The battlefield outside the city walls grew intense; slaughter was a common occurrence. Not holding anything back, the samurai let loose barrages of skills to carve their ways through the surrounding goblins.
Exhaustion was setting in for the young samurai as they began to use potions and elixirs without worry. As their muscle and regenerated tissues ached with every movement, the samurais were nearing their limit. Luckily, that end was in sight, when they could finally relax and finish their part of the plan.
"Careful ya two, we may have more trouble on the way."
Maynard's voice felt like a sharp twist to the young samurais' ears. Troni, who was the weakest and most exhausted of the two, asked, "What do you mean? What about the others distracting them?"
"There's more to this city then ya realize; you'll see that soon." Maynard didn't say too much because he was occupied with the final two goblin captains. He held the advantage, but they changed tactics and focused solely on defending as if they were stalling for something else's arrival.
The ronin would charge with various skills but the two captains always kept themselves close together to best counter Maynard's "Sudden death." Not only did this prolong the battle, but it also forced Maynard to waste even more skills and MP.
Reluctant to waste more energy, Maynard tried his best to finish the fight without needing to consume yet another elixir. His body appeared perfectly fine on the outside but the opposite was true within his body. The constant potions brought his muscles, joints, and regenerated tissues excruciating pain whenever he swung one of his katana. Though his MP would rapidly refill with each elixir, his own body's capacity to contain MP was weakened and he could now only hold two-thirds of his prior maximum MP.
"Oh! Humans, how tasty!"
A bellowing voice reverberated across the battlefield from the distance. Everyone in combat noticed a giant, fat figure emerged from the wall's gate. Its purple-blue skin brought fear and disgust to the eyes of the samurai. While it carried a club that looked like a tree trunk, at the troll's side were more goblin reinforcements.
"Master, what's that!?" questioned Brunar whilst cleaving a guard in two.
Troni was stiff and almost stumbled at the sight of such frightening reinforcements.
"Fear not! I'll take on that fat fellow and the other captain." Maynard immediately encouraged his disciples, making sure to keep them from facing anything too threatening.
The two captains currently engaged with Maynard laughed and yelled back at their opponent, taunting him in goblin.
Ignoring their laughs, Maynard allowed both of his katana to glow a deep red. Before the two captains could react, the ronin took advantage of their lapse in judgment to joke around on the battlefield. He disappeared and reappeared behind them both but keeping his attention on the one who taunted him first.
One captain put up his guard while the other attacked Maynard while he was undefended. They expected to trade a major blow for a major blow, wanting to guarantee victory with the help of reinforcements.
To their surprise, the second katana turned and faced the second goblin who had initiated an attack. Not caring to defend, Maynard activated his second trump card, "Blood bath."
In a seemingly impossible manner, Maynard's katana each struck their target in a fraction of a second and swung back around for another strike, keeping them from guarding fully against him. The ronin swung each sword three times total; stunning with the first strike, injuring with the second, and killing with the third.
The goblin corpses fell to the ground in halves as Maynard caught his breath.
Maynard's disciples were amazed by their master's resolve and determination to fight until the end. They were inspired by him and accepted the responsibility to face reinforcements minus the troll and the new captain.
Amazed by his own attack, Maynard forced himself to smile as he pulled out another potion and two elixirs. He had taken the second goblin captain's attack without fazing, but it was a great blow to his shoulder and would impede his second katana's usage without healing.
Maynard was certain that he would've failed to kill both goblin captains without the help of Jack's passive sword ability. Each movement with his swords was a hair faster and carried a fraction more weight. Also, it made it easier for his body to naturally accept them as part of him and force his way through enemies' defenses. A good example of that was how Maynard accepted the strike from the goblin captain but was able to keep his attacks on target regardless.
"You look like fun. I always play with my food before I eat," the troll laughed in Common from a distance, walking towards the ronin.
The fresh goblin captain was about to rush in to aid his companions but slowed himself after better realizing what they were up against. Witnessing Maynard's attack and determination struck fear in the captain; no one was more dangerous than a powerful man willing to do anything to win.
Across the battlefield, there was a pause while the reinforcements neared. The few remaining goblins around Troni and Brunar backed off, backing away towards their newly arriving comrades.
"Get ready, this is the last wave," announced Maynard before he chugged the potion and elixirs all at once.
Brunar did the same, fighting the urge to collapse in fatigue. Troni only drank the potion as he didn't think he could take any more internal torture beyond that.
The goblin captain ordered against his desires, having all available goblins surround the two young samurai while he partnered with the troll to face the savage ronin.
Obeying orders, the goblin guards finally ran forward as the final wave of goblins. The captain rushed Maynard before the troll was able to reach him, wanting to test how much strength the spent samurai had left in the tank.
Lifting both katana above his head to block the captain's strike, Maynard demonstrated monstrous will power. Only his focus on the mission and his genuine desire to conquer any challenge obstructing him kept him up and defending.
With a little over half his usual MP available after exhausting it all with his "Blood bath" skill and forcibly recovering MP again, Maynard finally was forced on the defensive.
The goblin captain wanting to be proud of itself but couldn't bring itself to be proud of overpowering Maynard after remembering how Maynard had killed five other captains in succession. Such a track record was terrifying, keeping the last captain from letting his guard down and showing an all-out offense.
Soon the troll reached them and swung its club with abandon. Its attack wouldn't always differentiate between friend or foe, simply following Maynard wherever he went.
Angered by the troll's arrogance, the goblin kept its harsh words to itself. Though the goblin was at lv. 31 and was a higher level than the lv. 28 troll, the troll still outclassed him in terms of strength.
Maynard typically wouldn't need to struggle facing such opponents but killing the previous captains while sending AoE attacks to the goblin swarm had taken a great toll on him. His body was on the brink of physically collapse and his mind was pushed beyond exhaustion. Right now, the best he could do would be to stall in hopes of somehow receiving aid to finish the fight.
'Hey, I could use some help.' Maynard struggled to send a mental message while defending himself and evading the powerful swings of the troll's club.
'Give me some time,' replied Rydel, sounding too busy to address Maynard's plea.
Maynard wasn't expecting a response from Jack so he just grinned and bore the pressure of the situation. Accepting the blows from his two newest opponents, Maynard forced a laugh to taunt them.
The troll grunted, enjoying the thrill of a challenge. Before it was only allowed to play with a couple of the captives and all of them were far weaker than the blood-covered samurai.
Unsure how it would all end, the goblin captain kept himself levelheaded and focused on surviving. If he could survive this samurai's katana, he might be recognized as the strongest captain. With that in mind, the captain struck strategically and avoided the troll at all cost.
Troni and Brunar were worse for wear and wouldn't last for much longer. They continued to face the goblins without hesitation, dwindling the goblins numbers with each swing.
"You're strong, I admit that. Try this!" yelled the troll.
Out of nowhere, the troll's club began to glow blue as it drove towards Maynard's head.''
Understanding the potential threat of that attack, Maynard didn't dare to take it head-on and jumped back to avoid it instead. Sadly, the goblin captain was there waiting for him with a shortsword in mid-swing.
Doing his best to deflect the shortsword, Maynard managed to dodge the club that created a small crater in the hard cave floor. He did, however, receive a small cut on his shoulder, exactly where the late captain had left a serious injury.
Since it was freshly healed and sore, the slash of the shortsword was very effective and weakened Maynard's left arm wielding.
Anxious to get this over with, Maynard grit his teeth and keep himself focused on the long battle before him.