Michael felt like he was burning alive.
Every muscle in his body turned numb from the constant tearing and mending. Pain and heat being the only sensation. He couldn't even feel his fingers.
But he never stopped thrusting his spear. Nor did Zack take a moment to breathe as he locked the hobgoblin's arms in place. They were totally focused.
Because the first side who makes a mistake, will lose the battle—lose their lives.
This was their struggle to survive.
"RARG!" The hobgoblin roared, still going strong despite the gaping hole on its side.
Michael kept stabbing it with all his strength, but he can't seem to dig deep enough to reach its organs or inflict deadly internal bleeding. He needed to do something quick—he had to take it down immediately. Zack could only hold for so long.
Desperate, he looked all around his surroundings thinking, hoping something can be of use. But there were none.
Gazing at the ground, an idea came to mind. He sprinkled dirt into his spear whilst thrusting to hopefully add some kind of poison. But he knew it wasn't going to work instantly—it was just a futile attempt.
His vision turned hazy and his mind went blank. Is there really nothing I can do? He thought dejectedly.
He was getting tired, with his attacks becoming ineffective as his spear struck the parts that were already open inside. Aiming for another spot would also be useless because of its hard skin.
The momentum of his run earlier helped him bust open the wound he was now abusing, and backing off to do another one would only do more harm than good. The hobgoblin could use that instance to break free.
All he can do now was keep thrusting and hope it was enough to stun it with pain to lessen Zack's burden.
But after a minute, they could no longer hold on.
Their arms were no longer able to muster up strength. It was numb and was searing in pain. Their bodies were on the verge of breaking.
The hobgoblin's skin turned pale, but it was still hanging on strong. Wearing a smirk, it laughed and stopped resisting. It knew it would die from the hole in its side but realized Michael and Zack would break first.
It planned to go down with them.
Now, Michael was merely shoving the spear inside with no power. He checked his ring multiple times but there was nothing that could help him right now.
He started losing hope.
He had even considered just accepting his fate, but every time he sees Zack still fighting, it would snap him back to reality—he was ashamed of giving up when the one with the most pain still hasn't.
It can't end here! He still has many things in life he wants to do! Even if some of them were out of the question now that they were in a new world.
With a revitalized glint in his eyes, he devised another plan when a saving grace suddenly presented itself in front of him.
[ Practice makes perfect, repetition is the key ]
[ Constant effort will give you results ]
[ Hard work never insults ]
[ Congratulations! Because of your unyielding effort, you have formed the skill, ( Pierce ) ! ]
The windows popped up one by one, in synch with Michael's brightening expression as a grin appeared on his face.
"Ha! God's on my side!" He cried out. Things were finally looking up for him—they can survive! But the fortunate gift made him rash.
Immediately, he backed off and prepared for a strike. With a weary smirk, he charged at the hobgoblin.
Michael arched his back along with his arms, preparing to thrust at the monster.
"DIE!" He screamed, visualizing himself piercing the damned beast.
Then, a mysterious force suddenly formed on the tip of his spear, violently spinning, apparent from the swirling air around it.
Sshhluck!
Michael stabbed it in the same spot, but now reaching further as he was able to jam it deeper from the momentum.
"GRAHHH!" It let out an agonizing scream, starting to flail again. It had not anticipated such a strong attack. Now with an even deeper hole on its right side, it couldn't afford to get hit with another one, or else it will die.
"Yes!" Michael triumphantly exclaimed. They can win!
Pulling back his spear for another strike, he smirked and asked it condescendingly, "How's that, fucker?!"
But the hobgoblin was in too much pain to talk and only glared at him with bloodshot eyes, salivating and profusely sweating.
Swoosh!
Michael struck again.
Seeing the blade approach him, the hobgoblin got a spurt of strength and pulled his arms out as fast as it could. And with its sweat trickling, It slipped through Zack's grip and…
It was able to break free.
But the sudden force pulled Zack, making him lose his footing, making him plunge in the front.
Michael's eyes widened in surprise before his lips curled in fear—fear of killing his best friend instead. His spear propelled towards the falling Zack.
His heart dropped as he realized he won't be able to retract his weapon in time.
As if to mock him, time slowed down, forcing him to gaze at the mistake he was about to make.
Looking at the spear that was about to take his friend's life, he caught a glimpse of his ring in his peripheral view—he immediately used it as soon as he remembered.
His spear slowly disintegrated.
'Please!'
It touched Zack's cheeks…
Thud!
Michael slammed his head on Zack's shoulders, both rolling as they landed—the spear disappeared on time.
"Thank god!" Michael sobbed, holding the bloodied Zack. Puffing and sweating as if he had run a marathon.
But immediately he was grabbed by the hobgoblin and thrown to the ground, followed by a punch instantaneously.
"GAH!" Michael puked blood.
It continued its barrage of strikes, thrashing Michael as revenge for its inevitable death—a death it would take him with.
The loss of blood weakened its power compared to before, but it was still deadly and lethal.
The abrupt assault caught Michael in surprise, making him unable to raise his guard. What's worse was that the pain made his mind blank—he couldn't think properly. He was helplessly beaten with no resistance.
However, the hobgoblin was too fatigued and enraged to think of targeting his exposed vital points. Luckily prolonging his life long enough for Zack to help.
"Get off him!" He yelled as he slashed at the monster's arm, but again only gave a shallow wound.
Zack struck again as another yellow veil covered his body, clashing with his now red aura, his blood somehow made its way back inside as the wounds closed. Only leaving a few dried spots.
The hobgoblin quickly turned around and sent out a punch.
Thump!
But was blocked by Zack!
It might've been because of the hobgoblin's loss of strength, but it was still an amazing feat!
Seeing the monster surprised, he didn't waste a second and sent out a fury of strikes. The hobgoblin raised its arms to block, but that's what he was hoping for. He would hasten its death from blood loss with multiple cuts.
Zack saw Michael still paralyzed from the pain so he forced the monster away from him, pushing it with his volley of attacks.
Suddenly, the monster opened its arms and tried to catch him.
However, it was easily dodged by Zack as he continued slashing at it whilst keeping his distance. His stance and advances were akin to fencing. But his broadsword wasn't the most effective weapon for it.
The hobgoblin already knew it was a deadman so it continued its reckless assault despite the barrage of easy strikes targeted to its face and arms.
With the dense trees and shrubbery, kiting has never been easier.
Sqwelp! Shunk! Plorkk! Sphhhlt! Schunk! Glurnk!
Zack started using the trees as cover, constantly and relentlessly slicing and hacking.
The hobgoblin now had bloodied hands and multiple cuts on its face but it didn't stop. In fact, it started becoming more viscous.
Whilst dodging the beast, Zack accidentally hit his back on a tree.
The hobgoblin moving on pure instincts pounced to him with its jaws wide open planning to bite him seeing the opportunity.
"Crap!" Zack threw himself to the side. But the monster quickly turned and jumped on him-
TING!
A ringing sound was once again heard.
"GWAH!" The hobgoblin let out a deafening roar after.
Michael stabbed it from behind with his spear.
Crack!!
But this time, it pierced through. His hands shook from the violent recoil, but the twisting power on the spear's tip dispersed the vibrations greatly, reducing the burden.
The power of the strike lifted and shoved it off Zack.
Next, he followed up another strike through the hole of the armor albeit without the skill. The skill tired him greatly after each use and needed time and momentum to reach maximum power.
Unlike ( Thorough Analysis ), ( Pierce ) uses stamina Michael deduced after the abnormal strain when he used it earlier. Whenever using mana, he would feel a mysterious superficial sensation rather than physical.
Sqwelp!
Michael sunk his spear deep on its back, making sure to hit the spine but seemed to miss from the sound of the impact.
"Damn!" He cursed as its blood gushed to his face.
He quickly tried pulling it out, however, it didn't budge. It got stuck on what he assumed was a bone.
But taking it out wasn't important, it was killing this beast.
He abandoned the spear and took out another weapon—a dagger. But as soon as he brought it out, the hobgoblin once again broke free even with a spear lodged into its back.
"Resilient motherfucker…" He mumbled as he backed off. Clear annoyance on his face.
But now they just had to bleed it to death, no need to finish it off or run away. With wounds like those, it'd be surprising if it's still able to move. It might not even be able to twist its body because of the spear.
However, they cannot be complacent. Anything can happen.
Michael took out another dagger and brandished the pair as Zack soon joined him. They stared at the monster on the verge of death. If it attacks, they would finish him off. But if it didn't, there was no need to take the risk.
"AHHHH!" A blood-curdling scream suddenly echoed in the forest, startling them.
"What?!" Both turned to where the sound came from—the path towards the camp.
But their attention was soon caught as they heard a familiar shrill.
"Kekekeke!"