Chapter 18 - Caged

After some quick thinking, Kaito precisely pushed the weak structure of the potion rack, making it shake and give way. The first glass jars begin to fall rapidly, creating a strong, harsh sound that echoes through the room. Other glass vials crash into each other just before falling to the floor, producing loud bangs and making the sound reverberate through the chamber. With each falling vial, a sharp, piercing noise fills the room.

The goblins were immediately alerted by the sudden noises, and after a single moment, they got to a state of alert, as they stopped the drumming music, leaving a deep silence.

And when finally the entire bookcase finishes falling, a loud bang resounds and echoes throughout the dungeon.

Kaito took advantage of the confusion and chaos caused by all this to move as fast as he could through the shadows. Hiding behind one of the large pillars, taking advantage of the distraction of the goblins while they try to understand what was happening.

The goblins, still uncertain and suspicious, first begin to investigate with glances, moving toward the collapsed potions rack to investigate.

But the Shaman Goblin's attention was caught only for a few moments, and he soon refocuses on the cauldron before him.

'Possibly, he thought it was just some dumb goblin making all this mess. That's great.' Kaito thinks, and with a hopeful smile, he raises his head.

As the goblins crowd around the fallen bookcase, Kaito waits anxiously and watches with his own eyes as the glowing particles of the sleeping potion scatter in the dense smoke, which was a product of the mixing of the various types of essences, potions, and chemicals and the falling bookcase. The smoke is dense, and the goblins, as they are not really what you can call smart, go inside the smoke without realizing it and soon begin to feel the sedative effect. Not only can they not see anything around them, but their eyelids become heavy as they lose control of their bodies.

A few seconds later, the thudding sounds of the goblins falling to the ground are heard by the other monsters, who have not taken any chances, and by the Shaman Goblin, who looks over his left shoulder, as if it finally caught his interest.

One by one, several goblins fall into a deep sleep, and Kaito watches the effect of the potion with a glad smile on his face.

There is now a large portion of the goblins neutralized, leaving significantly fewer enemies to contend with.

Taking advantage of the gap in surveillance, Kaito silently moves towards Ishikawa, as the superior goblins that were near him were also attracted by the crash of the fallen bookcase. Lord Ishikawa is tied to a stake and upon seeing his approach, he stares at him with a mixture of disbelief and hope.

"Kaito... Are you... are you alive?" whispers Ishikawa, but his voice barely left his dry lips.

Kaito makes a sing with one of his fingers, asking Mr. Ishikawa for silence. He doesn't want to run the risk of getting discovered after everything he did.

Nodding silently, Ishiwaka understands the message and keeps his mouth shut.

With careful movements, Kaito removes the dagger from his belt and begins to cut the ropes that bind Ishikawa's hands to the stake. The tight knots quickly loosen, and after regaining the mobility of his arms, it was still tingling in his extremities after so much time with the rope. There was a strong red mark on his wrists, with even some blood.

Ishikawa looks at Kaito with gratitude in his eyes. Although he feels his words are needed, the emotion in his gaze says it all. He is so happy that he could hug Kaito. However, they both know that there is still much to be done to get out of this place alive.

Kaito prepares to sneak over to the railing where Maya, Ayumi and the others are, but suddenly a warmth fills the room. Ishikawa and Kaito look toward the Shaman Goblin and see that he is raising one of his hands and forming a sphere of fire in the palm of his hand. His red eyes glow with mischief as he looks directly at Kaito and Ishikawa with an evil grin that shows off all his fangs.

"Quick, kid, we need to find cover!" Ishikawa shouts and tries to pull Kaito behind a nearby pilaster.

However, Kaito knows that hiding is no longer an option now. He has enough experience fighting Mortal Tower bosses to say that it is impossible to hide from a boss inside your own room.

As the fireball forms in the Shaman Goblin's hands, glowing with a frightening intensity, Kaito's heart races and adrenaline courses through his veins. He knows he needs to act quickly, so he shouts to the leader of the group:

"I will distract the Shaman Goblin and meanwhile you will help the others! We're going to need as much help as possible if we really want to beat this monster!"

For the first few moments, Ishikawa is hesitant, only when he sees how Kaito starts to run, the fright about how agile this boy is overrides his fear of seeing him die.

The room around Kaito becomes a blur to him, and he focuses exclusively on the Shaman Goblin and his fireball. Kaito's muscles twitch and, with a fluid motion, he quickly ducks, narrowly avoiding the first flash of flame thrown in his direction.

The impact of the fireball against the ground shatters everything, and the Shaman Goblin exclaims as he points at it:

"Uhdagra anak!!!"

The attention of all the remaining goblins, superior and common, immediately turns to Kaito, who is running towards the Shaman Goblin.

At that moment, the young man's body seems to unfold in a choreography of movements, as if following an invisible score, because he becomes even faster because of fear, and with one agile leap he launches himself to the side, dodging the Shaman Goblin's second fireball. His movements are precise, demonstrating years of training and experience that don't actually exist. In his time perspective, just a few days ago Kaito was just a fat, sedentary boy.

With impressive speed, Kaito moves toward the Shaman Goblin. His feet barely touch the ground as he moves with dexterity. He uses his agility to avoid the burning flames dancing in the air, passing close to them with supernatural grace.

'I'm doing it! I can't believe I'm actually doing it!'

In a moment of pure elegance, Kaito leaps once more, spinning in the air with tremendous ease.

The goblins, in their frustration, try to keep up with Kaito, but they fumble, collide with each other, and end up becoming an obstacle to themselves.

'I can do this.' he thinks, looking back and watching this scene.