*
'... I know, I know I can't stop you any longer, and I don't even know if I should. I promised you that I'd do it, I promised that I wouldn't let harm befall you no matter what...' (Arin)
'Arin. Which one matters more, the 'me' of the past or the 'me' of the present? ' (Lastia)
She smiled slyly in her mind, though they were separated in different worlds, Arin could always tell what she was thinking no matter what. When she felt depressed, when she overthought about her circumstances, when her heart was aching because of her ineptitude... Looking at it in hindsight, Arin always seemed more composed than the others because she had a different threshold for danger. She must have faced far scarier enemies, far more convoluted problems, grappled with more intense questions that left her unable to respond.
So all this time, who was she looking at?
'One way or another, I've been forced to face this question head on. The fact that I chose you over the past in the fight with The Invader, surely that's enough of an answer?' (Arin)
'... I see. I'll honour your choice.' (Lastia)
The connection cuts, and Lastia was once more faced with silence. Certainly, after conversing with the real Arin she felt a lot more willing to face this challenge. Even if her mind buckled from the monotony, she'd still fight down to the last breath. Was that the extend of the issue before? Feeling like her actions were losing all meaning? When her conversation was all done and dealt with, she felt 3 powerful presences enter the range of her senses. The lesser goblins carefully formed a ring outside her range roughly at the border of this village.
They aren't there to press in and gang up on her, they're there so that in the case she was nearly defeated by these 3 boss level monsters, she would be too weak to break through their perimeter and run away.
Species: Hobgoblin general
Level: 33/50
Hp: 2000/2000
Mp 300/300
Attack: 500
Defence: 400
Magic strength: 30
Magic defence: 100
Mana: 30
Constitution: 200
Agility: 300
Species: Higher Hobgoblin mage
Level: 24/50
Hp: 1000/1000
Mp 3000/3000
Attack: 50
Defence: 100
Magic strength: 380
Magic defence: 300
Mana: 300
Constitution: 100
Agility: 150
Species: Goblin ruler
Level: 25/60
Hp: 4000/4000
Mp 4000/4000
Attack: 450
Defence: 350
Magic strength: 300
Magic defence: 350
Mana: 400
Constitution: 400
Agility: 275
Her appraisal skill level had gone up, now she could see their level cap. It also confirmed that the 2 generals had evolved twice while the goblin king evolved 3 times. Each evolution resets their level and requires more exp to go up, but they keep their stats. Higher evolutions give more stat points per level. Humans don't evolve, at least not that she has seen any, so it didn't apply to them. But if it was before, her appraisal skill might not have worked on these higher species, it would just reveal their levels and species, and hide their stats.
The foes before her are formidable, they'd likely recognised if any one of them died, she would grow unbearably strong. Their teamwork was tight knit, the mage fired prechanted attack spells as the king and general rushed to close to the distance. The front liners could contend with her speed and outright beat her physically, the mage is safely nested by some goblin guards in the back. There's no chance to run.
Even in close quarters combat, the king kept a closer distance to Lastia than the general, his superior stats made sure neither of them were even getting hurt. Lastia formed translucent black barriers with her skill, side stepping to avoid the attacks. With a swing of his broad sword, the king shattered a couple layers of magic barrier like glass, even with the subtle curvature the third layer barely deflected the attack. She continued jumping backwards, but she knew she was approaching the perimeter with her eyes glued to the king's assault. Any of those weak goblins could stab her in the back, they didn't have to do damage, merely hindering her movements will give the king a big opening to attack.
Her stores of magic has greatly increased, to the point she can readily deploy barriers and do a fighting retreat from someone with superior stats. However her enemies are mindful of the spacing, she'd be hard pressed to isolate one of them and kill them. A direct fight with the goblin king isn't possible either. Even her magic recovery isn't falling short from deploying all these barrier. They shatter one after another, she practically loops around along the inner side of the goblin perimeter.
Before she could get close, the goblin king stands right in front of her, barring her from reaching the mage. The mage also had low level healing and support skills, every now and then she could see different lights glowing on the king's body. She's too close to the perimeter, even the mobs are gonna starting to converge onto her. The general reaches her back and they lunge for a pincer attack. Deploying shields on the side with the king, she dodged to the side to avoid the general's great sword, then she pressed her palm to it and let her magic detonate.
The force repels the king for a moment and she slips into close quarters with the general. Her coal black gauntlets materialised, she throws a feint to which it bends back to avoid, then she steps back. The general abandons his great sword and swung his own blackish brown arms. She pivots her body and spawns barriers, throwing the swing slightly off course and hitting the air. The she jumps forward with full speed, a great sword materialised right before the general's neck, and...
The sound of flesh being cut echoed after the general's armour caved in and let out a thunderous screech. The metal crumbled under the pressure and the general flew into the distance. Immediately, Lastia deployed a lot more barriers at every angle, anticipating the king catching up. She knew her barrier wouldn't hold, so she made them opague and extended full coverage to hide her body. The king came crashing through from the top, the barriers offering the slightest resistance before exploding into shards of magic residue. Gone.
She compartmentalised the dome of barriers into separate sections, then left the centre hollow. She was already chasing down the general she sent flying. He already stood back up, his defence was high enough to withstand that point blank attack.