We were running.
I didn't know how much time had passed, but it was almost midnight. I was carrying one of the ten-year-old children since he couldn't run anymore.
As we progressed, more and more grown-ups stayed behind to fight while they opened a path for us.
But they left only to give us some time, so every time we encountered an Orc, only one grown-up left the group.
Even if they could fight one-on-one against an Orc, the other Orcs would reach them before they could kill the lone Orc.
The last grown-up, Taek, left not long ago after saying, "I wish I could see your Art." It hurt, but I couldn't stop, for the sake of the children and Elaine.
Thankfully, we didn't encounter any other Orcs after that.
Please let us be lucky. If we encountered more Orcs now...
When I was thinking that, we saw the opening, meaning we were exiting the forest. Hope filled my chest instantly, but it didn't last long.
Just outside the forest, there was one Orc waiting.
No, that wasn't an Orc.
"The Orc Chieftain!" Lana shouted. The words were no different from a death decree.
Since we were running, we must have made noise. So, he saw us. We didn't have a chance to go around silently anymore.
So, this was it...
"Leave, I will take care of him!" It wasn't I who said this, but Lana.
However, before she could move, I approached her and almost dropped the child in my hands on her.
She had no choice but to catch the child.
"No, I will handle him."
"Stop it, I am the grown-up!"
"No!" I shouted without meaning to. "Don't you see the moon? I am also a grown-up now. Also, I am sorry, but you can't hold him long enough for us to run away."
The horses pulling the carriages had already been killed, meaning that the group needed to run on foot.
So, the one who stayed behind needed to stall the Chieftain for a long time.
Lana didn't have anything to say after understanding what I meant. She was an archer only, so it was impossible for her to stall for time.
I saw Elaine behind me with the corner of my eye. She was looking at me with shocked eyes. She started approaching me.
"Grey-"
I didn't let her catch me and started running toward the Orc Chieftain before I shouted behind, "Run!"
But no one moved. I shouted again, "This is an order! Run! Now!"
This time, Lana started moving with tears in her eyes. "I am sorry, Grey! I am sorry."
She was slow since she was carrying a child. But still, she held Elaine's hand to pull her.
Elaine was also crying, but she didn't stop. She also took the hands of the other two ten-year-olds and started running.
"We are alone at last!" I shouted before jumping closer to the Chieftain. I could swear he was smiling.
I actually had no idea about his attack patterns or his strength. He was even holding something that looked like a crowbar. It was probably a pile of iron, though.
Ah... I have no chance against him. I wish he had at least used a tree trunk or something.
The Chieftain was almost three meters long, much bigger than normal Orcs.
Still... "You will be staying here with me for a bit longer... Even if I die today, I am sure the next ones will avenge me one day."
As long as I could stall him a bit, it would be okay.
The fight started. He swung the iron bar just like the other Orcs at first. So, I could easily dodge them.
Of course, he was obviously much stronger. Even if it wasn't iron he was holding, and instead a tree trunk, he could kill me with one hit.
His speed wasn't much higher, though, so I could still dodge. Probably because of the adrenaline, I didn't feel the fatigue from before.
I knew that I couldn't parry or block the iron bar with my axe. The axe would probably shatter, and I would die. But he also didn't seem like he was getting tired.
I didn't know how long I dodged. But before I could realize it, the Chieftain started getting enraged.
Probably because he couldn't kill me fast, he would lose the prey from before. So, he stopped having fun.
For the first time, I saw an Orc take a stance. His stance was like a baseball player's on Earth. Then, he swung his bar much faster than before.
There is no way I can dodge that!
I still tried. Again, parrying was impossible. So, I put all my strength, or whatever was left of it, into my legs and jumped sideways without caring about the landing.
It worked, though not completely. The iron bar hit my arm, and my body flew, hitting a tree before stopping.
"Ughh!" It hurt a lot.
I immediately tried to get up, but it didn't work. My arm was hurting, and my legs didn't seem to listen to me.
Is this how it feels to drain all your energy?
The Orc Chieftain approached me, and there was nothing I could do. I could see my axe, and it was close. But, I didn't have the energy to reach for it even if I wanted to.
Well, it is what it is. I, at least, killed an Orc by myself before dying...
I didn't even close my eyes as the Chieftain looked from above. Again, he seemed like smiling.
But he didn't plan to torture me. I saw him raising the iron bar. But before he could drop it on my head,
THUD!
A sound of wood hitting a rock came. I looked up, only to see an arrow bouncing back from the Chieftain's head.
When I looked at where the arrow came from, I saw Elaine looking at me.
"Elaine! Why are you here?" I wanted to scream, but my voice was much lower than I intended.
Still, she heard me. "I came back to help you." She was still crying, so her words were barely clear.
"What are you doing? Leave!" I shouted again. But it was too late.
The Orc Chieftain left me and headed toward Elaine. I was an easy target since I couldn't move. So, of course, he would go after her, even though she couldn't hurt him.
"Elaine, run!" I knew it was in vain, but I still wanted her to run.
Come on! Come on! I need to move. Come on, legs!
But no matter what I tried, nothing happened. I looked around to find something. Anything that could help.
But there was nothing. In the end, I looked up. I was under a tree, so there could be something on it. But I saw nothing.
The tree was broken down when I hit it. All I saw was the night sky and the full moon.
Ah, it is midnight...
The thought came to me without me intending to think about it. I wouldn't think about such an unnecessary thing in the middle of this situation.
But...
[Art of Creation has been unlocked. The system is active.]