As the second wave attacked the group, the real battle began. The horde of goblins soon collided with Vlad, Chloe, Arthur, and the Gralls acting as the line of defense. The first goblin lunged at the vampire, to which he swung his spear and instantly cut its throat.

Blood spurted out the wound while the goblin fell past Vlad, collapsing on the floor and bleeding out. The vampire didn’t even pay attention to the creature since as soon as he killed one, another immediately appeared to attack him. He didn’t waste time having a proper fight with the goblins and simply killed one after the other, using his spear to dismember or pierce their bodies in vital areas so they’d drop dead faster.

He was like a machine, slaughtering the goblins as they rushed at them. He was cutting throats, beheading, piercing their hearts and even skulls in rapid succession without taking a break. And with each kill he made, a kill notification went off and manifested to life in front of him. Annoyed, he ignored the messages since they were distracting him.

While Vlad continued to massacre his portion of the goblins, his eyes drifted over to his friends and Gralls, seeing how they were doing. And much like him, they barely struggled against the horde.

Any goblins that managed to get past him were immediately murdered by his Gralls who easily dispatched their former brethren. They were quick and efficient with their kills too; striking their vital areas like their necks, hearts, and skulls before pushing them aside to allow the next goblin to approach them.

From what Vlad saw, his Gralls were superior to the goblins. They were faster, stronger, and better at killing than their former allies. He even saw one of his Gralls pick up a goblin and slam it into the ground with ease before stabbing it in the head. He took note of this slight blood-lusted aggression but wasn’t all that bothered by it.

As for Chloe and Arthur, they were having an easy time as well. Chloe easily dispatched any goblin that got near her, punching their lights out before delivering a second punch that instantly or slowly killed them. She even punched through a goblin’s skull, her fist poking out the back of its head as blood and gore gushed out.

Her kicks were as deadly as her fists as she obliterated the goblins’ knees or torsos. Vlad could practically hear the sounds of bones breaking from each kick she gave to a goblin, pretty much crippling them for life. Or she would have if her next attack didn’t end their life like stomping their heads into the ground or caving in their chests. Vlad was even certain that Chloe crushed one of the goblin’s windpipes, giving it a slow and painful death. He heard the creature choking; gasping for air while clutching at its throat which was indented by Chloe’s shoe.

Arthur was having just as much of an easy time, slashing his sword at the goblins left and right. With each slash, he instantly killed a goblin decapitating them or severing one or multiple limbs before they attempted to run or crawl away, only to get pierced in the skull or chest by him immediately after. Arthur was slowly getting covered in the blood of the goblins from each kill, but he apparently ignored it, only occasionally wiping the blood off his face so he could properly see his enemy; swinging his blade to end their lives instantly.

One of the goblins tried to stab his leg before he deflected the attack with his blade and severed its neck from its shoulders in a millisecond. And just as two goblins lunged at him with the intent to tackle and stab him to death, he delivered a devastating horizontal slash, cutting both of their torsos, and watched them fall to the ground with a wet thud. Once he knew they were dead, he turned his attention back to the horde, mechanically slaughtering any goblins that got close.

As for Lucy, she provided support by firing some Light Bolts at the goblins, piercing their skulls, and killing them before they collapsed on the floor. She was rather proficient with her bolts, always striking a vital area that could instantly end a goblin’s life. It was rather surprising that Lucy was killing the goblins so easily considering that out of the four of them, she was the most non-violent person here.

As soon as he noticed this, the blood hunter continued to meticulously observe her behavior, suddenly reminded about the corruption from his Healing Sacrifice. Vlad was aware that his friend was certainly different after being healed in the blood circle. For one thing, she didn’t even protest when Vlad told her to heal Rick so he could feed on him. The Lucy he knew would’ve asked him to spare the bastard’s life, or at least provided him a painless death.

And yet she never did this once. She simply healed the bastard and threw him to the slaughterhouse. More importantly and perhaps ominously, she even decided to watch Vlad kill Rick, drinking his blood and draining him of his life. She wore a cold expression, witnessing the scene unfold before her.

That was enough for Vlad to be convinced that his friend changed. If Chloe and Arthur weren’t busy also getting angry at Rick and watching him suffer, they likely would’ve noticed this as well. Or maybe they did, but figured that discussing this topic wasn’t the right time since they were dealing with the Monster Nest at the moment. Either way, Vlad knew that Lucy was no longer the same person as before.

However, he needed to know how different she was. Not only that, but he needed answers as if her corruption would result in…physical changes and not just mental ones. At this point, Vlad could tell that Lucy was a lot more vicious than before, witnessing her actions with Rick and how she was slaughtering the goblins like cattle. Other than that, he couldn’t see any physical changes…except the occasional moment when her eyes would briefly flash crimson.

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Considering that appeared to be a vampiric trait, Lucy might be turning into what Vlad was; but if that was the case, he needed to prepare for the worst. Due to his personal experience, Vlad knew that if there was a possibility that Lucy could turn into a vampire, he had to be ready to help her control her vampiric instincts. Especially her thirst for blood.

If she started to attack people out of hunger, then that would cause a lot of problems for him and his friends. But, before doing that, they needed to leave this nest first.

The battle against the goblin horde continued for a little while. It didn’t appear that their numbers were going down at all since they kept coming like rats or ants. Due to the sheer number of them, Vlad feared what could’ve happened if this Nest had fully matured. If that were to happen, he could only imagine the kind of hell the people at the Mall base would’ve had to endure if they were faced with this nest.

As Vlad and the others kept killing goblins, Chloe and Arthur were slowly losing steam. Vlad noticed that their movements were more sluggish and slower, to the point where they weren’t able to instantly kill the goblins that rushed at them. Because of this, they sustained some injuries like stab wounds and slashes on their bodies. Thankfully, Lucy was able to use her Healing spell on them, helping the duo recover.

But although she healed their wounds, her spell wasn’t able to restore their stamina. Which meant they were bound to get more injuries from the goblins if Vlad didn’t do something.

“Arthur, Chloe!” He called out to them. “Move behind the Gralls and let them take the goblins head-on!”

The pair were hesitant at first, determined to continue slaughtering as many goblins as they could. However, they knew better than to do that in their current state and reluctantly followed Vlad’s order. The moment they did, he issued some commands to his Gralls.

“Gralls! It’s time to work overtime, you hear me?! Kill any goblins that get close to you and try to keep them from getting past you!”

Acknowledging his command, The Gralls got serious and picked up the slack. As soon as a goblin got close to one of them, they instantly killed it, either stabbing them in the head or heart and pushing them back against the rest of the goblins. By using the dead goblins as barriers or blockades, the remaining ones were obstructed, allowing the Gralls to deal with the ones that got past the corpses.

Thanks to this, there were barely any goblins that managed to pass through the Gralls, allowing Chloe and Arthur to slowly recover their energy. Unlike his friends, Vlad barely broke a sweat. It was likely due to his vampiric physiology, enhancing his stamina greatly and allowing him to continue his slaughter fest.

Lucy also seemed to be doing well compared to Chloe and Arthur. She was firing off Light Bolts left and right, stacking more kills than Vlad anticipated. For a brief moment, he noticed something was different about Lucy’s light bolt. Squinting his eyes, he observed the bolts closer before spotting traces of red sparks coursing along the shining rod. Strangely enough, those red sparks looked familiar to Vlad…eerily so.

Putting the thought aside for now, Vlad focused back on the goblins, only to realize that their numbers had started to diminish. Unlike before when they overwhelmed the group with dozens or hundreds of them, the number of goblins was less than that, to the point where it gradually became manageable for them.

Seeing this, Vlad smiled, realizing that they were almost done eliminating the Horde.

“We’re almost done, guys!” He told his friends. “Just a little more and we can move on to the Boss!”

Chloe and Arthur grew more confident as he declared this, no longer staying in the back as they moved past the Gralls to return to their original positions. It was as if Vlad’s declaration filled them with vigor, allowing them to keep fighting. It certainly did for Vlad.

He could finally see the end of the horde, that previously appeared to be endless. As if he was seeing a light at the end of the tunnel of this hellish battle. However, as he continued to watch the very end…he noticed something sinister emerge.

Near the very back of the horde that he could see with his enhanced vampiric sight, Vlad witnessed a rather large figure come into view. It appeared to be well over eight to nine feet tall, bearing a large robust body with bulging muscles and veins. Its skin was coated a sickly green like the rest of the goblins, and in its arm was a large battle axe nearly Vlad’s height.

Seeing the creature in the back, Vlad’s blood turned cold. If his heart could still beat, it would be pounding in his chest like a drum, threatening to burst out like a baby Zeno Alien.

“Guys…” He called out to his allies, attempting to warn them.

Just then, he saw the large creature raise its battle axe, and Vlad’s entire body blossomed with goosebumps. His instincts knew what was about to happen. That large goblin creature was about to strike!

“Move out of the way, now!” He roared, ordering everyone.

Chloe and Arthur were startled by this, but quickly listened, scurrying away. Just then the monster in the back swung its weapon, sending a wave attack at them. It barreled through the rest of the goblin horde, annihilating them while making its way to Vlad and his friends.

Spinning around Vlad noticed Lucy was still in the line of fire, realizing that she could die if he didn’t act. Fear gripping his dead heart, he activated [Blood Dash] and blurred over to Lucy. Grabbing a hold of her, he used the skill again and both of them scrambled away from the attack.

Sadly, not all of his allies were able to escape as a few of Vlad’s Gralls got caught up in the monster’s attack. They barely had the chance to move before their bodies were eviscerated instantly, chucks of their bodies falling to the floor in a shower of blood.

In the aftermath, Vlad, Chloe, Arthur, and Lucy witnessed both the goblins and his Gralls corpses scattered all over the floor just as their eyes trailed over to the creature that launched such an attack.

Much closer to the group, they were able to get a better look at the goblin. The creature towered over them, displaying not just its monstrous height but its bulging, massive muscles that were as big as Vlad’s head. Maybe even bigger. Unlike the other goblins, this one wore a little more clothing like its fur pants and vest that was adorned with bead necklaces and skulls. It radiated such ferocity and bloodlust that Vlad and the others could only gawk in horror.

This monster was clearly leagues stronger than the goblins. Hell, its previous attack took out a quarter of his Gralls along with its men as well. If Vlad or his friends got caught up in that attack, he doubted they could survive such injuries if not be instantly killed.

Realizing the magnitude of its strength and power, Vlad could already guess what this creature was. And as soon as he appraised it, his fears were realized.

[Goblin Boss – Level 30]

The vampire muttered a swear after confirming the Goblin’s identity. This was the monster that they had to face. The Boss that ran this place.

This…was the Goblin Boss that oversaw the Nest.