The sky bled crimson.
I… I don't exactly know what happened, but everything went south the moment we met the enemy army on the plains.
"Lord Abel is a fucking psychopath… Demanding that we rush with the combatants? What the hell was that? He's insane! He even did so so coldly!" Someone cried. "We were supposed to clean… why must we fight along the combatants!!!?"
The pressure turned to Kreig, being the leader, weighing him with the responsibility of calming the group of cleaners. But he did not possess the quality of it, thus further chaos only escalated.
His breathing turned unstable as the atmosphere grew heavier each second; the sky that seemed blue an hour ago had now been bathed in crimson, a mere testament of the reflection from the ground.
"He said there were only 1,500 of the enemy… but what greeted us were almost tripple the said number. " He muttered. "More than that… aren't they simply implying that we've got no choice but to fight or suffer a death? Either way, coming here is a death sentence… The five groups won't last long…" Kreig's reaction was not for nothing.
The enemy army was composed of Orc giants, elementalists, archers, and even warriors… everything in their army was green. They were like mindless monsters wreaking havoc upon the land, speaking of language so uncommon that it cannot be understood by the masses.
"Y-your name is Kreig, right?" A boy not far from his age asked. "What should we do…? Won't we die here either way… that's right… let's run!" The boy pleaded with Kreig, his face distorted.
"AHHHH!"
There goes the screech of a pleading soul, a bittersweet murmur that, as if carried by the wind, reached the ears of every present figure.
"Please spare me!! I-I can be a slave!" The boy cried causing Kreig to swallow.
"Please… LOrd Abel! Please!!"
An arrow shot directly at the boy, causing his trembling body to fail. His blood reached Kreig's skin, only then did he decide to join the fight, one he knew bound to lose, for staying idle triggers a button of death.
Despite their pleading, those who have given up or refused to fight were mercilessly killed either by the enemy or the employer, Abel.
"Are we going to let them die here?" Said Daren. "They should have plenty of uses, especially those five." He pointed his finger at the five figures leading the groups, the most notable one being the giant with its towering stature, shattering the enemy's position. He was going berserk, not because of the endless green goblins coming at him, but because of Abel—he, who had no intent but to use them as fodder.
Alongside the giant was the elf, who was wounded. She was fighting diligently until he was hit by a surprise attack by a towering orc, which threw stones on the battlefield. It did not care whether it hit the green goblins under its banner. The elf is now a dead weight, but she did not give up.
The sound of metal tremored the battlefield, blood gushing left and right, and the screams of both parties filled the sky. The enemy elementalists were throwing balls of fire. The archers' arrows seemed indefinite, gushing like rain that assaults the battlefield.
"I'm hidden on the very back of the army—we can't even turn our back, or else we'd be decapitated by Lord Abel's troops. Worse is that, if we were not decapitated, arrows would come rushing to us."
He had no intention to fight, but now he's forced to… left with no choice, his hand pointed at a goblin who's just killed one from his group.
"You! You green ugly beast!"
He taunted.
A goblin shifted its gaze from the lifeless body on its feet to the boy who taunted it.
"Ke. Ke. So weak. Boy. You frail. Weak soul. KE ke."
The goblin itself was weak, the weakest on the enemy's side at least. But, even it can't help but acknowledge Kreig for his weakness.
For Kreig, this was the first time he'd fight in a life and death situation, and it was something he invited.
Kreig unsheathed the short, rusted knife, his only weapon that he could have.
The goblin was a low-intelligence monster, despite its ability to speak in fragments, it rushed at him like a hungry beast, soothing its anger.
SCREECH—
It thrusts its weapon against Kreig, eyes bloodshot, ready to kill.
"HAAA!"
Kreig screamed at the top of his lungs, feeling the epiphany of the situation. His knife deflected the spear, but he was thrown a meter away. The impact was strong. Although the goblin was the weakest unit of the enemy lord, it was strong because he was weak.
UGH—
Kreig felt his hand numb; a simple clash was enough to make him feel lost, but he didn't care.
"If this were to defeat me, what more of those! I can't have myself defeated here," Kreig's eyes turned strange, and his eyes glowed with resolve. " I must kill you for the sake of my survival!"
…
The battlefield is already gory, blood everywhere, and the orcs, goblins, and a few monsters that towered like giants are still fighting the group. The mercenaries were able to easily bag some goblins, but their number quickly overwhelmed them.
"In total, we've had less than half the casualties now… probably. As for the enemy, they should've suffered a huge load as well…"
The 4,500 units of the enemy have now been reduced to 3,759.
From 4,500 enemies, their numbers had thinned to 3,759—at the cost of 95 lives from their initial 300.
The mercenaries' strength was no illusion.
Seris, the fallen elf, struck down 35 goblin warriors, 45 archers, and 5 orcs before succumbing.
Kael, the towering giant, felled 124 warriors and 7 orcs—still swinging, lost in silent anguish.
Lioren, the young assassin, slipped deep into enemy lines, eliminating five elementalists before vanishing into shadow.
Damon, the wizard, withheld his firepower to heal the wounded, anchoring their position.
Before him stood Thorne—unyielding, leading the charge not alone, but as a shield to many.
He absorbed the fragmented forces of all the others and kept them steady.
It was only the first blood.
And it had cost them dearly.
While everything commenced, the backup Abel had promised didn't reach their desperate call.
"Hey! Thorne, why don't we redirect our attack to Abel instead!?" said Kael, lost in craze, yet still able to speak his mind openly. "He's the one who puts us into this mess! Promising wealth, all the price of blood… FUck!" Kael was interrupted by a towering orc, he flew from the force as he blocked its bat.
"Hey! What do you say!" Kael said desperately.
"Every one of us will die either way! Do you think he's a knight in shining armor? No! Hell, he looked at us so aloofly as he ordered us to take the front! He even dismissed the thought of saying the true number of enemies, what do you expect!? Him taking us in!? Join me. Let's die honorably."
Kael declared his thoughts, screaming in anguish, he bathed in blood that was hard to differentiate from his or the enemy's.
Nnngh—
Thorne heard Kael, but he couldn't bother responding immediately as it'd risk their formation falling apart. All the other leaders nodded, even when some combatants looked unwilling, they'd have no choice but to follow.
…
Huff. Huff.
Kreig bathed in crimson.
He had defeated the goblin, but he was wounded.
Despite his wounds, his face turned into a smirk.
"HA ha." He laughed.
"HueheheHHAHA."
"I did it. I really did it. I killed the enemy!" He rejoiced from the kill while everyone else panicked from the impending doom that was approaching them. His voice garnered the attention of some more goblins.
"COME!" He taunted the goblins as he reached for the spear from his feet.
"Dance with me!"
BOOM!
A huge explosion resounded in the air, causing Kreig to be shocked. The shockwave gathered the attention of everyone on the field, even those lost in their thoughts.
"GO!" Commanded Thorne.
At once, the battle against the orc lord came to an end.
What came to be was the battle of Lord Abel against the mercenaries!