Battle in the Moonlight
Two moons illuminated the forest. When I looked up, I realized that one was missing. This world had three moons. I wasn"t sure about the exact rotations, as they seemed to increase and decrease. But there were two of them up in the sky now, and they were not too bright. I wonder what time it was? It had been nearly five hours since the sun went down, so it was likely around eleven.
I had finished the last battle council with Virgil, and the orcs had still not attacked us yet. We thought that they must intend to attack us in our sleep, and so we set watchers in place and separated the rest into those who would sleep and those who would stay alert. It was clear now that this would be a night battle, and it would negatively affect us if everyone stayed awake the whole time. By the way, I was part of the guarding team. I"m sure I would get tired in the morning, but I could sleep once we had defeated the orcs. Of course, if that didn"t happen, it would be an eternal sleep for me. In other words, I would be fighting for the ability to sleep comfortably.
One hour pa.s.sed since I was put on guard duty. It was now midnight. I was walking in the trench made on top of the earthen walls. So far, there was nothing to see.
I had asked Daniela to make it so we could walk here. It allowed you to see outside and use your bow. It would have been easy, had it been done in the beginning, but no one had thought of it then. The wall was just seen as a line of protection. So I asked Daniela to make this walkway all around the walls and then gave her a potion from my belt as a reward.
"Ah, but this is the one that I bought."
"Well, uh, enjoy it."
"…"
It was a refreshing way to replenish your reserve of magic. Kind of like those drinks that are a measure against hangovers. Daniela downed the bottle and then returned to the girls" tent in an annoyed mood. She was part of the team that would be resting.
There were several other Adventurers who were patrolling the dirt walls. I saw Gardo among them and stared at him for a moment. Something was wrong. He was looking at a single point in the distance and keeping still.
"Gardo, what is it?"
"…There. Those bushes. Something is there."
"Really? Wait a second."
I used my Night Eyes skill in the direction that Gardo nodded in. As I stare into the darkness, my vision starts to become clearer. Beyond the bushes. There was…
"Gardo, it"s orcs!"
"I knew it!"
After this confirmation, Gardo sucked in deeply and then roared so that the entire camp could hear him.
"Orcs!!"
At this, Adventurers, who had been sleeping, came rolling out of their tents. And those who were on guard unsheathed their swords or readied their bows.
Of course, the orcs would have heard this alarm. The ones who had been peering over the bushes pulled back immediately. And then several arrows flew out from the dark. I frantically ducked behind the wall to avoid them.
"We could have taken them by surprise."
Gardo scratched awkwardly at his chin after realizing his mistake.
"That might have worked, but we don"t know how many of them there are. What if we ambushed them, only to be surrounded?"
"That"s true. So, Asagi. What"s the plan now?"
"We"ll attack them from above the wall. Thin their numbers down."
"Understood!"
Well, that was really the job of the bowmen. As part of the team that would fight with swords, our turn would come later. I jumped down from the wall just as the archers began to loose their arrows. I could hear the cries of the orcs from outside. It seemed to be going smoothly for now, and so I left them there and headed towards Virgil.
Virgil was holding two swords in his hands and barking out orders. I guess he was a dual-wielder. Virgil noticed me and walked forward.
"It has started then."
"Yeah. The archers are doing their job for now. How"s the entrance?"
"Aye, I wonder where they could have been watching us from. But they have come to tear it down."
The two of us walked to the entrance and climbed the wall in order to look down. There were several orcs below, and they were using something like sledgehammers. The wall shook with every loud hit, but it was too durable to break from that. But the wood that was. .h.i.t exploded into shards in the air.
I looked at this and grinned.
"If they only knew what h.e.l.l lies after this wooden barrier."
"Indeed… Well, there is no need to wait."
Virgil sheathed his left sword and lined his forefinger and middle finger together. With that, he made a slashing motion that started at his right shoulder and ended on his left side. It was as if he were cutting an enemy in front of him. And at the same time, he said the name of the spell.
"Aero Slicer!"
A light green-colored wind tore through the air when his voice rang. It flew straight towards an orc"s arms, severing them both completely as if it were nothing.
"GGGHRAAGGGH!!"
An expression of anger covered the orc"s face as it writhed on the ground, attempting to use its non-existent arms to stop the bleeding. It"s blue blood sprayed as it howled. Yet, it"s comrades ignored him, as they continued to run towards the wooden wall with their hammers.
"Wind magic? You can dual wield swords and also use magic. Impressive."
"Hmm? Sarcasm, is it?"
"Never. I"m honestly impressed."
I said. But Virgil"s mouth twisted and he snorted. I was just admiring his skill…
"Well, we might just make it if things continue like this. Perhaps they were just orcs after all…"
"You shouldn"t let your guard down. These orcs are just fodder. Their seeing how we react to them."
"And yet our archers are making quick work of them. Replant"s Adventurers are brilliant. An orc will die for every arrow we have."
Virgil said as we watched the orcs moving in with their hammers. Indeed, there were dead orcs with arrows in them lying all over the place. In one shot. The deadly arrows caught their targets in the forehead. These were no ordinary archers…
"Those were done by the leader of the archery team, "Surefire." He never misses his target."
"And that"s why he"s called "Surefire," huh… It"s a simple alias, but to the point."
"I doubt that there are many archers that can beat him. See there. That"s Surefire Failnaught."