[Silhouette] moved first.

  A large mass of shadows sprang over my form, blocking the initial assault.

  It only served to enrage the goblins who shrieked and hammered my defense. Heavy blows thudded upon the shadow, failing to penetrate its hide.

  I had to move and continue the fight, but the pain . . . my gosh, the pain. The Night Scout Armor burned from contact with the lightning bolt, like a massive weight pressed upon my chest.

  The goblins didn’t let up. They really wanted to kill me, huh?

  Maddened leers wove across their features as they stabbed for all they were worth. They reaped the reward of their efforts. In no time at all, spider cracks appeared across my shadow.

  [Silhy] was a good boy, however, and having gone up against much worse, including almighty Byron, it wouldn’t give up yet.

  And, neither should I. Not when I had [Fear Aura].

  The atmosphere on the battlefield changed. The goblins blanched as the sinister aura rose from me and covered the battlefield.

  Their yellow toad eyes dilated in their ugly, green faces. One of them took a few steps backward, voice trembling with reverence. “Master?!”

  I ignored the stream of [System] notifications that announced the onset of [Dismay]. [Silhouette] took the chance to fade back into my shadow, and I rose in exchange: an incarnate of death.

  The first goblin was brave enough to put up a defense. I slashed mercilessly at his eyes. Health armor protected him, but it took a rare kind of bravery to ignore a hit to the eyeball. The goblin flinched in shock, giving me the window I needed to tear through his neck. His spine broke beneath my blade, killing him before he fell.

  The second goblin abandoned his knife and reached for something in his pouch. I flicked his companion’s blood in his face and tackled him to the ground.

  He was strong, this goblin. Way stronger than me. However, with two buffs propping up my defense, there could only be one winner of our tussle.

  That winner was me.

  I left the goblin as a carved-up mass on the forest floor and took stock of our situation.

  The enemies reacted slowly. [Fear Aura] had improved in potency since I’d attained silver rank, but it didn’t explain the way they gaped in my direction.

  It allowed my companions to mount a comeback. Komo-keine tore a goblin to pieces with his massive maw and bashed another with his tail. Logain stepped in to finish the job, striking with his sword. Radiant light erupted at the point of contact, launching the unfortunate goblin into the air.

  Kajal had taken even more arrows since I’d seen her. But, none managed to reach her actual body. They hung in midair, swirling around her as she moved. She resembled a character straight out of a wuxia flick if wuxia MCs made sport of turning goblins to paste.

  Dilwan had also joined the fight, but he moved sluggishly, beset by grief. [Fear Aura] proved his saving grace, helping him escape a cluster of attackers.

  One of the larger goblins pointed at me. “Dark Elf,” he screamed. “Kill! Kill him!”

  The goblins shook themselves out of their daze. Slowly but surely, they recovered from whatever it was they had seen in my aura. And then, as if a fire had been lit in their bellies, they shrieked at the air and converged at my position.

  I didn’t wait for them to arrive at my doorstep. I went knocking first.

  The one who had given the command wore a single leather pauldron that denoted him as a goblin of significant rank. He only got a chance to blink before I dashed forward in [Stealth] and reappeared behind him.

  To his credit, he tracked my movements just fine and swung his scimitar. But, that had only been the bait. I couldn’t count on pure [Stealth] against a perceptive enemy. I had other tricks up my sleeves.

  The goblin’s eyes widened as he cut through my semi-tangible [Decoy]. And then, I in turn cut through him.

  He survived the slash and rolled away.

  Arrows thudded at my position.

  Defend.

  [Silhouette] intercepted the missiles, eager to please as always. I chased after the retreating goblin and ran into another burly one who attacked from behind a tree.

  His blade missed my nose by mere inches. More arrows fell from the sky. I bodily hauled him into their path, grinning as the arrows riddled his back.

  The goblin bit my arm in an act of defiance. That would be his last. The Blackreach Dagger lengthened with shadows and ruptured his gut.

  With the dead goblin still hanging on my dagger, I chased after his fleeing comrade and kicked him in the back.

  He rolled with surprising grace and retaliated . . . only to find his scimitar stopped by my shield.

  My dead goblin shield.

  I rode him down with the deceased between us and knifed him repeatedly through the corpse.

  The Blackreach Dagger replicated my affinity for a small amount of mana. The extended blade that formed, as a result, plunged first through the corpse and then into the body of the struggling goblin.

  Lungs. Gut. Neck.

  I didn’t stop as long as he breathed. Each plunge of my dagger worsened his terror, until with a scream, he cried:

  “Mother! No more! Please!”

  My final strike pierced his mouth and burst out of his nape.

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  More [System] notifications appeared. Any goblin who hadn’t been affected by [Fear Aura] yet succumbed after that horrific display.

  Another bright flash emanated from Logain’s weapon as he struggled to keep up with Kajal. Kajal for her part inched toward my position, flinging goblins aside without physical contact.

  Paz’s [Draconic Aura] had not yet receded, which confirmed his safety. But, where was the div? The cart remained in place, though I didn’t expect her to stay by its side.

  Ah, never mind. A brief window in the battlefield revealed Div on her knees, pummeling a goblin with her bare fists.

  Another flash signified Logain’s reuse of his attack.

  Wait—

  “Silhy!”

  The lightning bolt crashed against my shadow, reducing it to dust. As long as I remained affected by the [Seeking] spell, I was practically a sitting duck.

  I couldn’t even pinpoint the source of the attack, what with the way it curved and bent. And, judging by my health meter, I could only take one more direct hit.

  Komo-keine roared: An actual technique that intensified the effects of [Fear Aura].

  The goblins still held a numerical advantage, but their ambush had broken completely. The second wave had joined the battle now, proving fiercer than the first.

  I killed two more of the nasty critters from out of [Stealth], keeping an eye out for the hidden caster. The ten Goblin Riders who watched from the distance unnerved me, but they were yet to move.

  The Goblin Sorcerers, on the other hand . . .

  Oh, fuck. Whatever they were doing, it couldn’t be good.

  The three Goblin Sorcerers waved their staffs in a circle, pooling their mana together. The sky above them rippled with energy. Everyone else was too occupied to notice.

  It came down to me.

  [Dark Stalker], however, didn’t fare well in bright lighting. I could probably sneak up on them if I circled the area, but aside from the risk of arriving after they were done, how was I supposed to deal with ten Goblin Riders and their caster supports all on my own?

  The lead goblin in particular seemed buff enough to match Paz in arm wrestling. He stood a good foot taller than his peers, which only put him around five feet. A quick use of [Identify] denoted him as a Goblin Captain LVL 33.

  That was one powerful foe. The other goblins around him—Riders by the looks of it—were equally as strong. They rode iron-ranked Dread Tigers which bared their teeth at the fighting, restless from the stench of blood.

  I’d die the moment I charged into that gathering, but someone had to disrupt their plans. I just needed to get rid of the hidden caster first, the one who used [Seeking].

  There was only one way I could think of to beat him, but that left the Goblin Sorcerers unchecked till I was done. Paz blurred past nearby, and . . . yes . . . that would do it. Paz.

  I ran toward the redhead, abandoning all attempts at stealth. The hidden caster was sure to be watching, and by acting defenseless, I could bait them to take a shot.

  Paz frowned as I knifed the goblin he had been fighting from behind.

  “Big guy!” I said and jerked my head toward the Goblin Riders. “I’ll take care of them. Someone else is on my tail, however. Think you can help?”

  Paz brushed me aside without speaking and intercepted a lightning bolt aimed at my back. He punted it into the forest with his [Deflect Missile] skill. A nearby tree toppled to the ground.

  “Go,” he said and chased after the caster.

  He didn’t need to tell me twice. The rider group would notice my approach if I tried my usual methods. But, they wouldn’t see my trump card coming.

  I snuck behind a tree and, for the first time since I’d gotten it, I activated a technique:

  [Impostor].

  Nothing fancy happened. No bright flash or display of power followed the activation, but a [System] screen appeared in my gaze.

  It looked like a character creation UI from video games back on Earth. A humanoid outline occupied the left side of the screen, opposite an interesting array of toggles and sliders. There were many customization options to choose from: height, color, hair, build—this wasn’t the time!

  I needed a quick transformation . . .

  Create a persona from memory? The [System] asked.

  The image of the last goblin I had killed jumped into my mind.

  Persona selected. Unnamed build 001: [Goblin Scout].

  The screens faded right after, leaving me standing closer to the ground.

  Oh, my days.

  I had become green-skinned and short. With spindly arms, sharp teeth, and a rather sickly figure. Was that snot dripping from my nose?

  The transformation was so comprehensive that even my armor changed its appearance. I could feel the soft weight of the Night Scout Armor on my skin, but my eyes revealed a crude breastplate and loincloth covering my form.

  Gobbo-Damien or Damelin, a.k.a me, grinned in an unnerving way. One that stretched my lips up to my ears.

  I ran across the battlefield, moving in my new body with such ease that it seemed like I’d been born in it. The Goblin Captain snarled as I approached his posse.

  He drew his crossbow and stopped me within ten meters. “Foul wench. Do you intend to flee?”

  Don’t tell me . . . this body belonged to a female goblin?! How was I supposed to tell the difference? In my excitement, I hadn’t peeked beneath my loincloth. And, now that I thought of it, my nethers felt strangely breezy.

  Ah, wait. I needed to act the part.

  “I’m not running away!” I squealed, surprising myself with how authentic I sounded. “I have news, captain. News!”

  Was captain the right term to use? I knew way too little about goblins or their customs. The only thing I could say with certainty about them was that they considered milkskin an insult.

  Correct or not, the Goblin Captain didn’t listen to my words. “Return to battle.” He primed his crossbow. “We do not deviate from the plan.”

  His Dread Tiger hissed to emphasize the threat. I had since outgrown my fear of Dread Tigers, but I shivered all the same to sell the ruse.

  Behind the Goblin Riders, the sorcerers prepared their spell. The area around them swelled noticeably with magic, enough to affect the movement of the wind. They had entered the final stages of their preparations.

  What words would allow me into their circle? Ah, yes . . .

  “It’s about the Fear user, captain!” I shrieked.

  The Goblin Riders flinched.

  Bingo. “I have stolen something from him! Something that boosted his power. Look!” I unveiled The Blackreach Dagger and crossed my fingers.

  The Goblin Sorcerers entered the final stages. Any moment now . . .

  “Bring it,” The Goblin Captain said with a slight stutter in his voice. “Bring here, ugly!”

  Ugly? My brother in gobliness, have you looked in a mirror?

  Regardless, I had succeeded at my job. I scurried up to the filthy bastard and presented the dagger—not. A timely stumble allowed me to trip exaggeratedly and land smack dab in the middle of their gathering.

  It put me within two meters of the nearest sorcerer. Shadow tendrils bubbled up from the ground.

  I hadn’t placed much hope in [Silhouette]’s ability to kill off the goblins, but I’d failed to account for the boon from [Sneak Attack]. The first sorcerer died before he hit the ground. The others took damage but barely escaped.

  “Bastard!” the captain screamed.

  I grabbed The Blackreach Dagger and braced myself for the toughest fight of my life.

  The captain didn’t look at me, however. He gaped instead at the spot above the sorcerers, going pale in the face. A large rift opened in midair, tearing through the fabric of reality.

  Disrupting the sorcerers had ruined their spell, with the bonus points of causing it to spiral out of control.

  A large torrent of water crashed out of the rift onto our position.

  Oh shit.