Ichor Cell-Chapter 56: Goblin Slaying IV

Ichor Cell-Chapter 56: Goblin Slaying IV

Most average Bronzes that stayed at the level had learned long ago that most fights were about rhythm. Block. Push. Step. Strike. Repeat. Don’t think too hard about it. Don’t get fancy. Just keep the rhythm alive.
Today, the rhythm was slipping.
Rian shoved forward with his shield again, boots sliding slightly on mud and blood. The goblin he struck toppled backward into three more, but before he could breathe, another one took its place, stabbing at him with a furious snarl on its face. The hit glanced off his shield rim, but he still felt the jolt in his wrist.
“Hold!” a Silver shouted beside him.
The line braced.
Dozens of goblins slammed into them again, as if unaware that the last twenty waves had failed. They climbed over piles of bodies, uncaring for hundreds of their kin that had shattered themselves against the group of adventurers. They were sure that this was it,
they
were the ones that would get in a lucky hit and take an adventurer out.
They were getting dangerously close.
Although the fight couldn’t have been going for longer than ten minutes, Rian was already gasping for breath, each swing and block drawing a deep burn from his muscles. He was sure others around him were experiencing the same thing; just a few moments ago, he had heard a human cry of pain coming from his left.
Of course, this only applied to his fellow Bronze ranks.
A Silver to his right moved like she wasn’t affected at all. Her spear shot forward three times in the space of a single breath, each thrust finding a throat or an eye. A golden projection erupted from the tip at every stab, piercing through her intended target as well as the one behind it with ease.
Up front, a man wielded a sword almost as tall as he was like it weighed nothing. His swings weren’t accompanied by flashy lights or fancy explosions, but Rian was of the opinion that the less grand someone’s abilities looked for their level, the more lethal they were.
Sure, a mage casting an explosion to level a building looked impressive, but the same amount of power concentrated into a single punch was much more terrifying.
Falling back to gather his breath, Rian wiped the blood pouring down his face from a cut and assessed the battlefield.
Although the pile of corpses surrounding the adventurers was almost waist high, the flood of goblins pouring out of the cave had yet to slow. Slowly but surely, they were being forced to retreat to not be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. A thousand didn’t sound like a lot, until you were faced with that amount of angry green children trying to kill you with pointy sticks.
Before going back in, he threw a glance backwards and caught sight of the guild master, Remus, and the strange Wood rank. Although even Rian had to admit that the man was handsome, the guild master must have had another reason to bring him along. Added with the fact that the Wood was standing with their two strongest combatants, Rian had a pretty good guess as to what that was.
As he watched, he saw the man jostle the guild master and point at the battlefield. The woman showed a hesitant expression, but then sighed and nodded.
“Kyarrrghhh!”
“Shit!” A goblin had somehow slipped through the wall of adventurers, and decided to attack Rian in his moment of inattention. Just as he raised his shield to bat its swing aside, a rumble passed beneath his feet and the goblin was suddenly suspended on the end of a six-foot-long spear of stone.
The quake continued forward until it reached the line of adventurers, and then the ground erupted. Rows upon rows of jagged stone tore out of the earth, each one taller than a man and sharp enough to punch clean through whatever stood in its path. Goblins were lifted into the air like toys, skewered mid-scream before they even realized what was happening. Bodies hung on the stones for a heartbeat before the implements of death crumbled and turned to dust.
By the time the earth stilled, an entire section of the battlefield had been cleared, leaving only shattered weapons, severed limbs, and the guild master lowering her hand as if she’d done nothing more than brush dirt from her sleeve.
“Okay, Vlad the Impaler.” Rian heard the Wood rank mutter.
Right. She was a mage.
A really scary one.
The few goblins left alive in the clearing had frozen in fear, but the reinforcements still emerging from the cave hadn't seen what happened. With gleeful cries, they charged the adventurers, waking them from their stupor.
Rian forced himself back into motion, only half-aware of the goblin he smashed aside as he rejoined the rhythm. His arms still trembled, and while the brief pause in the fighting hadn’t given anyone enough time to rest, the adventurer’s morale was soaring.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, the incident.
So what if there were a thousand goblins? So what if things got dicey? They had two Disaster level mages watching over them. Worst came to worst, they’d just retreat.
Buoyed by this realisation, the slaughter resumed with enthusiasm.
A goblin leapt onto the corpse mound, its larger size denoting it as a variant that had slipped the archer’s net. Before it could do anything, the Silver swordsman hacked its leg off at the knee and the spear woman pierced its head with a golden projection. The horde didn’t care. They kept coming, crawling over the bodies of their predecessors, weapons raised, screeching in anger.
Rian grit his teeth and roared back.
“
GRRRAAAHHHHH
!” He jumped as the sound reverberated through the clearing, drowning out the noise and pausing the heated battle.
‘That wasn’t me.’
Rian paled.
Thud.
An impact reverberated from the cave entrance.
Thud.
Rian could have sworn that the ground trembled, as if to announce the arrival of some monster.
BOOM!
Before he could process it, a radiant light erupted from the front line, the potent magic blinding him momentarily. When his sight cleared, Rian was stunned.
A line of devastation cut through the horde of goblins filling the clearing. A path of carnage and gore that scattered blood and body parts around its edges. One end stopped right where the bright light had originated, as if some barrier had sprung up and interrupted the attack. The other end…
THUD.
With a final impact, a form emerged in the opening, revealing itself as the most terrifying thing Rian had seen in his entire life.
Twice the size of a man with legs thicker than tree trunks, the variant forced its way forward, wood beams cracking against plated skin. A thick arm reached out first—the forearm sized fingers ending in wicked looking claws. Then a head emerged, jaw jutting with two monstrous tusks, bone plating fused across the skull like a grotesque helmet.
When it raised its right arm, Rian belatedly realised that it was gripping a head sized rock. Before he could react, something streaked through the air beside him towards the creature as its arm seemingly teleported forwards and unleashed another blast of sound.
BOOM!
The projectile that would have decimated their group was intercepted by the blur as another brilliant light erupted from the point of impact. Rian turned and saw the guild master holding out her hand, a serious expression across her face. With a start, he realised that the Wood rank had disappeared from her side. Sure enough, he turned around to see the man standing at the front of the group, arms crossed in a defensive posture.
Rian didn’t need to be told.
He stepped back.
The heavy hitters were moving.
Alex stood at the front before he realized he had moved. His arms tingled from the impact, and he shook them out once, more out of surprise than out of discomfort. The attack was basically his finger flick rock launcher but on steroids. The only reason his arms were still attached was the thin shield the guild master had snapped around him a heartbeat before the projectile hit.
The variant stared at him from across the clearing.
The guild master’s voice came from behind him, her voice devoid of her previous humour.
“Keep its attention.”
He nodded.
Remus stepped to his right, gathering mana in his free hand. Wind circled around his fingers as sparks jumped across his sword in flashes.
The guild master remained behind them, hands lifting as runes shimmered faintly along her armour.
The variant bent its knees.
Alex barely got out of the way in time.
One second it was almost a hundred feet away from him, and the next the earth behind it had cratered, its shape looming over him. Alex threw himself to the side as a clawed hand ripped through the air where he’d been. Dirt blasted upward in a spray. He rolled once and sprang to his feet, shocked that something that big could move that fast.
Thankfully, he wasn’t alone.
Remus’ sword flashed, a burst of lightning erupting from its edge and striking the variant across the face hard enough to snap its head sideways. It recoiled with a guttural hiss, one eye closing as it was scorched shut.
“Nice shot!” Alex called out as he rejoined the fight, only to pale as the creature ignored the pain and swung down on him.
“Watch out!” The guild master snapped.
A fresh shield flared around him—thicker this time, a compressed shell of mana that crackled faintly with power.
The blow hit.
Even softened by magic, the blow launched him into the ground. He hit the dirt hard, air punched from his lungs, the shield shattering like glass around him. Something in his chest twinged sharply, a brief spike of white-hot pain, but the damage began sealing itself before he even coughed out the dust in his throat.
“Are you okay?” The guild master shouted as she blasted the variant with waves of fire.
“I’m fine!” He shouted back. “I can take much worse than that, so don’t worry!”
‘Though I’d rather not.’
Their chat was interrupted by the variant charging through the flames, its body barely singed despite the high temperatures.
‘Okay, apparently it's strong against fire. Good to know.’
The guild master seemingly had the same realisation as she shut off the fire spell and prepared something else.
Remus stepped back and slashed downward, his blade once again throwing out a blast of lightning. The variant’s muscles locked up as it collapsed mid charge, letting out a surprised growl of pain.
Alex used the opportunity to charge in, infusing his entire upper body with mana and hammering down on the creature’s face.
A flash of agony informed him of his broken hand.
He jumped back as the creature shook itself awake and snapped out an arm, its hand snapping closed where his leg had just been.
“Guild master!” Remus called. "We need space!"
“Already on it!”
She pressed a hand to the ground.
A massive, blunt stone pillar erupted beneath the rising variant—not a spear, but a battering ram the width of a wagon, reinforced with glowing runes. It struck the monster full in the chest.
With a crack of displaced air, the twelve-foot-tall creature was launched into the air, its roar of anger fading as it flew hundreds of feet across the clearing and into the treeline.
Alex blinked in surprise. “I vote we do that again.”
“We will,” the guild master said crisply. “But first…”
She swept her hand towards the den opening and muttered an incantation. With a flash of power, the entire entrance collapsed inward, crushing the emerging goblins and sealing the rest beneath several tons of fused rock. Dust billowed outward.
Remus swept his sword outward, and a crescent of fire and wind tore through the remaining goblins in their immediate path, clearing the space around them.
“Retreat!” He yelled toward the other adventurers. “Do not follow us!”
Not waiting for the adventurers to acknowledge the order, the trio turned around and ran towards the treeline, where the sound of angry roaring and splintering trees was getting closer.
Alex grinned despite himself.
“Time to get that bag.”

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Chapter 56: Goblin Slaying IV