Trying to keep the pressure on the Hobgoblin, Moon once again charged. But the monster was starting to regain its footing as well, and charged at her, too.
"Grah!" It tried to knock off Moon's head in one blow, but it was much too slow.
'I would've died if it were God I was fighting. Compared to him, this is nothing. But I'm still taking too much time.'
Reigniting her will to survive, Moon slid past the Hobgoblin's next strike and cut along its chest. But it still didn't keel over. Instead, it powered through the pain and launched its next attack.
And this time, it landed.
"Gaah!" She didn't expect it too react so fast, so she didn't put too much thought into preparing to defend herself. In return for the rookie mistake, her shoulder paid for the damage.
[You have suffered 120 damage.]
Tumbling a few feet back, the first thought that came into her mind was...
'Ok. So maybe it CAN move fast.' She had underestimated her opponent. She didn't expect a monster to forget to react to an attack in exchange for delivering one itself. She didn't put up her defenses because she had no experience with such attacks. In a battle, experience carries a lot of weight. It can decide who wins and who loses.
But this time she knew. This time, she would win.
"20 seconds," she whispered to herself. It was an estimate to how much time has passed, and she was almost on the mark. It was 19 seconds left. 19 seconds to kill, or be killed.
Flipping back onto her feet, she once again dashed towards the monster. Seeing this, it raised its weapon once again to attack.But this time, Moon didn't dodge. She took the attack straight on.
Clang!
Their weapons clashed, and more pieces of the wooden mace splintered off. They both fell back in an awkward motion, but Moon used it to her advantage. Taking the fallback into account, she spun herself around and took the step to close the distant.
"Take this! Crescent Cut!"
The quick flash soared through the air above, targeting the head of the Hobgoblin. It was the one strike to finish all strikes. It was supposed to sent its head flying. But.
In its instability, it fell back. The only thing that was sent flying was Moon's sword, and something orange.
"UUUUH!" The blood was gushing out of the Hobgoblin's throat. It was on its last legs, but it still didn't give up. Even with its jaw completely split off, it was forcing itself through the pain to attack Moon.
But she was done with the fight.
"Fuckin' Sake! Just Die Already, Keener!!!" Still up close and personal with the monster, she brought her sword down as the monster brought its stick up.
Shlik!
Its arm was what fell off this time.
Chk! Chk! Shlik!
And finally, its head. Three chops were enough to tear it off.
[You have defeated a Hobgoblin.]
[15 gold has been acquired.]
[60,000 experience has been acquired.]
"Hah…hah… haaaaah."
Pumf.
Finally, the enemy has been defeated. With the fight over, Moon couldn't help but flop down onto the fine sand.
'Jeez… haven't been that tense in forever. That time limit really did me in.' Even though she finished the battle, she didn't leave it unscathed. That last strike that cut of the monster's arm. As she was bringing her weapon down, the mangled piece of wood that the Hobgoblin was holding tore her skin up as it was raised.
'That said, I made it.'
"Three seconds."
It was Godspeed that uttered these words.
"Three seconds were left. It took you fifty-seven seconds to kill that Hobgoblin. Even with the ambush attack---which you failed at, mind you--- it took you way too long to finish off. I'm disappointed."
"…Mm." She couldn't say anything back. She could insult him or make excuses, but she knew.
'I messed up. Just thinking back on it, there was a lot of things that I messed up in. Forget the Ambush; even just fighting the monster, there were many attacks that I could have followed up on. I was too scared of getting hit, that I just kept jumping back. It was riddled with injuries, and yet I never tried to take up the chance.'
"How pathetic."
Hm?" His eyebrows raised at the sudden accusation.
"Nothin'. Just personal criticism."
"Oh. Alright then. I'll give you some time to rest, then." He crossed his arms. "But only five minutes, ok?"
She gave a meek reply.
"Okay."
----------
"Okay then. Let's try it again. Once again, you're gonna ambush the Hobgoblin at the crest of this hill. Now tell me, what hints have I told you to help you from committing the mistakes from earlier?"
"Uh, you told me to run on my toes, because I would make less noise when I make a step, and each step would take less time to make. You told me to keep my sword in my inventory, until I'm a couple of seconds from the enemy, to prevent it from hearing my weapon clattering on my armor. Uhm, you also said to stab it, instead of try to cut off their head, so as to paralyze it just in case I mess up again."
"Co~rrect. Now you're learning." His half-hearted attempt at praise fell on deaf ears. The Hobgoblin was moving.
It was 40 meters away and still moving. It was panting from the heat bearing down on it, and it seemed a bit dull, as it barely turned to scan for enemies.
'The perfect target.'
"On my mark, you charge, kay?"
"Yes."
"Alright; I'll begin the countdown.
3."
Fssh.
Her sword disappeared into her inventory.
"2."
Crr.
She ground the sand under her feet, in position.
"1.
Go."
Fwoosh!