Guarantee of Mutual Destruction

Heka had used this crossbow the last time he used it.

Last time, he had used this thing to send off the fellow who liked pinning people to walls. But now, Heka angled the bolt downward, avoiding the vital areas.

Under the gazes of the three men, the bolt was pushed from the wooden groove atop the crossbow. It twisted its slightly coquettish waist, leaving a black shadow across six retinas before burrowing beneath the orc's crudely tanned hide armor.

The bow arms fixed to the crossbow were still trembling, but the wounded orc had already regained his senses. His massive body displayed a nimbleness utterly at odds with its size.

Heka's peripheral vision caught Thirl gripping a throwing knife, ready to release it the next instant. The man was clearly aiming to take the orc's life.

"Keep him alive."

Heka called out a warning while carrying the crossbow and running backward.

Thirl clearly understood Heka's meaning. The two of them together were no match for that ranger.

The only way to save them both was to capture the orc as a hostage, then pray that the boss's side won and came to rescue them.

The throwing knife in Thirl's hand changed targets and struck the orc's foot.

The orc's body, which had barely vanished halfway into the wall behind him, shuddered, and several clipped lines of slang were instantly flung out.

Unfortunately, no one here understood the orc language. Even if they had understood him, no one would abandon an attack over a curse.

Although Thirl was some distance from the orc, he was clearly faster. The instant he charged, the throwing knives in his hand shot out in succession, mangling the orc's thighs and slowing him as much as possible.

"Watch out."

Just as Thirl's palm was about to seize the orc's shoulder, an arrow flew in response to Heka's warning and blasted apart nearly half of Thirl's upper arm.

From behind, Heka could clearly see Thirl's arm, almost severed. The arrow carried away a whole chunk of flesh before embedding itself in the bricks behind them.

Yet at the final moment, Thirl still kicked out, sending the orc from the corner where he was about to vanish from their sight back into the middle of the lane. Here, the orc would have to take another knife before he could escape.

Thirl crashed heavily to the ground. His intact palm trembled, and a throwing knife shot out instantly, embedding itself before the distant shadows.

"Go ahead and try. Try seeing how fast my knives are."

Thirl's chest heaved violently, but the throwing knife in his hand remained steady in midair.

The darkness in the distance finally fell silent.

Suddenly, the sound of a roof tile shifting underfoot reached Heka's ears. He immediately looked up. The other party was probably planning to come over from the rooftops.

"He's coming from above."

"Even the little friend on my side has figured out what you're planning. Let's talk."

Thirl gave Heka, behind him, a meaningful look before shouting loudly.

Seeing the signal, Heka had already come to Thirl's side. After lightly patting his shoulder to signal him, he began pulling him backward.

Although being closer to the intersection would provide a slightly wider view, Thirl was positioned too far forward. If the ranger had chosen to break in from the side just now, he might well have succeeded.

When Heka pulled Thirl slightly deeper into the alley, placing him under the protection of the walls on both sides, Thirl finally nodded.

Heka immediately braced his body against Thirl's waist, then carefully leaned him against one of the walls.

There was still no sound from the distant darkness. The orc, kicked into the middle of the lane, was supporting himself with his palms and inching little by little into the distance.

Heka tore open his own clothes, then bound Thirl's nearly mangled upper arm with strips of cloth. The bone beneath was even visible.

To keep him from passing out from the pain, Heka could only use the cloth to apply a simple tourniquet closer to the heart. Fortunately, Thirl was lucky. Before the blood could completely soak the bandage red, it finally stopped flowing.

Thirl gave the boy beside him a serious look.

The other party had given him far too many surprises. He had fought two alone, killing one and gravely wounding another. Thirl had originally thought that when he turned back, he would only see the boy's fragments.

Then, the moment Heka shouted for him to run, he had understood the meaning at once. At the critical moment, he had made the right decision, allowing the two of them to cling to life here instead of being sent off by the enraged ranger, one arrow each.

Even by the most demanding standards, the boy was already a mature warrior.

It was just a pity that the things weighing this kid down were too heavy. He would still die later.

Thirl's gaze seemingly swept casually over the crossbow beside Heka, but at this moment, both of them chose to ignore the elephant in the room.

"There are three people outside now. One child and two adults.

"As everyone knows, three is greater than one."

At last, a reply came from the darkness outside. Then a figure was thrown out.

Thirl did not move at all, because it was his comrade, not an enemy.

"Let him go, and I'll let these three go."

"If we let him go, all five of us will die."

As if in response to Thirl's reply, an arrow shot out and pierced the thigh of the person thrown onto the ground. The man immediately began convulsing.

"That's fine. You only have one, while I have three. It seems you don't care about him.

"Then what about the child?"

When the voice from the darkness fell silent, Tuft of Hair was thrown out. He had probably fainted from the impact just now. Even after being thrown onto the ground, he still did not wake.

"Heka, don't go..."

"His life has been miserable. If you're going to kill him, give him a quick death. Otherwise, I'll use a stone to smash that big fool's lame leg."

"Al's life has been miserable too. Al hasn't even done anything."

The orc, who had been struggling to crawl out, was startled into a jolt and immediately let out a howl.

The man in the darkness and Thirl beside Heka both fell silent for a moment. Thirl glanced at the boy from the corner of his eye. The boy's composure exceeded his expectations.

He had also heard that the boy had refused to run earlier so that the little brat could escape. This time, he had even come for the sake of treating him.

Thirl had already prepared himself to calm the boy down and stop him from impulsively rushing out and throwing his life away.

As if responding to Heka, an arrow flew over and pierced Tuft of Hair's thigh. Blood immediately began to seep out slowly.

"After divine magic treatment, ordinary people enter a brief coma lasting about three hours.

"Bleeding to death isn't considered a particularly painful way to die. If he receives treatment within five minutes, he can still survive.

"Let my teammate leave, and then everyone can live."

Heka glanced at Tuft of Hair, whose thigh had been pierced by the arrow, then shifted his gaze away and fixed it on the orc ahead.