Chapter 180: The orcs

"You seem a bit tired, Vlad," Alisha asked, leaning closer to him. "Did you not sleep properly last night?"

Vlad was standing against the tree, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Seraphina was feeding her Qilin while Hugo was brushing the snow off his direwolf’s fur.

Her question immediately attracted both Hugo and Seraphina’s attention.

’He didn’t sleep properly last night?’ Seraphina’s brows rose, her irises trembling with nervousness. ’Did I kick him in my sleep? Or did I make him uncomfortable? No, it can’t be. He wouldn’t have held me so tightly if that were true. So it must be the former. I need to find out.’

She slowly dragged her feet towards the duo to hear Vlad’s reply.

’Wait a minute. Vlad and Lady Seraphina slept in the same camp,’ Hugo gasped inwardly as he leaned closer to Vlad and Alisha to eavesdrop on their conversation. ’Was my hunch really true?’

"It was a very comfortable and warm night inside the capsule," Vlad replied, opening his eyes. "I got too excited and spent the whole night watching the stars. Before I knew it, it was already morning."

’Oh, so all he did was stargazing,’ Hugo sighed in disappointment, returning to his work.

’A comfortable and warm night...’ Seraphina repeated his words, a smile blooming on her face.

A few minutes later, Raphael’s griffin descended from the sky, gathering everyone around it.

Raphael dismounted the beast and revealed in his usual uptight tone, "I have thoroughly scouted all the nearby areas. Just as I reported yesterday, there are only three orcs."

"Alright then, there is no need to make any changes to the plan," Seraphina replied, the blush gone from her face, her eyes focused and her demeanor composed.

They left their beasts around the capsule camp, moving on foot towards the location of the orcs.

After walking for around twenty minutes, they reached the spot. The squad stood at different positions around the forest. Vlad, who had the most experience with climbing, was standing atop a branch of a tall tree.

Below him, three giant humanoid monsters, each standing nearly ten feet tall, were feasting on the carcass of a dead polar bear.

They had massive, muscular bodies covered in coarse green skin, with broad shoulders, thick limbs, and hunched backs that gave them a distinctly savage appearance. Their large grey eyes were dull and animalistic, while short, coarse hair covered their heads. Prominent lower fangs protruded from their wide mouths, which were smeared with blood and chunks of flesh.

Their thick arms and hands were crimson with the polar bear’s blood as they tore into its carcass with their bare hands, devouring the flesh like wild beasts.

Naturally, having lived in the wilderness, they wore no clothing, leaving their enormous bodies completely exposed to the freezing cold.

"So these are the orcs," Vlad murmured, his eyes never leaving their terrifying figures. "They look far more threatening than I have seen in paintings."

An average orc possessed the strength of ten elephants, and its magical skin was considered as thick as rock, providing natural resistance against pure physical attacks.

However, what placed them at the peak of Rank Two monsters was their regenerative ability. Within just a single day, an orc could regenerate a severed arm. A week was enough for an orc at death’s door to completely heal itself.

Vlad’s eyes shifted to Seraphina, who was standing a few metres behind on the ground, beside the trunk of the tree. She slightly waved her hand towards Raphael, who was standing beside the neighbouring tree.

He gave a silent nod before vanishing from his place.

A small dark portal opened above the orcs, from which Raphael descended. He landed directly on the shoulders of one of the orcs. Thin threads, barely visible to the naked eye, wrapped around the orc’s neck, connected to all ten of his fingers.

Before the orc could even react, he suddenly crossed his arms in a jolt, cleanly beheading the orc.

By the time the other two orcs became aware of his presence and lunged their sharp claws at him, he had already vanished, reappearing at the same place beside the tree.

"This is how the mage who has awakened one of the rarest elements, Aether, looks in a fight," Vlad gasped. He didn’t waste more than a second in admiration. Now that the element of surprise was gone and they had successfully killed one orc with an ambush, it was time for the knights to enter the battle.

He unsheathed his blade and descended from the tree, the crimson blade of The Éclair, laced in Mana Blade, pointed directly at the orc below.

From the ground, Hugo shouted, gathering the two orcs’ attention. "Come at me, fuckers!" he exclaimed, rushing them head-on, his sword unsheathed.

Thanks to the distraction caused by him, Vlad managed to land a clean strike on one of the orcs, his sword piercing through its upper back and bulging out from its chest, splattering dark green blood.

’I aimed for its neck, but it dodged at the last moment,’ Vlad muttered inwardly. ’Just as Sera said, the orcs have sharp senses. An ambush could work only once against them.’

He jumped off the orc’s back, the sword ripping free from its body as he landed a few metres in front of it.

Hugo had already engaged himself in a battle against the other orc.

"GRRR," the orc growled, baring its fangs at Vlad.

It grabbed a massive mace, half the size of Vlad’s height, from beside the carcass of the bear. The mace was carved out of stone, its surface smooth and its head painted crimson with dried blood. It must have been the very weapon the orcs had used to kill the bear.

’I must end this quickly without exhausting myself,’ Vlad decided, tightening his grip on the hilt.

The orc lunged at him, swinging the mace in a wide horizontal arc.

Vlad bent backward, letting the mace pass over him. His eyes widened as he saw the destruction caused by its swing behind him.

All the snow had been swept away from the ground for a dozen metres. The leaves of the trees were ripped from their branches, scattering backward.

"Damn, I can’t let it hit me," Vlad murmured, straightening his back as the swing ended.