Goblin Cave II

In front of my eyes, I could see three goblins jumping towards me.

I quickly grabbed the closest one and slammed it against its brethren. Blood splattering onto the ground.

I looked at the goblin's head in my palm and tossed it away.

Crash!

Boom!

"GRROOAAAAAAAAAR!!!!!"

Ordos was on a rampage. He was crushing every goblin in his way. Guts flew everywhere, blood poured from the dead bodies, the whole floor was basically dyed red.

Half of the goblin army was proceeding towards Ordos. Guess I'll take the other half.

A horde of small ugly monsters was slowly coming up to me, waving their worn-out knives. I should just wipe them out with a powerful attack of something but that would take some time. Maybe I should just use [Piercing Vortex].

I'd sheath my daggers and unsheathed my Katana and my Ninjato.

Shiiiiiiiing~

From the sound of my Katana, the goblins backed up a few feet. Some held their ears and some closed their eyes. My Katana seems to have that effect on people, I don't know the reason but maybe it's something related to the metal used to make this thing.

But since I've got the goblins off guard, I should get the party started.

"Let's have some fun."

I performed [Piercing Vortex]. Slicing and dicing every goblin that got in my way. I was like a drill and a tornado at the same time. Goblins came towards me and were either decapitated or were missing a large portion of their body.

SLASH!

I stopped myself, cutting a goblin into two in the process. It had a terrified look in its eyes, knowing what it got itself into. I looked around at the other goblins surrounding me but they didn't have the same look.

I can't blame them, they are brainless creatures after all. Let alone savages.

I'd charge up another powered fist. I should really give this a name. In fact, I've actually had one, but I just didn't know if it was a good one. "Tyrannical Fist" is what I've been thinking. Tyrannical Fist is a combination of a supercharged fist mixed with lightning and/or fire. It has two outcomes. An explosion or a field engulfed in destruction.

I struck the ground again. Instead of digging into the ground, it engulfed the floor in black lightning and flames. Goblins flew into the air while being set on fire.

Hehe, it's like a goblin holocaust. I can't help but laugh and smile.

"GRRAAAA!!!"

Whoosh~

A body flew past my eyes and crashed into the walls.

I turned and looked at Ordos.

He was standing there, smoke spilling out from his mouth. The surrounding goblins seemed to be shaking and hesitating. Oh? So they are scared of him but these guys aren't scared of me yet?

That makes me a little jealous not gonna lie. These things should be fearing me right now but all they are doing is giving me dirty looks.

I took a deep breath. I shouldn't get angered over something so trivial like this. Eventually, the fear will sink in.

I placed both my palms onto the ground, sending heavy amounts of mana and vigor into the dark floor.

The glowing crystals on the ceiling began to flicker and they'd flicker rapidly until there was no light at all.

Now!

KRRRSH!!!

"AAHHHH!!!"

I could hear goblins crying as they get slaughtered by the attack I just used. In order to perform this attack, it needs to be completely dark. And lucky for me, the lightning I transferred into those crystals have just expired.

A few seconds later it was completely silent. I used another [Tyrannical Fist] and smashed the ground, transferring lightning through the walls and into the crystals.

Flash!

I looked around and smiled. There were countless black spikes sticking out of the ground. The goblins had those spikes stuck through their stomachs, blood seeping down the spikes. The goblins were still alive but give them a minute and they'll cease to live.

"Shadow Purgatory. That sounds like a perfect name."

Shadow Purgatory seemed to have missed a few goblins but they had frightened looks marked on their faces.

That seemed to do the trick.

A little after that, all the goblins standing in this room were decimated. The only thing left was the hobgoblins.

I counted eight of them until Ordos tore one into pieces. Now there are seven.

Coincidentally, three of them went after him which leaves me with four.

I guess I can deal with four of them. Though I don't know if I can take out all of them at the same time.

At the same time, all of them slammed their clubs down towards me. I jumped back and performed [Scarlet Bullets]. One of the hobgoblins was bombarded with flames but when the smoke cleared all I did was leave a scratch.

Looks like fire isn't going to work with these things. They should've done something, but this is not what I expected.

One of the hobgoblins rushed towards me and tried to tackle. I dashed back and sank my hands into the shadows, then I pulled out a long knife bag.

I turned around and fully expanded my wings. They began to give off a humming sound and the hobgoblins backed up a bit.

A good feature that comes with these wings is their ability to ward off creatures. Due to their intimidating size, even a B-rank creature would back off because of it.

I opened the knife bag and inside there were throwing knives of all sizes. The larger and longer ones are easy to throw and have more penetrating power, but their range is limited due to the weight. The smaller ones have more range and faster than larger throwing knives. They are harder to throw though, well, not to me.

In this case, I'll be needing the larger knives.

I deposited the knife bag back into my [Shadow Storage]. I would then summon my doppelganger who was already equipped with large throwing knives all over its body.

"Here we go."

My doppelganger began throwing shadow knives at the hobgoblins. It first aimed for the eyes first to blind the hobgoblins.

While it did that, I appeared behind the hobgoblins and leaped onto one of them. I use [Piercing Vortex] to drill through its head and it fell to the ground with a thud.

That's one down, just three more to go.

I sheathed by Katana and my Ninjato. Then I drew my daggers.

I morphed my legs and electricity began generating out from them. I rushed under one of the hobgoblins and spun around like a whirlwind, slashing its feet with my daggers. It fell onto its knee and I would concentrate all my vigor into my leg, giving off a pinkish glow. When I got onto the top of its head, I did an axe kick, bashing its head into chunks of flesh.

That's another dead. How is Ordos is doing?

Ordos was going berserk. He had decapitated three of them and he was currently smashing the last one till it was nothing but oblivion.

I don't think I'll need to worry about him. After a few seconds, he seemed to calm down and then fell face flat in goblin guts.

Eww…

Moving on.

I looked back at the remaining hobgoblins. One had managed to take out my doppelganger. The one that took it out was blind as it had many shadow knives stuck into its eyes.

I dashed forward and using my daggers; I left gashes all over its body. I landed on top of its head and place my palm in one of the gashes on its bald head. I would then send black lightning throughout its body system and hopped off.

The body came crashing down while bursting into flames in the process.

Now the last one.

The last hobgoblin was the largest one. My doppelganger didn't manage to blind it as it was shielding its eyes with its club. It seems this one must be the most intelligent out of the others.

I took a step forward but stumbled. My heart was thumping fast. It seems that I've used too much mana and vigor. Not to forget, stamina.

The hobgoblin rushed towards me and I dove into the shadows right before it got me. My mana and vigor were slowly being restored but my stamina will stay the same. I can rest as long as I want but this thing would have devoured Ordos' unconscious body by the time I come back.

I got back up and threw some shadow knives at the hobgoblin. It noticed and blocked them with its club. I grabbed more shadow knives and kept on throwing them.

Tuff-tuff-tuff!

In a matter of seconds, its club was covered with shadow knives. It seems that I didn't really do any damage except make its weapon more deadly. I may or may not have added a few shurikens into the club.

I dropped onto my knees and tried steadying my breathing. The hobgoblin seemed to have noticed cause the next thing I saw was a large club sweeping from my right. I attempted to dodge but fell face flat on the ground.

WHAM!

I was hit and crashed into the wall. I tried getting up but instead coughed out blood.

I looked up and the hobgoblin was nearing me. I looked at my right arm; it was bleeding tremendously and I think it was broken. I couldn't feel it so it must be. In just a few seconds, I might pass out because of blood lost and get sent back to camp. I need to get into the shadows to heal myself but there was a bright light coming from behind the hobgoblin.

What is that light? It's not the crystals. It's shining brighter than the crystals.

While I was distracted by the light, the hobgoblin was raising its club.

Well, guess I failed the exam on day 1. That sucks… I was expecting to survive for a day or two.

I braced myself but what came down onto the ground was not the club but the head of the hobgoblin.

"…what?"

I looked up and the hobgoblin's headless body dropped onto the floor and then a FLASH!

What was that light?

"Oh? I didn't expect you to be here."

A female voice? That voice sounds a bit familiar.

I couldn't see because of the light behind the girl but that voice belonged to Mia.

"How did you get here?"

"We came through another tunnel."

"Oh, well anyway, can you just get rid of that light? It's irritating my eyes."

"Oh I wish I could but a certain someone is afraid of the dark."

"Afraid of the dark? So that glowing figure behind you is-"

"Yes, it's Aurelia."

The light died down and I was able to see Aurelia. Aurelia had her tails and wings out which was the source of the light. They glowed dimly but they were enough to light up part of the room.

"My my, it seems you are injured. Here let me heal that for you."

Mia's hand began to glow and I could feel my arm again. I could feel my bones repairing by itself and soon enough, I could move my arm again. It was as if what that hobgoblin did never happened.

"Th-thank you."

She healed it faster than shadow regeneration could. Yes, that's what I'm calling it.

"No worries."

Mia got up and headed over to Ordos. I turned my head and looked at the headless hobgoblin, then at Aurelia.

She did kind of save me, so I think I should thank her.

"Th-thank you for…"

"Hmm?"

"For…"

Shit… it's not this hard to thank someone. But for some reason I just can't spit the words out.

"I-it was no worry, I saw you in trouble and felt like helping."

She sheathed her rapier and looked away.

"Kusukusukusu~"

I thought I heard laughter coming from Mia but that must've just been me.

I scratched my head and just sat there awkwardly.

"Umm… would you mind if we, umm, join forces?"

Aurelia asked as she looked at me with a blushed face.

Whoa… cute.

"U-uhh, no, I wouldn't mind. The more the better, right?"

"Yeah…"

We stood there just staring at each other in silence. I managed to look away while trying not to blush.

"W-we should get going, this place reeks of goblin blood."

"Yes we should."

Though I suggested coming in, I don't think camping outdoors would be a bad idea.

As we walked through the tunnel that Mia and Aurelia came out of, it was honestly a bit embarrassing walking next to her. Her being Aurelia.

""Kusukusukusu~""

I looked over my shoulder and Mia and Ordos stopped laughing. Ordos managed to regain consciousness a little after Mia healed him but he was extremely exhausted.

So was I, but I had enough stamina to walk.

I glanced at Aurelia who also glanced at me and we diverted our looks away from each other.

This is… awkward.

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