Betrayal

"Gorgash! Gorgash!"

"Gorgash! Bonecrusher!"

Kyle's corpse was still twitching on the grass, spraying its last hot blood, but the Orc warriors around him erupted in earth-shattering cheers.

They raised their weapons high, shouting their leader's name in rough syllables—Gorgash, clearly exhilarated by this bloody victory.

Gorgash, the Orc leader clad in piecemeal plate armor, seemed to relish the adoration of his subordinates.

He extended his giant, blood-stained hand, casually wiping the brains and blood splattered on his face. His gaze swept across the devastated battlefield like a wild beast surveying its territory.

"Run!" Amidst the chaos, the remaining few terrified caravan porters scrambled out from behind the hidden wagons, attempting to flee towards the distant woods.

Gorgash didn't even bother to act himself.

Several burly Orcs behind him grinned, drew two short, thick javelins from their backs, and with a sudden surge of power, their arm muscles coiled like tightened ropes.

Swish! Swish!

The sharp sound of air being torn apart. The javelins, like black lightning, precisely pierced the backs of those poor souls.

They fell forward, lifeless, on the killing field before they could even let out a scream.

"No! Don't kill us!" The merchant Borin, hiding behind a wheel, screamed like a pig being slaughtered. He crawled out, using his hands and feet, almost prostrating himself on the ground. "Great... Orc lord! Don't you want the goods? Take it all! And money! I have lots of money!"

He gestured towards the wagons filled with wine and grain, his voice distorted by fear.

Gorgash glanced at the merchant with his cold eyes, like looking at a noisy insect.

He completely ignored the merchant's pleas, merely waving his hand impatiently.

"Kill them," he ordered in Common, his tone as flat as if he were telling his subordinates to clean up trash.

The remaining Orc warriors immediately let out bloodthirsty roars again, brandishing their battle axes and charging towards the few remaining survivors.

The battle erupted once more, but the tide had completely turned.

Without front-line tanks like Kyle and Captain Marcus, the remaining few were like candles in the wind.

Xia Lin gritted his teeth. The newly equipped reinforced leather armor had saved him several times; its hard golden scales had deflected several potentially fatal chops.

Using the wagons as cover, he constantly moved, dodged, and looked for openings in the Orcs' attacks.

His longsword darted out like a venomous snake, and another precise Pierce pierced through the gap in an Orc's neck armor.

Splat!

After dispatching this enemy, he immediately rolled away from another sweeping battle axe, and with the momentum, slammed his sword hilt into the opponent's knee.

Pommel Strike!

Crack! A crisp bone-breaking sound echoed.

The Orc screamed and fell to one knee.

Xia Lin didn't hesitate, countering with a swift sword strike, cleanly finishing it off.

This was his fifth kill, but his stamina was also rapidly depleting.

Shamir had also shot a few arrows, taking down another Orc, but her face was pale; the previous fright had clearly made it difficult for her to concentrate.

Pip had completely lost the will to fight. She tried to sneak again, but a sharp-eyed Orc spotted her and kicked her out of the shadows.

The small Halfling rolled onto the ground, covered in dirt and blood.

She looked at the approaching, grinning Orc and burst into tears, raising her hands high. "Don't kill me! I surrender! I surrender!"

Gorgash walked over, his massive shadow engulfing Pip.

He bent down, picked up the struggling, crying Halfling like a small chicken, and lifted her up.

"My boys like..." He grinned, revealing yellow teeth, and lewdly appraised Pip. "Halflings."

After speaking, he casually tossed Pip into the midst of several nearby Orcs.

"No!!" Pip let out a desperate scream.

Tear--! The sound of clothes being roughly torn apart.

Immediately after, an Orc let out an excited, low growl.

But the sound quickly stopped.

Pip's screams and cries also abruptly ceased.

An Orc who had grabbed her stood up cursing, "Bit her tongue! Useless!"

Another Orc leaned over, looking at Pip's wide-open eyes, blood flowing from her mouth, her corpse lifeless. A more twisted smile appeared on his face. "Heh, this way... I like it even more..."

Before he could finish, he was impatiently kicked away by a companion. "Get lost, Karga! Disgusting!"

A wave of rough, lewd laughter erupted from the surrounding Orcs.

Xia Lin witnessed all of this, his stomach churning. A cold rage and sense of powerlessness almost consumed him.

The only ones left who could fight in the caravan were him, Shamir, and Sera, whose arm had been broken and who had remained silent.

The merchant Borin was slumped on the ground like a dead dog, either scared unconscious or faking it.

Several orcs cautiously approached Sera.

They seemed filled with disgust and wariness towards the "devil spawn" exuding the smell of sulfur, but Gorgash's order was to kill everyone.

Sera clutched her broken arm and slowly straightened her body.

Her veil had fallen off at some point, revealing a pale purple face with an exotic yet eerily beautiful appearance.

The short horns on her forehead and her pupils, burning with dark red flames, were particularly striking in the afterglow of the sunset.

She looked at the approaching orcs, her face devoid of fear, instead showing a sinister smile.

"Are you sure you want to kill me?" Her voice was hoarse, yet carried a heart-stopping calmness, as if stating a fact. "If you kill me... you will regret it."

The threat contained in her tone didn't come from her own strength—it was more like hinting at some terrible curse, or some dreadful consequence that would be triggered after her death.

The orc at the forefront felt a chill down his spine under her gaze, and his steps involuntarily faltered.

Even Gorgash frowned. His cold eyes fixed on Sera, as if genuinely contemplating the meaning of her words.

Orcs, though savage, were also superstitious. They possessed an innate reverence and fear towards beings connected to dark powers.

After a moment of silence, Gorgash seemed to have made a decision.

"Knock her out," he commanded. "Take her away."

An orc immediately stepped forward and struck Sera hard on the back of the neck with the butt of his axe.

Sera let out a muffled groan and slumped down limply, dragged away like a sack by two orcs.

Now, only Xia Lin and Shamir remained.

They leaned against the cargo truck, surrounded by the remaining seven orcs, while Gorgash stood not far away, watching like it was a play.

"Shamir," Xia Lin said in a low voice, speaking quickly. "Listen, we don't have a chance. We have to find a way to escape! I'll rush out to attract their attention, then you find an opportunity to attack, and we'll run into the woods as fast as possible! Don't look back!"

Beneath Shamir's disheveled black hair, her beautiful eyes looked at Xia Lin with a complex expression, seeming hesitant, but she still nodded heavily.

"Okay!"

Now!

Xia Lin gritted his teeth fiercely. The magic light of his ring flickered as he charged towards a weak point in the encirclement, his longsword pointed directly at an orc's chest.

The moment he charged out, Shamir behind him also raised her longbow abruptly, the string pulled taut instantly!

"Hah!" she let out a sharp cry.

The two orcs charging forward instinctively paused, turning sideways to dodge the expected fatal arrow.

However, the bowstring made a "hum" sound in the air.

Shamir hadn't nocked an arrow at all!

She had just faked drawing the bow!

Just as the two orcs hesitated for a moment due to her feint, and just as Xia Lin was charging towards the encirclement with all his might.

Shamir turned without hesitation, threw her longbow to the ground, and, with speed far exceeding her usual, fled madly towards the woods in another direction without looking back.

Xia Lin's charging motion froze abruptly. He turned back in disbelief, only to see Shamir's retreating figure disappearing at the edge of the woods like a startled rabbit.

She abandoned him?!

A bone-chilling cold, more profound than the fear of death, swept through Xia Lin's entire body.

And the seven orcs, after a brief moment of bewilderment, revealed cruel and mocking smiles on their faces, surrounding him once more.

Gorgash crossed his arms, watching the prey abandoned by its companion with keen interest.