Chương 42: Last Effort

I couldn't hide anymore. If I did, more people would die. Civilians, and God forbid, children would die. I just got this town up and running and now you are telling me it was about to get destroyed by those little fucking gremlins in front of me? There was no way I was going to let that happen. I looked down at my bracelet. I hadn't used it the whole fight. Mainly because I would be left unguarded as I looked through the items. But now I didn't have that luxury anymore.

I focused on the contents inside the Storage Bracelet and they appeared inside my mind's eye. It was a little scary considering it blocked my view of most of the outside world. I quickly rummaged through the bracelet; it was filled with healing pastes and other stuff I had prepared to use after the war. But one particular item stood out to me—it was a small wet sack, that was filled with stuff I had no idea about. All I knew were Julie's words.

'If you take it out, throw it.' And so I did. I summoned the poisonous sack into my hand. It was heavy, and surprisingly warm. I didn't linger and glanced back at the Shamans. I pulled my arm back, and threw the sack towards the three still having their attention on me. The sack arced through the air before landing in front of one Goblin, who had already prepared a Mana Barrier. Then... nothing. The sack just lay there doing absolutely nothing. The Goblin snickered and laughed, before looking back at me.

It readied its staff, glowing in a crimson light. Then it happened. The poisonous sack exploded upward into a bulbous purple cloud, coating the Shaman from head to toe. A second later the cloud disappeared and the Goblin was visible again. Slime-like substance clung to its body, corroding through it. The Goblin wailed in pain as the poison sizzled on its skin, flesh, and bones. It only took a few seconds for it to die. But by then I had already activated Mana Step in quick succession.

My goal wasn't the other two Shamans but the one that was running into my town. My eyes grew cold as we went deeper and deeper. More and more houses appeared around us. I could not let this animal go further. I reached the Shaman; he didn't expect me. I barely had any Mana left and decided not to go for any Skill inside Martial Forms. Instead, I simply used Mana Manipulation to strengthen my attacks and body. I smashed into the Goblin, and we both fell to the ground.

With me above him, I first disarmed him and took the staff from his last remaining arm. Then I hit the monster from above. And again. And again. My fist smashed into its face, ripping its skin open and beating him to a pulp. He put up no defense, as the Shaman couldn't cast any spells under these circumstances. I could tell I was beginning to chip away at its skull, and then I froze. No, I didn't just freeze. For a brief moment, I simply didn't have the desire to continue.

I didn't have the desire to continue hurting this Goblin below me. I questioned why I was doing this. Why I had to hurt such a beautiful— I threw myself to the side. The next second, a fireball reached the Goblin. The spell exploded upon impact, the Goblin's limbs flying through the air with its charred upper body remaining on the ground. I turned around, and who could have guessed, the last two Goblins were there.

One, who I for some reason assumed was the leader, panted heavily, while the other seemed in much better shape. Immediately, I realized what had happened. The panting Goblin Shaman used his mind control ability on me. It made me freeze, and the other Goblin threw a spell at me. Well, at his comrade. They circled around me but didn't step closer. They were just outside my range of Mana Bolt. As for me closing the distance? That was practically impossible. I had maybe two Mana Steps in me, but no more.

So, like before, we entered a state of equilibrium, where one party couldn't come closer without risking their lives. But now we were inside my town. Houses and buildings surrounded us all around. And who knew where the civilians were. We had told them to go towards the end of the town where the battle was not happening, but seemingly not everyone listened. Like the kids. I sighed in relief knowing they were safe. I knew I had to make the move before the Shamans got the idea of burning down the buildings around us.

I grit my teeth and decided to go for something risky. I had never tried it before. But it had to work now. I channeled my Mana and began to solidify it around my palm. Shortly after, a humming blue bolt of Mana formed above my hand. I cocked my arm back, seemingly ready to throw the spell. I saw the Goblins raise up their defenses. Both of them formed a shimmering barrier around them. Exactly what I wanted. As I went through the motion of throwing the Mana Bolt, I forced the Mana to desolidify.

I forced the spell to take up its previous gaseous form and reabsorb it back into my body. It was a lot harder than I expected. Not only did I have to use my will to make sure the spell changed form, but I also had to make sure the now spell-less Mana wouldn't just dissipate into the air. My mind seemed to be on fire as I tried to make sure to cover every inch of my mana. Then as the spell dissolved into nothing but pure Mana again, I sucked it back into my body.

The Mana flowed back inside me and immediately, I moved it towards my legs. Stolen story; please report. Mana Step. A notification rang through my mind but I ignored it. Mana Step catapulted me forward, and then I canceled the spell last minute. Since I had still used the spell, most of the Mana was already used up. But I took back everything I could. Another notification rang through my mind. With the momentum of Mana Step, I continued to fly through the air, and finally reached the first Goblin.

It was the leader that was still exhausted. My fist glowed in a blue light as I used Mana Strike to hit it. The Goblin in front of me could feel the danger and raised his arms to block, in addition to a Mana shield. Then I stopped using Mana Strike right before I had reached the Goblin. Instead, the Shaman was met with a normal Mana-infused strike that he blocked with ease. I could see its eyes look at me in confusion. But before it could question anything, I used Mana Strike on my foot.

My leg whipped around, glowing in a blue light. The Shaman desperately got ready to block it, and then... nothing. Just a small thud as my normal strike hit the Shaman's barrier. I stopped using Mana Strike again, right before I hit the monster. A notification rang through my mind. I ignored it. I had enough Mana for one more spell. One more Mana Bolt. One more Mana Strike. Or one more Mana Step. Then I would be practically empty. I wouldn't waste that. Then the moment I had been waiting for happened.

As my fist glowed in a blue light again, and Mana Strike got ready to be used, I saw the crimson hue from the corner of my eye. The other Goblin finally decided to help its comrade. But since it was now using an attack spell, it likely meant the other Shaman had no barrier up. I canceled Mana Strike again, this time I made sure to solidify the mana around my hand. Mana Bolt formed above my palm. Then I dove forward and threw my spell towards the Goblin who used crimson bolt.

I fell to the ground and watched how his attack impacted the ground where I was just a second ago. At the same time, the Goblin's eyes widened in fear as Mana Bolt slammed square against his chest. He didn't have time to create a barrier. The spell dug into his flesh and through his bones. He stood no chance. But I didn't watch the spectacle. Multiple notifications rang through my mind again, and I sprang back to my feet. I attacked the last remaining Goblin. My fist hit the barrier and... nothing. I was tired.

I was exhausted. My Mana was practically empty. I was running on my last fumes. The Goblin Leader was the same. He was alone. All his comrades were dead. And he was afraid of lowering his barrier. I kept hitting him, while he just lifted his arms to block whenever he could. The Goblin leader didn't counterattack. But my attacks also did absolutely no damage. Worse, the body strengthening of my Mana Manipulation used a constant and small amount of Mana. Usually, this was not a problem.

But now, I couldn't keep this up for much longer. With a thud, I hit the monster again. For a brief moment, our eyes locked, and I could see that slowly, hit after hit, its courage was getting restored. It was beginning to realize that I was weak. Very weak right now. I have to gamble. I cocked my arm back and used Mana Strike. I had nowhere near enough mana to even use that attack. But my fist did flash blue for a very brief moment. And that was enough to scare the shit out of the monster.

It raised its arms hastily, its faint shimmering mana barrier seemingly gaining color. But like before, I canceled the attack. However, instead of faking Mana Strike with my leg or whatever, I did something I haven't done this whole war. I used Commanding Presence. I poured every last bit of Mana into the skill. I drained my body of every inch of possible energy. My vision turned dizzy for a brief moment, and black spots appeared. I planted my feet deep into the ground and focused. I couldn't pass out now. Not yet.

With my mind hell-bent on succeeding, I used Commanding Presence.

"Stop," I said in a raspy voice. But unlike the other times, it looked like a wave hit the Goblin and his eyes widened. He stopped. The Shaman's body froze for a moment, fear visible inside his eyes. I grinned, stepped forward, and almost fell to the ground. But it didn't matter because the next moment, my fist landed square against the monster's jaw. It was my weakest punch to date yet, but it didn't matter.

The Mana Barrier shattered into millions of pieces, and at the same time, the monster regained its ability to move again. But it was too late. I shot for a double leg takedown. My shoulder pressed into the monster's hips, and I grabbed him by the ankles. Then we both fell to the ground—I had the weight and skill advantage. It was easy. With me above the Goblin Shaman, fist upon fist rained down upon the little gremlin. The attacks were weak. Really weak. They were powered simply by stats and nothing else.

But they were enough to distract the thing from gathering any Mana to use a spell. I made sure to hit his vitals. I gouged his eyes. I grabbed his throat. And I hit its chin repeatedly. It took me seven strikes to make the Goblin bleed. But I didn't stop. I threw punch after punch. No matter how much my muscles and headache begged me to stop moving. The only thing on my mind was to kill the thing. I could see the fear inside his eyes as he gazed upon my fist. I grinned, and my hand turned into a claw.

My fingers dug into the monster's eye; this time, he was too late to close it. The Goblin screamed in pain as my index finger scooted out its eye socket. A second later, his eye was ripped from his body. As the Goblin wailed, I stuffed the eye into his mouth. Not expecting that, he broke down in a coughing fit, and to my delight, forgot to close his other eye. So, I did whatever every other reasonable person in my situation would do. I ripped out the Goblin's second eye. Then I began hitting him again.

My fist was already bloodied. My own skin was ripped, and the bones showed. I didn't care. I continued to hit the monster like I was some kind of maniac. It took ten minutes of a full-blown beating before I felt the monster's strength leaving his body. By now, the whole ground around us was covered in blood. A mix between green and red. My fist trembled as I raised it for another hit. With a thud, I hit his skull, then I leaned down to the Goblin's ear as I grabbed the monster's throat tight.

"I... told... you," I said with great difficulty, my vocal cords barely functional.

"I... would kill you." I could smell the fear of the struggling monster. The Goblin clawed at me, trying to make me let go. But no matter how much my skin was torn apart, I didn't let go. Finally, he stopped. But not because he died. It looked like the Goblin had a final piece to say.

"Lord... Grak'stu," The Shaman said in human language. Its voice sounded like I would imagine hoarse leather would.

"This town... is already his." Then the Goblin turned limp. The notification in my mind confirming the kill. I sighed in relief, then all the strength of my body left me, and I buckled over the dead Shaman. I couldn't move a muscle. My skull throbbed. My body ached everywhere. I was simply too exhausted. Slowly, my eyes closed themselves. I tried to force them open. But nothing happened. No matter how much I tried, my body simply shut down. I was running on fumes, and those fumes were gone now.

My vision turned black. But not before a notification flashed through my mind's eye. Congratulations! You have Merged multiple Skills–