Chương 81: Commander Lex

The hobgoblin confidently walked out, its gaze landing straight on him; a grin slowly unfolded on its face, exposing its dirty yellow teeth. Their gazes collided from dozens of meters away.

"Is it just you, human?" The hobgoblin growled, its scratchy voice booming across the camp and suppressing the other goblins' howls, its gaze slowly moving around before settling on Kyle. Kyle didn't respond; he shifted his gaze from the hobgoblin to the tent behind him. It was only after seeing a hunched goblin holding a staff walking out that his knit brows relaxed. The hobgoblin took this in his sight.

"How arrogant." He grinned. He pierced his spear into the ground before snatching the lance from a nearby goblin guard's hand. Posing as if he were going to throw a javelin, the hobgoblin suddenly sneered.

"Heh." Then threw it.

"Boom!" The lance flew at extreme speed before colliding with the wooden watchtower, tearing it into pieces.

"Attack!" The hobgoblin howled, throwing another lance at Kyle, who was mid-air. Kyle's eyes glowed a faint blue. He flipped mid-air and used the body of his sword to deflect the lance, using the power of the impact to veer away, landing steadily on the ground. Facing the incoming howling goblins, Kyle shifted his grip on the sword; mana quickly flowed along his body, enhancing his strength to an inhuman degree. In the next second, he burst forward.

"Gah!" The goblins screamed one after the other as they were beheaded. Kyle swiftly moved through the goblins, looking like a black shadow from far away. Neither the normal goblins nor the goblin archers could see him clearly. Oftentimes, they would see a fleeting shadow followed by a silver flash before dying. In just a few seconds, the number of goblins dropped by half. Kyle quickly moved through the goblin crowd; each one didn't take more than a sword swing to kill.

His gaze snapped to the side, quickly shifting his power center and placing his sword in front of him.

"Boom!" The spear heavily collided with the sword, creating a massive shockwave. Kyle's feet slid several meters away, leaving behind a trail of dirt. Kyle's expression sharpened as he looked at the hobgoblin in front of him. The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Do you think I don't exist, human?" The hobgoblin grinned. He turned his spear to the side and pointed at himself.

"My name is Lex, Commander Lex. Remember this name as you sink into hell, human." Lex said with a cruel smile on his face. Kyle raised his eyebrow. It was a first for a goblin to introduce himself like that. He slowly steadied his stance; a faint smile appeared on his face.

"This is the first time I've seen a green runt who could talk. I didn't know that monsters like you could learn human language." Kyle scoffed, not hiding his disdain. Looking at the hobgoblin's gradually darkening expression, he continued.

"Hey, I have a suggestion for you. How about you learn to bathe? I'm stunk to death each time I get close to you, green runts. It would make cutting your ears a much more pleasant experience." Kyle said with a smirk.

"You bastard…" The hobgoblin's face distorted; veins popped on his forehead. His eyes radiated killing intent. He slowly placed his spear in front of him, then suddenly burst forward, approaching Kyle at breakneck speed.

"Die!" The hobgoblin howled, thrusting his spear at Kyle's head. Kyle sidestepped, the spear tip grazing his cheek. He could feel the wind pressure tear at his skin.

'He's fast.' Kyle's eyes glowed blue. Through [Clairvoyant Eyes], he could faintly see the hobgoblin's next move forming; it was a horizontal sweep, aiming to bisect him into two. Kyle didn't dodge. He ducked under the sweep and drove forward, closing the distance to where the spear's length became a disadvantage. He quickly thrust his sword, but Lex also sidestepped. Anticipating that, he twisted his wrist and swung his sword horizontally.

Just as his sword made contact with Lex's leather armor, the latter twisted the shaft of his spear with inhuman reflexes, blocking the strike with the metal base. The impact jarred both their arms.

"Not bad, human," Lex grinned. Kyle didn't respond; he jumped back and looked at Lex cautiously. He wondered where this hobgoblin learned his spearmanship. He was incredibly skilled.

'He's also incredibly battle-experienced.' Looking at the motionless goblin shaman out of the corner of his eye. Kyle's gaze sharpened.

'It's time to take it up a notch.' He suddenly disappeared, reappearing to the left side of the hobgoblin, swinging his sword at an inhuman speed. Lex's eyes widened. He quickly moved his spear to the left to block Kyle's attack, only for him to feel nothing. Kyle was already standing to his right, sword just a few inches away from his neck. Lex quickly reacted, jumping back and placing his spear in front of him, blocking the sword swing at the last minute.

However, he couldn't block the kick to the stomach that Kyle delivered last.

"Guh!" A mixture of bile and saliva oozed from his mouth as Kyle's foot sank into his stomach, his armor barely offering a buffer.

"Boom!" Lex skidded on the ground, tearing apart the tents on his way and sending any goblin in his way flying, finally colliding with the wooden wall and breaking a small section of it into pieces. Lex quickly stood up, wiping the foul liquid from the corner of his mouth. Long gone was the playful arrogance in his eyes, replaced by a hint of solemnity.

"You're incredibly fast," Lex remarked. Kyle didn't respond; he instantly crossed the dozens of meters between them and swung his sword at Lex. The latter quickly defended with his spear, forced to take one step back after the other. Kyle landed a kick to the chin, sending Lex flying. He tightly gripped his sword with both hands, then swung it at Lex's undefended legs, intending to cut them off. However…

"Swish!" Kyle's heart skipped a beat. He quickly stopped his attack and sprang back, just in time to dodge a green fireball. The fireball flew past him and collided with an unfortunate goblin not far away.

"GAH!" The goblin howled in agony, flailing around, trying to extinguish the fire, but it soon was unable to make any more sounds. Its flesh quickly burned, leaving behind a charred skeleton, with smoke rising from it. Kyle turned his head, his gaze landing on the hunched goblin standing next to the largest tent. Its staff was pointing right at him. The goblin shaman had joined the battle.