End Of World Marriage

Tough Enemies

5 YEARS AGO

Kenan stepped out of the restaurant with a dull look on his face. He was the last out, but only because torture was an unpleasant act and he really hated having an audience. He looked down at the cuff of his shirt where a bloodstain remained. He frowned. This was his favorite shirt—it would be hard to get this out. He looked to the left where the entrance to the restaurant's back alley stood.

Cars passed by as people went about their evening, none of them aware of the m******e that had just been carried out. He turned his head to the other side and raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of him.

A woman was being robbed… except it wasn't going as the robber planned. Kenan watched with both shock and amusement as the woman literally slapped the gun out of her attacker's hand. The man was astounded, even more so, when she whacked him over the head with her handbag. He cried out in pain, but she wasn't done as she pushed him until he smashed the back of his head against the wall. He grunted and threw a foot forward, catching her in the stomach. She let out a strangled cry as she folded into herself, falling to the ground with her hands wrapped around her midsection. Her bag spilled its contents out into the street.

"You b***h! Who do you think you are?" The assailant got up and threw another kick into her side. She coughed, tears spilling from her eyes. The robber picked his gun up from where it had been discarded on the ground, then turned to point it at her curled-up form.

"You stupid girl, I would have just roughed you up a bit and sent you on your way. But now, I'm going to make sure I enjoy what happens next!"

The assailant raised his foot, only for Kenan to walk forward, a phone in his hand with the camera lit and pointed at the man. "I-I'm live streaming this right now, and I've called the cops! You better get out of here!" Kenan almost rolled his eyes at the dramatic tremors he put in his voice as both the assailant and the woman looked at him with gobsmacked expressions.

Kenan shrugged. What was she expecting? That he would swoop down like some knight in shining armor to save her? Or that he would use his considerable skill to send the man to the afterlife as he clearly intended to do to her? No thank you.

Besides, he was currently fleeing the scene of a grisly crime he'd helped perpetrate. The person leaving must not be the same person who entered. Luckily, or unluckily for the man, Kenan's bluff seemed to work as he turned tail and ran. Proper sign that he was a complete amateur. Kenan watched as he disappeared into the streets beyond, then walked forward and came to a stop beside the woman.

"Can you stand?" he asked as he knelt down and stretched out a hand to her. That was when she raised her head, and those blazing green eyes locked onto his. Her red hair was plastered across her forehead with sweat, and tears glistened down her cheeks in trails. She was beautiful—scratch that, she was beyond divine and gorgeous, with an innocence that was tempered by the fury in her eyes and even more highlighted by the switchblade held tightly in her fist.

That alone set off an explosion in his mind as Kenan realized he was dealing with no mere damsel in distress. And as she took his hand, an intense feeling crept up and down his spine. Then and there, Kenan regretted not killing the assailant, because this woman… was worth killing for.

PRESENT DAY

A minute. One bloody minute left until the next wave. He growled softly as he picked up one of the mana potions and downed it in one fell swoop. Almost immediately, he could feel a surge of icy cold energy within him as his mana filled up. Throwing one last look at the tent, he quickly picked up the shield and spear, returning his gladius to its sheath. There was no time to reclaim his used arrows, and even then he doubted the arrowheads would be in good enough shape to kill the basic goblins, much less any hobgoblins.

He looked down at his right leg. The bandages were soaked through, but he could feel that the bleeding had slowed. Worse, he hadn't gotten any rewards from the last wave, so this would be a lot harder to deal with than he'd thought. But perhaps it was too soon to jump to conclusions. Kenan had barely gotten injured in the fight against the hobgoblins, if at all. And that was because he'd finally decided to stop holding back.

He was scared of what he might become again. But it no longer mattered. It was years ago that he'd decided Kate was a woman he could and would kill for. It was today, after their vows, that he'd decided she was a woman he would die for. There was no other way.

The clearing shook. The system screen above the pylon shook and flickered a couple of times before winking out. Ahead of him, the trees began to twist. Loud creaking sounds filled the air as the bark twisted, then melted into sludge that quickly reformed itself into two hobgoblin-shaped beings. This was different from what the pylon had done in previous waves. The sludge receded, and standing there were two hobgoblins.

The only problem with these new arrivals was that one of them held a staff with the glowing skull of some animal, and the other was decked out in armor and held a longsword. Without a doubt, there was nothing basic about these new arrivals. In that moment, the system screen flickered back into existence.

[Wave 3 of 3! Defeat Basic Hobgoblin Warrior 0/1, Defeat Basic Hobgoblin Shaman 0/1]

They held each other's gaze for a few seconds before Kenan shrugged and pointed Kate's spear at them. "Well, are you both going to stand there staring at me, or are we going to get this show on the road?"

"Roaaarrrr!" the warrior hobgoblin roared in response.

Kenan smiled. "As you wish."

Kenan charged at them. The hobgoblins fell into formation as the shaman moved back and the warrior rushed at him. Kenan hefted his spear and threw it, utilizing the same tactics from the previous fight. The warrior anticipated and ducked to the side, but he wasn't who Kenan had been aiming for in the first place. The spear flew true, carrying death with it. But the shaman didn't even flinch as the spear hit a glowing red barrier that had suddenly appeared in front of him.

Kenan didn't have time to react as the warrior came in with a wide s***h from left to right. He had more reach with the longer weapon, and quite a bit of power too. Instead of retreating, Kenan stepped into his guard, using the shield to take the brunt of the blow as he felt vibrations run up and down his arm. The warrior responded with a headbutt that Kenan hadn't seen coming, and with the helmet he had on, Kenan was sure he felt his collarbone fracture on account of still being taller than the Hobgoblin as he was pushed back. But even as he stumbled backward, the warrior pulling back his longsword for another attack, Kenan shot his right foot forward—ignoring the jarring pain from his earlier injury—as he slammed it into the hobgoblin's crooked nose.

The feeling of cartilage crushing beneath his heel would have been all the more satisfying if a blast of purple energy hadn't come flying in his direction from the shaman. Kenan barely brought the shield to bear as the energy bolt smashed into it, throwing him off his feet. His back hit the ground hard, driving the air from his lungs. Panic coursed through him. On the ground and on his back was the last place he should be. He let instincts drive him as he rolled to the left, and not a moment too soon—the warrior's sword came biting down like a vengeful viper, striking where he'd just been.

Kenan quickly got back to his feet, raising his shield as the longsword came cleaving toward his head once more. The blade bit into the wooden shield, almost cleaving it in half, as it slashed into his forearm. Kenan hissed in pain, but he took the opening that presented itself. His gladius slashed out, biting into the warrior's ankle and drawing a roar from it. Kenan twisted his shield and pulled back, wrenching the longsword out of the hobgoblin warrior's hands. He surged upward, the tip of his gladius coming up like the sting of a scorpion. Kenan intended to ram it under the warrior's jaw and out the top of his head, only for the same barrier that protected the shaman to appear. He felt a rebound across his blade that shook him down to his bones. He almost lost his grip on his gladius but reacted quickly, jumping backward to put some space between himself and the now-unarmed warrior.

Kenan came to a stop with his feet resting on top of the warrior's longsword. But there was no time to consider the weapon as the hobgoblin charged at him. Kenan threw the shield, which the warrior batted away as it angled itself for a charge at Kenan's midsection. Kenan stepped to the side, faced the shaman, and started running toward the caster.

The warrior let out a huff of surprise, as if it had never considered the fact that Kenan would abandon their fight, leaving his back exposed just to go after the shaman. And in doing so, he'd also left the warrior's weapon behind for the hobgoblin to reclaim. So now Kenan was stuck between the shaman and the warrior, and each and every single one of them was in a panic. The shaman, who would rather not be forced into a melee engagement. The warrior, whose job was to protect the shaman. And Kenan, stuck in the middle of both of them and facing death from two sides.

One of them was about to die. But the question being asked now was… who?