A lone goblin had just jumped off a building. It threw a black object at the city’s tower and laughed with gusto as it plummeted towards the ground.

Sadly, it did not even reach the pavement. Sharp windblades cut its limbs to bits, an ice spear flew through its chest, and finally a fireball the size of Yeren Monthos encased the poor creature and burned even its bones.

While this was happening, several more mages swung their staves and encased the black crystal in a ball of wind. They reduced its speed gradually, stopping the ball just inches away from hitting the tower, and then lowered it to the ground slowly.

“That was a bit too close for comfort,” Michael crossed his arms. “Let’s ask them for help with the other one.”

“No yet,” said Finn. “That was not the goblin we fought on the beach. There’s a third one still out there.”

The teens scoured the rooftops looking for the third assailant, as more and more sweat dripped down their foreheads with each passing moment. In the meantime, the black crystal was lowered to the ground, and the mages presented it to their platoons’ leaders.

The crystal mimicked the giant one above their heads. It appeared to be on fire, but the black flames did not hurt the mages’ hands. A crowd gathered around it and started whispering as if they were looking at an ancient artifact.

Then suddenly, the flames retreated inside the crystal. A tremendous boom followed which almost deafened the teens and shook the building below their feet. The black ball blew up with the force of thousands of fireballs, obliterating half the military camp and reaching all the way to the tower.

A huge chunk was destroyed out of the tower's base. The surviving mages ignored their bleeding ears and fought through the shock and dizziness to quickly summon earth pillars and prevent the entire structure from falling apart. Other mages encased the tower’s base in ice to cover the cracks, while the remaining ones took control of the wind at the top and kept it steady.

Fortunately, although the city’s giant black crystal shook and let out flares of mana, it did not fall and it did not explode.

“Spread out,” Finn told his friends and then shouted at the top of his lungs: “There’s another goblin with another bomb somewhere! It may come from the rooftops or from below!”

Although most of those caught in the explosion had died, one of the dwarves guarding the entrance still breathed with only major burns on his entire body and a missing left arm. The mages were busy healing him, but upon hearing Finn’s words, he took a fellow soldier’s axe and sprinted towards him.

While civilians rushed out of the buildings to get as far away from the tower as possible, the dwarf warrior jumped three stories in one leap and climbed the remaining one with just one arm and the axe in his mouth. Upon reaching the top, he pulled himself up with his remaining limbs, flying a dozen feet into the air while shouting “Where is he!?”

“I don’t know; there may be more than one.” Finn pointed towards Michael and Natalie who were running on the rooftops. “We must set up a larger perimeter and maybe a search squad. If the goblin reaches this point, it’s already game over.”

“I see it!” It was then that Natalie shouted. “It’s running from the other side of the tower!”

The burned warrior grabbed Finn’s waist, threw him on his shoulder, and with his axe in his mouth, jumped from building to building at a ridiculous speed. He breezed past Michael who was running as fast as possible and arrived at the other side of the tower in a matter of seconds.

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“Officer Hercule Stoneheart requesting immediate reinforcements!!”

His voice was so loud that the entire camp heard it clearly. Many civilians started crying as they fled, fearing his words meant their end was near.

Exactly 10 dwarven mages flew towards Hercule’s rooftop, while 20 more covered the airspace around the tower. The 10 mages took their position, flying behind Hercule and Finn. Natalie and Michael joined them half a minute later. Everyone was tense and waited for the enemy’s arrival.

However, it was not just one enemy. Multiple goblins, dwarves, humans, beast people and giants leaped from building to building while advancing towards the tower. They all carried a black crystal in their left hands and had malicious grins plastered on their faces.

Hercule stepped forward. “Children, I must sadly rely on your strength. No matter what, the enemy must not get past us.”

The dwarf’s muscles bulged and thick veins appeared all over his skin. The skin itself turned dark red and steam started coming out of it.

Yet, despite the tense situation and the almost 100 enemies charging at them, Natalie walked towards Finn and lightly punched his arm. She then pointed at one of the charging enemies and gave Finn a wink.

‘...Impossible.’ The boy took a stance, locked an arrow and shot towards the enemy. The arrow flew true, crossed several buildings and rooftops, and passed straight through a certain elf’s chest.

It was Luca, holding a black crystal and grinning like a crazy person. The arrow passed right through him as if he was not even there.

One of the flying mage’s eyes went wide. “They’re illusions. Shoot until you find the real one!”

All 10 mages pushed their staves forward and a flurry of fire, wind, ice, and earth arrows flew towards the enemies. Those hit either moved sideways, trying to mix with the others, or disappeared completely before new beings took their place.

Children with ugly grinning faces appeared on the rooftops alongside giant snakes and jumping crabs.

‘58, 55, 53,’ Finn counted down the possible suspects while saving his arrows. Using his photographic memory, he kept track of the enemies no matter how they shuffled or tried to hide. Soon, he noticed that most of the monsters either gathered or passed through the left side of their ranks.

There were several goblins there, but also a dwarf and a giant. Two of the goblins were revealed as illusions, reducing the line of suspects to five.

The giant took the lead and covered the others with his body. Once it moved out of the way, there were two dwarves left, a goblin, and a small child.

Finn pulled the string of his bow and shot the child straight in the face. ‘Not it.’ He shot one of the dwarves, and then one of the goblins. ‘Not it.’

There was one more arrow left in his holster and there were still two goblins, a dwarf and a giant to choose from. All four creatures increased their grins to the point where it reached past their ears. However, only one of them was looking straight at Finn.

The boy locked his last arrow and released it towards the enemy: not at the goblins, not at the dwarves, but right between the giant’s legs.

Suddenly, the faces of all 50 illusions turned from a grin to a deep, ugly frown. A black shield appeared between the giant’s legs, and Finn’s arrow bounced off it.

An instant later, Hercule showed his teeth and bent his legs. He pushed into the building below, and although the ceiling collapsed under the pressure, he still managed to get enough thrust to jump towards the goblin like a rocket.

The teens ran after him while the mages shot the remaining illusions just in case.

“Who do you think will win?” Michael grinned as if looking forward to the show. Despite everything that had happened, the goblin’s raw defense and offense were formidable.

“That’s the one that almost killed me and Luca,” said Finn. “Let’s make sure it doesn’t hurt anyone ever again.”

Natalie smirked. “Third time’s a charm?”

“Sigh, yes. For the third freaking time, let’s finally kill it.”