Chương 73: Mugreth

"It's beginning," I whispered.

"That's the signal!"

"What do we do?" Sage asked.

"We can't just attack Mugreth right here!" Already, more horns were sounding, and outside the inner wall, human voices shouted. Steel clanged, and Dupes' voices rang out through the fog.

"We have to lead him away," I whispered.

"And before he decides to kill the portreeve. Anchor, can you try to kill him from a distance? Take out Mugreth and spare the portreeve?"

"If it doesn't kill him, he'll see us," Anchor warned.

"That's exactly what we need. We'll corner him in a narrow street and take him down." Anchor nodded. He rose up slowly, drawing his bowstring back and aiming his shot, then fired it down with a resonance Skill. It pierced the air with a boom, cracking through the statue and blasting into Mugreth's side—aiming for his lungs. It pierced his flesh, but didn't bite in deep. The force, however, was enough to knock him off the side of his ruin-hound and send him skidding along the ground on his back.

"Please be enough…" I breathed, still peering over the peak of the roof. Mugreth snarled something and hopped to his feet. He grabbed a seemingly high-ranking orc, shouted a command, then pointed to the wall, and the orc rushed about, gathering up the army. Orc horns blew, and they rushed to the wall, moving to fend off the attack. Meanwhile, Mugreth pushed the portreeve aside and pointed up to the roof where we were.

"Duck!" I hissed. In the chaos, I could barely hear Mugreth snarl, "Shamans, with me! After those worms!"

"Did you hear that?" I hissed to Anchor.

"Shamans," he replied.

"Can we fight Mugreth and a few shamans?" Sage asked.

"I do not think we have much of a choice, sister," Brawl told her.

"He has two shamans with him, and they're both Steels," said Anchor, using his Perception skill.

"Mugreth is a Titanium."

"Doesn't matter. We have to try," I said.

"We'll use the chaos of the battle to our advantage. Bring them closer to the wall." That way, if we needed a quick escape, we could dart back and rejoin the rest of our force—or maybe one of the thegns would pick up on the shamans and help us take them out.

"Anchor, hit that awning's support. You think you can drop it?"

"I can, but it's right above the portreeve's head…" Anchor warned.

"Precisely," I said. Anchor fired a regular arrow without a Skill, and it streaked through the air toward the awning. It sliced through a rotten beam, and the awning collapsed on the portreeve's head, knocking him unconscious.

"Levi, watch out!" Sage yelled.

"Shaman!" I couldn't see the shaman pointing its staff, but the air trembled, and a high-pitched scream, like thousands of souls crying out in agony, roared through the air. The roof exploded where I'd just been standing, and a blast of black ash blasted through the roof, instantly rotting the wood and turning the shingles to dust. Sawdust and splinters pelted me, but no one had been hit by the attack.

"Run!" I shouted. We raced over the rooftops, jumping between buildings and aiming for the wall. Mugreth and the shamans chased after us on foot, and they kept up. Blasts of black ash chased us, spewing from the orc shamans' staves. As best I could tell, shamans were similar to our sorcerers. Powerful ranged attackers, but up close, they couldn't do much. As for Mugreth, I didn't know. While I didn't have a great sample size, though, all the orcs seemed to use rot-based attacks.

Their attacks could pierce armour, and they had an aura of death that seemed to function as an instant killing spell. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The closer we got to the wall, the louder the sounds of battle were. I couldn't see perfectly, but from the few glimpses out the gate that I took, hundreds of orcs had rushed to the now open gate, and more were streaming through the city, rushing to action.

They filled the streets like black sand in an hourglass, stopping at the checkpoint and bunching up. Sir Aldhelm unleashed a storm Art, wiping out a massive swath of orcs as they approached the gate, but the thegns and Lord Ceonwin couldn't hold on their own. The civilians and regular army Dupes formed a battle line and pushed through, holding the orcs in a killing field at the gate. For now, everything was going to plan. But that would only last if we kept the shamans and Mugreth busy.

Sappers spread out along the inner wall, overtaking orc positions with deadly precision and pure Arts, then taking aim and launching projectiles into the city. Once we were close enough to the wall, I pointed down into a narrow, deserted street where we could use our preferred formation best against Mugreth.

"There!" I yelled. We swung down over the house's eave and landed in a crouch.

"Formation one," I instructed, taking a position beside Brawl.

"Anchor, focus on the shamans. They should be easy pickings for you. Brawl, you're the only one with a shield, so I need you to try to soak up the shamans' attacks. If Brawl gets hit, Sage, is there anything you can do?"

"I can stall the effects of their attacks!" she replied.

"I can hold it long enough for his Vitality to overwhelm the rot."

"Perfect, we'll need that. Brawl, get your Art charging. I'll keep Mugreth off you until we've dealt with the shamans or someone comes to help us." As soon as the shamans and Mugreth rounded the corner, they turned to face us. The orcs breathed wispy breaths in the cold midday air, but they hadn't seemed to exert themselves at all.

"Nowhere to run," Mugreth snarled.

"Sneaky assassins. That worm Ceonwin would stoop so low, tsk? To shoot me in the back?" I shook my head.

"Nah, we shot you in the side. Not the back. Plus"—I pointed my thumb over my shoulder at Anchor—"blame that guy."

"Thanks, Levi…" Anchor groaned.

"You're welcome," I whispered back.

"Don't worry, I won't let him reach you."

"You won't have a choice, sameface," Mugreth said.

"We'll make mince of you three and take the girl for ourselves! A fine specimen, she is, tsk!" At first, I was surprised he heard my whispers. He must have had decently high Perception—he was, after all, a Titanium.

"Come and get us," I growled.

"Kill them," Mugreth commanded. His shamans lowered their staves and pointed them at us. I dodged to the side, avoiding one blast, and Brawl blocked the other with his shield. It ate into the wood, but it would take a few more hits to destroy a properly-made shield like that.

"Hold…" I whispered. Mugreth and the shamans approached, marching forward slowly. They launched another pair of rot-blasts, which had the same minimal effect. But soon, it would wear down Brawl's shield. We had to get closer.

"Forward, now," I said, nudging Brawl's shoulder. He blocked a blast, then leaned over to absorb one and stop it from hitting me, catching it on his flank. He grunted, but Sage and Morph leapt in, holding her arms out. Black rot spread beneath his chainmail, trying to eat away at his flesh, but she contained it, and his body processed it, pushing the rot back out of his flesh and keeping him alive. Anchor leaned to the side, launching a Skill-enhanced arrow into the nearest Shaman.

It struck the beast in the neck, piercing deep but not yet killing it. It pointed its staff at Brawl again, trying to hit him with a second attack, and to flank both sides, and Anchor fired a second enhanced shot, piercing the orc shaman's eye. It fell backward, dead. Brawl whipped his flail around, smashing through the wall of a nearby building while trying to hit both the shaman and Mugreth. It didn't work.

The shaman conjured a wall of black mist, and though Brawl used a resonance Skill, it was only strong enough to shatter the wall—it stole all the momentum and stopped the attack. Mugreth spat on his blade, then smeared it around with his hand, covering the blade in steaming black mist. Lunging, he aimed to pierce Brawl's chest, but I kept Mugreth back with my longer reach, forcing him to jump away before I could hit him.

"Anchor!" I yelled.

"I'll pierce the shield, you kill him!" Brawl blocked another rot blast with his shield, and this time, it was enough to finish disintegrating the shield. Wood chips flew, and specks of rotten wood and rusting metal landed on Brawl's arm. I lunged at the shaman, aiming for his face, and as expected, he raised a wall of black ash. My resonance Skill pierced through it, shattering it like it was a pane of glass, but it stopped most of my spear's motion. That didn't matter.

Anchor was in position to finish the job, and he did. His arrow shot forward, piercing the shaman's skull and sending it skidding back along the stone street. It fell dead as soon as it hit the ground. But I was exposed. Mugreth batted my spear down with his sword, and he nearly cleaved through the haft with a single sweep. I couldn't take another hit like that—nevermind his physical strength, which made my spear clang off the ground and bounce.

I leaned back to avoid the second swipe, letting the blade swish past my nose, then stalled the orc commander with a well of gravity, slowing him and allowing myself to avoid the third jab.

"Levi, behind us!" Sage yelled. Regular orcs swarmed into the street, filling up the alley behind. I grimaced. Clearly, we weren't getting any help from the thegns—they probably had their own problems. This squad was the only resource I had. While Mugreth was slowed by the gravity well, I shouted, "Brawl, help them out. Cover them! Anchor, alternate between helping me and killing the orcs over there! Sage, focus on keeping Brawl on his feet! If I need a heal, I'll call out."

I didn't have time to check for confirmation. Mugreth broke free from the gravity well and charged me, and I rushed forward to meet him.