Inside the camp near the tower, Branson was screaming his lungs off while a mage restored his incinerated legs. Other mages were stabilizing the tower while the dwarven axemen spread out a bit further outside of camp in order to catch any new enemies before they could act.
Above their heads, combat mages dressed in light clothes and chainmail surveyed the situation on the rooftops. They did not wear heavy armor since they were confident that nothing could get close to them. Their assumption had been proven wrong once today, and it was about to be disproven again.
Once Hercule locked onto his target, the goblin shut down all unnecessary illusions and resummoned huge crabs and snakes all around it. The warrior charged while swinging wildly and eventually became lost in the sea of imaginary enemies. Worse yet, the mages who were now flying towards him could not locate him and were forced to refrain from shooting.
The mass of illusions merged with each other to the point where not even the air between the monsters was real.
“Hercule, retreat! Kids, get back!” A mage dressed in white tried to stop the worst-case scenario, but he was late.
The three teens had entered the illusion and his words no longer reached them. Not even the highly trained Hercule responded to his order, so he could only assume that the illusion blocked sounds too.
“Sir, we cannot let it reach the tower,” said one of the mage’s subordinates. The mass of illusions was still advancing from rooftop to rooftop with no signs of slowing down.
Inside it, Hercule grunted and swung in every direction he could. He ran wildly in circles while thinking he was moving in a straight line. His axe almost cut Natalie’s chest several times, yet the dwarf could not even see her.
“Finn? Michael!?” The girl unleashed her senses to the maximum, but all she could see were the mangled images of various monsters. It was like she was stuck inside a stampede, but instead of hooves, an axe kept trying to stomp her. With no way to find her bearing, the girl stopped walking and focused on dodging the next attack.
Michael, on the other hand, was running like a maniac. He tried to strike every illusion he saw, and without his knowledge, he kept running in circles just six feet in front of Hercule.
Suddenly, he heard someone cry out in pain, yet the sound was muffled soon after. Unbeknownst to him, while he was running with Hercule round and round, his friend was right in the middle, face to face with an all too familiar goblin.
Both Finn and the goblin were jogging in a straight line according to the latter’s wishes. A wall of black flames separated the two while Hercule’s axe forced Finn to keep up the pace.
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If he fell too far behind, he would be decapitated. If he tried to charge at the goblin, he would be burned to a crisp. Finn threw a knife through the wall of flames, but only ashes reached the other side.
“Huhuhuhuhahaha, you just keep falling into my lap as if you crave death! How does it feel knowing your end is near?”
The creature’s abnormal grin was infuriating, but the boy kept his cool. ‘He’s holding us hostage to keep the mages away. But as soon as the mages shoot or Hercule stops running like a freaking idiot!...’
Even if nothing happened, the goblin would eventually reach the tower and he would have to throw his crystal and cancel the illusion. ‘It’s just a matter of time.’
Finn took a knife in both hands. He focused on his breathing, making his heart beat faster. Bulging veins reached all the way to his temple and the world around him seemed to move in slow motion.
The goblin jumped off the edge of a building, and he followed suit. “This is the last roof, human. Feel free to kill me when I jump, knowing you will die right after.”
The wall of flames separating them went down and up, up and down, as if taunting the teen. The goblin laughed like it was its last day when suddenly, it stopped and jumped straight up.
A wave of ice washed over the illusion, trapping Finn up to his waist and even halting Hercule and Michael in their tracks. The Illusion did not break and the goblin landed safely on the ice, but the wall of fire was completely extinguished.
Finn threw one of the knives towards the goblin’s chest, but it easily dodged. It took three more steps, bent its knees and gave Finn a wink. “This is what you get for treating us like monsters. Long after your species are buried underneath the ocean, us goblins will dance above your graves.”
The goblin laughed maniacally one last time. He grabbed the crystal tighter and prepared for one last jump.
However, right as he pushed off the ice, the thin blade of a rapier flashed in front of his eyes. Natalie had sprinted over the ice, appeared out of nowhere, and tried to cut off the goblin’s arms with a slice from above. A tiny black thread spread out of the crystal, blocking her strike. However, she let go of the rapier, twisted her hips and punched the goblin full force in the face.
“This one’s for the poison!”
The punch was so strong that the goblin dropped the crystal and was lifted off his feet. The tiny humanoid went flying backwards straight into Finn’s arms.
“This one’s for Yeren.” The boy plunged his knife into the goblin’s throat, and purple blood erupted like a fountain.
The goblin wailed and struggled to let loose, but no matter what the human held onto him. He tried to reconnect his mind with the crystal, but not only was it far, the mages had swooped in and stolen it.
They covered the black crystal in countless layers of magical shackles and complex inscriptions before launching it halfway towards the top of the bubble just in case it would suddenly blow up.
The goblin had failed. His vision became blurry and his senses dulled. As he lost consciousness for the final time in his short life, only a single thought came to his mind. “Master,” it whispered. “Forgive me...”