The atmosphere still remained tense.
The heavy breathing of the orcs mixed with the sweat rolling off their faces.
The hungry growls of the beasts echoed through the air, an ever-present reminder that the danger had yet to pass.
It was only ten of their strongest orcs against an entire horde of beasts.
Yet, the orcs fought back valiantly.
Even outnumbered, the serum’s strength coursing through them kept the orcs standing
A few of them who were originally at level 1 jumped to level 2.
And could now use more of their mutant powers without feeling any exhaustion or side effects.
But even then, the number of beasts was still too much.
It often took two of the orcs to kill a beast.
Only Aria and a few others could manage to take on more than one themselves, and that too with much difficulty.
However, despite all this... the orcs knew they couldn’t give up.
Right behind them were the hopeful gazes of the strangers who had now become family.
And the same people for whom they went through the pain of the serum—and then there was Akhil, who gave everything he could for their survival and even now was still fighting against the boss of the beasts.
For that sheer purpose, giving up felt like a crime they couldn’t commit.
They were tired, exhausted. But the burning flames of resilience and the sheer will to survive left them standing on their feet, ready to face any obstacle that came their way.
At least... until what little time was left for the beasts to leave.
"I’ll be the bait, you take it from the back!" one of the orcs shouted as he took a beast head-on, holding the beast by the wrist with a firm grip.
The beast clawed at him, snapping its sharp jaws in a desperate need to taste the orc’s succulent blood run down its throat.
The beast ferociously thrashed at him, ultimately using its lower claws to slash at him.
"Arrghh! Mhm!" the orc let out a low grunt but held firmly.
Before the beast could throw another attack, a brutal slash came from the side.
Fast and decisive, the axe cut through the beast’s head in a clean swoop, the blood forming an arc of red as it splashed against the orc who held the beast.
The orc who had been holding the beast sat on his butt, exhausted, letting out ragged breaths.
"J! You should’ve just gone for the stomach, now I’m covered in blood," the orc complained, cleaning the sticky blood off his face.
"I had to make sure it died at once. We don’t have time for second strikes here," J, the middle-aged orc, replied calmly.
"Get up, we still have to deal with the other beasts," J added, helping the orc up as he looked at the two beasts that were now coming for them.
"Ahhh, this is endless... I just hope we don’t die from this," the orc said, still trying to gather his breath and steady himself.
"If you’re worried about yourself, have you taken a look at them?" J asked, momentarily turning to Akhil and Nibo.
"From the left! Block!" Akhil yelled.
"Sure!" Immediately, Nibo turned around, positioning himself in front of the attack.
His hands crossed over his face.
CLANG!
The sharp claws of the wolf cut across his metallic skin, letting off sparks of white light as it passed.
Just as it finished its attack, Nibo shifted out of the way,
"Attack!" He barked through gritted teeth, he skin was thick, not indestructible.
Akhil dived straight at the beast with his dagger.
He poured in all his strength into the attack, his hands moving in a blur.
The wolf leapt back into the air, and almost as though it was stepping on solid air,
It glided through the sky, coming from another angle.
Claws ready for another decisive attack.
They had already been at this for minutes now.
Since Akhil’s head was still open for injuries, he had Nibo act as a human shield.
With his sharp perception, he could direct the orc to the side where the attack was coming from and then throw an attack right after the beast landed its own.
It was a one-sided fight, considering they were only on the defensive.
But Akhil had other plans.
’We just have to get close enough to the others,’ Akhil thought as he kept moving closer and closer to the pile of dead beasts that were all over the earth.
Not only was he getting closer to the source of blood, but he was also doing his best to get the beast farther away from the orc settlement as much as he could.
While they were keeping the beast locked in a fight, if it got tired and sought an easier opponent, then it wouldn’t be able to harm those in the settlement.
At the end, the main priority was to keep everyone safe.
In no time, they had already reached near Aria, who was single-handedly taking care of three beasts at a time.
With her speed, even the beasts were having a hard time keeping up with her.
Seeing her, Akhil definitely knew that she would’ve been a perfect match for the boss.
Since both their abilities revolved around the same factor... speed.
’...But it’s a good thing she’s there as well. Else by now, the settlement would be flooded with beasts,’ Akhil thought as he finally stepped onto a puddle of blood.
He looked down at the puddle, a slight feeling of relief washing over him.
The blood slowly rose into the air, forming a thick red mist that curled around him.
{Blood essence has been absorbed from low-level beasts}
{+300 blood essence}
Now, he only had to wait for the beast to attack again.
Whipping through the wind like Santa’s deer, the wolf lunged straight at the two figures.
It had its eyes on Akhil; as the fight went on, it slowly recognized Akhil as the weaker yet more troublesome one.
And it wanted to deal with him first—and after leaving the injury on his neck earlier, it already knew his weak spot, unlike Nibo, who didn’t seem to have any.
Akhil was a much easier target.
As it approached the two, it suddenly vanished in the air.
Akhil momentarily closed his eyes, sharpening his senses.
"It’s coming from the right!" Akhil said, but just as the words left his mouth, he felt something was terribly wrong.
He felt another presence... No, it wasn’t another presence but a spike in speed.
The beast had deceived him!
Akhil quickly opened his eyes; the beast was diving straight at him, its claws wide open as though welcoming him in a warm embrace.
But Akhil smiled lightly as he saw this. The blood curled around his dagger, and without a second thought, he quickly slashed at the beast.
A thin red arc formed from the edge of the blade, catching the beast mid-air.
Swoosh!
The arc cut deep into the wolf, sending it back.
The beast was sent flying, rolling against the dirt.
It found its footing quickly, its gaze fixed on Akhil. It let out a loud howl, "Awoo!!!"
Blood dripped from the gash in its chest, but the beast didn’t look like it was going to give up.
Almost as though coming to the quiet realization that it couldn’t defeat Akhil and Nibo, it turned its gaze to the two orcs who were closest to it and had been observing Akhil’s fight.
"No, no, no," Akhil muttered. "No! J, get out of there!" His low mutter turned into a loud shout as he moved fast to stop the beast.
But while he was moving, the beast was also moving.