A goblin hid in its house, shrouding itself in layers upon layers of leaves, its eyes filled with tears. It reached for its crooked daggers, only for a leg to crash down, stomping hard.
It let out a piercing shriek of pain, lifting its tear filled face to the creature that came down upon their settlement like a raging storm, slaughtering everyone and it smiled back.
Didn't humans usually soften from sympathy? The human lifted his blade and impaled it into the back of its neck, and it struggled hard, fighting for its life, until it lost strength.
"Sigh…" Augustus dragged out his blade and flicked it to the side, breathing in a misty cold breath, then staring at the ruination he'd caused, "Haha. I feel much lighter, don't I?"
"Dammit… you're a monster." Aurora coughed up, laying her back on one of the walls of a leftover goblin's house, then lifting her gaze to the sky, "How could you be so cruel?"
"Do you see that path?" Augustus pointed his blade further into the forest, his calmed gaze locked into the mountains ahead, "That is where a demon horde would come from."
Augustus cleared his throat, sheathing his blade, "The moon palaces' army would not be enough to wipe us out, and that thing would be their retaliation. You think I was bad?"
"We were the ones who intruded their territories. It was only right they—" Aurora was about to start, her brows knitting and eyes burning with a passion, when Augustus sighed.
A goblin ran out of the trees, dashing for Aurora with its hands gripped tight its blade, until Augustus lifted his feet and pegged its head to a wall, smashing it like a watermelon.
"—nearly killed Aaron? Nearly stoned you to death? Ruin an entire village?" Augustus lowered his leg, "I'm only doing what's necessary. Anyways, can you stand on your own?"
"I'll need a bit of support. I think I shattered a few ribs from a fall." Aurora groaned, a frown forming on her face as she grabbed a wall, struggling to her feet, her brows knitted.
"I thought so…" Augustus stepped forward and helped her stay on her feet, turning to the ruined goblin village once, then returning his gaze to the cave, "I will be back… soon."
The path through the forest and across the mountains led to distant cities, and if they established a supply route here, then more resources would pool in. The village had hope.
'That was a beautiful thought. Things won't be so beautiful in reality.' Augustus, calm and collected, had Aurora lean on his shoulder while he sheathed his blade, 'It's very sad.'
——
"Kill them. Kill them all." Melissa spun the dagger with her fingers, her back relaxed on the tree and her gaze fixated on the cave, "Make them regret. Let no one escape, Sol."
"Are you saying something?" Ralph, who'd been called here to help with cleanup, felt a strange aura emanating from Melissa, "This is not the time for practising spells. Focus."
Melissa spun her dagger to a halt, then hurled it into the forest. The dagger travelled a large distance across the air at a frightening speed then tilted an arc and fell into a bush.
A sharp howl of pain sounded, and other howls — each more menacing than the last — sounded from deep within the forest. Melissa frowned, spinning her fingers, her gaze cold.
Another dagger appeared out of nowhere in her hand, spun by her fingers. From deep within the shadows, two-headed dogs the size of full grown men stepped out, fangs bared.
"Ralph, tell Henry and Margret to level the playing field." Melissa frowned at the big dogs, turning to the cave then back to them, "I need area control, and I need it very fast."
Ralph, without wasting another word, spun around and darted into the forest. Melissa stared at him leave out of the corner of her eyes, sighing, "Why do I have to even do this?"
She's taking too much of a liking to that man, and Melissa didn't appreciate it. There's been numerous demon attacks ever since they took that moon slave woman in for custody.
"They are all slaves to me." Melissa lifted her back from the tree, her gaze lifting to the sky that had turned a pale shade of red, "Hmm? That was slow."
Henry and Margret, both villagers of Iona, combined their skills «Low Earth Rift» and «Two-Fold Breeze Tide» to mimic the effects of the «Land and Sky Devastation» skill. This allowed them to create intense disturbances across the earth and sky.
Melissa spun the dagger in her hand, staring a dog in the eye as it leapt into the air, its maws wide open and claws gleaming. Before it could reach her, a powerful force collapsed on its back, sending it crashing down where the earth cracked up.
The two headed beast fell into the sudden crack, unable to defend itself. As the ground closed up, the beast was swallowed whole and only its head was left. Melissa calmly lifted her leg and kicked hard, sending its head flying into the distant skies.
"I count eight more." Melissa stopped spinning the dagger, raising her glance from the headless dog to the others and they charged from varying directions to outmanoeuvre her.
From her sides, from above, and from ahead. She calmly dashed forward, propelled by the wind, and slashed her dagger, blood splattering as four heads rolled down the ground.
A light gleamed from the corner of her eye, and she spun around, swinging her dagger and slashing through the descending claws in a burst of flame. It was severed off its arm.
As Melissa sidestepped, allowing the dog to crash down to the ground in shocked pain, she elbowed another dog in one of its faces, sending it flying back, "Stop this foolishness."
A rift opened up and swallowed up the paw-less dog, while the wind tossed the other a terrifying distance into the air. Melissa watched as it fell and crashed to the ground. Hard.
Blood and limbs splattered across the ground. Melissa swung her arm, sending her icy dagger to the restrained two-headed dog, stabbing through its head in a splatter of blood.
The dogs turned to one another, then charged at her again. Melissa blinked, then she swung her fist, sending a surging tide of flames towards the dogs, "Death to the demons."