Without the labored breathing, one would expect something moving quickly while carrying someone, coming from the Black Guards, Alaster was able to hear the Goblins long before he saw them. He peeked over the shoulder of the Black Guard carrying him.
Trees were everywhere. Tall and almost majestic. He was temped to have the Black Guards climb the trees, but he quickly tossed that out. The Night Child had followed them through branches, still hidden from the Goblins. The Night Child had been designed with climbing in mind. It was made as light as possible, with sharp fingers and claws built into its forearms and shins.
Meanwhile, the Black Guards had been built to be as durable and heavy as they could be. There was no point in a defender that was tossed aside with every blow. While they were still much lighter than any living person in armor, they were much heavier than the Night Child. Not only that, but they didn’t have any tools to climb, like the Night Child had built in. And Alaster did not have the time nor mana to fix that.
After the excess Skeletons had died, Alaster’s mana regeneration returned to normal, but that was still much too slow. When they had been surrounded in the clearing, Alaster had thought he had a large enough Mana Pool. He had been expecting most of the Goblins to flee after they killed so many of them. They were cowardly creatures, after all. But they hadn’t. No matter how many Goblins they killed, they just kept coming, forcing Alaster to use more mana than he had expected.
He was practically drained when they broke through the clearing. While they had been running, Alaster had been recovering mana, but they were moving too fast and too erratically for him to meditate. He knew that experienced users of [Meditation] could move while they meditated, and perhaps it would even evolve to make it easier. Alaster was only able to slowly pace back and forth.
[Meditation] required a calm mind, but at the moment, Alaster couldn’t even calm his pounding heart, let alone his mind.
But then he noticed the terrain start to slope up.
‘Head up the hill’ and the Black Guards turned to obey.
It was a desperate act. He recalled some of his training sessions with Lukas, the Siphas Family Bodyguard. He had said several times that terrain could make the victor of any conflict, regardless of previous advantages either side had. Fighting uphill was a nightmare for anyone.
But that was not why Alaster pointed them up the hill. The Undead didn’t get tired. While they would still suffer for fighting uphill, simply traveling uphill would not impair them much. Unlike the Goblins, who would grow more tired and hopefully slow.
It did help, but not nearly as much as Alaster had hoped. The sounds of pursuit grew more distant, but still very much so present. The hill was large, but Alaster could not see the top through the thick and dense trees. He could only hope that he somehow lost the Goblins.
* * * * *
As Alaster had suspected, the Goblins had only sent a few after her. Only four, but they had immediately fled when she broke into out of the Forest and the City lay before her. Even as her lungs burned, and her legs were numb, she didn’t dare to stop. Now with flat ground and no trees or bushes in her way, she sped up and sprinted as fast as she could to the Gates.
The Guards posted there quickly noticed her and a few ran out to meet her, knowing that something was wrong. The first man to reach her stopped her and asked what happened.
“Haa… haa… haa…Goblins, at least a hundred. They were catching up… Haa… and my friend led them away while… Haa… I came here. Please help him!”
Unlike Alaster, Astrid had not bothered to try to count them.
With no energy left, she slumped into the arms of the Guard. The other two ran back to form a party. Even for Adepts, a hundred Goblins were dangerous. And as long as that many were around their City, they wouldn't allow anyone to leave for their own safety. The Officer of the Gate was already dreading how many parties of Novices they had let through today that he likely wouldn’t see return.
The Barracks was intentionally kept close to the gate, and they quickly had a party formed and rushing out the gate as the Guard carrying Astrid reached it. The entire party of nine were experienced Adepts and knew the forest, with three of them being trackers. They all wore light and flexible armor. They knew what they were doing, and they prepared to spill Goblin blood.
Each one of them were part of the Elite Guard. A force of Adepts that showed exceptional skill and had the Class and Abilities to back it up. They were sworn to protect the city from any threat, but saw most of their duties in the forest, clearing out significant threats to keep the roads and hunting grounds clear, and monitoring the rest. Each member of the Elite Guard, regardless of what they wore, were identifiable by the dark green and white patch on their right shoulder.
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Neither the Elite Guard or the City Guard had any hope of the young man who led the Goblins away to still be alive, but they would still try to find him and return with him alive or his remains. But their primary objective was to wipe out the large amount of Goblins. They reproduced very quickly. The more Goblins there were, the faster that number would grow.
Astrid watched them sprint out and quickly disappear into the forest, and prayed to any God that would listen that Alaster was still alive.
* * * * *
Alaster turned around, keeping his legs and one arm tight around the Black Guard carrying him, and cast [Necrotic Bolt] behind him. His aim, while being constantly jostled by the Black Guard navigating the forest, was horrible, but he didn’t really have to aim. There were so many Goblins right behind them that so long as it didn’t go over them or into the dirt, it was practically guaranteed to hit one of them.
The two bolts flew from his hand and each slammed into a Goblin. One in the chest and one in the arm. Both of them were thrown back or spun around, impeding the Goblins behind them. This was the only reason they hadn’t been overrun yet, but Alaster only had thirty mana left. Enough for two double shots of [Necrotic Bolt], but after that he would have no way to hinder them.
The Goblins were enraged, several frothing at the mouth, a couple tried to throw their spears, but they all flew wide and weak. Alaster aimed his arm to another part of the flood of pale green and cast another [Necrotic Bolt], causing two more Goblins to swing around. They were pushed into the Goblins behind them, hindering their speed and causing a few to trip. But then the ones even further behind simply ran over them, trampling them into the forest ground.
One more cast left. One more chance to slow them. After that, he didn’t have anything else. Alaster already struggled to control where both bolts went when he was moving of his own free will. But right now, he was being carried through a very bumpy forest. Alaster cast his final [Necrotic Bolt].
The two sharp streams of sickly green mana shot from his hand, sailing through the air and slammed into two of the lead Goblins. They flew back, knocking several of their comrades down, only to be trampled to death by the ones behind.
Alaster turned back around to face the front, just as the Black Guard jumped over yet another root. Alaster’s chin rammed into the shoulder pad of the Guard, causing his lip to split. Suppressing a curse, afraid that he would bite his tongue, Alaster ignored it and searched for something that would save him. He was grasping for anything, even another monster, at this point.
They had been going uphill the entire time, which was the only reason they hadn’t been overrun yet. But, off to the right, Alaster spotted a cave. He immediately directed the Black Guards towards it. As they neared it, the Black Guard carrying the weapons was forced to swing its Bill a few times, killing a couple Goblins, but primarily making them back off.
The ‘cave’ was little more than a small hole dug into the side of the hill, using the vast roots of one of the trees to serve as the foundations. But it was large enough for all three to get inside, and the entrance was small enough that only one Black Guard was needed to block it, while the second could use the point of its Bill around it. Which they immediately did.
Alaster dropped off the back of the Black Guard while the other one had dropped the two bills and was dual wielding the shields, blocking the Goblins, who were already throwing themselves against them and trying to get around them.
The Black Guard that carried Alaster grabbed one of the Bills on the ground and began to stab through the gaps around the shields, eliciting cries of pain and fresh blood spilled. Seeing that the situation was stable, at least for now, Alaster began to meditate while he kept watch.
It took several minutes to calm his mind enough to actually cause the Ability to activate. During which, the Goblins still threw themselves against the shields, but grew wiser, beginning to actually use their weapons. The only weapon the Goblins had that had any use in this situation were the spears. Which were little more than sharp long sticks.
The Goblins tried to stab through the gaps around the shields, similar to the Bill. But the Bill was longer, and many Goblins failed to retreat in time. Occasionally, though, a spear did manage to hit one of the Black Guards. More often than not, the damage dealt was nothing more than a scratch. Due to the angle of the thrust, the weapon itself, and the user, it was simply unable to generate enough force to truly damage the dense and strengthened bone armor.
Twenty minutes later, they were still stabbing away at the shields and the gaps. Their actions had actually managed to widen the gaps, dislodging clumps of damp soil. This emboldened the Goblins, but in truth, had very little effect. Their weapons failed to cut into the wood of the roots. The structure Alaster had taken shelter in was only a meter and a half tall, forcing the Black Guards to hunch, and Alaster, if he was standing. This position would be very uncomfortable for any human, especially over any length, but the Black Guards were unaffected.
His mana full after mediating, Alaster prepared to raise more excess Skeleton from the Goblin dead. They had pulled away their dead to make room for themselves, which would slow their rise, but they were still within range. Alaster could feel it, though they were at the limits.
As he prepared himself to raise them, he noticed that the Goblins were backing off. But not running away. Alaster stood up and peeked around the shields. The Goblins had turned around, showing their backs to them.
‘What the?’
Goblins were dumb, but not dumb enough to turn their back on an active enemy.
Before Alaster could think anything else, explosions of fire began to rock the forest, melting snow and sending up showers of dirt. One after another. Soon, Alaster saw bodies of Goblins being sent flying, by the dozen. Several impacted the shields, forcing the Black Guard back a step, and causing them to pile in front. More explosions caused more bodies to pile up, and causing the second Black Guard to drop its Bill and support its twin.
He saw the army of Goblins that had threatened his life, and come so close to taking it, be eradicated in mere moments. Alaster spotted a few dozen Goblins fleeing in multiple directions, and he imagined the hillside to be littered with their corpses.