Chapter 130: Power of the Coven

The orc captain continued to read out loud more and more of the reports about the activity within the mountain. Airom Logat was in a state of emergency. One of the first towns which became a fort had fallen. It was said that only one vampire, Cracky Batcheeks attacked the town and demolished the orc forces there. 

Of the many surprises, the defeat of the favored Dryklash, the Balefire Butcher, stunned many. That was a Captain that could contend with a Champion Orc! And yet, he was defeated! The details of the fight also revealed who the vampire was able to kill Dryklash in a quick fight easily. 

Dryklash managed to fight back but died on the third strike of this vampire.

Third! 

Only three strikes were needed to down a Captain, which had the defenses akin to a Champion!

The defeat made the orders to defend the main Fort increase. More and more outposts received the orders to pull back.

But this one didn't.

The orcs in this outpost remained wary and made double efforts to defend the place.

Suddenly, three rustling sounds could be heard.

Dawn had just arrived, and the first light from the sun was reaching the Lowland Planes. 

The orcs stood at the top and readied their bows.

"Don't shoot! We're orcs! Urruk, Gryos! We're saved! This outpost has orcs!" The sound of a female cry was heard.

The archers were stunned at what they heard as they tried to see the figures of the orcs that were coming.

Of the three, one of them was limping, and the two were carrying them.

"I wish to speak to your captain! I come from the outpost north of here. We were attacked! Cracky Batcheeks attacked us when we left the outpost! He now commands nearly a dozen vampire orcs!" The orc kept shouting as they dragged their wounded companion towards the fort entrance.

The orcs began to talk with one another.

"Let them in." The orc captain ordered.

Slowly the gates of the fort began to slowly open. Just like any outpost, this outpost had a simple wooden wall and several towers on the top.

As the gates were opening, the three who were moving became excited.

"Worked better than we planned!" Diana chuckled.

Right before the attack, the Coven called out to Kyros and asked for simple orc phrases which they could speak. Kyros made the group remember these words, and Diana was informed of the words she had to say to the orc. 

The plan was to reach the wall, and Diana would break it down with the combination of her sword and the Earth Energy.

But now, the gates were being opened wide, which meant that her attack could be used in other instances.

As the three reached the entrance, a terrifying screech was heard deep within the forest.

The orcs were surprised as they heard the cry and looked to the distance.

Suddenly, the ground near the entrance began to move.

The earth moved, and several human-like creatures emerged from the ground.

"It's him! It's that ability! He's here! Oh Adroanth, God of Might help us!" Diana shouted as she began to move faster along with the rest.

"What's going on?!" The Orc captain appeared and questioned.

"It's Cracky Batcheeks! Close the gates!" Diana shouted.

The gates were being closed, but then, the strange rocky creatures blocked the gates and began to push to keep them open. The orc captain and the team immediately set out to push the gate close and to keep the golem creatures out, and the archers began to shoot the rocky creatures from their area.

The orc magis harnessed their energy. These rocky creatures appeared to close from the gate, and shooting them down would be dangerous as the blast would explode and damage the wall. The magi stood up the tower and prepared to shoot down anything that would come out of the woods. 

It became a battle of keeping the doors locked. The orc captain started to slash and hack the golems through the gap of the opened gate.

"[Force Cross]!" Diana shouted as she leaped and slashed her sword towards the group of orcs, trying to keep the entrance closed.

BOOM!

The explosive force that caused the Earth to erupt knocked down the nearby orcs.

The orc captain was dead. Diana had aimed her slash to strike him, and his body was halved from the heavy weight of the blade.

Gregory and Avary also moved and struck the unprepared orcs nearby.

"It's a trap! Kill those orcs!" One of the orcs shouted as he realized what had happened but almost instantly, Diana's sword slashed out and cut through his armor and thick body easily after saying those words.

The Golems broke inside.

As the people had now seen its form, they were shocked to see its form.

The three Soil Golem punched one of the downed Orcs, and the face of the orc caved in.

The magi saw in and quickly decided to shoot down on them even though there were still some orcs there. 

But as he was about to shoot the powerful fireball...

FWIP!

A single arrow struck him on the shoulder and caused him to stumble back. The staff was pointed on a certain location where a few orcs were.

BOOM!

The fiery blast burned all the orcs and caused the few orcs to pause and gaze up. Why had their own men betray them?

They saw how an arrow pierced right through the magi's head at that moment.

Gregory and Avary were using speed to overpower their foes. When Diana made her devastating attack, they detached the heave armor on their arms and legs and only felt the front plate as their armor. They even abandoned their helmet.

Their swords moved quickly and slashed out using their superior swords to kill the enemy.

Avary used one large magic sword that he had acquired from their previous exploits. His previous training in wielding greatswords and the speed he inherited as a vampire became a horrifying combination that allowed him to wield the great sword longer and perform deadly attacks using the speed that would have previously been to much for him.

Three orcs fell from the charging slash that Avary did. The fourth one managed to stop Avary and began to fight with him.

"Ravager!" The orc cursed as he fought back.

"Not quite yet! But I am a Classed Swordsman training as a Ravager. I just saw the notification." Avary chuckled. He saw strange words appearing in his vision.

---

[Swordsman job acquired.]

---

With his swift speed carrying the large sword, he broke through the defenses of the Shield Orc that stood on his way and killed him.

On the other side, Gregory wielded a sword and a shield as he fought the orcs.

He kept blocking and deflecting the arrows of some of the orcs and parried the attacks of the few orcs attacking him.

The orcs kept harassing him, and he was fighting three at once. More were coming. While these orcs could not keep up with the fast speed of Avary, Gregory was rooted on the ground and standing in defense.

One of the orcs approached and slashed his ax towards Gregory's small frame. Gregory smirked. He had noticed what had happened to the archers.

Gregory didn't retreat but used his round shield to smash the incoming ax sideways.

The orc before him was at level 18. And Gregory was at the same level due to the massive level-ups he received from all the enemies they had drunk. Adding the blessing of the Coven, his strength and dexterity easily surpassed this trained orc.

SMASH! SLASH!

After knocking on the ax, Gregory slashed down and struck the orc. The sword dug deep into the mind of the orc's body.

"AHHH!" The orc shouted.

"I used too much strength!" Gregory cursed and tackled the orc to throw him backward and dislodge the stuck sword off the body of the orc.

Without missing a beat, Gregory parried by ducking as a large steel spiked metal ball swooped by. Gregory's helmet was knocked off, and his face was finally revealed to the orcs.

"A knight?! A human knight?"

"A Class Knight in Training. I guess I'm a Shieldlet!" Gregory smirked. Just like Avary, he too saw a notification.

---

[Knight job acquired.]

---

The archers that were shooting at Diana and Gregory were dead, and the last one was shooting at the figure that killed the other archers.

FWIP! FWIP! FWIP! FWIP!

The orc kept shooting, but Scarlet had hidden behind the golems.

"Was I mistaken? Why did I feel that he would die when I missed?" Scarlet was confused. Her bow and aim had suddenly improved greatly. She realized that this was because of Martha. But she still missed as her control was less than that of those with archer jobs. But though she missed, she sensed that the Fate of the orc would definitely die.

The orc used the small rope bridge that connected several towers and headed for another.

At that moment, Diana used her strong charge to draw the attention of the many orcs.

"[Knights Charge]!" 

Diana's force exploded and sent her rushing towards the group of orcs.

BOOM!

The hulking orc was thrown back from the charge. The full power of Diana was released, and the hulking orc flew towards one of the wooden towers.

SMASH!

The impact of the large orc broke several parts of the tower's foundation, and it began to fall.

The orc archer that was transferred to the very tower was thrown off as the rope bridge swayed.

Down below, one of the orcs was rushing for Gregory and was about to perform a strong slash.

Gregory readied to block, but the archer fell right on top of this orc as the slash happened.

The archer became a meat shield, and Gregory took a step to the side and stabbed the distracted orc.

"...Oh..." Scarlet finally understood what had happened.

"So my Path of Foresight is indeed growing..." Scarlet is finally confirmed. Her attack caused the orc to transfer to another tower. But that's when the tower fell, and the archer fell on his death.

"What a powerful team." Diana smiled.

"Coven! Let's fight! Show them the power of the Coven of Cracky Batcheeks!"

"Let's kill them all!" Diana cheered as she was happy to see how strong her companions were.

Meanwhile... on the other side of the Airom Logat.

The march of the fifty-man orc continued.

"Any oddities?" An orc captain asked.

"None at the moment, Captain." An orc replied.

"Good. But let's not be too relaxed. We are fighting vampires. They have no scents. Any ambush could easily kill us. So have our scouts be more careful and constantly check where they have passed."

"Yes, Captain!" The orc soldier saluted.

"COVEN ON CRACK!" An angry shout could be heard. It contained tremendous Force Energy.

All the orcs were startled and drew their weapons.

"I SAID TO FIGHT THEM! NOT AMBUSH THEM! GET OUT OF YOUR HIDING PLACE, OR I WILL SHOOT YOU PERSONALLY! KILL THESE ORCS AND FEAST ON THEM!" The angry shout continued.

The orcs were surprised.

"A vampire coven?!" An orc captain exclaimed.

"Coven on Crack? Cracky Batcheeks! It's him!" Another orc managed to connect the unlikely dots.

Three men emerged from certain hiding spots.

All of them were crying.

"Lady Martha... Why?" One couldn't help but ask.

"Kill them!" The orcs ran and attacked.