Dawn- An age of Darkness
Chapter 244 - No Remorse: You’re All Going To Die Here

After what happened last time, I'd bought small vials which could contain four to five drops of liquid and kept one vial of elixir on me at all times. It was in a very peculiar place, so unless I got down to business, no one had any chance of knowing it. 

"Oh, you flatter us." And yet, the goblins weren't actually spilling anything. 

These things were actually more of a villain than the actual villains of this world. 'At least give me a minute to prepare!'

I slid a hand down my crotch. "Really?" Anything to buy me time!

"Oh, my charm is finally working? I can still make you my slave if you beg and lick my toes?" The female goblin showed me its legs and made a smug face. "I might even let you lick other places."

Ew! I wanted to bleach my eyes. 

I pulled out the vial and drank the stuff at lightning speed. And dumped the condensed mana on my body, hoping something would happen.  "Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of fetish." 'I really hope this works.' Well, the mana wasn't killing me, so I guess that was a good thing. 

I dashed for the goblin and almost crashed against the wall behind them: all the arrows dropped off my wounds one by one. My wounds were still here but they didn't hurt and I guess drinking the elixir now was a good idea. And the magic worked too?

I wasn't fast. I was too fast. 'What the hell!'

Just how slow was the poison making me, and why the hell did I not notice it sooner? 

I was so stupid. 

"Kill him!"

Arrows came for me but they were too slow. I dashed and formed small balls of light. With a combination of high speed and the lights, I went straight for the wounded abnormal. The key motto of a good fight and survival? Aim for the weak link. 

I slashed hard and its head flew off. It didn't even have a chance. Things were finally back on track again. 

"Wha-"

But before the goblins could react I blitzed again and this time, stopped right in front of the female goblin, holding the mystic blade right next to her neck.

"I don't know why but you seem like the leader here. Of course, I could always ask an underling later. But, why?" I wasn't going to give her a second chance. "Why do this, and you still won't let anyone go?"

"And you'd let me live? Why? Do you have any idea how many of our kind you kill? And you speak of why?" The female goblin spoke from experience. 

"Fair enough I guess."  If we were going to kill, it was obvious we were going to be killed too. We had to at least have that much resolve. But- but, that didn't mean these things were free to play with living beings like this. 

"Have you no remorse!?" The goblin peered deep into my soul. 

Meanwhile, the other abnormal was stunned: too shocked perhaps? 

"No, not really." Not even a little bit. All my remorse for killing purple things went out of the drain the moment I first met one. 

And she knew I planned to kill her either way. I guess these things weren't as dumb to fall for my talks. "Kill-"

I sliced her head off before she could give the orders. "Too bad. I finally thought for the first time we had a way of communicating."

The other one was coming for my head but it hesitated, giving me the perfect opportunity. I sliced off its head too: loads of slicing today. Too easy almost. 

'The geezer had trouble fighting these things?' 

I guess at the time he was young and I guess my skills had improved over time? I was struggling just minutes ago but that was because the poison had numbed my body and I was foolish enough to think it was just my nervousness. But wait, if the geezer was young, meaning though he didn't have magic, he still had imbuition and he was in his prime, meaning one of these things shouldn't have been anything to him at all.

And those things didn't have weapons either. They were just fast, that was all. 

Something just didn't add up. 

But the goblins above still didn't attack us. They were staring at me like I was some kind of vermin, but they didn't attack, move, or even blink. There was no noise, this place was awfully quiet now. 

"YAWN*" And then a moron woke up. "Morning. Seems like you had fun."

"Unless you want to be slapped silly, get your things, and let's destroy these things before they start attacking us." I was still wary. 

"I don't think they would." He stretched and yawned at the same time. 

"Why?"

"This stage is the property of their king, and they can't enter it unless ordered to. That's why they are so calm. They know you'll have to get out sometime. And then-" Dick chuckled as he brought out his shield. "Oh and these three were just the babies, the king, let's just say, is the king."

"So I take it, the king's here?" I sighed. Dick smirked, that was a yes. "You were awake, weren't you?"

Meaning, my earlier thoughts were right. The geezer wouldn't have had trouble with things like those. Something stronger was here. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." He made a smug face and went over the girl and gave her a cloth. She was so relieved she passed out. I guess she was too tired. No wonder she didn't make a scene. Dick sighed. "For a second there I thought I'd have to jump and blow my cover but then you came along. I'll be honest those three things would have been too much for me while protecting these hostages. Of course, I could have killed them easily but I wouldn't have been able to protect these guys. Thanks." He smirked. 

"So you were awake!"

Dick chuckled. "I don't know what you're talking about." He kept chuckling. "This is the path. The king is probably taking his nap. Best time to kill him!" He pointed behind the stage. But then he started sweating. "Oh shit."

"Not anymore." I readied my sword. Something was walking our way, something big and almost bigger than a hobgoblin. It had a toned body. Wait, it was backtracking. 

I was about to attack when all of a sudden I had to make a sudden retreat. 'You can't be serious.'

Dick whistled. "That's my buddy for ya." He started acting all proud. "Always making my life harder." He laughed out loud. 

Apparently, Servesta was backtracking from something larger than him, and boy oh boy was this thing large. Its roar put the liongator's roar to shame and my ears went numb for a second. 

"He was sleeping. I attacked. Couldn't kill it." Servesta lamented. 

I gave the two of them dull looks. "Dick, think you can stall him? If you'll tank, I'll attack."

The big thing was still a bit far but we could feel every one of its steps: it was heavy too. 

He smirked. "Well, this shield ain't for show."

'The geezer went against that thing alone?' I was starting to get how the geezer came out barely alive from fighting something like this. I really didn't want to know though. 

The thing, or rather the goblin king was roughly twice as big as a hobgoblin but unlike those things, this one wasn't fat. It wasn't thin either. It had muscles, it had clothes and it had something very nostalgic: a club. 

"He's fast and agile, be careful." Servesta was wary. 

But fast and agile with that body? Seriously?

"Don't worry, I'm kind of pumped." I pulled out another thing from my ring. The stone of Damsel. 

I was pumped to get out of here alive, that is. 

I had a feeling it was going to work though. 

"Wait, you weren't using it? I thought-" Dick stared at me with puppy dog eyes and stared at the glowing pendant hanging from my belt. "I hate you." Never thought he'd say that out loud though. 

With a chuckle, I grabbed the stone solidly and my watery hand froze. I didn't feel cold but I could feel my power enhanced some more. "These things actually stack up." It worked like I wanted, but was this really enough?

I didn't know. 

The goblin king made another loud roar once it saw its children lying around and came swinging. It had a big metallic club: nostalgia I didn't need. 

Bad news. 

Dick blocked and flew to the other side, rolling around a bit. "I don't think tanking is a good idea." He spat blood, got up, and activated his ring. He glowed in red. 

The large goblin roared again and now all the other goblins stood up with grins: it was almost as though they were waiting their whole lives for this. 

Of course, we had to deal with them too, now. 

Perfect. Life was amazing.