"Le... Level 88...?" Jack stammered. This was the highest level of an individual he had seen within the army.
"Heh? Are you scared now after seeing my level? You are an even more pathetic general than I think," Umeza ridiculed.
Jack cleared his throat. "Don't you look down on me, you ugly orc! I have faced beings even more powerful than you."
"Hah! Big talk."
"Oh? Really? Then tell me. Have you ever faced a God?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I've faced God Fear and I hit him in the face with my spell. In the face! Do you hear me? Have you ever done any feat even remotely close to that? With such an accomplishment, do you think I will cower before a lowly creature such as you?"
"Kid, you can fantasize all you want. I am not interested in hearing you making up a story," Umeza said.
"He... He actually has done that," Duke Alfredo said. He was a witness to that incident, but he understood if one was not present there, there was no way anyone would have believed this kind of a story."
"Whatever, I'm done talking. If that is your battle declaration. So be it, let's..."
"Wait...!" Jack exclaimed.
"What is it now?" Umeza was just about to give the command to attack.
"I have one more thing I want to say to you," Jack uttered.
Hearing that, Peniel immediately warned him, "If you are going to do that stupid show again, I ain't going to help you in this battle!"
Jack rolled his eyes at her. He then gave Umeza the brightest smile possible and said, "How about we sit down and talk about this conflict between our races? I'm sure that if we can put aside our differences and talk. I mean, really talk. We should find a way to a peaceful resolution. Perhaps we can even be friends and have tea together as we watch the sunset."
"..."
Umeza's mouth twitched. He was having trouble finding the words to say. In the end, his mouth opened, and a thundering roar rumbled through the desert. He then uttered a command for his army, "DESTROY THEEMMM...!!!"
All the orcs started making their own battle cries and advanced.
"Shit! The stalling tactic didn't work!" Jack informed John.
"If you do it like that, I will be banging my head on the wall if it works, you dolt!" John replied.
Ever since the two orc armies showed up, John had commanded everyone to adopt the square formation with the supply depot as the formation center. They were ready to receive the assaults from all directions. They didn't charge out, they just waited for the enemies to come. The four orc armies that surrounded them were now rushing towards them.
The three guilds that followed Abasi summoned their guild armies, bulking up the orc army which was already vastly superior in number. However, the number of soldiers that Cipher Flight and Warsong Rising summoned was not as many as the time when they fought at Slaughterer Plains. They had lost quite many soldiers in that battle. The short time that passed was not enough for them to replenish the force. Especially Warsong Rising, but Phithion still summoned them as a show of loyalty to Abasi. The third guild that followed them, was the only one that had a full force of around 12,000 units.
Jack didn't move from his position. He was still standing where he was. When he was addressing Umeza, he had stood a distance away from Umeza, behind the land filled with caltrops. It was the same as Umeza. Even though he had come forward, it was still outside the range of the human army's ranged attacks.
Umeza was the same as Jack, standing still as his army approached by running from behind him. Jack noticed this elder orc was wearing a pair of glove weapons that had long claws on his both hands. Umeza made a wave and a large three-headed wolf with three thick tails appeared beside him. The beast was a level 83 rare elite.
'He is a beastmaster!' Jack came to a realization.
Umeza then dashed forward with his giant wolf before his army arrived by his side. He was the first to step into the area filled with hidden caltrops, so he was the first to be affected. He immediately paused when he received the notice. He turned to his army, but they were already at full speed, there wasn't time to warn them.
All four orc armies entered the caltrops area at almost the same time. The front-most soldiers who stepped on the caltrops were stunned and abruptly stopped. This caused the charging back soldiers to crash into them. The impact sent them sprawling into the ground. The front line became a mess as thousands of orcs fell and were stepped by their comrades. What had happened to Abdu was now happening to the army his son was participating in.
"Fire! Fire at will...!!" Jack commanded.
Everyone let loose of their attacks on the enemies whose charging had stopped. The twenty-five Ice Cannon Tanks fired their ice beams and slowed the enemy's advance even further, giving the range attacks more time to soften them before they arrived.
Nilrem started casting her spell. Knowing that they were heavily outnumbered, she began by immediately casting the mega spell, Knights of the Rounds.
As the mega spell slowly took form, Penny flapped her wings and took to the air. The Eagle Rider Hunters followed her as protective details. She showered the enemy's mess-up front line with her lava breath while the eagle rider hunters followed up with volleys of arrows.
Abasi and Four Winds, who saw Nilrem's mega spell, were pensive. They knew the power of that spell since they had experienced it firsthand. However, there was nothing they could do. Nilrem cast her spell in the middle of the human army. There was no way they could punch through the enemy's formation and get to her before she completed her spell.
Yet, their situation was also not the same as before. This time, they had the number. The force that Umeza brought was also filled with old elite orc veterans who had experienced uncountable combat. Their levels were generally even higher than the average soldiers who had been sent to invade Themisphere.
Umeza was enraged for having his movement halted by the caltrop. His three-headed wolf was similarly affected. Their speed slowed after the initial stun. Umeza used Cry of Rage, a Berserker skill that eliminate movement restrictions on himself and those around him. The others in the orc army who had the same skill immediately used them as well to nullify the effect of the caltrops.
Umeza then made a forceful stomp. His action created a tremor that radiated out. All caltrops that were hit by his tremor were destroyed.
"Shit! That guy is no joke!" Jack uttered as he moved back to be with the soldiers. He couldn't afford to be reckless with such a high-level enemy right in front of him.
Umeza then punched his clawed fist into the ground. The sand split at the point of impact and two large tree roots burst out of the ground. These tree roots extended forward and slammed the ground, destroying any caltrops on their path. Umeza's wolf ran forward following this path.
Seeing the wolf approach with such speed, those nearby automatically shifted the focus of their attacks on it. It was clear that this wolf would be the most immediate threat.
The wolf just shrugged off all the range attacks that came its way. Its fur was as hard as steel. Its defense was so high that most normal attacks only generated two digits damage numbers.
When it ran past the field filled with caltrops and was about to pounce at the human army's front line, a golden figure slammed onto it. The figure was Mihos, the divine champion!
The wolf's momentum stopped, but it pushed forward. Despite Mihos being a mythical grade, he was still more than thirty levels weaker. He was unable to compete with the wolf for strength alone. The wolf made a forceful shove, which staggered Mihos. Its three heads then came biting with incredible speed.
All three heads bit different parts of Mihos' body. Mihos was unable to block three simultaneous attacks. He received damage from the bites. But he didn't show any sign of retreating. Instead, he pushed forward. His greatsword burst with a golden flame. He slashed with equal ferocity against his feral opponent, if not more.
An apparition of a muscular man with a lion's head emerged above Mihos. Mihos had used Ancestral Possession which embodied the Spirit of the Divine Lion. Both the spirit and Mihos clashed fiercely with the wolf. But even then, Mihos was still losing.
Another golden figure appeared and slammed its heavy body onto the wolf. It was Brave King. Paytowin was not going to let his companion fight by himself. Paytowin also used his gun and shot the wolf from afar. Both Paytowin and Brave King's attacks were no more than mosquito bites for the three-headed wolf, but their interference allowed Mihos to somehow hold down the monstrous wolf.
In the meanwhile, the orc armies continued to approach.
