At the second assault squad, the Hobgoblin that was previously stepping on Heckle turns its gaze towards Beard.
Beard, on the other hand, was glad that the Hobgoblin turned its attention away from his allies. He took a quick glance at his two allies on the floor. Heckle is fine, and the other one looks okay as well, despite all the wounds they are having.
"Careful, Captain!!!"
Heckle shouted as he tried to get back up, and the Hobgoblin finally reached an attack range. The Hobgoblin swung its club at high speed towards Beard. It was too fast, and Beard couldn't react fast enough.
"Wha-"
BAKK!!!!!
With one swing, Beard was thrown backwards to the wall. He landed on the wall extremely hard, and then fell down to the floor. He spat blood while he was in the air, falling to the ground.
"Ghahkk!!"
"No!!!!"
Heckle is now forcing himself to stand up, but all he can do now was writhe slowly towards the Hobgoblin that is already approaching Beard.
Meanwhile, the person in danger himself was still trying to lift his body up. But before he could stand, the Hobgoblin grabbed his body with its left hand, while its other hand was ready to crush his head with the stone club. He tried to escape, but the grip done by the Hobgoblin was really strong.
"""Nooo!!!"""
Everyone shouted, but nobody could assist him. Either they are on the ground, or they are too busy fighting the smaller goblins. Or rather, they are simply too weak to approach him, like Heckle.
Beard… is on his own.
The Hobgoblin swung its huge club, straight towards Beard's head within its palms. Heckle leaped forward as hard as he could, but he still wouldn't make it.
"Stop!!!-"
ZRINGG!!!!!
BOOM!!!
Before the massive stone club could hit Beard, it fell to the floor with a loud thud. Alongside… the rest of its right arm.
ZRESSHHH!!!!!
"AARRGHHH!!!!"
The Hobgoblin screamed as blood spurted out rapidly, but whatever was attacking it was not stopping.
ZRESSHH!!!!!
"AARRRGGGHHH!!!!!--"
Another cut. Beard was freed from the grip and fell to the floor along with the left hand of the Hobgoblin. After he fell to the ground, the Hobgoblin followed right after, and Beard noticed that the giant goblin had been turned headless without him realizing.
Beard, who still couldn't decipher what just happened, found a mysterious figure standing right next to Heckle, helping him stand up. After helping Heckle up, the person ordered the other adventurers who are still healthy to check the wounded on the floor.
Those adventurers were previously busy fighting the smaller goblins. So, what happened to those goblins?
Beard had a look around, and there are no goblins surrounding them like before. There are still tons of goblins not far from their position, but the closest ones to them were all chopped to pieces.
He then turned his gaze towards the swords owned by the newly arrived individual, and found that it was soaked heavily by blood. Their attires too, were completely soaked in blood.
This person… single handedly killed the goblins, as well as saving Beard from danger. All, within seconds.
The mysterious robed man then left the other members by themselves and began walking towards Beard. During the walk, he picked up Beard's sword to bring it for Beard. He held the sword by the tip, pointing the handle at Beard.
"The fight isn't over."
Hearing that, Beard smiled widely. He took the sword, and he gave the masked man one last chuckle while saying his agreement.
"Hell no, it isn't!"
After handing the sword, the masked guy nods at Beard before leaping away again, disappearing completely from their eyes. The other members were done checking the wounded, and they went to Beard.
"Captain! Are you okay!? Who was that guy?"
"I'm okay. And… I don't really know, but it sounds like we finally have backup."
"Thank the gods..."
Just when the member said that, the goblins not far from them started attacking again. The goblins just realized that the Hobgoblins were dead and it was their turn to fight.
"The fight isn't over yet! Everyone, send them to hell!!"
"""Hoooaahhh!!!"""
The second squad finally received their battle spirit back, and they continued pushing the goblins back.
After helping Beard and Heckle, I stood on top of a really tall wooden platform where it's impossible for the goblins to reach me.
From up here, I can see the entire battlefield on the ground quite clearly. I turned my gaze to the three battle spots, and I assessed their situations one by one to determine if I'm still needed.
First squad is now fighting properly again, while the second squad is gradually gaining its fighting spirit back. Third squad seems fine, and they have a pretty good archer.
I determined that the three squads are now doing just fine, and they can handle hundreds of goblins together no problem. The problems, I noticed, only happened when the Hobgoblins were coming for them.
So let's clear out the Hobgoblins.
I charged magic energy to my legs, and started jumping from platform to platform. I tried to move as versatile as I could, and I even tried out new movement techniques that I never thought were possible to do.
I jumped to the walls of the cave and started running on it. Like, who knew I actually have the ability to run on walls?
I ran quite far behind enemy lines, and I arrived on a group of Hobgoblins that were watching the battle happening from afar. The Hobgoblins were alerted by my arrival, but a second later, all their brains were splattered out.
After that, I dashed away to the sea of goblins, towards the Hobgoblins in the middle. One by one, the Hobgoblins that stood out in the crowd of goblins suddenly died.
Finally, the last Hobgoblin's lifeless body touched the ground. Now, I won't have to worry about saving the ground squads anymore, since fighting the little goblins should be a cheesecake for them if they work together.
So let's check out the higher floors. And by that, I meant with the captured adventurers and the saving squad.
Please be okay, Miss Berrily.
I began rushing towards the nearest platform from me and began jumping from platform to platform, reaching for the cave's wall. Then I began running on the walls again, but upwards this time.
After a long run to the higher part of the cave, I finally reached the highest level. It is at the very top of the cave, and it has wooden platforms built at the side of the walls.
I arrived at the wooden platforms, and I found that I was not alone up here.
The goblins and goblin witches above this wooden platform noticed my arrival, and they quickly started shouting and attacking. The goblins threw their spears and unsheathed their swords and knives, while the goblin witches fired a magic attack at me.
As balls of fire and spears swung past me, I unsheathed both of the swords on my hips and ran at them like an insane swordsman.
SHRESSHHH!!!!!
BRESSS!!!!!
I danced left and right, and I kept on moving forward. My eyes can see every single thing happening in front of me, and my mind can think of what I need to do in a very short amount of time. I'm in my prime.
Within only a minute of battle, every single goblin on top of this wooden platform has died. Blood was all over the place, and I turned towards my attires.
Thank god for these brown robes. They don't absorb water, so blood can't stain them. These are actually rain coats, and I bought them with the idea of protecting me from showers of blood. That way, I won't have to clean my adventurers set too often.
Having two swords is also great. It gives you more chances to strike again right after you attack. When facing an army like this, no other technique is more useful than dual wielding. It's just so much faster to kill with two swords.
After clearing the wooden platform off goblins, I started running again.
It didn't take long for me to look for the captured adventurers, since I am using my weird tingling senses. I read from a book that this sense is actually called Magic Senses, and it allows the owner to sense anything that is related to magic. Not sure how I have it, but it must be related to how I have a lot of magic points now.
And as every living creature in this world has magic energy, it means that I can sense and detect simply anything if I just focus hard enough. It's like having the ability to see through walls, hear things that are a hundred meters away from you, or smell things even better than a dog would be able to. Spidey senses are very real in this world.
And so, I fully relied on these hunches that popped up in my thoughts, and I followed what those things said to me. After a while, I finally arrived at their location.
It was within a smaller cave room that is also connected to the lair. Arriving at the entrance, I can tell very quickly that the situation with the hostage squad is a mess.
The four were surrounded by tens of goblins and goblin witches in the room, and at the far back of the room is where all the captured adventurers are, within metal cages.
If it's like this, the squad will just become another hostage.
From the looks of it, the hostages weren't hurt badly. They were just separated from their gears and weapons, and they are watching with worry from behind those iron bars as the fourth squad gets surrounded.
When I first entered the room, the goblins immediately noticed me behind them and attacked without hesitation. The first goblin shoved its short knife at me, and I just swung my sword to it.
BRESSHHH!!!!!!
I really need to get used to blood… Because what will happen here is going to be a mess.
I rushed at them as more goblins started attacking me, and things turned bloody as I expected. After another minute of slaughtering, all goblins finally died.
And as a result, this entire place has turned into a bloodbath.
I really want to puke… but I can't puke while wearing a mask. I had to keep the mask too, so that the people here won't be able to see my face.
I turned to the survivors and the hostages, who were watching me killing the goblins with intense horrified expressions. I studied their appearances, and it seems like most of them are okay. There are some wounded ones because they tried to fight back, but they can still stand.
One of the wounded ones is the farmer looking guy from the tester team, the one who spoke by the entrance earlier.
Why is he here? Wow, for a Green ranked and an examiner, you are quite the terrible one, aren't cha?
Then again, I shouldn't blame him that much. He is wounded, that means he tried fighting back the goblins and lost.
At least he tried. I'd yell at him if only he didn't.
Lady Berrily took a step forward and stood in front of me. Her hands seemed trembling, but they were still holding the sword firmly. Looks like I made it in time.
"You guys all right?"
I asked her, and she nodded grimly.
"Yeah... We are... alive."
She is still taking her breath. I guess being surrounded by a bunch of monsters is really scary for even the best swordsman. Even though they are merely goblins, it doesn't change the fact that being outnumbered that much is scary.
"All right. Once you freed everyone, get your gears back. Then aid the others at the bottom floor."
I turned around and walked towards the entrance.
"Wait!"
I stopped moving, and turned my gaze slightly to her.
"What are we going to do now?"
I turned my gaze towards her fully, and said with the deepest voice I can.
"We are going to slay the goblin king."
.
Okay, that was epic.
I don't think I ever get the chance to say lines like that.
I only saw those legendary scenes from the movies, and I'm pretty sure she probably fell in love with me after that.
But for me to say the goblin king… Imagine if I say 'let's kill the dragon' or something. But it just had to be the goblin king. So lame.
Anyways, now that the hostage squad has released the captured prisoners, now they can go to aid the ones at the bottom.
Everything has now been settled.
There's only one thing left to do.
Meanwhile, at his own seat, the king realized something. His army was pushed back very thoroughly and only about a hundred goblins were left on the battlefield. The squads of adventurers are already grouping up into one final group, and are now giving one final push towards the goblin army.
Seeing this, he finally made his move. The goblin king stood up, and he began shouting in goblin language while pointing at the battlefield.
After saying that, one of the trolls started moving. The troll is now going in to attack the adventurers.
The king then sat back down and rested his head on his hand. He is still watching the outcome of the battle, and the look on his face looks like he is thinking.
The troll is getting closer and closer to the adventurers, shoving away the small goblins as its massive legs stomped the ground.
"What in the world…?"
Glasses mumbled, and Beard next to him heard it. He looked at Glasses, then followed his gaze.
Right in front of them, twenty meters away behind the ocean of goblins, is a seven meters tall troll, with an even bigger club made out of rock than the ones owned by the Hobgoblins. It is much larger, and even the entrance they blasted open previously wasn't even that tall compared to the troll.
As the troll moved forward, the goblins fell back. They wouldn't want to get in the way of the troll and simply let the troll fight the adventurers by itself.
"I guess this is it."
Glasses mumbled, and Beard became really pissed.
"Tch!! And there's still those two more trolls and the goblin king! What are we going to do!?"
Beard shouted, but Glasses could see something moving from above. The small shadow is jumping from the higher level of the cave to the battlefield, and it stops right in front of the king of goblins.
From the robe, and the dual sword the person is wielding, Glasses noticed that it was the masked man from before. Seeing this, he grinned.
"Everyone! Focus your attack on defending us from the goblins! The two of us will take care of the troll!!"
"""Yes sir!!!"""
Glasses commanded the army of adventurers, but Beard turned to him confused.
"Wait, we are?"
Beard wasn't as positive as Glasses, but he knew Glasses had some sort of plan. Meanwhile, Glasses simply pointed his hand forward towards the goblin king.
"Look, right there. He is standing in front of the King of Goblins. Are you saying we should chicken out in front of a mere troll?"
Beard followed and looked to the altar. The king is now standing up, and right in front of it is the masked guy who saved him before.
"You're right. How could we just give up when the guy who saved me fights the strongest opponent!?"
"Oh, he saved you? That's sad."
"Hoy. It's either I die or he lives with guilt. And you are saying he doesn't help you?!"
"He did. He killed three Hobs with just a throwing knife."
"You are unbelievable."
Glasses patted the shoulder of Beard, and he turned back to the incoming troll that is now right in front of them.
"Let's win this."
"Horyaa!!!!"
Beard ran straight towards the legs of the troll as he shouts his war cry, while Glasses casted fireballs towards the face.
The two collided with the troll immediately.