Chapter 252 – Deserting?

‘Twenty… or was that twenty-one?’

“Keep them off the walls! Shower them with arrows! Use the ballistae now!”

‘Darn, I should stop counting and just focus on the kills, or these guys will steal them from me!’

Rusty thought to himself as he aimed his enchanted bow at another orc that looked stronger than the others. The siege was in full swing, and the air was filled with the screams of charging orcs and shouting defenders.

The sky above the battlefield was no longer empty. Arrows filled it in dark waves, rising and falling in uneven arcs. Some struck true, punching through flesh and crude armor, while others clattered harmlessly against shields or buried themselves in the dirt. The air trembled with the constant sound of bowstrings and the heavy snap of ballistae being fired. The large bolts kicked up dirt everywhere and each time took out multiple green monsters as they fired.

Even so, the orcs were not easy to kill. Arrows embedded themselves in their flesh, yet they kept charging. Unless struck in a critical area such as the neck or heart, they did not stop and often managed to reach the wall. At that point, pikes and boiling liquid were used to deal with the first climbers.

“Heat it more! Do not waste the oil, use torches!”

A guard shouted as a pot was tipped over the edge. The thick liquid cascaded down, splashing across the faces of the orcs climbing below. Their roars twisted into shrieks as it sizzled and burned their flesh. Some fell, but others pushed forward through sheer rage. Still, it was not over.

Torches were thrown down, and Rusty fired an arrow with its tip lit by one of the young helpers. The flame caught instantly. It spread across the slick surface, bursting into fire that clung to orc flesh and clothing. The orc he struck screamed, thrashing as the fire consumed it. Its grip failed, and it tumbled backward, crashing into those below and knocking several from their ladders.

Rusty did not pause. Another arrow was already in his hand. He drew, aimed, and released. This time, the shot pierced the eye of an orc halfway up a ladder. The creature stiffened, then went limp, its weight dragging the ladder sideways. It tipped, sending three more crashing down in a heap.

It was an exhilarating battle, far more intense than those he had fought with the wood elves. These orcs were stronger and driven by pure rage. Even as their flesh burned and wounds were carved into their bodies, they did not stop unless they died.

In the distance, he saw several orc shamans casting strange spells, chanting in a language he did not understand. Some kind of magic spread through the ranks, driving the green-skinned warriors into a berserk state. As the effect deepened, their skin slowly darkened, turning red with fury.

They kept coming, but for now, the defense was holding, and not a single one had made it up the ladders. Their bodies were starting to pile up below the wall, and Rusty’s level had already reached twenty-two. Things were looking good as he enjoyed what felt like a shooting gallery.

The pike and spear-wielding mercenaries behind him, ready to skewer any Orcs that got too close, cheered him on. With almost every shot, he struck a critical weak point. It was not perfect, but within two or three shots, he could usually secure a kill. The numbers kept rising, and the Orcs kept coming.

Rusty glanced at the other mercenaries and soldiers. Their morale was high as they successfully halted the Orc advance. They shouted in unison and worked together, yet something felt off. Even though the enemy came in great numbers, it did not feel like they were fully committing to the siege.

Their leader, the tusked orc, remained at the rear of the formation without moving. The shamans, D-ranked monsters capable of long-range magic, were not casting any destructive spells. Rusty had also spotted a group of better-equipped Orcs standing behind the leader.

The others claimed the Orcs were waiting for their grunts to break through the gate, but the tactic felt strange to Rusty. It seemed even more suspicious when he saw that group move back and disappear beyond the horizon while the battle continued.

‘Strange… are they just going to retreat now? It’s faster than the last time.’

Yet even as that group withdrew, the Orcs kept attacking and trying to scale the walls. The supply of boiling oil ran out and was replaced with boiling water, but the siege did not halt.

The Orc numbers did not dwindle. Reinforcements kept arriving, and shooting straight down once they hugged the wall became much harder. They began using their dead brethren as shields and even threw the bodies over the wall like grotesque projectiles.

The first corpse came flying over the battlements with a wet thud, crashing into a group of mercenaries before rolling across the walkway. The men cursed, then quickly raised their shields as a barrage of rocks and scrap metal followed.

“Watch it! Do not let them climb!”

The Orcs might not have been intelligent, but they could still form crude tactics. Half of them began hurling whatever they could find. Some threw arrows pulled from corpses, others tossed rocks or pieces of armor ripped from their fallen. Eventually, a few ladders were scaled, forcing Rusty to switch weapons. He drew his sword and stabbed one of the creatures.

The battle was shifting into another phase, though it still seemed under control. However, instead of focusing on the fight, Rusty’s attention shifted to the knights nearby. A soldier had just delivered a message, and the look on their faces was grim.

‘Is it just my imagination?’

Their group was holding the line here, but that did not mean the same was true for the other two walls. He had no way of confirming anything while he was stuck in place. His guides were not here either, since he could not risk revealing bright spheres of light if someone managed to pierce his armor.

‘Everything should be fine. If something happens, I should get a sig…’

Just as he was about to turn his helmet and refocus on the battle, a faint light appeared on his right gauntlet. It was a small enchantment, neither powerful nor bright. It began to blink, and with it came the realization that something had gone terribly wrong at the western wall near the slums.

‘Gleam sent the signal… they breached the wall and entered the city?’

Before leaving, he had established a connection with Gleam through a simple enchantment that Aburdon had helped him create. One part was inscribed on his gauntlet, the other on Gleam’s armor.

The enchantment allowed them to communicate across long distances. She was meant to activate it if trouble arose. The number of flashes corresponded to specific situations. They could not speak through it, but the pattern was clear. The wall had been breached.

Gleam’s role was to protect the children and guard his lair. She kept watch from the top of a building with a clear view of the wall. If she had sent the signal, it meant the orcs were either already inside the city or forcing their way through. It also explained the unease that had followed him throughout the battle, and the sudden disappearance of that distant group of orcs.

‘A diversion?’

Rusty’s grip on his sword tightened. So this was not a simple siege. As far as he knew, these orc attacks had followed the same pattern for a long time. They would assault the walls for a day, sometimes two, then withdraw after taking enough losses.

This time, something had changed. Perhaps they had been preparing for this shift all along, consistently targeting the slum walls with weaker forces. Over time, that would have drawn the defenders’ attention elsewhere and made entry into the city easier.

Still, the tactic raised questions. If the orcs wanted to capture the city, this approach alone would not be enough. The slums held little of value, and the more important districts, those of the nobles and merchants, were still heavily fortified.

‘This means… they probably will not help…’

Rusty halted after knocking an orc and its ladder back down. He understood what would likely happen next. No reinforcements would be sent to the slums. Instead, civilians would be evacuated toward the merchant district, where knights and guards were stationed. That left a problem. He had told Gleam and the children to remain in his lair, a place dangerously close to the wall.

The other slum residents were also in danger, as they likely had no place to stay. From the number of Orcs he could see in the distance, this was not a full-blown offensive but rather another test to see how the humanoids would react. Perhaps they only wanted to cause chaos now so that, next time, the humans would be forced to spread their armies thin along all the walls or draw them back to the noble district to protect the baron. Only then would they strike one side with their full strength.

‘How do they say it… shit!’

Rusty knew he was supposed to stay here and play the role of second in command in the new mercenary group, but he could not leave Gleam to fend for herself. She should be strong enough to defeat D-rank Orcs on her own, yet he did not know how many there would be. Even the weakest among them would kill the children on sight, and that was something he could not allow.

‘I need to get out of here, but…’

He glanced at the guards behind them. Some had been sent to reinforce the towers and walls, but others remained to stop deserters from fleeing. If he left now, he might be seen as one of them and imprisoned, which left him with a choice he had to make quickly.

Rusty’s thoughts raced, but his body froze. He could not decide. Gleam would most likely be safe, as her strength for a D-ranked monster was above average. Rolo and the others were a different matter. They had prepared an escape tunnel and could hide in it, but there was no guarantee they would reach it in time.

While he hesitated, another orc clawed its way over the wall. Before he could react, it leapt forward and charged straight at him. He raised his shield, but before the creature could strike, an axe split its head cleanly in two.

“Second, what are you spacing out for?”

It was the mercenary leader, Galiena. Her chest rose and fell as she wrenched her axe free from the collapsing orc. Thick, dark blood splattered across the stone between them, but she ignored it. Her sharp eyes locked onto Rusty, narrowing as she took in his stiff stance.

“You trying to get yourself killed, Second? It’s not the time for you to die yet. You still have to help me train these guys!”

Rusty snapped out of it and drove his sword into the head of another orc trying to climb the wall.

“My apologies. I was just thinking about something…”

“Then think later… or is it something important?”

“It’s…”

Rusty paused for a moment, unsure why he was even talking to this woman, but judging from their earlier interactions, she seemed like one of the more reasonable humanoids he had met.

“The west gate. The Orcs broke through. That’s where my home is and…”

Before he could finish, Galiena slammed a ladder down with her axe while listening, cutting him off.

“Ah, is that where your children are?”

She raised her voice. Earlier, he had mentioned that he had children living with him, and for some reason, she remembered. Her tone shifted instantly.

“I understand. Leave everything to me and go to them.”

“Leave everything to you?”

“Of course. I’m your boss, and the boss takes care of her people.”

Her answer was simple, almost too simple for him to fully grasp. Then she pointed with her axe toward the pikemen blocking the way back into the city.

“Just go. Don’t worry about them. I’ll figure something out.”

“You’ll figure something out…”

Rusty hesitated and glanced at the approaching Orcs. Their numbers were already thinning, and he was not truly needed here to secure victory. He did not know what the humanoids planned to do with the slums, but he doubted they would send many soldiers to protect the people there from any Orcs that had made it through the wall. Finally, he nodded. He jumped off the wall and began sprinting toward the two men holding pikes.

“What are you doing, mercenary? Get back to your post!”

The knight commanding them shouted from the tower where he stood. The pikemen raised their shields to block Rusty’s path, but he did not slow down. From behind him, something flew forward. It was his new boss’s axe. It arced through the air and struck the guards’ shields with such force that it knocked both men off balance, breaking their formation just long enough to open a gap.

“Move, Second. Don’t let them stop you!”

Rusty heard her voice and surged forward, activating one of his less flashy skills to boost his strength and speed. He forced his way through the opening, snapping the guards’ pikes as they struck against his shield. He did not look back. He kept running, though he would not forget the help the woman had given him. At the same time, he could not help but wonder what punishment might await him once this was all over.

“Mutiny? What are these mercenaries doing?”

The knight shouted, but his voice was quickly drowned out by Galiena.

“What mutiny? He went to reinforce the western wall, where the Orcs are giving our men a hard time. So focus on your own duties, Sir Knight.”

The knight hesitated, clearly taken aback. He did not argue. It was obvious he suspected the truth, but chose not to press the matter in front of the adventurers and mercenaries. After a moment, he lowered his visor and turned away, while Galiena returned to fighting the Orcs.

Rusty, meanwhile, ran through empty streets lined with shuttered houses. During the siege, most residents had been evacuated to the church or underground shelters to keep them safe. His destination was the slums, and he could only hope he would arrive in time, before anyone he cared about was harmed.