Chapter 147 - 148: The Hobgoblin

Chapter 147: Chapter 148: The Hobgoblin

The Hobgoblin charged with a sudden, violent burst of speed that was far faster than Daniel had expected, its club raised high above its head, its eyes wild with a savage joy, and its mouth open in a roaring challenge that echoed across the clearing like a promise of pain.

Daniel dodged, but only barely, twisting his body aside at the last possible instant so that the massive club passed inches from his face, and the wind from the swing ruffled his hair and sent a cold shock through his skin as he stumbled backward and fought to keep his balance.

The Hobgoblin did not stop or slow or give him even a moment to recover, because it spun with terrifying momentum and swung again, and Daniel ducked under the blow as the club passed over his head with a heavy whoosh that made his ears ring, then countered with a punch driven up from his hips and through his shoulder, and his fist connected with the Hobgoblin’s stomach with an impact that was thunderous enough to make the ground shiver.

The Hobgoblin did not flinch.

It simply smiled a cold, cruel smile that spread across its ugly face like a wound opening.

"That tickled," it said.

Daniel’s eyes widened as the truth of the situation struck him all at once, and he pulled back and kicked with all the strength he could gather, but the Hobgoblin caught his leg in one massive hand and squeezed with a grip like a closing vice, and Daniel’s bones cracked under the pressure as he screamed in a voice that was torn out of him before he could stop it.

The Hobgoblin threw him across the clearing with contemptuous ease, and Daniel flew through the air like a broken doll before crashing into a tree with enough force to crack the trunk, and he slumped to the ground in a heap of pain and dust.

"Daniel!" Lyra shouted, and her voice was sharp with fear as she raised her gun and fired.

Her bullets hit the Hobgoblin in a rapid, desperate volley, but they bounced off its hide with bright sparks and flattened pieces of metal, and they did not penetrate.

"What?" she whispered, and her eyes went wide with disbelief.

The Hobgoblin laughed, a deep and ugly sound that rolled across the clearing. "Your bullets can’t hurt me. My skin is thick. My body is strong."

Lyra fired again and again, each shot another bullet and another bounce and another laugh from the creature that stood in the middle of the camp like a monument to violence.

"Pathetic," the Hobgoblin said.

Cheeky charged with her iron skin gleaming and her fists raised, and she punched the Hobgoblin with an impact that was thunderous enough to crack the ground beneath them.

The Hobgoblin did not flinch.

It just smiled.

"That tickled too," it said.

Cheeky’s eyes widened as she pulled back and kicked, but the Hobgoblin caught her leg just as it had caught Daniel’s and squeezed until her iron skin cracked with a sound like breaking pottery, and she screamed as the creature threw her across the clearing and into a rock that shattered under the impact before she slumped to the ground.

"Cheeky!" Paul shouted, and he raised his hand as wind gathered around him and formed a blade that he threw with all the force he could muster.

The wind blade hit the Hobgoblin and scraped across its hide with a shower of sparks, but it did not penetrate, and the Hobgoblin laughed again.

"Your wind can’t hurt me either. My body is too strong."

Paul stared with his mouth open and his hands still raised, and for a moment he looked like a man who had just watched his last hope bounce harmlessly off a wall.

Fluffy appeared behind the Hobgoblin like a shadow given form, her daggers flashing as they slashed and scraped and failed to penetrate, and the Hobgoblin turned with a slow, contemptuous motion and grabbed her by the throat before lifting her off the ground.

"You," it spat, and its voice was thick with disgust. "You’re annoying."

Fluffy gasped and clawed at its hand and kicked and struggled, but the creature’s grip did not loosen.

"Let her go!" Daniel shouted as he pushed himself up from the ground, his body broken and his bones cracked but his legs still somehow holding him upright.

The Hobgoblin looked at him and its smile widened. "Why should I?"

It threw Fluffy across the clearing, and she flew through the air before crashing into a tree that cracked under the impact, and she slumped to the ground without moving.

Daniel screamed and charged with everything he had left, and he punched at the Hobgoblin’s face, but the creature caught his fist and squeezed until Daniel’s bones cracked again and he screamed again.

"You’re weak," the Hobgoblin said. "You’re pathetic. You’re nothing."

Daniel did not answer, because he was too busy standing there with his broken body and his bleeding face and his exhausted eyes, but he was smiling.

"You talk too much," he said.

The Hobgoblin blinked. "What?"

Daniel switched classes.

[Class Change: Gunslinger]

He entered stage three, and his senses sharpened and his body strengthened and his mana surged through him like a river breaking its banks.

He transformed his hand into a machine gun, a large and metallic weapon that gleamed in the sunlight and hummed with power.

He fired.

The bullets shot forward in a stream of violence that hit the Hobgoblin and tore through its skin, putting holes in its chest and its arms and its legs as blood sprayed into the air.

The Hobgoblin screamed and stumbled back and clutched its wounds as blood poured between its fingers.

"You... you..." it gasped.

Daniel stopped firing and looked at the Hobgoblin, at its broken body and its bleeding wounds.

"Your skin is thick," Daniel said. "But bullets are thicker."

The Hobgoblin stared at him with wide eyes and a pale face. "What... what are you?" it whispered.

Daniel smiled a cold, dangerous smile. "I’m Daniel Black," he said. "And I’m going to kill you."

The Hobgoblin screamed as its body glowed and its eyes turned red and its muscles bulged, and it entered berserk mode.