n

n

n

n

"I'm not sure, we haven't even gotten the first plans outlined, not to mention any tests to see the effects. What we will be able to grow will also be limited-

"

n

"That's why I'm going to Diades. The orcs will act with more care the more cities stand. Hopefully, we can secure one harvest before fully needing to evacuate all villages

"

n

"And if Diades stands it might buy us just the time we need, if not more…

" Eldrian paused, realizing that his previous call had been for immediate evacuation.

"Please tell Aspen to only evacuate children and those who are not required to work the fields. Getting food is essential, we will also need to start patrolling between villages…

"

nEldrian hoped that Aspen would be able to fix that blunder, hopefully it wouldn't cause unnecessary fear.

nContinuing, Eldrian half explained and half mumbled to himself.

"We can't stop the orcs if they send an elite band, so we must be ready to evacuate and hole up in Kynigo as soon as possible.

"

nErik frowned, Ceph instead became lost in thought as he recalled that day. Noticing Ceph's condition Erik asked if it orcs were truly such a great danger.

n

"Yeah, orcs aren't nearly as easy to deal with as the undead.

" Eldrian answered instead,

"Or rather, there are no weak ones among them. Goblins are their equivalent lesser undead, but they are just fodder. The orcs themselves are numerous, not nearly as limited, and they are all formidable.

"

n

"The undead didn't fight fair,

" Erik noted, recalling the stories he heard from the players and NPCs alike.

n

"Fair enough.

" Eldrian nodded,

"I'm just trying to clarify that we do not have the manpower to handle even a single elite orc band. They will be able to raid every single village and we will be unable to do a thing.

"

nErik couldn't accept it so plainly, but he also didn't underestimate Eldrian's statement. This made the fact that the kingdom had been holding out far more impressive.

nEldrian also realized that using a crystal bomb might actually kill such an elite party. He would have to catch them off guard if he wanted to kill them all in one attack. But he still had a credible threat that didn't use the unstable spirit magic.

nWhile nothing had spiraled out of control, yet. He would rather avoid spirit magic if possible.

n

"Then what is the plan?

" Erik asked.

n

"I'm hoping that by keeping them distracted in Diades they won't start ravaging the countryside. Since if they do, there is almost nothing we can do to stop them.

"

n

"Why would they be so wary of Diades? If they are so strong, what is stopping them?

"

n

"Centaurs… Mounted combat.

" Eldrian mumbled,

"Sure orcs are powerful, but the centaurs are masters at face-paced open-field combat. A siege is actually one of their weak points, and each city lost is another defensive point gained for the orcs.

"

nUnfortunately, the orcs were fighting with a plan. This was not just a raid but a full-scale invasion.

n

"Then why are they taking so long to conquer Diades?

" Erik asked as Eldrian ripped a random cannon from its position along with all the cannonballs next to it. Each cannon only had five cannonballs currently, so he went to a bunch to get more ammo.

n

"I think they are afraid of the magic towers that would target their elites should they enter the city. They also likely can't group due to the magic towers. So they have to fight with their weaker soldiers while also forbidding them from grouping. It is sure to slow the siege massively.

"

nEldrian summarized, partly from what he had learned from Silver's relayed messages and his own understanding of combat and assumptions of what the magic towers are capable of.

n

"Then, the rush is the danger that they might conquer a magic tower?

"

n

"Bingo, if they can, they can turn it on the others, or maybe they can only disable it? Once one falls it might be like a domino effect. Regardless, an entire part of the city will no longer be defendable, and quite possibly the orcs might find a weakness.

"

n'Though, if that is the case the capture of the previous cities should have already given them that insight.' Eldrian also found it curious that the orcs were inside the city proper, past the inner walls, yet they had not conquered the city.

nIt was strange that they would manage to push the soldiers off the walls, but fail to push further. Granted, Eldrian was not sure how long the situation had been as is.

n…

n

"He's here.

" Silver said, Eldrian sending the message in the guild chat.

n

"Well, what are we waiting for then?

" The deputy mayor, Upam, asked.

n

"He'll come to us.

" Silver said and as everyone wanted to start to argue about leaving their lifeline to his own fate, Silver clarified.

"He stated that if you were to abandon your posts, he will write the city of as lost and return.

"

nThe declaration chilled everyone, making them quiet down and refocus on what was actually happening in the siege. Quickly, they stopped simply discussing things and started getting to work to ensure they would survive this ordeal.

n***

nLooking at the guild chat, Eldrian smiled. It was chaotic with the mission going on and all, but glancing there allowed Eldrian to also confirm if things were going smoothly or not.

nIt seems that Evale had already used two of the mana crystals bombs, killing the largest groupings of the undead. She was on her way to the last group, the rest were taking it slow while waiting for her return. In case something went wrong they needed the security that Evale provided.

nNext, he looked at his map. The scanning of the surroundings took a massive chunk of his XP. Luckily, he was over a billion in the current level, three billion to the next. So there was nearly no danger of losing a level as long as he did not use the system recklessly. Gaining one was nearly as difficult.

n'Mmm, seems that indeed the orcs can't group. I assume the large bundled of enemies are weaker types of goblins who serve near no purpose. I don't think goblin knights and shamans are being sacrificed.'

nNaturally, Eldrian made sure of his assumption. The cost of observing a single group was acceptable for him to get a clearer picture. 500XP per identification was not bad, part of him wondered if he should use it on the entire city.

nHowever, the city regarding both defendants and attackers was around half a million entities. So to identify everyone would cost 250 million XP, 'Yeah, let's hold off…'

nWhile affordable and also within an acceptable range, Eldrian did not feel like there was a need to expend a quarter of the XP in his current level.

nWhile he held off on just identifying the entire city, he realized that he could use it far more than he had been thus far. Observing a few more groups, Eldrian confirmed his hypothesis.

n'I see. It appears that Tier 5 is the limit of orcs inside the city. And none of them have a unique status… Maybe no orcs can pass Tier 5 and still be un-unique?'

n'I mean you really have to suck if you can't be classified as a veteran after passing Tier 5. Especially in orc culture where no one just sits back and trains to become stronger, they all fight to earn strength.'

nAN: A big thank you to everyone who continues to read and support the story on WN.

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