In the end, the group only had the chance to fire three arrows before the enemies began to charge. The reason for that was very simple… that big goblin emerged from the fortress and he was oozing an aura of blood thirstiness.

  The creature charged toward us and that made me forget about all the monsters. While it was only a bit taller than an adult human, it was able to carry a thick club that should weigh tens of kilograms.

  The world went silent when I aimed at the head of the beast. I heard a buzzing in my ears, but then I truly heard nothing, only the sound of the arrow being unleashed. The projectile flew in the blink of an eye toward the head of the monster eighty meters away, but the creature easily blocked it with its club. A few flames spread around the weapon, but they soon dissipated without causing any real damage.

  Few people had the chance to see that, but they noticed the reaction speed of the monster and realized that it was no joke. I didn’t mind that, when the first arrow landed, I was already nocking the other and soon launched a barrage of them toward the enemy.

  The goblin boss deflected every arrow with effortless precision, its thick club moving in wide, sweeping arcs that sent faint embers flickering through the air. No matter the angle of my shots or the speed at which I fired them, the monster met each one with inhuman reflexes. It was as if it could see the trajectory before I even released the string. The sheer force behind my arrows should have at least staggered an ordinary opponent, yet this creature stood firm. A deep pit formed in my stomach, but it wasn’t fear. It was something far more thrilling.

  Then, amidst the storm of arrows, our eyes met. A primal fury burned within the goblin’s gaze, a silent promise of anger that sent a shiver down my spine. It wasn’t just angry; it was enraged that I had dared to challenge it. But instead of looking away, I held its stare, my fingers instinctively tightening around my bowstring. My heart pounded, not with dread, but with excitement. A slow, unbidden grin stretched across my face. This was no ordinary fight, no simple clash of weapons. This was a battle against a monster that demanded everything I had. And I was more than willing to give it.

  The boss goblin soon charged again, but stopped in the middle of the way when one of my arrows grazed its ears. It had amazing reaction speed, but it wasn’t enough to block an arrow that flew as fast as the sound.

  “... Kill them all!”

  The goblin boss pointed its club toward us and the goblins dashed while shouting. The sound of their voices was deafening, and it made me feel like the forest was shaking. Still, we were ready for that.

  “Mages! Use your fireballs! Warriors! Follow me!”

  As if he was following the script of a fantasy film, Carlos shouted that and began to charge toward the enemies. He seemed insane, but I had to give credit to where it was due. We were outnumbered, but he still stirred the frontline that much and they didn’t hesitate in following him.

  Everyone dropped their bows and the quivers and got ready for the bloodbath. It made me wonder how Carlos would make them fall back if things get dicey. However, it seemed that I was the one who lacked vision.

  As someone who had always fought solo, I had never truly grasped what a coordinated group of mages could do. Magic of that scale wasn’t something I had witnessed before. The moment Carlos gave the order, thirty fireballs soared through the air, their bright orange glow illuminating the battlefield for an instant before they crashed into the enemy ranks. There was no waste, no stray shots. Every single fireball found a target, engulfing goblins in searing flames. Their agonized shrieks filled the air as they flailed, their bodies consumed by the blaze. I had expected some of them to survive, to roll and smother the fire, but the sheer intensity of the flames made escape impossible for many.

  More than that, the fire spread. Patches of grass and wooden shields ignited, creating a momentary wall of flame that forced the goblins behind them to halt. At least sixty of them were stopped, their charge breaking for just a couple of seconds as they suffered from the sudden inferno. But in battle, seconds were everything. That brief pause was all the frontline needed. Without missing a beat, Carlos and the warriors pushed forward, hacking down the burning enemies or using their hesitation to strike deep into their ranks. What had been a charging horde just moments ago had turned into a battlefield littered with scorched bodies and severed limbs.

  The boss of the goblins clinched its teeth in anger and then jumped to the middle of the battlefield. For a moment, he disappeared into the foliage of the trees, but soon he began to land, but my arrows were already ready to meet him. When he landed, he protected his head with his arm and his heart with his club. Thanks to that, an arrow pierced his left forearm a bit and made it burn, but not that much. A level one gem was that weak…

  The arrow only pierced a couple of centimeters on the monster, but at least I stopped the monster from getting on the battlefield and hitting everyone with that massive club. The mages used that chance to target the creature again instead of decreasing the number of the goblins and unleashed a barrage of fireballs at it. Some collided against each other and exploded in the air, but most of them still flew toward the beast. However, they dispersed in the air when the monster swung its club and then the blast of wind extinguished them.

  For a moment, the whole battlefield went silent. Only the sound of my arrows and the sound of goblins dashing to attack the frontline echoed. Until Carlos raised his voice.

  “Attack its minions! I will handle this one.”

  I wanted to claim that the boss was mine since the creature had a gem on the handle of its club, but I couldn’t be that shameless since I was attacking from a distance. Still, a familiar fireball flew toward the monster… the creature tried to extinguish it, but it opened its eyes wide when it saw that its technique didn’t work.

  The explosion that hit the enemy made the creature stagger and disappear for a moment. Maya sighed in relief since she didn’t miss or made the explosion hit her allies. Still, she gulped when she saw the monster emerge almost unscathed. Raising the club to block the attack wasn’t an option, but the beast blocked with its arm.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  ‘Since it uses the right hand to swing the club, it doesn’t mind using its left hand like that, huh? If you don’t want that arm, then I will take it.’

  I took a deep breath and steadied my aim, pushing everything else out of my mind. For the first time, I fully committed to charging Power Shot, feeling the skill’s effect building up as I held my draw. The strain came immediately. My muscles tensed, and I could feel my stamina draining with every passing second. The longer I held, the heavier my bow felt, as if the very air around me was pressing down, testing my strength.

  By the final moment, a sharp pain flared in my right arm, my fingers trembling under the immense pressure. Every instinct screamed at me to release, to let go before I lost control, but I held on, pushing past the discomfort. Then, with a single exhale, I let the arrow fly. It tore through the air like a bolt of lightning, faster and deadlier than any shot I had ever fired before.

  The monster saw me and raised its arm to protect its head once again, but the arrow hit its left shoulder deeper than before. The beast opened its eyes in shock and then looked at the arrow and at me, already nocking another one. Without hesitation, it began to charge in my direction and ignored the battle around, but soon it was stopped by Carlos who got on its path.

  The eyes of the beast became bloodshot thanks to the rage, and soon swung down its club at Carlor who raised his shield. Even from a distance, I was able to hear the sound of flesh and bone being smashed, followed by the sound of a shield breaking apart. Carlos immediately dropped to his knees while the mind-numbing pain spread to the rest of his body. In the next moment, he expected a following attack, but he only heard the sound of a fireball echoing in the area and then the heat increased.

  Amidst the smoke that appeared, he saw a single arrow flying and crossing through it… he had no idea why anyone was still firing an arrow without seeing the enemy, but soon when the smoke dispersed, he saw the beast with an arrow on its left eye. Without hesitation, the monster pulled the arrow and a lot of blood gushed from the wound.

  I fired other arrows at the beast, but the monster protected its head and heart with the club. It couldn’t see me anymore, but it was fine to assume a total defensive stance. All of a sudden, the monster noticed that the arrows stopped coming and then lowered its weapon a bit before noticing that I was no longer where I was supposed to be.

  The creature who was ready to kick Carlos and charge in suddenly hesitated and looked around in confusion, looking for its prey. After a couple of seconds, it assumed that I had run away and then got ready to swing down its club at Carlos and smash his head. However, several warriors stepped forward and got ready to defend Carlos.

  The monster swung its club with all its might and knocked down five of the weight warriors and also broke their shields… despite being wounded, it didn’t lose any strength. Perhaps it actually gained some thanks to the adrenaline and anger.

  While the warriors were groaning on the ground, the monster got ready to step on their heads, but another powerful fireball hit the enemy, or so it tried… the monster was wary of Maya’s attack and raised its club to block it when it saw another explosive fireball coming from the same direction.

  Maya trembled a bit when she locked her eyes with the monster as the smoke dissipated. Now she became the target of the enraged beast. However, it was only for a moment. The beast suddenly stopped in its tracks and then trembled. When everyone blinked thanks to the surprise, they saw the monster falling with an arrow on its left ear. It fell with a large thud.

  ‘Done and dusted.’

  Call me a coward, I couldn’t care less. I disappeared on the grass and in the middle of the chaotic battlefield I approached silently the left side of the monster. It never saw the grass moving as I got closer. I emerged from the tall grass and smiled in satisfaction. At the same time, Carlos got up and nodded at me.

  “Their leader is dead! We can do this!”

  “WOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

  Everyone shouted in excitement, but only because they didn’t realize what had already happened. I unleashed my next arrows on the enemies that were busy with the frontline and with each arrow shot, an enemy was taken down. Before long, I had used all my arrows, but Maya showed up carrying some quivers. She had spent all of her mana already, but she still wanted to contribute like this. Despite that, her face was pale as a ghost.

  I nodded at Maya, acknowledging her effort, and without missing a beat, I returned to my focus. My bow never stopped, each arrow finding its mark on the advancing goblins. The battlefield had turned into a chaotic symphony of noise, shouts, battle cries, the clash of steel, and the occasional roar of the goblin boss. But through it all, I kept my eyes trained on the enemies that mattered most.

  Soon, I noticed a new wave of opponents emerging from the edges of the battlefield, goblin women, appearing with bows and arrows in hand. They were clearly ready to join the fray. I wasn’t about to let them interfere, not while they had ranged weapons that could disrupt the momentum we had. With swift change, I targeted them, one by one. My arrows flew, each one striking true, taking down the goblin women before they could nock an arrow.

  However, amidst the chaos, I spotted something that shifted my priorities. On the other side of the goblin fortress, a small group of goblins, mostly women and children, were trying to escape. Their movements were frantic, desperate. I couldn’t let them slip away, not with the resources they could potentially bring back to their forces. They had their own arrows, too. I couldn’t afford to let those escape.

  ‘Shit…’

  For a moment, I hesitated. This was going to leave one hell of a bad taste in my mouth. Still, it was my job not to let a single one of them escape… However, my hesitation vanished when I took a good look at the bodies of humans rotting on the stakes on the sides of the gate.

  “Return to the others. I am going to stop those who are trying to run away.”

  Maya looked at the fortress and then nodded after showing a complicated expression. As expected, even she could show that much expression after realizing that I had to do something truly fucked up.

  The reinforcements saw me approaching and soon changed their focus to me. Still, I ignored them, pointing their arrows at me as I slung my bow on my back and then grabbed my knives. One after the other, they began to unleash their arrows, but I zigzagged on the battlefield and rolled on the ground before finally reaching them. Without hesitation, I began to stab them… they didn’t have time to nock other arrows, but two of them still held the shots back until the last moment and pierced my stomach and left arm with their arrows.

  The sharp pain made me flinch for a moment, but I immediately was able to tell that they didn’t hit muscles or any vital organs. They weren’t part of the main force of goblins, after all. So, their attacks were half-assed at best… that didn’t stop me from slashing their throats.