Hobgoblin Lair (7)

After warning his sister, Ellis turned his attention to the regular hobgoblins while keeping an eye on the boss and the guard. If the fight was going to drag on, he needed to use the hobgoblins as shields. He dodged arrows from both the boss and the guard while punching through the nearby hobgoblins.

While fighting, Ellis suddenly noticed the mage boss making a different motion with his staff, pointing it at the regular hobgoblins. He didn't have to wonder too much about what kind of buff the mage was going to use. As the somewhat green to purple light flashed and enveloped the hobgoblins, the effect was immediate. Their green skin took on a purple hue, with veins bulging visibly, as if they took a too strong stimulant and were about to explode at any moment.

Seeing the obvious change and noting that even the boss seemed slightly fatigued from casting this spell, Ellis knew the battle was about to become even more difficult.

Throwing his fist with more strength than normal at a nearby hobgoblin, Ellis watched it die just the same. But he couldn't feel relieved, as the blood splashing onto him made a sizzling sound, now laced with corrosive and poisonous elements.

"Fuck," Ellis cursed, unable to hold back. The difficulty was increasing even more than he expected, and now he'd have to be cautious even when killing these small fry.

Still, trying to compose himself, Ellis continued killing the regular hobgoblins, mentally preparing himself for the possibility of being pushed to the brink of death.

After warning his sister about the changes, Ellis fully focused on the battle. But despite some help from his sister, the sheer number of enemies, combined with the constant harassment from the boss and the guard, didn't help much in this situation.

After some time, as the last hobgoblin collapsed to the ground, Ellis, breathing heavily, stared at the archer guard and the mage boss. Though the boss had harassed him during the fight, it wasn't to the extent of the archer guard, who had been relentlessly attacking with full force.

Turning toward his sister and seeing how even she appeared exhausted, Ellis knew it was high time to end the battle.

But looking at his state—his clothes and skin corroded, burn marks from the poisoned blood, and his stiff body—even with his Poison Resistance skill raised to level 5, then the excoriating pain he was feeling.

He knew it would be difficult to catch the archer off guard. As even though he was exhausted, it wasn't to the same extent as Ellis, and the archer had only a few scratches from his sister after all.

But even then, taking the stance he got used to, Ellis wanted to take advantage of the fact that he hadn't used this move in the battle yet and catch the archer off guard.

Dashing toward the hobgoblin archer, Ellis took several steps. Out of the corner of his eye, he also saw his sister coordinate with him, launching an air punch that restricted the archer's escape routes. And he arrived in front of him in the blink of eye.

As he attacked, Ellis immediately noticed the poison arrow coming from the boss. But after a brief moment of hesitation, he hardened his resolve and completed his punch, sending the archer flying some distance away while taking a hit to his shoulder from the arrow. Groaning from the pain, Ellis first focused on the archer and prepared to move toward him again.

"Leave him to me."

But hearing his sister shout and seeing the archer barely holding on, Ellis decided to trust her and leave the archer to her.

Looking toward the boss, Ellis began running. Noticing that the mage was preparing a ball of poison instead of an arrow this time, so he tried to be more cautious.

Seeing the boss throw the poison ball, Ellis prepared to dodge, but apparently the throw was off and the ball was much slower than expected. It didn't even seem like it would reach him, but seconds later, the poison ball exploded, and a haze mist of poison, like a cloud spread quickly with him at the center. While he knew the spell could be dangerous coming from the final boss, he also understood that as an area-of-effect spell, its lethality should be lower.

With his body already riddled with poison, Ellis continued charging straight at the boss. Emerging from the poison cloud and closing in to within a few meters of the boss, he noticed how the boss looked very haggard this time. And something like a black aura ball was floating in front of his staff, seemingly prepared for when he comes out from the cloud.

The boss threw the black aura ball at Ellis. This time, it was much faster than the previous one, hitting him immediately and entering his body. Then spreading rapidly throughout him, affecting every part of his body.

Ellis couldn't help but stop in his tracks. As besides the immense pain, he felt as if he couldn't move at all and became paralyzed and his toes felt numb.

Seeing the boss preparing a lot of poison arrows, Ellis decisively said in his mind.

'Aurora, now! Apply the healing effects immediately!'

[Okay]

[Your skill Basic Poison Resistance has become Lv.6]

Noticing the new system message and feeling slightly better, Ellis didn't have much time to be relieved. Seeing the poison arrows coming at him, he knew the healing effects wouldn't make it in time. So while making his intention clear to aurora in his mind. he gathered all his strength and moved his hands, placing them in front of his head, which he considered the most important.

'Time the healing blessing just after this attack.'

Ellis knew his decision might be considered reckless, but he didn't want the healing effects to come at the same time with the arrows, only to be poisoned again immediately, as he wouldn't be able to make time to dodge. Plus, he still had one perfect shield opportunity for today, so he was reassured of the safety of his life.