CHAPTER 38: THE PALADIN’S STRIDE

"Goblins?" Phoenix remarked, reaching for his sword.

"Looks like around a dozen," Leon said, watching the group of fiends chatter with their unintelligible grunts amongst one another, seeming to take note of their presence in tandem.

From what he knew about goblins, in comparison to the standard, green-skinned relatives of the ones he found invading his land, these were different–undoubtedly stronger, a bit taller with more muscle definition in their frames.

As he reached to draw his blade–

"I’ll handle this," the proclamation came from the Paladin, who stepped in front of the two with a confident, calm smile, not having yet drawn his own weapon.

Without any protesting, Phoenix accepted the offer, sitting himself back down by the campfire with a shrug, "Well, have at it then, Hero."

Leon debated on rejecting the Paladin’s selfless action, though didn’t say anything as he silently watched. A part of him wanted to be thrown into battle to ease his own anxiety, but he calmed himself with a breath.

Spread out near the carriages and tens occupied by common folk, the adventurers assigned to their sector seemed ready to let the famous swordsman handle it. There didn’t seem to be a soul around that wasn’t well aware of the reverence around Charlemagne.

He watched the lavish cape flow as the Paladin took slow, deliberate strides through the verdant grass. There was a surprising amount of unison between the evolved goblins, who spat their fiendish words at one another, moving in a formation to surround the lonesome swordsman.

"Ru-tah!"

"Ruu-tah!"

"Ru-taaah!"

–All at once, each of the combative goblins shouted, invoking a change in the wind around their own bodies. While the noise that left the fiends’ mouths was utterly foreign to the young man, he immediately understood the meaning when observing how the air moved around their small frames.

"What the hell are they shouting about?" Phoenix muttered, watching carefully.

"Magic," Leon answered. "They’re enhancing themselves with magic."

At the moment the observation parted from his lips, the goblins moved towards the Paladin from all sides, dashing around the human swordsman with agility that outpaced even the greatest of Olympic runners.

From three different angles, the small, nimble creatures erupted towards Charlemagne, swinging their blades. One came for the back of his knee, another for his heart, and the third seeking his neck with its edge.

Like a leaf being carried by the wind, the swordsman slid his body through the gaps left by the goblins’ assault, slipping past their strikes with a smiling grace. The confident man ducked his head down, avoiding a strike from behind without seeing it, pivoting as he slipped behind the fiend as an incoming strike instead hit one of the goblins’ own kind.

One thing that Leon noticed was a simple, frustrating fact: Charlemagne had yet to draw his own sword.

As the Paladin swiftly got behind one of the goblins, he tapped his index finger against its head, invoking a single word, "Purge."

The utterance caused the yellow skin of the creature to ripple before bursting into golden flames. Within moments as it screeched, the divine fire left it as nothing more than embers carried in the wind.

"Purge."

"Purge."

"Purge."

Like a phantom through the eclipse-curtained grass, the Paladin slipped past the desperate swings by each fiend, leaving them only with a single tap before they were all left turned to embers. The one-sided showcase was a relieving sight, as expected as it was for the famous Paladin to dispatch a handful of goblins.

Phoenix watched with bated breath, having to laugh to himself to reasonably understand what he witnessed, "Holy shit...I knew he was strong, sure, but man–that’s scary stuff."

"That’s Charlemagne for you. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that guy go all out, or even close to it," Leon remarked. "Having him here during this Eclipse is invaluable...Well, there was a price on it, actually."

"I don’t even wanna know," Phoenix responded with a wince.

With the goblins handled on the north end, he closed his eyes, focusing with a calming inhale as he moved his vision elsewhere.

’Let’s see how every other section is holding up,’ he thought.

["Noble Surveillance"]

From an eagle eye view, he could see troops of goblins coming from all sides, though met with the forces ready to defend the land.

[East of Schoeller Property]

"Ruuuah!"

A roar left the towering man’s lips as a quake ripped across the soil. From the downfall of the butler’s fist, a crater was left with only the smashed remnants of a goblin as any proof the fiend had existed.

Sitting near a gathering of tents, the scarlet-haired maid drank from a cup of tea calmly while the onlooking guests watched in shock at the butler’s brutish display.

"A bit of restraint would serve you well, Augustus," Irene said with a quiet sigh as she pulled her lips from the rim of the cup.

As there were a few children trembling with fear when looking upon the aftermath of the butler’s fists, the maid found her comment necessary in reprimanding the brutish man.

The muscular servant laughed heartily, standing amongst a number of craters that now served as the graves for the unfortunate goblins who met him, "I’ve lived my life without restraint, and I’m not stopping now! Dontcha worry, kids–I’m not letting any monsters lay a finger on ya’!"

It seemed the cheery smile worn by the mountain of a man was enough to sway the hearts of the children, whose fear was washed away by admiration.

A boy with rosy cheeks pumped his fist up, "Thank you, Mister Punchy!"

"Mister Punchy!" A small, blonde girl chimed in.

While the sudden cheers were certainly unexpected, the parents added in with small claps. Augustus claimed the newfound nickname with a hearty laugh, while the tea-sipping maid smiled to herself.

–

Amongst the mountains overlooking the valley, a gathering of orcs clad in blackened armor waited. Among their forces, cyclops stood like knights of the night, surrounded by nefarious beasts converged by the nebulous eclipse.

The ironclad monsters sat among one another, bickering, some fighting over squabbles as minor as bumping into each other. Yet, deeper into the mountains, within the caves now claimed by the invading darkness, a greater malice awaited–

A chamber decorated with the still warm bodies of adventurers caught amidst their travels, having their lives snatched by the merciless eclipse.

"My lord," the orc decorated in an armor forged of thorns knelt with a cape woven of the pelt of great beasts knelt in subservience. "The Eclipse has now begun. We must act now, without wasting any more time."

["Ashvald"] [CLASS: Orc Warlord] [Lv. 30]

The elite monster displayed its obedience to the figure that sat in a throne of fresh bones, among other grand fiends that all bowed. In a chamber filled with the likes of an orcish warlord, a man-dragon with unburning scales, and monsters of all magnitude, the one they knelt to was quite different–

"Is that right?," the figure casually said, kicking his boots up on the armrest of the throne, drinking wine from an entire gourd that sat on his chest. "Stand up, Ashvald."

The order from the human man of short, red hair came with a gesture pointing his finger up, casually commanding the warlord to his feet.

["Ban"] [Level: 37]

For as large and imposing as the warlord of orcs was, the ironclad monster looked to the side at the cyclops knelt beside him before hesitantly standing.

"Hurry up already," the human impatiently commanded before indulging in a gulp of wine without any semblance of manners. "Got wax in your ears, or somethin’?"

As the orc approached the grotesque throne, opening his mouth to speak, a simple wave of the human’s hand sent away the warlord’s head. There was nothing left but a short-lived downpour of blood of the orc’s brain matter, leaving its enormous body collapsing onto the ground.

The elite monsters in attendance silently watched, all too afraid to show any reaction, showing only the pale rabbit knelt in the back squeaked.

Ban stood from his throne, glancing towards the rabbit-woman, who quickly lowered her head to hide her presence. The man turned his attention back to the slain warlord, kneeling down as he placed his hand on the back of the corpse.

"Assimilate."

With only a word, the entire body was turned to a nefarious energy, siphoned into the human’s body like nutrients as he let out a satisfied sigh.

"Oh, yeah, that’s the stuff," Ban exhaled, rolling his shoulders as his veins illuminated with a surge of vigor. "I guess that meathead was good for something, after all. Well, that big guy did have a point–it’s time for us to make our move. The Nebula Eclipse is the beacon of chaos for monsters–a time to plunge this aggravating world of order into the gutter."