Refining the Heavens (炼天)

Chapter 23: Stopping the Orc march

Edward fired his arrows unrelentingly but worry still crept up onto his face as he saw how the Orcs has dispersed into a large circle to avoid the explosions. After avoiding the initial blast, the Orc continued chasing Jim and the Dracula team unrelentingly.

Despite the beasts' larger frame, they moved quickly. Their clawed feet raised dust as they ran after the fleeing group. The wounded and worn out could not outrun the Orcs and the distance between the two groups quickly shortened.

"Keep your body low and raise your shields!" Jim called out suddenly. The wounded Alucard's group strained themselves to follow his instructions.

*Shuck Shuuuck Shuuckk Shuck*

They were barely in time as around a dozen arrows shot out from Kairos' group, indiscriminately hitting both the fleeing group and the Orcs.

Without pause, Kairos shouted, "Fire again!"

"Fire!.."

"Fire!..."

"Fire!!...."

To maintain a steady covering fire, the students had split into two groups while still standing in their formation array and with each shout from Kairos, they switched roles between firing and reloading.

A steady stream of arrows swept forward quickly traversing across the short distance and hitting Alucard's team, Jim and the Orcs squarely from the front.

Fortunately, with Jim's head's up, the group of six managed to block the bulk of the projectiles, but a series of grunts and yelps could still be heard when they were struck by the powerful impacts.

As shields are thick and bulky, it is not well liked by covert teams and usually not brought along but fortunately shields, just like bows, are standard issue for monster suppression missions and it proved to be a lifesaver this time.

The Orcs, in contrast, suffered greatly. When the arrows hit them, their flesh was ripped away by the gel tipped arrows. By nature, monsters have stronger power physically, be they magical, demonic or spirit beasts, and, many of them are born with tremendous magical prowess or unique abilities unthinkable for mankind. The only reasons humans could survive in such a harsh world are solely dependent on their powerful reproductive abilities, cultivation techniques and the things like this gel coated weapons that created from the wisdom accumulated by countless generations of their forefathers.

This is not to say that all monsters do not equip themselves against human inventions. These Orcs for one uses sloppily made clubs and shields, though their weapons are made to be exceptionally dense and durable to endure being swung around with their powerful muscles.

Copying what Alucard and guys did, the Orcs quickly used brought up their shields to defend against the arrows, and they succeeded to a great extent; reducing injuries and death to a minimum.

But by now, Kairos and guys have already achieved what they want.

Some of the guys kept their bow and quickly ran forth to help support the worn and tattered Dracula team as they reached.

Taking advantage of the rain of arrows Edward picked off high-value targets while hidden at his vantage point, his arrows camouflaged within the others.

The archer's shots were heavy and precise, and they flew in-between raised weapons striking the Orcs' weak points or exposed sides. And by the time he was done, more than a dozen Orcs had fallen by his hand.

Unfortunately, all the ten of the D rank Orcs is unscathed from this skirmish, because like D rank humans, they can also project a protective energy around themselves. Although, instead of Ki, they use a light purple aura of magic as their barrier. Without coming close up, it's hard to see this nearly transparent magic coating, yet Kairos surprised his team when he could precisely tell the number of D ranked Orcs from a distance.