He should have been worried.

The Boss Room had actually been a room. After the long stretch of tunnel when Alaster and his [Horde] had carved their way through, the tunnel took a sharp turn. Only seven meters separated the turn and the Boss Room, and it was bare. Void of any decorations or Goblins. The tunnel began to narrow from the tunnel, ending at a dead end that was only two meters by two meters. The door had simply been a bunch of sticks strapped together and leaned against the narrow opening. When Alaster pushed it aside, he didn’t see anything within.

The room within seemed to be a dome, with the middle of the room having a ceiling a dozen meters high, the back three dozen meters away, and ten meters across. The moss clung to the ceiling, even draping down like vines. But the light of the room came from four braziers with roaring fires evenly spaced in the ‘corners’. With their light, he could see a large patchwork blanket hung over the back wall. Alaster didn’t see any Goblins within, but he knew that once he entered, they would somehow appear.

Alaster looked behind himself, looking at the Fifty [Horde] Goblins standing at attention with their spears in the ground. Usually, Alaster summoned his [Horde] in the middle of a battle, when they didn’t have time to grab the weapons of the fallen. But Alaster didn’t want to take chances.

He was finding it difficult to still move and plan while maintaining the [Meditation] required to raise half the [Horde]. But he had enough practice using his second mind that it was possible, at least while he was able to move slowly. Behind his [Horde] of Goblin Skeletons with their wooden spears, were the rest of Alaster’s Undead, standing proud and tall.

Normal Goblins stood roughly four foot two, though they typically slouched. But the Goblins in the Dungeon were different from their natural cousins besides their black, scaly skin. They stood tall at four eight. Not that it mattered. To the Blackguards, the Goblins were still short. Even behind all fifty Goblins, neatly standing in rows of five, Alaster had no issue seeing them, nor the Minotaurs behind the Blackguards.

When Alaster spotted that his [Raise Undead] now allowed him to raise another Undead, plus another Skeleton, he had contemplated creating two more Minotaurs. But he didn’t. He had no idea what the Boss fight would be like. He didn’t want to take any chances. So, instead, Alaster had created two more Night Children. They likely wouldn’t be of much use in the battle itself, but if Alaster found himself cornered, he could use [Swap] on one of them.

The Night Children currently sat on the shoulders of one Minotaur. Their Black bones, able to withstand more damage than before. Looking at their sharp teeth, Alaster could not help but wonder what the Children would look like with their faces covered in Goblin Blood.

Come to think of it, the Night Children had been Alaster’s first custom Skeleton, and Goblins were their first prey. A Goblin had been Alaster first Undead! Now, he controlled a small army of them. It did not seem so long ago that he was struggling to kill just one. Hard to believe that it had only been a little over a year ago.

Taking a deep breath, Alaster ordered his [Horde] into the room. As he suspected, nothing happened as they passed the threshold. The [Horde] took up position just inside, stretching the width of the room, five rows deep. Alaster was actually impressed. They moved like a unified military procession. But then he thought about it. They were bound to his soul and had no actual intelligence of their own. Even his more permanent Undead didn’t actually have intelligence.

As ordered, the Goblin Skeletons lowered their spears, ready to fight. Their wooden spears were short, but it was something. The Blackguards entered a moment later, taking up position behind the Goblins with their much longer spears. The Minotaurs had to duck to enter, causing the two Night Children to jump through first. The Minotaurs took up position on the two flanks.

From the rest of the Dungeon, Alaster assumed that the Boss Fight would also be a large battle of numbers. He hoped that the Minotaurs on the Flanks would help prevent them from collapsing. Of course, he wouldn’t actually know what sort of battle it would be until he entered the cave and the battle began. But once he entered, he wouldn’t be able to exit until he defeated the Boss, or died trying.

Rolling his shoulders and checking his sword, Alaster grabbed his poleaxe once more from where he had leaned it against the tunnel wall. He had made the weapon from the excess bone. Though even after creating the Night Children, repairing any damages from the battle, raising the Goblin [Horde], as well as reinforcing the existing Skeletons. Alaster had found that after leveling up, he could strengthen the bone of his Undead and his creations just a little further. Still, there were numerous Goblin corpses that he had left untouched.

The poleaxe itself was as tall as himself. The axe blade was small, but he believed it was heavy enough. The spearhead was long and narrow, meant for stabbing deeply. But Alaster didn’t plan on stabbing much. The poleaxe was known for its heavy blade that could dig deep, and its long handle allowed it to be very nimble and have plenty of power behind each blow.

Resting the head of the weapon against his shoulder, Alaster walked in, despite his impressive military force, soon came to believe that it was not enough. As Alaster crossed through the door, He felt the way close behind him. Whatever force had prevented his escape while in the Everfrost Boss Room, also closed the Boss Room of the Hollow Tunnels.

The next moment, the tapestry in the back of the room fell to the ground. A large tunnel was revealed and fifty Goblins, all clad in crude iron armor, wielding similarly crude iron weapons. However, the thing that really made Alaster worry, was that all of them stood tall, all over five feet, and all with disciplined rage in their eyes, hidden behind their miscellaneous open-faced helmets.

Alaster readied himself for a hard fight ahead. But the tall Goblins weren’t the only ones that came out of the hidden tunnel. After the Goblins marched out and took up a formation similar to Alaster’s own, deep pounding echoed out. Into the light came a mountain of fat. Standing just over three meters tall, an Ogre stumbled out. Even after it stopped just behind the armored Goblins, its blubbery body continued to jiggle.

If not for its large size, Alaster could even imagine it as a human, though he would pity such a being. Its thick forehead and drooping face was enough to tell Alaster that it was not very intelligent. But that did nothing to ease his worry. While its torso was little more than loose fat, its arms and legs told of incredible strength. The fat clung tightly to the muscle in these parts. It was a revolting creature, made even worse by the fact that its large loincloth was not large enough.

Alaster struggled to hold his lunch down. He was not fond of looking at any male parts, but he was certain that they shouldn’t have warts and open sores.

Despite his disgust, Alaster forced himself to continue his examination. The short time before the battle started, where either side would measure their opponent, was bound to end soon.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

In the Ogre’s hand, it wielded a tree trunk that looked like it had just been pulled out of the ground and its roots and branches ripped off. However, used by the Ogre, Alaster had little doubt that it was a mighty weapon.

Alaster had planned on an orderly and prolonged exchange between the Goblins and his Undead, but with the Ogre, he had no doubt that it would charge through the middle of his formation and begin swinging wildly, with each blow capable of throwing his Blackguards, maybe even the Minotaurs.

Alaster ordered his Minotaurs to move more in the center. The movement, triggering the battle to begin.

Just as suspected, the Ogre charged directly for the center. The Goblins stepped aside, creating a channel for it to go through without harming them, causing Alaster to raise a brow. Nonetheless, the Ogre barreled forward, quickly building speed. Luckily, the space between the two armies was not enough for the slow Ogre to generate enough speed and therefore momentum.

It was still enough to charge through the ranks of the Undead Goblins, however. Most were thrown aside, but two of them were thrown backwards, soaring over the heads of the Blackguards. One of the Goblin Undead flew into a Minotaur, causing it to bounce off, while the Minotaur shrugged it off. Both Undead Goblins were quick to their feet once more and rushed towards the battle.

The Ogre had not gotten away with such a thoughtless move unharmed. The Goblin wooden spears riddled the giant’s stomach, but didn’t dig deep. However, the Blackguards’ reinforced bone spears had dug deep, with one of them even poking out the other side of the Ogre’s shoulder.

It roared in agony, swinging its trunk and batting aside three ranks of Undead Goblins on its right side, sending the center of Alaster’s formation into disarray. Which is just when the armored Goblins collided with the Undead.

The space between the ranks of Undead grew smaller as they were forced back by the armored Goblins’ charge. The flanks held well, and a moment later, as the momentum was dissipated, even pushed the Goblins back. However, the center buckled. While the armored Goblins kept a large space around the Ogre clear, they forced themselves into the disorganized formation. In moments, Alaster saw several Undead Goblins collapse, their bones scattered.

Alaster called out the Skeletal Mage from the Summoner’s Ring. In a moment, it stepped out and immediately cast [Necrotic Bolt] into the Ogre, causing a pebble sized hole of flesh to melt off. It had plenty of flesh remaining.

Alaster followed his Minion’s example and fired off his own [Necrotic Bolt], making it as narrow and he could. Both Bolts penetrated deeply before the Necrotic Mana began to disperse, melting the flesh it touched. Fist sized holes, several inches deep, spilled out.

The Ogre screamed in rage, causing Alaster to cover his ears and the Goblins to recoil away. But the Undead were unaffected, as usual, and they took advantage. The Undead flanks pushed forward, their wooden spears doing little damage. The Undead in the middle were able to stand their ground.

The Undead Goblins’ spears did little, but if an armored Goblin tripped or fell, the Undead swarmed it, ensuring it didn’t get back up again. The Blackguards continued to stab into the Ogre, but despite their numerous successful attacks, they were too narrow to cause much damage against a creature this size.

The Minotaurs were not idle, either. They walked through the chaos, swinging their glaives into the Goblins. Unfortunately, the glaives were designed for lightly armored opponents. The blades chipped and cracked as they crashed into the iron armor of the Goblins.

Only the Living Bone prevented it from breaking. Even if the blades were unable to dig into Goblin flesh, the strength behind the blades were still ample enough to send them back, though the weight of armor prevented them from being thrown.

The Ogre roared in rage and swung its club once more. The large trunk crashed through the newly organized ranks of Undead Goblins, scattering several, and even breaking the spears of three Blackguards.

Alaster activated [Dead Aura] and immediately saw his Undead near him to begin to heal while also stumbling their opponents more severely. He also cast [Dead Bomb] and sent it into the right flank. He hoped it would eradicate that side, allowing the Undead there to wrap around the center and Ogre. But it was not enough.

The Bomb fell into the Goblins and expanded to its full radius. When it vanished, Alaster saw only a few Goblins go down. Most merely stumbled, which did allow the Undead to push forward more. But it was not the effect Alaster had hoped for.

Alaster spotted a Night Child sneaking up behind the Ogre and had a brilliant idea form. At least, he hoped it was brilliant.

Casting [Swap], Alaster took note that he wouldn’t be able to cast it again for another ten minutes, at least not without crippling his Magic Abilities.

Now behind the Ogre, Alaster swung his Poleaxe, empowered by both [Blood Aura] and [Imbuement] deep into the knee joint of the Ogre, and the shaft shattering.

It screamed and fell to one knee, Alaster used the fallen leg as a step to jump onto the back of the Ogre. The young man, straddling the giant’s nape, clawed at its eyes. His right arm, armored in the sharp armor of [Death Pact], dug deep, but his left hand couldn’t get past the eyelid. But that was not Alaster’s intention. Even before Alaster managed to grab hold, he had activated [Death Touch].

Alaster had not used the spell in quite a while, and never in combat. He had only used it to prepare skinned furs. But the spell made its use known. It was meant for battle.

Even through the sounds and screams of the battle, Alaster could still hear the flesh of the Ogre’s face begin to melt, sizzling. Alaster was melting the Ogre’s eyes.

It thrashed about as it roared, but Alaster held firm, at least until it sharply swung its head forward, throwing Alaster forward, but also throwing its head into the prepared spear of a Blackguard.

The spear punctured deep into the melted eye of the giant, the shaft breaking from the force and its point shattering against the dense bone of its skull, on the inside. The Ogre’s head recoiled back, screaming as it went, before it went abruptly quiet, falling on its back. Finally silent.

Alaster landed on his back, his breath knocked out of him. He would have been concerned about losing his [Meditation], but the Ogre and Goblins had already decimated his ranks low enough for his natural Mana Regeneration to withstand it. A Minotaur rushed over, barreling through two Goblins while impaling another on the horns of its armor. It held out a hand, which Alaster used to stand up, still out of breath.

Even with the Ogre dead, the Goblins continued to fight. There were little over two dozen left, each fighting with vigor and rage. Meanwhile, Alaster only had a dozen of his [Horde] remaining. As he watched, two more fell apart.

He would have raised more Undead from the Goblins’ dead, but he didn’t have enough mana. Regardless, his remaining Undead were enough. Two of his Blackguards had been destroyed, both having been hit by the Ogre’s swings, but only one having been destroyed outright. It had been swarmed by the Goblins shortly after crashing. One of the Night Children had also been destroyed. And two Minotaurs showed signs of severe damage, one from numerous blows, the other from a single powerful blow.

Working together, his Undead began tearing the remaining Goblins apart. As their numbers were reduced, they were cornered against the cave wall. As the final Goblin fell, a Night Child’s blade in its throat, Alaster was finally able to breathe normally. It was only then he remembered he had a Spell that would have been perfect for such an occasion.

‘Could have used [Death Embrace]. Skeletons don’t need to breathe.’

Shaking his head at his oversight, Alaster surveyed the battlefield. Despite the cave being large, the carnage had mostly been restrained to the middle ten meters. Goblin Corpses lay in pools of their own blood, and bones lay scattered throughout the area. The Goblins had mostly used crude iron swords, and he had even seen several of them break during the battle.

As Alaster walked through the wreckage, his Undead following behind him, he was able to recognize parts of the battle. Which Goblins had faced off against which Undead. Which blows had done which damage against their armor.

Alaster walked through the tunnel they Goblins and Ogre had come from and found a small cave roughly twenty meters in diameter. In the center, lay a single wooden chest, and a portal already open.

Alaster had done it. He had finally beaten the Hollow Tunnels Dungeon.