Chapter 10: The Second Wave
"I can't believe I'm stuck guiding those… things!" the Dark Elf Scout groaned for the umpteenth time.
Just because he had a better knowledge of the surrounding areas shouldn't mean that he should get stuck as a guide for three Dark Beings, especially when those dark beings immediately raided and tamed a Goblin Nest and destroyed every single small village on their way.
The dark priests said that the dark beings were under their control but he didn't quite believe that. Something was wrong...
Now the small army was waiting for the third Dark Being, an 'Arch Vile' to come back, the two other beings, a 'Revenant' and a 'Mancubus' were discussing while the Goblin army was feasting on the crispy remains of the villagers.
"GRROBA?!" He suddenly heard a goblin exclaim.
He looked down from the roof he was laying down on. Something weird was happening. Some of the goblins suddenly started to look pale and weak.
"The Arch Vile is dead?!" the Revenant exclaimed, "How is this possible?!"
"It was empowered… No way a group of adventurers could have killed it…"
"You don't think… the Slayer?!"
A Slayer?
"If the Slayer is here, he'll come to us. We must be ready." The Mancubus growled before turning around to its army of goblins, "Everyone prepare yourself! Enemies are coming soon! Which means more food!"
At hearing this the dumb creatures started cheering.
"Oh and…" The Revenant added, "Kill the weakened ones, they will only be a burden for the fight. Eat them, use them as dummies for training… I don't care as long as they are dead before the fight." it cackled.
Well, seeing a bloodbath between goblins was not on the Dark Elf Scout's list of things he enjoys to watch so he looked away.
Just what was that 'Slayer' that got the demons all riled up? In any case, he shouldn't get involved in this fight. He used Stealth and disappeared in the shadows as the Revenant started looking for him.
A couple of hours later, it seemed that the 'arena' was ready. The demons were standing at the other end of the large plaza, almost four dozen goblins standing between them and the entrance. And walking through the town's gates was a man in full green armor.
The Dark Scout wasn't oblivious, he might have never seen the man, but he could clearly tell from that threatening heavy aura that this man was the Doom Slayer and he had not a single desire to approach him.
He then looked at the demons, they looked unbelievably enraged at the sight of the man in green as they roared in defiance and ordered the goblins to kill him. Suddenly the Slayer grabbed a large weapon unknown to the Scout, one loud bang later and what looked like a fire missile spell but made of metal flew above the heads of the goblins, straight towards the tall armored skeleton demon.
The projectile hit the burnt house behind the demon as it dodged, the impact resulted in an explosion.
That simple first minute of encounter convinced the Dark Scout to not go out of his hiding spot in the shadow and to not get involved in the fight.
The Revenant glared at the Slayer and readied its shoulder cannons to fire some missiles at the man but the latter suddenly turned and ran down an alley. The demon got a bit confused but quickly screamed orders to chase the Hellwalker before activating the jetpacks on its back and jumped over the houses towards where the Slayer went.
The Mancubus was the last one standing on the street, but it was getting ready to jump on the roof of a nearby house when all of a sudden, an arrow embedded itself on the fat monster's neck.
With a growl, the demon turned its head to see a group of humans standing where the Slayer was a minute ago.
"Looks like there's still some pests to take care of… Good, I'll gladly devour your souls as snacks!" the large demon laughed.
With a roll of its shoulders, the arrow snapped and the Mancubus aimed its arm cannons towards the group of humans.
"Well, we got the fat one's attention. Just as you planned Goblin Slayer." Spearman noted.
"Then we proceed with the plan."
"Can I please stay? That big one looks fun to fight! I don't want to deal with empowered goblins again!" whined the Elf of the group.
"We need everyone to follow the plan for it to have a better chance to succeed." was Goblin Slayer's response.
"But…"
"Ha! It's not as if you'll be useful for something, empowered goblins are too much for you to handle, Long Ears!" mocked the Dwarf.
"What did you just say?! Orcbolg! Let's go!"
"Right."
The two adventurers lead their party towards where the goblins went.
"Nice job." Lizard Priest smirked with a lick of its muzzle to the Dwarf Shaman.
"Hehe, t'was easy, eh?" the old man smirked back while scrubbing his beard.
Once they were out of sight the four silver adventurers left faced the Mancubus. They heard the demon laugh once more.
"Hahaha! You really think you can kill me with only the four of you?! Foolish humans…"
"We'll see about that! Monste- Ah!" Spearman dodged a sudden fireball fired in his direction.
The demon started advancing, firing fireballs after fireballs on the group.
Thankfully, they were easy to dodge and the Female Knight's shield was resistant enough to take the hit.
"Gah, damn freak won't let me finish talking. What do we do?"
"Hm… I. Think. I. Know." The Witch smiled mysteriously.
The Revenant found the Slayer standing still with his shotgun in his hands while surrounded by goblins in a large street. None of the green creatures dared to attack him, scared and intimidated but that didn't stop them from screaming at the man.
The skeleton demon landed in front of it's nemesis.
"Prepare to die, Slayer… " it said, shoulder cannons aimed at the Slayer's head.
But then, something unexpected happened: the man in green armor put his weapon away and brought his fists towards his face, he got in a fighting stance and started shadow boxing in front of the demon, confusing it and the goblins around him.
Then he punched towards the Revenant's face, opened his hand and did a challenging gesture with it.
What was happening?
Was the Doom Slayer really challenging the Revenant to a mano a mano? One on One?!
Why would he do such a thing? Was there a trick? No… Was he… Ammoless? That's it! Why else would he challenge the demon to a duel of fists?
Honestly, the Revenant should just aim the cannons again and shoot the Hellwalker right there and be done. The skeleton would certainly be rewarded immensely: become a lord, lead armies…
But then… There was the appeal of defeating the Slayer without the demon weaponry… And boy, the Revenant can't even imagine the bragging rights it will get from killing the Slayer with its own fists! Forget leading armies, it would rule a World as a reward!
Greed, as one of the Capital Sins, was present in every demon's heart.
The demon knew it should just shoot the man in green armor… it knew… And yet, the thrill of the challenge, the rewards and just the idea of fighting the slayer in a duel, was enough for the Revenant to approach the Slayer, raise its fists to its face and accept the challenge.
The skeleton might regret this, but it will enjoy the hell out of it!
What a bunch of stupid clods!
Can't they just move for fuck's sake?! He also wanted to see the fight!
But no matter what he did, the small goblin couldn't push through the larger ones surrounding the human in green armor who was fighting the big skeleton.
Tch! Whatever! He'll just go on a roof then! He'll even have a better view!
The Goblin walked away from the crowd, kicking the dirt as he walked his way towards the first barrel or anything he could use to get on a roof top… Then he smelled it.
Snif snif!
That smell… A female! Weren't all humans in this village supposed to be dead and cooked? Hehe, whatever, he can keep this a secret only for himself! He can find her and have his ways with her.
Like any disgusting filthy goblins would do in his situation.
The green monster followed the source of the smell, it was in a dark alley. Was she hiding? No matter, he'll find her soon enough.
He saw it, turning her back on him. Perfect for an ambush. The goblin only had a hatchet for a weapon, but he could use the back of it. One swift hit to the back of her head and boom, knocked out for his pleasures…
As he got closer, the dumb creature didn't notice that someone was behind him, just as quiet.
"Idiot."
"GRAG-" The goblin jumped in fright but got his mouth covered by a gloved hand.
During this scare, the goblin dropped his weapon and tried to immediately fight back and scream for help but the first thing that happened in his attempt was a dagger burying itself in his throat. He readied his elbow for some hits on whatever was behind him but it was too late, the blade sliced his throat.
The aggressor let go and the green monster fell to his knees, trying to breathe but with no avail. He looked up but only saw a frightening last sight: a dirty helmet with a red glowing eye in the darkness inside.
"Six." he heard before his brains got stabbed multiple times by the same dagger that cut his throat some seconds ago.
"Six down… Thirty more to go." Goblin Slayer said, cleaning his dagger, it could be used at least two more times.
"Orcbolg…"
"Yes?"
"I hate you."
"I see."
"No but seriously! Why am I the goblin bait?" The elf seethed., "Saying that my 'scent' would attract them, hopefully, one by one. I don't smell!"
"Of course you do, long ears! It's not your anvil charms that would attract a goblin." Dwarf shaman laughed from behind the archer.
"You take that back, dwarf." she glared at the small man behind her.
"You're right. Even an anvil has more chances than you! Hahaha!"
"You little, son of a-"
"Silence. There's two coming." Lizard Priest scolded them as he jumped down from the roof of a house.
"Everyone, back to position." commanded Goblin Slayer.
Everyone quickly hid in the shadows, Goblin Slayer joining Priestess who was staying on standby near High Elf Archer.
"Also. I chose you because I know you have better reflexes than her." the warrior added, nodding towards the blonde girl who nodded.
"I-I see… Well okay then. But this is the last time." The elf stammered, her ears flopping up and down and slightly blushed.
The two empowered goblins, like the previous ones, stupidly followed the scent and let themselves get ambushed, not noticing the smell of the blood of their comrades on the floor, the strong scent lost within the scent of the previous villagers blood.
In a flash, Goblin Slayer grabbed one of the small monsters by the throat and got on the floor. He quickly grabbed the used dagger and stabbed once, then twice between the eyes, the blade broke and stayed planted on the goblin's forehead. He looked up at the High Elf Archer and gestured to her to finish him off, his hands busy choking the goblin so he didn't scream.
She quickly approached them, raised her foot and stomped on the blade, pushing it down deeper inside the head, piercing the brain. After two more stomps, the goblin died.
"Seven."
Goblin Slayer looked at the last goblin, the green monster was 'busy' getting its throat ripped apart by the Lizardman's claws and its head cleaved in half by the Dwarf's axe.
"Eight."
"Alright, Beard cutter! What's next?"
"We shou-"
Goblin Slayer got interrupted by a huge explosion coming from the group of empowered goblins.
The men of the party looked at the source and saw that at least a dozen goblins were dead or burning, the Revenant demon was yelling something at them, before punching the Slayer in the helmet.
"Hmm… Twenty." he counted.
"Wh-What just h-happened?" asked High Elf Archer, on the ground, holding her ears down and trembling while being comforted by the Priestess.
"There there…" the blonde girl said, patting her back.
"I don't know. But the goblins saw us. And they are coming." Goblin Slayer stated.
"WHAT?!"
"Everyone in position, twenty empowered goblins incoming. We're shifting to the next phase of the plan."
"Alright let's go!" Spearman exclaimed as he charged towards the large demon.
The Mancubus just smirked as it aimed its arm-cannons towards the adventurer and shot some fireballs that got easily dodged.
"Ha! You'll have to do better than that!"
"How about THIS?!" The fat demon roared as flames came out of the cannons instead of fireballs.
The Silver adventurer's instincts told him that those flames were nowhere normal like the ones he used to jump through during his adventures. So he stopped his charge and quickly jumped back in retreat, away from the fire.
"Alright, it's ours!" Female Knight exclaimed as she ran towards the demon, shield in front and Heavy Warrior at her side.
The Mancubus clicked its tongue and aimed its cannons towards the duo but the moment it did, the other adventurer with a spear would charge back. Seeing no other choice, the demon let the trio of humans approach and aimed its arm-cannons towards the ground and unleashed a large zone of flames surrounding it.
The flames once again kept the adventurers at bay. The Mancubus used that opportunity to propel itself away so it could shoot more fireballs. But the moment it landed, the Spearman was once again on the demon's heels.
"You little-!" The demon roared and aimed one arm towards the approaching human.
"Slow!" Spearman suddenly yelled and the demon felt itself move incredibly slower.
"What the-?!"
"Grant. Fire!" Witch, who was staying far behind everyone, whispered towards her partner.
With the spell cast, Spearman's weapon ignited in flames as he thrusted the tip right through the demon's left arm-cannon's opening. He pierced whatever was inside and quickly retreated as the weapon blew up in a slow-mo explosion.
"AARHG!" The Mancubus roared in anger and pain.
The fat demon immediately retaliated with another flamethrower barrage aimed at the spear wielding human who was already jumping away.
"Wowow! You can still use your weapon in this state?! That's cheating!" complained the adventurer.
Those damned humans sure are good at running away!
"TAKE THIS!" Heavy Warrior shouted as he slashed at the demon's neck from behind, cutting the right shoulder cable in the process.
But the large blade didn't cut through or even deep enough to do any significant damage.
"Wh-what?! I even have the Ring of Might equipped." the Silver ranked adventurer gasped in shock.
The Mancubus let out a furious growl as it turned its head just enough for a green glare to make the big man sweat in worry.
The demon clenched its neck muscles to keep the greatsword stuck as the Heavy Warrior tried to pull it out and dodge whatever the monster was planning. The Mancubus aimed once again to the ground and propelled itself high in the air, with the human who still had his hands on his weapon's handle like an idiot.
The landing was violent, the adventurer, no matter how sturdy he was, took some heavy damage from such a forced fall. The Female Knight was rushing to his aid but the Mancubus kicked him with its big sturdy feet, sending him flying against his partner.
The fat demon aimed a cannon at the duo but the most annoying human of the bunch, the spear wielding one, called out to the Mancubus. Annoyed, the demon used its cannons to propel itself once more but forward, directly towards the blue armored adventurer.
Surprised by the sudden action, Spearman didn't have the time to react or dodge the heavy tackle coming his way, so it wasn't a surprise when he was sent flying a few yards.
"Ack!" He coughed up some blood as he tried to stand back up, but the demon was already towering over him.
The Mancubus lifted its right, still intact cannon to aim directly at the human's head to blow it to smithereens.
"Magic. Missile!"
Now it was the Mancubus' turn to be surprised as the Witch used what might have been her last spell of the day to throw a magic projectile aimed at the remaining intact cannon of the demon. The foreign projectile had an immediate reaction inside the cannon by blowing it up.
That's enough!
The Mancubus, roared loudly in rage.
"Heh, what now, uh?" The cocky adventurer who was still on the ground dared to mock.
The demon answered by slapping him with the freshly broken arm-cannon, sending him flying once more towards his partner.
"You. Searched. For. That. One." Witch said.
The two other Silver Adventurers ran past the demon and regrouped with the rest. The Mancubus growled and aimed its arms cannons towards the group and unleashed a barrage of Hell Flames on them. Female Knight quickly reacted by raising her large shield to protect everyone from the fire.
Without stopping its flames, the heavy demon marched towards them.
The first one to act was the Doom Slayer as he jabbed at the demon's armored side once before following with two more punches to where the sternum would be if there wasn't the armor. But that didn't stop him from hitting there.
The Revenant took and felt the hits, it counter attacked by lifting its right hand up and slammed it down in a hammer punch on top of the Slayer's helmet. Followed with a two-jab combo.
What the Skeleton demon didn't expect was that those three hits broke the Doom Slayer's stance for a couple of seconds as he had to take a couple of steps back to stay out of range of the demon's punches to recover quickly and get in a fighting stance again.
Was he… Injured from that?
"Hahahahaha! This fight will be over sooner than I expected!" the demon laughed and dashed forward, a fist reared back ready to punch.
But the Slayer crouched before the hit could land and he kicked the Revenant's legs, tripping it. When the demon fell on the floor as the man in green armor stood back up and kicked the demon's face, unfortunately, the latter also dodged by rolling away.
"Hehe… Seems like you have more in store than expected, Slayer…" the skeleton grinned as it stood up, fist raised and ready to continue the showdown.
The two opponents charged at each other and started to exchange blows after blows, the Revenant's empowered strength definitely looked stronger as each hit landed almost put the Slayer to the ground. But the Slayer has speed on his side, every hit dodged was countered by three jabs.
Neither of them seemed to slow down, and all hits were allowed as there were no rules for this duel.
The Revenant would sometimes use its jetpack for a boost for a jump so it could axe kick the Slayer. But the Hellwalker was smart, he protected himself from the hit and would often counter attack with a knee between the demon's legs.
But it didn't affect the skeleton as much as it would a mortal creature, so for the demon it was just another hit.
The goblins around were certainly enjoying the show as they were cheering loudly for the demon. One then suddenly fired an arrow at the Slayer.
The arrow hit his head but it had absolutely no effect except for a small distraction as he missed an opportunity to dodge a punch.
Well, it was expected from a goblin to act this way.
What was unexpected was the Revenant to aim one of the shoulder cannons towards the culprit and shoot a missile on the green bastard, blowing him up and at least ten more.
"YOU WRETCHED PIECES OF SHIT! THIS IS MY MOMENT OF GLORY! I DO NOT NEED YOU!" The Revenant yelled in rage, before punching the Slayer, "I will kill you, Slayer… with my own hands!"
The demon punched the Slayer once more but the latter hit back with a well aimed uppercut that sent one of the skeleton's teeth flying.
The situation with Goblin Slayer's party wasn't critical, but it certainly escalated quickly. Priestess had a Protection miracle on the street they were in, keeping the goblins away from her and Dwarf Shaman. Goblin Slayer and Lizard Priest were going back and forth from behind the barrier and in front to fight the small horde of empowered goblins that were once again proven to be a hassle when empowered by strong demons. Taking one or two by surprise, not leaving them the time to fight back was easy, but when they were ready to rumble, it was a different story, they were much stronger than the ones empowered by the imps a month back.
Meanwhile, High Elf Archer was on the roof, shooting arrows on the two goblins archers that were trying to kill the party's fighters by surprise, her arrows didn't do much damage but they were certainly distracting them.
Goblin Slayer and Lizard Priest took refuge once more behind the light barrier for a breather, then when a goblin got too close, the human warrior kicked its nose to push it back.
When he saw that the goblin was a bit out of it, in other words: stunned, and that some of its fellow filthy comrades were focused on the injured goblin by mocking him, he got an idea.
"Alright. Time for a Glory Kill." he whispered to himself as he jumped forward, grabbing a dagger.
He stabbed first the right eye, when the goblin started screaming in pain, he stabbed the other one.
The mocking stopped as the goblins who were watching the scene suddenly froze in horror.
But Goblin Slayer wasn't done, he then stabbed the goblin's chest and pulled down the blade, opening vertically the torso and belly. And for the final touch, he raised his foot and kicked right in the new opening.
"Twenty-two."
The squelching sound of bone and organs getting crushed inside the body was just horrifying.
Though it wasn't what the man in dirty armor had planned with his execution. He actually wanted to kick through the goblin's dying body, not make it into a disgusting shoe.
Goblin Slayer put his foot down, the goblin's corpse followed as it still had the warrior's foot inside.
That gruesome vision was enough to make a couple goblins piss themselves and three run away. Goblin Slayer didn't waste this opportunity to kick the dead goblin onto three of its comrades, distracting and scaring them even more.
Really, glory kills were incredibly useful against goblins. To think that the demons aren't as affected as them was a wonder how the Doom Slayer could fight and use them all the time.
The human warrior jumped forward towards the three scared goblins from earlier, dagger in one hand and a hatchet in the other, he stabbed one of the goblins in the forehead and slashed the necks of the other two, but they will survive that wound for now. Behind him, Lizard Priest jumped in and with a freshly summoned swordclaw he slashed a goblin face to ribbons.
Two goblins died from that assault. High Elf Archer suddenly yelled.
"Three goblins heading your way, dwarf!" she said as she noticed from her viewpoint that the three goblins who fled Goblin Slayer' presence were now going around the building to attack the Priestess from behind, "Ack! Stupid! Just die already!" She cursed the goblin archers.
One of them fell to its knees after taking another arrow in the face, the latter now looking like the back of a porcupine that even made the elf cringe in disgust at her work. At least that was one down.
"One down, orcbolg!"
"Twenty-five then."
The Dwarf Shaman used a first spell: Stone Barrier to make a wall with the stone walls of the houses on his side and with his expertise he made some bumps on his side of the wall so he could climb it like a set of stairs. When he heard the goblins expressing their confusion that there was another wall there instead of the young blonde girl creating the light wall on the other side, the small bearded man jumped over and chanted his second spell.
"- Stone Blast!"
The three goblins stood no chance against a rain of large, razor sharp rocks crashing down on them. No matter how strong they were, when something as big and sharp as a boulder crushed a limb, it was gone.
"Three more, Beard-cutter!" he yelled.
"Twenty-eight… ten left… Soon nine." Goblin Slayer nodded as he saw a clear path to the last goblin archer who looked puzzled as it ran out of arrows.
Seems the same could be said about their elf archer as he heard a 'Ow crud! I'm out of arrows!' coming from a rooftop.
He ran towards the goblin, passing by a couple who now had their eyes on the human warrior, perfect. He grabbed the sword from a dead goblin on the floor and got ready for his second Glory Kill.
First, he punched the goblin on the nose, breaking it. Next, with the sword, he slashed twice then a third time at the goblin's neck until the cut was large enough for him to dig his thumbs inside.
Once he got a good grip of the head from both outside and inside, he started to pull with all his strength. He even used his foot as leverage against the goblins' trembling body.
The goblin screamed his lungs out, but the worst was how the horrific screech got multiple octaves higher as the vocal cords got stretched then tore.
"GOBRU!? GROBA?! GRAABROOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!"
The goblin died, and every single soul that heard that screech froze in horror, even Goblin Slayer was shocked at what just happened.
"W-W-What the H-H-Hell, O-Orcbolg?! N-N-NEVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" High Elf Archer screamed from the rooftop, tears in her eyes and ears down flat on the side of her head, "I will never unhear this…"
"Yes." was all he said as he threw the head to another goblin
The goblin grabbed the severed head then screamed in fear before falling on his butt and wet himself.
Lizard Priest laughed though, "Hahaha, what a wonderful horrible scream! I'm sure my ancestor would have accepted such screams as offering, you have my thanks, Milord Goblin Slayer!" He shouted before slicing two terrified goblins to a bloody pulp with his sword and claws.
Goblin Slayer nodded and with a hatchet he cleaved the head of the still terrified goblin on the ground in two.
"Thirty two."
Only six empowered goblins left.
The remaining goblins got back to their senses and looked more enraged than ever for what the adventurers did to their horde. They grabbed all weapons they could get from their fallen comrades that weren't salvaged yet by the terrifying human in dirty cheap armor and got ready for a final assault.
The goblins roared at the human/lizardman duo of adventurers, their mind dead set on killing them. To the point that they didn't notice that from the earlier shock, the Protection Miracle fell.
Definitely because of Priestess who was being consoled by Dwarf Shaman that Goblin Slayer won't ever do that again.
The goblins charged , but all of a sudden, four of them turned very pale and barely managed to stand up.
"GRABU?!" one of the still empowered goblins asked a weakened one.
"Looks like a demon just died." Lizard Priest noted with a roll of his eye and a lick of his muzzle.
"Yes. Alright let's get this over with." Goblin Slayer said as he started walking towards the remaining goblins, his scaly friend at his side.
All the rage and desire for blood the goblins had jumped out the window as they were now opting to run away.
"Thirty eight."
The Revenant was enjoying this fight way too much as each hit it landed threw the demon in a hysterical fit of laughter.
"HAHAHA! COME ON SLAYER!"
The skeleton demon threw a jab but its opponent dodged and even grabbed the extended arm and the demon over his shoulder, showing that he still had enough strength in him to throw something as big as a revenant to the ground.
"Ack!"
The Revenant quickly got back on its feet and countered with a punch to the Slayer's guts followed by a roundhouse kick to the sides.
The Slayer let out a grunt from the hit as he protected himself from the kick with his arms. And with agility that shouldn't surprise the demon but still did, the Slayer jumped with a spin for a tornado kick straight to the demon's face.
The Revenant was sent flying but with a boost of its jetpack, it landed back on its two feet and used another boost to counter attack in a blur of motion. Doom Slayer was struck three times, and he only caught a glimpse of the first strike, a punch to the forehead of the helmet snapped his head back. The second punch struck his guts, bringing him forward into the last hit, an uppercut that threw the man in armor backward.
The demon roared as it lunged forward to connect another punch but never did. The Slayer was faster, he dove to the ground, wrapped his legs around the Revenant's feet and twisted with enough force for the skeleton to be sent falling onto the floor once more.
The Revenant landed hard but got up quickly only to be met with three punches in the face. Hits that the demon answered with a strong punch once more to the human's belly to give the demon some breathing space.
The Slayer stared at his opponent and charged once more, but the demon quickly reacted with a punch that the man in armor dodged while ducking and threw a powerful punch to the demon's armor, giving it another dent.
The skeleton demon quickly evaded another punch with its jetpack.
The two opponents stared at each other once more, both were breathless.
The Revenant was starting to think that maybe it was time to wrap it up… The demon was getting tired and was starting to think that if it continued with its fist, the Hellwalker might end up winning… The Slayer looked exhausted though, and wouldn't be able to dodge a barrage of missiles. That would take care of him… But then the demon wouldn't be able to gloat to the others when it gets its rewards…Then again it could just lie… But the other demons would definitely need proof with the Slayer's body. And a burnt to a crisp body is clear evidence of rocket usage…
Oh what to-
Suddenly a horrifying shriek that went a few octaves high was heard from the goblin commotion nearby.
"What in the Seven Rings of Hell was that?!"
Then the Revenant saw it from the corner of its eyes. It was so unbelievable that it took a good long look just to be certain: The Slayer had one knee down from exhaustion.
The demon could even hear him panting.
The Revenant won!
"Haha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" It let out a loud laughter, "Finally! Victory is MINE!"
The skeleton demon approached the one who's been Hell's Nightmare for millennia, the one that all demons fear, the one that took down many giant demons! And he will die by a Revenant's hands!
The euphoria was sky high, but it needed to focus! The demon brought both its hands together and raised them high, ready for a final double hammer punch on the Slayer's back of the neck.
And if that didn't finish him off, the Revenant could just rip one of his arms and beat him with it. Yeah that sounded nice… A demon's own 'Glory Kill'.
The demon dropped the hammer but with a sudden burst of energy from nowhere, the Slayer dodged to the side, standing and with his super shotgun in hand, the two cannons aimed directly at the demon's face.
"Wh-what?" was all the demon could say before the Slayer pulled the trigger.
Half of the demon's face was turned into a bloody mess as it got stunned from the sudden attack.
The Doom Slayer jumped high and landed on the demon's torso, he put all his weight on his legs to push the Revenant to the ground.
"Y-You…"
It finally dawned on the skeleton demon: the Slayer was faking.
"Lying…"
He was never completely ammoless! He wasn't exhausted in the end at all! For all it could know, the demon's punches and kicks did nothing at all! The Revenant should have just fought like it should!
"Cheating…"
The Slayer raised his foot. The demon used the last remaining strength to raise one arm towards the man in green armor for a futile attempt to push him away. Regret, rage and many many other negative emotions swirling in its mind.
"MOTHER FU-"
The Doom Slayer crushed the Revenant's head under his heel, silencing it before it could finish its insult.
That was another demon down.
The Doom Slayer had to admit. Goblin's Slayer's plan was pretty ingenious. Not sure he could use that again, but in the moment… It was good.
"We can assume that the enemy is composed of two demons and around forty goblins… Do you think you have enough ammunition to take on both demons?"
"No…"
"What about one?"
"Hmm… No…"
"I see."
"So what should we do then?"
"We seperate the enemy. Doom Slayer will bait one of the demons, the goblins will follow behind them. My party will take care of them. You guys should distract the remaining demon."
"Distract it? Why can't we just kill it?"
"If you think... you can… Go ahead… But also… Try to get information… From it…"
"That should be simple enough."
"Yeah, we can totally take that thing on!"
"The four. Of us? That. Should be. Doable."
"Hopefully that would give us enough experience to at least get well paid."
"Hmph… But how are you… And your friends take on… So many empowered goblins?..."
"Hmm… Do you think you can make a show?"
"A show?"
"Of course! What better way to distract those green vermin but with something extraordinary! Good idea, Milord Goblin Slayer!"
"How… Should I do that?"
"How about a good old fist fight? Taverns pretty much have those everyday, and I sure love watching that."
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Shut it, elf."
"I can… Do that… Maybe their pride… Would make them want… To duel with me... It should be done quickly... Then I can help with the goblins... and finish... with the last demon..."
"Don't finish this quickly."
"Why not?..."
"They are empowered, what if, when they see that they have no chance to win up close, they could keep their distance with projectiles."
"Hmph…"
"Then you should entertain them. Keep them close, act like they have an advantage. If a goblin had enough pride to fight one on one without too many tricks, that's what I'll do."
"Did that ever happen, Goblin Slayer?"
"No. But imagination is key. Fight them, hold your punches to give the demon the impression that they can win, imitate their level of exhaustion. And when they are tired, you finish the fight."
"Like that… I won't waste... more ammunition… Alright."
The plan worked perfectly. The Revenant was so enthralled by the idea of defeating the Slayer and all the praise/rewards that it accepted the challenge.
All he had to do was to take some hit and hit back.
The Revenant swallowed his act and didn't even doubt that he was acting.
It was a great plan, but he wasn't sure if it would work on other large demons. If he tried that on a Baron of Hell, a Hell Knight or a Cyberdemon, he wouldn't have lasted long before having to use his weapons again.
But what's done is done. The plan worked. He took a glance to where Goblin Slayer and his party were fighting the goblins and it looked like everything was going smoothly. Though there were still some empowered goblins left.
The Mancubus was still alive.
The Silver adventurers were in a pickle. A very burning hot one.
The Mancubus was still advancing and clearly not holding back its flamethrower. The fat demon let out a laugh.
"HAHAHAHA! Hide behind that shield all you want, humans! The Flames will engulf it and you too soon enough!"
"Dammit!" Spearman cursed.
"Hey, shouldn't we ask that monster about the Hell portal or whatever?" Heavy Warrior remembered.
"And you think now is a good time?!" Female Knight exclaimed, exasperated.
"What better moment? The enemy feels like winning, that's when their lips are loose!"
"Great idea!" Spearman beamed, then turned his voice towards the demon and shouted loud enough to be heard despite the torrent of flames, "Where on Earth do you guys come from?! I don't remember seeing ugly faces like yours around!"
"Oh? The doomed humans want information before they die? Fine then… Ask away, you're going to be burnt to a crisp before you can share it anyway…" the demon took the bait but grinned nevertheless, "For starters, we're from Hell but not your puny fake 'Hell', we saw it. A complete disgrace of an imitation."
The Mancubus didn't stop once his flames or march.
"Argh… This is getting too hot!" Female Knight sweated, she was now holding her shield with the sheath of her sword to not burn her hands.
"Really? How did you even get here?"
"A link between our world has been open. We were summoned by your pitiful 'dark priests', in a place that 'no adventurers venture'... HA! They actually think they can control us because they summoned us! What a bunch of fools! HAHAHAHA! But enough talk, it's time to die."
"Hey, how's the deflect projectile spell coming?" Spearman asked his companion.
"It's on. Right now… But It's. Ineffective. Against those. Flames." Witch answered, "I am now. Out of. Spells. For today…" she added.
"Shit. And that fat thing is getting closer… Alright. I got a plan."
"Quickly!" Female Knight pleaded, the flames were starting to melt her shield.
"I'll jump… I'll get burned for sure, but I'll survive. Hopefully. That will attract its attention, when that happens, you two charge on the demon and hopefully we can keep its attention divided."
"Are you crazy?"
"Do you have a better sol-"
"GRARGH!" They suddenly heard the Mancubus shout.
The flames and march of the demon also stopped. The Silver adventurers let out a sigh of relief before checking out what was happening. The large demon was protecting its left side with its arm cannons from a shower of blue orbs that exploded at contact with the demon's body.
The projectiles were coming from the Doom Slayer who was on a rooftop.
"DOOM SLAYEEEEEERRRR!" The Mancubus shook in rage, roaring the name of its attacker with the fury of a thousand suns.
But then it took a rocket to the face and was left stunned.
"Now!"
The three silver adventurers that could still fight emerged from behind the shield, weapons at hand and ready to cut the demon down.
They stabbed and slash as much and as quickly as they could until eventually, the strange glowing core that was embedded in the center of the Mancubus chest was cut out and fell to the ground.
Heavy Warrior saw the device and when it started beeping, he knew that something bad would come from it. He then got an idea. He grabbed the object, climbed on the demon's torso and tried to force its mouth open but the demon was fighting back.
Spearman and Female Knight saw what their fellow adventurer was planning and helped him to force the Mancubus' mouth open.
Once it was open enough, Heavy Warrior shoved the core down the monster's throat and grabbed his friends before running away.
"Something is going to happen!" he yelled.
The fat demon tried to reach for its throat but had no hand, just heavily damaged cannons. Trembling in rage, it took one glance to the Doom Slayer then to the running adventurers. Its green eyes were open wide in anger.
It let out another roar before its whole body blew up in a firework of flames, blood and gore.
"We did it? We did it!"
The four adventurers cheered at their victory against a demon from Hell.
Doom Slayer jumped down from the roof.
"Good job… But now I'm really out of ammo…"
"Heeey! Are you guys okay!?" They all heard High Elf Archer call out to them.
"We won. Any. Injuries. On your. Side?" Witch asked.
"N-No, we're fine." Priestess sighed, "Just something else was added to the list of things Goblin Slayer is forbidden to do."
"Don't remind me…" Dwarf Shaman sighed.
"I won't do it again." The man in question said mechanically, making some of the group grin or let out a chuckle.
"Did you… Get any information… from the Mancubus?" Doom Slayer asked the Silver adventurers.
"Oh right! Hear this out…"
SCREW MESSING WITH THAT GUY!
That Doom Slayer or whatever was a deal that the Dark Scout would NOT want to get involved with. He was way more dangerous than expected. He beat that Revenant in such a way, and what were those weapons anyway?
That's cheating!
The Dark Scout should get back to the dark priests, warn him of what he heard. The dark beings are not being controlled by the dark priests!
He needs to go back to the Portal's location, warn them and stop their coming before it's too late!
Whoever comes first, be it the Army of Hell or Doom Slayer, every Non Prayer in that place will be exterminated if he doesn't put a stop to this!
Second Wave Cleared…
Demon Invasion imminent
Baka's notes: Well that's the second part wrapped up!
Only one part left of this story!
Hopefully I finish it before the end of 2022.
Next, I'll either work one of those three:
-the second omake of Slayers
-A special crossover with Doom Eternal (won't say with what) called 'Battle of Titans'
-The next chapter of Despair in Lobotomy