The caravan continues south when they suddenly ran across a squadron of calvery soldiers on horseback. 

"State your business and where you're heading" the soldier asked

"We are merchants heading to Gloryshine, together with our guards" Carson said

"Unfortunately, getting to Gloryshine is practically impossible right now. We have to escort you to Rockhelm" the soldier said

"Rockhelm? What's going on?" Carson asked

"Orcs.... not just a village of orcs.. thousands. An army has come" the soldier replied

"Hurry! They'll be arriving by nightfall from the east!" the soldier said

The caravan picked up pace as they accompanied the soldiers.

Rockhelm was a fortress city, built into the cliffs of a canyon.

The city was a natural fortress, and was a lookout point for any invasion from the east or north. 

While enemies could bypass the fortress and head straight to Gloryshine, no right minded enemy would allow an army to get behind them if they left Rockhelm and headed straight to Gloryshine. 

So conquering Rockhelm was necessary for any invading forces. 

From a distance, clouds of dust were kicked in the air, looking like a sand storm. 

"The orcs are closer than we were told! Ride! Run as fast as you can!" the soldiers said as they started pushing their horses faster.

The caravans pushed their horses as well while Bonar jogged next to the caravan as did Manty the manticore with Daphne on his back. 

The merchants refused to leave their wares, but as they ran, the orcs were getting closer and closer at an increasing rate. 

Most of the merchants started abandoning their wagons, cutting their horses loose and riding their horses to speed up. 

But Carolyn refused to give up on her goods, pushing her horses a hard as she could with desperation on her face. 

Bonar wanted to say something, but when she saw Carolyn's desperation, he kept quiet. 

Just then, a few orcs on wargs prepared to intercept Carolyn, Bonar stopped running and charged at them. 

"Boner!" Daphne cried out, preparing to join him in battle

"Escort Carolyn to the city. I will join you later!" Bonar yelled as he crashed into the warg, throwing the orc off and creating a distraction for the other other wargs and orcs. 

Within seconds, Bonar was swallowed up by a tide of orcs, battling furiously.

While Bonar was tremendously strong, he originally was only as strong as an orc. His changes by the two dragons and the phoenix never increased his strength, while the zombie virus only enabled him to use the maximum of his strength without worrying about damaging himself. 

Hence, the strength difference between him and an orc was like a zombie fighting a human. He was overwhelmed by the large number orcs. 

Suddenly, the orcs were thrown into the air as hundreds of vines shot out from underground, swiping away orcs as well as freezing and burning them. 

Even so, he was stuck in the ocean of orcs who were attacking him from every side.

Unfortunately, Bonar's sacrifice was wasted as the wagon that Carolyn was driving over turned, throwing her off and spilling her goods everywhere. 

Carolyn her self was thrown into the air, and would have died or suffered a serious injury had Pokey not caught her in mid air. 

"My wares!" she screamed but Daphne commanded Manty to spread it's wings and fly. 

They landed on the city walls and while the guards were shocked at a manticore landing there, they saw that two females were riding it and gave it a wide berth. 

Daphne got off Manty and ran to look over the walls and saw a ruckus within the ranks of the orcs as a battle was still being fought while the rest of the army arrived in front of the city. 

"My wares!" Carolyn said, looking into the tide of orcs. 

"Shut up! My Boner sacrificed himself to save you!" Daphne said

"Right.. your pervert lover" Carolyn cursed ungratefully

*Slap*

Daphne slapped her

"How dare you! Because of you he might not survive and have sex with me one day" Daphne screamed at her with tears in her eyes

"What do you mean... one day?" Carolyn asked, holding her face in shock. 

"Boner said we can have sex if I still want it when I get bigger" she cried

"You mean.... you haven't... yet?" Carolyn asked

"Wu wu wu" Daphne shook her head and started crying

"I....I'm sorry" Carolyn said as she hugged Daphne, realizing that she had misunderstood Bonar. 

"What is going on there?" the commander of the army Lochland said

"My Boner.. my Boner is still out there... fighting.. you have to save him" Daphne said

Lochland was surprised that this small girl was talking to him and gestured to his subordinates. 

"Take her to safety. This is no place for a small girl" he ordered

As the soldier approached, Manty roared and stood in front of Daphne.

The other guards surrounded them and pointed their weapons at Manty. 

"No! No.. she saved me. Boner is her.. brother. He's still stuck out there" Carolyn tried to help. 

"Boner... do you mean Boner of Hallmark?" somebody asked

"Hallmark... yes, Boner said he stayed in Hallmark for a while" Daphne said

"You know him?" Lochland asked the large armored man who he respected. 

"Yes... he's a powerful warrior. An A ranker I think" the man said

"S Rank now" Daphne interrupted

"S... I'm not surprised. My name is Astalan. And I am the leader of the Strength Metal mercenary group. What is your name?" Astalan asked

"I am Daphne. I am Boner's..."she started saying

"..sister. She is Boner's sister" Carolyn interrupted. 

"Well, we will try our best. But here is not a place for little sisters. Why don't you go down with the rest to safety, while we charge out to try to get to Boner?" Astalan said gently

"No! I'm not a little girl. I am a mercenary too, see?" she said, showing her token. 

The guards gasped.

"So.... Boner's sister is extraordinary too" Astalan smiled. 

"Ok. You can stay and watch" Astalan smiled

"What.." Lochland was shocked at what's happening

"STRENGTH METAL!" he suddenly yelled

*HOOOAAH!" about 50 members yelled in reply

"Wa...wait!" Lochland tried to stop them. 

"FLEX!" he shouted as he and all 50 members suddenly ran and jumped off the 20 meter high walls. 

They charged out with their tower shields and crashed with the orcs, pushing them back. 

But no matter how hard they tried, the orcs kept pushing them back and killing the weaker ones. 

This only went on for less than 15 minutes. While the Strength Metal group was known for their tankers all being stupidly strong, they were going against orcs who were bigger, stronger and more muscular. 

They were pushed back so far that they had to retreat back into the fort under cover of arrows, and about a quarter of the team were overrun and died. 

"I'm sorry" Astalan said to Daphne, minutes later on the city wall.

Lochland looked worried. If even the S Ranked Astalan and his highly regarded Strength Metal could not turn the tide, it would be a costly and difficult siege. 

Suddenly, the orcs all roared at the same time. 

Daphne and Astalan looked out and was shocked. 

Standing among the orcs, was a noble orc, standing twice as tall as a normal orc, holding up a spear. 

At the end of the huge spear, Bonar was impaled, the spear in his back and sticking out of his chest!

He was bloodied and battered and vines seem to be dangling from his ass to the ground. 

"BONER!" Daphne screamed.