The first raider to reach Elion was a gaunt man with wild eyes and a rusted sword. He swung with the desperate ferocity of someone who had nothing left to lose. Elion parried awkwardly—his training had been minimal, focused more on etiquette and estate management than actual combat—and the impact jarred his arms.
The raider pressed his advantage, raining down blows that Elion barely managed to deflect. Behind the man, more raiders charged through the broken gates, their war cries echoing off the manor walls.
I'm going to die, Elion thought with sudden, crystalline clarity. I'm going to die in the first thirty seconds.
Then Kael was there, his blade flashing in a silver arc that opened the raider's throat. The man collapsed, gurgling, and Kael kicked his corpse aside with practiced efficiency.
"Stay close to me, lordling," the mercenary said, already moving to engage the next attacker. "Try not to die before you've paid me."
Elion didn't have time to respond. Another raider lunged at him—a woman this time, wielding a spear. She thrust at his chest, and Elion twisted aside on pure instinct. The spear point tore through his leather armor but missed flesh.
He countered with a wild slash that caught her arm. Blood sprayed, and she screamed, stumbling back. Elion pressed forward and drove his sword through her chest. The blade stuck on bone, and he had to plant his boot on her torso to wrench it free.
The woman collapsed, and Elion stared down at her body, his mind numb. He'd just killed someone. Actually killed—
"Move!" Kael's shout snapped him back to reality.
A raider's hammer whistled past Elion's head, missing by inches. He ducked and rolled, coming up just as Garrick's sword took the hammer-wielder in the side. The old guard was bleeding from a dozen cuts but still fighting, his face set in grim determination.
Around the courtyard, the battle had dissolved into chaos. Lyssa stood on the manor steps, her staff blazing as she channeled magic that turned the soil into clutching quicksand beneath the raiders' feet. Thomas and two other defenders held the east entrance, their spears forming a makeshift phalanx that kept the enemy at bay.
But they were still hopelessly outnumbered. For every raider that fell, two more pressed forward. And at the center of it all, the orc chieftain waded through the defenders like a force of nature, his great axe cleaving through weapons and armor alike.
Elion watched in horror as the orc grabbed one of the younger guards—a boy named Marcus who worked in the stables—and literally tore him in half with bare hands. Blood and viscera sprayed across the courtyard.
"No!" Elion screamed, but his voice was lost in the chaos.
The system text flashed urgently in his vision:
╔════════════════════════════════╗ ║ WARNING ║ ╚════════════════════════════════╝ Critical casualties sustained. Recommended action: Retreat and regroup. Alternative: Unlock Shadow Extraction (Requires: Defeat of first significant enemy)
Defeat a significant enemy. The orc chieftain would certainly qualify.
But how? Elion was barely holding his own against common raiders. The chieftain was a monster of muscle and fury, seven feet of orcish violence that had probably killed more men than Elion had ever met.
Still, what choice did he have?
"Kael!" Elion shouted over the din. "The orc—we have to take him down!"
The mercenary glanced at the chieftain, then at Elion, and for a moment his expression was pure disbelief. "You're joking."
"If we don't stop him, everyone dies."
"If we try to stop him, we die."
"Then we die fighting!" Elion snapped. He didn't know where the confidence came from—certainly not from any rational assessment of their chances. But something was driving him forward, some desperate need to prove he was more than just a failed noble presiding over a dying domain.
Kael stared at him for a long moment, then shook his head with a bitter laugh. "You know what? Fine. I've lived long enough anyway." He turned to Lyssa, who was looking increasingly drained as she maintained her spell. "Druid! We need an opening on the big bastard!"
Lyssa's eyes widened. "You can't be serious."
"Dead serious. Can you do it or not?"
She hesitated, then nodded. "Once. After that, I'm spent."
"Once is all we need. On my mark..."
Kael sprinted forward, and Elion found himself following before his rational mind could object. They weaved through the melee, dodging blows and bodies alike. The orc chieftain stood in the center of the courtyard, his axe painted crimson, roaring challenges in his guttural language.
He saw them coming and grinned, revealing tusks the size of daggers.
"Tiny humans want to die?" he bellowed in broken Common. "Good! Come!"
"Now!" Kael shouted.
Lyssa slammed her staff into the ground, and the earth erupted beneath the orc's feet. Thick roots, each as wide as Elion's leg, burst from the soil and wrapped around the chieftain's ankles and knees, binding him in place.
The orc roared in fury, his muscles bulging as he strained against the roots. For a terrifying moment, Elion thought he might actually break free through sheer strength.
Kael struck first, his blade slashing across the orc's exposed side. It was a good blow, precise and powerful—and it barely drew blood through the thick hide.
"Damn it!" Kael cursed, dancing back as the orc's axe whistled past his head.
Elion circled to the chieftain's other side, his sword feeling pathetically inadequate. The orc was so large, so powerful—where could he even strike to do real damage?
The eyes.
The thought came unbidden, and Elion acted on it before doubt could paralyze him. He feinted low, and when the orc's attention followed, Elion lunged upward, driving his blade toward the chieftain's face.
The point struck true, plunging into the orc's left eye.
The chieftain's roar became a scream of agony. His massive hand came up, swatting Elion aside like an insect. Elion felt his ribs crack as he flew backward, crashing into the mud.
Pain exploded through his chest. He couldn't breathe, couldn't move. Through blurred vision, he saw Kael press the attack, his blade finding the gaps in the orc's guard now that the creature was half-blinded and maddened with pain.
The chieftain stumbled, his great axe falling from nerveless fingers. Kael's sword opened his throat, and the massive body toppled like a felled tree.
The orc chieftain was dead.
And the moment he hit the ground, the system text blazed across Elion's vision:
╔════════════════════════════════╗ ║ EXTRACTION AVAILABLE ║ ╚════════════════════════════════╝ Target: Orc Chieftain (Deceased) Extraction Success Rate: 90% Proceed with Shadow Extraction? [YES] / [NO]
Through the pain and the chaos, Elion focused on the word "YES."
The world exploded in darkness.