Chapter 40: Victory and Defeat

Chapter 40: Victory and Defeat

Back to the Hawk Clan forces.

Gorge walks closer to a group of Eagle Clan soldiers, glaring at them with brows furrowed. “Surely, you can do better than that,” he says in a deep and serious tone.

“Wait! I know who he is!” a male Eagle Clan soldier shouts. “He’s Gorge, the brutal and most powerful warrior of the Hawk Clan!”

All of the other soldiers stare in shock.

“What can we do?!” another soldier asks in shout. “Should we retreat?!”

Just as the soldier finishes his sentence, a tank turns the corner behind them. It’s covered in green armor plating and has a circular section on top that the cannon extends from. Another soldier sticks out of the circular section and declares, “We’ll take care of him! This tank packs tons of magic firepower!”

Goro pauses, opening his eyes wider for the first time as he stares in anticipation.

“Fire!” the Eagle Clan soldier shouts.

The tank fires a large shell at Gorge, who jumps back to avoid it just before it hits the ground, exploding.

Gorge thinks, “A direct hit from a cannon like that would do serious damage to me. Unfortunately for them, that requires actually hitting me.” He briefly turns his head back before focusing on the tank again as he continues thinking. “The problem is that they could aim for the vehicle. I can’t let that happen…”

A Hawk Clan soldier runs up to Gorge, asking, “Sir, their forces are closing in on us despite our best efforts. What should we do?”

Gorge eyes him coldly without turning his head. “I know what you should do.”

With no hesitation, Gorge grabs the solider by the collar of his uniform and rushes forward.

“What are you doing, sir?!!” The Hawk Clan soldier screams in fear.

“Fulfilling your duties for the good of the clan,” Gorge again says coldly as he charges forward.

“W-what?!!”

“Fire!” the Eagle Clan soldier commands.

Gorge tosses the Hawk Clan soldier forward just as the tank fires its cannon.

“Noooo!!!” the Hawk Clan soldier screams.

The shell collides with him and explodes on impact, allowing Gorge a clear path to the tank without worry.

“He sacrificed his own subordinate?!” the tank soldier shouts.

“His sacrifice will be repaid with your life!” Gorge declares loudly, without yelling. “Armor Manipulation Magic!”

“Quick!!” the tank soldier screams. “Load the next shell! Hurry!!”

Gorge reaches the tank and slams his hand down on it. The armor stretches like it’s made of a soft substance, the inner round section squeezes around the soldier.

“Allow me to inspect your tank,” Gorge says in a cold tone.

Using his hands, he spreads the front of the tank apart, ruining it. He strikes the interior with his fist, shattering parts of it to cease its functions.

Immediately afterward, he hears the screams of his subordinates from another section of the battlefield, seeing a large number of them being blown back. He then turns around to see Tazer, Edgar, and Naysha hurrying dozens of tied-up civilians into their vehicle.

“This all we can get for now!” Tazer shouts. “Everyone, retreat!”

In addition, Sen, Alga, and Shotsteed also return to the vehicle with Joe, Sasha, and Emily pursuing them.

“Perhaps a retreat would be the best option now,” Gorge says to himself. “They better have rounded up at least close to the number we specified in the job agreement.”

Joe forms lightning bolts in his hands. “Release those people!” he shouts as he tosses the lightning bolts at Sen and the vehicle. However, two chunks of the tank’s armor plating collide with the lightning bolts mid-air, completely stopping them from hitting their intended targets.

“Where did—?!” Joe begins shouting before he, too, is hit by a chunk of armor plating, interrupting his shout and knocking him to the ground.

“Go!” Gorge demands. “Get those captives out of here! I’ll cover your retreat!”

Edgar starts the vehicles and runs it in reverse. Gorge leaps a great distance to place himself between the vehicle and the heroes.

“I don’t know where ordinary-looking people such as yourselves got the courage to try to stop this mission, but you won’t be getting past me.”

“That’s what you think!” Emily shouts as she pulls out her standard sword. She jumps and tries to slash downward on his shoulder. However, the sword breaks in two pieces as soon as it makes contact with his shoulder.

She opens her eyes wide in shock. “What?!!”

Gorge grabs her by her face and throws her back, saying, “What a pity it is that your weapon breaks just by hitting me.”

Sasha rushes in and swipes her hand across the side of his armor-covered abdomen. She snaps her fingers, releasing a beam of red energy from the hand marks. However, no damage was done.

“What was that supposed to be?” Gorge asks, almost amused. “This was so pathetic that I can’t bring myself to kill you.”

He kicks her back with minimal force. She crashes into the glass window of a building, shattering it.

With Gorge distracted, a Raging Star Blast flies in and blasts into him directly, exploding on impact. Zeth launches in and thrusts his fist forward, punching Gorge in the face before the explosion’s smoke even fully fades away. His chest armor is cracked. Zeth’s raging aura from his fist starts cracking Gorge’s face armor as well.

“You are dangerous,” Gorge notes. “I must eliminate you.”

“Let us through!!” Zeth demands.

Gorge punches Zeth in the gut, causing him to cough up blood. Gorge throws another punch and hits him in the face, knocking him back until he ragdolls against the street.

Gorge opens his eyes wide as he sees the ruined tank firing a magic-covered cannon shell at him. He jumps back and just barely avoids the large explosion.

“That was more powerful than the previous ones!” Gorge urgently notes.

He looks over at the ruined tank and notices Emily is piloting the cannon, even though the vehicle itself is ruined and immobile.

“I’m channeling my magic energy into this!!” Emily screams. “I’m going to blow you up!!”

An Eagle Clan soldier loads a new tank shell into place.

“It looks like it is time for my retreat as well,” Gorge says to himself before he begins repeatedly jumping back to leave the area. His subordinates retreat with him.

“You’re not getting away that easily!!” Emily screams as she fires the tank cannon again. The shell still missed Gorge but it successfully catches a large number of his subordinates in the explosion.

Zeth struggles to stand up as his Raging Star Mode ends. He pounds his fist into the street. “We drove them back! But they still got away with a lot of people!!”

***

Meanwhile, just outside the city limits.

Goro watches as Gorge and his remaining subordinates retreat from a distance using binoculars. He holds a communication device up to his mouth.

“Lord Kogen, do you hear me?” he asks.

“Yes, I hear you loud and clear,” Kogen replies on the other end of the line.

“Udana’s intel about Gorge invading Kunasha was correct.”

“Of course it was. I would never doubt her intel.”

“It’s very likely he attacked Zeth while there. Should I engage and eliminate him?”

“No, he would fold you like a lawn chair. There aren’t many people stronger than Gorge in this country and I am one of them. But you most certainly are not. His magic rank is C-Rank.”

“So, what should I do then?”

“Keep watch outside the city. If Zeth and his group make any move to try to free the captured civilians, let me know immediately!”

“Yes, my lord.”

The defense of Kunasha was both a victory and a defeat! They drove off the invaders, but not before they captured many civilians! What will the heroes do now?

Chapter 40 END

To be Continued in Chapter 41: Only A Week…