It was too late to devise a new plan because the noises caused by the battle had been too resounding and had awakened the stronghold and its warriors.
The sentinels, placed in the four towers of the inner walls, were as fast as wolves, and a few arrows were thrown at the intruder.
"Damn creatures... I have to find a shelter before that beast makes its appearance, or I should take advantage of this time to kill the archers... Mhm?!"
Dodging arrows fired at high speed was not easy, but the aim of those stupid creatures was terrible, giving Atlas less trouble than expected.
The young man was literally fighting against time, but he remained lucid and decisive.
The next move had been chosen so fearlessly. Atlas entered one of the many dilapidated houses and appeared as a ghost above the walls shortly after.
The goblins were surprised by the intruder's actions but responded even more ferociously than the human, shooting arrows and throwing rocks at him.
The distance between the two groups was reduced so much that the goblins' accuracy increased, but hitting a shrewd, ever-moving target like Atlas was doing was not easy for them.
Some arrows almost tempt the young man to escape, but convinced of his actions, Atlas continues undaunted to advance against them.
At one point, to block those lethal arrows, the young man was forced to pick up a giant wooden board, significantly reducing the speed with which he was advancing. However, even though the situation had worsened, Atlas quickly achieved his goal of blocking the arrows one after the other.
"Stupid creatures, instead of running away, you stood there like a bunch of sheep, ready to be slaughtered by my companion? What arrogance!"
The young man pushed the board against one of them and, with a leap, assaulted another. The bow was useless in close combat, but that was not the only weapon in their possession. Indeed, when the sentinels noticed the arrows were ineffective against the intruder, they unsheathed the short swords from the scabbard and engaged in a close-quarter battle.
A one-on-four fight was undoubtedly dangerous for the young man, but after several battles against those creatures, Atlas could predict their moves, thus avoiding severe repercussions.
The battle continued for a short minute, but the wounds were most serious on the goblin side.
"I can't waste any more time..."
Until now, the battle had always remained advantageous for him, but to achieve such an excellent result in such disadvantageous combat, Atlas sacrificed the speed and lethality of his blows.
His faithful companion was the only weapon at his disposal, but he could still exploit objects on the battlefield, such as stones, wooden planks, or any other tool that would allow him to achieve his goal, and there were a lot of such objects on the ground.
During the battle, the young man had analyzed the area very well, trying to move the place of the fight little by little to fully exploit that restricted battlefield as a lethal weapon.
After a series of blows, the time finally came, and Atlas pushed one of the creatures towards the abyss and kicked another with so much force that the goblin fell from the walls and smashed to the ground.
Two goblins were dead, but that reckless move allowed the enemies to inflict a dreadful wound on his right shoulder and left flank.
Atlas's condition worsened, but the healing effect of various aids supported the adventurer until the end of the battle.
The other two sentinels did not last long, and the battle ended before the other enemies could reach the battlefield.
There were still four enemies left inside the stronghold, but the young man knew it would be the most brutal battle since he came here, so after collecting the corpses, he hid in one of the many secure places in the area and waited patiently for the arrival of that thug.
The first to arrive were the three smaller goblins, but the beast did not let him wait longer and appeared shortly after with its heavy iron armor and a great black sword.
Compared to the other goblins, that beast was a higher-level creature. Indeed, its muscular and firm size and clear intellect were the scariest part about it.
The first thing the goblin did was to carefully observe the area and the high stone walls that surrounded them.
Initially, the young man did not understand what he was doing, but the more he observed it, the more apparent it was.
'... That creature is looking for traces... Heck!... I have to leave immediately...'
Unfortunately, this time, Atlas had been beaten in cunning, and before he could disappear and find a safe place, an icy wind whipped toward his hiding place.
In an instant, the mighty blade of the goblin hurled toward him, shattering a pile of rocks standing between them.
"What incredible speed and frightening destructive power!"
The first attack was thunderous and lightning-fast, but the second was even more terrible.
Two shots were enough to destroy those rocky fragments that separated them, but Atlas was not a fool. In fact, a few steps from him, there was a second escape route, perfect to avoid a direct confrontation with that monster.
"Hehehe... See you later!"
The young man saluted with contempt the goblin and disappeared through a small tunnel created by rocks and wooden planks, triggering the anger of that beast.
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"I have to find a way to defeat him, but how can I do it?... Astra is an excellent weapon... but will it be enough to kill that creature?"
By now, the young man was safely protected by many layers of debris, but he could not stay in that place forever.
It's not that he was so afraid to fight against him, but it was still a disadvantageous duel in his current condition.
After all, there were still three goblins besides it.
There was still a long way to reach the second smaller realm, so he had to think about something else to kill it without much problem.
Atlas thought a lot, and an idea popped out at some point: "Hmm... I collected many weapons along the way... if I sold them, the gain would not be much, but if I used them to increase the level of my weapon, perhaps... I will gain something useful."
Money was an indispensable need for virtually everything in the World of Oblivion. Still, with a weapon as unique as the one in Atlas's possession, the small profit from selling that scrap became paltry compared to the possibility of evolving it to a superior rank.
Astra was still at the Mortal Artifact, so it has its limitations.
He was still unsure how much it would evolve with all those inferior weapons, but it was better to try his luck this way.
"Let's see what happens if I let him devour all these weapons..."
Atlas pulled out one object after the other and gathered 10 reinforced clubs, 4 iron daggers, and 2 short swords.
"Let's get started..."
The young man placed the pickaxe over the pile, and the weapons began to disintegrate one after the other.
This time, however, there was something different. In fact, each weapon of Mortal Artifact was downing a lot more Chaos Energy than a single fragment of the same quality.
Fortunately, he was no longer a tiny youngster, but he had advanced very quickly, so the problem did not discourage him.
"Heck... With all this junk, I will not get anything..."
Though hesitant, Atlas let his faithful companion absorb the weapons, but then the pickaxe shook like a madman.
Excited by the change, he looked at his companion with eagerness, and as anticipated, there was something different.
The crystal at the end of the handle was brighter than before.
In the last few days, the crystal didn't change even a bit, but now it was showing its heart to the adventurer with all its might.
"Interesting... but... what changes bring to its battle powers?"
Atlas was quite intrigued, but the flashy dot disappeared as fast as it appeared after some time.
"Damn you... What the hell was that? Are you trying to joke with me?"
It was a normal response. After all, Atlas waiting excitedly for a significant transformation.
Disappointed by the strange turn of events, the young man dropped his companion to the ground and shifted all his attention to its last trump card, the scarlet stigma.
"Damned thing... you could be the turning point in this expedition. I will activate your power even if I have to stab my hand a hundred times..."
He had been thinking about this possibility for a while, but flaunting his hand with a dagger was not the most practical action to do, except in desperate cases.
"Damn..."
The young man pulled out a small dagger and placed the tip exactly a few centimeters from the small petal from which that bright cloud had come out last time. Precisely the one to the left side.
"... I didn't want to go that far. Let's hope it works..."
He could not do otherwise if he wanted to emerge victorious from the battle without risking his life in a futile way. So, he pushed the tip down and tore his flesh, but surprisingly, from the wound was not coming blood, but a bright cloud...
Wrapped in that cloud, the dagger's tip disintegrated as if the metal was undergoing the cruel judgment of time.
"Amazing..."
In a few moments, the phenomenon of disintegration spread along the entire blade, finally reaching the hilt.
"Terrifying... It's gone... gone!"
Soon, under the incredulous gaze of the young man, the majestic dagger from before reappeared, but Atlas was not so satisfied with the result obtained because he did not find it sane to evoke the object in this way.
"There must be another way..."
The dagger could only remain in this world for a few seconds, so Atlas analyzed it scrupulously.
Unfortunately, those few seconds were not enough, and he found himself repeating the same insane procedure repeatedly.
After several attempts, Atlas had memorized even the smallest of the details, but he had not found an answer that could solve that dilemma.
The young man was disappointed, but an unhealthy idea appeared in his mind before completely giving up.
"It's crazy..."
The young man did not linger any longer and stroked the icy blade with his index finger.
It was a reckless action, thinking back to the terrible consequences, but his instinct again convinced him to do something like this.
Suddenly, something happened...
Maybe the warmth of his skin had awakened something...
The bright cloud came out of the palm of his hand, but this time, it did not wrap the dagger. Instead, it condensed on the blade, generating a sequence of words...
"A brutal void that can devour everything... Ruthless Void Blade."