On the other side, even if they were too far away, Tommy and Jim battled their opponents vigorously.

They had unleashed all their strength in an instant, just like Edward and Alan, and their cultivation shot up from F rank to the very peak of E rank. But that was not all they gained. In return for the incredible burden, they cause their bodies to bear, each of them further upgraded certain aspects of their abilities to around mid D rank's level.

For Tommy, it was the ability to go toe to toe with these monsters. Before bringing out his life force to empower himself, Tommy had to depend on his keen Soul Perception to dodge every of the Orc Captain's blows. He knows that if he receives even one strike, the brutal force would be the end of him.

But now, purely with his raw, brute, strength, Tommy returned blow for blow with the Orc Captain. At twelve years old and standing slightly above a meter and half tall, he is already tall for his age, but compared to the three meters tall monster to the onlookers, it looks as though an adult is bullying a small child. Nevertheless, the two pummelled each other relentlessly with neither relenting and surprisingly, it is the Orc that is slowly beaten back.

But with strength being his only forte against the similarly tough Magic Beast, Tommy found it difficult to defeat quickly.

Although the gel coating on his studded gloves burns the Orc's mana with every hit, the D rank Orc Captain is coated with a thin layer of purple mana, and that barrier is somewhat protecting it from the gel's abrasive nature. It is only after multiple attacks that the Orc Captain facing Tommy was slowly weakened.

It was largely the same on Jim's side. After using the strange new technique, he could feel a great improvement in his speed. Windows of opportunity that he never had before started opening.

He danced between attacks, knowing that a single hit will end him. His upgrade did not strengthen his defence by much. However, it is still far too unlikely for a lumbering oaf like the Orc Captain to touch him.

He will lightly dance away from the slow, large swinging motion of the Orc's club, and retaliate with his bag of tricks, unleashing a thick cloud of tranquilising powder, splashing it with a kind of viscous liquid or spray it full of poisoned pins, darts and other hidden weapons.

In just a few moments, the Orc was turned into a pincushion, covered from head to toe by a terrible amount of gel-coated weaponry.

Unfortunately, those attacks are all skin deep. Both Jim and Tommy lacked the decisive firepower needed to take down their opponents, and they could only watch helplessly as the Orc War Chief charge towards Kairos.

Alucard and his team continued trying to buy some time, raining down more and more talisman's attacks on it.

When the guys saw that the attacks failed to slow it down by much, they climbed back to their feet disregarding their injuries and dragged themselves to bar the way of the giant Orc.

It stood before them like a great black wall. Its skin is darker than its kin, and the blood-coloured hair flowed down its back like a lion's mane.

The imposing, ominous, presence it has is enough to make any weak-hearted practitioner keel over with one look, but none of those practitioners is in their group.

They charged at it, as though not knowing what death is. Regardless how Kairos shouted at them to stop, none hesitated even a step.

The War Chief easily smacked away the guys in its path as though swatting annoying flies. He held his large jagged stone sword aloof, seemingly to say that these human children are not worth tainting its weapon. It continued walking forward, all the while ignoring their attacks.

The students flung away by its sword, gritted their teeth and stared at the Orc undeterred. One by one they moved forward wanting to shield their leader from the Orc, but every time someone crossed its path, it will send the person flying with a smite.

*AHHHHHHH!*

At first, it had only found them to be minor nuisances but annoyed by the humans’ persistence its attacks grew more and more vicious with every blow.

"Nooooooo! Stop. Please stop!" Kairos cried, but no matter how hard he tried, his limbs would not obey him and lie lifelessly by his side on the ground.

The countless attacks raining down on it by those that wanted to protect Kairos only served to irritate the Orc further. It picked up a large rock on the side and hurled it at Alucard and his guys. The team of young nobles quickly pulled out every defence they had, but they were mercilessly blasted away like human bowling pins. The monstrous power that struck them easily caused blood to spray out from their mouths.

Finally, the annoying invocations of their talismans stopped, and the Orc once again turned towards its Kairos.

It breathed out a long stream of breath, visibly white in the cool forest air. Its eyes glowed dangerously. Finally, it had arrived at its target, the obvious leader of these human vermin.

In a fit of rage, it ripped apart the air with his jagged stone sword, tracing a white wisp of smoke downwards.

Time seemed to freeze as everyone looked in despair at the Orc's deathblow coming it down towards Kairos who is just sitting helplessly in front of it.

It all happened extremely quickly, yet the moment felt like it will continue for all eternity.

Right at this critical conjuncture, seemingly cutting through space itself and materialising out of thin air, Alan appeared between Kairos and the War Chief.

His tonfas crossed in defence, as he poured all his Soul Force into his weapon in an attempt to block.

*Pang!!*

With an ear breaking clash, both his tonfas shattered. The others could only see a red shadow flying away. He crushed into the trunk of a faraway tree breaking it apart as he continued sailing into a large rock and smashing it into bits with a terrible boom.

What followed was a dead silence. A short moment later, when the dust from the shattered rock settled, they saw Alan unconscious in a pool of his blood gathering around him, flowing out from the multiple wounds that resulted from the impacts.

"Alan!!" The entire group shouted with desperation colouring their faces. Those who can see him noticed how dangerous his situation looked.

"Quick! Pull out all the talismans you have left! Did anyone bring more? Damnit!" Alucard roared. The battle is not over yet!

He crawled up from where he had fallen and fervently checked his pockets. But, like him, the Dracula team had spent all they have.

Without hesitation, the young noble rallied his men and cries, "To arms!"

Alucard's voice was loud and bold, even though he couldn't stop his body from trembling. Hearing his war cry, his team smiled as they fearlessly followed him towards danger.

They had thrown their own safety to the air, but their assault did little to the Orc War Chief. After all, if their talismans could not harm it, normal attacks will only be shrugged off.

The Dracula team has rushed into battle fully prepared to die.

Kairos and his team would not be in this situation if not for them, and if their deaths could somehow slow down the Orcs for enough time to let them escape, it would be well worth it. They are content to die in battle, instead of being toyed around till death.

And it was not just the nobles, those that had followed Kairos in battle went forward, banding together to form a wall before the Orc. No one thought of fleeing for themselves.

“There must be something more we can do.”

This thought repeated in their minds. More of them stood up, holding onto their weapons desperately, even as they looked at death right in the eye and charged.

"If we fight, we live as one. If we die, we die together! Remember, this is the essence of the Bagua formation. I am willing to die together with you today, will you in return be willing to put your lives on the line for one another?"

These are the things Kairos said to them, and they remembered these words as they challenged death itself.

“Even now, Alucard and his team who are all from high ranked noble families are willing to put down their lives to defend Kairos with all their might for their pride as nobles, how could we show less resolve?”

Back when they crossed blades with the bare blades of Calculus' teams, they already knew that what he said was the truth.

The Orc War Chief stood proudly and powerfully. Its eyes seemed to be gloating them. Look, I am going to take the life of the one you are trying to protect, and no matter what you do, you cannot prevent it.

In its eyes, the humans are mere prey. After their leader is dead, it will destroy them all.

Yet, an intense pain suddenly burst forth from within its body. Its eyes widened in shock and anger, but it could not understand what is happening to itself.

In their desperate fight for survival, finally, the dreaded half a minute has passed and what seemed like an eternity had ended.

Although the students appeared tattered and torn, they managed to do what their leader asked. The Starfire Array worked in the same principal as their fire inscribed weapons, but on a greater scale. The Orcs that survived the initial array activation had been burning from within.

Their own mana fed the raging blaze and cooked them inside their bodies. Slowly, at first. Yet with every passing moment, the fire only grows stronger.

The War Chief suddenly froze in its tracks.

It is not human and does not understand retreating from battle. But it felt a thirst deep within that demands to be quenched. It howled in frustrated agony, and after a short moment, it could no longer suppress its urge, as it finally ran away seeking water.

The mana of most powerful Orc worked against it, quickening the flames faster than its weaker subordinates. But when the other surviving Orcs saw the one they feared running away, their ranks no longer held fast. Like a wave breaking on the sand, they quickly dispersed, disappearing into the woods and leaving behind the guys slumped on the floor in relief.

People are lying scattered all around. Large trees are broken or uprooted from the previous confrontation. The students that could still move started checking on their friends.

Many are crying uncontrollably, from the relief knowing they had survived this intense battle or the grief that gripped their hearts because someone they know had died.

The sun shone through the thickly leafed forest, and for one moment it felt like a new dawn had arrived.

They picked themselves up, urgently searched for those that may need medical attention. Of course, the one that everyone is most concerned with is Alan. Even a quick glance is enough to confirm how badly wounded he is.

All the bones from the tips of his fingers to his shoulders of both arms have been shattered from defending the powerful blow from the Orc War Chief. He bled profusely from his head, and all over his body after receiving multiple cuts from being sent flying through a tree and rock.

Whether Alan will succumb to his wounds, is still unknown.

In fact, the full force of a Peak D rank Orc should have killed both Alan and Kairos, but they unknowingly survived because of the soul force Alan infused into his Tonfas.

Besides him who is in a serious situation, they recovered the bodies of three others found lifelessly lying on the side. Broken.

Their deaths were truly heroic as they stood up over and over, knowing the next moment could be their last. Resolutely, they stood as one against the powerful Orc War Chief, and even in death, their expressions look surprisingly peaceful.

For those that had gone through life and death battles together, there isn't anything more satisfying in the end than for them to give up their own lives for a leader who can keep the others alive.

Their expressions seemed to say to Kairos, "We leave the rest to you."

Should their spirits know that Kairos is alive only because of them blocking the Orc till death, they would be extremely pleased. Yet, for the survivor, Kairos, he only felt his heart-shattering.

“My fault.”

In his mind, an unreasonable thought lingered; maybe everything was just a nightmare. Maybe, in another moment, he will wake up in his bed and realise that the day hadn't started.

He felt as if everything had gone wrong.

As his friends picked up their cold bodies, those faces that he could still picture smiling at him, are now lifeless.

This battle will forever carve what happened on the hearts of everyone that participated, and especially on Kairos as he continues to lead them towards victory or death.

Practitioners of the Martial Ways must possess stout hearts which could lead them through the darkest storms.

Even as these young children mourn for those who had passed away, they have long since learned that death is but a part of life, and in the end, everyone must die. Such is the truth for the lowborn.

They only hope that in death, they may achieve something great, therefore in certain aspects, the three have reached it ahead of them, and will always hold a position in their hearts as heroes.

Closing his eyes, Kairos steadied himself. His task is far from done.

The results of this battle are three deaths, and the majority of the rest of them seriously wounded.

Alan’s life is hanging by a thread, he himself has a punctured side, and so emptied of his life force he could not recover naturally. Edward did not fare any better unconscious since his battle with a broken arm, and also a critically low amount of life.

.....

When everyone was preparing to leave, Alucard stopped them.