I went to the governor's place to see the reaction of the cult about the orcs. It seems like this wasn't part of the plan.
I'm at the rooftop right above the governor's office so I can eavesdrop on him, while looking with my Divine Vision. He's not alone.
I heard them arguing inside his office.
"What's wrong with this city?! Nothing ever goes according to the plan! First, we lost many new recruits. Now the orcs settlement? This will make the citizen prepared for the future stampede! You're the governor, but you don't know what's going on?"
"Actually, the orcs settlement is just a coincidence. It was the fault of some criminal who accidentally enter their territory and stupidly decided to lure them here."
"But it's still your city! Whatever the case, make sure everything will going well for the stampede. No more mistakes!"
"Understood."
I see. Hearing their conversation, it seems this is not their fault. It might be mine though, but I don't care. Now I really think that the one who took care of the orcs settlement is among the people I killed during the cult's recruitment exam.
Well, since it's my fault, I will take care of it. I need to go home and prepare a plan for fighting against the Orc Emperor. Since Victoria should be out of time now, and tomorrow I might need her, I can't ask for her teaching. I'll just do my best then.
The next morning, we already gathered in the guild. And I no longer wearing the clown costume. Which makes me need to introduce myself again to Kron and other hunters.
Someone suggested a plan.
"How about we let the guide and his party subjugate the monsters on the way? Then the main force can save their magic before the real thing."
"That could be a good plan, but they're still just newbies. It will took time for them to defeat the monsters on the way. We need to defeat the Orc Emperor quickly."
"Hey, we're just newbies. So I don't think we should go there. I can just show you the location on the map. It's okay, right?"
""NO!""
Somehow, everyone said it together.
"Why are you guys so adamant in having me as the guide?"
"Because you're the only one who saw the Orc Emperor. It's just in case you're lying so we can just punish you out there. And if it's the truth, you can get support from us saying that your party can be trusted and your rank might be raised."
"Aaah… so you still think I'm lying. That's fine I guess…"
Well, that's that. Which means I have no way out of going there.
"Then I might have a plan. Apart from Kron and my party, there are about six parties. Each time we encounter monsters on the way, one party will fight them. Then the next encounter, it's another party's turn. You'll take turns fighting monsters. Then if the monster is too strong, like maybe Orc General, one party must be left behind to fight it. They can catch up later once they finished the fight. How's that?"
"I think that's a good plan."
"Yeah, I agree."
Seems like everyone agreed. But then, someone enters the guild with news of the orcs army approaching.
"They're coming! The orcs sending an army! The number is about one hundred of them!"
Then Kron took charge of the attacking team.
"Let's go now. The defending team will protect the city and make ways for us. Let's go!"
With this situation, there's no way that I won't fight the Orc Emperor, right? What a shitty luck I have.
With Blobby as my grappling hook and a broken spear on my back, all of us left the guild and run toward the settlement.
I think I know the reason why the guild master ask me on this mission. It's so that they know that I have a good vision. So they can set me to be scouting the area next time the guild needed something. And other hunters already realized that when the guild master put me in this team. In the end, I still lack experience to figure it out quickly like other hunters.
With the hunters from the defending team and the guards helping us, we managed to break through and went directly to the orcs settlement.
With this many people, it was difficult for me to find who among them is connected to the cult. But at least none of the attacking team have any explosives inside their mouth. But to trust them is a different matter.
On the way, we encounter groups of orcs. They seem to be the reinforcement sent by the Orc Emperor. We did as planned to fight in rotation. 1st party, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and after the sixth, the first party got their turn again.
It was easy as they are just normal orcs. And the average ranks of us in attacking team other than my party is B-rank.
As we got closer to the target, we finally encounter a group of orcs lead by an Orc General. Looks like they finally showing the main force. But they won't even reach the wall of the city with us here.
"Finally, a worthy opponent! We'll take care of this! You guys continue to the target according to the plan! We'll catch up soon!"
A leader of one party decided to fight the Orc General.
We left them behind because it's part of the plan. They will catch up soon so it's fine.
Then we encounter another group. This one has two Orc Generals.
Another party decided to stay.
It happen again three more times. But the last three encounters has Orc Wizard in it. It might took time for them to reach the Orc Emperor later, but at least, once the other who were left behind catching up, they can help them.
Finally, the one who reached the settlement is just Kron, my party, and another party consisting of two male hunters and two female hunters.
"Well, we're here now. What should we do?"
"Charge them directly."
It was Kron who suggested that. There's no way I want to do it but he already activated his magic.
"Cyclone!"
His Wind element has reached Advanced level and I feel like it's so close to Expert. In a year or so, his wind magic should be able to reach an Expert level.
Using his magic, he made a cyclone that rampaging on the settlement and attacking all the orcs nearby.
It was so strong that Angela, Kayla, and Sophie were almost blown away. I have to hold them tightly so they won't fly. The other party seems to be doing fine. They can still stand on their own. Showing the difference in experience and skill between us.
"Damn! That's just sick!"
Kron didn't kill the orcs with just that. He also used ice magic Ice Spike, and shoot many of them at the cyclone. This is the one that will kill the orcs within the cyclone. The spikes will flew inside the cyclone and stab the flying orcs inside.
"Angela. You saw that didn't you?"
I asked Angela who's in my arm so she won't flew away.
"Yes. I will learn a lot from today's experience."
"Good. Anyway, we can't do anything with this cyclone on the way. Let's just watch a little longer."
The other party, seeing that they were not needed in this area, they decided to leave to another area where the cyclone doesn't affected the orcs. That's where they fight their battle.
As for us, we just stay here until the cyclone is gone. Well, I'm doing fine, but the girls has difficulty moving. It's all thanks to my Aura that I can stay in this spot without moving. If I don't have Aura, we might suffer the same fate as the orcs.
Kron doesn't stop his cyclone yet as not all the orcs killed by the Ice Spike yet. He want to make sure that at least all the orcs that got caught is dead before stopping the cyclone.
But it appears. The Orc Emperor is calmly walking in the middle of the cyclone. The Orc Emperor is smaller than average orc, but much stronger. It can also use magic as well. Just like Orc Wizard.
Using wind magic which is more powerful than Kron's, the Orc Emperor cancelled Kron's cyclone just like that.
"It's raining orcs!"
"No time for joke, Roy! The big boss is here!"
"Then it's our cue to run away. Kron! We will take care of the small fries! Can you take it on alone?"
"I'll try! Good luck!"
"You too!"
We left this area to Kron alone. He's already an A-ranked who's so close to reaching S-rank. I hope he can defeat it on his own.
I don't know the level of Kron's magic other than the wind element. For ice, since he's only used a weak Ice Spike so efficiently, he hasn't show his true strength. I truly hope that I won't take part in this battle, so I told the girls to just take care of the small fries.
Anyway, even if he can't defeat it, he can at least stall for time until other hunters caught up. And no one will blame us for not joining the fight against Orc Emperor since we're just newbies.