CHAPTER 21: They All Fall Down
They had been fighting for less time than some TV episodes took, but exhaustion was wearing everyone down. Leveling and healing could only relieve so much fatigue. They would push forward hard, dropping the goblins, then they would need to set up and get a few minutes of rest before pushing forward again. Even the supports were all using the scrapers and confiscated goblin shields to let the others get rest, though getting Ed to put down his video gear to use a spear was barely worth it.
They figured Adam had gone to the castle, due to the trail of goblin bodies, but rescuing him was no longer their mission. The more they had fought, the more goblins they had killed, changing their mission to wiping out all the goblins. Adam had been right about that. All the goblins needed to die. If these monsters got out into the world, even as undisciplined as they were, they would cause chaos. What made it even worse was knowing that there were more invasions besides this, with the world clueless and unprepared.
When the group first left the hallway to actively assault the goblins directly, they were scared and uncertain. So many goblins and so much space to cover. They quickly got tired and desperate, but that only lasted for a short bit as there was no time to think, only to stab, strike, block, dodge, and cast. A numbing realization settled on them as wave after wave of goblins fell. They realized just how strong a tool Adam’s emotional connections were in combat as they made progress across the courtyard.
They had all gotten better at using weapons. They had figured out how to use what was around them, such as walls and goblin corpses, to protect themselves and control their enemies. Their levels had gone up several times, with most being on level 14 with some combination of body and class levels. Every engagement felt the same, yet their wariness remained high.
Name: Brittney Hutchins [14]
Age: 17
Race: Human
Class: Protector [5]
Body [9]
Strength: 26
Agility: 20
Vitality: 24
Intelligence: 4
Wisdom: 4
Skill Points: 4
Skills:
Harden Shield: Increase the durability of a shield by 5%.
Shield Bash: Slam a shield against an opponent with 10% more force.
They had chosen to take a longer way to the castle by moving along the courtyard wall. That was to keep half their area protected as they moved forward. The goblins would charge them no matter where they were, whether it was out on the open or protected.
Injuries had happened, some even severe, but when they occurred Lucas called out orders casually. The injured came to the center of their group and someone who had been resting stepped into the gap. If the person needed help, then either Brandon or one of those on break would drag them to Abbey and Ed for heals. Ed was spending a lot less time watching his videos and more time either working as a healer or spelling the melee by stepping in the gaps. The mages even became good with using their scrapers as spears since they spent more time out of mana than casting. They regened the mana slowly, whether they were sitting or thrusting a weapon.
They had gotten about two thirds of the way to the castle and had killed about two thirds of the goblins. It was a steady slog.
Abbey was healing Brittney in the center of their circle when a goblin assassin suddenly slipped past the melee and stabbed at her. The attack didn’t even make Abbey flinch, as Brittney shield bashed the goblin’s side, sending him to the resting group that pulled machetes and did him in. Abbey frowned. It had been a while since their line had been crossed. When she looked towards it, Brittney ready to go back to fighting, she noticed that they were struggling more with a few goblins almost breaking through.
“What’s happened?” she called out over the muffled noises.
“Damn, their levels increased again,” Tom said, not even having energy to be snarky.
“Ed, is the chief back?” asked Lucas.
Ed checked his laptop before confirming. “Yes, he is buffing goblins again.”
“We won’t be able to hold them this time if they are all five levels higher,” sighed Brittney.
“Any chance we can push our way to the chief?” asked Lucas.
“Doubtful, and why would we be able to stop the chief even if we went out there?” replied Ed.
“True enough,” agreed Tom. “Going out will expose our backs and level 25 is still beyond us.”
They all grew quiet as the combat intensity increased for several minutes. Everyone was panting and bleeding. Abbey threw out heals here and there, but everyone needed too many and she was mostly out of mana.
Fear should have taken hold of them like earlier, however their emotions were muted. They might not have had Adam’s determination, but the repeated actions over the last hour and the mental fatigue that had built up gave them their own determination. No matter what happened they would not retreat.
“Final stand time,” called Lucas. “We can’t retreat and can’t push forward. Let’s see how many we can take with us before we fall.”
Even if a few of them were to die, the rest now knew how to fight on their own. They didn’t need the formation; it just made the fight safer and more routine. The mages and support each took whatever weapon was available and moved forward. Only Ed stayed back with his last remaining mana, as he tried to unhook his camera helmet, laptop chest piece, and backpack of video gear.
Randall was the first to fall, taking a stone axe to his side. Before he hit the ground Lamar had grabbed him with one hand and pushed him towards Ed. While Ed had more mana left than Abbey, it still wasn’t enough to heal Randall. Ed gave him one light heal to help with the blood flow, then left him on the ground.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Nick took the next bad hit, getting a club between his shoulder and neck as he was taking the legs out from Randall’s assailant. A crunch sounded dully as his collarbone broke, and a second club strike dropped him unconscious. No one had free hands to pull him back. Instead, the half circle of fighters drew closer together, leaving him in the field with goblins.
Brittany’s hammer arm fell limp, blood flowing down it, as she was left with just her shield to fend off the goblins. She moved to her left to block as Joseph stabbed from her right to try and protect each other.
Brandon took a stab to his chest and surprisingly didn’t fall, showing fortitude he had never displayed before. He was pale and bloody but fought to continue.
Tom speared from between Andrea and Alissa as they wielded machetes, but stepped forward when a strike was coming for Andrea. He deflected an axe, but it changed direction and took him in the stomach.
“Damn I wish I had my sledgehammer,” complained Lucas as he continued to poke with a scraper.
“Everyone, I’m glad we did this,” said Tom weakly, bleeding on the ground, where Andrea and Alissa were trying to protect him. “Better to die with you all that to see the world burn.”
“That goblin must have seriously injured him. That sounded sincere,” said Brittney as Carlos fell with a scream, his leg broken from a club.
“It beats having to go to school tomorrow,” Tom whispered as his strength ran out and closed his eyes.
“There it is,” said Lamar, darting backwards and stumbling.
Tears welled in Abbey’s eyes as she could do nothing for her friends and comrades. She continued to thrust and swing with the makeshift spear. This was really the end, and as sad as it made her, she really didn’t regret it. The last week since the [System] came had been so fulfilling. Never once did she think about running or letting go of her weapon.
A roar sounded out, it’s lack of echo sounding odd in the space. The goblins froze. Then a monster flew down on them. Its roar was terrifying. The entire surface of it was covered in blue and red, with head and body hair hidden by blood and plastered to its skin. Its arms were long, ending with human head sized blocks. The arms were a blur as they swung and swung, killing whole groups of goblins with each swing. Steam was rising from its skin as blood splattered from his victims, hissing upon contact with it.
Those still standing in the group quickly dispatched the goblins around them while they were stunned, and then pulled the injured back to the wall. Panting became deeper breaths as everyone tried to calm down. The least dirty clothes were pulled from an equipment bag as they tried to slow the bleeding on the more severely wounded.
“78,” said Lucas as he stood and watched the monster standing among the goblins.
“You missed a swing, it’s 86,” replied Brittney as they stood in front of the rest of their group, still holding a shield and scraper.
“Well, now he’s up to 104,” Lucas continued.
“You are still missing some. Learn to count,” Brittney retorted casually.
Quiet stretched between them as they guarded the group and watched. After a few minutes Lucas spoke up again.
“He killed over a hundred goblin in under two minutes. Do you think we’ll ever be able to do that?”
“Probably?” responded Brittney as almost a question. “He's like a mid-game player returning to the starter zones and fighting the weakest monsters.”
“Only mid-game?” questioned Lucas skeptically.
“Definitely. All he is doing is swinging hammers. No AOEs, so skills, just raw power. Plus, it looks like he's hurting himself. Watch the steam coming off him. In games he’d be burning his own life force, all on starter mobs.” Brittney nodded along with her own assessment.
After another long pause while watching, Lucas sullenly said, “Still, it makes me jealous.”
“It makes me want him,” Brittney whispered equally sullenly, with a predatorial gleam in her eye.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
***
Swing. Splat-at-at-at. Swing. Splat-at-at-at.
Adam saw no will, no intelligence, and definitely no self-preservation as the goblins came at him en masse. He swung, and they died. Over and over and over again. He had rushed to his friends, saw them falling, and the river had swallowed him.
No will, no intelligence, and no self-preservation. That could describe him too. The heat burning through him was destroying his own body. His mind boiled without thought, only anger. It felt like rage took control of him, even though part of him felt numb to all emotions. There were no decisions made, he was just pulled into the river while hoping to get back to the surface at a calmer point. The heat and the river even felt good. They felt right and justified.
Adam had been doing this for over twenty minutes and the goblins were dwindling. As gross as it was in his head, without the splatter of blood that entered his mouth and regenerated him, he wouln’t have lasted this long. Even though he knew it was disgusting, the sweet smell kept him thinking of the blood like candy to energize him.
After an amount of time the river had calmed, and he had been able to partially reduce the heat. The steam had stopped rising from him and his insides stopped burning. He still needed the power of the river, because as soon as he let up, Adam knew his body would fail him. If at any point he stopped moving, then it would be impossible to start again.
Those goblins that remained still came after him, but there were fewer. Far fewer. Piles of corpses had started to get in his way and that was why he kept moving to different places for the slaughter. The chief was still nearby buffing the goblins that attacked him, but it hardly mattered. It only meant he had to swing the hammers a little harder, and boy was he glad these sledgehammers were durable.
When Adam had cut down the goblins to a final pack of about 30, he saw a red flash from inside the pack and finally knew where the chief was. Now he just needed to have enough strength left to fight him.
Taking a giant breath, Adam willed his heat to pulse. Memories of being stabbed and having his fingers torn off were his focus. The heat rose, not as intense as before, but enough for him to push off the ground and dive towards the goblin pack. He led with his hammers straight in front of him, slightly overlapping. The two heads drove through a few goblin torsos before he swung them outwards.
In the middle of the opening he created was the goblin chief, his eyes soaked with hate. Regardless of what the chief felt, he turned and fled. The other goblins shifted out of his way and into Adam’s path, only to be crushed by the swinging hammers.
It was enough to buy the chief some time as he opened the distance. Adam’s tank was running on fumes, so instead of moving quickly he pushed off the ground with bursts of as much force as he could muster. Dozens of feet flew by with each step. Adam’s breathing grew heavier.
As quick as the chief was, without the buff from the blood manipulator there was no way for him to escape. Way before he reached the castle, Adam swung both hammers behind his back, over his head, and then down onto the chief’s skull. The swings caused Adam to lose balance in the air and he hit the ground hard, thrown around wildly as he was tangled with the sledgehammers.
Ignoring the pain that wracked his body, Adam stood and released the hammers. There was no kill notification so he pulled his machete and stumbled over to where the chief was trying to roll over. Two bloody dents were in the chief’s head and Adam was sure that he could see bone through the blood.
The chief hissed and Adam pulled up his machete and with the last of his strength jammed it into the chief’s neck. Then he stepped back, not even able to pull the machete out. The chief gurgled and fought for breath as Adam himself heaved to get enough air into his lungs. Minutes passed before the chief fell forward and the message appeared in front of Adam. He crumbled to the ground.
Goblin “Chief [25]” slain. 1048 XP gained.
With that, Adam closed his eyes and passed out.