Chapter 36: A Gamer’s mind

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: A Gamer’s mind

Paul took point, absorbing the brunt of every charge from the light armored goblins.

They could not move these big man from his planted position.

His heavy armor was built to soak hits Mira’s lighter frame couldn’t afford to take.

While he took the brunt of attacks, Mira moved around him, darting in and out of openings he created, her sword finding throats and joints with surgical precision.

While Hana stayed back, watching, waiting, and acting as extra eyes.

The light armored goblins came in tighter ranks than the first wave as their short crude blades jabbed in coordinated bursts.

One got past Paul’s guard and raked a blade across his forearm, drawing a line of blood through a gap in the plate.

"Paul!" Hana’s staff glowed gold, a soft pulse of light arced from its tip, settling over the wound.

Victor watched as the gash sealed itself closed in seconds, skin knitting back together like it had never been cut.

His eyes widened at this. He had heard and seen it in a couple of videos and in Dungeon Conquest, but the real thing was just out of this world.

This was the reason Dawnbreak team worked so well.

Even though Paul would have done better with a shield, and a long ranged attacker would work better for support than a priest, they still managed okay.

Of course, individual prowess played a big role in teams, but balance played a better role.

Team Dawnbreak consisted of one C Ranker and two D Rankers.

Mira was a C Ranker, Paul was D Ranker, and Hana a D Ranker.

While Mira and Paul were good, Victor’s gaming eyes quickly understood the glue that made this team incredible.

Hana the priest.

Priests were rare. Rare enough that even those of low rank were sort after by big Ranker Guilds. Which made it a wonder that Hana would remain in such a small insignificant team.

Paul didn’t slow down. "Thanks, Hana!" he barked, already swinging back into the fight.

It happened thrice more.

Attacks that could have affected Paul’s prowess or killed a normal person, like one that reached his neck. But Hana healed it all.

In fact, Hana concentrated significantly more attention on Paul. Maybe that was why he was so reckless. Or he might have always just been that way.

By the time the last armored goblin fell, Victor guessed they’d gone through close to forty of them in total.

All three Rankers were breathing hard. Goblins had strength comparable to chimpanzees. These were animals that had a long history of ripping humans apart.

If not that Rankers were super humans, they would have been done for, a long time ago.

Even Hana, who’d done nothing but cast spell after spell from the back line, had sweat beading along her hairline, her chest rising and falling fast.

Only Mira looked like she could keep going. Her breathing had barely changed.

"Is that it?" Hana asked, lowering her staff, hope creeping into her voice. "Please tell me that’s it."

A third horn answered her.

"Oh, come ON!!!" Paul snapped, turning sharply toward the gate again.

All three of them stared toward the horizon, waiting.

Victor felt it too, the exhausting, dragging weight of a fight that refused to end.

So this is what the gate meant by surviving for an hour.

By his own count, barely fifteen minutes had passed since the first horn sounded.

45 minutes more to survive.

However, Victor’s gamer sense could not help but notice something perculiar. Especially with the last death.

This time, the dust on the horizon moved differently. It was faster, but more controlled. As the shapes resolved, Victor saw why.

They were Goblins on horseback, light armor, short spears instead of the usual crude blades. They moved in tight coordinated lines instead of a mindless charge.

"Cavalry," Paul muttered, hefting his axe. "Great."

They hit the formation at speed, and the fight shifted immediately.

Paul was forced to plant his feet in the dirt, and brace for the charge instead of simply absorbing hits.

Mira, on the other hand, darted between horses instead of goblin bodies, cutting hamstrings and throats in the same motion before rolling clear of the trampling hooves.

One rider nearly took her head off with a spear thrust, but she ducked under it and opened the horse’s rider from hip to shoulder in the same breath.

"Incredible," Victor muttered. But not just him. Even the kid he held had forgotten his fear, admiring the grit of the battle.

Hana’s fire head strained. Clearly, her magic was working overtime.

Victor noticed that the golden lights had dimmed compared to their initial glory.

Regardless, gold light flared again and again across Paul’s arms, his side, and once across his thigh where a spear had grazed deep.

Slowly, the goblin wave thinned.

Their bodies piled in the street, horses skidding and collapsing, until only one goblin remained.

It was already on the ground, both hands severed, and one leg hanging by scraps of tendon, with blood pooling fast beneath it.

Paul stepped toward it, axe raised for the finishing blow.

"WAIT! Don’t kill it!"

Everyone froze.

Victor moved, cutting between Paul and the dying goblin before he could think better of it.

Paul’s glare snapped to him, breathing still ragged from the fight. "The hell are you talking about, kid? It’s a goblin." His jaw tightened, "Are you one of those humanitarian bigots that think all life even within the gates should be valued?"

Mira’s eyes narrowed. Her sword hung loosely at her side, blood dripping off the edge. But it looked like a threat even before she opened her mouth to talk."Excuse me, CIVILIAN, you should stay behind where you will be protected."

Her tone, mixed with exhaustion left no room for argument.

Victor could see that she was holding back just knocking him out if need be.

"Firstly, my name is Victor. And Just... hear me out. One second." Victor’s hands went up, pleading. "Don’t kill it. Actually... you guys should heal him." He turned to Hana.

Hana blinked. "What!?"

"When we came through the gate, there was an announcement. Survive the dungeon for an hour." Victor’s words came fast, tumbling over each other. "It’s only been what— twenty, twenty-four minutes, maybe. We’ve got over thirty left. And we’ve already had three waves. If this keeps scaling, the next one’s going to be worse."

"That’s not exactly reassuring, kid," Paul snapped.

"Just think about it. In the last wave, the second we killed the final one—"

"WE!?" Paul raised a brow.

"You... I mean you guys, of course. But the moment you killed the last one, the horn sounded nearly immediately. Like it was waiting for the final death." Victor pointed at the dying goblin. "What if the horn isn’t on a timer? What if it’s triggered by the last kill?"

He raised his head to them, expecting understanding but was met with...

Silence.

What was I expecting? Hell, why did I even open my big mouth?

Still, there was no way his conscience would have let him be.

Besides, he had began to feel it again...

The image of that Goblin he killed came to mind.

Mira’s eyes flicked toward the horizon, and then toward the goblin bleeding out in the dirt. She was definitely making calculations.

"This is insane," Paul said, but softer now, like he was uncertain. "Just kill it. If more come, we can just fight them. We’ve handled everything so far."

"Trust me. Don’t—"

A dying cough with blood spitting out was heard.

Everyone turned.

The goblin’s chest went large then stopped and settled—finally.

It’s eyes glassed over.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Paul turned to Victor, as if to say, ’see, nothing happened.’

Then the horn sounded again.

It was louder this time, closer, rolling in from multiple directions at once.

All four of them turned toward the horizon as the dust rose.

"Shit!" Paul cursed.

It was not one wave this time, but three, converging from different points around the town. Melee goblins. Archers. Cavalry. All of it, all at once. ℴ

Every head turned back to Victor.

He’d been right...