Chapter 31 – Fight

JEBEDIAH

“You heard Shadowalker, let’s move out! Ann, you’re with my team. Everyone else, group up!” Jebediah ordered.

As the fighters started to file out of the compound, they took defensive positions. Once a position was established another group would move a way down the trail and set up their own defensive position, until another group moved ahead of them. On and on the fighter parties advanced slowly in this way.

They were unsure how close the main force of the goblins was, and they did not want to get caught out in the open.

Jebediah did his best to train their people in different jungle and forest tactics and strategies. He wishes he had more than a few days to work with them, but he got lucky with a few ex-military men that took up squad leader positions or helped with training the others. Even the goblins that joined up with them helped offer their training in crude bows and melee weapons.

Jebediah turned to Melody. “I leave the compound in your care.”

Melody just nodded, tears in her eyes. She was scared for him and others. The reports she listened to said they were outnumbered by five Bone Marrow goblins to their one fighter and that was even with many of the goblins that joined their side filling their ranks. There were just too many non-combatants or those not ready to fight like Mitch and Gio.

Jebediah stared at the two young men. “You two have guard duty. Make sure nothing enters this compound that isn’t human. Remember the mantra ‘Brown and red, make em dead!’ You take direction from Melody and do what she says got it?”

Both men snapped at attention and in unison said, “Yes Sir!”

Jebediah took a step toward Melody and pulled the older woman into a hug and kissed her on the forehead. She in turn grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss. After a few moments they broke their embrace.

“Bout time you made yer move! I wasn’t getting any younger!” Melody commented.

“Man, that was some kiss! I should’ve done that days ago!” Jebediah exclaimed.

“Now you have even more reason to come back safe.” Melody stated.

“Yes ma’am!” Jebediah replied before walking off to join his party.

Melody turned to the two young men on the porch. “I want this place locked down tight. No one in or out, got it?”

“Yes ma’am!” The two men said in unison.

Jebediah caught up to Ann, Duncan, and Suzie. “What’d I miss?”

Duncan replied, “Nothing. Our progress is slow but cautious as we aren’t taking any chances.”

Suzie spoke up. “So did you finally kiss her?”

Jebediah turned a nice shade of pink.

“Kiss who?” Duncan asked.

“Melody.” Ann answered.

Everyone turned to Ann. “What? I’m the resident healer. You don’t think I pay attention to things? Besides, Melody has been venting to me that she was hoping you’d finally make a move.”

“A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.” Jebediah replied.

Suzie smiled. “Oh goodie, there was kissing.”

“I-I didn’t say...” Jebediah said before Suzie cut him off.

“It’s written all over your face. Don’t worry about it, I was hoping the two of you would get together. Melody was a great teacher and is an awesome woman.”

“I agree with Suzie-cue. Melody was an awesome teacher; you could tell she really cared about us.” Duncan chimed in.

“Can we stop this conversation and focus on the task at hand, you know, like not dying.” Jebediah admonished.

“Whatever you say, lover boy.” Ann teased.

Jebediah’s face turned a deep shade of red, but he said nothing as he moved their party to catch up with the squads at the front.

About 15 minutes later their forces made contact with the Bone Marrow clan. A few scouts were found on the path heading their way. A few quick shots from Suzie and Emily and the four scouts were dead.

That was only the beginning though as they could hear the goblins coming long before they could see them. They were not quiet and moved through the forest without much care for their lives. Undead Zombies were out front and acted as a meat shield between the forces from the compound and the Bone Marrow goblins.

“That’s a lot of zombies.” Emily commented as her elven eyes allowed her to see much farther than her human counterparts.

“Even more goblins behind them. Easily a few hundred, and that’s just what I can see.” Suzie stated.

“Well looks like we can use the toys from the Boom clan. They would burn down this forest.” Jebediah said in clear disappointment.

“Form up! Melee in front! Hold them back as long as you can! Ranged, unleash hell on the back so as to avoid friendly fire!” Jebediah yelled out.

He turned to his party. “Donuts you lead the melee. Suzie-cue and Emily, I trust your shooting better than anyone else here. You take out those closer to the line. If you see any Bone Marrow goblin wearing a robe...”

“Shoot them right between the eyes!” Emily said, trying to imitate him.

Jebediah nodded. “That’s right! Ann, you stay by me, but do what you can to keep the front-line fighters up!”

“Understood.” Ann acknowledged.

Jebediah could see the concern on the old nurse’s face. He had seen it many times on the battlefield. She was scared and nervous about screwing up. He could hear people moving into position. Putting his hand on Ann’s shoulder, “It’s okay to be scared. I’d be worried if you weren’t. You won’t be able to save everyone, so do the best you can. That’s all any of us can ask.”

Ann looked like she might cry, but instead she steeled herself and nodded. Jebediah nodded back before turning his full attention back to the incoming forces.

Taking aim, Jebediah began firing off round after round. Each shot delivering a headshot to a zombie’s head. No matter how many he killed, more just kept coming.

Crossbow bolts whizzed by. Some embedded themselves in the trees their people were using for cover. Sadly, even more hit makeshift shields or punctured flesh.

The squad leaders were clearly ex-military used to fire fights. They would order the wounded to fall back as a fresh unit would take their place.

Many of the injured were moved to Ann if the wound was severe, otherwise they were patched up by designated first aid units who had the barest of training. Once patched up, they were sent back into the fight.

The human defenders were larger than the goblins but many of the goblins had been using the system their whole lives and had physical attributes that allowed them to go toe-to-toe with the bigger humans and still beat several of them back.

Lucky for the human defenders they had three things going for them. The Undead Zombies weren’t as strong as some of the Bone Marrow goblins, allowing the humans to take zombie blows as long as they avoided the zombie bite attacks. Second, the defenders were using tactics and ranged weapons that dealt decent damage to the enemy units. Third, the defenders had their own goblin allies, and these goblins were used to fighting adversaries much stronger than them.

The Boom goblins used strange contraptions that shot out electrical shocks that zapped multiple enemies at once, locking them in place. This allowed other defenders to deliver killing blows while zapped enemy units were incapacitated. If that wasn’t enough, the Boom goblins would throw vials into the mass of enemies and watch with glee as the minor explosions that went off when the vials shattered would take out multiple units.

The Death Weavers were not sitting idle either. They flung curse after curse, crippling one goblin after the other. Their necromancers sent their own skeletons to fight the undead in the enemy ranks.

Dark Bolts were seen flying from both sides of the battlefield, as both the Death Weavers and the dark magic casters from the Bone Marrow clan cast spell after spell at each other. The Death Weavers were more skilled at wielding their magic. The Bone Marrow clan had the undead numbers, but that soon proved more a liability against true necromancers.

Hal’ex sitting on her undead mobile chair was able to wrestle control of several Undead Zombies away from their master’s and turn them on the others. The combination of attacks sowed chaos into the front lines, causing some sections to become useless.

Even with these tactics the human defenders were not used to fighting undead. Several were wounded when they turned their backs on units they thought defeated, only to suffer a gash from a claw or get tripped when a half-torn zombie grabbed their legs. Their goblin allies became invaluable as many stepped in to block a fatal blow or parry a lethal strike from an undead enemy.

Jebediah knew he would have to thank Hal’ex for taking control of an Undead Zombie that broke through the lines and caught the old veteran by surprise. The zombie had knocked him over and was about to slash at his throat when it stopped, got off him and ran back into the fray, now on their side. He saw the telltale signs of Death magic around her hands as he got to his feet. “Th-thank you.”

Hal’ex only spared him a single nod before her attention turned back to the larger battle and attempting to wrestle more undead minions from enemy control.

Still the invaders advanced. Their original numbers of five Bone Marrow to one defender were grossly underestimated. As goblins died, both sides would raise them as new Undead Zombies to fight for their side. It started to blur the lines of who was on what side. The defenders were being pushed back as they slowly had to give up ground.

Ann was doing everything she possibly could as she healed her allies, both human and goblin. Jebediah had pushed her away when the Undead Zombie caught them by surprise. His act saved her life but cost the veteran several deep gashes and would’ve cost the man his life if not for Hal’ex’s quick actions.

Just when the defenders thought they would have to lose even more ground a horn could be heard in the distance. The enemy forces began to slowly fall back towards the town. They did not fully retreat but had stopped their advance.

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“What was that?” Ann asked.

Hal’ex who was nearby answered. “Shadowalker and his friend must have attacked their flank. Tek’tar would recall his forces to help protect his backside. The man is a coward at heart. Many goblins are.”

“Does that mean we are winning?” Emily asked as she helped Ann up after she healed a wounded soldier.

“No, not at all. Tek’tar was just caught off guard. He will compensate soon enough.” Hal’ex explained.

Suzie helped Jebediah to his feet. “Then now is the time that we have to push them hard.” Jebediah stated.

Suzie shot an arrow with her bow, killing a Bone Marrow goblin caster. She had long run out of bullets and switched to her bow. She was getting tired. “I-I don’t... think you... realize how tired people are getting.” She said with clear fatigue in her voice from her rapid-fire shooting.

“No Jebediah is right. We must push the advantage now, or we may not get another chance.” Mek’mar said as he overheard the conversation. He too had not stopped attacking, flinging vial after vial into the enemy ranks.

“If he doesn’t pull this off, I’m going to kick his ass.” Jebediah commented as he took a well-aimed shot to save Duncan from an attack on his flank from a sneaky goblin who wasn’t withdrawing with the rest of his people.

JACOB

He liked this new leader. It was clear to him that Shadowalker was strong and fast, but more importantly was quick thinking. The man instantly intuited the fact that Carl and he would not follow an untested leader. Shadowalker’s quick actions were not over the top but rather just enough to quickly resolve the question of who was in charge and remove any doubt of strength. It was a good sign of competence, and Jacob knew the price all too well of an incompetent leader. His own incompetence hurt many under him due to his blind love for his nephew.

Jacob had been hesitant at first when Laraaq made it clear that he was to follow his friend’s orders. At first, he could not figure out why Laraaq didn’t want the job. Most men would take the role of leader without question, usually their motive was one of power and control. It was clear that Laraaq would follow Shadowalker unquestionably. He now began to understand why.

It was also clear, Shadowalker was a reluctant leader. He did it out of duty and not a thirst for power. In fact, Jacob would hazard a guess that Shadowalker was probably the strongest among them. Yet if he had not witnessed it himself, Jacob would not believe it. The man had great control over his aura. Far more control than Jacob, which was hard to believe.

Jacob learned from his system that what his system called a Spiritual Cultivator would have far more control over their energies than a Mana Cultivator. Mana was more abundant, but it took multiple units of mana to produce one unit of chi. It was why, according to his system, Spiritual Cultivators believed mana was a lower form of energy. Jacob wasn’t sure he believed that, but it didn’t really matter.

Jacob made his choice of path in the beginning of the apocalypse, and he had little regrets about it. He was impressed with Laraaq’s command of fire, what man wouldn’t want to fling fireballs everywhere. The promise of immortality was what appealed to Jacob. It meant survivability and that was most important right now as he led his spiritual warriors into battle.

He was about to fight goblins of all things. In most of the fantasy novels he read goblins were the trash mobs heroes fought at the beginning because they were weak and easy to beat. That did not seem to be the case with these goblins, especially if Shadowalker’s companions were any indication.

According to Shadowalker, he split the goblin forces between the compound and their side of the battle. The casters were split between both fronts, with most of them being with the compound front. The Sleeping Willow and Crawler clans were primarily with their front. Most of the spider warriors, who Jacob learned were part of the Crawler clan, were with them and would act as calvary.

Each giant spider held two goblins, one for ranged combat and one to steer and use their spear for melee combat. There was room for a third goblin on several of the larger giant spiders, and that spot is where the casters tended to sit. It made them an armored mobile weapons platform. For if the goblins on its back didn’t kill you, the spider’s talons, fangs, and pointed legs would.

It made Jacob a bit jealous, except for the simple fact he had zero interest in getting anywhere near those creatures. Knowing they even exist in the apocalypse would leave Jacob with nightmares for days to come. An involuntary shiver went down Jacob’s spine at the thought of them being behind him. He increased his speed.

There were no goblins guarding the southern entrance into the town. It wasn’t until Jacob and his men got close to Town Hall that they encountered any resistance. Goblin warriors exited the portal and were heading north to reinforce the Bone Marrow forces engaged in battle.

Jacob saw the large goblin who stood about his height. The goblin yelled out orders.

“Finally, the stragglers have come! Your chief has relocated our clan to this world so we may plunder its riches! Now go make yourselves useful!” Tek’tar said while pointing north.

A goblin flew past Tek’tar as Jacob hit the scout with a Spirit Fist. The empowered strike hit the scout so hard their ribs cracked, and the scout was dead before he hit the ground.

“ATTACK!!! Kill every Bone Marrow you see!” Jacob roared as he and his men engaged the flank of the Bone Marrow army.

Tek’tar grabbed a nearby goblin and lifted him off the ground. “Where did these huemons come from?! Where is the Sleeping Willow clan? Are they defending our southern flank?! Do something!”

What Tek’tar did not know is the Sleeping Willow goblins had knocked out their goblins left behind at the southern entrance. Using sleep bombs and other poisons and magic, Sleeping Willow had swept through the southern part of town to ensure Tek’tar would not be alerted until it was too late.

When Tek’tar dropped the goblin, he scurried off to find a signal horn to recall their forces from the northern front. Luckily for Tek’tar, he kept several of his apprentices in reserve with his new favorite toy.

Jacob dodged shots from crossbows and magic bolts shot in his direction. He moved with grace at superhuman speeds. Jacob was impressed with himself until a horrible screeching roar was heard coming from the biggest undead, he had ever seen.

Eldritch Undead Abomination Level 35

The thing was true to its name’s sake, standing six meters tall, or twenty feet for Jacob’s mental calculation. ‘Man, it’s still hard to switch from the units of measurement I grew up with as a kid.’

Jacob knew the rational part of his mind was just trying to distract him from trying to process the horror in front of him. It was an amalgamation of bodies forming huge legs and arms. Extra limbs protruded out from all over. It had multiple mouths that made a horrible cry that almost drove one mad from hearing it.

SCREECH!!!

The image and sound were so disorienting that Jacob stopped dodging and was sent flying back when a Dark Bolt hit him in the chest.

Jennifer was by his side healing him. She had only glanced at the horror for a moment before her focus was on Jacob.

“Ugh, thank you ma’am. I don’t know how we are going to stop that thing!” Jacob commented as Jennifer helped him to his feet.

She had joined their frontline assault out of concern for the casualties the initial assault might sustain. Jennifer was not expecting Magic to get flung around and she most certainly did not expect whatever that thing was!

Shadowalker roared “Magimech, take that thing down!!!”

Jennifer turned in his direction to see Laraaq right next to his best friend. She focused on the Were-Honey-Badger, as her thoughts shifted from horror to Laraaq. She looked at the man in his were-honey-badger form and realized that Laraaq kind of looked cute with all that fur, fierce, but definitely adorable. She wondered how soft his fur was. Those were the random thoughts that her mind tried to focus on to avoid processing the nightmare in flesh that had entered the battlefield.

Her mind finally caught up to the command Shadowalker gave. Jennifer turned to see her parents charge the abomination in their giant power suit. She agreed with the man that her parents’ invention was probably the only thing that could go toe-to-toe with that thing, but she still held pangs of concern for their safety.

Focusing on the fighting going on, Jennifer took shots with her rifle as she could while using her mana to heal nearby injured spirit warriors.

Jacob threw himself back into the fight. His blows being matched by several higher-level goblin warriors. Jacob acknowledged that he, a level 15 Spirit Warrior, was holding off four level 25 goblins. The fact that he was able to contend with multiple people ten levels higher than him reaffirmed the path he had chosen.

A Fire Spear from Laraaq pierced one of the goblin warriors’ legs. Jacob used this chance to knock the goblin out with a blow to the head. ‘Okay some regrets.’ Jacob thought that he still would’ve liked to fling magic every now and then.

Knocking out one of the goblin warriors gave Jacob more breathing room to maneuver. The goblin took a fully powered Spirit Fist to the face, which should’ve killed it but instead the warrior was just sent into unconsciousness. ‘Okay so maybe I’m not completely at the same place as these guys are, but I am able to fight three of them at the same time.’ Jacob thought as he easily dodged the haymaker one of the warriors threw in his direction.

Jacob took a moment to scan the battlefield to see his fellow spirit warriors were holding up rather well, especially when the hunters caught up and provided range support.

A loud horn could be heard.

He saw more warriors rushing into central square, creating a wall of bodies that crashed against his men in melee combat. Jacob’s quick reflexes and abundant dislike of spiders allowed him to dodge back in time as one of the giant spiders jumped into the fray. One of the goblin warriors was pinned to the ground by a sharp foot that went right through his abdomen. The second goblin got a spear to the face shortly after the spider landed. The final Goblin Warrior fighting Jacob took some kind of dark spell to the chest making it fall and convulse in agony.

Jacob decided he wanted to be anywhere else but that part of the fight and chose a random section of the frontline battle and headed in that direction. He had zero interest in almost crapping his pants a second time. ‘I mean come on that thing was bigger than I am!’ Jacob thought as he tried to shake off his thoughts and deny his startled scream.

CARL

As Carl caught up to his former leader Jacob, he had to admit the path the man had chosen was effective. His ability to fight multiple much higher-leveled goblins was impressive. Carl just knew the path wasn’t for him, he preferred ranged attacks as he was a rather good shot with his rifle.

Taking a few shots in quick succession he and the hunters Carl led immediately made their presence known on the battlefield. Several of the goblins were of higher level and therefore able to take multiple hits. Though Carl still found a well-placed shot to one of a goblin’s eyes to help pierce a Goblin Warrior’s thick skull. That was the part Carl still struggled to wrap his mind around, the fact that with high enough stats, someone could take a bullet and only walk away with a bruise or scratch.

Seeing such reactions from goblins taking high powered rifle shots made Carl want to level. His system had told him that the Warrior class gained certain resistance skills and additional points into Constitution per level. This was why they took non-imbued bullets like being shot by rubber instead of a metal slug. Rather than be discouraged, Carl shifted his attention to lower leveled goblins, finding them easier to take out.

As goblins rushed their frontline warriors, it was clear most of the higher leveled Bone Marrow goblins were in the back of their advancing army. That most likely meant fewer casualties for their allies in the north but also made it harder for their side of the fight once the goblin reinforcements showed up. Not all the higher leveled goblins were resistant to bullets, it just meant Carl and his hunters had to take a few extra moments to better aim before firing. Precious extra moments that gave their enemy time to begin to push back the front line.

Carl noticed when Sleeping Willow goblins attacked from building rooftops and other strategic locations hitting several groups with sleeping powder or one poison or another. Such actions seemed to be more effective than the hunters’ ranged attacks. Then there was the giant spider clan that Carl learned was called the Crawlers clan. A simple but well named group that described the yuck and gagging feeling Carl felt as they crawled or jumped onto and sank their fangs into their enemies.

Their goblin allies were holding the higher leveled goblin reinforcements at bay, if barely.

Laraaq charged right into a group of goblins who had just taken down and butchered one of Jacob’s Spirit Warriors. Laraaq cast fire spell after fire spell as he also would slice open goblins or gut them with a badger claw. Viscera was all around the Were-Honey-Badger as he ripped and bit into his enemies. It was like watching a force of nature.

Grappling attacks failed to find purchase as Laraaq’s skin seemed to shift or move allowing him to swing around for well-placed retaliations. ‘Man, now I see why they say honey badgers don’t give a crap!’ Carl thought as he watched in fascination.

A streak of darkness crackled as the line of pure night impacted multiple goblins leaving holes right through them as it moved to its next victim. When Carl turned toward the source of such an awesome display, he found Shadowalker standing there smiling with what Carl assumed looked like joyous surprise on his face. Carl guessed that was the first time the man had used that spell. Whatever it was it seemed to scare several goblins as they tried to distance themselves from their fallen comrades.

Carl then heard a battle cry from one of the Sleeping Willow goblins. “For Shadowalker!!!”

The goblin had a mad look of glee as he flung himself off the building. He landed blades first imbedded into the Goblin Warrior that broke his fall. The goblin that Carl identified as Goob’reks ripped his blades out and with wild abandon wreaked havoc on the enemy ranks.

Several other goblins seemed to take this as a good idea and dropped into the fray, all yelling out battle cries of, “For Shadowalker!!!”

“Okay those goblins are crazy, but effective.” Carl commented as he watched the squad of goblin fanatics lay waste to the enemy forces around them.

Carl ordered some of his hunters to provide cover fire for Goob’reks and his fellow fanatics. Turning to scan the battlefield to see if any other situation required Carl’s immediate attention, he saw Laraaq break through the frontline and head straight for a giant goblin yelling out orders called Tek’tar. He had never seen a goblin that tall and muscular.

Figuring if anyone could handle that beast of a goblin, Carl was about to resume scanning the battlefield when a large crack sounded as some kind of magic hit Laraaq and sent him flying back to crash into a nearby building. The force so intense it knocked him through the brick wall.

“Noooo!!!” Carl heard Jennifer as he saw her run as fast as she could towards the building Laraaq crashed into.

Tek’tar laughed. “Ha, ha, ha, ha! Foolish huemons! Nothing can stop the Terrible Tek’tar! I may have had to use one of my remaining instant kill artifacts, but that matters not. Kneel and beg for my mercy now and I may spare your lives!”

Tek’tar turned to the battling giant Eldritch Undead Abomination and the Magitech power suit. He began to cast sickly green glowing magic towards the suit of armor. “Time to end this farce!”