*BAAMMM!!!
Laurene heard another loud noise, causing her to break out of her daze as she fished out magic potions from the pouch on her waist and downing the contents of the bottles instantly.
She didn't know how long she had blacked out, but she assumed it was long enough for Arnold and the Orc lord to engage in a brawl that had caused the ground around them to be carved with sword slashes.
In reality, it was actually not up to three minutes but she was not aware of this.
The princess could still even see the residual aura on some of the sword slashes, showing how recent they were made as she dashed towards the location of the battle.
The moment she set eyes on the two clashing existences; she instantly understood the reason for the sudden destruction of the surroundings.
"It's using a berserker skill."
When she had appraised the orc lord earlier, she had seen it had a berserker skill, thus she opted to use lightning magic to boost her movement speed so she could quickly take the monster out, having planned the list of spells she was going to bombard it with.
However, she had not expected the monster to suddenly activate the berserker skill so early and was caught off guard.
Right after it activated its fireball magic, it activated the berserker skill and jumped in the air, raising its large sword overhead and infusing it with aura before slashing down on the ground where she was previously standing.
If she had not escaped as fast as she could, she would have definitely been unable to get out with minor injuries like she did as the force of the Berserk Orc lord's slash had destroyed everything within a 75-80 metre radius, before going on to release shockwaves that spread for a little bit over 25 metres more.
That was the reason for the current situation where more than half the abandoned town had been turned to rubble.
Of course, the base of the 'Previous Fourth' in the centre of the town still stood strong.
Now then, onto the reason why the berserk orc lord had not dashed towards her and tried to end her life while she was blacked out on the ground.
"Arnold..."
The reason was simple, it was battling a far greater threat to its life, Arnold Del Eris.
Although Arnold was young, he was still an existence ten levels higher than the orc lord, so naturally, the monster perceived him as a greater threat and went for him first in its berserk state.
Of course, Arnold was slightly injured since he was also caught off guard by the Orc Lord's sudden attack and was within the blast range but he was fast enough to cover his body with aura and prevent the worst.
Nevertheless, his injured state naturally reduced the amount of power he could use, leading to the situation of him and the orc lord being stuck in a stalemate.
'And I'm gonna break that Stalemate.'
Laurene's eyes flashed as she reactivated her myriad casting skill, this time only summoning two orbs behind her.
The brown orb representing earth magic and the yellow orb representing lighting.
She slammed both hands on the ground and poured a bit of magic power into her voice before screaming out.
"Arnold, Hold it in place!!"
The young hero killer who was clashing swords with the orc lord heard her voice and chuckled lightly before replying with a low voice.
"Easier said than done, princess."
He engulfed his sword in his signature red aura and swung it in towards the orc lord's free arm, however, the monster repositioned its blade and blocked his strike.
Arnold didn't even bother to press on, allowing his sword to slide off the orc lord's blade and down to the ground.
"KUAAAAAHH!!!"
The orc lord roared as it swung its large fist, intending on punching Arnold's brains out, but the teenager ducked to avoid it.
His eyes flashed lightly as he manipulated his magic power and infused lightning into his body, temporarily increasing his speed to new heights as he swung his sword arm.
**SWIIISSHHH!!!
The aura-coated sword moved through the air at break-neck speed, cleanly cutting into the outstretched arm of the orc lord and severing it in the middle.
"ARGGHHHH!!!!!"
The orc lord roared in pain as its feet stopped for a moment due to the pain of its arm being cut off. The pain was so much that it temporarily knocked the monster out of its berserk state.
However, at that moment, its two feet were still, giving Laurene the opportunity she was waiting for.
The brown orb floating behind her shattered to pieces as all the magic in it was used up instantly.
Simultaneously, the ground behind the orc lord cracked open as a sentry-like golem consisting of stone emerged from underneath the ground and grabbed the Orc lord's torso and remaining arm.
In the next moment, the golden orb behind Laurene shattered as for the first time in a while, she called out the name of a magic spell.
"Arcane Bolt of Severance."
Storm clouds gathered in the sky above the orc and there was a bright flashing light as a golden lightning bolt crashed down onto the Orc, instantly severing it from life.
**BAAMM!!!!
It was a quick and precise strike, one that targeted the head of the Orc Lord and didn't have a chance to even move to dodge.
By the time the sound reached Arnold's ears, the Orc lord's head had already exploded into chucks of charred flesh, burned bone and brain matter.
*THUD!
The golem holding its body crumbled to dust and the large body of the orc lord fell onto the ground with a thud.
And thus, was how, in less than thirty minutes after Laurene and Arnold arrived, the Orc Lord of the forest met its untimely death.
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
Five Level up notification appeared in Laurene's sight as she heaved a sigh of relief.
'Counting the levels I got from killing the other orcs, I'm level 113 now. To think I would get 7 levels just like that.'
Her legs felt weak and just as she was about to collapse from exhaustion, she felt a fairly muscular arm catch her body mid-air and lift her up princess carry style.
"You seem to like falling to the ground today."
"...Can't help it."
Arnold was about to reply when his expression suddenly turned grave and he looked in a certain direction.
Laurene was initially confused but a few seconds later, she realized the reason why as she felt the frightening auras of a few dozen beings closing in on their location.
Arnold gripped his cracked sword tighter as he racked his brain for a solution to the event that the incoming auras were hostiles.
Before he could even think about backstepping, a gust of wind brushed past him as he felt a cold metal blade on his neck.
"Apologies Sir Eris, but I'm going to have to ask you to put her highness down."
It was too fast for Arnold to even react despite his superior senses as a sword master. Two possibilities came to his mind as Arnold looked down at the glistening silver blade on his neck.
'An end-stage sword master, or a .... Grand Master.'
Even if the Ten great swordsmen were the most powerful grandmasters in the Great Western Empire, it did not mean that they were the only ones.
The person wearing the silver armour of the royal knights with his sword on Arnold's neck, was one of these other grandmasters.
"Huh?"
It was then that Laurene finally reacted.
"W-wait! Put your sword down! He just caught me when I was about to fall!"
The knight narrowed his eyes for a moment before obeying the orders of his princess and lowering his blade.
"Put me down, Arnold."
The teenager didn't even have to be told twice, he hurriedly dropped the Princess and let her stand on her feet.
The next moment, there were gusts of wind as the rest of the massive auras they sensed reached their location.
About ten knights, all wearing the royal knight's armour, arrived on horseback, jumping off their horses and moving towards Laurene with swords drawn.
"Whoa, chill!"
The young princess exclaimed upon seeing the other members of her guard detail arriving, a shocked expression appearing on her face as she looked up and saw about half a dozen mages floating in the air.
'That's twice the number of mages I was aware of.'
Instantly understanding that the other three were the guards she was supposed to be unaware of, the princess heaved a sigh of exasperation.
One of the mages dropped down from the sky and instantly applied healing magic on Laurene, causing all of her cuts, scratches and burns from overusing the lightning boots spell to disappear within seconds.
Seeing this, Arnold's eyes narrowed as he noticed one important fact.
'Master level existences, all of them.
How was she able to escape their watch in the first place? Even if she's also a master level, it shouldn't be that easy, right?'