The whistle finally sounded from the eastern forest, where Derek and Garrett had positioned their ambush force; it felt like days had passed before it came.

  Contact. They had finally made contact.

  Jonah's hand tightened on his sword.

  Three hundred fighters were engaging thirty orcs in the corrupted woods. The hunting party had walked into the trap and would remain distracted for the duration of the main battle, provided the two leaders played their roles correctly.

  Jonah stood and moved. There was no time to await confirmation of success.

  "Forward!" Jonah's voice carried across the assembled army. "Mages to the front! Bombardment formation!"

  Four hundred fighters surged into motion. Weeks of drilling, battles survived, and discipline forged through blood and fire crystallized into coordinated movement that would have been impossible before.

  They had been through much.

  Jonah couldn't see Chen Wei's force on the far side of the settlement, nor could he tell if the hundred fighters had reached their positions for the rear assault and acquisition of the settlement stone.

  He also couldn't verify that Justin and David were in position to support the rear assault. He had to trust the plan and the men he sent out.

  The first volley of mana bolts streaked toward the orc palisade: brilliant arcs of blue and white energy that crashed against the log walls with concussive force. The impacts shook the fortifications, sending splinters flying, but the thick, sturdy walls held.

  "Fire mages! Target the gates!"

  Fireballs launched from a dozen hands, curving through the corrupted air, their heat distorting the space around them. They struck the massive wooden gates—

  And fizzled against treated cloth.

  The orcs had wrapped their fortifications in fire-resistant material: dark fabric soaked in something that absorbed the flames rather than igniting. The fireballs splashed across the barriers like water against stone, their destructive potential neutralized by preparation that spoke to intelligence.

  That's not like my original timeline. They erupted into fire and forced the orcs to firefight as the largest distraction... Yet that didn't happen? I need to change plans quickly!

  "Shift targets! Suppression on the watchtowers! Keep the shamans locked down!" Jonah shouted, trying to mobilize the army better than the original plan allowed. This deviation would likely cost more lives than he was willing to allow.

  He didn't know if this was just part of the slight distortion between his previous experience and this one or whether his actions had a direct impact on how things changed.

  Either way, he needed to be better prepared and react accordingly.

  The magical assault, diverted from the initial gateway, hammered the towers and any potential shamans within the fortification. Mana bolts slammed into the elevated platforms, where orc archers already returned fire. Arrows the size of javelins whistled through the air, their weight and velocity a danger even to System-enhanced bodies.

  A fighter three meters to Jonah's left caught one in the shoulder. The impact spun him around as the arrow punched clean through armor and flesh. He went down screaming, blood spraying across the corrupted grass.

  "Shields up! Maintain formation!"

  The army adjusted. Shield-bearers moved to the front, providing cover for the mages' continued bombardment. The formation tightened, reducing the orc archers' exposed target area.

  Then, green light flared from within the settlement.

  Three distinct sources.

  Orc shamans, beginning to cast spells far stronger than anything the goblins had managed.

  Jonah couldn't allow them to cast at all.

  "Suppression teams! Take out those shamans!" Jonah counted the magical signatures. Three shamans, instead of the two he remembered from his original life.

  His two dozen mages capable of sustained combat casting should be enough to focus on just those three, as long as their formations weren't hit from the backline.

  The first suppression volley struck the leftmost shaman's position, mana bolts and fire attacks converging on the source of green light. But a shimmering energy barrier materialized, absorbing the attacks without breaking.

  They're stronger than the goblin shamans. Much stronger.

  "More fire on the left shaman! Five mages minimum per!"

  The magical duel intensified. Human casters poured attacks into the orc barriers while trying to maintain suppression across all three shaman positions. The strain showed immediately. Mages who should have been rotating for rest were forced to maintain continuous output.

  "Six on the center shaman! Keep them defensive!"

  The orcs inside the walls had organized their response. Arrows rained from the watchtowers. Warriors appeared along the palisade's elevated walkway, hurling spears and stones at the human formation. Their defensive coordination was leagues beyond anything the goblins had managed.

  They were already taking casualties.

  Jonah's tactical assessment fed him information in a constant stream. The shamans were locked down, forced to maintain barriers and cast support magic rather than offensive spells. But the lock required nearly all of their magical resources, turning the bombardment that should have been creating breaches into a holding action.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Earth mages! To me!"

  Three figures pushed through the formation—specialists who'd developed ground-manipulation abilities during the tutorial and subsequent battles. Their skills were crude compared to what higher-level casters could achieve, but they had something the fire mages lacked.

  Their attacks couldn't be neutralized by treated cloth and the sheer size of each log.

  "The palisade foundation." Jonah pointed at a section of wall between two watchtowers. "Turn the ground beneath it to mud. Destabilize the supports."

  Torie, the lead earth mage, had been an environmental engineer before the System arrived. She studied the target with professional assessment. "That's a lot of ground to saturate. This will take time."

  "You have until the shamans break free. Make it work."

  The earth mages began casting. Jonah felt the mana flowing from their cores, sinking into the corrupted ground beneath the palisade. The technique was slow, requiring sustained concentration rather than explosive output.

  "Covering fire! Keep the enemy off the earth mages!"

  The army shifted to provide protection. Fighters with shields formed a barrier around the casting specialists, while ranged attackers suppressed the orc archers who had identified the new threat.

  An arrow pierced a shield-bearer's guard, striking him in the throat. He collapsed silently, dead before he hit the ground.

  Without prompting, another fighter stepped into the gap.

  They're improving every day.

  The ground beneath the palisade began to darken, moisture seeping upward as the earth mages forced water through the soil. The logs shifted almost imperceptibly, their foundations losing stability.

  "More pressure! Concentrate on the center!"

  Torie and her colleagues poured more mana into the technique. The ground became visible mud, dark liquid pooling around the base of the massive logs. The palisade section began to lean outward, gravity fighting the structural integrity of the orc construction.

  "Rock mages! Prepare to finish it!"

  Three more casters stepped forward. Their specialty was different: projectile attacks using conjured stone rather than ground manipulation. The boulders they could create weren't enormous, perhaps the size of a man's torso, but they carried enough force to shatter bone.

  It would have to be enough.

  The palisade section groaned, wood creaking as the mud beneath it failed. The lean became more pronounced, the entire structure tilting forward like a drunk about to fall.

  "Now!"

  Stone projectiles launched from conjured slings of mana, striking the tilting palisade with thunderous impacts. The first boulder cracked a log. The second snapped another in half. The third and fourth hit simultaneously, and the entire section crashed down.

  "Breach!" Torie shouted.

  "Victory!" The cry echoed through the human formation.

  The palisade section had collapsed outward, creating a ramp of fallen logs leading directly into the orc settlement. Through the gap, Jonah could see the interior: crude structures, the massive form of the settlement stone glowing at the center, and orcs rushing to form a defensive line at the breach.

  Sixty defenders against four hundred attackers. But the orcs were seven feet tall, three feet wide, and moved with the fluid coordination of natural warriors. They were born for war.

  "Mages! Keep those shamans pinned! Everyone else, with me!"

  Jonah charged.

  His boots found purchase on the fallen logs, climbing the debris-ramp with speed that would have been impossible for baseline humans. Behind him, the thunder of four hundred fighters following his lead shook the corrupted earth.

  It was their turn to assault a defensive fortification, instead of defending one.

  The first orc met him at the breach.

  The creature was massive, green-skinned, and tusked. Crude armor made from animal hide and scavenged metal covered its thick frame. It wielded a war-axe as wide as Jonah's torso.

  The orc swung the heavy weapon like a rapier.

  Jonah ducked under the strike, feeling the displaced air ruffle his hair. The axe crashed into the debris where he'd stood, sending splinters flying. He closed the distance, his mana-blade igniting with blue fire.

  The enhanced edge bit into the orc's side, parting hide and flesh. Dark, thick blood sprayed. The creature roared and swiped at him with a free hand.

  Jonah pivoted, the grasping fingers closing on empty air.

  His sword arced, opening the orc's throat.

  It fell backward, gurgling. Jonah moved past the corpse, seeking his next target, knowing that every orc he killed brought his army closer to victory.

  Another orc stepped forward, a spear thrusting toward his chest with surprising speed. Jonah deflected the blow with his blade. The impact jarred his arm, but he countered with a cut that sliced across the creature's eyes.

  It screamed and staggered.

  A fighter behind Jonah finished it with a spear thrust through the neck, severing its spine.

  The breach devolved into a melee brawl.

  Human fighters poured through the gap in the palisade, engaging the orc defensive line with weapons and System-enhanced strength. The size difference was terrifying—each orc towered over the humans surrounding it, their reach and power advantage obvious.

  But numbers mattered.

  Three fighters engaged each orc, five when the creature proved particularly dangerous. They worked in coordination, one drawing attention while others struck at flanks and backs. The tactics Jonah had drilled into them during the march proved their worth in blood.

  "Push forward! Don't let them reform!"

  The orc line buckled.

  The shamans remained locked in magical combat, their barriers flickering under the sustained assault from human mages. They couldn't cast offensive spells or support their warriors with curses or enhancements.

  Every ounce of their power went to simply staying alive.

  Martinez appeared at Jonah's side, his spear dark with orc blood. "The left flank is secure! We're pushing toward the center!"

  "Keep pressure on the shamans! Don't let them—"

  A wave of energy vibrated the air around them, cutting him off.

  A second pulse rolled across the battlefield like thunder.

  Jonah felt it in his mana channels and the damaged pathways that still ached from Poliva's Touch. Everyone felt it. Human and orc alike turned toward the center of the fortifications.

  Combat paused for a heartbeat as every living thing processed the impossible sensation.

  The settlement stone. They finally got to it!

  Chen Wei had reached the settlement stone, ripping it from the position the orcs had established. This crystal, though only semi-active, had been crucial in protecting them from larger armies.

  The orcs reacted instantly.

  Half of them broke away from the combat, sprinting toward the center of their settlement to save the glowing crystal they had been protecting.

  Jonah knew he had to stop them before they reached Chen Wei and his hundred fighters.

  "Now! Hit their backs!"

  The human mages seized the opportunity. Fireballs and mana bolts streaked toward the fleeing orcs, catching them in their exposed positions. The creatures, once terrifying warriors, became easy targets as they presented their undefended spines to the concentrated magical assault.

  The orcs crashed to the corrupted ground, their flesh burning or shattered by arcane impacts. The retreat turned into a slaughter as the defenders paid the price for turning their backs on an enemy that was far from defeated.

  "Forward! Into the settlement!"

  The human army poured through the breach like water through a broken dam. The remaining orc defenders, perhaps thirty now, less than half their original number, found themselves surrounded and outnumbered. Pockets of resistance formed only to be quickly overwhelmed. Individual orcs fought a desperate struggle they knew they could no longer win.

  Jonah pushed toward the center, toward Chen Wei and the settlement stone, eager to assess the situation there. Fighters, mostly men Martinez trusted, fell in around him, ready to hold the line.

  The settlement's interior was smaller than he'd expected: a few dozen structures, mostly storage and housing, arranged around the central plaza where the crystal stood.

  Chen Wei's force, having noticed the main army fully engaged and drawing the orcs' attention, had surged forward, breaching the settlement from the rear.

  The young faction leader stood in the distance near the large breach they had created on the opposite side. His men surrounded the large stone, protecting it from anyone with ill intent.

  Justin was nowhere to be seen, but David stood next to Chen Wei.

  "The orcs are contained. Maybe ten left fighting. The rest are dead or wounded," Martinez reported to Jonah.

  The battle was won, but it wasn't over.