Chapter 35: Hold Your Own

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Hold Your Own

As soon as Victor killed the first goblin, a sudden realization hit him hard.

Damn it, I don’t have as much strength as I do in Dungeon Conquest.

In fact, the reason the knife had sunk so deep into the skull of the goblin was because of the force of gravity that pulled against his body at the descent of the blow.

Another came from behind.

Victor pulled... his fingers strained.

"Damn it! The knife is stuck in its head."

The Goblin did not wait, leaping on him.

Once again, his Babarian battle sense kicked in.

Victor’s fingers dug into the goblin’s wrist, straining with everything he had. The claws trembled an inch from his throat, close enough that he could feel the cold air off them.

Come on, why I’m I so weak?

If this was Gavalon, in his barbarian body, such an opponent would have been easily dispatched.

But this body — his actual body, the one that had never lifted anything heavier than a controller in its entire life — hadn’t caught up yet.

[In-Game Skin Synchronization—26%]

Whatever changes had bled through from the sync, it clearly wasn’t enough.

Even worse, blood from the first goblin kill was making his grip slip, his fingers sliding against the goblin’s wrist a fraction of an inch at a time.

Just as the claws found the first edge of his skin...

CRACK.

An axe blade tore clean through the goblin’s skull from behind, spraying blood across Victor’s face as the creature went limp and collapsed sideways off him.

Victor shoved the body the rest of the way off and scrambled back, chest heaving, staring up at the man standing over him.

He was fully plated in silver armor, with the battle axe by his side. It was Paul.

Paul’s eyes narrowed, studying Victor for a beat longer than felt comfortable.

"You held back a goblin," his eyes looked to the other one with a butcher’s knife embedded in its head, "and even killed another? Huh! You are much stronger than most people, kid." Flat. Almost accusatory.

Then he seemed to catch himself, clearing his throat, gruffer. "I am Paul, a D– Ranker here to save you...You hurt anywhere?"

Victor shook his head. "No."

He did not even need the explanation. One look and he knew that this was a Ranker. If it was a Ranker, then that meant they were saved.

He remembered the child and hurried to check under the table.

The boy was still curled under, shaking, eyes wide with terror.

"Hey, hey — it’s me. It’s okay." Victor scooped him up gently, and the boy latched onto his neck with both arms, face buried against his shoulder, his small body trembling.

"Follow me." Paul was already moving toward the door, axe loose in one hand.

They stepped back out into the street just as three more goblins rounded the corner with their pointed teeth and claws bared.

Paul didn’t break his stride. One swing of his axe took two heads clean off in a single arc. The third lunged for his back.

"BEHIND YOU—" a shout.

Paul reacted before the warning finished, swinging his free arm up to block the goblin’s bite.

Its teeth scraped uselessly against his vambrace. Then, with brutal efficiency, he smashed that same arm sideways into the nearest wall, the goblin’s skull crushed between metal and stone, and its jaw tore apart on impact.

Paul shook the mess off his arm like it was nothing.

"Thanks." He said without turning, voice flat.

From a few steps behind, Hana nodded. "You’re welcome." A small blush colored her cheeks.

Paul straightened up, scanning the street. "I’ve found the civilians. Where’s Mira?"

"Over here."

Victor turned toward the voice, and for a moment forgot entirely about the chaos around him.

Mira moved like water.

Her hair glided loosely sword flashing in one smooth arc that dropped four goblins at once.

She gave a second turn claiming three more before the bodies even hit the ground.

That’s a clean and efficient blade. Victor complimented.

He’d seen Ranker footage online before — plenty of them filmed their dungeon runs for clout, and sponsorships. But watching it happen in person was an entirely different thing.

Mira.That name sounds familiar. I am sure I have heard of a Ranker’s name like that. But where?

Victor was still piecing a lot of his memories of this year together. He would have to sit and jot down everything he could remember about the year.

He made a mental note not to forget.

Mira crossed to them, barely sparing Victor and the boy a glance. "That’s the last of them."

"If that’s true," Paul said, "we should’ve seen the exit portal by now. Or heard the clear gate announcement."

Hana tilted her head. "Maybe there’s a boss."

Mira nodded slowly. "Wouldn’t surprise me. This whole dungeon’s been strange from the start." She glanced upward. "I’ve never seen one with a sky before. And it has a sun."

"Speaking of strange," Paul started, nodding toward Victor, "this kid held his own against a—"

A second horn cut him off.

All three Rankers turned at once toward the town’s gate, where another wave was already visible in the distance.

Goblins again, but these ones moved differently. They looked organized.

They were even marching instead of swarming.

Hana squinted. "Is it just me, or are those ones wearing light armor?"

"This is a Yellow Gate, Goblins that use armor should not be here." Paul argued. This was a known fact.

Yellow gates only had creatures with very low intelligence like animals.

The use of armor was proof that they had intelligence to either create or steal such amour.

But paul could see them too. It really was goblins wearing light armor.

Light armor consisted of a few things: helmet, chest plate, and maybe a knee guard on a few.

Mira’s sword came back up, eyes narrowing.

"Get ready."

Paul surged forward, planting himself in front like a wall of steel. Mira stood beside him and Hana fell just behind them.

Victor watched closely.

Is this not what they call a formation? Two Damage Dealers (DD) and one support healer.

Team Dawnbreaker was not the typical team as it only comprised of three individuals while a balanced team was typically five.

But even Victor had to admit that they could hold their own.

However, would they be able to hold against what came next?