Chapter 52: In Pursuit
Rendered speechless, the awakeners gazed at the shaman’s back until she disappeared past the horizon.
She had taken the amulet and the Shards of Salvation she carried, which they desperately needed to combat the accumulating corruption.
Leonard was ready to race after her, yet sadly, the presence of the Orc Chieftain prevented him from doing so.
The chieftain gripped his two greatswords tightly. Most of his troops had been defeated, the champions had fallen, and he had been betrayed by the shaman, who stole his one and only mount.
Rather than fury, he erupted into booming laughter.
"Good! Let the unworthy scatter and die! Those who remain shall bring our tribe to prosperity!" He declared with the confidence of a true leader.
The orc’s eyes fixed on Leonard and his party.
"You might be weak, but you’ve got tricks up your sleeve! I am certain I will inherit your intelligence once I eat you!"
Leonard’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t especially eager to face such a monster.
"Eat us? Didn’t your tribe capture us until just recently?" He retorted, trying to buy more time to recover.
"We were following the visions the shaman received from the Void. But with her gone, there is no longer any reason to hold back!"
Although the Orc’s explanation was brief, it was enough for Leonard to start connecting the dots.
"The tribe follows the visions the shaman has received from the Void? Could the Void Believers be behind it? Perhaps that’s their way of subtly manipulating the monsters to do their bidding?" He pondered.
It was a solid theory. However, he didn’t have the luxury of time. The Orc Chieftain charged at him like a wild beast, a greatsword raised high in the air.
[Mana: 84/280]
Things were looking grim. He hadn’t recovered enough mana after summoning Joker to rely on Valor for support.
’Even with Hardened Physique and my leather armor, survival isn’t guaranteed. I’ll be left half-dead by a single hit that connects.’
Leonard felt his adrenaline spike as the weapon descended toward him. He wasn’t able to move out of the way in time, nor did he have any way to deflect such a powerful attack.
His party members were nearby, but they too lacked any sufficient way of helping him. At most, they could try to pull him out of the heat of battle and bring him to Samantha for healing if they survived long enough.
Prepared for the worst, he steeled himself for the blow that never landed.
"Ice Wall."
Before the orc’s swing met its mark, Leonard felt the temperature behind him drop. An ice wall rose in front of him and halted the strike.
He glanced to the side, where Elizabeth had appeared. The few short seconds of rest she had gotten had done wonders, with no trace of fatigue. Her cold face remained emotionless, resembling a beautiful statue of marble.
"Thank you for earlier." She said evenly, her gaze fixed on the orc in front of her.
"Did Elizabeth Starlight just thank us?!" Winston’s eyes went wide, for a moment out of breath.
"I guess being reckless pays off sometimes." Harley remarked with a long exhale.
"Everyone! Let’s kill this damned orc! Just think of it as a boss raid!" William yelled, his gaze settling over the awakeners nearby.
His message was clear: if they wanted to live, the Orc Chieftain had to fall!
"One against many? Bring it on!" The orc roared, unwilling to back down from a challenge.
Albeit scared, the awakeners knew that if they let the monster be, they would not live for long. Those who weren’t injured too badly focused on the orc.
Being the strongest among them, Elizabeth led the charge.
Now that the orc lacked his tiger mount, his speed had greatly been lowered, and she proved faster than him.
Conjuring ice pillars, she spared no mana, sending them toward the orc’s head.
The others in the party attacked from the rear, staying clear of the Chieftain’s attack range.
Winston’s shield had been rendered unusable, so he opted to use his hammer with both hands, striving for slow but heavy attacks.
Harley used the opposite approach, her attacks being fast and precise.
William’s Burning Punches reacted with the cold building over the orc’s body.
[Lightning Strike activated!]
Leonard never let up the pressure, his lightning and Titanic Oath’s frost continuing to contribute to the orc’s gradual decline.
’I can’t wait to gain a class and start attaining more skills. Just the ones I have now won’t get me very far.’ He thought.
The Orc Chieftain was strong, yet when faced against so many awakeners, with many of them close to crossing the threshold of Level 10 and attaining their classes, it was only a matter of time before he fell.
Elizabeth rightfully delivered the killing blow. Nobody was ignorant enough to think that they could have won against the monster without her support.
When her ice spike pierced the orc’s head, the creature finally dropped dead.
[You contributed to the defeat of a Level 25 Orc Chieftain.]
[You have gained 1,000 Experience!]
Level: 8 [Experience: 1,125/1,000]
[You have risen to Level 9!]
[You have gained 5 Attribute Points and 10 Evolution Points!]
Level: 9 [Experience: 125/1,200]
During the battle with the Orc Chieftain, the remaining orcs had been taken care of.
At long last, the battlefield turned silent, with the battle over.
Elizabeth gazed at the remains of the monster she had killed. She was about to teleport them away for examination with the ring until she halted.
"Rimy?" She whispered into her sleeve. "You said eating the shaman will make you evolve, then what about the chieftain?"
"Gaa!" Rimy replied, wrestling in Elizabeth’s sleeve.
"So it has to be the shaman, even though she is weaker? Alright."
Without further ado, she teleported the chieftain’s remains away.
Meanwhile, Leonard didn’t feel even a bit happy despite reaching Level 9 and defeating the entire orc tribe.
[Corruption 69%]
"This is a disaster. Even without the shaman throwing corruption at me, it continues to rise. My time is severely limited."
It was great that they had won, but with every second they didn’t chase after the shaman, their ticket of escaping the Void was getting further away.
"We need to—"
The words died in his throat before he could suggest chasing after the orc.
The majority of the awakeners were wounded, preventing them from moving too much.
Others bore life-threatening injuries and awaited immediate medical attention. There were even a few people who lay motionless, having fallen in battle.
Most would undoubtedly remain here.
"My corruption is getting dangerously high. I am going after the shaman." Elizabeth declared.
"Me too." Harley nodded with determination.
"Bro, are we going?" Winston threw Leonard a glance.
"Yeah, we don’t have any other option." Leonard replied.
"Guys, take care. We are counting on you." William turned toward the party. "I will remain here and help Samantha. The orc camp can serve as our base while we all recover."
The idea wasn’t bad. Joker had already scanned the camp’s interior and knew there were no monsters or traps lying in wait.
And so Leonard, Winston, Harley, and Elizabeth headed after the orc shaman up north while the rest remained.
Leonard was about to use his attribute points when an idea suddenly popped into his head.
"When we met, you were a higher level than me. After this battle, aren’t you Level 10?" He glanced at Winston.
"You’re right! I was so distracted that I didn’t notice. I can choose a class!"