Elaine spun around, slashing the Goblins that had tried to lunge at her from every direction.
Blood spilled like a river as her blade cut through the Goblin flesh, drawing their blood.
She was one of the defenders tasked to protect the North Gate.
However, since fewer people had been asked to defend it, they struggled and eventually failed to hold back the Hobgoblin Riders and the Goblin Mages from breaching the city.
But the North Gate fell not because of the monsters.
Two men wearing dark cloaks cast fireballs at the gates until it was destroyed.
This allowed the monsters to enter the city and engage the defenders in combat.
Oddly enough, some of the Hobgoblin Riders ignored the defenders and headed straight toward the South Gate.
Clearly, they planned to open the South Gate so their comrades could run amok within the city, just like them.
’Watch out!" Elaine shouted at one of the Adventurers fighting against a Goblin Warrior.
The Adventurer turned around, only to see an Orc already in mid-swing.
A second later, the Adventurer was sent crashing toward one of the nearby houses.
Judging from how strong the blow had been, Elaine believed that the Adventurer might already be dead. If he wasn’t, he was close to dying.
With a mighty roar, the Orc headed toward the Swordswoman, brandishing its weapon.
Elaine didn’t face it head-on.
Instead, she focused on evading and counter-attacking, dealing steady injury to the monster.
Annoyed by the pesky Swordswoman, the Orc swung its club repeatedly, forcing Elaine to back away.
Just as she was coming up with a way to fight the monster, she saw a Goblin Mage hurl a Fire Bullet in her direction.
With no time to dodge, Elaine braced herself and raised her sword to block the spell aimed at her chest.
The impact forced her to stagger a few steps backward.
But before she could regain her balance, the Orc was already upon her, its arms raised to strike.
Elaine roared as she pushed herself to the limit to block the incoming attack.
The sword and the wooden club clashed, shattering the ground beneath her feet.
Blood seeped down the corner of her lips, but she had no time to wipe it away because the Orc was about to unleash another follow-up blow.
To make matters worse, the Goblin Mage that had attacked her earlier was also casting another Fire Bullet aimed at her.
Forced to choose which one to block, Elaine gritted her teeth and raised her sword to face the Orc’s blow instead.
Time seemed to move in slow motion as Elaine watched the Fire Bullet and the Orc’s swing descend upon her.
As she found herself at the crossroads of life and death, the Swordswoman remembered the time Alex had rescued her and regretted her failure to repay him for saving her life back then.
’This is going to hurt,’ Elaine thought as she braced herself for the impact of the two attacks that left her no room to defend herself fully.
Suddenly, she saw a faint light appear between her and the Orc.
The sound of metal hitting something hard spread through the surroundings.
Elaine watched in shock when she saw a familiar young man standing in front of her, holding a shield in each hand.
"Are you alright, Elaine?" Alex, who had suddenly materialized in front of her, asked.
"A-Alex?" she muttered in disbelief. "Did I already die? Is this some kind of delayed vision or something?"
"Dim Dim?" Dim Dim blinked once, then twice, as it looked at the Swordswoman while perched on top of the young man’s head.
"Sorry, but this isn’t a dream," Alex replied. "Also, I can’t fight against two of these monsters at once. Master? Please kill that Goblin Mage first."
An airship suddenly appeared overhead, and a young Catkin jumped from its deck with his sword ready to strike.
[E/N: So handsome, ah~]
"Who told you to jump out of the ship without permission?" Cairo demanded, his brows slightly furrowed. "Oh well. You did it to save your friend. I will turn a blind eye to it now, but never again."
Alex had used his skill, Oathkeeper’s Duty, to instantly teleport to Elaine’s side.
< Oathkeeper’s Duty >
Effect: If a nearby ally is in danger, you may intercept the damage by instantly teleporting to their side.
— This skill can only be used once every hour.
— Attacks that can kill you instantly will not kill you. But your health will be reduced to 1 HP.
— When you block using Oathkeeper’s Duty, the attacker would be Stunned for three seconds even if they have Stun Immunity.
Compared to the blow he had tanked from the Rank 2 mutant spider, the Orc’s attack didn’t come close.
The young man was holding two shields, one in each hand.
One of them was the shield that Ramza had lent him while Everguard was being repaired. The other was none other than Svalinn, which he used to block the Goblin Mage’s Fire Bullet.
The Orc staggered backwards as the Stun effect kicked in.
The Dim Sum God jumped up and threw a brittle vial at the Orc’s face, unleashing the chili and black pepper powder combo.
Elaine, who didn’t miss this chance to counterattack, thrust her sword at the Orc’s waist and gave it a twist.
The Orc screamed in pain and tried to use a backhand blow to send the already injured Swordswoman flying.
But Alex was too fast to let it have its way. He moved in to tank the blow, and a dull thud sounded as the club crashed into his shield.
"This is the first time I’ve seen someone fight with two shields in hand," Elaine commented with a smile.
"This is called Dual Shielding," Alex replied. "If Swordsmen can use dual wielding, I can use dual shielding. It’s an original technique I came up with, by the way."
Elaine chuckled before once again stabbing the Orc and twisting her blade to deal extra damage.
This time, the Orc let out a blood-curdling roar before collapsing on the ground, dead.
The Swordswoman then lost the strength in her legs, almost collapsing.
She had already pushed herself to the limit, and her injuries had also taken their toll on her body.
Fortunately, Alex was there to catch her and support her body.
"Here, drink this first." He gently fed Elaine some healing potion through her slightly-parted lips, speeding up her recovery.
As the effect of the healing potion kicked in, the Swordswoman looked at the airship above their heads.
A blue flag fluttered freely in the breeze, and at its center was the shape of a claw, representing the Clawford Tribe.
"Looks like the cavalry has arrived," Elaine said softly.
"Indeed," Alex replied.
Over three hundred Catkins from the Clawford Tribe had accompanied him on this return trip to the Town of Thaloria.
All of them were skilled warriors, and they made short work of the monsters pouring into the city with ease.
Some of the Catkins fired arrows from the deck of the airship, supporting their comrades in battle.
Cairo was like a death reaper on the battlefield, killing all the monsters that were in his way.
"Sir Alex, Lord Cairo, the Gate on the other side of the city has fallen!" reported one of the Catkins, who was holding a telescope.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Cairo asked as he swung his blade sideways, flinging away all the blood that had stained its surface. "Let’s go, Alex."
"Yes, Master!" Alex replied before asking one of the Catkins to look after Elaine for the time being.
With Alex and Cairo taking the lead, the warriors of the Clawford Tribe charged toward the South Gate, where the bulk of the monster army was starting to make their way inside the city.