Alnod Marsh watched the battle, growing more livid as it progressed. Finally, he could bear it no more. He threw his orb into the ground, and it splintered into thousands of pieces. "Damm it! What the hell? Those useless goblins!" He recalled Jaco's provocation, his message to him, the "puppet master," which Alnod Marsh found troubling. "I made sure to thoroughly destroy every ogre village I came across. How did they evolve into Onis? And what about that kumiho? I didn't even know that there was a creature like that in Silverlake. Somehow, I've missed so many hidden variables. This is terrible!" He flew into the sky. "I need to figure out what's going on myself. If I don't, I'll be executed!"
Maria hovered next to Gil. She watched as the Onis and the Elven Riders began to engage with the ghoul. A pink light shot through the sky, moving towards Gil, who dodged it as it crashed into the ground. "Hugh, I've made it!" Alnod Marsh huffed. "I haven't flown that fast in years!"
Gabe recognized him. "Lord Alnod Marsh!" Gil studied him. "So this is the jinn who's become a celebrity here," he thought. "Alnod Marsh is a lot shorter than I expected. He looks anxious. Why did he come here?"
"Likely because we're too much of a threat to his plans," Maria answered in Gil's head. "That jinn was most likely watching the whole battle. He probably realized that the hobgoblin army is not strong enough to win against us. His entire plan centers around that ghoul, and if we kill it..."
"He'll lose control of the army," Gil concluded. "And he won't be able to take over Silverlake without it."
"Yep. So the jinn's come here to deal with us personally and to protect the ghoul, or so I think."
"Your thinking is usually spot-on, Maria, so I'll trust it."
"You better trust it."
"Lord Alnod Marsh! Thank goodness you're here! Have you come to save us!" Gabe asked. "We could really use a helping hand!"
"Shut up, you imbecile!" Alnod Marsh roared. "Of course, I'm not here to save you! I'm here to smooth everything out for this ghoul here and make sure everything goes according to plan!"
Gabe was bewildered. "Lord Alnod Marsh, are you saying that you're with the ghoul?" Gabe then thought it made no sense that Alnod Marsh gave him, his mother, and his sister names. Gabe thought he did it to help the dracaena but was he wrong? "Why did you give us names, then? Why did you care for us?"
Alnod Marsh cackled. "I never cared about you or your family. I gave you those names to make you more powerful. That way, when the ghoul devoured you, he would gain more power! You and the other dracaena were nothing more than mere pawns! I gave names to as many as I could throughout Silverlake for the same reason! It was all to create a new demon lord! But that's not important. What matters is that you're in the way, and you lot need to die!" Alnod Marsh pointed his cane at Gabe, and a pink beam shot out of it. Gabe brought his hands to his face, but he found that he was not injured. His friends, the blue and orange-skinned dracaena, had shielded him.
Gabe knelt down, with tears rolling down his cheeks. "You guys... why? Why did you save me? I led you to your doom!"
"But you care about us, Sir Gabe, and that's what matters," the orange-skinned dracaena croaked. "Indeed," the blue-skinned dracaena agreed. "We don't mind dying for you, so don't feel sorry for us. What matters is that the next chief of the dracaena stays alive."
Alnod Marsh laughed. "Aww, how sweet. Do not despair, Sir Gabe, for you will soon join them!" Alnod Marsh raised his hands, using quanta to create pink balls of energy that floated in the air, which surrounded the Onis, the Elven Riders, and Gabe. "I'll give you all credit. You've certainly caused me a great deal of trouble, but this is the end! None of you could ever hope to defeat a truly superior being like myself!"
Gabe stretched out his hand. "Lord Alnod Marsh!" He closed his eyes. He thought he deserved to die. He had let himself be deceived by a jinn, and now the dracaena would suffer for his mistakes. Gabe thought that his death would be atonement for his folly.
Only he would not die. Gil had stepped in front of him and absorbed all the pink balls flying towards him. "You call that superior? You can't kill anyone here with an attack this weak."
Alnod Marsh wavered. "What the-"
Gil punched Alnod Marsh in the face. "Seeing as you're a jinn, I thought you'd be strong, but I guess not."
Alnod Marsh rubbed his cheek. He felt blood in his mouth. "Hey! Don't you know who I am? How dare you punch me?" Gil proceeded to punch him again, this time much harder, having his fist strengthened with quanta. "If you're really so mad, why don't you do something?" Gil turned to Gabe and threw a batch of potions. "They're healing potions. Use them on your men."
Gabe nodded. "Yes, sir!" He swiftly handed out the potions. "To think that you would do this for my sake," he wept. "Thank you!" Gil smiled and glanced at Alnod Marsh. Initially, Gil thought Gabe to be obnoxious, but now he grew to like him. As annoying as the dracaena was, Gabe had a heart. It added one more reason he couldn't forgive Alnod Marsh for his callous taking of innocent lives. "I can predict how you're going to answer, but I'll ask anyway. If I spare your life, will you surrender?"
"Of course not!" Alnod Marsh shouted. "But I have a better idea. How about you and I team up? I'll give you half of the forest once we've taken it over, with interest. Sounds like a good deal, eh?" Maria promptly slapped Alnod Marsh in the face so hard that he fell to the ground, forming a small crater. "Don't be ridiculous. If you hadn't realized, we're fighting to keep the forest from falling into your boss's hands. Also, Gil belongs to me, so don't think about taking him."
"I've had enough! How dare you treat me this way! I'll make you regret this!" Alnod Marsh had difficulty getting up. He found Maria's slap to be very painful. "My ghoul, devour them all!" The ghoul peered down at Alnod. "A new demon lord?"
"Yes," Alnod Marsh was exasperated. "You are going to eat everything in this forest and evolve into a true demon lord. That was the plan from the beginning. Try to remember, you big fat oaf!"
The ghoul contemplated this. He had always known Alnod Marsh was using him, but he went along with his plans. He was finally able to feed his people because of that. The ghoul was aware of his sins but thought it was all worth it as long as his people could stay alive. Now he was worried about their future. He could not entrust them to Alnod Marsh, who might lead them to their doom as he did with the dracaena. Now that the hobgoblins had a steady food supply, the jinn was no longer needed. "Yes, Lord Alnod Marsh. I shall obey your command."
"Good." Alnod Marsh jeered. "You guys are finished! I can't wait to see the look on your faces when you get de-" The ghoul abruptly slit Alnod Marsh's throat. Then it began to devour his body from head to toe, as everyone watched, uneasy about what came next.
The ghoul roared, shaking the ground. Gil could feel the ghoul getting stronger. "His quanta levels are skyrocketing," he thought. "If it keeps soaring, it won't be long before he evolves. His aura's gotten wilder too. He and his friends closed their eyes as the ghoul emitted a luminous green light as it began its evolution into a demon lord.
The ghoul had grown in size. His skin had changed color to a dark shade of green, and its claws had disappeared. Two large horns protruded from the sides of his head, and a hole appeared in his chest where his heart should have been. He roared again. "I am the Goblin Lord, the one who will devour all and spread calamity in this world. My name is Bleak; Bleak, the new demon lord!"
Gil knew he wasn't joking. If the Goblin Lord was not stopped, it would be a disaster. Maria had told Gil that his strength surpassed that of a demon lord's, but Gil fretted that would not be enough. Gil lacked any real combat experience and was trained by one man for eight years. He might be strong, but up until now, he had not faced a powerful opponent and not in an actual conflict. He deemed this disadvantage might cost him his life, yet he was willing to press on. Not even Maria was powerful enough to take on a demon lord. Gil felt that the Goblin Lord would be his burden, and he was going to shoulder it, lest he wanted his friends to die.
However, Maria halted him. "Wait. We fight as a group, remember? Don't do this solo, Gil."
"But I'm the only one who can fight him."
"Perhaps, but I'm confident I can at least get a good hit on him. The Onis and Alyyiah should be able to slow him down. We'll weaken the Goblin Lord as much as possible. Then you can end it."
"Alright."
Holly was the first to attack the Goblin Lord. She exchanged blows with him but ended up getting pounded by the Goblin Lord's sword and was sent flying. Atticus jumped into the air, and in one swift stroke, cut off the Goblin Lord's head. He was startled to see the Goblin Lord had regenerated a new one.
"Hey, Maria, isn't that like your regeneration ability?" Gil asked. Maria nodded. "His is somewhat faster. If we want to kill him, we need to hit him with something that he can't use quanta to heal from." She flew up into the air as Nova, Alyyiah, and Volpes began to engage with the Goblin Lord. She watched Alyyiah hack furiously at the Goblin Lord's body as Nova shot a blast of dark energy and Volpes his signature beam attack. Maria formed a giant red spear twice her size using quanta. She put most of the quanta she possessed into the spear, which she hoped would do a great deal of damage. "Everyone, stand back!"
The Onis and the Elven Riders fell back after sensing how much power Maria was emitting. They would be blown to bits if they were hit by the spear or seized in its blast radius. Once Maria was sure nobody on her side would get injured by her attack, she flung the spear as hard as she could at the Goblin Lord. The red spear impaled the Goblin Lord and caused a thunderous explosion. The Goblin Lord bellowed in pain.
The Goblin Lord's limbs had been dislocated. With a lot of quanta, it managed to repair its body yet again. A hobgoblin general bowed before the Goblin Lord. "My master, I offer my body up to you."
"Alright." The Goblin Lord ate his subordinate as quickly as he did Alnod Marsh, and a green light swirled around him again. He had become even more powerful.
The Goblin Lord shot a pink beam of quanta from its mouth. It would have killed Maria had Gil not flown her to safety. "You overdid it with that last attack." Maria smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Gil. I didn't want you to take on a demon lord at full power on your own. I wanted to lift the burden with you, but as you can see, I'm too weak to do even that."
"That's not true in the slightest. There's plenty you could do."
"Such as?"
"The Goblin Lord has been weakened enough. I'll be taking it on. To win, I'll need your support. Supplement my attacks. You might not be able to beat him, but you can make him squirm, right?"
"Of course I can."
"Then do it. You're the only one besides me who's powerful enough, Maria."
"Thanks. You can count on me, Gil." Gil nodded as he flew down. "Good work, everyone! Fall back for now! I'll deal with the Goblin Lord!"
"I apologize for my weakness," Alyyiah bowed, along with the Onis. "Even though Lady Maria entrusted me to lead the Elven Riders, I was unable to do much to exhaust our foe." Gil shook his head. "Nonsense; you've all done well."
"But we couldn't even damage that demon lord," Nova argued.
"Sure, but the Goblin Lord had to use up a good deal of quanta to heal the injuries you gave him. You managed to slow him down if only a little. But I'll take over from here." Alyyiah hugged him. "Be careful, Lord Gil." Gil hugged her back. "Will do. I wanted to say I'm proud of you, Alyyiah. You're a good leader, you know that?"
Alyyiah hugged him tighter. "Thank you, Lord Gil." She let go of him. "I'll be rooting for you. Good luck."
The Goblin Lord sprinted towards Gil, who was surprised at how fast the demon was. He evaded the demon lord's sword and made a sword of his own using his powers, then cut off the Goblin Lord's arm in a flash. The plasma from Gil's blade lingered on the Goblin Lord's body, which slowed down his regeneration, as well as the injuries he suffered from Maria's attacks. The Goblin Lord swung his sword, and this time Gil met it. The plasma from his sword melted the Goblin Lord's blade, who jumped back as Gil continued on the offensive. Gil used quanta to increase the strength of his arms and swung his sword furiously. The Goblin Lord swung his fist, and Gil flew out of the way. Gil used the quanta from his surroundings to shoot a laser of yellow plasma from his hands at the Goblin Lord, who reeled back. Then Gil used quanta to construct a bow and rained down blazing plasma arrows upon the Goblin Lord.
However, it would take more than that to defeat a true demon lord. The Goblin Lord used even more quanta to completely restore his body. He then duplicated Alnod Marsh's attack. It shot a beam of quanta from its mouth, which Gil absorbed. Then it fired thousands of pink energy spheres. Gil absorbed them all, but he could not move as he did so. The Goblin Lord bolstered his fist with quanta and punched Gil to the ground with all his might, making a crater the size of a small village. He triumphantly laughed as he held a battered Gil in his hands.
"You're one strong sentinel, I'll give you that! I have a feeling you'll be rather tasty." Gil licked the blood from his lips. "Believe me when I say you don't want to eat me. I'll be bad for your diet. Eat me, and I guarantee you'll suffer from chronic diarrhea."
"Quite the comedian for someone who's going to die."
"It's true, you know." Gil used the quanta around him to make golden spears which flew into the Goblin Lord's eye, and he let go of Gil, who decided to destroy the Golin Lord with one attack. To do that, he would need someone's help. "Maria, vampires can use telekinesis, right?"
"Yes," she answered. "What are you up to?"
"I want to end this with one blow, but our friends are on the ground, and I might hurt them. If it's possible, could you lift the Goblin Lord into the air?"
"Is that all?"
"Um, yeah. I know you used up most of your quanta making that red spear. Are you too exhausted to do it, or-"
"Lifting him will be a piece of cake, even in my current state."
"How long can you keep him there?"
"Ten seconds, max."
"That's plenty. Do it, Maria."
Maria concentrated, using quanta to hoist up the Goblin Lord and keep him suspended in the air. Gil absorbed all the quanta he could and used it to create a yellow ball of plasma. He continually added quanta, making the ball grow bigger and bigger, then discharged it at the Goblin Lord.
A yellow light enveloped the battlefield as everyone closed their eyes, incredulous at the display of power. As the light died out, the carcass of the Goblin Lord was seen descending to the ground. All that remained of him was his head and torso, and even they were burned to a crisp.
Gil and Maria flew down to the Goblin Lord, who desperately tried to get up. "I won't lose! I can't! My people need me!"
"You've lost," Maria reaffirmed. Gil nodded."You used up all the quanta you had to minimize the damage my attack would cause you, and even then, most of your body ended up incinerated. You can't regenerate without any quanta. There's nothing you can do."
"I already said I won't lose! I can't! You have no clue how long my people have been starving!" Finally, I've secured them a reliable food source! They'll die without it, and without me!"
"You care about your people a lot, don't you? Why did you go with Alnod Marsh, then? He was only using you."
"I had no choice. Without the power Lord Alnod Marsh granted us, my people would have starved."
"The food source you're referring to includes all the demons in Silverlake, don't they? I understand your people were starving but did you really have to eat others? How many have you killed?"
"I do not know. I have eaten many demons on the way here. I committed grave sins that I know will not be forgiven, but I could not stop. My people needed food. I knew Lord Alnod was using me, which is why I consumed him. I could not entrust my people to him, and we no longer needed him to survive." The Goblin Lord tried to move. "Which is why I won't be defeated by you! I must protect them!"
Gil pitied the ghoul. "As Maria said, this fight is over. You're going to die. However, do not despair, for I will tend to your people." The Goblin Lord regarded him. "You will?"
"Yes. I'll take your sins, as well as the sins of all your people. I'll make sure that their hunger is sated, so something like this never happens again."
"But why? You are a sentinel, are you not? Why help demons?"
"I'm going to make a better world, one where sentinels and demons can live happily. I'm going to show both sides that coexistence is possible between our races. To do that, I'm going to help as many demons as I can."
"You're a very greedy child."
"Yes, I am greedy." Gil grabbed one of the Goblin Lord's horns and began to absorb all the quanta that constituted the demon lord's body. The Goblin Lord shed tears. "Please help my people...Please..." The Goblin Lord's body dissolved into light, and Gil sighed. "Now you can rest in peace, Lord Bleak." Gil turned back to the Onis, Maria, and Alyyiah, all of whom smiled at him. The battle between the goblins had ended in a victory for them. On the other side, the Goblin Lord's second-in-command gazed at the sky. "My Lord... may you rest in peace."
Maria walked up to Nova. "I promised to let you go after we defeated the goblins. Whether you start a new village or journey on your own, you will be free to decide your own fate."
"Lady Maria, might I make a request?" Nova asked.
"What is it?"
"We Onis have discussed the matter, and frankly, we would much rather continue serving you. May we be allowed to stay?"
"We'll be happy to have you," Gil said. "But why do you want to stay? Didn't you guys want to set off on your own before?"
"We've had a change of thought, Lord Gil. We want to help you make your dream a reality."
Atticus nodded. "Yes, it would be an honor for us."
Andromeda smiled. "After all, we're fortunate to have met the two of you." Holly gleefully hugged Gil and Maria. "I'm supposed to be your bodyguard, right? I can't just leave you two without any protection!"
Nova bowed. "We will serve you, always." Gil nodded, happy the Onis chose to stay. He had become intimate with them and wanted to spend more time with Nova and the others. Plus, his little town could worry less about security now.
Maria turned to Gil. "Are you really going to take care of all the hobgoblins?" Gil nodded. "I promised Lord Bleak I would. Had the goblins not been hungry, this war could have been prevented. Lives could have been saved. I made a promise to you: that I would make a better world. To do so, I'm going to make sure conflicts like this won't arise again. I won't allow someone to use the goblins or any other race ever again."
Maria smiled. She interlaced her fingers with Gil's as she gripped his hands. "Then, as promised, I will help you carry that burden. I'll always support you." She pecked Gil on the cheek. "I think today you've gotten closer to achieving that world we desire. Well done, Gil."
Gil rubbed his cheek where Maria had kissed him, blushing. It was the first kiss he received from her. Gil found himself beaming, and he embraced Maria. "I would have never gotten anywhere if you weren't by my side. I might have lost this battle and perhaps more if you weren't my second-in-command. I'm grateful I met you that day, Maria. I can't thank you enough." Maria blushed, hugging him tightly. "There's no need to thank me, Gil. I swore to help you with all I can. As your second-in-command, I'll always be with you. Always."
Maria let go of Gil and took his hand, smiling. "Come, Gil. There's still more we have to do." Gil nodded, and he followed Maria as he clutched tightly to her hand, unwilling to let go. He would never let go of Maria, no matter what.