Stronghold

BGM

The next day, I gathered the knights and priestesses at the church. Astoria and the other knights were armed with the firearms I had procured, their faces set with grim determination. The priestesses, including Arielia, were clad in ceremonial robes, ready to provide support and healing. At my count, there were 28 knights, including Astoria. From what Arielia said there are 175 opponents. I don't know the threat each individual opponent might be, but I also doesn't actually know the power of my own forces either, still my troops outnumber the stronghold's defenders now.

Getting through the first and second gates would likely have cut down my forces by at least half, but with my current plan hopefully I can get through without losing anyone which hopefully should give me a much greater advantage against the lieutenant

I wasn't concerned about my own life. I doubted anything in the stronghold would be able to hurt me even if things did start going wrong.

"I understand that you have waited for my arrival and now I am here, with my coming, comes also the fall of the Dark, We march on the orc stronghold today," I declared, my voice ringing out across the assembled group. "Our goal is to strike at the heart of their power and drive them from this land." I turned to Arielia. "You and the other priestesses will stay here, at the church. Tend to the wounded and pray for our victory."

Arielia nodded solemnly.

I approached the orc stronghold with the knights in tow, our arsenal of firearms at the ready. The towering walls loomed before us, the iron gates firmly shut. Four orc archers stood atop the walls, their bows at the ready.

"Stay back," I commanded the knights, hefting one of Hephaestia's rifles. "Let me handle this." I knelt, taking aim at the orc archers with my sniper rifle. With a deep breath, I squeezed the trigger. The rifle bucked against my shoulder as it roared to life, a plume of smoke erupting from the barrel. One of the orcs stumbled back, a red stain spreading across his chest. Two arrows hit me, but the pain is distant, easily ignored. It was like being poked with a needle, the damage didn't seem to be too bad, but this was a risk. With preternatural speed, I reload the rifle and fire again, dropping another orc archer. The remaining two archers nocked arrows and loosed, but I was already moving, my enhanced reflexes allowing me to dodge with inhuman precision. I fired again, catching one archer in the throat.

The knights were still in awe, having never seen such a display of firepower before. "Well done, my lord," Astoria said, her face set with grim satisfaction. We reached the gate and I tore through.

A massive orc warrior stepped out, brandishing a war hammer that was nearly as tall as he was. "You dare attack our stronghold, human?" he roared, his gravelly voice echoing across the courtyard. The ground trembled as he stomped forward, his muscles bulging with strength. I aimed my rifle at the orc's head, firing twice in rapid succession. The first bullet grazed his skull, drawing blood. The second struck true, boring through his eye and into his brain. He crumpled to the ground, dead before he hit the cobblestones.

The next four archers prepared to attack but I just ran straight at the next gate, from the inside I could see several ominous lights, and low, intelligible, and downright evil sounding chanting. I kicked the gate down. In front of me there was a line of orcs, most of them are wearing heavy armour with skull masks, but at the back stood a woman wearing black robes with a head of black hair and an eyepatch, their priestess, a jagged dagger in hand, walking towards a girl with messy brown hair and dead, empty red eyes, naked and restrained to an upright piece of stone wall with shackles locked around her wrists, ankles, and neck. The restrained girl was eighteen, blooded and bruised, bearing many marks of ****, the most common of which were whip lashings and malnourishment. Atop her head was a pair of bunny ears and behind was a fluffy and dirty tail. Beside her were two minor orc priests with staffs adorned with skulls. Cultists were laughing like hyenas around them.

All stood silent for all of three seconds, then the orc head priestess pointed at me and yelled, "KILL THEM! KILL THE INTRUDERS!"