39.

Jack ran as if his life depended on it, mostly because it in fact, did. Two more rift goblins were scrambling up the edge of the plateau and it would be seconds before they came crashing down upon him with weapons drawn. That was precisely why Jack didn’t intend on being anywhere near them when they did.

As he cut off his Moonsword’s artifact ability, Moon-flow, Jack judged that he had a little under a quarter of the original Moon Qi reserve he had taken the time to build up. It wasn’t the best outcome he could’ve imagined, but it was still better than running out of Moon Qi in the midst of battle. His Shield of Greater Deflection had fared significantly better, with more half the Wind Qi reserves still intact, which made sense that the activation condition for the shield artifact was a good deal trickier than the weapon artifact.

He couldn’t simply bash his shield into the face of a rift goblin and send it flying with a burst of Wind Qi, because the shield needed to make contact with an enemy’s attack for it to activate the effect. Honestly, a part of him was tempted to put that theory to the test and confirm if the purple fleshed creatures’ visage counted as an attack, the affront to nature that they were, but flinging his shield and exposing his chest to confirm such a long shot wasn’t worth the tradeoff.

He could experiment more with the shield artifact if he survived the day.

Feral cries and guttural commands rang out behind him as more rift goblins followed after the initial two. The light thumps of the rift goblins footfall sounded out behind him, the agility granted by their limber frames thankfully balanced with their shorter reach.

But instead of sneaking a peek behind, Jack’s gaze scoured the camp in search of the rift goblin commander. The treacherous bastard was still concealed behind the camp door’s body, but the metal glint of the arrowhead was something his enhanced perception managed to hone onto, now that he knew what to look for.

Given the advantage of elevation Jack had, the distance separating them and the fact that he was moving as fast as he could, there was a small chance that the rift goblin commander would actually manage the shot from such a distance. Because if the commander was capable of such feats, then both he and Sarah would’ve died in their first encounter with the variant.

Still, Jack was committed to keeping an eye on the creature as he ran. Had he dodged the earlier arrow by a thinner margin, it was an entire ear he would’ve lost instead of a small wound.

Moments ticked away and Jack had begun to believe that he would reach his destination without incident when he noticed a subtle change in his immediate surroundings. Where he could hear multiple pairs of lithe rift goblins in pursuit earlier, now he could only hear the footfall of one.

That anomaly was more worrying than the commander at the moment, so Jack risked it and peeked behind him.

What he saw almost broke the rhythm of his rushing footsteps.

The two rift goblins that had been in the lead had stopped dead in their tracks and were now instead facing each other, with their cupped palms held together and layered one on top of the other.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Only one rift goblin in the vicinity continued running towards the odd display, while others were hoisting themselves over the edge of the plateau or assisting them with the last part of the climb.

Jack didn’t understand what was happening until the running rift goblin closed the distance between him and the two goblins that were standing close together, before leaping forward.

The goblin-sized gap the two rift goblins had maintained between them proved to have a purpose as the third rift goblin landed partly on their cupped hands along with their arms. For a moment, it looked like the two rift goblins’ arm would buckle under the new-found weight, but they managed to hold on and stabilize the bridge they had made with their hands.

The goblin that stood with its knees bent and a thin double-edged blade that resembled the length of his moonsword pointed forward.

You can’t be fucking serious, Jack thought as two strained grunts sounded out.

Then, Jack got to bear witness to a sight that was too bizarre even for the reforged supernatural world he found himself in.

A flying goblin.

Or perhaps, a more accurately, a rage-filled goblin toting a double-edged sword that arced across the air and covered the distance between itself and Jack at a blistering pace.

Regardless, that distinction didn’t make him any more or less fucked.

Jack wasn’t in any position to parry given that he was running in the opposite direction and he wasn’t confident enough that he would be able to put his shield between himself and the goblin as it sailed across the air.

So he positioned his shield to the side and dove forward, hoping to use his improved athleticism to break out into a roll and get himself back up on his feet.

Both man and goblin were flying as a searing pain erupted in Jack’s back, as if a nail had been abruptly driven in by a large hammer. A pained cry escaped his lips as the force generated by his own leap saw him sail forward a little longer than the goblin could.

Tears pooled in the corners of his eyes as Jack forced himself into a roll, the athleticism required not a challenge, but that did nothing to stall the flare of pain as he rolled on his back once and then twice, before pushing himself back up on his feet.

Instead of running, Jack whipped his head around to catch the sword-wielding rift goblin as it tugged its sword, which had been embedded in the earth up until a moment ago and scrambled to its feet.

There was no hesitation as Jack lunged forward with a thrust. Unfortunately for him, the rift goblin’s sword matched his own in reach and the creature hadn’t been already been fighting a battle with dozens of its kind.

Having his thrust parried, Jack felt the blood rush to his face as he was confronted with the stark reality. Every moment that he wasted here, the two rift goblins that had enabled the leap got a moment to catch up to them.

Then he realized where he was standing.

Gritting his teeth, Jack raised his blade over his head and charged. He feinted a downwards slash, which prompted the rift goblin to counter with an upward sweep of its blade.

Jack grinned as he rammed his shield sideways into a blade that wouldn’t catch him in it’s arc, angling it with a flick of his wrist to point a little more towards the sword. Without warning, the blade was ripped free of the rift goblins grip with a snap and sent skittering behind the foul creature.

Now, Jack really brought his blade down with a moon-flow empowered downwards slash, cleaving the rift goblin in half in an explosion of blood and viscera.

Heavily panting and injured, Jack braced himself before phe positioned himself at the edge of the plateau, first sitting with his legs dangling over the edge and then hoisting himself over the edge with his arms and navigating the slide with far less grace than Sarah likely had.