CHAPTER 17 - BATTLE DEBUT

Olivier hid behind a tree as his eyes darted towards the goblins in the distance. He could see them dancing and laughing around a bonfire. Seeing them so happy even after doing such unspeakable atrocities to the archers made him so angry.

Before his anger started to rise any higher than necessary, his mind started to coll down as this became inexplicably clear.

'Huh? What was that? Is this another benefit of the Fiend body art or it is because of the anomaly that occurred before? Well, I should check my body thoroughly after I reach the tier-2 strength and gain minds' eye.'

This was Olivier's first group battle. Although he appeared confident on the outside, he was very nervous on the inside. Although his mind for an unknown reason was always calm during the most important occasion, his back was already soaked with cold sweats. The handle of his broadsword was coated with layers of sweat making it slippery as Olivier unsteadily grasped it.

Olivier shifted the broadsword to the other hand as he looked intently at his birthmark. This helped him calm down a little.

Olivier shifted his gaze. He could shadows of the barbarians and archers perched on the curves of the trees and hiding behind its shadow. They looked calm and ready to kill. All of them were equipped with their weapons. With a single motion of his hand, this goblin village would be drowned by the rain of arrows descending from the skies and sharp swords riding from the ground.

As he thought of this, Olivier felt like he had come a long way from who he was. He now had a great number of strong and talented people who could help and support, a great number of people to rely on.

He smiled and waited, Waited for the right moment to attack.

He was already informed about the whole situation of the village. The number of the goblins was around 40 including the one wearing the red cape who seemed to be the leader of this motley group. They had already discussed the plan according to which Kratos and Olivier will be the ones to deal with the red-caped goblin. Well, mostly Kratos. Olivier was tasked with providing support with his archery and taking the fatal blow for Kratos using the ability of his birthmark if things got to that point.

Archers and the Barbarian will slaughter the rest of the goblins in the meantime.

As the group lurked in the shadow, the goblins dancing around the bonfire stooped their movement.

"Ara Ara Ara Rara". They made a strange noise as they bowed towards the red-caped goblin. The Red caped goblin roared loudly in its hoarse voice as it stood up from the dilapidated chair carrying the curved scythe in its talons. It's every step caused the bowing goblins. Apparently, the goblins were afraid of their red-caped leader.

Olivier immediately noticed this. To confirm it, he even activated his oculus art. As his eyes started shinning mysteriously, the whole goblin village appeared in his field of view. He saw that the goblins were shivering in fear and unfocused.

'This is the perfect moment to attack.'

He looked towards Kratos and Aria as their eyes met. They had the same thought as him confirming his decision to attack.

He unhesitatingly raised his right hand in the air and clenched it into the fist. This was the signal to attack.

The archers and the barbarian sprang into motion immediately as they noticed the signal to attack.

The archer's eyes started to shine mysteriously in blue light as they knocked arrows in their bows and let loose. Their firing speed was astonishing as each archer had already fired several arrows in an instant.

The barbarians hiding behind the trees sprang into motion at the same time. As they were running forward, they circulated the energy inside bodies as a thin layer of energy covered their bodies in the area which was uncovered by their armor. Every tier-2 warrior would use this method when fighting in close vicinity. As their sense was connected with the energies surrounding their body, they would an informed about any possible sneak attack the moment it reaches this barrier. It would give the one being attacked a split second time to dodge, protect their vital areas or use their life-saving card.

"Hahaha.. Finally some good battle".

"Don't die after a single heat, bastards".

The barbarians howled loudly as they ran forward. Olivier was right behind them. He had already hefted his broadsword on his back as he was knocking his bows with an arrow and aiming forward.

Seeing Olivier, the barbarians laughed even louder as they spoke with 1 part care and 3 parts teasing.

"Don't die on us in this measly place you little pup."

"Captain Erik is still sulking about the rematch. Make sure to survive."

"The young chief is finally stepping onto manhood."

Olivier smiled slightly. Their teasing calmed him down even further. He had fought with them several times and he was well aware of how much these madmen loved battles. He had survived every single sparring with them. Although sparring was different from real battles, it should count for something right.

Fill with confidence in his strength, he marched ahead.

By the time, the goblins noticed the incoming barbarians, arrows were raining from above.

Swish! swish! swish!

A volley of arrows fell down from above, each of them targeting a specific goblin. The arrows fired from a distance were less effective in battle as the arrows had to hit the target to be effective against an enemy. The power behind the arrow and its accuracy decrease as the distance increase. Thus, even in cases, the arrow hits its target, it may not die instantly. Thus, in the war between countries, archers were used to control the motion of the enemies like preventing them from moving forward or retreating, etc.

"ArararArara arara arar.

The scream of goblins was followed by the spraying of the green blood as the arrows landed. Some of the stronger goblins were able to protect themselves from the arrows by using their maces to shield and deflect arrows while some of them sacrificed their arms or shoulder to take the hit to protect their lives.

The red-cape goblin did not even try to deflect the arrows as a barrier of red energy formed around its body that deflected the arrows.

"ARaRaRArArAr." It roared loudly towards the incoming barbarians as its eyes suffused with madness and brutality. It raised its scythe and flashed towards its enemies to kill those pests that dared to attack its territory.

The red-caped goblins were famed for their brutality and murderous nature. Every time a red-cape was born among the goblins, a period of slaughter would ensue. The red-capes would murder their own kind and soak its red-cape in the blood of its victim. They were born with strength superior to others of their own kind. Thus, they were rulers of the goblins hailed as the 'goblin king'.

Following its lead, several goblins who were unharmed by the arrows followed behind their king as they howled with killing intent spraying saliva everywhere. The slightly injured goblin also started to follow as they overcame their pain. Eyes turning red, their inherent bloodthirsty nature was awakened.

Aria seeing this coldly commanded from the shadows. "Again!"

Another round of arrows was fired, targeting all the injured goblins in the back, killing them.

Before the real battle even started, a greater portion of the enemies were already dead. This was the power of the archers.

"Battle formation!" As Aria's voice sounded in the shadow, the archers in a group of four, forming two groups started to silently crept forward.

They were planning to head into the battle!

..............

The barbarians and the Goblins also met on the battlefield. The numbers of the goblins were around 25 not counting fallen to the arrows. However, the barbarians were not afraid despite the numerical disadvantage. They howled loudly in their coarse voice as they dived into the battlefield.

They swung their broadsword widely as they laughed. After reaching tier-2 strength, they have become several times stronger than they were before. With every swing of their sword, green blood dyed the black ground.

Bjorne, one of the captains of the barbarians who had joined in this mission, was immensely excited at this moment. He looked around at the enemies and spotted a huge goblin coming towards them. It was larger with a grotesque face that was glued to its body without a neck. Its fleshy stomach was jiggling with each step as it moved forward.

'This is it. It should be stronger than the rest.' Bjorn decided on his target as he moved. His movement was refined as he dashed to the side of the fatty goblin. While in the air, he performed a 360-degree swing with his sword channeling his energy around the sword creating a whirlwind of red hues.

"ArarAr." The fatty goblin cried out in alarm as it jiggled its fat and smashed forward with its mace at an astonishing speed.

An explosion occurred as the whirlwind and the mace meet in the midair which was followed by the scattering green mist in the air. The fatty goblin had exploded after Bjorn's attack pushed through its mace.

"Too weak". Bjorn commented as he ran towards its next target.

Miguel was a hotheaded and brash barbarian. He was also the first to spar against Olivier and gave him quite a harsh beating. He was later reminded of the phrase 'Karma's a bitch' by Olivier but he was just to fight. To win some and lose some. But on a real battlefield, he was a total monster.

"Arghhh.... Let's see how many slashes of my sword can your body handle before its breaks down totally." He roared and cackled, his body armor and blonde mustache dyed in green. A putrid smell was emanating from his body as he rushed forward. His opponent was a tall goblin whose fangs looked quite hideous as it was curving towards its own face. Among the goblin females in the forest, he was popular the stud. His face however was colored in fear and desperation. He could see a number of dead goblins with decapitated heads, arms, and feet behind him.

"Five. That is the number of my slashes those uglies could endure before life gave out on them. Hahaha, Now let me test how resilient your life is."

"Ararararar."(You Monster!)

Slash! slash! slash! slash! Slash!

"Five! it is." Miguel laughed as he caressed his mustache with his bloody fingers.

A similar scene of slaughter was playing out around his vicinity but at one side of the battlefield, it was quite different.

Kratos was fighting against the red-caped goblin. With his body and huge broadsword, Kratos flung his sword outward towards it. The red-caped goblin with its eyes shining with red attacked back with its scythe with equal brutality.

The broadsword and the scythe collided as both of them were forced back.

'This strength!' Kratos was surprised. Just a little!

Olivier chooses to fire the arrow while the red-caped goblin was pushed back but it had little to no effect on the husky creature. Seeing this Olivier took out his broadsword and moved ahead.

He couldn't let Kratos fight alone, could he?

Olivier and Kratos coordinated perfectly thanks to the daily training as they attacked the red-caped goblin. Kratos as the main force would first attack, followed behind by Olivier.

This caused the Red-caped goblin to be forced into passive but it had not suffered any real damage.

"ArarArarara." It cried out loudly in frustration. It could see its playthings being killed by the intruders meanwhile it was tied down by these pests. This whole situation was pissing it off. With a roar, it unleashed its full strength. The energies in the surroundings were sucked towards its body as three more scythes were manifested behind it. They looked formless yet had substance to it which was quite identical to the scythe in its hand.

As the red-caped goblin moved forward, the scythes formed up of energies moved along with its at an even greater speed as the three scythes moved towards Kratos while the goblin moved in to kill Olivier.

Olivier steeled his mind and got ready to defend but he was not that worried as he was confident in his birthmark's shield ability to protect him at the critical moment. However, The red-caped goblins' strength did surprise him a little.

"A tier-3 warrior?"