The ranks of iron-armored goblins surged forward. Their footsteps were orderly and disciplined, pounding against the damp forest ground until it trembled.
If an ordinary soldier or civilian had been in Kael’s position, they would have already lost their nerve, been surrounded, and been hacked to pieces within seconds.
However, the man standing before them was Kael, a battlefield veteran who had risked his life countless times while fighting against thousands of encircling enemies.
"Khraak! Ghraakh!"
The goblins’ shrill cries echoed hoarsely through the night air, sounding bizarrely like dogs howling in pain. Their wild eyes blazed with uncontrollable fury, all fixed firmly on Kael.
The wiry muscles packed into their small bodies tensed to the extreme, their black veins bulging as though they were being forced to push their strength to its absolute limit.
Kael lowered his stance, holding his greatsword at his side. His sharp eyes glanced toward the fortress, where dozens of one-eyed goblin archers atop the watchtowers had already drawn their bowstrings taut.
The archers outside the fortress were ready as well.
Swish!
The goblins at the front suddenly slowed down, tightened their ranks, and precisely raised their steel-reinforced wooden shields. They formed a sturdy circular shield wall.
Almost simultaneously, a piercing whistle split the night. Hundreds of arrows shot through the air in sweeping arcs, glinting silver beneath the crescent moonlight. The sheer number of arrows flying across the night sky cast a massive shadow over everything beneath them.
"A well-coordinated combined formation... They really can’t be underestimated," Kael thought coldly.
Kael didn’t wait for the arrows to rain down upon the ground. He took a powerful step forward, then hurled his greatsword with all his might, swinging it like an enormous spear!
Whoosh—BAM!
The greatsword hurtled forward and struck the very center of the goblin shield formation. The tremendous impact shattered their steel-reinforced shields and crushed the bodies of several goblins at the front.
Just as the rain of arrows began plunging from the sky, Kael had already dashed forward at full speed.
The archers on the watchtowers were certainly troublesome, but Kael had to deal with the ground troops first. Upon reaching the goblin ranks thrown into disarray by his sword, Kael swiftly grabbed a surviving goblin by the neck, then leaped forward while lifting the monster’s body above his head.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Dozens of arrows pierced the goblin’s body as Kael used it as a living shield. Thick, dark green blood sprayed out, dripping wetly over Kael’s shoulders and clothes. Its sharp, pungent stench filled his nostrils.
While continuing to maneuver around the impact points of the other falling arrows, Kael noticed the sword-wielding goblins beginning to surround him again. They had realized that their previous defensive tactic had failed to buy them enough time. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Kael moved swiftly in a zigzag pattern, slipping between the gaps in his enemies’ sword strikes. Whenever his opponents got too close, he swung the arrow-riddled goblin corpse in his hand like a club, hurling it with tremendous force into three or four goblins ahead of him and sending them crashing to the ground.
"There it is!"
Kael spotted his greatsword, still embedded in the chest of a dead goblin. Seeing a dozen armored goblins closing in to trap him, Kael accelerated, moving faster than their incoming strikes.
The enemy’s resistance grew increasingly ferocious. It wasn’t just the close-range attacks anymore. The gigantic Orc at the rear of the fortress had now joined the fight. With its massive hands, the Orc launched a gigantic bolt from its makeshift ballista, sending it hurtling forward with a violent gust of wind!
"I have to get rid of these pesky insects blocking my way as quickly as possible!"
Just as five goblins leaped at him from different directions with their swords raised high, Kael managed to grab the hilt of his greatsword once more.
Kael planted both feet firmly on the ground, channeled all his strength from his waist, and twisted his body into a devastating circular slash!
CRASH!
The thick blade cleaved horizontally through the air. The five airborne goblins were instantly sliced cleanly in half, their blood and organs spilling onto the ground.
Yet their numbers seemed endless. As dozens more sword-wielding goblins surged forward, arrows from the watchtowers and bolts from the Orc’s ballista flew simultaneously, without any regard for the safety of their own allies. The sword-wielding goblins became even more aggressive, throwing themselves onto Kael’s blade and sacrificing their lives just to restrict his movements.
Witnessing this abnormal behavior, Kael’s suspicions grew stronger. "These monsters aren’t acting of their own free will... They’re being controlled like lifeless puppets!"
Ordinary goblin arrows could perhaps be blocked or dodged, but the gigantic bolts launched by the Orc, each as long as a ship’s mast, carried enough weight to shatter mountain rocks.
Kael slashed through the necks of three goblins surrounding him, then turned sharply toward the dense wave of wind rushing at him from the front. The gigantic bolt hurtled toward him like an iron hawk diving for its prey. Kael knew he had no room to leap out of the way.
He made a desperate decision: to bet everything on the sharpness and durability of his greatsword!
"Haaah!"
With the intense focus he’d honed through countless life-and-death battles, Kael tilted his blade and swung it with precision, striking the side of the gigantic bolt’s tip just inches from his chest.
Clang! Tang!
The collision between metal and hard wood sent tiny sparks flying through the air. Kael successfully deflected the gigantic bolt, diverting its trajectory until it plunged deep into the ground beside him. However, the sharp splinters from the shattered wood still grazed his shoulder, drawing fresh blood. Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping . com.
"Huff... huff... That was close," Kael panted, wiping the sweat and blood from his cheek.
He accelerated again, charging through the enemy ranks. He couldn’t count on Johan and his men to silence the archers on the watchtowers. They’re taking too long!
However, the goblin ranks ahead of him grew denser, forming a wall of flesh. The archers atop the towers continued firing their arrows in sweeping arcs, while the gigantic Orc at the rear had already finished reloading its ballista.
"They don’t care at all about sacrificing their own kind!" Kael hissed in frustration.
Although Kael’s sword had already claimed the lives of more than a hundred goblins, turning the ground beneath his feet red with pools of blood and scattered corpses, the monster population seemed never to decrease.
Twice, then three times, Kael was forced to twist his body into extreme maneuvers to escape the Orc’s gigantic bolts. However, doing so drained his stamina recklessly. Every deflection and forced maneuver left him breathing harder and harder.
With a rapid thrust that tore through the chest of the last goblin within his reach, Kael completed his kill count.
Seeing his long-range attacks repeatedly fail to bring Kael down, the gigantic Orc at the rear finally lost its patience. It let out a thunderous roar, smashed its enormous ballista to pieces, and then leaped high into the air!
The colossal monster soared upward, its massive body instantly blocking the crescent moonlight in the night sky and casting a dark shadow over Kael’s position.
Kael’s eyes widened.
His combat instincts screamed at him to jump backward immediately!
However, just as Kael was about to push off the ground, his movement suddenly locked up.
"What the hell?!"
Kael looked down in shock. A goblin whose lower body had already been split in half was somehow still alive. With its remaining bloodied fingers, the monster clamped onto Kael’s ankle with an incredibly powerful death grip, its insane determination driven by the influence of Dark Magic.
Kael swiftly drove his sword through the goblin’s head, crushing it completely. However, by then, it was already too late for him to push off the ground and escape the impact zone.
Above him, the gigantic Orc plummeted like a green meteor, ready to smash Kael and the surrounding ground to pieces!
Kael drew his sword back over his shoulder and steadied his footing in the pool of blood. His eyes gleamed sharply, radiating an indescribably cold killing intent.
I’ve survived hundreds of life-and-death situations... Why should I be afraid of a monster like this?!
Gathering every last bit of strength and power left in his body, Kael swung his greatsword upward, meeting the gigantic Orc’s deadly descending attack head-on!
"Die, you green monster!"