Chương 88: The Nightmare Begins

"Attack!" Kaelen swung his arm. The archers nocked arrows and drew, their arms and back muscles bulging. Light flashed in their eyes as their mana filled their bodies. In the next moment, they released the arrows.

"Boom!" Air exploded as the arrows broke through the sound barrier, flying towards the most conspicuous target, the giant goblins.

"Roar–" The giant goblins' roars as they charged were promptly cut off. The arrows pierced their thick flesh like they were piercing butter, passing clean through and disappearing into the ground. The impact flung them backward. They dropped dead on the spot, massive holes torn through their torsos, showing the scene behind. A few were struck in non-vital areas, allowing them to survive, but they were in bad shape.

"Roar!" The surviving giant goblins roared in rage, then picked up any projectile they could lay their hands on: rocks, broken logs, or even the heads of normal goblins. A giant goblin even snatched a normal goblin and tore off its head, ignoring its howls of agony. Facing the numerous figures on the walls, the giant goblins roared and threw the projectiles at them with all their might. Most projectiles flew cleanly over the wall, but some directly impacted it, creating small craters.

A few headed straight towards the guards on the wall, forcing them to hide. One of the projectiles passed just a few inches away from Kaelen's face; the airflow caused his hair to flutter. Yet, he expressionlessly looked at the incoming mutant goblins. They had reached the 100-meter range.

"Mages, attack! Archers, second volley!" Kaelen shouted. The mages, already having prepared their spells, cast them on the incoming mutant goblins. For a few seconds, fireballs, lightning bolts, wind blades, and other elemental attacks rained on the goblins. These attacks were closely followed by the second volley of arrows, breaking through the sound barrier, striking the goblins almost at the same time.

"Boom!"

"Roar!"

"Wag!" The sound of explosions, flesh being torn, the roaring of giant goblins, and the howling of normal goblins mingled into one single symphony, reverberating through the battlefield. At the same time, a giant cloud of dust enveloped the most densely attacked area in the battlefield.

"Are they dead?" Varn squinted, trying to look past the dust. These few volleys of attacks had encompassed most giant goblins and goblin warriors. Even if they hadn't been all killed, they should have been at least mostly killed. However, the few rank-2 on the walls didn't relax. Kaelen's brows furrowed as he looked at the dust cloud. It quickly dissipated, revealing the mostly unscathed giant goblins and goblin warriors. They were encompassed by several semi-circular energy shields.

Kaelen's gaze shifted to the goblin shamans a few meters away, pausing for a mere second before moving to one of the holes on the ground. At some point, two strange goblins appeared there. A goblin shaman that was much taller than usual, leaning on a long staff. Its greenish-yellow eyes were leering at Selene. A nasty smile slowly appeared on its mouth. Standing next to it was a hobgoblin, but he was much taller than the usual hobgoblin, standing over 2. 3 meters tall.

Taller and burlier than most giant goblins, but its cunning eyes and its seaweed-like hair completely set it apart from the bald giant goblins. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Not to mention that it was wearing rather sophisticated gear.

"So the rank 2 monsters decided to show up, huh?" Kaelen scoffed. His expression, however, was much more serious than before.

"Heh, human!" The rank 2 hobgoblin walked forward. It unsheathed the giant sword on its back and pointed it at Kaelen. Its voice rumbling through the battlefield, suppressing the clamor of the goblins.

"It was fun to stand on that high wall and bombard us, right?" The hobgoblin grinned.

"Well, that won't be the case for long."

"What are you rambling about, green monster?" Kaelen frowned. The hobgoblin didn't respond. Its gaze swept through the battlefield, examining the state of the normal goblins and the rank 1 mutant goblins before pausing on the thick town's walls.

"I guess they should have finished." The hobgoblin murmured. Kaelen's gaze collided with the hobgoblin. The latter grinned, slowly mouthing.

"Prepare yourself, for your nightmare has just begun."

"Boom!!!" Before Kaelen could think further, an explosion rang through the town. Kaelen sharply shifted his gaze to the town, just in time to see a massive fireball tear through the southern district. The fireball extended for dozens of meters, swallowing the earthen houses and shaky shacks before collapsing inward. This was followed by a massive shockwave, destroying many more buildings and sending people flying. Kaelen's expression turned grim.

"You…" However, before he could finish, several more explosions occurred in the southern district, not as big as the first one, but quite damaging nonetheless. Finally, a corner of the southern wall exploded, sending several guards flying and leaving behind a hole several meters wide. Even the big figures on the wall had grim expressions as they looked at the damaged walls and the damage caused by the explosions. What happened next caused everyone's expression to turn even uglier.

From the massive hole left by the first explosion. A wave of frigid air flowed from below, cooling the scorched ground; following that, a goblin shaman climbed out of the ground.

"Gah!" The goblin shaman howled.

"Gah!!!" Following it was a massive screech. Goblins poured out from the hole like locusts, spreading through the town at an unprecedented speed. At the same time, the hobgoblin outside the town raised its sword and howled.

"Charge!" He said before rushing towards the damaged section of the wall. Kaelen's expression was grim. He looked at the shaken guards and shouted.

"Guard the damaged section of the wall with your lives! Archers, rain down the arrows! Mages, attack the mutant goblins and provide support as you see fit!" He turned his gaze to Varn and the knights standing not far away.

"Varn, lead your elite to deal with the incoming mutant goblins! I grant you temporary command over my knights." He looked at Matthias and the old man standing behind him.

"Lord Matthias, Master Orden. Please lead your Knight Order to deal with the goblins rushing out from the holes on the ground."

"Adventurers! Your task is to rescue the civilians and escort them to safety! At the same time, kill as many goblins as you can!" He shouted. Finally, he shifted his gaze to Selene.

"Vice President Selene. Please deal with the rank 2 goblin shaman and provide support to guards on the wall if possible." Seeing her nod, Kaelen turned to look at the hobgoblin. His expression was grim as he unsheathed his sword and jumped off the wall.

"I'll deal with you." The giant hobgoblin grinned as he rushed towards Kaelen. Kaelen clenched his sword, mana slowly enveloping it, coating it a shining blue color. Refusing to show weakness, he rushed towards the goblin at frightening speed. The two crossed the distance of hundreds of meters in just a few seconds. Their swords collided.

"Boom!!" The moment their swords collided, a massive shockwave spread around from the impact source. Sending any creature nearby flying like objects in the midst of a storm. The ground beneath them caved into a giant crater, over a dozen meters wide and several meters deep. Their massive power shook the people watching them, but the two didn't shift their focus for even a second. Their eyes, filled with killing intent, focused on each other. In the next second, the two separated, only to collide again and again.

They moved across the prairie at near supersonic speed, leaving countless afterimages behind. Each collision cratered the ground. Each impact sent any unfortunate creature nearby flying. ……. At the same time, inside the walls, Kyle's party had just started acting on Commander Kaelen's orders. They were shocked when the explosions rang through the town, but now, they had a task to fulfill. They mustn't allow those dirty goblins to act as they pleased inside their town.

As they rushed towards the source of the explosions inside the town, Kyle's ears twitched. Hearing the massive, continuous shockwaves behind, he was curious about the battle between the knight commander and the rank 2 hobgoblin. Unfortunately, he didn't have the chance to see it this time. Kyle shook his head and focused on the matter at hand. The earth shook beneath Kyle's feet as another shockwave rolled through the town. He didn't look back.

He, Rowan, Silas, and Barrett, along with other rank-1 teams, headed towards the largest hole in the middle of the southern district. The team split as they hit the first row of houses. Kyle and Silas took the left side, Rowan and Barrett the right. As they quickly crossed the narrow streets, he could already see goblins rushing towards nearby houses and breaking in. This was followed by the heartbreaking cries and shouts of the civilians inside.

Kyle's expression turned grim as he rushed towards one of the houses that was broken into. The moment he entered, he saw a goblin laughing lewdly as it dragged out a young girl by her hair, completely ignoring her flailing.

"Die!" However, before it could do anything further, Kyle rushed towards it and beheaded it in a single motion. Its blood splattered across the young girl's face and onto the ground.

"Hide." Looking at the shaken young girl, Kyle didn't say anything else, rushing straight to the next location.