The heavy body of the hobgoblin leader fell to the ground, and he could only utter one last scream of pain and resentment before he was silenced forever by the blade of Jhon, the only level 50 warrior in the group.
Though he had won the battle, he was not much better off than the hobgoblin leader who lay dead on the ground.
His HP had been reduced to a fraction of what it was, and his left arm had been completely torn off. There was nothing left but a bloody stump on his shoulder.
His eyes flickered slightly, and his body seemed to be held up only by the large amount of mana in his body.
Not far away, Gabriel knelt over his sword, praying in the name of the dead, begging his God to grant them salvation.
Safira, as always, stood apart, her beautiful blue eyes studying Arthur with the same interest as when they first met.
"Ah..." Arthur let out a painful sigh as he sat up. Dozens of bodies of monsters and humans lay around him. His red eyes carried complicated emotions and his body was exhausted.
He didn't know what to think, the excitement of the beginning of the battle was gone, and a crushing pain pierced his heart as he heard the painful cries of the wounded and looked at the bodies of the dead.
It was not pleasant.
"H-Help..." Suddenly, a faint, wailing voice reached Arthur's ears, causing him to turn around.
It was a young man, not much older than Arthur. He was lying over the body of an orc, with a single bloody hole in his chest.
"Hold on!" Arthur shouted before getting up and running towards the young man. He had no great knowledge of medicine, but he knew enough to at least try to do something.
Kneeling beside the young man, Arthur grabbed a piece of clothing the young man was wearing under his leather armor and used his sword to cut it before pressing it against the wound, praying that it would be enough to stop the bleeding.
"N-No," the young man muttered under his breath, grabbing Arthur's hand before pulling it away.
Fighting to stay awake, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small shiny object.
It was a necklace.
"Deliver... Elizabeth... Mother..." The young man placed the necklace over Arthur's hands and squeezed them with whatever strength he had left. There was a mixture of hope, pain and loss in his eyes.
Arthur stood paralyzed as he watched the light in the young man's eyes fade and the grip on his hand weaken.
How could anyone have hope in their eyes, even in the face of death?
"He's dead..." Arthur felt Conrad's strong hands touch his shoulder. "He must be in a better place now. Get up and help me gather the bodies of the dead." Conrad ordered.
Gritting his teeth, Arthur took a last look at the necklace in his bloodied hands. It was simple, just a rope rustically tied to a piece of iron in the shape of a heart.
"Let's go, boy! We haven't got all day," Conrad's voice rang out again, snapping Arthur out of his daze.
[The third part (A horde of hobgoblins) of the quest Getting to the outside world has been completed!
You received XP: 60 + 70 bonus (130)
You received Prestige: 2
You defeated or helped defeat corrupt hobGoblins x7
You received 80 Xp]
[Level Up 9 -> 14
XP: 36/60
Though these system prompts were extremely tempting, Arthur chose to ignore them and soon joined Conrad and most of the other survivors.
Soon they finished gathering all the fallen and the surviving gathered in the central hall of the large building.
Arthur, Conrad, and Gabriel sat side by side in the middle of the group, while Alice sat in a corner next to Safira, hugging the woman tightly as her small hands trembled with nervousness.
"We had about 15 dead, 4 are seriously injured and 11 are with minor injuries and in fighting condition," Cosmos announced the numbers to all the survivors, his hands shaking slightly and his face tearful.
Julian, a man he considered his own brother, was among the 15 dead.
"How badly injured?" Conrad asked with a stern look on his face.
"They shouldn't last more than a few hours," Cosmos was sincere, the few doctors they had in the group had died, and even those who had some basic knowledge of medicine were not enough to take care of such serious injuries.
Hearing this, Conrad inhaled before exhaling with a long, heavy sigh. His voice was full of frustration when he asked. "And Jhon?"
Hearing this, Cosmos choked on his own words for a few seconds before finally speaking, "He lost so much blood, sir... I'm sorry."
"I understand..." Conrad shook his head.
Jhon was the second-in-command of the Blackwing mercenaries and Conrad's brother-in-law. One of the men he respected the most.
Standing up with difficulty, Conrad looked around. There were about thirteen people in the room, including Arthur and Alice, who usually weren't even considered. Most of the survivors were below level 30, with a single level 33 warrior surviving. As for the rest, all those with higher levels had died.
"We can't stay here any longer..." Conrad concluded before looking deeply into the faces of each of the people there. "It's only a matter of time before another horde of goblins arrives, and then it will be our doom."
"And where would we go? Back to those damned tunnels and risk running into that masked monster again?" The level 33 warrior stood up and questioned Conrad's decision.
"There are still ways, we can seek shelter in a deeper region of the city!" It was Gabriel who replied, but that only led to more voices of discontent.
"And where after that? Will we try to scale the walls and find some damn magical passageway up there?" Another warrior stood up as well.
"We should have gone back as soon as we found that damn masked man! It was Conrad's leadership that brought us here!" Another voice rose, and soon the place was in chaos.
It was clear that morale was low, and this battle was the breaking point that finally caused these warriors to rebel.
"We don't even know if the dungeon is open yet! Please trust Conrad, Aelius will lead us to victory!" Gabriel tried to control the situation but was coldly cut off by one of the many voices.
"Your god has never helped us, boy, Conrad will only bring us death!"
Gabriel wanted to answer but was interrupted by Conrad's loud voice.
"ENOUGH!" Conrad roared and began to cough up large gulps of blood.
Realizing this, Gabriel and Arthur grabbed his shoulders, preventing him from falling.
"I'm fine," Conrad rejected the help as he wiped the blood from his mouth.
He looked at everyone and spoke. "If you want to leave... leave. I won't stop you." His voice was weak and shaky, but it still carried great power.
"But know that there will be no place for you if you wish to return!"
At that moment, the room was silent, and no one dared to make a sound.
This stalemate lasted for many seconds until the level 33 man turned and walked out, starting a domino effect where all the others started to leave as well.
Cosmos, who was in the middle of it all, hesitated for a few seconds and shot a pained look at Conrad, who just nodded.
"I'm sorry..." Cosmos also turned and left with the others.
After a few seconds only Arthur, Gabriel, Conrad, Safira, and Alice were left in the room.
Conrad stood still for long seconds before he exhaled heavily and collapsed under his own weight.
"Conrad!" Gabriel shouted as he struggled to hold Conrad's body up.
Arthur just watched the whole argument with a strange look on his face. In his heart, only one thought dominated.
'Things are going to get much harder from now on.'
He knew very well that following them would be the most sensible thing to do, and that in his current situation staying by the side of an injured person and just waiting for a miracle would be a very bad decision.
But he decided to stay anyway. Arthur did not consider himself a completely calm and rational man, in his mind he despised these people simply because he had been abandoned when he needed them most in the past.