Awakening III

The adventurers became confident after killing their first goblin and pushing past the wooden wall protecting the others. 

"Hah! Die you monster!"

Flunk—A human wielding an iron axe chopped the goblin guardian, which forced the goblin to block the blow desperately before tumbling onto the ground from the force. The human followed up with a brutal strike. The goblin lifted its wooden shield before the axe chewed into the wood and split it in two.

"Alex, kill the ones heading to the left wall!" The axe-wielding human shouted, his face dripping with sweat as he stomped on the goblin's chest. 

"Gweek!"

"Shut it!" His foot smashed down to shut him up.

Alex nodded, hurrying past the goblin guardian and rushed at the unprotected archer and sliced through the air with a silver arc aimed at the goblin. The goblin archer panicked and jumped back to avoid the blow, but the blade still sliced through its thigh as the goblin rolled to the ground.

Immediately after Alex downed the goblin, a goblin archer stepped forward and took a pot shot with its crude bow as it called out to the other archers. "Don't be scared! Fight!" Four crude arrows shot through the air with a light whistle.

"Damn monsters!" Alex grunted from the sudden counterattack and raised his shield. The dull thunk of arrows echoed a second later.

"These lowly goblins! Luna, can you take care of the archers?!" Alex called out as he dashed behind some rocks and used the damaged wall for cover. 

"Grrrk!" The axe-wielding human cut the throat of the grounded goblin before an elf hopped onto the broken wall, holding a bow.

She gracefully dodged the goblin arrows while firing back with accurate and deadly shots before jumping down onto a rock. Luna, the elven archer, stood with flowing blond hair as she drew back her longbow's bowstring. 

"Urgk?!"

Her arrow claimed its first target in an instant, then a second... killed without mercy, reducing the goblin archers to only three.

"Good job, Luna!" 

A female in a white robe holding a staff cheered from the back, wrapped in a divine aura that enveloped the three humans. The humans rallied together and pushed the goblins to the brink of death, with four dead.

"Alex, we should kill these disgusting monsters!" The older male stepped forward, having killed his target, a grim smile on his face. His axe was dripping with goblin blood as he started rushing forward.

"Yeah, these freaks love to attack young women, so we're protecting the world."

Suddenly, a deep voice came from the tunnels, causing the humans to freeze on the spot as they gripped their weapons and prepared to face the incoming enemy.

"That's not true! Goblins born in the dungeon cannot reproduce." Leonhardt only learned this a few moments ago.

But it came in handy as he continued. "Don't spread lies in my dungeon." 

"Huh? Who was that?" 

While the humans became shocked and nervous, Leonhardt gave orders to his goblins and focused on the enemy's movements. He needed to learn more about the world and wanted to grow as a dungeon master.

"Goblins, pull back to the second wall."

"What!?"

"Why is someone helping the goblins?"

Luna's eyes narrowed as her face twisted in terror and disgust. The idea of someone siding with goblins might have been that insane. Their victory was already determined before this strange man appeared!

But now the goblins slipped into safety and prepared to counterattack.

"There he is!" The male with the axe shouted, pointing his axe at Leonhardt, who stood on the elevated platform behind the wooden wall. He observed the party of humans with a quiet and testing gaze: an elven archer, two human warriors, and a human mage. 

"Guardians use your shields to deflect arrows, protect the archers."

Leonhardt's order caused the guardians to focus up and lift their shields with a loud stomp. He then gazes at the archers. "Archers, aim for the men."

"Who is this guy?"

"Why is an elf helping goblins, it doesn't make sense." Luna screeched before drawing her bow to the limit and aiming at Leon with an arrow.

The arrow cut through the air, swirling with a slightly green glow at the tip, while Leon's eyes narrowed at her action. "Block," Leon muttered. Luna's arrow, inches from Leonhardt's eye, bounced off the goblin's reinforced iron shield.

The corner of his lips curled up before he reached out with a single arm, pointing towards the human with a staff.

'Her Mana is the highest, and she can heal, I have to kill her.'

The human warriors seemed to realise something and started rushing forward. 

"Hurry. He's going to attack."

"That bastard is a mage."

Mana swirled through Leon's abdomen, a pleasant sensation like releasing urine at the last moment or ejaculating. The savage and cruel fire Mana pushed through his veins like a raging tide before reaching his fingertip and creating a blue flicker.

—Blazing Missiles

Because the two males rushed forward, protecting the priestess who stood in the back line, and using the slight elevation, Leon could easily target her with his magic spell.

A rain of fiery bolts zoomed past the two warriors, who tried to reach out with their shields to stop the attack before the fiery bolts struck the priestess with golden hair.

"Argh?"

The bolts were blunt, not sharp, and caused immense kinetic damage. They sent the priestess flying back into the wooden walls before the flames billowed and burst into flames. 

"N-Nora?" Alex screamed as a priestess clawed at her chest and reached out to Luna, who stood a few metres to her side with a shocked look on her face.

"Keep your eyes on your enemy, human."

The moment Alex turned his back, the two goblin archers drew their bows and shot a pair of arrows at the male's back.

"Argh… Ahhh… My leg." 

Newbie adventurers didn't suffer many setbacks, so the moment the dirty and crude goblin arrow penetrated the warrior's thigh, he crumbled to the ground before the second arrow caught him off guard and pierced his chest.

"Urk."

"Eh? Alex, hurry and drink a potion." 

However, Leonhardt's wrists suddenly shot a sticky webbing towards the glass bottle that Alex fumbled with in his hands—snapping his wrist back. The bottle landed in the hands of Leonhardt, who then passed it to one of the injured goblins.

"I warned you to pay attention."

Once again, the magnetic voice echoed from the wooden walls as the remaining human and elf watched him with trembling limbs. 

"L-Luna, you need to run, hurry and run."

A scream full of rage, anger, and anguish.

The axe-wielding warrior rushed forward and protected the elf, who hesitated and watched him with her trembling pupils, unable to move. 

"Did you think I would let you?"

Since the moment he appeared, Leon hadn't been as calm as he seemed. Leon tried his best to focus and attempted to cast his magic, but the spell fizzled because of his nerves, especially when the elf fired an arrow at him and froze momentarily. 

Thankfully, he could remain calm on the outside and order the goblins, 

'Tsk. I need more practice.'

Before the elf or warrior realised what he planned, finally, the Mana in his body followed his orders fully, the fear gone, and now the excitement and another emotion he couldn't quite grasp caused him to become more focused. 

Woosh

—Fire Wall

A huge, flaming wall covered the entrance door, and its thick, raging fire illuminated the dark cave. The wall of flame ignited the broken fence, creating a deadly trap, and the raging flames consumed the air and stopped anyone from escaping.

"W-Why? You're an elf like me."

Luna the archer lost her will to fight.

Her thighs trembled while the warrior rushed forward, shouting and trying to help her regain some semblance of focus.

"Go, Luna." 

"B-Blake?"

"You see, when did I say I was an elf, young lady?" Leonhard spoke to the elf, trying to calm his excitement and nerves.

He was close to victory and didn't wish to make a mistake. 

While the human rushed forward, his body glowing red as his speed increased, the goblin archer who had stood at the front earlier stepped onto the wall.

His bow slowly pulled back until fully drawn, as the warrior leapt into the air, holding his axe over his head.

"Eh?" Blake's pitiful voice echoed as the black arrow shot penetrated his unprotected throat. 

"Good shot, Gobbo."

Meanwhile, watching the last member of her party clawing at his throat, the elf's mind broke.

Her eyes filled with tears, and her face was full of snot as she screeched and wailed, turning her back after tossing her bow and quiver.

"You asked me why." 

Leon's voice caused the broken elf to stop and gaze up at the brightly lit wall.

The fierce goblins stood beside a handsome male on the wooden wall who looked down at her with an empty gaze.

"Well it's simple." 

He lifted his arm, and the goblin who had shot and killed Blake started to draw his bow, the sound of it stretching louder than usual as if enhanced in Luna's ears.

"Because I am the Dungeon Master." 

Leon dropped his arm while showing a distorted smile that covered half his face, but the elf couldn't think or respond before the goblin's arrow had already penetrated her neck.

With the battle over, Leon gazed at the elf rolling down the rock with a shocked and terrified expression on her face, and he couldn't help but shake his head. 

There wasn't disgust or happiness, but his nerves seemed to have improved.

An entire party perished. 

"Goblin Archer Three, you've done well to survive."

"Master. Gobbo do well?"

"You did very well, from now on, your name is Gobbolas."

The moment Leonhardt gave the goblin a name, he felt a sensation of heat building within himself, and the goblin archer also glowed with a fiery aura.

• Evolution conditions met

Before the pair could speak, their bodies vanished in a flicker of blue light particles and returned to the throne room for safety.