Chapter 33: Plan B
A long time passed before any of them had a proper conversation.
It was already a tough pill to swallow that six of them had died... but worse still, their leader had just been exposed as a monster of a human being.
Still, he was a necessary monster.
A monster the Summoned would continue following out of desperation.
Not even Cory defied him anymore. In that light, Cynthia had proven herself the strongest and bravest among them.
Speaking of her...
Throughout the entire night, she remained sprawled across the floor, unmoving. Yet nobody approached her.
All Axel could do in his mind was apologize.
’I’m sorry.’
As for the situation at large...
The forest didn’t seem able to reach them from where they were.
Some Summoned managed to sleep, but most spent the night staring in despair at the gigantic castle looming at the far end of the courtyard.
Meanwhile, Axel and the other five absorbed the shards they had earned and traded their weapons for the goblins’ superior bronze and iron-tipped equipment.
As they waited and prepared, Lucas explained the plan to everyone.
They would clear the castle together. Afterward, the designated six would confront and kill the Goblin King.
It was a simple plan, but far easier said than done.
The sun had already climbed high when Lucas gave the order:
"Before the goblins come back out, we’re storming the castle."
The announcement surprised no one, yet it unnerved them all.
Begrudgingly, they followed Lucas out of the gatehouse and across the courtyard. Every step toward the castle felt like an invitation for an ambush, but none came. They reached the front gate unimpeded.
Axel looked back over his shoulder. From the castle steps, he could see across the entire courtyard, past its entrance, and all the way to the edge of the Obsidian Forest.
Lucas stopped before the gate, then turned to face the others. He began shouting, seemingly unconcerned that the goblins inside might hear him:
"I know some of you may be thinking harshly of me right now, but any grievance can be settled after we survive this place!"
’So he knows...’
"To that end, we need to work together! Now..."
Lucas turned toward the castle once more and, with a quiet voice, said:
"Let’s go dethrone this so-called king."
He spun and drove an Aether-reinforced heel into the gate.
The doors tore free from their hinges, crashing inward and folding against the stone floor.
Beyond them waited a vast entrance hall — and nearly fifty goblins, all staring directly at the intruders.
"Kreeeee!"
"Kreeeee!"
The goblins erupted into shrieks. One near the rear raised a horn and blew, unleashing a deep, reverberating call throughout the castle.
Lucas charged through the broken doorway first. His blade swept across the nearest goblin’s neck, sending its head tumbling and signaling the start of the assault.
A second goblin rushed Axel from the right. He sidestepped its spear, cut it down, then drove his weapon through another advancing behind it.
[You have slain a Nascent Aberrant, Goblin]
[You have slain a Nascent Aberrant, Goblin]
The entrance hall dissolved into chaos.
Arrows whistled over Axel’s shoulders and struck goblins deeper within the room. Claire hurled a medium-sized fireball over the front line, detonating it amid an unsuspecting cluster. Flames rolled through their ranks as the Summoned surged forward.
Despite the initial terror of facing so many enemies at once, the battle ended quickly. The fifty goblins were slaughtered, while the Summoned escaped with only minor injuries.
They had taken the entrance hall.
Their unease began to fade, allowing the first fragile traces of hope to emerge.
But, as always, hope was soon nestled alongside despair.
Cory was the first to notice...
"What the— Behind us!"
At his warning, the Summoned spun toward the shattered entrance.
At first, nobody saw it. Then movement stirred beyond the courtyard.
A dark green mass poured from the Obsidian Forest, spreading across the clearing in a seemingly endless tide. Even from a distance, Axel could tell there had to be at least a thousand goblins.
Lucas immediately barked the order that sealed Axel’s fate:
"We’ll hold them here at the entrance’s chokepoint. Claire, we need you with us! Zayn, Maks, Ryon, Axel, Connor, go slaughter that damned despot."
Cory shouted:
"We can’t split up! They’re all our power! We need them with us; we have no chance against that horde!"
Lucas shouted back:
"I know that! But even with them, we stand no chance! Our only hope is the being that sent us here. They tasked us with killing the Goblin King! Not every goblin! It’s a gamble that they’ll save us, but it’s our only hope. Stop wasting time! GO! NOW!"
Axel wanted to refute him, but Lucas was right.
The front of the horde was already halfway across the clearing. There was no time left to argue.
Axel and the other five turned and sprinted toward the staircase at the rear of the entrance hall.
They raced upward as the thunder of approaching footsteps swelled behind them. By the time they reached the second floor, Lucas and the others had disappeared from sight beneath the stairwell.
A red carpet stretched ahead, guiding them through a maze of stone corridors. They encountered only scattered groups of goblins, none of which lasted more than a few seconds against the six of them.
Before long, the carpet led them into a broad hallway ending at a towering pair of ornate doors. Two goblins stood guard before them.
[You have slain a Nascent Aberrant, Goblin]
[You have slain a Nascent Aberrant, Goblin]
The guards fell almost immediately. Maks and Connor seized the doors, while the others raised their weapons and prepared for whatever waited beyond.
Together, they forced the doors open.
Axel expected a wall of goblins to rush them.
Instead, the throne room was almost completely empty.
There weren’t even a few enemies waiting inside.
There was one.
A giant goblin sat arrogantly on its throne of azure blue, framed with black wood. Beside it stood a wooden cudgel, balancing on its head.
The Goblin King greeted them with a thunderous roar:
"KKKURRREEEEEEEE!"
It rose and closed one enormous hand around the cudgel’s handle.
The throne rested atop a short platform. The Goblin King descended two steps.
The two-hundred-and-thirty-centimeter behemoth possessed a lean, powerful frame marked by striped tribal tattoos. The thin loincloth tied around its waist didn’t do much to hide its dangly bits.
It had a pointy nose and ears like any other goblin, but it possessed an odd sort of grace.
It had barely moved, yet Axel immediately noticed the precision behind every motion. Not a single muscle tensed without purpose — not even those in its face.
Then it made its first unnecessary move...
It slammed the head of its cudgel into the ground and rested its massive hands on the pommel.
It awaited their challenge.
Standing there...
Menacingly!