Leon, hidden behind the tree, could hear grunts and the sounds of something breaking. Brutal noises that made his stomach churn. He could imagine what was happening, and for a moment he did not want to think about it anymore. He closed his eyes for an instant and took a deep breath as if he wanted to mentally escape that place.
But the metallic smell in the air and another sound pulled him back. The sound was crying. Soft and weak crying. Leon clenched his teeth at that. And then he looked toward where the sounds were coming from.
When he saw it... Veins bulged along the side of Leon's face. It was not far. The Orc was indeed feeding on a victim, but the damned monster had someone else with him, and it was not someone Leon recognized. But by the clothes it was a human from his world.
' That monster ! ' Leon tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword as several thoughts rushed through his mind very quickly, a human from his world was there, almost becoming a victim of one of those monsters, just like Leon almost had on the first day he arrived there.
Something inside Leon went cold. Just imagining that something like that could happen or had happened to someone important to him hurt deeply. It still seemed like there was some time before the monster attacked the survivor. But he did not know exactly how much time.
With this new feeling inside him, Leon could think more clearly. He did not want to attack the creature alone, and if the monster did not move to kill the survivor, he intended to watch and wait for his group to arrive and give him support.
However... Things would not go the way he wanted them to, as if the heavens were laughing at Leon in that moment. A beam of sunlight illuminated the center of the forest where the creature and the victim were. The orc finished eating something bloodied. Then he looked toward his next meal.
The creature then started walking toward the crying. Slowly, his steps seemed to make the ground tremble. One impact after another, slowly, grunting like an angry beast would, senseless, ignoring whether he was already full, simply acting on survival instinct, eat, sleep and repeat.
Leon bit his lip as he gathered strength in his body to intervene. His mind went blank at that moment, he only felt himself and the sword he now held, and the monster in front of him. It was a straight line. A few meters between them. And only the two of them.
Everything else unnecessary was removed from his mind at that moment. Leon had one objective. It was not to kill the monster, but to buy time so that when his group arrived together they could kill the creature.
Stepping forward, Leon burst into motion, already with the sword in his hands. Reflecting the sunlight wherever it touched the blade. His expression was serious. Perhaps he had never been so focused as he was in that exact moment.
Putting everything on the line in a single strike. The orc was stretching his hand toward the sound of crying. But a flash of light cut between them. And the arc of the sword traced through the air in a clean downward slash across the monster's arm, Leon had made the first move, and then slid across the ground as he passed the Orc with the strike.
Almost falling, Leon placed one hand on the ground to support himself and quickly stood up to stop sliding.
The monster roared loudly. And drops of blood could be seen falling from his right arm. Green blood from a wound that had been made by Leon...
But it had been very superficial. ' I put all my strength into that strike and still could not cut the arm off ! For a second it felt like I hit something hard. Was it the bones of the arm ?! '
Leon was already out of breath. His heart was beating so fast that he could hear the blood pulsing in his head. And now the creature was staring at him.
The Orc was as tall as James, but extremely muscular, green and terrifying. He had large tusks coming out of both sides of his mouth. With enough strength to crush a human.
" Run if you can run in the direction I came from ! I will hold him here, my companions should be arriving soon ! Go ! " He spoke quickly to the person who had been crying. Fortunately, the person could still move and immediately began trying to run away. With the monster focused on Leon, it was simple.
But now Leon was the one in a risky and very dangerous situation. Facing this Orc would demand everything from him just to stay alive. And as if proving that, the monster charged at him extremely fast.
The air seemed to explode as the fist advanced toward Leon's chest.
The only advantage Leon had now was that only the creature's left arm was usable because of the first strike he had landed. However, he did not know if he would be able to dodge something like that.
Leon felt the blood rush to his eyes, forcing his reaction speed higher, he stepped to the side with agility ! But at that very moment he slipped again. Now understanding what all of this was.
Focused on the fight, he had ignored his surroundings. The air where he stood was heavy with iron and something even more foul. Everything around Leon was soaked in blood and other indistinguishable things.
He did not have time, without solid footing to properly dodge. In a fraction of a second Leon managed to place the sword sideways between himself and the Orc's fist. It was not going to be good. Not at all. The fist struck the side of Leon's sword like a gunshot.
And the shockwave spread around making leaves fall from the trees, and Leon was sent flying toward the trunk of a large tree ! The impact was dry and brutal, Leon bounced off the trunk and fell to the ground while coughing up a large amount of blood in midair, his sword separated from his hands and flew to another side.
Even so he had not lost consciousness, which already showed his physical resilience, but he could feel that at least some ribs were broken. He fell to the ground coughing more blood, but he did not have the luxury of time to complain about it. The heavy and now faster footsteps of the monster were already coming in his direction.
His mind worked quickly. ' I do not think I can stand up ! That hit hurt more than falling from the island. My body is in pieces... ' Leon looked at the monster running toward him. The steps shook the ground, shook Leon's blood.
But what hurt the young man the most was everything ending there. He had not managed to accomplish anything yet. ' What a hero... I hope James finds the person who escaped. I hope they stay safe. ' He thought while leaning against the base of the tree he had been thrown into. His blood ran down the trunk, from his mouth, from his eyes.