The One Unworthy of Legends

~ Chapter 4 ~

Facing The Goblin Lord

Skarlet crept along the walls of the cave, She couldn't smell anything at the moment, most likely the rest of the hobgoblins were deeper in. She approached a large cavern entrance, her sword drawn, she smelled something new, something big.

There were a group of hobgoblins ahead along with a large creature that smelled similar to a goblin but also different somehow. She peered inside and saw a group of about ten or twenty hobgoblins, they stood in rows facing a large fat goblin that Skarlet recognized as a goblin lord. The Goblin lord was sitting on a giant log, piles of rocks were against it. The goblin lord was wearing a necklace of bones and skulls, and the skull of some beast was being used as a helmet. She paused, realizing there was no good way to approach this fight. She felt like she could do a few fireballs now, as well as the higher version of that spell Fire arrow.

"Spirits of the fire, give it shape and give it power, Fire arrow!" She summoned two fire arrows one for each hand she aimed them at the two rows and fired. The arrows were fast, piercing the heads of all four hobgoblins in each row, eight in total fell. She felt her magic drop, but not enough to make her dizzy, but those two spells were about half her mana.

A roar resounded, the lord had noticed her,and the hobgoblins turned to attack. Skarlet rolled forward as a large rock smashed into where she just was, She slung her sword upwards with all her strength, the three hobgoblins crowding in front of her were forcibly cut in two, her sword only managed to get about halfway through the third one though. He was dying from the injury but still managed to lash out, the nails on it's fingers dug into the side of Skarlet's face.

She kicked him, he separated from the sword with a tearing sound of flesh and bone. Suddenly pain erupted in her shoulder, Skarlet leaped back just as about six arrows buried themselves into the ground where she'd been standing before. She reached up and broke the arrow off, leaving the head in her shoulder, she winced as her gaze settled on the group of hobgoblin archers, there were five of them, and the remaining four Hobgoblins in front of her were closing in.

Skarlet, thinking quick, aimed her free hand at the archers and chanted. "Spirits of the fire, shape and come forth, fireball." A ball of fire burst from her palm and shot forth exploding atop the giant log the archers were using as a perch. Several of the hobgoblin Archer's caught fire, they screamed, before they even realized what was going on the log was ablaze as well and all five burned alive.

In the middle of her chant, a spearman Goblin lunged at her, she deflected his spear with her sword and plugged it into his gut as he stumbled past her. The remaining three were swordsmen, they approached her cautiously. The lord had been watching the whole time, suddenly he threw another rock, Skarlet leaped out of the way. The Hobgoblin swordsman trio weren't as lucky, they were crushed by the giant boulder, Skarlet backpedaled as the lord stepped forward.

"Spirits of the fire, give it shape and give it power, fire arrow" Skarlet launched a fire arrow at the head of the lord, the lord swung his club and smashed the arrow from the air, then he roared. "s**t!" Skarlet leaped away as the club smashed into the ground, her senses screaming danger.

Skarlet leaped forward, running up the club, it abruptly shot upwards. Skarlet leaped with the momentum, she grabbed onto a rather thick root hanging from the ceiling. Before she could react, the club smashed into the ceiling beside her, tearing through the earth and roots. Skarlet swung forward, her sword held above her head, she descended towards his neck. Without any warning his free hand shot up and her sword dug deep into the side of his arm, the momentum carried her down his arm rather than through it, and that momentum slowed as she reached his hand before it stopped altogether. She was now hanging under his hand, Suddenly the club was back and swinging directly at her, seeing it she let go of the sword.

"Shiiiit!" She screamed as she realized she wasn't falling fast enough, she pushed her hand out, smashing it into the club. She felt nauseous from the sounds of every bone in her arm breaking, but it had offset her enough as she slipped below the club. The lord suddenly let out an agonized roar, the club he'd swung at her had smashed into his side, likely breaking a few ribs.

Skarlet's arm hung uselessly at her side, she didn't miss a beat though, as soon as she landed she was running. She leaped up the Lord's back, who was now on his knees, and raced for his hand which was pressed against his ribs. She leapt over his shoulder and slid down his stomach, while spinning she grabbed the sword and in the same motion, ripped it from his hand and slung it up. The sword launched upwards and buried itself deep into the Lord's neck, he coughed blood as she twisted and turned in the air to correct herself. She hit the ground and bounced, rolling and tumbling, till she finally rolled to a stop. She was out, out of mana, and out of energy. I can't move, my arm's broken, pain burning from many wounds. She thought uselessly, I wonder if I killed him? The club was still on the ground, choking sounds could be heard, then after what seemed like an eternity. A loud bang rang out, shaking the ground, the Lord had fallen.

Skarlet felt energy return to her, and mana refilling, she sat up shakily. She wasn't regaining it naturally, this was the growth from the lord she just killed. Skarlet placed her hand over her broken arm. I don't know if I have the mana for this or not, I received a decent bit, but my sense is off. But if I don't, I'll lose this arm.

"God of the world's soul, cure my ailments, mend my skin and bone, Healing light." Skarlet whispered, the energy to speak aloud just wasn't there, as she did a green light covering her arm. She watched with morbid curiosity as her arm untwisted and the bones reformed, pushing back into her skin and the wounds on her arm healed. She felt that her mana was once again empty. She realized that her mana had tripled upon defeating the Lord, and the healing spell she just cast would have taken twice the mana she had before she defeated him.

Skarlet got shakily to her feet, approaching the corpse of the lord, her sword poked out from his neck. She reached for it, ripping it out in an unbalanced and groggy motion. She slung it to the side, blood splattered onto the ground, she then sheathed it on her back. She began inspecting the giant log, eventually she found a way in. It was dimly lit inside, and it reeked, there was crying like a baby. Though the crying wasn't human, as her eyes adjusted she almost wished they hadn't. Inside, against a back wall of crumbled rock, there were three n***d women with dead eyes. There were a decent number of goblin children and babies, Skarlet didn't count them, she didn't want to know the number of children she was about to kill. She brought her sword out and began.

Skarlet stepped from the log with nothing but fresh corpses behind her, the women had no soul left, they weren't even really alive. She then approached the Goblin lord once more, she took out her knife and began cutting off his left ear, then she walked out and back down the cavern corridor. Her steps became more steady as she went, she cut off a majority of the hobgoblin's left ears, by the time she got to the place where she ran into the two hobgoblin guards she had about twenty ears. She decided that was enough and also grabbed about twenty goblin ears as well and stuffed them all into a bag she hung at her waist. After that she climbed the rickety ladder and crawled out into the forest. She shielded her eyes with her hand as she pulled herself to her feet, there was no compassion, no remorse in those eyes.

Why don't I feel anymore? Skarlet shook her head, chasing the thoughts away. She pushed her way through the forest. A new found strength surged in her body, she hunted a few of the other monsters she'd set out to find as she made her way back. She made sure to hunt at least five demon spiders, mad boars, and carnivorous rabbits before finally stepping from under the trees. She was aware that the goblin subjugation had meant goblins roaming the forest, in fact the guild may not have been aware of the nest nor of the lord in it's depths. Though, it's also possible that it was simply a higher ranked quest.

Skarlet approached the guard at the gate, his eyes went wide when he saw her and he opened the gate immediately, she wasn't sure what he was so surprised about. Though as she got closer and closer to the guild her eyes were feeling heavy, her feet started to feel like stone. She wasn't sure why, couldn't wrap her head around it.

The guild loomed in front of her, and for once, she felt no fear or nervousness. She felt like she could do anything, Why is my head so fuzzy? She wondered as she pushed the door open. The guild was loud as usual, but as the eyes trailed to her, the words stopped, the noise froze like ice. Why is everyone staring? She noticed the boy who'd followed her awhile back, how long ago was that again, he was at the counter with a young noble looking girl and a young fox beastkin.

Skarlet was about to speak, ask what was wrong, when she suddenly realized she couldn't. She couldn't think anymore, much less speak, her eyes fluttered as the ground flew towards her.

Darkness enveloped her, she felt like it was warm, it was nice. I was tired? That makes sense. . . exhaustion, maybe compacted with blood loss, and mental strain, as well as my repeated depletion of my mana. I worked my body, mind, and soul past every limit it had. . . collapse . . .was. . . inevitable.