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Fires raged all around, spreading from hut to hut. The tall fat goblin breathed out, staring down Hiroshi.
It blinked; Hiroshi’s figure disappeared. It grunted in surprise. The goblin felt a burning sensation in its calf as Hiroshi’s claws sank in.
In a rage it lifted its club and swung behind him, connecting with Hiroshi’s body, sending him flying through one of the huts.
Hiroshi pushed himself out of the rubble, wiping his mouth, his grin still present.
It’s only a scratch.
“Oi. Look there.” He shouted out.
Hiroshi pointed to the goblins side.
Ignoring him, it lifted its club and free hand into the air, letting out a long shout. It was interrupted as Hiroshi’s skeleton knight crashed into him, both falling to the ground near a cage.
Hiroshi vanished behind the goblin and struck the lock, cracking it open.
The goblins huddled together, their eyes glittering with worry.
“Get out, there’s an opening in the wall over there. Get to the treeline. Gobu’s waiting.” Their eyes widened hearing Gobu’s name.
Now then…
He turned to face the fat goblin on the ground which was pinned down by the hulking skeleton.
Hiroshi’s claw scraped its body in a quick motion.
Turn.
The goblin’s body pulsed with color as its eyes began to glow dark red. The skeleton knight stood up off the goblin and picked up its great sword.
It stood to its feet.
Hiroshi pointed at some distant goblins running about, who were searching for their weapons.
“Kill them.” He ordered.
Without acknowledgment, the fat goblin turned and began to sprint in their direction.
Alright, there’s more cages to open. I hope they made it out okay.
“Skeleton knight!” He shouted out as he leapt into the air. It opened its bony fingers, as Hiroshi landed in its palm.
“Do it!”
Its arms raised with full power, tossing Hiroshi into the air.
Hiroshi’s eyes darted around the camp midair, making a mental note of where the cages and the enemies were.
His eyes locked onto the top of the camp, where the elders were locked up.
I need to get them out right now. There’s no time.
Hiroshi began to fall back down. Dust kicked up from his landing. The cage before him was a couple of paces away.
Let’s g--
Hiroshi’s body instinctively ducked, a massive club whooshed over his head, blasting the walls of the hut away.
He turned his head. One of the greater goblins was already pulling back its club for another strike.
So quick!
As his body leaned forward, another swing from the opposite side connected with his body.
A secon--
The cage before him quickly shrank as it got farther away while he blasted through three huts and into the outer edge of the camp.
His body tumbled a couple of times as he crashed into a crate, stopping.
Hiroshi’s Hp drained a bit more. He began to lift himself out of the collapsed crate.
Damn it… I’m in the outer camp, away from the caged elders.
He looked around. Twenty green goblins were approaching from all sides. Three more cages were behind them, scattered about.
I don’t have time to waste. I need to deal with them quickly.
Standing up, Hiroshi took a step forward, and bent his knees. His hand moved to the side of his hip.
A memory flashed before him, a time when he was at the dojo, doing the same move.
“Hiroshi. Focus.”
“Draw your blade in one motion and hit all of the targets at once.”
The dojo master pointed at the three straw dummies before him.
His breathing slowed down, synchronizing with the memory.
The last breath escaped.
Eclipse Slash!
With a sudden motion, his hand drew out from the side of his hip. A razor-thin arc escaped with his motion, going straight through the goblins and into the huts.
He opened his eyes, and with a click his claws retracted back. The goblins before him burst into blood, each one of them cut in half.
They collapsed onto the floor.
“Lesser Goblin defeated.” The system announced. The window displayed a small marker showing the number of goblins.
Just like the days at the dojo.
He smiled, looking down at his hand.
Since I’m here.
Hiroshi’s head locked onto a cage.
Might as well work my way back to the center.
The cages' locks fell to the ground, just as the skeleton knight came back.
“Skeleton knight, make an opening!”
It looked at Hiroshi, then knelt beside the goblins' bodies. It scooped up a few of the body parts into its bony hand and got up.
Oi, what is it planning to do?
With a twist of its body, the skeleton knight sent the body parts flying to the wall, cracking the staked wall with a loud crash.
It looked back at Hiroshi.
Well… that’s one way of carrying out my order…
“Go. Get to Gobu at the treeline. Do not stop for anything!” He shouted at the goblins who hurried out their cages and made their way to the hole in the wall.
Alright they’re out. Let’s make our way to the center of the camp.
He dashed on, his skeleton knight running behind him.
A cage before him was getting closer when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a crimson goblin fall to the ground in an alley. A large orc raised its club.
Shit!
Two more hulking goblins approached the cage ahead.
Damn it… Arrgh! I’ll make this quick.
His body turned towards the fallen goblin.
Skeleton knight. Don’t let those two harm the cage!
It continued to run straight ahead, following Hiroshi’s orders.
Shadowstep!
A dark mist exploded in the crimson goblin’s shadow, Hiroshi raising his hands above it. The club smashed down into Hiroshi’s arms.
“GET UP. RUN!” He looked down at the trembling goblin who barely got back on its feet and began to run off.
Tch, they’re everywhere.
His head snapped back up to face the goblin.
Now to deal with you.
He leaped back, letting the club smash into the ground. With a push off the wall beside him, his teeth sank into the fat goblin’s artery, while his body swung around to its back.
He ripped upwards, blood spewing out everywhere.
The goblin gurgled as it dropped its club, hands reaching for his neck.
That should do it. A slow, painful death.
He kicked off the goblin’s body, landing on the side of a roof of a hut.
A loud crash came from ahead of Hiroshi, and everything shook. The sound of bending metal reached his ears.
That can’t be…
His body crawled to the top of the roof. His heart sank.
One of the large goblins was holding the skeleton knight back, just in front of the cage. The other’s club was crushing the cage into the ground, its metal roof flattened against the floor. Blood shot out in all directions.
They had been crushed.
Damn it, I was too late!
Hiroshi’s brow furrowed, teeth gritting hard.
You… will pay.
He leaped from the rooftop towards the pinned down skeleton knight.
Landing just beside them, Hiroshi struck down at the goblin’s ankle, its thick muscle snapping suddenly. It lost balance, the Skeleton Knight pushed it back and kicked it, readying its blade.
Hiroshi snapped his head towards the other goblin.
Zero Distance.
The Skeleton Knight’s blade sank deep into the tall goblin’s shoulder, almost cutting him in half straight down, the blade stopping where Hiroshi’s figure just vanished.
He appeared directly in front of it, and it grunted in surprise. Everything went black as Hiroshi took its eyes with a single swipe.
The last thing it felt was crashing down to its knees, then being unable to breathe anymore. Blood gushed out of its neck, until it went silent.
“Greater Goblin, defeated.” The system announced twice, coldly.
The adrenaline finally stopped pumping through Hiroshi.
For a moment, Hiroshi dropped to one knee beside the crushed cage, panting.
I’m sorry I was late. You have been avenged.
Hiroshi closed his eyes for a moment, saying a quick mental prayer and then got up.
Hiroshi was close to the center of the camp now.
Everything shook violently for a moment. A large cloud of dust billowed into the air, coming from the center.
Don’t tell me…
The elders!
“Skeleton Knight, let’s go!” He ordered.
Both began to dash ahead.
As the dust began to settle, a large dark silhouette made itself apparent. A long shadow stuck out to the side.
Hiroshi stopped, staring at the shadow.
Is that…
A growling beast, larger than any of the greater goblins, stood there. The dust began to blow to the side, revealing its long, jagged blade.
“You must be the general.” Hiroshi pointed at him, fury etched across his face.
A small crater was where the goblin general was standing, as if it jumped down from his hut.
It let out a laugh.
“Yes.” It growled out.
IT CAN SPEAK!?
“You. Die. Here.” It stared down at Hiroshi; its laughter slowly fading.
“Let’s see about that.” He replied, dark crimson claws shooting out of his fingers.
The goblin general turned to the caged elders.
What is it planning!?
Huddled together, the elders began to weep as the cage they were in was picked up.
The general turned to Hiroshi, grinning devilishly.
Don’t tell me.
His arm pulled back, body posturing towards the sky, cage in hand.
“I WON’T LET YOU!” He roared out, vanishing and appearing before him, leaping into the air towards his arm.
I’ll cut your arm off before you do that.
The goblin general grinned harder, punching Hiroshi.
It was a feint!?
A cracking sound escaped from his rib as he began to fly away as the goblin general laughed.
The skeleton knight reached out, scooping him into its palm. Using the momentum, it turned around, sending Hiroshi flying back towards the general, twice the speed.
Take this!
The general grunted in surprise as Hiroshi’s foot connected with its chest, forcing it to take a few steps back. His health dropped a little bit.
Hiroshi landed on the ground, and took a few leaps back to make some distance, shifting his weight onto his foot to make sure it was okay.
That must have hurt him more than it hurt me.
Status. Inspect.
The window popped open in front of him.
Greater Goblin General
LV: 40
HP: 4500/4900
MP: 600/600
Skills: ???, ???, ???, ???
So that just scratched him, huh?
The general stopped and let out a long growl. Its smile and laughter were gone.
“I. Crush. You. Now.” It croaked out, tossing the metal cage to the side.
It slid across the dirt ground, coming to a stop. The elders all jumbled together, whimpering.
The goblin general spoke once more.
“Greater. Strength.” His body pulsed a color.
“Greater. Speed.” Another pulse followed.
Oi oi, are you kidding me?
“Lesser. Agility.”
Fine. Let’s go all out.
The general’s body was washed over by a dark green color.
Hiroshi closed his eyes, picturing all of the dead goblins all around him then shot open.
“Raise Dead.” He ordered.
Goblin corpses all around began to glow a dark green hue, slowly getting up and beginning to walk toward Hiroshi.
One large goblin came back with cuts all over it, missing one arm.
You’re still going, huh?
Hiroshi stood in front of the goblin general with the skeleton knight beside him. Four large goblins stood behind them, with many smaller ones between and beside them.
The goblin general opened his mouth one last time.
“Enrage.”
His eyes turned bright red as he shouted into the sky with all his might, its long, jagged blade raised into the air.
It looked down once more. No thoughts or words escaped it.
Only raw killing intent was left.