After a difficult siege, the steel gate was finally wrecked by the great beasts. The hours they spent fighting brought about a result of a mere hundred fallen Orcs, and this was only because of their ingenious contraptions and well-trained archers hammering down ceaselessly on the enemy ranks.

If no one comes to their aid, they will fall sooner or later in this uphill struggle. The difference of strength between the two sides is simply too large to be compensated with mere tricks.

Though the tunnel that was made for humans will somewhat restrain the larger Orcs, the students are still losing ground, fast.

As the rest of them pulled back, a lone figure took his place before the broken barrier.

Facing the bloodthirsty Orc army by himself, their rearguard, Tommy, had no intention of backing away.

When he was Mid F rank, he could take the rock shattering blows of an Orc Captain and did not flinch. Now he is at Peak F rank.

Utilising the same technique as before, he infused his soul force into his body in exchange for greatly increasing his abilities for a short period of time.

A powerful aura exploded outwards from him, and this moment his form is like a sovereign of warriors.

Just the strength that poured out from him made the Orcs take a step back. Not from fear but blown back by force.

It was only a single step, but over a hundred Orcs were pushed backwards by his aura.

Each of those Orcs stood over three meters in height, and yet they were the ones to cower before this young boy only about half their height.

Without waiting, Tommy attacked first.

"HaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAA!"

He thundered in one long breath, his voice but a whisper at first but quickly becoming a loud roar, and with it, an incredible force is gathered in his hand.

His fist flew out with blinding speed, unleashing the power he had been storing, and smashing powerfully into the nearest Orc.

It was sent flying like a broken kite together with a beautiful glow of light that exploded forward. For a moment, everything stilled like the eye of a storm, then, a single breath later, a massive explosion of whirlwind blew every single Orc backwards.

All the Orcs that have entered the tunnel flew back out of the entrance as if being hit by a sudden hurricane. Those outside quickly tried to catch their mates, but when their thick, muscular arms grabbed onto those blown out, they were without exception thrown back by an astounding force.

The Orcs are no doubt a race blessed with incredible physical strength, yet none succeeded in the simple act of catching their friends.

However, the attack did not end there, multiple blades of wind leftover from the great gust became a whiplash that struck those that were further away from the tunnel, slicing flesh and causing quite a few of them to spit out mouthfuls of blood.

The ones that received this blow trembled, no longer able to stand because of internal injuries. The force of a single punch had far surpassed their understanding. With his incredible fortitude and his raw physical strength, the army that crashed against him was like waves breaking on the cliffs.

Tommy had infused Soul Force into his strike till the limits his body could endure, and for a moment, he broke through the upper limits of his cultivation and touched the illustrious Entry C rank. It was no wonder his enemies were in shock.

But without a martial technique, this is definitely not his full strength. If he had a Secret Art like Edward or Kairos, the victims would probably be lying down right now. In pieces.

The three archer teams that fell back to the first room began to wonder where their pursuers are. Only Kairos and the group smiled knowingly while they observed the battle with their Soul Perception. Tommy stood before the horde of Orcs. The sun was pouring down into the entrance, falling on his stout and mighty figure.

Despite only half the size of an adult Orc, at this moment, he seemed to be a giant towering over his foes. He looked at them resolutely, and the Orcs suddenly had an illusion that that dreaded steel gate once again stood before them.

The five of them played together since a tender age, and they know each other better than real brothers. In the past, many had tried to bully them, and during then, Tommy was the one who always stood at the foremost. Despite being larger than other kids of his age, the gentle boy was not one who enjoyed striking back, but no one, not a single person, could bully his friends and leave unscathed.

With the might of a single person, the Orcs are driven back, unable to move forward even a step past him.

He knows that the longer he delays them, the more advantageous it will be later on.

The young warrior fought bravely, but after a quarter of an hour and several strikes later, his life energy had waned dangerously. Without hesitation, he used the last ounces of his strength in an outburst of speed to retreat.

The encroaching Orc troops that had taken a beating from Tommy did not expect him to turn tail and run, and they allowed him to create a short gap before reacting. Yet, barely having any talent in speed, the Orcs quickly caught up as he reached the first room.

Half of the room had been separated by thick steel bars, allowing the blue team some pathetic measure of safety while counterattacking. The barrier protects the three doors that lead to the second room, with one at the back and one on either side.

To make it harder for the enemy, each of those exits was separately barricaded to separate the garrison into three parts. This means that even if the enemy broke through one section, the other two groups could still continue giving support fire.

On a closer look, the palisade fences looked similar to the steel gate at the entrance except without the deadly spike contraptions. Provided by the Academy as part of the defences in the hill base, it is the prototype that Edward and Jim used to make the gate at the main entrance.

Unfortunately, the time they had were too short to strengthen the rooms.

While these bars are made to be sturdy and able to withstand even multiple blows from martial techniques, it does not have the necessary thickness to endure the physical might of the War Beasts. No one designed it in mind for the life or death situation they found themselves in.

Even so, each barricade is enough to last for a while and what is the most important right now is time. As Kairos said, they shall bite and claw their way to survival, living even a minute longer is hope that somewhere reinforcements may arrive in time.

"Ready your bows!" Alan instructed at the same time the others tried to get Tommy into the barricades.

When unneeded, these metal bars could be pushed into the walls, but with the enemies breathing down their neck, they only left a small gap for him while preparing the room; one that they can quickly reseal.

However, they had sorely underestimated the boy’s size.

"You're so fat Tommy! Come on try harder to squeeze through!" Jim cried out, his face turning red from pulling. Alan rushed over from behind, and the two tugged at his arms without much success.

The Orcs that were right behind him caught up, and everyone watched in horror as the first Orc, a War Chief, reached him. The fearsome beast gave an earth shuddering roar, declaring its victory, then, it struck Tommy squarely on his behind with a mighty kick.

*POP*

Finally, thanks to the incredible strength of the Orc race, he flew past the gap and rolled into the guys.

Fortunately, at the last moment, he expended all of his remaining life force to fortify his rear. His valiant efforts successfully protected him from the powerful stomp and saved his life, but nevertheless, the damage still caused his butt to swell, unflatteringly.

Not only so, but Tommy had also forcefully used up the last bits of his strength and went into a temporary unconsciousness. An emergency sort of fainting to recover his low amount of life energy.

"That Orc went and killed Tommy with a kick to his arse," Alan declared to everyone.

"What? Had Tommy died? Sob! Although we are not from the same mother, I will miss you! The portrait of your butt shall honour your bravery in prayers every year, my poor brother," Jim sobbed tearlessly with a dramatic expression. Even though Tommy is not yet dead; evident by the rise and fall of his body.

In Saint Empire, there is a culture to draw a portrait of their loved ones who had passed away, and yearly, the living will commemorate them by offering joss sticks. The painting is usually done in the most flattering way so that others may remember that person fondly.

Right now, Jim is telling everyone that Tommy's most flattering pose is his swelling butt. The boy squatted next to his victim with a broad smile and started drawing the commemorative portrait. Within a few strokes of the brush, the outlines of a guy with his face planted on the floor and an exaggerated behind in the air could be seen.

All memories of his previous valiant form, overwhelming his foes in battle, had been cast into the air by now. If Tommy woke up at this time, he would definitely faint again from anger.

Like a good friend, Alan took out three flare sticks and lit them in replacement of joss sticks.

After planting them on the ground next to Tommy, he clapped twice solemnly and shut his eyes; an indication of memorial prayer.

All these took a while to describe but happened in an instant. Seeing this not just the other students, but even the Orcs, stopped in shock.

“What in the world are they doing during a battle?”

Regardless of race, gender and no matter man or beast, this same thought ran through the minds of everyone.