The raucous sounds of goblins that were baying for Waya and Dante’s blood reverberated off the walls of the cave. The goblins had spread themselves to fill the width of the passage, they screeched and hissed while waving their primitive weapons at them. With one mind, they began to move forward, shifting a single step at a time while beating their weapons against something that sounded like wooden shields.

From behind the lined-up goblins, a murmuring chant grew louder, the cadence increasing on each unusual word until it reached the end with a final bellow. “BEZERAKIKI!” Their menacing green eyes began to flicker in the dark, a strange emerald glow lit up the cave, revealing their appearances.

Standing before them were goblins that stood at least a foot taller than any Dante had encountered yet, instead of a starved rat-like appearance, these goblins were more like wolverines. Packed with wiry muscle and fanged teeth, they were clad in leather armour, wielding polished metal swords and wooden bucklers.

The chant from earlier appeared to have given them some sort of boost, dark veins popped up all over their body. Dante could see their eyes that had red veins crawling along the sclera, their pupils were dilating larger burning their stares into him. Whenever he made eye contact with them, they would return his look with a confident menacing smile.

[(Berserker) Goblin - Level 5]

[(Berserker) Goblin - Level 6]

….

….

[(Berserker) Goblin - Level 6]

[(Berserker) Goblin - Level 5]

Nine grotesque well-armed goblins were moving towards Dante, ‘What the fuck is going on?’ Something definitely didn’t seem right. That’s when he spotted a much larger figure standing behind the line of berserkers.

A humanoid wearing a bloody red mask and a black robe with intricate symbols sewn in, this appeared to be the one in charge.

The creature standing behind the goblins was decked out in morbid trinkets such as necklaces made of teeth, and bracelets that looked like hooked fingers with dried skin still attached. This dangerous looking creature raised its arm, it was gripping something that dangled and swung from its hand. It was a shrunken head with a malignant glowing green gas that spilt from empty eye sockets.

The creature was hunched forward, its matted grey hair dangled out from behind its mask. It continued to hold the vile glowing head before itself, the eyes of the goblins matched the same wavelength as the shrunken head.

When Dante saw the creature, he figured it was going to try and kill him anyway, ‘Deep Scan’.

[Name: ???]

[System Level: 12]

[Class: Warlock]

[Class level: 5]

[Title: Priest of Witiko]

[Species: Hobgoblin]

[State: Healthy]

‘A fucking level 12 Hobgoblin Warlock?! Those guys screwed me over sending me here!’ Dante was furious, he felt like he had been set up by the guards. He didn’t know what kind of battle he was getting himself into now. They had failed to mention the possibility of a Hobgoblin Warlock.

A spear appeared in Dante’s hand while he made backwards steps out of the cave, he wasn’t waiting to be attacked. Dante then pulled back his arm ready to launch the spear. The hobgoblin noticed the weapon in Dante’s hand that appeared suddenly from thin air, it showed interest in how he managed to perform that trick. The Hobgoblin silently waved its free hand forward, flicking its fingers outwards which launched several hissing green projectiles towards Dante and Waya, it was exchanged with two spears thrown by Dante.

One spear struck a goblin in the leg, another stabbed into a raised shield. The goblin that was struck didn’t make a sound, it grabbed the spear and pulled it out before tossing it to the floor. The other chopped at the neck of the spear embedded in its shield, then it returned to its defensive position while maintaining the steady approach.

The putrid green projectiles rained down on Dante, his heightened perception made them appear to be falling slowly around him. He danced around, gracefully hopping from one foot to the next, twisting and turning to avoid each of the projectiles. The initial barrage had passed him and he thought he had successfully avoided them all.

He felt a sickly itching sensation on his left shoulder, that was followed by a sizzling sound. He had been skimmed by one of the projectiles that then started eating away at his cloak and clothes. ‘Acid!? Fuck, fuck!’ He barely had a chance to respond as the acid burned into his flesh, a stomach-churning sensation of having his skin and muscle melt caused him to scream out.

Without hesitation, he brought a clawed finger to his shoulder to quickly cut a thin layer of flesh away from himself and flung it away. “FuuuUUARGHhhK!” He muffled his pained scream by biting into his wrist, there was some immediate relief as his flesh had stopped sizzling. ‘I can’t hold back!’

Waya had retreated further to the entrance when the acidic projectiles rained around her. Patches of her fur were splashed, he could hear her whining, then growling in anger. She seemed uncertain of what to do.

Dante reached for his staff, holding the staff in one hand, readying one of his prepared powerful mana bolts. The Hobgoblin waved his hand again, this time all the goblins charged toward Dante. A bright orange projectile was discharged from the staff, it zipped forward like a streak of light, tearing through a raving goblins arm and continued on until it reached the hobgoblin.

The projectile exploded against an invisible force, a slow-spreading crack revealing a defensive shield. The shield looked like a damaged glass orb that surrounded the hobgoblin. Growing fissures of green light gradually spread around the surface of the shield. He saw the hobgoblin flinch, its hand that held the shrunken head was shaking upon seeing that the shield had cracked. With another wave of its hand, the cracks in the shield began to recover. The hobgoblin then shouted “CHAKA SHTOOK!”

This caused the goblins to charge even faster towards him. With his staff in one hand and a spear in another, Dante launched the spear at the charging goblins. A goblin at the front of the pack took a spear to its head, it was pierced through but the goblin kept charging forward, ignoring the fact it should have been dead. The mortally wounded goblin leapt toward Dante with its sword pointed towards him, Dante stumbled backwards while knocking the goblin to the ground with his staff.

He managed to raise the staff and discharge another empowered mana bolt at the hobgoblin, it was his main target and he didn’t want to take any chances with it. The orange beam tore through the air so fast it left a streak of light in his vision. He heard the shield crack again, this time his spell had bored a small hole in the shield, ‘I can’t use the fireball, it's too close!’

Dante raised his empty hand and used 6 mana to shoot his most powerful mana bolt yet. His arm cracked backwards causing him to fall on his back, before he could glance towards the hobgoblin he heard a crash then roar. The hobgoblins shield had been taken down, a trickle of green blood dripped from a small hole in the side of its chest.

The rest of the berserker goblins descended on Dante, ‘IMMOVABILITY!’ Blows rained down around him as he tried to get to his feet, he felt an unusual sensation of dull thuds each time he was struck by a sword or shield, his skin rippled but he wasn’t moved by the blows. Instead, he felt energised.

[25 seconds remaining]

His claws glowed a lighter orange as he injected the last of his mana into them, then he took several steps backwards each time retaliating with a strike of his own. Dante was quickly beginning to feel full, he sensed that if he took any more blows, the energy would prematurely explode out of him. ‘I guess I’ve almost reached my capacity already.’

He managed to escape the melee and stood several feet away from the crazed goblins, many of them had deep slashes across their faces, hands cut off at the wrist or gaping holes in their stomachs. Yet they stood their ground and charged toward him again.

[15 seconds remaining]

‘I have to use this energy soon’

The Hobgoblin saw that Dante had somehow escaped the flurry of attacks from his guards. His hand was held to his stomach to stem bleeding from the small but deep wound. It hissed then retaliated with its own attack, flicking his hand twice in two wide arcs, numerous acidic projectiles shot forth towards Dante. The hobgoblin didn’t seem to mind if it struck its own allies, as long as it had a chance to hit Dante.

‘Damnit! I’m almost out of mana, I can’t reach the goblin in time, this will have to do it!’ The acidic projectiles splashed down, he tried dodging and weaving around the acidic bolts, some landed on the berserker goblins causing them to melt before his eyes. He saw bone and muscle but the goblins ignored their own disgusting deaths and continued to attack him. Flecks of acid spattered onto his legs and arms, he gritted his teeth while moving out of the cave. The raging goblins followed after him.

[5 seconds remaining]

Dante’s last personally crafted spear appeared in his hand, he sighted the Hobgoblin. He unleashed all the stored up energy and everything he had launching his projectile towards the hobgoblin. There was a sharp whistle of a spinning spear shooting through the air, then a wet thud before a gurgling cry left the hobgoblin.

A green aura exploded out of the imposing hobgoblin, the cave flooded with green gas that eroded everything in sight. Dante turned and ran at the first sight of it, he was followed closely behind by a small horde of zombie-like goblins that chased after him.

****

Waya was waiting at the entrance to the cave. She was growling and staring into the darkness. ‘The vermin are disgusting, I hate them! Why is there a big one here?!’ Waya was furious at herself for leaving Dante in the cave, she feared the green liquid projectiles that burned her fur and skin. She saw Dante shoot his powerful magic and saw how it managed to shatter the protective bubble around the big vermin.

She grimaced when she saw how the hobgoblin retaliated by shooting a bombardment of green liquid projectiles that rained down on Dante. He valiantly twisted and weaved through the air dodging the worst of it, but was still splashed as the projectiles exploded on the ceiling and walls of the cave, spraying him with drops of acid that ate away at his skin.

Dante had almost retreated out of the cave and she readied herself for combat out in the open. As she saw the man run out of the cave, he had two goblins climbing on him, biting and stabbing at him. His flesh was resisting the worst of it but small cuts and tears were appearing on his exposed skin. Small holes were cut and burned into his wolf fur cloak. He roared as he scratched and clawed at the goblins that clambered over him.

Running towards Dante, she Howled to let him know she was near, they made eye contact and he understood the meaning, immediately making his way towards her. Waya leapt at Dante, snapping her jaws at one of the goblins that refused to let go of his neck, its arms wrapped around Dante from behind as its long sharp teeth gnawed on his ear.

Waya’s canine teeth sunk into the persistent goblin’s arm shearing through the bone, it left the goblin hanging off Dante with one arm. Screeching out while still holding onto him. Waya turned around and leapt again, this time her mouth latched onto its shoulder, she shook her head and ripped the vermin off of Dante.

Putrid tasting blood spilt into her mouth, she tried not to swallow. While holding the goblin in her jaws she shredded and clawed at the goblins stomach. Its viscera and organs started spilling onto the ground until its insides were almost hollow. Only then did the glowing green eyes begin to fade, the goblin finally stopped fighting back and died. ‘Why are they so resilient now? The big one must have made them strong and fearless!’ She thought about how the vermin were never this resilient, it was the only reasonable explanation she could think of.

Scanning her surroundings, she saw Dante had finished off the other goblin that was climbing over him. He looked worse for wear but still capable of fighting, he was breathing heavily and blood dripped from wounds all over his body. Several more injured goblins spilt out of the cave, screeching and waving their swords at them. There was no sign of the big one.

****

‘Fuck, I dropped the staff as I was running out. Otherwise, I could have finished that bastard off with a fireball!’ Dante was angry at the situation, he would give Krugeri and the other guard an earful when he saw them, no matter how powerful they were. Right now he had to deal with five more goblins that were running out of the cave. Dante ran towards them swinging his claws in a tornado of savagery, as the goblins drove their swords forward and tried to block his blows. He would knock the swords aside, clawing at eyes, throats and anything else within reach. He saw Waya’s black shadow snatch a goblin out of the air just before it managed to leap onto his back.

The goblins were incredibly resilient with their bulging veins, green glowing eyes. Despite cutting through their faces, slicing off arms and disembowelling one of them. They walked towards him like zombies, ignorant of their impending deaths, then ran towards him. One of the berserk goblins that had its stomach sliced open tripped on its intestines as it ran towards him, face smashing into the ground. It got back up and continued charging, holding its guts that were collected up in one hand while wielding a sword in the other.

Dante cried and yelled as he picked apart the goblins one by one, the others incessantly chasing and attacking. His hand sawed through one goblin’s neck until it detached from the body before its berserk state allowed it to die. Then he moved on to the next one.

Snatching a goblin that clung to his leg, its feet and legs were mostly missing, but that didn’t stop it from chewing and stabbing at him. He kept running and dodging while shoving his clawed fingers into goblins brains and mincing them up, moving to the next, cutting off heads, piercing another through their ribcage and destroying their heart.

By the time he was finished with all the remaining goblins he was puking on his hands and knees, spewing up meat, oats and bile. Tears and snot were dribbling down his face, the pain and horror of what he endured and what he had done. Even knowing the nature of goblins, nothing that had happened came naturally to him. He wasn’t a murderer, he didn’t enjoy doing this. Sometimes the power would go to his head in the heat of the moment but in broad daylight, forced to dismantle creatures that refused to die. It sickened him.

He kept looking up and towards the cave entrance in his partially incapacitated state, his body involuntarily forcing him to wretch. The metallic smells of blood, the stench of viscera that covered him. His oozing wounds where the acid bolts had splashed onto him. He was a fucking mess.

“Dante, are you alright?!” He saw Otus’s head had peeked out from behind a boulder far away from the entrance of the cave. He had a look of concern and a flash of disgust in his eyes, whether it was at Dante or the goblins that disgusted him he couldn’t tell.

“Cough, cough!... Doing Blerghh… just great” He replied, taking a few moments to compose himself before he could stand. There was still no sign of the Warlock. He retrieved a bottle of water and a bowl from his spatial ring. Pouring some out into the bowl for Waya, then swilling his mouth out before spitting out the bad taste in his mouth. Then showering himself with the rest, rubbing away the worst of the blood, acid and bile.

Dante was still furious, he shouted to Otus “There’s a fucking Hobgoblin Warlock in there! Go back and tell the guards, I'll wait here!”

****

“A WARLOCK?! ...I’m going! I’m going!” Otus’s surprise at hearing there was a warlock in the cave shocked him to his core. He took off at a sprint towards the village.

‘A Hobgoblin warlock? What in Father’s name is one of them doing so close to Greenhill!’ His thoughts whirled at the connotations of such a powerful creature being nearby the town, it could only spell trouble.

After several hours of running a gasping Otus flapped his hand at Krugeri and Alnamar. Bent over and catching his breath, he wheezed out the words “Hob...Gob...War...Lock!”.

Krugeri looked to Alnamar a deep frown creased his face, he turned back to Otus. “A Hobgoblin Warlock? Are you absolutely sure?” Growling out his words, while clenching his axe and staring at Otus for affirmation.

“Yes! Dante...He fought berserked goblins, I saw it with my own eyes. He said there was a Warlock in the cave! He looked badly injured from the fight. Please aid him!” Having recovered a little from the run to the village, the words spilt out of him, trying to impress upon the guards the urgency of the situation.

Krugeri looked to the other guard, “Al, inform the chief. I’ll head to the cave and investigate the scene”. The black-skinned guard nodded and sunk into the shadows, disappearing completely.

Gripping his axe, Krugeri took off in a cloud of smoke, leaping high into the air before sprinting towards the Goblin cave.