*AWOOOOOOO~*
I was rudely awakened by a chorus of howling and yelling. Fuck, I was hoping the wolves wouldn’t venture too deeply into goblin territory. But I supposed the allure of picking off a few stragglers from a convoy as big as ours was too great to resist. I got up and saw the children huddled together in fear.
“Don’t worry guys, I’ve got this!” I did my best to reassure them as I grabbed Severance Pay and headed out.
Except that my services weren’t really needed. The battle was basically over. By the time I got out of the wagon, Loki sniped the wolf with an <
“I can cast <
Natalia looked at me with a downtrodden look. “No need, Forge-Master Rummy. Archmage Sapphire took care of most of them already, and will get to the rest of them soon. Sadly, the ones who were grievously injured expired before the battle was over.”
Fuck. They got us good. “How bad is it?”
“2 dead and 13 wounded. Besides that, the whole convoy is shaken up. This is the first time we had fatalities…”
Now it was my turn to sigh. “This could be a real problem if they show up again. Are we sticking to the plan?”
“Yes, despite some people asking you to stay awake for the duration of this journey, that’s simply impractical.”
“And here I thought my pet wolf mana-beast would be a suitable substitute. How were things in the rear?”
Natalia sighed. Oh shit, how badly did Loki fuck up?
“Your pet wolf did admirably in your absence- none of the casualties were from the rear. However, you now have 4 wolves to take care of.”
“He tripled his harem while I was asleep?!?” I couldn’t fucking believe it. I went to the rear of the convoy. When I got there, I could indeed confirm that my own pet was lapping me in the harem department. Wow, that did not feel good to say out loud.
The 2 new wolves that joined his pack were predictably female and ice-attuned. However, they were not Champions. It looked like these beta wolves surrendered after Loki challenged and killed the alpha of the pack.
I came up to the mini-pack that my pet wolf had started and dumped some of the horse carcasses from the storage bracelets on the ground to feed them. After all, I gotta establish myself as the guy who fed this domesticated pack. The 2 new members of the pack had to learn the hard way that I was in charge of the pack, along with Loki, after they tried to intimidate me for more chow.
As annoyed as I was at this canine harem development, this was net positive for the convoy. A pack of 4 wolves was a formidable force capable of smashing any goblin scouting party raid, especially with 2 Champions leading it.
After harvesting the crystals and taking care of the wounded (the dead has been stored in Natalia’s bracelet), the convoy trudged on. I spotted the goblin scouting parties stalking us, but they kept their distance and refused to attack. I presumed their goal was to track us rather than to wear us down. I thought about siccing my mini-pack of wolves on them, but the risks outweighed the reward. After all, I didn’t believe I could hide a convoy this big and loud from the goblins no matter how many scouting parties I crushed.
Fortunately for us, a couple of these scouting parties got ambushed by the wolves from the Wild that were originally here to pick us off. I guessed I should be grateful that they were killing one another instead of trying to kill us. But still, the sound of screeching and the howling off in the distance sure didn’t help anybody’s mood as the convoy hurried itself along.
By sunset, we were fortified in our encampment. Since I expected something more intellectual than a frontal assault this time around, I instructed Sapphire to <
About 2 hours after sunset, the usual cacophony of the forest was suddenly silenced. The insects stopped chirping and the owls stopped hooting. I lit another flare and chucked it as far as I could with <
Against just 1 MG-42, this was probably one of the smarter adjustments they could’ve made. I had to move my machine gun around to cover the entire battlefield. I hoped the supporting cast could hold them off while I mowed down the goblins.
Once more, all the fire pits ignited after Emma and Sapphire’s <
*AWOOOOOOOO~*
Answering their challenge, Loki and his bitches howled back at the goblins. Despite my wish for them to sleep so they could function better in the day, I needed his pack to patrol the top of the earthen walls to kill any goblin who got through. Tonight was not the night to hold back.
*SCREEEEEEE!!!*
The enemy countered with an ear-piercing screech by what I could assume to be a hobgoblin Champion(?). Well fuck, that certainly raised the difficulty level. Despite 6 years of fighting in the Legion (and killing metric fucktons of goblins), I’d never actually fought a Champion goblin before, so I was literally and figuratively in the dark about this enemy.
The goblins furiously charged from every direction. If I didn’t have Lady Vengeance with me, I’d be scared shitless.
*BZZZZZZZZTT!* *BZZZZTT!* *BZZTT!* *BZZZZZTT!*
I immediately opened fire, gunning down the first wave of goblins with ease. After using burst fire to carefully wipe out the second wave of goblins, I ran counter-clockwise to the northern side of the encampment. Emma’s <
*BZZZZTT!* *BZZZZTT!* *BZZZTT!*
The buzzsaw continued to brutally cut down goblin after goblin. Once I managed to push them back in the North side, I sprinted to the eastern side. I reloaded and opened fire once more at the advancing goblins.
*BZZZZZZTT!* *BZZTT!* *BZZZZZTT!* *BZZZZZZZZTT!*
I looked at the southern side, manned by Sapphire. She had done a masterful job of keeping the goblin advance in check despite running low on mana. The field was littered with earthen spikes and goblin bodies (that’s a former Witch for ya!). In that case, I should return to my original post in the west. Shit, the goblins had reached the earthworks in my absence. I hurried there to set up once more.
*BZZTT!* *BZZZZZTT!* *BZZZZTT!* *BZZZTT!*
After some work forcing back the goblins in the west, I looked around and saw that the situation was more or less under control. The charges had been beaten back. But before I could breathe a sigh of relief, I noticed a large shadow standing near the earthworks in the west.
A towering hobgoblin Champion emerged from the darkness only 25 meters away. It was a 3 meter roided up goblin with dark green skin and 2 long canine teeth. Various scars decorated its topless body, signifying its status as a combat veteran and a horde leader. Well, I hoped it had the good sense to retreat and call it a-
*SCREEEEEEEEEEE!!!*
Then a chorus of screeching followed from all around the encampment. Fuck, they decided to double down. The hobgoblin raised up its giant club (which was the size of an adult man btw) and charged with the other goblins. Well, “with” seemed like too strong of a word- the goblins unlucky enough to be in that guy’s way got trampled through and through.
*BZZZZZZZZTT!* *BZZZZTT!* *BZZTT!* *BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTT!*
I slammed down the trigger and burned through the ammo belt. While I completely wiped out the goblins charging from the west, the hobgoblin Champion remained standing. I saw a few shots land center-mass on the Champion, but they failed to penetrate deep enough to be lethal.
Instead of loading a new ammo belt, I took Severance Pay and aimed at its kneecaps with <
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
*SCREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!*
The shots from Severance Pay repeatedly smashed into its kneecaps thanks to my aimbot <
OK, I just needed to keep it busy while the gang mopped up. Then we could take it down 9 vs. 1.
*SCREEEE!!!*
With a single short screech, the Champion ordered the survivors to retreat. Whoa! It was smart enough to retreat from unfavorable situations. That was… concerning…
The remaining 50 or so goblins receded like a tide. Loki, Natalia, Emma, and Sapphire mercilessly sniped at the retreating goblins with various spells. I was about to join in on the fun when I suddenly noticed a giant wooden club flying at me.
Oh Shit! Using <
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *PING!*
All I could do was bury 3 shots around its left eye as it retreated with the survivors. I wished I could say that would be enough to do the bastard in, but I knew better than that. My “armor-piercing” steel core Springfields simply wasn’t enough. I needed a new plan…
After 5 minutes of tense silence, Skera asked. “All clear?” Her booming voice echoed across the night.
“All clear.” 3 voices besides me answered back.
“Alright! Everyone, try to sleep! If we travel fast enough tomorrow, we will arrive at our destination and begin our new lives!” Natalia cheerfully announces to raise our morale.
Luckily for us, the goblins didn’t come back for another go. One sneaky wolf pack did manage to surprise us in a night raid. But Skera and Loki took care of that. Thanks to our fortifications, no lives were lost (although that giant club managed to bury itself in an armored wagon and injured some kids).
So ended our 4th night in the Wild. One way or another, our perilous journey would end tomorrow. Even after hours of pondering, I still had no idea what to do about that Champion hobgoblin. If firearms wouldn’t work on it, I needed to think outside the kill box. Either way, the sun had risen and it was time to loot the battlefield before grabbing some Z’s.
***
After a quick nap, I woke up to a roofless armored wagon courtesy of the hobgoblin’s parting gift (I had to use the storage bracelet to remove it so the wagon was light enough for the horses). It was around noon. I thanked my luck that I wasn’t rudely awakened by another wolf attack. Loki, ever sensitive to my movements, immediately noticed me stepping off the wagon and tried to jump me in excitement.
“Down boy!” After Loki laid down, I fed the rascal a few pieces of jerky.
Loki licked my hand with affection before claiming his prize. Seeing such a ridiculously easy way to get fed, the other 3 members of the pack shamelessly mimicked their dear leader. I didn’t want to reward this incorrigible behavior, but if I could buy their loyalty with food, I’d take that deal every day of the week, and twice on Tuesdays~
After dipping precariously low into my jerky reserve, I finished breakfast/lunch and walked to Natalia with a map in hand.
She smiled and greeted me. “Good morning, Forge-Master. I trust you are well rested?”
I gave her a polite smile. “Yes, my lady. I am ready to finish the job.” Just think, after I successfully escort these people to the Narrows, my days of fighting in the Wild would be over! Maybe I’d join Loki in a few hunts to stretch out my legs once in a blue moon, but I’d be spending most of my days with projects like: a plumbing system capable of supporting a harem-sized bathtub. After all, I wanted nothing but the best for me and my women~
“I look forward to the end of this arduous journey as well.” She replied in agreement. “So what is the plan today? Are we continuing on yesterday’s plan to strike out north?”
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
After looking at the map in contemplation, I answered. “Yes, and we won’t stop until we’ve reached the Narrows.”
“We won’t spend time fortifying our encampment?”
“We’re almost out of their territory, but we’re also almost out of water. At this point, I’m more worried about running out of water than the goblin horde. Besides, the hilly terrain of the Narrows with the Acheron at our backs is a far better defensive position than anything we could put up in the plains.”
At this point, it was a mad dash to the finish line. I even instructed Loki and his pack to go hunt down any scouting parties trailing us. I didn’t plan on hiding from them forever, but any delay we could inflict upon them by killing off their scouts bought us more time to fortify. Plus, I needed as much time as possible to think of a way to kill that Champion. Unlike most Champions I’ve faced, this fucker was basically bulletproof. Which means that conventional magic wasn’t gonna do much either.
So far, my best plan revolved around drowning the fucker in the Acheron River, but who the hell knows if it could swim, or if it was strong enough to walk out of the river given its impressive height. It’s not a great plan, but my other options were to give Skera the giant club and hope she could inflict enough blunt force trauma to kill it- hardly a safe option, or invent a bunker-busting bomb before sunset today- hardly a realistic option.
Natalia worriedly replied. “We’ll travel slower at night. What if they catch us in the open?”
I showed her the map I'd drawn and said. “Then we’d be killed by goblins instead of killed by thirst. Either way, we’d die. But if we’re just a little faster than our daily average so far, then I think we’ll make it with time to spare.”
“I see. Well, we shall reduce the number of water breaks to increase our travel speed. For all of our sakes, I hope your gamble pays off.” Tali sighed resignedly.
“Yeah, it's not like there is much water left anyways~” I chuckled a bit before heading back to the rear.
***
After a whole day of attack-free traveling thanks to the wolves, the convoy finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. We finally witnessed the majesty of the Acheron River. The hills of the Narrows looked to be about 2-3 km northwest of our current position.
“We are almost there, people! Let’s race the sun to our new home!” Natalia exhorted the visibly exhausted (not to mention thirsty) members of the convoy. The sun was on its last legs and should be setting within an hour. So it was coming down to the wire.
Loki and his pack had already returned. Based on the bloody snouts and paws, I’d say they did a number on the goblins trailing us. If we were lucky, maybe they’d just give up on us once we’re out of their territory.
The sun beat us to the punch, but not by much. Knowing that the goblins were probably still after us, the convoy rushed to the finish line. By the time we managed to circle the wagons atop the hill, the moon had begun to rise.
In addition to the spike pits, I’ve decided to ask the wolves to use their excellent sense of smell to add to our early-warning system. Sapphire set up the usual defensive earthworks while I got the kids to collect firewood to burn for our fire pits. After a quick dinner (and drink of the Acheron River), those who could sleep slept like a baby. The rest of us look towards the southwest, hoping the goblins would be too lazy to chase us this far from their nest.
Those hopes were easily dashed when Loki and his harem suddenly howled into the night roughly an hour after we ate dinner.
“Light the pits!” I shouted at the Archmages flanking me on the southern and western side of the wall. And after a series of <
Holy fuck, we were facing 3-4 war parties this time (easily over 250 by my estimation). Holy Gandalf, that was double of what we faced last night! Where the fuck were all these goblins coming from? Was this the entire goblin population of this fucking forest?
Strangely, they were all bunched together, as if they were preparing for a single charge. Normally, I’d rejoice at a bunched formation charging from a single direction, but not tonight. The hobgoblin Champion from last night was smart enough to retreat, so I knew he was no fool. Granted, we had our backs against the river, so they couldn't surround us. But a simple frontal assault still was a bad idea. Something wasn’t right…
Leading the entire horde was the same hobgoblin Champion I faced last night- its facial scars from my previous shots remained. It appeared to be dragging something heavy as it marched towards us. My heart sank when I saw 2 more hobgoblin Champions leading the left and right flank of the charge. I noticed that the 2 lieutenant hobgoblins (also dragging something heavy) were markedly smaller (2 meters tall) than the head honcho (3 meters tall). Suddenly, I realized in horror why this supposed Champion mana-beast was far stronger and smarter than any Champions I’ve ever faced.
“Uh… Sapphire, what happens if a Champion mana-beast evolves again?”
“Master, it would become a Tyrant mana-beast, capable of fighting and killing Paladins due to their immense toughness and vitality.”
“Fuck!”
It was at this moment, the green bastard revealed why it was so confident in a frontal assault this time around: shields. More specifically, the Tyrant was carrying a huge slab of granite roughly 3 meters tall and 2 meters wide. The lieutenants each carried 2 uprooted trees. The rest of the frontline carried wooden shields. Overall, only the Tyrant posed any kind of a threat, but he was one hell of a threat.
*SCREEEEEEEE* At its command, hundreds of goblins surged forward, with shields in front. This was it. The final battle began.
I gotta hand it to the Tyrant. Its intelligence was definitely a notch above the typical denizen of the Wild. Adjusting to my long range weapon tactics with shielded mass charge showed an immense amount of adaptive ability. Too bad it wasn’t quite smart enough to understand the penetration ability of said long range weapon.
Not that I was complaining. I’d take any handicap I could get right now. Because the Tyrant was carrying a much heavier object, the center of the charge was noticeably slower than the wings. As a result, a crescent-shaped horde of goblins descended upon us.
The first order of business was to wipe out the unprotected flanks. So I took aim at the enemy left wing and opened fire.
*BZZZZTT!* *BZZZZZZTT!* *BZZTT!* *BZZZZZTT!* *BZZZZZZZTT!* *BZZZZZTT!* *BZZTT!* *BZZZZZZZZZTT!*
The buzzsaw ripped the entire left wing to shreds, trees and all. Thanks to their tight formation and lack of armor, each burst killed or maimed a dozen goblins. It took a while to shoot through the uprooted tree, but once I did, the hobgoblin Champion holding it met the same fate as the goblins it once led. Seeing the mangled mess that used to be a Champion hobgoblin head further convinced me that the fucker leading this whole horde was a Tyrant.
I immediately attached a new ammo belt as I aimed at the right wing of the horde that was approaching the earthworks. Since they were getting too close for my comfort, I opened fire without changing the barrel.
*BZZZZZZZZZZTT!* *BZZTT!* *BZZZZZTT!* *BZZZZZZTT!* *BZZZZTT!* *BZZZZZZZZTT!* *BZZTT!* *BZZZTT!*
Like their brethren on the left wing, goblins after goblins went down in a hail of bullets and tracers. Thanks to the spiked trenches and pitfalls slowing them down, the closest they ever got was within 15 meters. After reaping the right wing of the horde, I had managed to substantially decrease the attacking goblins. Only the goblins in the center, who were lucky enough to be behind the giant slab of granite, remain charging. The big bad boss was now only 20 meters ahead of me.
<
Wait, hold on. I didn’t have access to a meteor, but I did have access to what made meteors so mighty- gravity. After all that pondering, I was convinced that was the key to my problem. I turned my head around and yelled. “Skera! Come over here now!”
Skera effortlessly jumped 2 meters up and landed on the top of the earthen wall. “What?” She impatiently asked.
“I want you to grab me and throw me as high as you possibly can. Use <
“I don’t have time for your nonsense! That giant hobgoblin is in the trenches!” She yelled back, clearly irritated.
“I’ve got an idea. Just do it!” I yelled at her as I put on my goggles.
“Fine!” Skera answered in annoyance.
“Sapphire, slow the big guy down with <
I never heard back from Sapphire because I was instantly launched 40-50 meters in the air. As I ascended toward the heavens, I saw the faint lights of Carnwennan Castle in the southeast, and the majestic Mt. Fae in the east. This world was truly beautiful from that elevation.
As my upward acceleration slowed to 0 and I began the downward acceleration part of the flight, I channeled my mana towards one of the storage bracelets and summoned a giant wooden club from storage. Since I didn’t have a big-ass space rock to chuck at the Tyrant, I’d have to settle for a 50 kilo wooden stick. After all, it was only right that I returned this stick to the motherfucker who threw it at me~
I gently guided the falling club towards the Tyrant as I sped through the air like a meteor, head first. The wind was screaming like a vengeful banshee as I fell faster and faster toward the ground. The initially tiny green dot I was aiming for began to come into view. I started to focus on the air mana crystal and began to cast.
Good, the Tyrant got stuck in one of the pitfalls. It could’ve easily gotten out had it let go of the granite slab and climbed out with its free hands. But it refused to do so, giving me an immobilized target to aim at from only 25 meters out. Its subordinates charged around it towards the wall.
Luckily for me, it was completely unaware of my impending dive bomb. I murmured to myself. “Stay on target... Stay on target...”
After making some final adjustments, I grabbed the club with both my arms. I fired an overcharged <
*BOOM!* …
With my survival instinct screaming at me, I immediately pulled up with <
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!*
The wooden club violently smashed through the head, torso, and right leg of the Tyrant. An apocalyptic explosion erupted 10 meters beneath me. The resulting shock wave launched me like a t-shirt cannon. I landed with a loud thud as dirt and debris landed all around me. I believed I ended up on the flattened earthen walls that marked our last line of defense. The spiked trenches and pitfalls that Sapphire made were no more, just like the goblins. Any goblin that survived the impact fled in terror.
Ow. I was somehow alive, but I was all fucked up. Everywhere hurt. My entire body was on fucking fire. I was pretty sure I had at least a dozen broken bones and splinter wounds. Most of my internal organs were leaking like a faucet. My ears were ringing like a smoke detector after that one time I tried to cook. On top of that, the dizziness from the concussion one would get after being next to an explosion with an estimated yield of 5 tons of TNT completely disoriented me and kept me down. With my remaining mana, I activated <
Despite my attempt to <
As I slowly run out of mana and black out, I wanted to check my math on the theoretical yield out of sheer morbid curiosity. Let’s see, assuming this place has the same gravitational constant of 9.81 m/s^2, and that club had a mass of 50 kilos while being up 40 meters in the air… Yup, terminal velocity should be about 28 m/s.
And plug that into the kinetic energy formula of ½mv^2, and I should have 19600 Joules of kinetic energy. One ton of TNT unleashes 4184 Joules of energy, so 19600/4184 should get me… yup, roughly 4.7 tons of TNT. Yay! Mental math checked out!
Of course, most of that energy was dispersed when the club popped the upper torso of the Tyrant like a fucking balloon (Damn, hopefully the Expert-level mana crystal wasn’t destroyed…). But still, I really should’ve pulled up earlier. I knew that I only had one shot and I couldn’t afford to miss, but now that I’d made the shot and killed the big bad boss, I really regretted not pulling up earlier. Fuck, I hoped I didn’t piss or shit myself in front of my fiancee. That would be so uncool…
Speaking of that beautiful waifu, I think I saw Emma running towards me as my consciousness faded. Sorry to worry you, sweetie, but I’d be right as rain in a couple days. Our wedding and honeymoon in this brave new world would commence soon enough~ <3
Field Inventory
Primary Weapon
M1D Garand v.2.0 [Christened Severance Pay]
MG-42 General-Purpose Machine Gun v.1.0 [Christened Lady Vengeance]
Secondary Weapon
Colt M1911A1 Semi-Automatic Pistol v.3.0 [Christened Aurelia]
1x mithril parrying dagger [Christened Swordbreaker]
Armor
Crystal-modified dragon leather body armor set {<
Mana Crystals
1x Adept-level fire elemental mana crystal
1x Adept-level ice elemental mana crystal
1x Adept-level space elemental mana crystal
1x Expert-level earth elemental mana crystal
1x Expert-level space elemental mana crystal
Stash of various mana crystals
Misc.
Salvaged armor parts and weapons
1x storage bracelet, 1x goggles [1 Badly Damaged]
Utility belt, grappling hook, rope, dark green cloak [Destroyed], field satchel, puppy backpack, waterskin, rations, boarskin map and steel knife
1x .45 ACP steel centerfire pistol suppressor
1x .30-06 Springfield steel centerfire rifle suppressor
1x crude telescopic sight
10x en bloc clips of .30-06 Springfield armor-piercing ammo
5x magazines of .45 ACP hollow-point ammo
6x belts of 150 .30-06 Springfield armor-piercing ammo
Spare ammo
3x mithril dagger
1x giant wooden club (~50 kg) [Fuckin’ Exploded]
1x male mutated Champion wolf mana-beast [Christened Loki]
1x female Champion wolf mana-beast [Name TBD]
2x female wolf mana-beast