Chapter 4 Holding the Ground

In the driftwood forest one can hear loud screams and sounds of blade clashing together, when one went further into the forest they can see dead bodies of green monsters lying in the ground or by the tree and rocks. currently the Dexter Party together with Alex are fighting with their lives on the line trying to stop the hobgoblin horde.

"Hiee!-"

"Mark watch out!"

Dexter shouted out to Mark as he cannot reach Mark because he is dealing with 3 hobgoblin at the same time. Mark noticed the hobgoblin rushing towards him into his blind spot as he was about to be hit by it's spiked club he got blood splattered over his face making him blink and groans in disgust, afterwards he then saw the hobgoblin had suddenly got a blade sticking out from his mouth. it was Alex, it looks like he got just in time before Mark could end up hurt. Alex then pulled out his dagger off it's head and the hobgoblin's dead body fell to the ground.

"T-thanks , you saved me there Alex i thought i was about die"

Alex nodded as he swung his dagger to remove the blood of the hobgoblin. Alex and his friends has been fighting the hobgoblins for some time now, one can see that most of them have tired look and their faces and some of them even got some minor injuries which almost made the whole situation look hopeless however they must keep fighting until help arrives or else they might die, they could have just run off for their lives back into the village but they don't want to involve the village as it already has been attacked before they have taken this quest, if they turn back now the village might be done for.

Alex while panting lightly he asked Dexter for how long have they been fighting while he took down another hobgoblin by throwing his dagger.

"I think we have been fighting them for over 3 hours now"

Dexter replied while cutting down the 3 hobgoblins that was pinning him down he did this by using his great sword to slash horizontally while they are busy dodging or blocking Mark's arrows after he was saved by Alex. afterwards Mark asked Dexter a very important question.

"How long will the help arrive?"

"Probably just a few more minutes, we arrived in the driftwood village by carriage which took us at least 1 hour, since Louisiana is rushing back to the guild by foot she will probably take 1 hour and a half if she don't take a break along the way"

"1 Hour and a half you say?, then doesn't that mean they should've arrived by now?"

"probably yes but when we set off to our quest i didn't see that many carriages they could've gone elsewhere"

Alex made a frown when he heard Dexter saying that help could arrived later than what they have expected. moments later while still fighting the hobgoblin horde they suddenly heard the roar again, this time it's even closer. the hobgoblins suddenly stop rushing towards them as they retreated back and the goblin king appeared afterwards with some hobgoblins that look different from usual. They weared plate armor and each of them also have very big broadswords in other words they are heavily armed.

"It's here and looks like he brought some guards with him, everyone prepare yourself the goblin king is about to attack!"

Dexter shouted. everyone is tired Alex included, two of their party members are already dead now they also have to face the goblin king despite that he still needs to fight or he might really die this time for sure. for him he would rather fight and die trying rather than dying without even trying to fight back.

"Damn...that guy is very big than you Dexter could he be your relative missing relative that you talked about before, also it is just me or do those hobgoblins actually have armor?"

"No you're not the only one, they must be the elite hobgoblins, elite hobgoblins are much stronger than normal hobgoblins and they only appear when there's a goblin king"

Dexter replied to Mark despite him trying to do a joke while his hands are shaking very hard and can't draw the bow properly. Alex simply snickered when he saw Mark shaking.

"What's wrong Mark are you scared?, why are you scared now when you were already fighting the hobgoblins as far as i could tell you are much braver than the other party members so what's wrong?"

Alex mocked Mark and was disappointed he then readied his daggers cause he was about to fight the most hardest enemy he ever faced yet. Mark glared at Alex because he insulted him he then gritted his teeth and pulled himself together. while taking a hard grip on his bow

"Heh, what are you talking about Alex, i was just getting excited it's not like everyday that you get to fight a whole settlement full of hobgoblins much less if there's a goblin king with it"

Alex smirked when Mark got back into his senses. The goblin king roared again and it made everyone flinched for a moment. afterwards the elite hobgoblin rushed towards them.

"Here they come, Mark cover me if you ran out arrows just use your backup dagger, Alex I want you to stall the goblin king while me and Mark are taking care of the heavily armed hobgoblins i know you're at least capable enough of doing that, don't try to take him down alone wait until we have finished all of his guards, the rest of you protect Mark"

Alex and Mark nodded. Alex runned off to the goblin King while Dexter readied his great sword as he was about to do a [Whirlwind] skill.

"[Whirlwind]!"

Dexter shouted as he began to slowly spin around towards the elite hobgoblins after each spin he began to speed up bit by bit until he look like a small tornado. The elite hobgoblins we're caught off guard as they have a surprised look in their faces while they rushing towards Dexter however that only happened for a few seconds as they stop midway before they we're torn up to shreds.

"Maaaaaark!"

"[Arrow Rain]"

Mark fired his bow upwards while using the Skill [Arrow Rain] which made his arrow multiply afterwards they fall down straight to the elite hobgoblins however the hobgoblins saw the incoming arrows and they all dodge the arrows by moving all over the place. they then grinned because they aren't hit by the hail of arrows but after the hail of arrows Dexter was gone as they couldn't not see him in front of them, they we're confused as to why he suddenly disappeared.

"Oraahhh take this!"

"Hiie-"

The elite hobgoblins we're surprised as Dexter was now behind them and they're being cut down. As the hobgoblins we're to busy to dodge the arrows they never saw Dexter moved in behind them which it made a perfect opportunity for him to do a surprise attack.

"Hey don't forget about me!"

Mark smirk as he used his bow to fire multiple arrows from the front so right now the elite hobgoblins are being attacked from both sides. It didn't take long until all of them were killed.

"Good now that's taking care of we need to-"

"Ahhh!"

Alex was thrown in the air towards Dexter and it also made his sentence cut midway as he was hit by Alex. Dexter and Alex then crashed to a nearby rock as both of them lost their consciousness.

"Ughh..."

"DEXTER, ALEX!"

Suddenly a big club hits Mark by his chest which made him puke blood and got flown away just like Alex.

"Dam...mit"

Mark crashed to a tree with his back as blood splattered all over. He then raised his head slowly as he looked at he assailant, he then saw that the goblin king is attacking his other teammates one of them got crushed by the club while the others were thrown away he tried to stand up but he cannot move his legs because they were either dislocated or broken when he hit the tree.

"Damn... I can't move my legs"

Mark puked out blood again as he spoke those words. He was starting to get dizzy as his vision began to blur afterwards he then closed his eyes.

"looks like i will die..."

*bang, bang, bang*

Mark flinched when he suddenly heard loud noises the noise sounded like thunder and it was nearby however he knew that the weather was supposed to be clear today so how the heck was there a thunder?, he then slowly opened his eyes again and he saw a young boy in front of him and the goblin king, he was surprised to see that a boy a snuck in to the battlefield and he looks like he's carrying something like a weapon?, however what really surprised him was the goblin king. The goblin king's head was all mashed up.

"What.. The"

"Bastard, this is what you get for hurting my older brother"

"That... Voice.... seems familiar...."

Mark said while finally losing consciousness.