The orc warrior nicknamed Boss, resembling a small moving mountain, stayed where he was. It was as if the words had pinned his body to the ground; his breathing slowed down to the point of not even being noticeable.
"Father!"
He could only utter a single word; while looking at Hammerforged's face, his tears were wetting the stone-paved road of the Golden City. Wind of Death returned to her battle stance; it was obvious she realized her heroism attempt of a moment ago almost cost her her life.
Despite this, she couldn't hide her astonishment while looking at her husband. She knew Hammerforged's lineage power, she had experienced it firsthand, but why was she hearing her father-in-law's voice from his mouth now?
"Nothing has changed since I banished you from the tribe. You continue to be a nuisance to your family again."
The orc nicknamed Boss practically turned into a statue; he stood without budging from his place, and this state made him a clear target for the Apostle living in the shadows. The person repelled a moment ago made his move towards the neck of another target this time.
"Back off, you filthy creature!"
The wide-bladed sword clashed with the shadow daggers once more, and the 7th Apostle was sent flying meters away before he could achieve his goal. Even though Hammerforged always possessed a large torso, he couldn't hide his slightly hunched posture, but right now he was as straight as if he had swallowed a stick.
At the other end of the Golden City, there was a group of orcs at least as straight as him, but the reason for their bodily reactions came from being cautious. When Joshua and Bookworm opened the way, thousands of orcs entered the region under the control of the Machine Empire together with them. While the vanguard units lived up to their names, someone had to watch their backs too, and this duty fell to the Elite Ten.
Under normal conditions, the greatest danger should have come for the orc warriors on the front lines, but one of the monsters hiding inside the Golden City was approaching the ten-person Elite Ten team right now.
"Be careful!"
After taking off the leather mask she had proudly worn since she received this title, the leader of the Elite Ten plunged her totem into the ground. At that moment, the other nine orc warriors drew their respective weapons; the battle was beginning.
"Well, well, well! They said you were highly talented, but I think you are much more than that. For the first time in years, someone managed to feel me coming next to them, and it was an ugly orc woman. I didn't know whether to be happy or sad?"
The Sixth Apostle was as relaxed as if he had gone for a walk on a spring evening; in contrast, the gazes of the orc warriors in his target were sharp. Two golden chakrams glided from opposite directions and decided to meet at the thin neck at the end of the hair shining even in the darkness.
"How nice; instead of talking, you prefer fighting!"
The moment the Sixth Apostle finished his words, he was five steps back; the weapons targeting his neck had missed, but it was impossible for him not to see the five arrows a finger's width in front of his eye. This time he didn't retreat; moving forward, he evaded the attack and felt the coldness of two daggers on his back.
The Sixth Apostle didn't break his pace under the combined attacks of the Elite Ten. He advanced not minding the daggers skimming his shirt tearing the silk fabric. There was one, perhaps two breaths left for him to reach the leader whose totem glowed with green light, but two burly orc bodies appearing before him wanted to prevent this.
"Not that easy!"
In the face of the combined strike consisting of a shoulder and a punch blow, the Sixth Apostle could only respond by switching to a defensive stance. There was no escaping from the shoulder, hard as a mountain, of the orc warrior possessing the body hardening skill and the punch of another orc warrior capable of creating a sonic boom.
When the Sixth Apostle, sent flying backward doing somersaults, landed on the ground, he saw the arrows above his head again; the Elite Ten member specializing in attacking from a long distance had no intention of missing opportunities. The apostle, not retreating this time, smiled; his pearly teeth caused the shadows of the arrows to grow.
Then the apostle, waving his right hand, split the arrows cast from solid metal in two; a thin beam of light was enough to do this.
"It's not for nothing that you are the most effective unit among billions of orcs! Even if you haven't shown all your skills yet, your teamwork managed to impress me. There is an irresistible feeling inside me to play with you, and this feeling gets stronger every second.
What do you say? Will you play with me a little?"
The Sixth Apostle, completing his words accompanied by an enviable smile, disappeared from sight at that moment. The entire presence of the man, who attracted attention like a beacon in the darkness with his glowing hair, bright silk shirt, and pearly teeth, seemed to have vanished.
"Do you want to see the true light hiding inside the darkness?"
When they raised their heads, they saw a cloud radiating light; a second later, the Sixth Apostle was in front of the orc warrior who had shouldered him just a moment ago.
"I want to pay you back for your magnificent blow!"
The ordinary punch at the end of the scrawny wrist revealed when the silk shirt rolled up hit the stomach of the orc warrior, who was an Elite Ten member with his outstanding success in body hardening. As soon as the white skin contacted the green one, the leather boots rose from the ground, and in the blink of an eye, the orc warrior stuck to the wall ten steps away.
"I haven't forgotten your sonic boom either!"
By the time the orc warrior directing his attention to what happened to his friend noticed the palm placed on his chest, it was too late. The Sixth Apostle didn't do anything; the energy wave coming out from inside his hand was enough to bring his enemy to his knees. The orc capable of executing sonic booms was vomiting blood.
"Take a defensive stance! Don't let him get close!"
Hundreds of spirit soldiers bursting from the totem charged at the Sixth Apostle. Driving the handsome man before them practically like a flood, they made him retreat steps backward, and meanwhile, the Elite Ten members took a defensive stance by surrounding their two damaged friends.
In a formation in the shape of three circles; the outer circle was formed by the spirit soldiers obeying the leader of the Elite Ten. In the second circle were those possessing bodily skills, and in the inner circle were those who could execute long-distance attacks.
"What a sweet formation is this? I wonder how I should do it so I can reach you?"
The Sixth Apostle raised his right hand; a bizarre green light quickly began to spread from his palm, and within ten seconds, an army twice the size of the spirit soldiers that had sent him flying just a moment ago appeared before him.
"The outer circle is done, I will have to deal with the others myself!"
The eyes of the Elite Ten members opened wide. They never would have thought there could be someone else capable of using their leader's skill.
"Pull yourselves together! We are continuing the battle!"
The leader, seeing her skill in someone else, was perhaps the only person not surprised; with a scream almost as shrill as the voice of the Blood God Nafız, she tried to bring her subordinates to their senses. She was the only one in the environment she was in, but across the battlefield spread throughout the Golden City, she wasn't the only one saying these words.
One of the great generals resisting by gathering all the soldiers under his command was trying to pull his other friends together just like her. General Eye shouted, closing his right eye that had begun to lose its brightness; it wasn't hard to understand he was experiencing hard times against Alator.
"Use whatever you have! If we hesitate even a little, our name will be erased from the World of the Six Civilizations!"
While the Elite Ten was forced to take a defensive stance, another ten-person unit on the battlefield was descending upon their enemies like wrath. The condition of all three great generals was ruinous; as the main actors of a struggle where they wandered at their limits, they had no choice but to comply with General Eye's call.