*Boom!*
The door to the throne room begins to shake from something smashing into it from the other side.
"Are they serious?!" Sir George asked with annoyance while he readied himself.
Quinus along with everyone else prepared for the worst as they faced the large door. All they could do was wait for the Hobgoblins to smash through the door.
*BOOOM!* The doors swayed and cracked under the impact of the large Hobgoblins smashing against the doors, but they still held strong.
'Fuck me! Why didn't I leave this goddamn labyrinth when I had the chance, RYAN!' Rya thought as she cursed and chastised herself in hindsight.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!*
The Hobgoblins started to bash the door again and again with no signs of stopping. Each time causing more of the door to crack and whine under the stress of being hit. Everyone was on edge and tense as they waited for the monsters to burst into the throne room.
*BAM! BAM! BAM!*
'Damn, they're really going at it.' Rya thought as her heart rate was beginning to race.
"Ready yourselves!" Quinus ordered while he readied his sword.
*BOOOOOM!*
*CRUSH!*
The door to the Throne room was smashed open as the Hobgoblins charged in. The horde rushed forward with their swords and axes. They were ready to strike anyone or anything at a moment's notice when they came into the room.
"Hold the front line! Don't let any of them through!" Quinus yelled.
Sir George took the lead as he readied his shield on the front lines. Quinus rushes towards George's right side while the Merc takes the left position just before the hobgoblins came into striking range. The rest of the party followed behind the three.
"KILL THE HUMANS!!!" screamed a hobgoblin as it raised its crude axe into the air.
*Swing! Clang! Crunch*
"AAARRRRR!!!" The Hobgoblin screamed as it was sliced in half across its chest by Quin's quick diagonal slash.
*Swing! Clang!*
Rya watched in horror as the massive amount of Hobgoblins attacked her fellow comrades.
'Shit! SHIT! SHIT!!! They are coming after me!' Rya panicked seeing some of the hobgoblins coming around the front line and heading straight towards her. She readies her sword and tries to hit one of them.
*CLANK!*
When she tried to swing, she was blocked by one of the Hobgoblins who came at her.
*CLINK!*
"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!!!"
Rya desperately tried to swing and dodge the attacks of the two Hobgoblins who were trying to kill her. At one point, her sword crossed blades with the Hobgoblin's sword as it tried to push his weight into her, hoping to knock her off balance. The Hobgoblins smiled maniacally at her, showing their crooked teeth and wild eyes. Even though Rya's sense of smell has gotten stronger since she's turned into a Dark Elf, if she was still a human, the Hobgoblin's breath was enough to make her gag.
Rya used all of her strength to push the Hobgoblin away and then took the opportunity to stab him.
*Swing! Clash!*
But this Hobgoblin was good as it blocked her attack and tried to strike back. Causing Rya to jump to the side, dodging his blow and slashing at his defenseless back.
*Swing! Slash!*
*SCHTINK*
"GAH! AAAAARRRRRR!" Hobgoblin screamed as he turned around to strike back at her.
*Clang!*
Rya barely blocked his blade with her own while gritting her teeth as she was holding her ground. Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw the other Hobgoblin, who tried to attack her earlier, running past her, trying to flank Sir George with its axe. Before Rya could think, her instincts took over and channeled her mana to her hands and feet.
She stomps her foot on the ground and brings up a 6-foot wall of obsidian to form about one inch in front of her foot. It came up from underneath the Hobgoblin with the sword, sending it straight up into the rock ceiling, caving in its skull before its body came crashing down to the floor. Rya didn't notice this as she focused her attention on the other Hobgoblin attacking George. She moved to the left of her wall and quickly hit it with the palm of her hand, sending the 6-foot wall of obsidian flying at breakneck speed toward the Hobgoblin attacking Sir George's blind spot.
"GEORGE, TO YOUR LEFT!"
George turned his head slightly toward Rya's direction.
"HUH!? AARRRR~" yelled the surprised Hobgoblin as it was caught by Rya's flying wall, moving as fast as a speeding car until it smashed into the far wall of the throne room. Squishing the Hobgoblin like a bug.
George watched in amazement as the obsidian wall flew past him with a panicked Hobgoblin stuck on the wall's surface before it crashed into the other wall, 20 feet away from him, leaving a large dent in its wake.
"Wow!" he gasped with amazement before another Hobgoblin came at him from the doorway.
"HOLY SHIT! I'M A FUCKING EARTH BENDER!!" Rya exclaimed in shock and awe at the destruction she just caused. She didn't know how she knew that move but was happy that she did. She felt as if the power of earth had called out to her and helped her create that obsidian wall. She also was excited that she found a new way to use her mana, which might help her get out of this labyrinth alive. It was like she'd always been a warrior her entire life.
"Lady Rya! Behind you!" Percy yelled as he shot an arrow at the attacking Hobgoblin, stunning it before it struck her.
"DAMMIT!!!" Rya screamed at herself. She was so distracted by her magic that she forgot to watch her surroundings. She was oblivious to the Hobgoblin coming up from her blind spot. And thanks to Percy she was able to avoid its attack. But even in pain, the Hobgoblin tried to swing its stone mallet at her again. Rya was able to sidestep its attack once more as his stone mallet was coming at her with ferocious force.
*Boom!*
The stone mallet makes a small crater into the ground.
'Fuck! How strong is the guy!?'
"ARH!" Roared the Hobgoblin as it was annoyed with missing her. It looked like it was going to press the attack as it regripped the handle of its weapon.
As soon as the Hobgoblin was about to attack her again, it was surprised when another wall of obsidian formed from beneath its feet. Making the Hobgoblin go flying toward the ceiling. Until it smashed into the rock with such force, that its head exploded in a bloody mess, covering the ceiling with a splatter of its brains and blood. The lifeless corpse came falling back down onto the obsidian floor below.
Rya was panting hard and sweating from the stress of fighting.
"Wow..." Percy said in awe. He didn't know that Earth Mages could use the Earth Element like that. He was used to them shaping and forming the dirt and rocks into good-sized boulders and walls but not creating it as quickly and effortlessly as Rya had. He had a newfound respect for her.
*Clang! Swish!*
*Swing! Tears!* "Alpha, are you well!?" Dalia asked as she tore through the throat of a Hobgoblin.
"Y-Yeah! I'm just not used to fighting for my life!… For every Goddamn MINUTE! WHOA!" Rya flinched as a spear flew past her face, just missing her by an inch.
*Clank! Tears!*
Dalia took down another Hobgoblin with a single stab to the neck with her claws.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
"Hmm? Well, you seem like a natural to me, Alpha," Dalia stated to Rya, who was having trouble holding back the massive battle axe that came from another attacking Hobgoblin to her right. She was able to halt its attack with another rock wall she created.
"I CAN'T TALK AND FIGHT AT THE SAME TIME, DALIA!" Rya replied in frustration as she sent another wall flying with a screaming Hobgoblin attached to it.
***
Back to the front lines of the party. Quinus, Sir George, and The Black Rose Merc were taking on the main wave of the Hobgoblins, cutting them down as quickly as they could. The rest of the party was helping hold the back line of the party.
"There's no end to them!" Sir George yelled out, looking around at the swarm of Hobgoblins that surrounded them.
"Don't worry, George! We'll crush them all! We have to!" Quinus demanded as he cut off the head of his unfortunate enemy in front of him.
*Smash!*
The Black Rose Merc used his war hammer to crush the body of a Hobgoblin.
"Why aren't you using your fire from your enchanted sword!?" asked the Merc. Who was sweating profusely and was starting to get tired from the nonstop fighting.
"I will use 'flame smite' when I see the cave troll! Until then, we hold our ground!" Quinus replied as the two of them continued to take down the horde of Hobgoblins, one after another.
"Tsk! Where is that, troll? It slaughtered my men like they were nothing but insects!" The Merc grunted in annoyance as he knocked a couple of Hobgoblins away from him when he swung his hammer horizontally.
All of a sudden, the room vibrated with the sound of heavy footsteps approaching the party from the hallway. The Hobgoblins all seemed to look in the same direction at once, almost in sync with each other.
"You had to open your damn mouth!" Sir George yelled in annoyance.
*Boom! Boom!*
It almost felt like an elephant was stampeding towards them as the footsteps grew louder. The vibrations shook the very ground they stood on and the rumbling sound grew to a deafening roar.
*Boom!*
Then it arrived.
Down the hallway past the broken doors was a big hulking beast that was about eleven feet tall with gray skin. It smashed through the corner of a wall causing the ceiling to collapse on itself a bit, but it didn't slow down the humanoid-looking monster. It has the torso of a man with a head the shape of a large boulder, a pair of beady black eyes, and a snout. It was naked except for a loincloth covering its "private bits" and wielded a massive iron club. And riding on top of its shoulders was a Hobgoblin who wore a crude crown sitting atop its head. If Rya saw this Hobgoblin, she would recognize it as the "Hobgoblin King" that got its junk crushed by her when it tried to rape her, one day ago, before she fell into the labyrinth.
*Grumble! Grumble!*
The Cave troll lumbered towards the party and the remaining Hobgoblins.
"Everyone! Stay in formation!" Quinus ordered.
"USE YOUR ENCHANTED SWORD NOW! DAMMIT!" Ordered the Merc.
"WATCH YOUR TONGUE, MERC!" Sir George yelled at the Merc.
The Cave Troll's eyes had a rage within them as the beast started to charge toward Quinus.
Quinus prepared to use the Sun's Fury against the Cave Troll. He started channeling his mana into the sword which began to glow red like a fire. "LET THE SUN SMITE THEE WHO HARM US!" Quinus commanded.
A bright light shot out of the sword and he swung it in their direction. Engulfing the horde of Hobgoblins and the Cave Troll in flames.
The Hobgoblins were turning into ash, but the Cave Troll kept running towards them with the Hobgoblin King still on its back as it used its shield to block the flames. Luckily it dropped its iron club as it was too hot to hold.
"YOU ARE TOO LATE, HUMANS!" the Hobgoblin King roared as its Cave Troll approached the Prince. The troll's gray skin was covered in flames as the beast continued running through the hall of flames.
"MY LORD!" Sir George pushed Quinus out of the way of the charging troll to protect him. At the same time, the Black Rose Merc was knocked away when the troll bumped into him. He was sent sliding across the floor and stopped when he hit the wall about fifteen feet away.
Now that the troll was no longer in the hallway of flames its skin started to heal itself as it turned to look at Quinus and Sir George who were both getting back onto their feet.
"AH! YOU TWO ARE DEAD! NOW!" The Hob King said with a smile full of malice. The Troll came over to smash both, Quinus and George.
Quinus was still exhausted and recovering from using his mana. But he recovered enough stamina before he stood his ground against the approaching troll.
The troll then raised its right fist in the air and swung it down at Quinus with a massive amount of force, that it would've made a three-foot crater upon impacting the floor. Quinus wasn't strong enough to stop the force behind the punch. Things were looking grim for the Prince.
***
"QUIN!" Percy yelled out as he saw his friend was going to get crushed by the hulking monster.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Sir George roared as he swung his sword at the troll, but it quickly used its arm to block Sir George's attack. Then the troll swiped its arm at the knight and bashed him in his shield, which forced George's arm into his torso, launching him across the throne room until he impacted the wall. Causing Sir George to cough out blood before he collapsed onto the floor.
"NOOO!" Yelled Quinus, as he witnessed the destruction of his friend.
'CRAP! That thing took down George! I need to help Quin!' Rya thought as she ran towards Quinus who was twenty-five feet away from her location in the room.
Quinus saw the troll coming in for another attack and it was too fast to run away. So, all he could do was raise his sword and try to block or parry the attack, as best as he could. The hulking beast roared as it launched its fist with all its might at its target.
Just as the troll's fist was about to come in contact with Quinus' sword, the beast felt a pain shooting right through its forearm while the momentum from its moving fist came to a crashing halt. To the troll's surprise, it saw an obsidian spike piercing through its forearm. It formed out of nowhere from the floor. This earth spike appeared in front of Quin as the beast's fist was about to smash him, but its wrist was stabbed by halting its attack.
*Thud!*
"HHHHHAAAAAAARRRRRRHHH!!!!!" Yelled the cave troll as its forearm was impaled by the earth spike created by Rya.
"Huh!? RYA!?" Quinus exclaimed looking past the troll and saw the beautiful Dark Elf running towards him with her azure eyes glowing brightly from her mana.
It didn't take long for the troll to shake off its surprise. The beast used its other hand to grab its other wrist and pulled on it as the beast tried to free itself from the obsidian spike. Quinus knew he needed to act quickly before the troll freed itself. So, he charged his sword with his mana and used a different Maja skill. The blade began to look like electricity was arcing off its edge. Once he had enough mana channeled into the sword, he swung it at the troll's wrist.
"THUNDER SMITE!" Quinus yelled out. A powerful bolt of lightning shot out from his sword and struck the troll's wrist.
*ZRRAAPP!*
*THUMP!*
The troll unexpectedly stumbled backward when its left hand was cut off by Quinus and was no longer being felt by the earth spike, which was pinning it. The beast falls onto its butt, causing the whole room to shake and tremble. At the same time, the Hobgoblin King almost was knocked off his mount. The Hobgoblin King was not amused by his ride losing its hand, thanks to the dark elf.
"HUMANS!? NO! YOU FEMALE ELF WILL DIE!" the Hobgoblin King yelled as he swung his staff in the direction of Rya who was just standing about 15 feet away. The troll took the hint and turned its anger toward her while its left arm healed into a stump.
"Alpha!" Dalia yelled in response when she saw Rya getting charged at by the hulking beast, but she and Percy were still engaged with the last remnants of the horde to aid her.
'YOU'RE FUCKING KIDDING ME!?... It's the bastard who tried to RAPE ME! I'm ready for you, you piece of shit!' Rya thought while watching the Hobgoblin King commanding his troll to charge her.
"I won't let you hurt my friends!" Rya yelled as she spun her arms around, like a martial artist. A gust of wind surrounded her as she summoned her mana. Then she stopped, with her arms crossed, pointing her hands in the direction of the troll, creating a new wall in front of her. She was trying to block the charging troll with the obsidian wall.
"Rya! Watch out!" Quinus yelled out while chasing after the troll. He was desperately trying to catch up to the Hobgoblin King. He needed to stop them from attacking Rya.
While Quinus was hot on their trail, the troll smashed itself through Rya's wall before punching down with its right fist. The shockwave of Rya's wall getting destroyed knocked her on her back. Luckily, she avoided the troll's fist by chance just as its attack made a crater in the ground where Rya used to be standing. Sending rocks and dirt flying in the air. But she was stunned for a moment by the blow.
"WHOA!" Rya exclaimed as she fell on her back.
"No!" Quinus shouted out as he closed in on the troll. As he came to her aid, Rya was lying on her back staring at the ceiling of the throne room. She was in shock not knowing what to do.
The troll quickly brought its right fist back up to slam down again on Rya, who was vulnerable. It wanted to kill her and get revenge on what she had done to it earlier.
'I'm going to die, ain't I!?' Rya thought as she was looking at the ceiling. She could sense the shadow of the hulking beast standing above her. The troll was about to strike her when she suddenly felt her right hand getting grabbed and pulled quickly.
"Hey! Let me go!" Rya was yelling as she thought it was the Hobgoblin but she was being held by Quinus who was holding her tight as he moved them out of the way as quickly as possible. "QUIN!?" Rya said in surprise.
*Smash!*
Dust flew everywhere as Rya and Quin dodged the attack from the cave troll. Quin made it just in the nick of time but cracks started to form on the floor after taking another impact from the beast's fist.
'Quin saved me! I've never been so happy to be this close to a man,' Rya thought when she looked at the man who saved her. She didn't realize that her heart was racing because she was hugging him. If she had time to process it, she would have felt a rush of heat coming over her face.
Quinus held her protectively in his arms. "You okay?" he asked her.
"Yeah," Rya responded, but they were interrupted by the roaring Hobgoblin King.
"AHHH, COME OUT, FIGHT!" The Hobgoblin King roared as he was having trouble finding them in the dust cloud.
That's when the Black Rose Merc made his move. He channeled his mana into his glowing war hammer and held it high above his head, before yelling, "DEEP IMPACT!"
He swung his hammer, smashing it, into the ground. He was about fifteen feet away from Rya, Quinus, and the Hobgoblin King, who was riding his cave troll.
*SMASH!*
The impact from his hammer caused the cracks in the floor to break apart and crumble under the pressure, and it was headed straight for the cave troll.
*Crack! Crack!*
The floor started to give out and fall apart. The troll and the Hobgoblin King were caught off guard and couldn't react in time. The cracks formed a small circle and it started to spread toward the beast's feet. The beast was not ready for the floor beneath it to collapse.
*CRASH!*
The cave troll fell into the hole. Rya and Quinus weren't lucky either as the cracks reached their feet. Rya and Quin were falling in with the troll, down to the floor below.
'God, fucking dammit!' Rya thought as they fell through the floor with Quinus holding her.