The sorceress approached Rubel, placed her staff on his head, and a green healing light burst forth, illuminating the young warrior's entire body.
- It's not much, but you should be able to last a little longer. She said.
- Thank you!
- Mourne, can you hear us? What do you think? The young girl shouted loudly.
- I only have three arrows left, but I'll give it everything I've got. Replied a girl sitting on one of the tree's branches with a bow.
- Good! Let's hope it's enough, because there must be at least five hundred of them in front of us.
They had barely finished speaking when a Hobb crossed the wall of flames and jumped at them, its body already engulfed in fire. Fortunately, the sorceress reacted quickly and cast a spell while shaking her lamp once more.
- Twilight Shard!
At once, the flames already covering the creature's body grew even fiercer, burning so intensely that they completely charred it. Trying to flee, it crossed the barrier again only to be fully consumed in the middle of its own kind.
Behind the wall of fire, the Hobbs had gathered all around it, trapping their opponents at the center. There were at least five hundred Hobbs, led by another one standing in the rear. This one was abnormally taller than the others, reaching nearly three meters. He also wore a large gray cloak that covered him entirely, revealing only his violet eyes hidden within the shadow of his hood.
Raising his head, he let out a tremendous roar accompanied by a powerful surge of green mana.
"Groaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
The roar and the wave of mana burst from his mouth and spread through the surroundings, especially toward the other Hobbs, who became even stronger and more aggressive. For them, it was the signal to attack. They all charged at their enemies at the same time.
For Rubel and his companions, the message was clear: their death sentence had just been signed. But there was no question of dying without fighting back. The three of them took combat stances. Rubel's sword began to glow. The crystal at the tip of the sorceress's staff shone with a blue light. The archer in the tree prepared one of her three remaining arrows.
- A super Hobb! That thing is really a pain. She complained.
- Hey, if we make it out alive, would you like to have dinner with me? Rubel asked the sorceress.
- Hm? Alright, but it's on you. And I warn you, I have a huge appetite. She replied.
- Awesome! My very first date!
At the same time, about ten Hobbs managed to break through the wall of fire. Rubel rushed one of them, leaping forward and cutting it down with a sword strike. The sorceress fired her spell repeatedly.
- Twilight Shard! Twilight Shard! Twilight Shard! Twilight Shard! Twilight Shard!
Destroying one, then another, and another again, over and over. As for Rubel, he continued his assault. He charged another Hobb that tried to pierce him with a spear, but he dodged to the right and sliced the beast's neck. Another burst from the flames behind him and attacked with its spear, but the sorceress destroyed it instantly, reducing it to ashes with another shake of her lamp.
She then turned around and destroyed two more behind her. On the other side of the tree, she destroyed another, and another, and again and again, reducing them all to ashes with her lamp.
The Hobbs attacked from all four directions without rest. The sorceress poured the power of her lamp onto them without restraint. Seeing that the number of enemies was far too great for the team's only swordsman still standing, she also cast reinforcement spells on Rubel to support him and lend him strength.
Meanwhile, Mourne the archer carefully aimed at her target: the super Hobb, leader of the horde. She put all her strength and concentration into it.
Hobbs are creatures that only attack in groups. That's because, in truth, they're very cowardly. This super Hobb is what makes them so confident. So if I take him down, with a bit of luck, they'll panic and eventually run away. The real danger is that monster, and I'm the only one who can reach him from this position.
Taking her stance on a branch, Mourne aimed with the utmost focus at the Hobb leader. A large arrow and a great bow were held in the hands of a young blonde girl, her hair tied behind her back with a lock covering her left eye. She wore a tight black outfit with a few pieces of armor.
- This is my strongest attack. The sound arrow!
The arrow Mourne held in her hands emitted an intense vibrating wave. After carefully judging the situation, she released it toward the super Hobb.
- This arrow moves at the speed of sound! You'll never be able to dodge it.
The arrow fired by Mourne produced a deafening noise. It flew over the horde in the blink of an eye before crashing into the super Hobb with unimaginable force, giving him no chance at all.
A massive impact sound followed, and a cloud of dust rose from where the super Hobb stood. The ground shook and cracked several meters from the point of impact. All the other Hobbs stopped immediately, staring at the scene with anxiety and unease. The adventurers did the same.
- Did you get him? The sorceress asked excitedly.
- My sound arrow vibrates at such a frequency that it can shatter even the hardest stone. He couldn't have avoided it.
- Awesome! You're amazing, Mourne! I'll buy you a drink too after this mission. Now we just need to hold on a little longer until they run away with their tails between their legs! Rubel exclaimed happily.
The Hobbs had stopped their assault. The sorceress took advantage of it to cast another spell.
- Revealing Vision!
She carefully observed the impact point before suddenly shouting as she turned toward her companion:
- Mourne…
Startled, the archer looked back at her, then toward the impact site, when she saw an enormous pillar of stone rushing toward her as if hurled by the earth itself.
Instinctively, she reached out as if to stop it, but the pillar struck her head-on, shattering and piercing through the top of the tree, then dragging Mourne with it and smashing her into the ground in the middle of the horde.
Rubel and the sorceress were speechless. Unable to see through the dust whether Mourne was still alive, Rubel decided to rush to her aid. He charged straight into the center of the horde without hesitation, ignoring the cries of the sorceress.
- No, Rubel, stay here! She screamed, before looking up at the sky and seeing five more stone pillars, as gigantic as the first, falling toward them.
*BADABOUUUUUUUUUM
The ground shook with every impact.
The tree was almost completely destroyed. A cloud of dust covered the surroundings. The horde remained motionless, and the cause of the attack revealed itself in the form of the super Hobb, who had survived Mourne's strike.
His roar echoed once again across the battlefield while, within the dust cloud, the sorceress knelt near the bodies of her two injured companions. She had managed to raise a barrier around them, but she herself was badly wounded. She had lost her hat and her glasses. Blood flowed from her head and her left shoulder, and she was coughing it up.
Just a few meters behind her lay Rubel, stretched out on the ground with a head wound. He had lost consciousness.
- Idiot! I told you to stay close to me. She said, barely able to make out three spear-armed shadows approaching her through the dust cloud. And to think it was my very first date at twenty-three years old. What a shame… I really liked you, Rubel. It could have worked between us. She thought as she lifted her eyes toward the sky.
Her large eyes filled with sadness gazed upon the most beautiful sky she had ever seen: a vast scarlet red stretching endlessly. A bitter smile appeared on her lips as the three Hobbs prepared to pierce her. She slowly closed her eyes, accepting her fate, when she heard a loud:
● Slashhh!
She opened them immediately and saw the three Hobbs' bodies split in two collapsing to the ground, and a brown-haired man standing right in front of her. She could barely see him due to the loss of her glasses and the dust stirred up by the attack, so she rubbed her eyes several times without success.
She could only make out his silhouette, backlit by the rays of the setting sun piercing through the dust cloud. She also noticed that he was carrying someone over his shoulder — someone she would recognize even in complete darkness.
- Mourne? She said, almost dreaming.
- She's alive! Said the silhouette. She's very badly injured, but she's still breathing. If you have potions or healing magic, you need to hurry.
- Who are you? The sorceress asked as she retrieved her injured teammate.
- Gabriel, and I'm also a one-star rank adventurer. He replied.
Gabriel laid Mourne down beside the sorceress, who quickly gave her a magic potion. Mourne was gravely wounded. Her head was almost entirely covered in blood. Her arm was in terrible condition, and she seemed to be at death's door.
- Can you fly, sorceress? Or do you know a levitation spell? He asked.
- My cape allows me to levitate for about twenty minutes. But in this condition… I'd say no more than five minutes.
- That's enough! Take your friends with you and go as high as possible.
- If I do that, he'll bombard us again.
- There's a chance. But don't worry. I have a surprise for him too.
- But… The sorceress began to protest, before seeing Gabriel's serious and confident expression. It reminded her of a hero. Hm… alright!
Without another word, the sorceress followed Gabriel's request. She gathered her four companions, all unconscious, and began to rise into the sky. She flew very high, and as expected, the super Hobb quickly noticed her. Extending his arm, he caused a massive stone pillar to erupt halfway from the ground toward her — when he suddenly noticed the heads of his subordinates flying everywhere.
He focused his gaze and saw a man slaughtering his horde like nothing more than skating pins.
The Hobbs couldn't understand what was happening. Still stunned by the recent events, they were torn apart by Gabriel without mercy.
Unable to let this continue, the super Hobb released another roar infused with mana. The horde immediately identified the enemy and charged him.
- Perfect! That's exactly what I wanted. Sky Sword, first form: Eternal Separation!
Gabriel had no trouble dodging the Hobbs' attacks and cutting them down one after another. Driven mad by their leader's roar, the horde became uncontrollable and leapt at their enemy.
From afar, they hurled their spears with strength and speed. But Gabriel effortlessly avoided them as the spears shattered the ground beside him, then rushed forward and overwhelmed the Hobbs, cutting them to pieces. Spears rained down on him, yet not a single one managed to slow his advance.
Up close, more well-armed Hobbs launched a group assault.
Two in front, one on the left, three behind, and two on the right. Gabriel said.
He avoided the two in front by jumping upward, landing behind them and slicing off their heads. As for the others, he outpaced them. Before they could react, he cut down the one on the left, then rushed the two on the right, cleaving the first in half and, with a turn while dodging an attack, split the second in two. The remaining three jumped into the air to fall on him while aiming their spears downward — but unfortunately for them:
- Sky Sword, second form: Eternal Separation — Extension!
Gabriel took a few steps, shifting slightly left and right, then avoided the three spears that slammed into the ground beneath his feet. He followed up with a single swing through the air. The three Hobbs were torn apart, cut cleanly in half at the waist.
Yet even after this massacre, the Hobbs continued advancing with rage and violence. Corpses of their predecessors lay at his feet as Gabriel watched hundreds more charging at him, completely unchained.
- Good! Good! This is the perfect opportunity. The adventurer thought. I'll be able to test the skill that old woman passed on to me. If I remember correctly, she talked about future vision or something like that. Anyway… activation!
And thus, the massacre continued. He added with a smile, facing this terrifying threat.