“We have to go quickly and help. There are several hundred people, surrounded by a goblin army. Between the six of us and the people, we should be able to take them out.” Alex quickly told them. They all agreed to help and ran forward under Alex’s wind enhancement.
Alex also knew that during this engagement, several of his friends might reach level 10. But they had all agreed to hold it off and wait until they were safely back at camp before making their choices to evolve. He was excited to see their class evolutions and the new powers they would wield.
Pushing away the stray thoughts as they reached the fighting, Alex looked to see if there were any Generals. He couldn’t see any yet, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any. There were definitely plenty of goblins here to warrant a General.
The location was a large clearing in the middle of the forest. Very large. Hundreds of individuals fit comfortably here, so he could easily miss a single goblin.
His team moved into the fray, breaking through the back line of goblins like a ship cutting through water. The monsters hadn’t seen them coming, and they paid for their ignorance.
The people in the middle were holding their own but were slowly being picked off. They were surrounded and couldn’t focus their defenses on one area. Alex and his team needed to hurry.
All the goblins and levels seemed similar to what he saw last night, ranging from level 6 to 10. He couldn’t see any new types or any higher than 10.
At least there won’t be any surprises then.
There were a few commanders mixed into the army, and Alex focused on those first, quickly cutting them down with his wind-enhanced sword. He had to keep the self-enhancement to a low burn. The debuff still hindered him, which reduced his stats and regeneration. He wanted to conserve as much mana as he could.
Because of this, he stayed near his team, not running ahead like he usually would. He hacked and slashed, easily dispatching goblins in a single blow. The commanders took a little extra, but they weren’t much for him anymore. Since ranking up, his stats had ballooned far above those of a commander. Even with a reduced 20%, they weren’t too difficult, just a bit slower to die, especially the ones with a shield.
His party was doing well, too. They followed behind him, Korgrith and Rykos on one side, Derek on the other, and Sam plus Sarah in the middle. They were killing anything that came within range of their weapons, and Sarah easily healed any wounds they received. They kept pushing through the line of monsters, trying to reach the trapped people.
While Derek wasn’t focused on dealing damage, he was proficient with his sword and dealt fatal strikes on the regular. Goblins, he couldn't kill; he easily crippled them and pushed them back with his shield while they moved on.
By the time they reached the center, their group had decimated this section of the goblin army. After entering the middle, they finally saw the predicament the survivors were in. They had dead bodies all around them, goblins and their own.
Alex yelled out to his team, “Form up on this side of the survivors. I'll circle around to the other. Sarah, get any of their wounded fighters back on their feet, but don’t drain all your mana. We might need it.
Sam, get some waves of fire down to help protect one side of them. I will do the same on the other side, too. But, same as Sarah, don't use all your mana. This fight might be a marathon, not a sprint.
Derek, find their leader or whoever is in charge and direct them towards me, and then join Sam to keep him defended.
Rykos and Korgrith, you two help with the defensive line and reinforce wherever you think they need.”
They all agreed and moved to do their jobs without comment.
Damn, they’re good teammates. How the hell did I get so lucky starting here with them? Even Korgrith and Rykos have proven to be staunch allies and trusted friends in the few days I’ve known them. It's ridiculous. Before the integration, I barely trusted anyone much, not for any specific reason. I just didn’t feel really close to anyone… and now I’m throwing it out like candy and have five people I trust with my life. Such a weird week. He quickly thought to himself while moving.
Alex ran by the front line of the survivors, helping them take down goblins while he made his way towards the other side. While cutting down goblins, he also examined the group they were helping.
It was a wide mix of races, though, at a quick glance, half seemed human. He saw a few beastkin, some that looked like elves, dwarves, and even some larger creatures that looked similar to goblins.
Are those orcs? He wondered.
The level range of the survivors was quite low, much lower than the goblins on average. It was surprising they had even lasted this long. They had only a few fighters at levels 5, 6, or 7. He didn’t see any higher than that.
They all mostly stared at Alex or his team. Unsure who they were, and wary because they hadn’t expected any help. Most of them had already given up, assuming they would be dead or worse very soon. Quite a few looked out of focus, or zoned out, not caring if they lived or died. Some even sat in the middle of the group and cried, knowing death was coming for them.
Hope blossomed in a lot of them when they saw reinforcements had shown up. They fought harder, stood up straighter, and didn’t give in to their fear that had almost overwhelmed them moments before.
A minute after Alex had reached his side of the front line, Derek showed up with a few group representatives. There seemed to be one from each race, or at least the most plentiful races in the group. There was a human, a dwarf, an elf, a beastkin, and an orc– five in total.
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When they were in range, Alex turned to face them, causing most to flinch when they saw him. His eyes always glowed when he was using his magic, and he wore a striking image with his long black hair and blood-covered armor.
He looked towards Derek and nodded. Derek then ran off to support Sam. Turning back to the group, he said, “I’m Alex. My team and I heard fighting and came to help. We need to break out of this circle of goblins or your people will keep getting picked off. We will go through the same way we came in, back towards our camp. You need to get your people ready to move.”
Swallowing away his fear, the human looked offended and puffed out his chest. “Who are you to give us orders? We are in charge here.”
“Don’t care. I’m the guy here to save your asses, and you'll either listen to me, or I’ll let the goblins kill you. Make your choice now.” Alex said, staring at him.
“Pay no heed to the daft idiot, lad. The man’s always actin’ like he’s got a pick-axe wedged up his arse. The name be Durgan Forgehammer.” The dwarf said, stepping forward with his hand out.
Alex grasped his forearm in greeting, like he did Korgrith when they first met; he figured this might be more popular than a handshake. “As much as I would enjoy talking with you all more, I have some fighting to do. So decide now, are my team and I leaving, or are we helping you all escape?”
The dwarf laughed. “I be likin’ yer spirit! We’ll be followin’ yer counsel, and we’ll all be breachin’ these damn goblins together, mark my words!”
All the other leaders nodded their agreement. While the human leader just huffed and walked away.
“Good, let's get to it then.” He turned back towards the goblins and got to work. He hacked and cleaved down any goblins near the survivors, slowly diminishing their numbers.
He kept an eye out, and when he saw Rykos, he flagged him down. He told him the plan and had him go relay the information to the rest of the team.
The beastkin was to tell them that they would be making their escape soon, through the same way they came in. He also had him tell Sam to get ready, and that when he saw Alex use fire magic at the escape location, to do the same.
Alex had been conserving mana since his regeneration was cut in half, but the time for holding back was coming to an end.
He dove into the line of goblins' blades first, cutting his way through, trying to thin them out as much as possible. He prioritized the higher-level and more dangerous types: assassins, shamans, and commanders. It was time for them to escape this encirclement.
He started to channel his fire mana, enhancing his sword, and channeling it into some fireballs. Ones that he made sure to boost more to improve their effectiveness.
He jumped high into the air. Turning and facing the spot they entered the clearing, he slashed his sword. First, he launched three fire rifts toward their escape location. The rifts soared over the survivors' heads, impacting the goblin line. Directly after firing those, he sent the fireballs trailing behind.
The effect was devastating. When the three fire rifts hit, the explosions went off, creating a loud boom and sending out a small shockwave that knocked some goblins off their feet nearby. The fireballs came in behind and cleared out any more goblins that weren’t killed.
Sam had been ready to go, too. As soon as he saw Alex’s sword light up with fire, he channeled his own fire magic. After the rifts and fireballs hit, he ran in with Derek behind him and pumped out a few [Fire Nova]’s.
The survivors followed Derek through the break in the encirclement. Alex used his [Earth Magic] to create walls on the sides of the survivors, allowing them to run through without taking stray arrows or attacks.
Alex then slashed, stabbed, cut, burned, or kicked any goblin that came near the fleeing survivors. He was in the back, following them, but so were all the goblins. When the people escaped, all the goblins converged, trying to go after them.
After the fleeing people broke through the encirclement, his team came up from behind the group and tried to help him. They had formed up into a tight formation and were holding back the pursuing goblins, with Derek at the front leading the group.
It reminded Alex of that movie where 300 soldiers faced an entire army. They were, for the most part, stemming the tide and doing well. The trees of the forest helped to funnel the goblins a bit, too.
Joining him, they killed goblins by the truck-load, while slowly retreating and following the previously trapped group.
Seems weird this massive group doesn’t have a General. Maybe it's the remnants belonging to the one I killed? We aren’t too far from where we fought.
They moved through the woods, constantly fighting the horde of approaching goblins. His mana was low since it wasn’t regenerating as well, so he had to lay off casting many more spells. He had to solely rely on his sword now, and only occasionally channeled mana into it.
An hour passed. They slowly retreated and fought the goblins, thinning their numbers. The party was about to launch an attack to finish them off when they all saw a notification.
Event Update:
The Second General has fallen.
The Ranger General was slain by Morgan Alvarez and others.
The other Generals have been notified of their fellow generals' death and have become more aggressive.
All goblins enter a frenzied state for the next ten minutes, and those not under the command of a general will become more aggressive permanently.
Generals slain 2/5
Berserker
Ranger
Generals remaining 3/5
???
???
???
Good luck, gain power, and above all, survive.
---
Well, shit, that’s bad timing. As Alex thought that, the goblins suddenly became more aggressive.
They weren’t as wary of injury or fearful of death, which caused them to throw themselves at Alex and his team, practically skewering themselves on their blades. But the goblins' remaining numbers were still higher than theirs, so the sheer amount of bodies was overwhelming.
Alex was forced to quit conserving mana again and started using Fire Novas along with Sam. But even while on fire, the goblins didn’t quit. They continued trying to attack his team.
While fighting, Alex noticed something out of the ordinary. He had his [Eyes of the Cosmos] ability on as normal, and he felt a lot of movement in the mana behind his group. It was similar to how he saw the assassins while they were stealthed, but this one felt different, stronger, and more hidden.
Not hesitating, he summoned wind blades and sent them towards the disruption he saw in the mana. When the blades were about to strike whatever it was, they were cut out of the air, causing them to quickly disperse.
But the wind blades did their intended job. They showed him what the disturbance was, and it wasn’t good news.
---REMINDER-- Today, Monday February 9th will begin the M-F release schedule. 5 chapters per week. (No more Saturday and Sunday) ---REMINDER----
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