Chapter 144 - Chapter 16: The Goblin Escape Operation (Part 3)
The Orcs are climbing over the fallen trees. They'll likely cling to the outer earthwork to protect themselves from arrows.
The first obstacle is already being breached.
Since they're holding round shields, we're aiming at them with arrows over the earthwork, but it's not easy to hit them.
"Henry. It's been a while since I've sent stones flying."
"Oh, is that so? I understand."
When Henry-sama took a stone out of the bag placed at his feet, he called out to several archers and gave them some kind of instructions.
"Well then, here I go."
"Go ahead."
With a casual toss, he threw a stone, and Eleanor-sama thrust out her right hand toward that stone.
"[Hurl Stone]!"
It's basic earth magic. Beatrix and Lyudmila can use it.
Just as I thought the thrown stone had suddenly become invisible, an Orc's head was blown off.
"Geh!"
Eleanor-sama is hiding at Henry-sama's feet. From the other side, it must look like a single middle-aged man threw a stone at a speed comparable to a monster.
The Orc, with everything above its pig-nose gouged out, collapsed from its knees.
I saw something slushy coming out from where its head used to be.
I wish it had at least fallen the other way.
I find myself praying to the Goddess.
The surrounding Orcs are standing dazed, looking at the corpse. They're full of openings.
When the archers concentrated holy water arrows there, five or six of them fell one after another.
"Alright, another one!"
Gwan!
A loud metallic sound rang out. A shield was flipped over.
I thought it missed, but that wasn't the case.
The shield is fitted to the left arm and fixed so it won't be dropped. It seems that arm was broken.
It was its misfortune that it reflexively crouched forward. It stopped moving after receiving several arrows.
By killing several Orcs with that combination of stone-throwing and archery, the Orcs stopped coming out from the thicket.
"What's this? For the glorious Demon Lord's army, they're quite cowardly."
I feel some sympathy for the Orcs here.
It's not a catapult, so it's impossible for a stone thrown by hand to be unblockable even with a metal shield.
"It can't be helped."
When Henry-sama threw five stones in a row and Eleanor-sama chanted the spell five times, the screams of Orcs were heard from beyond the thicket.
They must have defeated several of them.
"Now! Count to ten and fire arrows all at once!"
A voice comes from above. It seems the Ogres have come out.
After counting to ten, Lewis-san gave the command, and the archers fired arrows one after another toward the thicket.
Henry-sama also casually threw stones, and Eleanor-sama accelerated those stones.
I don't know if they're hitting, but the flustered Orcs won't be able to distinguish the arrows from above.
"Stop! Three Ogres finished! The Ogres in front are annihilated!"
A cheer went up, and Eleanor-sama called out to the three magic soldiers in charge of the front.
"The front is fine now. Guard the left and right."
When Henry-sama said that to Lewis-san, it became Lewis-san's command. Lewis-san also went to the left. With this, the Jaegers were gone from the front.
Apparently, the front will be guarded by just the two heroes.
"Jeanne. From here on, things will get a little flashy."
Eleanor-sama smiled brightly.
Um, it was already plenty flashy until now, you know.
"Orcs approaching from the left and right!"
The Orcs who circled around to the left and right seem to have made it in time. They sent arrows toward the position from three directions.
The shooting battle has begun.
"[Favorable Wind]!"
When Eleanor-sama released the magic, all the arrows flying from the front were blown away. Not a single one flies here.
In the meantime, Henry-sama began defeating the Orcs one by one with a bow.
When the Orcs, losing their patience, came charging in, Eleanor-sama just thrust her right hand forward, and the power of the magical wind increased, stopping the Orcs' movements. It seems the shields they held in front of their bodies were actually getting in the way.
They were trying their best to move forward like that, but the magic was suddenly canceled, and they were finished off by Henry-sama after they tripped and fell on the ground.
Apparently, as long as these two are here, the Orcs can't break through no matter how many there are.
In the meantime, the shooting battle on the left and right continues. The enemy seems to be closing in bit by bit.
Many arrows also fly into the position. Since I'm afraid of stray arrows, I move while holding wooden shields in both hands and sticking to the earthwork.
Two, then three wounded appeared. The numbers are too different. If the enemy is divided into three, there are over sixty in one direction. If half are archers, that's thirty. There are fourteen people on our side in one direction. It's only half.
I took charge of the right side and a clinic staff member took charge of the left, and we decided to treat the arrow wounds of our allies.
Since they're wearing helmets, their heads are one thing, but I want them to protect their faces.
If an arrow passes through from the face to the head, they won't survive.
"Deploy arrow-warding magic."
Lewis-san seems to have lost his patience. He finally gave up on the shooting battle. The numbers are too different. They began to reach the other side, passing over the heads of our allies at the edge of the earthwork. At this rate, their backs will be hit. The casualties will only increase. However, with this, bows and arrows become unusable for both friend and foe. It will be a melee.
The Orcs also seemed to have noticed, as they came charging in while letting out war cries.
"Cancel arrow-warding! Fire arrows!"
When the archers, who had been crouching and preparing under the earthwork, stood up and fired arrows all at once, the charging Orcs fell one after another. The other side wasn't prepared with arrows; we succeeded in one-sidedly striking them down and temporarily repelling them.
Looking at the fact that there are more casualties on the left, the aerial team must be on the right, but the Ogres seem to be struggling, perhaps because they're hiding in the bushes. There's no report yet.
Fortunately, there were no serious injuries. Lewis-san's judgment must have been good.
I go over and treat the soldiers who were hit by arrows and are clinging to the earthwork to protect themselves.
"Jeanne. I kept it to a light wound just as I was told."
He teases me even while I'm recovering him with [Heal].
"I'm sure I said 'without a scratch'."
"That's strict. I'll try to be careful next time."
"Yes, it's finished. Please really be careful."
"Yeah, you saved me. Thanks."
Once recovered, he pulls an arrow out of his quiver and heads for the front line.
I really want them to be safe.
Eleanor-sama filled the gaps in the outer earthwork with [Clump Sand] and froze the entire front earthwork with a succession of [Freeze], then left it as it was and came to the right side.
She immediately sniped the Orcs charging through the gaps with stones. She overwhelmed the opponent with the combination of stone-throwing and archery, and blew off the face of an Orc that had lost its patience and come charging in.
It was instant death, but the body was twitching and squirming.
When Henry-sama stood up on the earthwork with a spear, the Jaegers also changed their weapons to swords and raised a cheer.
It's the beginning of the melee.
The Orcs, enraged by having their ally killed, ran up and threw spears at Henry-sama all at once.
However, when Henry-sama swung his spear, they were all being deflected before they reached his body.
Eleanor-sama, hiding behind the earthwork, seems to have deployed a [Wind Barrier].
Here, I noticed. That the Ogres' magic defense was not deployed.
However, the Orcs seem to think Henry-sama knocked them down with his spear. They come charging in while letting out war cries.
"[Wind Cutter]!"
Eleanor-sama released the magic, and the heads of over ten Orcs rolled on the ground, and the torsos that had lost everything above the neck collapsed while spraying blood.
The hands and feet are moving as if they were alive, twitching.
"Two Ogres on the right finished! Only the left side remains!"
"Good work!"
The report comes a breath late. Apparently, Henry-sama and the others had noticed that the magic defense was canceled because the Ogres were defeated.
Magic defense for our allies in this direction is no longer necessary.
The magic soldiers who had their hands free participated in the attack, and the enemies who approached became good prey for magic.
For those who held their shields high, she cut off their feet—which weren't even wearing shoes—with a succession of [Wind Cutter], and for those who peeked their faces out, she blew off their heads. Henry-sama and Eleanor-sama sent five or six stones flying in a row, making the arms of those who lowered their posture and held shields useless. It's all basic magic. Along with the archers, they slaughtered the Orcs one after another, and finally drove them away to the other side of the outer earthwork.
"We're enough here. Go help the other side."
When the Jaegers moved, they must have noticed that this side had become lightly guarded. Orcs come charging through the gaps while shouting, but Eleanor-sama turned them into ice pillars one after another with [Ice Cube]. Finally, she blocked the gaps. She then froze the entire earthwork with [Freeze].
Quite a few Orcs seemed to remain, but they could no longer attack from this side either.
Out of the four sides, two were made impassable. Two more to go.
The Orcs on the right side know that the front is also blocked. They'll surely circle around to the back.
Originally, the back is open.
It seems they intend to gather the enemy at the rear little by little while whittling down the enemies on the three sides, and then deal with them all at once with a huge spell once they're gathered.
The time for Paul-san and the rescue team to work hard must be earned here.
When I went to the left side, wounded people were appearing one after another.
It had become a melee-centered battle against the approaching Orcs.
Even though they're attacking with arrows and spears from above, if a spear thrown by an Orc with horse-like strength hits, it won't end with a light wound.
Already, several people had formed a treatment team and were carrying seriously injured people into the field hospital.
When I hurriedly jumped into the hospital, a cheer went up from the treatment team.
"Jeanne is here. It's alright now. After all, she's the Cursed Eighth!"
They're giving some kind of encouragement I don't quite understand to the wounded.
"Jeanne. We'll carry them here, so we're counting on you for the treatment."
"Yes!"
For now, I just gave an answer, and with a scroll in hand, I treat a wounded person who has a hole in his right shoulder. It seems he was hit by a spear.
As expected of Marcelo-san's [Holy]. The hole was closed, and he became able to move his right arm. However, there's a lot of bleeding.
"Please rest here."
"Sorry. I ended up breaking the promise."
Looking closely, it's the soldier whose arrow wound I just healed.
"Good work. It's alright now. The wound is healed now. If you go home like this, you can go home without a scratch. The promise hasn't been broken yet, so please rest, okay?"
"I'm in your debt."
When I gave him some water to drink, he slowly closed his eyes.
The head of the clinic is a former priest and a mid-level mage.
The effect of his [Heal] is high, but as expected, the number of times he can use it is limited. Since he doesn't want to use expensive scrolls as much as possible, he seems to have been working hard to use magic, but his complexion isn't good.
"Head! Please rest for a bit!"
When I tried to take some honey wine out of my bag and hand it to him, the head was holding his hands over a wounded person.
"Sorry. Once I treat this guy, I'll let myself rest for a bit."
Looking at the wounded person, his stomach has been hit.
It's a quite serious injury.
"I'll use a scroll!"
If your physical condition isn't good, the effect of magic also becomes low.
I forced my way in and forcibly healed him with two of Marcelo-san's scrolls.
The person himself is already unconscious, so I have no choice but to let him sleep.
When I lifted his head and put honey wine in his mouth, he managed to move his throat.
"Henry-sama and the others blocked two locations and moved to the remaining one. The number of wounded will also decrease, so please don't overdo it."
"Is that so? Sorry. Then I'll let myself rest for a bit."
He then lay down next to the wounded person. He's breathing heavily. He must already be at his limit.
"As for seriously injured people, for now, he's the last one. If a new one is carried in, call out to me."
There are eight wounded people sleeping.
When they were with Henry-sama and the others, they didn't let the enemy get close, and no seriously injured people appeared.
The two of them were moving around without staying in one place.
They were surely trying not to let the enemy get close.
Even now, I'm realizing the greatness of the people called heroes.
It must be thanks to Henry-sama and the others going to help.
Perhaps because no more wounded were appearing, no one came anymore.
When I crawled out of the hospital and peeked outside, the magic soldiers were grandly using earth magic, perhaps because they had finished off the Ogres. They're digging holes in front of the enemy with earth magic to stall them and prevent them from approaching the position.
Already more than half of our allies have moved to guard the rear and are firing arrows toward the thicket barricade Eleanor-sama made.
Wilson-san had also descended. He's deploying a [Wind Barrier] like a ceiling to prevent Orc arrows from flying into the position.
"How is it going?"
"We've defeated one-third. Since the rest of the lot were circling around to the rear, they'll probably start a full-scale attack soon."
"Once the enemies are gathered in one place, we can use powerful magic, right?"
Actually, Wilson-san is also a user of ultra-high-level magic. Naturally, he has sealed his Forbidden Magic, but a hundred or two hundred Orcs without magic defense would be gone in one shot.
"We have to keep them drawn in until the rescue is successful. Apparently, they intend to pretend their magic power is exhausted and do a shooting battle."
Looking in the direction he gestured with his chin, Eleanor-sama was firing an arrow. Since she's a mage, it doesn't fly a satisfactory distance, but it seems to be an appeal that her magic power is exhausted.
The Orcs have already begun their attack from the rear. They seem to think they can definitely defeat less than thirty humans who are lacking in magic.
The magic soldiers had been helping and digging holes, but they stopped halfway. It seems to be a deceptive tactic to make them think their magic power is exhausted.
Leaving holes and mounds of earth here and there, they took bows in hand and began firing arrows.
I don't think bows and arrows can be prepared so conveniently, but perhaps Orcs are the same as humans in that they want to interpret things in a good direction when things are difficult. I heard a shout that sounded like a cheer.