*Slash*

*Hack*

*Crack*

*Spurttt*

*Swoosh*

"Target is 15 meters away," I shouted as we continued to cut through the vast swathes of goblins that were rushing at us now that we had closed upon the hobgoblin.

"Conserve your energy; you will need it to fight the hobgoblin and keep the rear safe while we kill it," the noble shouted back. He too seemed to have noticed that our fighting style was not the most efficient, but given the chaotic state of the battlefield, it made sense that we started to get dragged into the fast pace of things.

"Calm down for a second, slow down, and we can continue," he advised, prompting us to regroup and then continue our advance with renewed focus.

For a moment, as I gathered my thoughts, I glanced at the young noble. 'So he definitely isn't entirely incompetent,' I mused, pondering why this man had been relegated to the ranks of the regulars. The only remotely suspicious event prior to his transfer had been the great general's visit right after the battle with the gargoyle, but that was an entirely separate topic. I doubted this man was related to the great general; it would make no sense for him to be here otherwise.

"You, bald man, stop swinging so widely. And there's a sword next to you on the corpse of that dead goblin. Pick it up and use it to fend off the encroaching monsters. There's no use for a mace when fighting hordes of demons, and you're wasting energy," he shouted at Dan, who looked dumbstruck for a second before casting a glance behind him at the noble.

*Swish*

I threw a knife behind Dan and shouted, "Follow what the noble says. Don't just fucking stand there waiting to be killed like an idiot," as the goblin that had leaped towards Dan fell, its head pierced by my knife.

"Fuck," Dan cursed, pulling the sword from the goblin corpse as ordered.

*Slash*

*Woosh*

"Good job, everyone. Enemy forces are starting to thin around us. We're getting closer to the hobgoblin. Keep this up; we're only—fuck!"

*Woosh Thud*

Nine feet tall, with green skin, two grotesque-looking tusks, tattoos covering its skin, and a necklace made of human skulls. These were the features of the hobgoblin that had just landed in front of us. Perhaps it had sensed us from afar and decided to 'say hi.'

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"Fuck, spread out! The fucker sensed we were approaching," I shouted as I looked back. As I did, the spear that the hobgoblin had been holding flew right past me, heading straight for Noah. Not even a split second later, Noah's body exploded, and all that was left was a decorated wooden spear covered in blood.

For a second there, I was entirely shocked. Had we underestimated the hobgoblin? To be this strong... We had expected it to be formidable, but not to the extent that it could kill one of us in a single hit.

"God damn it, you commoner fucks! Snap back to reality, will you? For the love of Odin, we don't have the luxury for you shits to be shell-shocked like that. What did you lot fucking think? That a demon capable of controlling other demons would be weak? Snap the fuck back to reality," the noble snapped at us as he charged at the surrounding goblins.

"Right, I only have to follow orders," I muttered to myself, then moved once more. Robert and Dan, however, were not quite as quick to react. The hordes of goblins quickly pounced on them, eating them alive. The two friends I had made after arriving on the battlefield had met their end just like that.

"ARGHHHHHHHHH!"

"I DON'T WANT TO DIIIIIEEEEEEE----"

*Grippp*

"Fuck," I cursed as I turned away from the sight of those two being devoured, tightening my grip on my weapons and lunging at the few goblins that remained between us and the hobgoblin.

*ROOOOAAAAARRRR*

[SPREAD OUT] I don't know how, or what, but the hobgoblin spoke, and the goblins around us stopped attacking us, instead forming a circle.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" I asked the noble as I walked next to him.

"First of all, don't talk to me so casually, and secondly, are you so stupid that you don't realize demons are intelligent creatures? Did they teach you nothing at the camp? God, why did father assign me with such idiots?" he cursed at me, not at all stressed about the situation. Was he so strong that he did not care? Or was his pride just that stupidly high? I honestly couldn't tell. Whatever it was, he had just seen his comrades get eaten by demons. To not even show a little sorrow seemed a bit inhumane. I guess nobles don't even think of us as humans.

"Seems like you're quite confident. I hope, Sir Noble, you can actually back

up that confidence," I remarked sarcastically, loosening my grip on my axe a bit and taking a low stance against the towering hobgoblin.

[COME] It said something incomprehensible, but considering its hand gesturing us forward and the ugly smile on its face, I inferred that the son of a bitch wanted us to come at it.

"Charge!" I shouted as I rushed at the hobgoblin, while the noble leaped into the air, his sword glowing with aether.

"Son of a bitch," I cursed, attempting to slide on the ground to cut the demon's tendons. However, the creature had protected both its Achilles' tendons with demonic aether. By the time I had gathered enough aether from around me to actually cut through, the hobgoblin had started to swing its tail towards me while aiming its sword at the noble, who was still mid-air.

"Shit," I cursed, barely dodging the hobgoblin's tail and rolling back.

As I dodged the demon's tail, the clash between the noble and the hobgoblin took place, ending in a devastating victory for the hobgoblin.

*Thud* A loud noise resounded, and dust flew up into the air as the noble was flung to the ground by the sheer strength of the hobgoblin.

"Ugh," he groaned as he began to rise,

"Not so confident anymore, I imagine?" I smirked, offering him a hand to get up.