Connor's POV
'Underestimating me?'
In reality, I couldn't blame him. The last time we saw each other, I didn't leave the best impression, at most that of a frightened child.
'But if you think like that, you'll regret it.'
I thought coldly, about to advance, but the goblin chief raised his hand in a clear wait signal. He hadn't done that last time; in fact, the moment he appeared, he started killing without any consideration. But now he not only used a surprise tactic, but also asked us to wait?!
I was so stunned that I froze momentarily.
During a fight, that's a fatal mistake, but none of the goblins took advantage; they all stood still, waiting for the chief's command. With quick movements of his four-fingered hand, he indicated that the two-axe goblin who was fighting Max and Mav should enter the hut right behind him.
The two, still stunned by the chief's dramatic appearance, didn't react when the two-axe goblin did as ordered. The girls tried to stop him, but the goblin riding the white beast wouldn't let them, just like the hooded goblin.
He barely stayed inside the hut for 5 seconds before returning carrying a quiver full of arrows; even from here I could see it had at least 20 arrows. The goblin with the two axes handed it to the chief, who in turn threw it right in my direction.
It landed with a dry thud at my feet, momentarily stunning me. The chief crossed his arms and gestured for me to pick up the quiver with his chin, not even bothering to pick up his sword.
I looked at the quiver and at him at least three times before looking at my friends to see what they thought.
Max and Mav were like me, not quite understanding what he intended with this. Cali was also like that, but she never stopped looking at them, making sure no attack would come while we were in this "impasse." And Anna, just looked at me as if to say: just grab it.
The chief also looked at me with the same expression, but one that was slowly becoming more irritated. Not wanting to provoke him further, I sheathed my short sword and crouched down without taking my eyes off any of the larger-than-normal goblins, and picked up the quiver.
Just by the weight I could tell that none of these arrows were uniform; some were thicker and heavier, while others were slightly shorter.
This would usually be a problem, but since coming to the Trial I've felt my archery skills have improved in an unprecedented way. To the point that even using unsuitable arrows wouldn't prevent me from hitting a target.
With the quiver on my back and standing upright again, I looked at the goblin chief again; he looked at me with clear satisfaction. Which made my blood boil.
'You'll definitely regret giving me those arrows.'
That's what I wanted to convey with my gaze, which seemed to amuse the chief again. I was ready for the revenge I'd been waiting for for weeks.
He picked up the sword stuck in the ground near where I had killed the tattooed goblin, and the next instant he was already bringing it down towards my head.
*********************
(Left side, the "defeated" group)
POV Yaou
'Who would have imagined this would happen.'
I thought bitterly, clutching my dislocated and bleeding arm, watching the scene unfold before me. Of the nearly 14 who had come with me, only 3 remained without serious injuries and were helping those with the worst wounds, 7 had incapacitated injuries, and another 4—two were lying on the ground, another had been basically torn to shreds by the green demons, and the third…
*Chirrrp, chomp, drrrggg*
His body was being torn apart by the main culprit of our current situation.
A large creature, almost the size of a house, yet strangely silent, its mere presence enough to make it clear to us that it was strong. Completely black with eyes as red as embers and fur that seemed to ripple like smoke depending on how you looked at it.
This was the main culprit for our failure, but by no means the only one. I looked angrily at my arm and at the place where those two had gone, back to the center of the goblin village.
At first things were going well, stones thrown, a smaller explosive sphere to open a hole and enter. I think that's where things started to go wrong.
As soon as we started to enter, 2 were sent flying backwards with a flying slash, similar to what 3rd circle knights (Kaio: something around level 15 to 25, according to my analysis) were able to use. A third having been hit by a small explosion similar to that caused by the explosive sphere sent a third one flying away as well.
Right ahead we saw those responsible: the leader of the goblin village, whom Connor had described in great detail, and another goblin, slightly smaller than the leader but larger than the common goblins, wearing a hooded robe similar to one of the mages'.
Obviously they weren't alone; they had brought with them 10 other common goblins and 3 more that looked like goblins but clearly weren't common.
'Meat puppets?! How can such things exist here?!'
I'd dealt with meat puppets before, and with the despicable people who commanded them. It wasn't something I wanted to experience again, especially not here. A place where, apart from the strange creatures that frequently tried to kill you, it would hardly be different from an idyllic paradise as described in the stories of my homeland.
But here they were, destroying one of the only places where I had found a strange sense of pleasure, where my effort could be seen objectively instead of vaguely as it usually was.
I won't say that everything that happened afterward was solely the fault of those two, three counting the creature that was still tearing parts off the poor fellow who couldn't save himself. I can't deny that I tried my best to eliminate them both and get the biggest prize for myself.
Even among the sword dancers, women were seen more as decoration than as warriors themselves. Even if it wasn't much, defeating those two creatures would show that not all women are like that, that with dedication we can all equal and even surpass men.
For a while, I managed to keep the two occupied while the others dealt with the common goblins. They weren't a big problem; a hit to the head with one of the stones still in the crates and they'd fall.
Even without that distraction, two people together could take down one goblin without much trouble. The problem was the flesh puppets and especially the goblin leader.
I was able to dodge and redirect several of the hooded goblin's attacks; his attacks weren't much different from those of 2nd-circle mages at most, but the leader's attacks were different.
It was like a mixed attack from a 4th-circle knight with some trickery from a member of the Garu martial temples mediating (which I can't understand, why in this continent they are only known as temples). With these two I managed to keep them distracted and land some attacks, but nothing effective.
Until the flesh puppets momentarily stopped, which caught everyone's attention. By this time I was already tired and had some superficial cuts, 3 of my men were wounded and had retreated to recover, and only 2 goblins remained besides the flesh puppets and the larger goblins.
Seeing them, the puppets stopped and returned shortly after. The goblin leader signaled something to the hooded figure, then began to attack me with much more zeal. That's when I realized that he hadn't been taking things completely seriously before; he was serious, yes, but not with the explicit intention to kill, only to fight.
Now the intention was clearly different: to kill if possible, but above all, to let the hooded goblin do what he had to do. I then ordered everyone to concentrate on him, but the remaining goblins didn't take it lightly, and soon we lost one and five were seriously wounded.
We defeated the goblins, and soon after, for some reason, the hooded goblin turned and headed towards the center of the village. The leader stopped me from following him, sending me flying with a slash, and then slashed another person.
At that moment, the two still-"alive" flesh puppets simply collapsed.
Seeing this, the goblin leader stomped hard on the ground twice, unleashing a wave of Aether that pushed everyone back 5 or 6 meters, and simply jumped back to the village. However not to the center like the hooded goblin, but to the other side where we were attacking.
I was about to go after him when I heard a roar of pain, but coming from behind. When I turned, I saw a mass of living darkness sending a man flying with a paw swipe and devouring another.
From then on, what was expected happened. We tried to stop it by attacking together, but nothing we did worked, and if it weren't for the pseudo-potions, there would have been many more bodies on the ground.
When the "potions" ran out, I did the only thing I could and used the emergency sphere, both to signal the situation and to distract the shadow creature that, no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't cut. When we tried, it either passed through it like trying to cut smoke, or the leather ricocheted off the attacks.
On the last attempt, right after it had been blinded, I tried to hit it in the snout or the inside of its mouth, which resulted in this injury, and another casualty when one of my friends from Piqval's circus saved me.
The rage I felt at myself for every injury they suffered, for every death, was unparalleled.
'How do I do it? How can I make that thing bleed?! Even if a little!!!'
I was almost going crazy thinking about it while I hid with the others and was forced to listen to that creature shredding the bodies we couldn't recover. I sensed something approaching us and readied my sword, even though my arm ached both from the exertion and from the injuries themselves, though not as serious as the other one.
Fortunately, it wasn't an enemy, but one of Andreas's subordinates.
–Miss, how are things?
He asked as quietly as he could, approaching as silently and quickly as possible.
–Bad here. And in the other places?
–Rear guard secure. Front gate stable, right side too. The group of the youngsters are attacking the village center and it seems they've already dealt with the one responsible for the meat dolls.
–Heeen, so it was those young people, not bad.
I said, both impressed and slightly bitter thinking about my situation.
–And what about your—!!!
He stopped when he saw the state of my arm and the rest of my body, as well as the state of the others who were with me. He also didn't seem to be an idiot since he soon realized that some people were missing.
–What happened?