Mage Legend

The Orcs didn't have the technology to make crossbows, but they could rob them from human warriors. These weapons, originally belonging to the villagers, were not suitable for orcs. Just the tiny triggers were a headache for the orcs with their thick fingers. A sparse array of crossbow arrows was fired, and although they weren't very accurate, they nonetheless caused some trouble for the attackers caught up in the fray.

The task of eliminating them was handed over to those with the strongest ranged attack in this direction. Soka didn't wait for Lynch to remind her and had already drawn her bow. Compared to the agile 'troublemakers', the immobile giant orcs stood as though directly in Soka's sightline. How could she miss? The Dawn Angel's vision and their outstanding archery skills stood at the top among all races, and Soka had undergone rigorous training, making her hits naturally infallible now.

The first time she shot, the little angel hesitated a bit. But soon, she got used to this battlefield environment. Although Dawn Angels were kind and gentle, when they faced evil forces, they became very dignified and ruthless. This was why they were referred to as 'Battle Angels' among many celestial creatures. Once the disgust in Soka's bloodline towards evil creatures was ignited, she was almost unstoppable.

Within just three or four breaths, the Orcs' crossbows lost their power; all their crossbowmen had their heads pierced by the angel's arrows, falling off the rooftops. The primary responsibility for this outcome lay with the mage, Lynch. First, he crafted a highly penetrating treasure bow, then he had Soka spend all day shooting at flying spheres. Unconsciously, the angel had gotten into the habit of aiming at round objects.

After this wave of attacks, no more orcs climbed high. They could only use their familiar melee weapons to make a counterattack in the village alleys.

However, this played right into Lynch's strategy. The scroll the mage had unfurled was precisely the spell 'Summoning Black Tentacles'. It had a long duration and did not require the mage to aim like an archer. As long as a street was covered with the summoned ghostly tentacles, Lynch could leisurely sit back and watch.

Like the tentacles of an octopus deep beneath the sea, Lynch's spell also had the power to adhere to enemies and pull. But they didn't physically tear apart flesh but rather drained the strength hidden within muscles. If stuck to for a while, one would feel weak-legged, have difficulty breathing, start getting dizzy, lose bodily balance, and eventually fall and faint. Although this spell made no distinctions in its targets, Lynch believed that neither the durable Dwarf, Morgan, nor Zilvra, who had both angelic and dark elf blood, nor Paladin Macken, would be significantly affected. The orcs, however, who had weak spell resistance, would suffer greatly.

Initially, these tentacles did not draw much attention from the orcs; they assumed them to be mere illusions meant to scare them. But soon, they sensed something was wrong. The fatigue in their bodies drove them to attack the black tendrils, and many orcs hacked at the appendages clinging to their legs with axes. However, their rudimentary weapons were powerless against phantoms. In the end, those orcs simply hacked their own legs in two, collapsing even quicker.

"These strange black things must be Lynch's doing!" Morgan felled his twenty-fifth orc, targeting the larger ones. "At this rate, it won't be fun for much longer!"

Macken said nothing, keeping close to the dwarf. By forming an attack front, they could better drive away the enemy. The orcs began to show panic on their faces, but they still had a numerical advantage, so they hadn't crumbled yet. "Just hold on a while longer, and we'll accomplish our goal!" Macken withdrew his sword from an orc's chest cavity, the blood on it sliding off without a trace.

Lynch cast a spell, placing the final weight on the orcs' already strained nerves. He uttered an incantation, creating a complex illusion: a rain of arrows from the woods felled many orcs (who were also part of the illusion), and then numerous human warriors appeared on the open field, quickly forming a phalanx and charging together towards the village.

Indeed, this hurried spell had many flaws, but it was enough to deceive the simple-minded orcs. In the chaos of battle, who had the time to scrutinize the faces of those falling beside them? Just the thought that they might share the same fate was enough to break them. With a whoosh, the Orcs ran east, not only towards their occupied zone but also away from assassins, dwarves, and knights, and from the tentacles.

"It should take at most five more charges to completely eliminate that group of orcs." Lynch roughly estimated the number of retreating enemies and, excluding those basically without combat power, arrived at this conclusion. "Now, the battle is over."

The Black Tentacle spell was swiftly dispelled, and Lynch erected a wall of flames to the east of the village to prevent the orcs from returning. He and Soka slowly walked toward the ruins, not forgetting to comfort the overly excited angel.

Morgan hammered the orc corpses that looked intact once more to ensure they were thoroughly dead. Knight Macken roamed the ruins, loudly shouting, "Is anyone there? The enemy has been vanquished! Who needs help?" with slogans like these.

"Zilvra, are you hurt?" Lynch hurried over to inquire. After all, the area she was responsible for wasn't covered by others, making it relatively more difficult. However, Zilvra merely shook her head, somewhat surprised, and countered, "How could that be possible?"

"Alright, then the cleanup of the orcs should reach a stage. For now, let's see if there are any survivors beneath this rubble." Lynch found two buckets under a section of broken wood, then summoned the 'troublemaker.' With just a mutual glance, the constructed ball with eight arms took the buckets and quickly flew toward the river north of the village.

"Leave the task of extinguishing fires to it; we need to carefully examine this place." Lynch's eyes and Soka's nose became the most useful tools here, while Morgan and Macken continually cleared debris from the ruins, searching the spaces beneath.

Zilvra, on the other hand, started gathering usable items in the village, mainly food and various tools. In her memory, orcs, like dark elves, never spared any lives during wars, so such searches were a waste of time.

Walking from the village head to the village tail, Lynch had given up hope. The orcs had conducted a very thorough search in this village, leaving no one unscathed. With their keen noses, those disgusting creatures easily accomplished this. Now, they simply needed to wait for the cavalry from the east to return and completely bid farewell to this village.