Goblin and gnome shattered into each other in a storm of parries and strikes. Snorri sent his blade fourth with all his gnomish strength as he flew to defend against the heavy metallic sword of Grut. Even when, for a brief moment, Snorri had ceased the opportunity to attack the goblin, he simply snapped its heavy metal sword out of his on-goblin strike, sending him rolling away as the parry threatened to overbalance him. As he came to his feet, Snorri narrowed his eyes on the leader of the horde as the goblin closed in on him. The horde itself waited, Cheering on their leader, the gobs let out a small chorus of cheers and boos as Snorri and Grut slugged at each other with deadly strikes, each being parried expertly by the other. Grut, seemingly out of frustration rather than to gain a tactical advantage, kicked a Snorri square in the chest.
The gnome was thrown to the chamber's cold stone floor. It was all he could do to roll wildly to one side as Grut's sword sliced down at him, impacting the floor where he had been in the moments before. Snorri slashed wildly at the goblin as he came to his feet, sending sparks flying from the creature's shield. The blow to the shield was enough to force the goblin to take half a step backward, creating enough space for Snorri to be able to spring to his feet. He gripped his sword as the gnome and goblin began to feel each other out, circling each other and looking for a sign of weakness. Grut war first to break Lurching towards the gnome, keeping his shield up close in a close guard. He swung for Snorri with his sword.
Snorri threw himself high in the air as the goblin came at him, diving clean over the beast's strike and bringing his own sword down with devasting gnomish strength, but the goblin was fast. Grut managed to swing his heavy metal flail up as Snorri’s sword cut through the air towards him. Sword and gnome collided with the goblin's shield. Arracop’s blade sank deep into the goblin's shield, and the combined weight of the weapon and the gnome was enough that the bones in Grut's forearm snapped under the pressure. With a roar of pain, the creature sent its shield and the attached Snorri tumble to the chamber's stone floor in a clatter.
As the gnome came to his feet, Grut flexed the fingers of his now-free hand before bringing his sword up in a defensive stance. Allowing his now broken arm to hang limply from his side, the goblin snarled and came at Snorri with manic slashes, roaring in anger and pain with each slash. Snorri dove and weaved to avoid the creature blows. As he slipped past another strike, Snorri dove to the goblins left. the creature span as Snorri sent a well-aimed slash at the creature. The goblin screamed as Snorri’s blade plunged into its already broken arm, letting forth a stream of thick neon green blood. Grut kicked wildly at Snorri. With a cracking sound, he was sent flying as the huge goblin's heavy leg collided with his ribs.
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Snorri weezed in pain as he skidded to a halt in the centre circle of cheering goblins. As the giant goblin came at him in a brutal charge, plunged the tip of its sword towards Snorri like a lance. Snorri leapt up into the air, easily avoiding the one-armed stab from the goblin. He plunged down towards the creature. Grut’s yellow eyes widened with shock as Snorri Blade peeled clean through his hulking goblin battle plate. Snorri let out a triumphant roar as he tore his blade free. The huge goblin corpse collapsed to the ground with a dull groan. The circling crowd looked on in a state of equal parts shock and confusion.
"SNORRI!” screamed Arracop’s voice. “You must strike them now.” The goblins in the front row blinked, looking from Snorri to the corpse of their leader and back to Snorri. The goblin shuffled nervously, clutching a variety of weapons. "Snorri, do not let them close in,” warned the spider. As the first of the goblins took a step towards Snorri, the gnome sent his sword flying from where it had been building up momentum in a deadly spin towards the goblin. The sword punctured the goblin who had taken the step towards it, and Snorri heard several more of the hordes screaming in pain before the sword apparently found its mark. He wrenched the blade back towards him.
The goblins of Grut’s unit eyed him down in terror as Snorri’s sword returned to his hand. The first to break was a goblin to the left of Snorri. “FUCK THIS.” The goblin loudly screamed before turning to run and colliding directly with the goblin behind him. The rest of the horde seemed to agree with the fleeing goblin, as almost in unison they turned to run from Snorri. “AFTER THEM,” screamed Arcop inside Snorri’s head. “If you allow them to escape, they will return to stab you in the back. DO NOT LET THE GET AWAY” was the spider’s words. Snorri threw himself after the fleeing goblin horde.
Most of the goblins had chosen to drop their weapons as they fled. The few swords and spears that remained were of no use as the furious gnome blazed into them. For ten minutes, Snorri was a blizzard of death. He ran down each of the goblin hordes in turn. One after another, he heaved at the green goblin flesh and dark-coloured goblin battle plate. Rage pulsed through his system as the last of Grut’s hordes fell beneath his blade. Goblin blood was dripping from his face in neon green sweat. Snorri panted, turning towards the archway leading to the staircase. Narrowing his eyes, he saw one single goblin in golden armour fleeing up the staircase. As Snorri pulled his aching body towards the vast chamber exit, The golden goblin disappeared from the veil. “How many?” Snorri spat out loud, flicking the blood from his sword.
“57 Souls, Snorri. You are so close. so close.” Arracop’s voice echoed back. Snorri grimaced. He cared little for the bargain he had made with whatever the spider actually was. but the thing was right. one staircase, one chamber, and one tunnel. Snorri was close. Very close.