden gates had opened, and they were facing a disciplined, well-armed force that looked ready to defend their territory to the death. This wasn’t a simple mission anymore; it was an act of war against a sovereign power they hadn’t even known existed!

"?!!"

Kael and his squad members heard her, and they immediately stopped on their tracks.

They trusted Elianna. They skidded to a halt as they looked back at her in confusion.

Though—

"KILL THEM ALL!!!"

The knight commander was too focused on attacking that he didn’t hear the saintess’ words. His face was angry. He saw the orcs not as people, but as obstacles standing between him and a glory. And it wasn’t just him—this applies to everyone else in the expedition group!

"GRAAA!!!"

"DIEEEE!!!"

With the young masters and their family knights at the front, they rushed at the open gate, toward the village! The mercenaries they hired had no choice but to follow after them.

The sound was deafening—the thunder of hundreds of feet, the clanking of metal, and the high-pitched screams of men who thought they were the protagonists of a heroic tale.

They have their weapons raised, the young masters and some knights were even riding their horse. They were screaming battle cries!

The horses’ eyes were wild with fear, their nostrils flaring as they were spurred toward the line of hulking orcs standing in the gateway.

And then, not long—

TAK!

A son of Count from the capital reached the orcs first while riding his warhorse! He has a huge halberd as a weapon.

The weapon was a work of art, etched with runes and polished until it shone like a mirror. The young noble was leaning forward in his saddle, his face twisted in a sneer of superiority. He confidently charged because unlike the other young nobles—he actually trained in fighting ever since he was young. He was talented and can control mana to a good extent that he can cover his weapon and body parts with it!

And so, with mana enveloping his arms and weapon—

"I’LL MAKE IT PAINLESS!!!"

SWOOSH—!!!

He swung his halberd horizontally as hard as he could!

The blade whistled through the air, aimed directly at the necks of the first row of orcs. With the power behind his attack and the length of his weapon; he could’ve split five soldiers in half with it!

Well... five normal human soldiers.

S L A S H—BOOM!

A single orc stepped up, and responding to the young master’s attack; it swung down its steel axe diagonally down.

The orc didn’t even use mana. It just used its normal power and just focused on the speed, and in doing so—its attack landed first—slicing through the armor of the young master, cutting his torso in half, and even his warhorse!

The orc’s axe passed through them like a knife cutting a butter, it wasn’t able to stop its attack and the orc’s weapon slammed on the ground; cracking it and sending a small shockwave around!

And after that—THUD!

The body of the young master and his horse fell on the ground, lifeless.

The transition from a proud, mana-coated warrior to two separate piles of meat happened in the blink of an eye. The halberd, once so beautiful, clattered onto the dirt.

"?!!"

Silence followed the surrounding area after that.

All the rushing soldiers stopped dead on their tracks seeing someone just drop like a fly in a single swing from an orc. The momentum of the human charge evaporated instantly, replaced by a cold, creeping dread.

And as if that wasn’t enough—there was over 50 orcs in front of them!

Every single one of them was just as large, just as well-armored, and just as focused as the one who had just ended the Count’s son.

"...!"

The knight commander was taken aback as well.

He had seen strong monsters before, but the casual ease with which that orc had handled a mana-user was beyond anything he had expected. He felt a bead of sweat roll down his neck.

But swallowing his disbelief and denying what he had just seen—

"T—THAT WAS JUST A FLUKE; MAGES RAIN THEM WITH MAGIC!!!"

Instead of stopping the attack, he issued a new order to start another one!

His pride wouldn’t allow him to retreat now. He pointed his sword toward the wall, his voice shaking with a mix of fury and fear. And this time, it was the mages.

At the knight commander’s order; all the ten mages started gathering mana to themselves to charge up for a combined magic attack!

WHIIIIISH~! CRACK!

They stood in a circle, their staves held high. The air around them began to crackle and pop as they drew in the surrounding energy. The mana of the forest are corrupted, so doing this harmed their bodies a bit.

’It burns...’

One mage thought, his face pale and covered in a cold sweat. He could feel the oily, dark mana of the [Cursed Forest] stinging his circuits like acid.

But ignoring the pain, they just continued! And after a while—FWIP!

They all raised their hands in unison, and out of nowhere—

WHOOOOOOOOSH!!!

A massive fireball that looks like a small version of the sun appeared out of nowhere!

It was a terrifying orb of pure white and orange flame, pulsing with enough heat to turn the surrounding grass into ash. It was so hot that even the members of the expedition team started backing away, shielding their eyes from the blinding glare.

Then because they couldn’t hold onto it for long—

"TAKE THIS!"

"DIEEE!!!"

WHOOSH--!

The mages threw that small sun toward the walls without hesitation. Especially aiming at the people on top of the walls!

The projectile moved with a low, heavy roar, vaporizing the moisture in the air as it traveled.

Tatum and the others saw this coming at them. The heat was already singing the hair on their arms, but they didn’t move an inch. Tatum looked at the burning orb with a bored expression.

"Mamon."

Then he just called for the elder of the orcs!

"On it."

Mamon Answered, his staff already raised in the air!

The old orc didn’t look worried at all. Mana was swirling around him, and his eyes were glowing. He tapped the butt of his staff against the wooden battlements.

Then before the sun could even reach them—

SWIIIIIIISH~!!!

A towering wall of violent gust of winds was summoned in front of them, and those winds—

FWAAAAAAAAH—BOOOM!!!

The wind didn’t just blow; it compressed. It formed a massive, swirling barrier of high-pressure air that acted like a solid shield. They collided with the mini sun and stopped it!

The fireball hit the wind wall and flattened. The magic launched by the mages exploded before dissipating into thin air!

The heat vanished as quickly as it had come, replaced by a cool, refreshing breeze. The combined effort of 10 mages were stopped by a single orc sorcerer!

"W-What...?"

And as they were all surprised by this—

"SHOOT!"

Kuma, the leader of the gnolls, shouted that from the top of the wall!

And before the expedition team could even recover—FWIIIISH—!!!

Countless arrows flew towards them, it started raining arrows!

The gnolls at the side of the orcs released their shots! They weren’t using normal bows; they were using heavy-duty crossbows that had a terrifying piercing power.

"C—COVER!!!"

The commander knight ordered as arrows started hitting them.

The sound of arrows hitting shields was like hail on a tin roof—tink, tink, thwack! The mages made mana barriers, while the others raised their shields.

But even with the barriers, the sheer volume of the projectiles was overwhelming. Some of them were injured because of the arrows, and some mercenaries even died as the bolts found gaps in their leather armor or pierced through their helms.

Anyway, seeing the humans in defense just like that—

"ATTACK!"

Groo, the leader of the orcs, ordered that!

And as his deep voice echoed—BAM!!!

The line of orcs shifted as one. All the orcs below started rushing at the expedition team, And as they reached them—SLASH!!!

"KEEUK?!!"

They started slaughtering the humans!

The orcs moved with a frightening efficiency. They didn’t swing wildly; they used their weapons with the precision of soldiers who had practiced their forms thousands of times. The human front line crumbled under the sheer weight and force of the orcs.

"...!"

Everything happened so fast, Elianna was pushed to make another decision with how things turned out.

She saw the orcs plowing through the knights like they were made of paper. She could see the blood spraying into the air and hear the screams of the dying. She bit her lips, and with a frown on her face—

’I can’t let them all die here, even if they were the ones who started this.’

She realized that her duty as a Saintess was to preserve life, even the lives of those being foolish.

"PROTECT EVERYONE!"

She ordered that.

Her words mostly toward Kael and the squad members. She didn’t mean for them to kill the orcs, but to create a defensive perimeter to stop the massacre.

And just like this; a small, full-out war happened outside Verc’s territory.

*****

CLANG! TANG! TIIINK--!!!

SLASH!

"GURGH...!"

The knights and the orcs collided in a messy, bloody tangle of metal and limbs. The knights are at disadvantage in terms of raw power—but they make up for it with number; they never fought an orc on their own.

It usually took three or four knights to hold back a single orc. They moved in groups.

And with good coordination, they felled a few of the orcs before helping another knight!

The mages started launching attacks again to support the knights, but they were stopped by Mamon on top of the wall every time.

It was like he had the winds in the vicinity under his control!

Every time a fireball or a bolt of lightning was cast, a sudden downdraft or a swirling vortex would knock the spell off course or snuffed it out entirely.

Anyway; the gnolls, they targeted the mages, shooting as they stayed on the gates still.

They knew that the mages were the biggest threat to their comrades on the ground. And because of them—the 10 mages are now down to 7!

The remaining mages were forced to spend more time maintaining their personal shields than casting offensive spells.

And as if the gnolls and the orcs aren’t enough... the 5 dark elves and the 3 beastwomen behind the gates with crates all around them joined in.

They moved with a quiet, practiced speed. They opened the crates, and inside—they took out weird looking plants.

These weren’t normal forest plants; they looked mutated, pulsing with a faint light. They then all grabbed a potato-looking one that colors violet, then threw it at the side of the expedition group!

Everyone ignored it, not paying attention to them.

In the heat of the battle, with steel clashing and magic exploding, small violet vegetables were the last thing on anyone’s mind. They just thought they were debris flying from all the fighting.

But then—TAP—as soon as the potato-looking plants touched the ground...

FWIIIIP—!!!

Vines sprouted from them and wrapped around everyone around them!

It was instantaneous. One moment the "potato" was sitting in the mud, and the next, thick vines had shot out like hungry snakes. The 8 potato-looking plants that was thrown caught 3 of the mages and 2 knights!

The vines tightened with a sickening creak of leather and bone.

And as they were down—PHUCK!!!

The gnolls shot and targeted them, killing 2 of the mages and injuring both the knights before they could escape!

The formation of the expedition group was falling apart.

It would seem like the expedition team was losing...

But they were not—SLASH!

The commander knight, true to his title—just killed 3 orcs on his own.

He moved like a golden blur, his sword cutting through orc armor and flesh with ease. He was a master of his craft, and his desperation had given him a second wind.

Meanwhile; Elianna, Kael, and the squad members just defeated one orc each, totaling to 6 orcs! 9 if you add the commander’s kills!

They fought with a grim determination, focusing on defense and counter-attacking only when necessary. Elianna moved through the chaos like a ghost, her presence providing a faint aura of healing and calm to those around her.

These seven people were the one holding back Verc’s subordinates!

Without them, the battle would have already been over. They were the anchor that kept the expedition group from being completely swept away.

"..."

Tatum, and everyone on top of the wall noticied them, of course.

They stood on the battlements, watching the flow of the fight below. They could see the way the Saintess and her squad were managing the battlefield.

They all looked at each other, realizing it was time for the elites to step in.

So opening his mouth--

"Mamon and Kuma, stay here to control the situation."

"Pwyll, Bernia. Handle the commander knight."

"Ashley, Neit, Moro, Jai, Maya, and the orc family heads; deal with the knights wearing armors with sun engraved on them."

Tatum assigned roles to everyone!

They all nodded, their weapons at the ready. They had been itching to join the fray.

Then looking back at the battle happening below them—Tatum’s eyes locked onto Elianna.

"Groo, Jed, and I will handle that strong woman leading them."

Tatum added that.

And without a word—BAM!

They all kicked off and immediately headed to their designated task!

They didn’t use the stairs; they simply leaped from the top of the wall, their figures silhouetted against the dark canopy of the [Cursed Forest] as they descended like hungry predators into the chaos below.