It should have been fifteen minutes according to the Wild Swamp continent's unit of time since the struggle started; the times when blood flowed like water and lives were spent like loose change were left behind.
The period where the siege side formed by the Mercenaries suffered the greatest loss would be when they realized something was wrong as the assault began and stopped attacking.
Assuming all of the enemy's strength was outside the wall, they hadn't hesitated for a moment while sending units inside over the low walls; the result of this plan would be losing half of their manpower.
"Commander, we are not receiving news from those who entered the outpost!"
When the aide relayed the latest news to the commander waiting inside the shield wall, the timid man immediately gave his order.
"Stay away from the walls, take care of the four people outside first!"
Since he couldn't see much from where he was, the commander, trying to manage his troops with the incoming news, had only thought to change tactics after suffering heavy losses.
His aim was to besiege the outpost after killing the enemy in front of them and face the surprise waiting for them inside.
"Gentlemen, it seems these guys have their eyes set on us. If anyone among you thinks they can't handle it, they can run inside the outpost!"
Could the change on the battlefield escape Nafız's eyes? While the short-haired orc shouted to her comrades defending the other three walls, she hadn't forgotten to throw a little jab at them.
"Maybe I don't have my old weapon in hand, but I'll eat these guys alive, damn it!"
Alyon's words were completed by a roar and the scream of the gorilla yelling at the top of its lungs; both Power Animals were showing off.
The female orc smirked slightly; she might have worried for the others if some war machines or high-class soldiers were facing them, but these were the low-skill forces of the Grey Hyenas, a third-rate organization of the Mercenaries.
The system for classifying the forces of the Mercenaries was very simple; the warriors they had were divided into three separate levels as Low, Medium, and High quality.
While each level was further divided into three within itself, Nafız's guess was that their enemies could be at most Low level Medium grade.
A higher-level soldier would possess enough experience and understanding to estimate the enemy's strength. Since the people starting to run towards Nafız couldn't measure the might of the entity before them, relying on their numerical advantage, they had started to assault with great confidence.
"Alis, it looks like there are enough people for you to eat here; spending a little blood essence wouldn't be much trouble, right?"
When the puny female orc thought this to herself, the tiny white rabbit, her Power Animal, heard perfectly well what was said.
"Blood Dome!"
When she released a blood technique, the air around Nafız changed suddenly, becoming sharp enough to burn the throat of anyone breathing it.
The soldiers moving to attack would stop abruptly upon seeing the symbols advancing under their feet; within ten breaths, the moment they were surrounded by a blood-colored barrier, all of their faces were white as a sheet.
"Send news to headquarters immediately, have them send a support unit!"
Although the siege unit commander couldn't figure out what was going on, like every Mercenary officer, he had a high survival instinct and realized things were turning to shit.
With the order, several mechanical swallows took off at the same time; although their destination was the same, they all took off in different directions to avoid becoming a target for the enemy.
Nafız's enemies today were ignorant enough not to know these were futile efforts; not even a spiritual message, let alone an object, could pass through the Blood Dome.
Indeed, when the mechanical swallows that had just taken off landed one by one, a deathly silence covered the environment.
"I will grant you a single chance; drop your weapons, surrender, and fight in my ranks!"
In the most heated part of the war, Nafız was saying things no one expected; while the soldiers were still trying to digest what they heard, the same voice would speak once more.
"You can also choose to fight, but I would like to state that I can personally guarantee that everyone who attacks from this moment on will die!"
Looking at a blood-red sky inside the technique they were trapped in, the soldiers didn't know what to say. As whispering increased, the siege unit commander shouted with anger.
"Idiots, destroy that shapeless orc immediately. You all know the punishment for disobeying orders very well!"
Fighting was a line of work for the soldiers; due to this profession providing their livelihood, every soldier in the unit besieging the outpost counted as an employee of the Grey Hyenas at the same time.
While receiving a monthly salary and material support according to their ranks, they were managed within an order turned into an empire of fear under strict rules.
The punishment for disobeying an order was death, and this end didn't come easily; after being subjected to various tortures, the organization they were bound to would make the victim crawl in pain until they begged for death.
This precaution taken to prevent rebellions was the method the command echelon used most to groom the soldiers under them.
"Attack, there are only four of them!"
"Kill!"
The units starting to attack again from all sides were filled with determination to fight due to the fear of an end worse than death. Nafız, expecting this to happen, shouted addressing the other three people protecting the walls.
"Slaughter them!"
This wasn't a call or a request; it was an order befitting the name Blood God, which Nafız hadn't used for a long time.
The commander's words had made his subordinates fight thanks to the fear settled in their hearts; unlike him, the female orc's order would awaken the savagery in the souls of her three comrades.
Nafız met the first attack after her offer with all her majesty; her movements were fast and sharp. She responded in kind to the enemy rushing upon her, starting to spread death within the crowd she mingled into.
She didn't have Blood Daggers in her hands; she was advancing by cutting a throat with every swing of the two coal-black weapons she won from the reward dungeon.
Although the soldiers in the front lines got riled up after their commander's outburst, those in the back found it more logical to stop and observe the situation.
They had seen the fall of the mechanical swallows and heard the words of the orc speaking with great confidence against so many enemies; now was the time to understand if what was spoken was a bluff or the product of self-confidence born of power.
The situation was the same on other fronts; while a few hundred soldiers were fighting, their comrades-in-arms were watching them, wondering what the result would be.
Their heart's desire was to slaughter their enemies as soon as possible and return to their calm lives behind the front lines. Actually, their positions were so cushy that they were the ones cursing the emergence of these rebels the most.
There were high-ranking commanders at the head of the units attacking the shield surrounding the Druid Settlement, and in these places where discipline was kept in the foreground, the soldiers' lives were quite hard.
While the five outposts remaining on the border of the Orc Steppes used to be pleasure centers, after the latest developments on the neighboring continent, they didn't have their old flavor either.
As for themselves, they were located in the central region of the part occupied by their organization; their aim was to proceed to the scene as a support unit in case of any problem in the central and border regions.
After completing some basic training, their whole days passed by idling; although they had to suck up to their commanders to have fun with captive druids, not many cared about that.
Right now, the question 'where the hell have we landed' was on all their minds; the four people greeting them outside the wall were literally monsters. Although Pehlivan and Yadigâr had earned this title the moment they were born, they would have to question themselves after the slaughter Nafız committed together with Alyon.