Descent of the Hobgoblin
"Shit," Alex whispered as he held the hands of both Eric and Maxwell to prevent them from flying off. "Hold on to something!"
Responding to Alex's words, everyone in the crowd grabbed an object or a human as support as they struggled against the winds. The air pressed against their bodies as it threatened to crush them.
A mixture of light and darkness burst from the center as several cuts appeared on the bodies of the humans. Many screamed as the pain intensified. Alex grit his teeth tumultuously, resisting the push caused by the wind.
"Eric, Maxwell," said Alex as the people in question turned to look at him with much effort. "As soon as I tell you, use your abilities. All right?"
The two nodded reluctantly, wondering what Alex was planning to do. No, could he even match up to an existence that could pressure superhumans solely by manifesting? Could he even lay a scratch on the entity that possessed enough power to produce wind capable of causing cuts on the bodies of those who had ingested Stones of Soma?
'One mistake, and I die,' Alex clenched his teeth as he pushed the wind using his body alone. His clothes suffered several cuts, and wounds soon began emerging from his skin. Even after consuming a ton of Stones of Soma, he wasn't resilient enough to absorb all attacks from his foe.
His opponent was powerful, very powerful. The existence was comparable to a regular elf residing in Telos Dou Dromou. Now, that might sound weak, but it was incomparable to someone in the first tutorial.
'A hobgoblin,' Alex thought. That was the monster Alex was facing. No, it was disrespectful to call it a monster. It still qualified as a monster, which meant it had the possibility of dropping an item. However, its strength surpassed regular monsters by a long shot.
Hobgoblins were the evolution of goblins. They were akin to gods to the goblins and ruled over their own tribe.
The powerful energy that emerged from the melted corpses of the goblins took the form of a hobgoblin. The hobgoblin was a monster at least fifty feet tall, with features akin to a goblin.
It possessed a lighter skin tone compared to the goblins, who were a dark shade of green. The hobgoblin also wore a thicker skirt created of leather and clutched a club that measured up to twenty-four feet.
The hobgoblin gazed at the ants that stood before him, confusion present in its eyes. In its eyes, the humans were followers who wished to worship it as their leader. However, he couldn't be worse in his presumption.
The winds calmed, leaving behind countless pieces of debris. The hobgoblin smiled innocently as it looked at the humans, excitement vivid in its eyes. It raised its club high in the air as it let out a roar of happiness.
The humans shuddered, petrified. They could not move under the presence of the hobgoblin. No human without the ability to feel and utilize mana could possibly move under the existence of such a being.
"Hahah! Me! Like!" The hobgoblin chuckled as it announced those words. The 'me' seemed stretched out, as it exuded the aura of someone who wasn't fluent in any language. Despite its strength being exponentially higher than humans, it did not possess much intelligence, which was its sole drawback.
"Bow! Bring! Grape!" said the hobgoblin in a tone that sounded much like a child's tantrum. It revealed its front teeth as it raised its index finger, pointing towards the former using the latter.
Scrape! Thud!
The hobgoblin's expression distorted as its index finger detached from its hand, landing on the ground with a loud thud. Its face contorted as it revealed an expression of severe discomfort. The hobgoblin let out a blood-curdling scream as rage filled its eyes.
"Who!?" The hobgoblin screamed once again, its eyes searching for the perpetrator who sliced its finger. Blood dripped from the amputation as the hobgoblin stomped its foot, instantly registering a crater on the Earthen soil.
"It's me, you dumb fuck," An unknown voice entered the ears of the hobgoblin as it stomped its foot once again before turning around. Before it stood a human; Alex, to be precise. The hobgoblin struggled to view the 'ant's' face, considering him to be incapable of causing it such a wound.
"No! Else!" The hobgoblin crossed its arms, watching its finger as blood flowed down its body. "No! Else!"
Alex shook his head as he recalled the memories he had dealing with hobgoblins. It was one of the most frustrating tasks he had ever managed to complete. At the time, he had pride in being able to converse and negotiate with a hobgoblin, but today's events caused him great pain, to the point where he wondered if the hobgoblin he had conversed with was a genius that was only born once in a million years.
However, despite their intelligence being extremely low, hobgoblins were, in fact, more powerful than people he could currently handle in a battle. It seemed practically impossible to overpower such a being, and even negotiating seemed difficult.
'Beli can't assign an impossible task,' Alex recalled as he clutched Durendal's handle. 'If he did, he would be reprimanded severely by his superior.'
That's why there had to be a method of defeating the hobgoblin. Since the trial was based on adjusting to the 'dangers' of war, and not strategies, the solution had to be related to violence.
However, to use violence against a hobgoblin was practically asking for death, especially if one possessed strength equivalent to Alex's.
Alex charged forward as he clutched Durendal tighter than ever. He summoned a bit of mana before coating the silver blade using a thin layer. Durendal shone under the moonlight as it drove towards the hobgoblin's ankle.
Pierce!
A shrill cry emerged from the hobgoblin's mouth as it stared at its ankle. Alex pulled Durendal from the wound, causing blood to pour as if it were a stream of viscous liquid.
"No! It! You harm! Kill!"