Bumf!

The Orc was finally unable to go on and collapsed on the ground. He was so close, just five more meters, and he could tear that mage apart!

'Cursed cowardly humans! Raaaaaah!' The Orc raged in his mind, but only a quiet whimper was heard coming from his mouth.

It was over!

After executing the Orc, Riordian and Ravian ran to help the rest of their teammates while Tabbris looked at the knife in his hand with regret.

"Sigh, there goes my trump card… I can't rely on it for the next two weeks…" He had a pained expression on his face. His dagger was a sure-kill magic treasure for any enemy under the Gold Rank, and even then it was still quite useful.

"Aish… Wasting my Hurricane Blade on an Orc Scout, haah…" Tabbris sighed and complained loudly and then stowed the dagger away. He still had more enemies to kill and his teammates were relying on him, he couldn't stay down forever.

With their leader dead, the rest of the Orcs lost morale as well as teamwork. They fought like animals, clawing, biting, and growling, but it was all in vain. The Phoenix Knights were well organized and slowly tired out their opponents, covering them in shallow wounds and strategically draining them of strength.

They also poisoned their weapons and with each strike an Orc received, he became slower and less responsive. In the end, they all collapsed at the feet of humans and could only patiently wait for death to come.

The fight ended with every single Orc dead.

There were no casualties among the Phoenix Knights, although one of them broke his hand when trying to block an Orc Warrior's strike head-on instead of deflecting or avoiding it. Other than that, they were all fine.

The group of warriors that got attacked, however, well, that was another story altogether.

"Please kill me…" A young girl in torn clothes sat helplessly on the ground, her eyes blank and without life. She kept whispering these words over and over again.

"Hey, come on now, you are safe," a member of the Phoenix Knights tried to cheer her up, but to no avail.

Suddenly there was a glint in her eyes and she swiftly grabbed the knife the guy had on his belt and tried to cut her own neck!

"Hey! No, stop it!" He caught her hand just in time and held her tightly so she wouldn't hurt herself.

"Let me go I want to die! Let me die!" the woman screamed hysterically and thrashed around, trying to free herself.

Splash!

A bucket of ice-cold water was suddenly splashed on her, soaking her from head to toe.

"The Orcs are dead, you are safe now." The man with the bucket was Riordian Notrhendark, the talented Ice mage.

His eyes carried no warmth but were instead cold like the icy water he just used. Although his action might seem a bit extreme, it at least achieved the desired effect. The girl calmed down, somewhat.

"We'll take care of you from now on, and when we get back to Auralba the Priest of the Church of Innos can help purge your body and purify your soul."

Riordian then turned to one of the female Knights, "Take care of her, will you?"

The girl's name was Igrit and she stood to attention after being called.

"Of course!" she answered and then turned to the poor girl on the ground, "Come, let's get you cleaned and warmed up. It's going to be okay now, you are safe." Igrit covered her trembling body with a blanket and hugged her, helping her stand up.

The act of kindness was finally too much for the girl's mind and she broke down crying. She wailed loudly while the female Knight tried to console her.

"What's the situation?" Tabbris came and asked Riordian.

"Severe," the latter answered and spoke of what he learned.

"A group of fifteen, they just set up camp when they were attacked. Five were killed immediately and two died of torture after. There was one extra survivor when we arrived but unfortunately, we were too late and he didn't make it."

"Those two girls…" he gestured with his head. "Well, you have seen the result. They might physically recover, but their mind is another thing altogether. The last girl was lucky and didn't suffer too much, but seeing her friends suffer such gruesome fate might scar her for life…"

His gaze was still cold and seemingly indifferent, but his friends all knew that that's just how he dealt with strong emotions.

Tabbris slowly nodded and stayed silent for a while. He looked at the blood-covered corpses around the camp and eventually sighed, "Any suggestions?"

"Return to capital," Riordian answered shortly. "We need to take these people to safety first, and I believe you also noticed that just the twenty of us won't be enough if we discover the actual nest…"

Nodding once again, Tabris calmly spoke, "Get the camp ready, we'll spend the night here. Tomorrow we are turning back, may Innos help us!"

They quickly set up the camp and went to rest for the few remaining hours of the night.