CHAPTER 20: COMPETITION – CLASH AGAINST GOBLINS

The bright beams of the taxi cut through the night, illuminating an abandoned stretch of land. At its center stood the subway entrance, dome-shaped and forlorn. The cracked cement floor around it was overrun with grass and weeds, reclaiming the forgotten place. Buildings stood to the left and right, but they were distant, nearly a kilometer away, their faint lights flickering like indifferent stars.

"Are you sure it’s alright for a kid to be out here this late?" the driver asked, his voice hesitant. He was a man with quite the stomach, leaning back to look at Godfrey as the boy stepped out.

Godfrey turned briefly, his eyes glowing faintly for a second before returning to normal. "I’ll be fine."

He descended the dusty staircase leading down into the subway. Rats scuttled away at the sound of his footsteps, vanishing into cracks and holes.

His brows furrowed, hard lines appearing on his forehead as his thoughts grew heavy. Had this dungeon already been cleared? The scenery remained unchanged, abandoned, dark, and eerily silent, with nothing but cobwebs for company.

But then he reached the last stair. And something didn’t fit.

The beam of his torch caught a gathering at the far end of the station. Cheers, guttural and crude echoed across the chamber. A group of fifteen creatures stood there, humanoid in shape, clad in mismatched steel armor: cuirasses, vambraces, greaves, and boots. The armor covered only parts of their bodies, leaving exposed their strange features, wide, lupine ears jutting high above their heads like grotesque antennae. Their skin was a deep crimson.

Hobgoblins.

The infamous evolution of goblins. Unlike their stunted kin, usually no taller than ten-year-old children, these were as tall as grown men, tall as Godfrey himself at 183 cm.

Each one carried a flaming torch and leather bags slung across their bodies, their cheers filled with excitement over their spoils. But the moment the bright white light of Godfrey’s torch fell upon them, silence fell like a blade.

Godfrey’s gaze locked on the leader, a battle-hardened hobgoblin chief. A golden ring necklace hung from his neck, instantly familiar. It was the same necklace worn by the girl from the video. A heavy sadness filled Godfrey’s chest. She hadn’t just filmed the place. She had gone inside... and never returned.

The chief, scarred and broad, with dark hair spilling freely down his back, fixed his hungry eyes on Godfrey. His mouth twisted in savage delight as he pointed his sword forward, shouting, "Jvske ki elagev!"

Godfrey interpreted the meaning instinctively: ’Hold that meat!’

The hobgoblins charged, fifteen strong, shields and sabers in hand. Their boots pounded against the stone floor.

Godfrey clenched his fist. In an instant, his hand became gauntleted, arcs of lightning dancing across the steel gauntlet. He remembered his boxing lessons, the hours spent on bags and drills long before he awakened as a summoner. Instinct guided him now.

The first hobgoblin swung diagonally, its blade whistling through the air. Godfrey ducked low, leaning right. The saber missed by inches. He launched his right arm forward, his gauntleted fist crackling with golden lightning. It struck the hobgoblin’s cheek with a thunderous impact, snapping its lower jaw and sending teeth scattering.

Godfrey spun, his left fist surging with even greater power. He slammed it into the shield of the second hobgoblin. The golden lightning shredded through the wooden barrier like paper, obliterating it before tearing into the creature’s chest. The cuirass caved in with a sickening crunch, ribs snapping as the hobgoblin was hurled backward, vomiting blood.

Two more pressed in. Godfrey raised his forearms, gauntlets sparking as they deflected twin saber strikes. His blue eyes darkened as they lifted, locking onto the chief hobgoblin. The brute only chuckled, arrogantly inspecting his blade, waiting for his warriors to deliver the kill.

Suddenly, Godfrey retreated, his movements sharp and precise, weaving through their attacks with inhuman precision. The chief’s expression faltered. His voice thundered through the station: "Rakush jelkakiba!"

Before the warriors could overwhelm him, a golden summoning diagram erupted behind the chief. From its brilliance stepped forth a towering figure, Mountain.

The hobgoblin chief spun around in shock, but it was already too late. A wrathful slap sent its head flying, severed clean from its shoulders. The head smashed into the station wall with a crack, scattering dust and debris as the body collapsed in a pool of blood.

Empowering himself with Lightning Infusion, Mountain burst forward, his longsword blazing with golden arcs. He swung it in a wide arc, releasing an energy wave that carved through three hobgoblins in one strike.

Another warrior lunged. Godfrey pivoted, punching it into the wall. Its eyes rolled white as it slid down unconscious. A second hobgoblin leapt from behind, blade descending for his back, but Godfrey shifted, Mountain’s armor covering him entirely. The sword struck uselessly against the thick pauldron, and the attacker impaled itself on the jagged spike protruding from it. Blood streamed down his cloak as the corpse fell away.

With a grunt, Godfrey summoned his longsword mid-motion, intercepting another strike. Steel clashed, sparks flying, before his blade sheared clean through the hobgoblin’s sword and buried halfway into its neck. Gurgling, it collapsed as he shoved it aside.

When he looked up, the battle was already finished. Hobgoblins littered the floor, their vile green blood soaking into the cracked cement. At the center of it all stood Mountain, golden armor gleaming, surrounded by carnage.

Godfrey exhaled. "You know... for the first time, I feel like going back is the way forward."

He turned toward the staircase with narrowed eyes. It was no longer made of cement. Instead, a crude, uneven staircase carved into raw stone spiraled upward.

He climbed quickly, Mountain following with heavy, metallic steps. At the top, they were met with an alien sky, a vast purple moon glowing high above, the heavens littered with red stars that bled against the dark.

They stood in a canyon. Jagged rock walls rose on both sides, the terrain dry and desolate. Godfrey’s armored feet rang with sharp echoes on the stone path, while Mountain’s heavier strides reverberated like hammer against an anvil. Together, small and large in matching armor, they walked onward.

"What a strange sky, right, Mountain?" Godfrey rested his sword on his pauldron, glancing up at the endless purple expanse.

Mountain gave only a grunt in reply, but suddenly stopped. His head snapped to the cliffs above.

Godfrey followed his gaze. Both ridges of the canyon were crawling with red-skinned figures. Hobgoblins, dozens of them, bristling with weapons.

They had walked into a military camp.

Stones rained down first, hurled by dozens of strong arms. Spears followed, then arrows whistling from above. Mountain raised his shield, covering Godfrey as rocks shattered against it, spears splintered, and arrows bounced harmlessly off the reinforced steel.

"Kashoeh evekshs!!" a voice bellowed.

It came from a towering figure, a blue-skinned orc nearly seven feet tall, tusks jutting downward like curved ivory blades. His tribal markings glowed faintly under the starlight, his spiky dark-red hair standing wild. His body was strangely monstrous, three thick fingers on each hand, and only two massive toes planted firmly on the stone on each foot. It also had a dungeon core chained to its chest. His bulging eyes trembled with confusion as he watched his warriors fall.

Some collapsed with their chests caved in, as though struck by invisible stones from above. Others dropped with holes clean through their bodies, pierced by unseen spears and arrows. The canyon echoed with the sickening cracks of bones and skulls shattering.

Picking up a huge bone club, the blue skinned goblin general leaped from the top of the canyon, slamming heavily on Mountain’s shield causing the Knight-Captain to fall on its knees, the rocky earth caving inward due to the power of the impact.

"Lu rokashi na!" The Goblin General pointed the club at Mountain with a furious scowl before dividing into two and then the two split once more.

Four Goblin Generals, all of them powerful enough to be a high tier 5.2, surrounded Godfrey. Out of the lips of the four of them came out jeers.

Seeing this, Mountain took a heavy step forward, his armour gaining a crimson shade, crackling with black lightning as his cloak became as dark as night.

Godfrey placed his palm on his face as soft laughter left his lips, ’I almost thought I was dead... Thank you for this skill.’ His blue eyes flared with a bright gleam reflecting the purple moon.

...

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