Chapter 26: Sacrifice (1)


    Afenos'' Point of View


    _______________


    I went to Rain and hugged her. "These people need you more than on the front lines. And don''t worry. I''d be back before you could even finish healing everyone."


    "Promise me you won''t lie" Rain answered, while sniffing. "I''ll kill you if you die."


    "Did your brother ever tell a lie?" I utched myself from Rain and went outside of the tent. "I wille back alive, Rain. I promise."


    I raced through the buzzing farmers that became fighters overnight. We headed forward to the fences and evacuated all the injured people out of the field. Although there were still dozens of vigers fearing the monsters, most of them protected the people. They stayed for a cause, showing their bravery to save the town.


    However, upon reaching the borders, piles of corpses weed my eyes. There was a flood of vigers resting on the ground with their eyes peeled open but never blinking. Some of them had their bodies torn into pieces, while others got sliced in half. The metallic stench of blood lingered through my nostrils, poisoning my lungs and body.


    As I directed my gaze up ahead, the horde of goblins, dire wolves, and ogres weed my sight. Each of the monsters released their killing intents, overflowing their bodies. That aura was enough to force anyone near to take a step backwards, with their minds telling everyone to run away from this ce.


    "What''s your order, Afenos?" the man beside me asked. Although I was no soldier, I had a status formanding the farmers to act on the field. Which was why these people saw me in high regard, hoping I could win them into victory.


    However, that idea was a pipe dream...


    "Tell the people to retreat. We would hold all of our defences in the za."


    "But Afenos, I," the man spoke with a lowered tone. He, too, knew the event happening before us.


    We couldn''t win this war. The town could only dy the inevitable, fighting ourst stand.


    "If we win, we get to keep our lives But If we die, we die while protecting the vige. Now, tell the vigers to retreat immediately!"


    With mymands, the man rushed towards the farmers. He then shouted for their attention, telling them to withdraw from the battle. Upon hearing those words, everyone fell back to their knees, even crawling away from the group of monsters. Those unfortunate men and women desperately tried freeing themselves from thetches of the goblins


    s, they failed to do so. Those vigers became ves and objects for the goblins.


    But the brave farmers who knew the situation refused to give up. These people stood on their grounds, continuing to fight the creatures up ahead. It was a matter of time before the monsters caught half of thepany and took them to their mercy.


    Within a matter of seconds, those fiends crushed the vigers into nothingness, leaving us alone on the battlefield. Among the hundreds of people that stepped foot on the bloody meadow, only five of us remained, even two of them disabled.


    "What happened to them?" I asked.


    "This guy had his legs sliced by the monsters, while the other cracked his bones Only one of them could move freely." the man exined, while showing me a wounded girl, who was the remaining person who got off the hook from the monsters.


    "Can you carry these two towards the vige? That man will help you," I instructed the woman, while passing the limped farmers to her shoulder.


    "As you wish, Afenos," the girl replied, and took the two injured farmers to the shack, together with the man who apanied me to this dreadful ce.


    I returned my focus to the monsters in front, with the five ogres standing before me. My hands conjured two magic circles, swirling with immense arcane, hoping that I could st them away with [hail]. (It is a powerful spell that covers everything with ice.)


    However, it did not end there. Before I could even direct my spell to the monsters in front of me, the ground quivered, disrupting my bnce. The force was not enough to take me down to the soil. But it was enough to send my feet backwards once again.


    "No fucking way"


    The information that the scouts gave us turned out wrong. Besides the five ogres and the surrounding dire wolves and goblins, there was a shape hidden behind their shadows.


    "Uruk hai," I mumbled, while shaking my head to calm myself down. "That can''t be possible? I only thought that Uruk-hais became extinct creatures for hundreds of years! Why would they appear right now?"


    I was azy bone, but not foolish enough to be an ignorant child. Rain was the person who told me about legends and myths, and one of them was the creature standing in front of me.


    Uruk-hai was an overpowered ogre that had enhanced speed, muscles, and intelligence. They craft their own make-shift weapons from stones and durable materials. What made them different among the ogres was their proficient use ofnguage. As much as Uruk-hai looked demonic and ugly, they acted like humans and leaders, ruling their kinds.


    One Uruk-hai had an equivalent statistical power over 10,000. A battalion of soldiers or apany of elite knights could kill one of their species, assuming that all of them could fight and had proper training.


    However, that differed to us, vigers who knew nothing about skirmishes. All these people living in their shacks knew nothing about magic and fighting. They could only harvest crops and hoe the soil, but never butting heads against each other. The poption of the vige was roughly around 500 people, including children and newborn babies. Around half of them learned how to fight on a whim, while others refused to die on the battlefield.


    I, who had barely grasped the sword and magic, stood tall on the lumped ground. With shivering hands holding my sword, I trudged forward and let out a wailing battle roar.


    It was my job to stall time against these monsters And if turned back right now, these mobs would follow me to the vige and kill everyone along their way.


    All I had to do was distract these monsters following me to the cliff where I killed the ogre. It was a goal among the stars, but it was my only chance to kill these powerful foes off without batting my sword.


    If I had spared luck in my life, now was the time to use all of them.


    I finally raised my hands and conjured the ultimate spell that I know about the army of monsters. A wave of ice emerged from my palms and spread towards the meadow. The corpses lying around turned into solid chunks of ice, as the chilling touch of the wind transformed everything into a crystal paradise.


    A smug carved itself on my mouth as I witnessed the abomination my spell could do to these monsters.


    However, the show continued, with the ogres shielding themselves from the cold. Each ogre raised their arms and protected themselves with their muscr elbows. I doubted those appendages would save them


    But my hunch proved me wrong.


    Those arms acted as a barrier, preventing the cold from reaching their skin. It was as if an invisible force field obstructed the trail of ice, rendering my spell useless against these bastards.


    "Shit shit shit shit shit SHIT!" I cursed out loud, and knelt on the ground.


    The spell consumed almost all of my arcane. I only had thirty seconds to continue this spell without making myself unconscious.


    "Come on please! Just a little more!"


    I knew that if the icy wind reached their heads, that would kill those ogres for sure! However, with those hands blocking the gust, there was nothing I could do but pray on my knees. I was a soldier that learned the art of wielding swords and weapons, not a mage that fired continuous magic at my enemies. Despite the difference in ss, I still put up a front and maximised all my arcane into this one massive spell.


    "Five seconds remaining"


    It was over. My arms turned into wobbling noodles, with the two magic circles shattering before me. The spell abruptly ended, leaving me defenceless and exhausted.


    But I refused to give up not like this.


    "I still have my sword," I whispered, and unsheathed my only weapon in my hand.


    The Uruk-hai continues staring at me uttering no instructions to its army. With one shake of its legs, the ice that formed on its body shattered like paper. It was as if nothing had happened despite the intense colding out from my arcane. The surrounding ogres did the same, as they broke free from the spell I used earlier.


    But the magic caught all the goblins and the dire wolves, leaving us to fight against the remaining five ogres and their leader.


    "You I like you. What''s your name, brave child." A voice came out from the Uruk-hai''s mouth as the monster trod closer in my direction.