The orcs showed their disgust and disdain as they passed by. Generally, it wasn't too common to find humans, especially on this side of the Tremur Forest.
It was also a known fact that humans could be exceedingly dangerous, but finding the skeletal remains of one meant one thing.
That they were weak.
At least in most cases.
As the orcs moved on, Gu'Smashka saw the presence of light ahead, figures of goblins appearing as they neared with an urgent rush.
Gu'Smashka raised his hand, signalling for the orcs to stop.
"It seems our enemies are coming to us."
A certain Boneman who was playing dead by the tree shook slightly as he noticed that the orcs had come to a halt near his position.
From his dark sockets, a tiny blue glint appeared.
'Gah! Move you socketholes! Why are you just standing there?! Duke it out with those goblins and let me escape!' Skullius complained silently.
He had thought of an odd plan that seemed to be working just fine. He had dismantled his jaw and disjoined himself from his lower body to give the illusion that he was a harmless skeleton.
He had taken off the robe and several leather armours that he wore to leave only one that looked the most pathetic. He also hid his steel sword and staves in the long tufts of grass that were on the ground to make his pitiful image more convincing.
As for his socket flames, extinguishing them was the equivalent of blinking or closing eyelids, and he had to keep it up otherwise he would be noticed.
Moving right now was not ideal, especially with both the orcs and goblins being here.
Shirota and Tikika who were leading the goblin charge stopped as they faced the orcs.
For a few moments, there was a deep silence that froze the air, making Skullius nervous.
"What do we do? We haven't come across any undead and the ones we were chasing aren't anywhere in sight," Tikika said to Shirota.
"We'll look further. It ran in this direction. Kill these orcs and let's move on," Shirota replied.
Gu'Smashka didn't understand what the goblins were saying, but he didn't need to. Before the goblins could make their move, he roared as he pulled the large battle axe that was on his back and pointed with it forward!
"RAAAAAAR!"
The orcs immediately rushed forward, going in to clash with the goblins who outnumbered them with battle cries!
Gu'Smashka noticed the two powerful goblins in the lead and decided to take them on with his boar and avoid his men getting killed needlessly!
He heaved his axe, cocking his arm backwards before flinging the weapon with all his might!
The boar charged with a bubbling red aura building around its body!
Gu'Smashka's axe flew through the air, its metal head spinning as it barrelled forward!
It aimed for Shirota who ducked to the side and allowed the five goblins behind him to eat the axe's staggering force instead!
All of them were brutally split apart, blood and guts decorating the haphazardly spaced grass on the ground!
Tikika wielded his spear and charged towards the incoming boar. Shirota also charged ahead, running parallel to his counterpart.
Tikika's spear became coated with his mana as he prepared to unleash a powerful skill, however...
A burst of red clouded his vision for a split second and he heard rough, intense breaths!
The boar before him suddenly increased in size and lowered its stance before charging with its blazing red aura illuminating the surroundings!
It sped ahead with a speed that made it impossible for both Shirota and Tikika to attack as they wished.
Tikika switched to defence, bringing his spear in front of him while pumping mana into it!
Shirota rolled to the side, evading the boar's charge entirely!
The ground trembled as the boar mercilessly struck Tikika with its large head, the short goblin feeling a tremor run through his body that cracked a few bones!
A shockwave erupted from the clash, yet the shroud of red around the boar persisted.
Yes!
Indeed, it was skill!
One that had been partially introduced by Red Rage before his death.
The skill, [Dead End]!
It was a charge type skill that increased the user's stats by 130%!
Of course, this figure could be lower or higher depending on the level of the skill.
Tikika was blown away. He knocked against the ground with a powerful crash before rolling along it till his momentum died!
He coughed blood and hurriedly tried to stand, which proved to be extremely difficult for him.
Shirota vigilantly gazed at the boar whose radiant red aura was fizzling out, and prepared to attack it.
Three orcs rushed towards him, swinging their weapons with relatively admirable skill!
Shirota slashed with his blade, slicing one of them from the belly up before it could swing down its axe, and he swiftly turned, his blade producing wisps of cold air as it tore through the other enemies!
Gu'Smashka frowned and made the boar turn to Shirota who was just finishing with the orcs that attacked him.
The three entered a staredown with the image of goblins and orcs slaughtering each other in the background making for a rather epic scene of carnage and blood!
Skullius saw the fighting to have started in kind and decided to make small movements, aiming to reach his legs and equipment.
He slowly pulled himself with his one hand and grabbed his crooked staff first.
'Might as well harvest some Null Life Essence while I'm at it,' Skullius thought.
The staff emitted the light of Null Life Essence that only he could see and began to draw in the Null Life Essence from the dead bodies.
As he did, he noticed something peculiar. The bodies of the orcs produced a brighter stream of Null Life Essence than the goblins.
Unfortunately, he couldn't quite tell how much he earned from a single orc as he received all the Null Life Essence at once.
'I see. It's not about how powerful the creature is...' Skullius thought.
He tore himself from this train of thought and sneakily reconnected his split body. He then grabbed all his stuff before crawling away, afraid that he might trigger his luck to do something more profound.
When he was a far enough, he hid behind a tree and watched. A moment later, Skullius remembered Red Rage who was still in the tree.
'Hey, come on! Let's go!'
Red Rage didn't budge.
He staring attentively at the chaos below the branch he stood on. His eyes were on Shirota who was in a staring contest with the orc leader Gu'Smashka.
His eyes then shifted to the figure of Tikika who was struggling to stand.
Tikika rose and coughed up more blood. He used his spear as support and glared at Gu'Smashka and the boar.
He desperately wanted to kill them, but his body would need to recover for a bit.
Yet...
FWUUSH! FWUUSH!
Two arrows sped through the air and lodged themselves into the head of the goblin.
One moment had led to his death under the watchful sockets of Red Rage.
Skullius was once again... dumbfounded.
[Apostle 'Red Rage' has killed (II) LV11 Vile Ilk Goblin. 4200 Exp awarded]
[Your prey emits...]
'Is killing all this sockethole ever thinks about?! He needs salvation, fast!' Skullius shook his head.
He literally felt a shiver of satisfaction from Red Rage before the Apostle scaled down the tree and stealthily rushed to him.
Once again, he didn't stop, overtaking Skullius as he went.
Skullius ground his teeth and followed, giving one last glance behind him where the remaining goblins were left in panic at seeing Tikika's corpse.
Due to the low visibility provided by the night and how they all had to discard their torches for the fight, they hadn't been able to see the arrows shoot towards Tikika, thus his death was a surprise.
The killer was running off with his master while they fought.
The two ran down a gorge where the section of the forest they had escaped became a history they couldn't see. They went on to rush forward at full speed seeking somewhere to collect themselves.
---
Meanwhile...
"You lasted a lot longer than I thought from this. You have indeed changed for the better," Vijak said while sitting down and gazing at Ukur who remained vigilant.
The Bloated River Clan leader merely squinted his human-like eyes without a word.