Orcium took the lead of his legion, wanting to be the first to tear apart the different scarabs and serpent-men, who doubled them in size, but still died as if they were pathetic flies.
Once the walls were filled with green blood, the warriors gathered.
Orcium, still with his weapons dripping in blood, turned to the only Geomancer who had accompanied them into the bowels of the earth to serve as their guide.
"Very well, tell us where the rest of the rats in this place are hiding."
The Geomancer used geolocation.
"Now that I'm down here, it's much easier to recognize the different tunnels."
The Geomancer began to release a great amount of aura as he strained to comprehend the underground terrain for kilometers around.
"Commanders, without a doubt this is a titanic effort. There are numerous tunnels being built that we didn't even know existed. However, all the creatures are retreating to a large cavity far from here. There is a huge chamber and, from what my senses tell me, a massive army has gathered there along with the creatures that retreated."
Victoria, at that moment, stepped forward.
"That means they all know we're here, right? And even so they don't attack us or surround us through the other tunnels? They all retreated into a single chamber?"
Victoria looked at Orcium, seeking some words from her friend.
"Yes, this is very strange. Normally, these creatures happily throw themselves at massacring us. Well, there's no use in discussing what goes through their minds. Now let's destroy them where they think they are safe."
The orc warriors and Victoria set off toward the main chamber.
The Geomancer grew paler as they approached the giant underground chamber.
"My commanders, before I wasn't able to tell what it was they were defending in the underground chamber, however, now I realize: there is a huge magical device and, from how fiercely the magic stirs within it, it must be a large-scale explosive element."
Orcium frowned.
"Planning to blow us up, cowards? They couldn't win against us by facing us cleanly, and now they want magic to do the job."
Orcium spat on the ground, visibly annoyed.
"But now the plans of those insidious rats will fail, because we are here."
The orc warriors grew excited upon hearing those words, raising their spirits.
Victoria took that moment to suggest the battle plan.
"Considering that the chamber has that enormous circular hollow where this magical device is, and the enemies are stationed in a circle surrounding it, the best thing would be to concentrate our attack on a single point, with us as the spearhead."
Victoria, at that moment, also had a role for the Geomancer.
"When we enter, we'll be vulnerable from the rear. To avoid that, I want you to collapse the back area of the cave through which we'll enter."
"But, my lady, if we do that we'll be cutting off our only line of retreat."
Victoria looked at him and gave him a disturbing smile.
"Yes, but it's better to have a pile of rocks behind you than another enemy waiting to stab you. Besides, from the beginning there's no alternative but to win. The only way to get out of here alive is to kill all those bastards."
The orcs laughed.
"Well said, Commander Victoria. As she says, we have to eliminate all those bastards if we want to get out."
As they went deeper into the depths, the cave slowly grew larger, to the point that the legion no longer needed to march in line to keep advancing, until they finally reached the doors of the underground chamber.
"Geomancer, bring down the rear."
Victoria approached the door.
She planned to make a grand entrance. A great orb of blood appeared a few meters above Victoria.
Orcium also approached the door. Together they were one of the most powerful forces of Último Bastión: a rank seven berserker, legendary rank, and a blood mage of the same level.
"I'll leave the honors to you."
Orcium smiled, showing his typical fierce look.
"ROAR, WARRIORS, ROAR, FOR SOON WE SHALL BRING DEATH TO OUR ENEMIES!"
WAR! WAR! WAR!
"HAHAHAHA!"
Orcium pulled out his two battle axes and charged furiously at the door.
He filled himself with the ether manifestation known as fury; his body swelled and a red aura covered him. Then he crashed into the giant door with such fierce and violent force that it was hurled away at great speed, revealing what was hidden inside the chambers.
There the serpentine and scarab armies awaited combat, but they did not expect their own door to turn into a projectile, which caused several soldiers to be struck by it and fall off the edges of the circular area's slope into the cliff below.
At that moment, Victoria, wasting no time, followed Orcium and her orb began to absorb the blood of the enemies.
Victoria placed herself in front of Orcium and swung her giant crimson greatsword, and a wave of blood energy shot out, destroying the entire formation that had been waiting to receive the orc charge.
"FORWARD, ORC WARRIORS! KILL THEM ALL, LEAVE NONE ALIVE!"
The massive orc warriors roared, chanting to their God of War as they plunged into the enemy lines.
Victoria took a moment to watch the fight.
She saw the orc warriors battle, and without a doubt it was a spectacle. They did not follow a battle formation like the skutarii of Midas or the knights of the Kingdom of the Lion of Asturias, but rather each of them was like an unleashed beast causing havoc wherever they went. But they were so skilled at killing that the enemy could not react and surround them.
One of the orc warriors used his own jaw to kill one of the serpent soldiers.
Victoria, at that moment, decided to stop watching and plunged into the enemy ranks, wielding her greatsword and cutting down her foes.
She had to be remarkably attentive to her surroundings. Her enemies, this time, possessed numerous arms, so if she faced four enemies at once, she faced sixteen weapons at the same time. That's why the speed with which she cut her enemies was important.
She broke into the scarab ranks and let out a magical scream, which caused most of the enemy warriors to be momentarily stunned. At that moment, from the blood orb began to rain stakes that impaled all the enemies who didn't defend themselves.
Orcium, for his part, advanced on the other side with half of his men.
The orc fought just like his soldiers, causing the greatest disaster possible. But the difference was that, if his soldiers were unleashed beasts, he was the very god of death and war. With his two axes he seemed like a meat grinder; every time he swung his arms, an enemy lost his life. He fought in such a way that even enemy warriors could easily wound him, but that did not stop him. In fact, that was where his strength came from: every time he was hurt he felt himself slowly filling with power.
And his advance became even more relentless. The massacre was such that his enemies tried to escape from the apparent certain death that was facing this group of crazy orcs. And in the moment they tried to flee, some fell off the cliff's edge; others were left hanging, but their hands were severed by the orcs so they would fall into the void.
Orcium stopped and grabbed the hand of one of the warriors who was now hanging from the cliff, about to fall, and lifted him up.
The creature was a serpent-man, who still retained humanoid features. Therefore, when Orcium saw him, he confirmed what he wanted to see.
"Heh, you're afraid, aren't you? You never should have come against us. You were nothing more than corpses the moment you set foot on these lands."
Orcium then took him and threw him into the cliff, rejoicing as he watched his body go limp when it crashed against the ground.
At that moment, the ground began to tremble and a new mass of earth rose floating from the other end of the circle. And there he saw it: it was another scarab warrior, however, this time it was truly massive.
And it emanated an aura that revealed it was in the same rank as Orcium and Victoria: legendary rank.
The scarab warrior, floating in the air, was gigantic. Several dozens of meters still separated them, but it was so massive that, if it wanted to, it could wield the halberds of its four arms and fight with them against Orcium.
Orcium smiled.
"Finally, it's getting fun."