Chapter 84: Vs The Horde (1)

"UGAAAH!"

He bellowed fiercely, every swing of his formidable Ebony axe cleaving a path through the green wall of flesh.

"PUSH FORWARD!" Aron commanded, wielding Nightfall with a sideward motion, splitting five goblins charging recklessly toward him.

The horde is endless, and their numbers are beyond count, wave after wave they persist, only to meet their doom.

Aron, Pethra, Freya, and Raum stood vigilant facing the green tide.

As a vanguard, Aron exploited the benefits of his two-handed axe. The cavern's expanse allowed him to wield Nightfall with unrestrained freedom, devoid of concern about collisions with the enclosing walls.

Though the exact number was unknown to him, Aron was certain that his kill count surpassed the hundreds. How did he know that? Easy. There are two giant mountains made from goblin corpses on each side.

In order to minimize the advancing force of the goblin horde, Aron made sure to slay goblins by swinging Nightfall left and right in an arc shape.

This tactic not only managed to hinder the horde's advancement but also managed to pile corpses on the sides, blocking the path for the goblins to bypass Aron and attacking from behind, forcing the goblins to approach from the center.

Freya and Pethra collaborated in achieving this strategy. Freya, endowed with extraordinary speed, darted across the battlefield, dispatching goblins and intercepting those attempting to outflank Aron.

Meanwhile, Pethra thought of raising walls from the ground to help in stopping the goblins' advance; however, that idea had risks. The biggest one was the potential collapse of the cave.

In the midst of the battle, Aron instructed Pethra to conserve her magic and employ Earth Arrows to dispatch goblins from a distance.

Simultaneously, Raum hovered above, overseeing the chaos unfolding.

'I refuse to remain powerless any longer,' he ruminated. Spotting a goblin in the distance, Raum darted towards it with astonishing speed.

Despite the sides being fortified with corpses, a few goblins managed to ascend. If left unchecked, they could surprise Aron and his comrades by launching attacks from behind.

Swoosh!

"Queck?" The goblin abruptly halted its leap, noticing a dark object hurtling towards it. Without a chance to react, the black projectile collided with its eye, penetrating forcefully and emerging from the back amid a burst of flesh and blood.

"YES! Kaaah! I can fight now and I can kill goblins" Raum exulted, flying back to the cave ceiling.

Early in the morning, Raum sensed an unusual hardness in his beak. Initially, he ignored it, but when the fighting started, he got this crazy idea which proved to be successful.

Diving from above at extraordinary speed, Raum targeted the goblins' vulnerable areas—their eyes. The result: a fatal hole in the head, ensuring instant death.

"Dmanit! They keep coming, boss" Freya growled, thrusting her greatsword forward, impaling five goblins

"We can do it! Just keep figh–"

"Queck!"

Aron was interrupted by a goblin leaping aiming at his face; Aron shielded himself with the axe. The goblin seized Nightfall's handle and began a forceful push.

Aron noticed the goblin's unusual strength, wondering why? his thought shifted for one reason

'Maybe I'm starting to get tired?'

By now Aron and his group were fighting for their lives for more than 30 minutes. No matter how strong you are, eventually, you will get tired. However…

"W-What the fuck!" Aron exclaimed aloud.

A peculiar and unnatural sight unfolded before him. The goblin who Aron was holding has a third arm sticking out of his back. The third arm held a knife that was aimed at Aron's eyes.

Swiftly recovering from the surprise, Aron evaded the knife. Undeterred, he pressed on, sinking his sharp teeth into the arm, and forcefully began pulling.

The goblin howled in pain trying to jump back looking to escape Aron. however, Aron didn't let that happen. He began pushing forward, squeezing the goblin against his upcoming kin, forcing them to stop their charge for a moment.

Aron's strength prevailed, and with a gruesome sound, the third arm was torn from the goblin's back.

"AHHH!"

SLAP!

Aron used the torn arm in his mouth as a weapon, slapping the goblin's face left and right; it didn't do much damage to the goblin, but it brought Aron a grim satisfaction.

"!!!" suddenly another goblin leaped from the rear landing on top of his kin; Aron noticed it immediately since this particular goblin stood out.

He was twisted in a horrible way, with two heads and four arms, his eyes were totally white, and his skin was leaning toward gray.

The two-headed goblin crawled in a twisted unnatural way on all four…well six, toward Aron, using his fellow goblins as support. Then three more twisted goblins jumped from the back joining in.

'Damn that's creepy' Aron cursed inwardly.

Something wrong with these goblins, his [Ancient Dominance] effect ceased to influence them. Regardless of the number or the brutality of his kills. The goblins didn't react to him at all, as if the concept of fear was unknown to them.

As the four-armed goblins advanced, Aron grappled with the challenge of stopping them. Just stopping the horde from advancing was putting a lot of pressure on him. Goblins began climbing the pile of corpses on the sides more often, but thanks to Raum, Pethra, and Freya, they didn't get the chance to jump at him.

"They stopped coming!" Raum shouted from above.

"GOOD!"

'No more holding back'

A vibrant red glow emanated from Aron's chest, piercing through the darkness of his dark-steel armor. The intensity of the radiance was so powerful that it illuminated the entire cave, casting a crimson sheen across its walls.

"!!!" Freya sensed the impending danger, utilizing her speed she reacted swiftly, jumping in the air grabbing Raum then dashing toward Pethra dragging both of them away from Aron.

The red glow reached Aron's throat; he flashed a wide grin gazing at the goblins.

"Time to raise the heat a little"

ROAAAARR!

He unleashed a roaring Dark-red inferno, engulfing the twisted goblins and regular ones alike. The searing flames danced, causing the cavern to rumble.

All the abominations in his path were reduced to ashes and for the first time, the surviving goblins scrambled in terror.

"Haaah!...Haaah!" Aron knelt, catching his breath.

The echoes of the screams and the crackling flames subsided, leaving a momentary calm in the cavern.

Aron compelled himself to rise; there was no time for respite. As far as he knows about dungeons, if you get trapped inside, the only way to escape is to find the dungeon core and destroy it.

Without casting a glance backward, he commanded, "It's not over yet, we need to move, NOW!"

BAAM!

Freya executed a heavy landing next to Aron. In order to avoid getting caught in his Dragon Breath, Freya sought refuge in the cave ceiling, simultaneously carrying Pethra and Raum. Dropping the two on the ground, she scrutinized her right hand.

Being a defective werewolf, Freya is unable to assume the wolf form. It could be said that Freya is a mere ordinary human with extraordinary physical strength and razor-sharp instincts.

Her only transformation consisted of the long fingernails; that was it. However, the transformation on her right hand differed from the usual.

Black scales enveloped her hand, long red claws replaced her nails, and crimson tendrils of energy extended from her claws to her shoulder.

'My arm is burning with strength.'

Freya redirected her gaze to Aron. It's obvious where she derived this transformation from, the two of them being connected and her consumption of Aron's blood had an impact on Freya.

She was on the verge of questioning Aron about it when the ground beneath them began to tremble.

Rumble. Rumble. ROAAAR!

"Fuck! Not a moment of rest," Aron cursed, activating his [Dragon sight]. He got a glimpse of what was about to come.

"What the hell is that?"

Monstrous beings approached, standing at heights of 8-10 meters with gray skin. Each carried a colossal log as a weapon.

Aron swiftly comprehended that these creatures were unnatural. Their body parts did not align; the body was likely that of a giant species, and it was the only one shared between them. As for the remaining parts, they exhibited diverse combinations.

One possessed two ferocious arms like a bear, and its head resembled a lizard. Another one lacked legs but instead, he had six arms, moving in a sinuous, creepy spider-like manner; his head was on his back... well not head but heads; he had four goblin heads sticking together.

As far as Aron could discern, ten of these abominations charged toward them. All were contorted and mutated in a grotesque manner, scars visible where the different body parts fused.

It was akin to purchasing ten distinct dolls, disassembling them, and reassembling each one using parts from different dolls.

"More are approaching!" Aron assumed a stance. "Pethra, behind me! On my signal, raise a two-meter wall between two piles of corpses."

"I'm on it," Pethra didn't need to hear it twice. She promptly positioned herself behind Aron and commenced channeling her magic.

"Raum! When we engage in combat, I want you to fly past them and locate the dungeon core."

"Kaaah? No Brother, I want to stay with you," Raum protested.

"RAUM!" Aron bellowed. "Listen to me; if you don't find the core, we all die. Understood?"

Raum lowered his head, perturbed by the prospect. "I'll find it, no matter what."

"Freya!" When Aron turned to address her, he observed the transformation on Freya's right hand, raising an eyebrow. Aron was momentarily speechless.

Their eyes locked, and they exchanged glances until Aron spoke, "Aaah! Freya, you still owe me a spar."

"Eh?" Her mind went blank momentarily, until suddenly, "Pfft…HAHAHAHA," she burst out laughing. "Seriously, Boss, a spar?"

"Yes, you promised me one; don't run away."

"Oh. No no…I won't run away. In fact, I'm looking forward to it," Freya approached Aron seductively. "When I win, you will do something for me."

"HOO! Do you think you can win…Humpf!" She cut him off by sealing his lips with her own.

'WHAT! She kissed him again!...Damn, she takes advantage of him every time,' Pethra boiled. She didn't like it at all and wanted to intervene, but she couldn't risk disrupting her magic channeling.

Raum shook his head and sighed, 'Women…I don't envy your position, Brother.'

But then something strange began happening to Freya; her silver hair began to change. The right half turned black, and the scales on her hand expanded, covering half of her upper body. Her facial features remained unchanged, except for the right red eye, which took on a reptilian appearance.

Freya broke the kiss, placing a finger on Aron's lips to silence him. "I'll do everything to win, especially against you, My Alpha."

Aron's eyes widened at Freya's transformation. Through his [Dragon sight], he saw the red energy inside her grow larger and spread like roots across Freya's right side.

ROAAR!

The roar drew their attention, signaling the proximity of the monsters. Aron placed a hand on Freya's now half-black and half-silver hair, stroking it.

His expression turned serious as he scanned the faces of his companions. "Ready for another round?"

They all nodded, determined to overcome this obstacle. Aron took a few steps forward, a long deep breath, and tightened his grip on Nightfall. He gazed at the approaching monsters.

"Come, oblivion is waiting for you with open arms."