Chapter 131: His Last Words

Varkas hit the front line like a siege weapon.

Paulina had shouted for everyone to brace, but there was an enormous difference between hearing that warning and experiencing what the transformed Dark Goblin had become.

The seven-foot monstrosity crossed the grass with enough force to tear shallow trenches beneath every step, one oversized arm sweeping toward Paulina and Ronan with no weapon, no technique and absolutely no concern for defense.

The attack was nothing more than a backhand thrown with monstrous physical power, yet the air cracked around it hard enough that Julia’s hair snapped backward several meters away.

Paulina threw herself down whereas Ronan did the opposite!

The veteran Fighter actually stepped into the blow!

SHING!

His two longswords crossed.

CLAAAAANG!

Steel met hardened claws with a sound that had absolutely no business coming from flesh.

Ronan’s boots carved twin trenches through Greenmoss Flats as Varkas’s arm drove him backward, but the older Human never lost his footing.

His body rotated with the pressure rather than resisting it foolishly, one sword guiding the massive hand upward while the second immediately slid underneath.

SLASH!

Purple-green blood sprayed as Varkas roared, but Ronan was already gone.

He slipped past the monster’s side with shocking speed, both swords becoming twin silver arcs as he struck behind the knee, rotated around Varkas’s blind side and carved another line across the ribs before the transformed Goblin could properly turn.

Watching him fight was completely different from watching Damian.

Damian possessed overwhelming versatility, absurd physical Attributes, spells, teleportation, cultivation and enough nonsense to make identifying his actual combat abilities increasingly pointless.

Ronan was simpler, as he was a swordsman, and a terrifyingly good one.

There were no wasted movements nor any dramatic flourish for its own sake.

His two longswords constantly occupied different lines, one controlling while the other attacked, then exchanging roles so smoothly that even Julia’s trained eyes occasionally struggled to identify which blade had initiated the sequence.

Varkas swung again, but Ronan ducked beneath the claw, stepped inside the monster’s reach and slammed one shoulder into his abdomen.

BOOM!

The transformed Goblin actually stumbled!

Paulina’s eyes widened.

"What the hell?!"

Ronan didn’t answer, his swords crossing again.

Varkas recoiled just in time to prevent both blades from entering his throat, then Stella arrived.

If Ronan fought like flowing steel, Stella fought like a collapsing building.

The Half-Tiefling charged from the opposite side with her greatsword raised over one shoulder, every step slower and heavier than Ronan’s rapid footwork, but carrying enough momentum that the grass visibly depressed beneath her boots.

Varkas saw her coming and roared.

Stella swung, the greatsword crossing an absurd section of the battlefield.

WHUUMM!

There was nothing elegant about it, no precision or anything like that.

Stella simply erased the entire fucking area in front of herself!

Varkas crossed both enormous arms before his chest.

BOOOOM!

The impact sounded like a tree trunk smashing into a stone wall!

Varkas was launched sideways, his feet leaving the ground entirely, the seven-foot monster rotating once before crashing into the grass hard enough to throw dirt several meters into the air.

Stella lowered her weapon.

"...Heavy."

Ronan glanced toward her.

"That your professional assessment?"

"Yes!" Stella nodded seriously.

Paulina couldn’t help but laugh at that.

Then Varkas exploded out of the crater, and the transformed Goblin was already upon Stella before she could bring her enormous sword around again.

One claw came downward as Stella’s eyes widened.

Her greatsword was too slow!

Paulina moved quickly, throwing her weapon aside as a deep red glow ignited beneath her skin.

"AWOOOOOOOOOO!"

Her howl rolled across Greenmoss Flats.

The change was not as physically grotesque as Varkas’s transformation, but the pressure it produced was unmistakable.

Red aura erupted around Paulina’s entire body, wrapping her arms, shoulders and legs like living flame.

Her amber eyes turned crimson, pupils contracting into bestial slits while her already sharp claws extended several inches farther.

Then Paulina dropped forward onto all fours, the movement looking strange for barely half a heartbeat before she vanished.

A streak of red crossed beneath Varkas’s descending arm as Paulina slammed shoulder-first into Stella and carried the Half-Tiefling out of the strike zone before the claw crashed into the earth.

BOOM!

The ground erupted!

Paulina twisted while still moving, all four limbs touching down in a distinctly wolf-like posture before she launched herself back toward Varkas.

Her speed had changed completely.

She no longer fought like a powerful Beastwoman Warrior, but moved like an actual predator.

Varkas swung toward her and Paulina bounded over the arm, planted one clawed hand against his shoulder and tore downward.

SHRIIIIIP!

The red aura extending beyond her claws cut through Varkas’s mutated hide as though the hardened flesh wasn’t even there, causing four enormous wounds to open from shoulder to chest.

Varkas screamed and grabbed for her, but Paulina kicked away from his torso, flipped backward and landed on all fours before circling him with a low growl.

Her tail had become rigid behind her.

"Come on, ugly," Paulina taunted in a deeper voice than she usually possessed, her eyes full of killing intent.

Varkas naturally roared and obliged.

The battle exploded across Greenmoss Flats.

Ronan controlled the center whenever possible, meeting Varkas only long enough to redirect his attacks before punishing whatever opening remained.

Stella operated like mobile artillery, every greatsword swing forcing Varkas to either evade or dedicate his full attention toward surviving the impact.

Paulina darted between both styles, attacking from angles neither of them could exploit quickly enough.

Yet Varkas refused to fall.

Whatever the Moon Elf had done to him was truly horrifying.

His punctured lung should have killed him minutes ago while the abdominal wound from Kellan still leaked dark-purple blood beneath the Fey corruption.

So far, Ronan had opened multiple cuts, Paulina’s claws had carved chunks from his body, and Stella had probably broken something important.

Yet still, the bastard moved!

No, even worse...

He adapted!

Varkas suddenly ignored Ronan’s shallow slash and charged directly toward Stella.

The Half-Tiefling planted both feet, raising her greatsword to meet the challenge!

"Bring it on!" she roared and swung, but it was too early.

Varkas feinted left then changed direction with a burst of speed his huge body should not have possessed, slipping outside the greatsword’s arc and driving one fist toward Stella’s exposed ribs.

Janet, who had been stealthily monitoring the battle all this while, saw this and her eyes flashed.

<Charm>!

A pulse of invisible Demonic power struck Varkas.

The effect was immediate, the murderous focus inside his bloodshot eyes breaking for barely a fraction of a second.

His head turned toward Janet and something far more instinctive than violence interrupted the Moon Elf’s command, confusion and crude desire colliding inside a mind that had already been reduced almost entirely to animal impulse.

That tiny hesitation saved Stella as she twisted desperately away, Varkas’s fist grazing her armor rather than entering her ribs.

BOOM!

Even so, Stella was sent flying for several meters.

She hit the ground, rolled twice and forced herself upright with a grimace.

Janet exhaled. "You’re welcome!"

Stella coughed. "Noted, Madam."

The Halfling Rogue remained concealed behind her ordinary appearance, but she was no longer pretending to be merely the mischievous Silver Adventurer everyone believed her to be.

Every time Varkas prepared a truly dangerous attack, Janet interfered.

Her bloodline ability was neither mind control nor the simple behavioral suggestion of the <Charm Person> spell, but something considerably more primal.

It was arousal and attraction, the sudden invasive certainty that Janet was extremely interesting at the exact moment one should absolutely be focused upon killing somebody else.

Against a rational target, it might create hesitation.

Against Varkas’s maddened, instinct-dominated state, though, it became surprisingly effective.

Certainly not enough to control him, but more than enough to ruin timing.

Julia quickly discovered that ordinary weapons were having the opposite problem.

THUNK!

Her arrow struck Varkas’s shoulder, the projectile snapping in twain.

Julia’s eyes narrowed.

Another arrow hit the Dark Goblin Chieftain’s chest, and this one remained intact but failed to penetrate beyond the tip.

Varkas barely noticed it.

"...Fine."

Julia reached toward her forehead, pressing against it as a green symbol appeared.

The shape resembled a living tree, branches spreading elegantly across the center of her brow before glowing with emerald light.

Her bow answered, its wooden frame becoming wrapped in green radiance.

The ordinary arrow Julia had nocked dissolved into motes of light.

Elements surged towards her, wind gathering first, then lightning.

Both twisted together along the bowstring, compressing until the projectile no longer resembled an arrow so much as a narrow spear of blue-green energy.

Julia drew the bow to the limit, and the air around her released a shrieking sound.

"Let’s see you ignore this!" she shouted as she released the energy arrow!

TWANG!

BOOOOOOM!

The energy arrow crossed the battlefield almost instantly, Varkas’s body jerking violently when the projectile struck his upper arm.

There was no ordinary impact.

Wind pressure punched through first, then lightning followed along the opened path!

The resulting discharge exploded from the opposite side in a shower of purple-green blood and electric arcs.

Varkas staggered, causing Julia’s pointed ears to lift proudly.

"Oh?"

She smiled. "Much better!"

Another blue-green arrow formed, but this time, Varkas actually tried to evade.

That alone proved its effectiveness!

Eunice, meanwhile, had become the axis holding the entire formation together.

"Stay within range!" she shouted.

Golden-white divine energy erupted around her.

"Vitam Tuere!"

<Warden of Vitality>!

A persistent field of restorative power settled across the battlefield, repeatedly feeding healing into wounded allies whenever Eunice directed it.

Stella’s bruised ribs eased, Ronan’s shallow cuts closed, and Paulina’s shoulder repaired itself after Varkas’s claws clipped her during one reckless pass.

Eunice raised her staff.

"In Custodiam!"

<Spirit Guardians>!

Holy figures erupted around her that swept around the battlefield in a controlled radius, harassing Varkas every time he attempted to charge deeper into the formation and forcing the monstrous Goblin to push through layers of divine interference before reaching Eunice or the injured behind her.

Then came her independent weapon.

"Telum Divinum!"

<Spiritual Weapon>!

A glowing divine mace materialized beside Varkas and smashed into his jaw.

BAM!

His head snapped sideways!

The weapon immediately circled for another strike, and Paulina laughed.

"Again!"

Eunice almost smiled.

"Working on it."

Varkas lunged toward Paulina, but Eunice reacted instantly.

"Communica Dolorem!"

<Warding Bond>!

Divine threads connected between Paulina and Stella.

The next hit Varkas landed upon the Wolf Beastwoman distributed part of its burden through the bond rather than concentrating everything upon Paulina alone, allowing her to remain inside the exchange longer than she had any right to.

Ronan received a different blessing.

"Virtutem Auge!"

<Enhance Ability>!

Divine power settled into his body, and his already frightening movements sharpened.

Ronan inhaled once, then disappeared!

Even Paulina briefly lost him.

Varkas swung toward where the veteran had been, but... nothing!

Ronan appeared above the extended arm, one boot landing on Varkas’s wrist.

He ran along the monster’s forearm for two steps, both swords trailing behind him before crossing through Varkas’s upper chest as X-shaped wounds erupted.

Ronan kicked away from the shoulder, twisted in midair and landed perfectly.

Varkas roared while Ronan casually spun one sword in a flourish.

"Shouting like that doesn’t make you any less ugly," Ronan commented lazily.

Paulina released another wild laugh.

The battle should have become easier from there, but it didn’t.

Vesha finally moved, the young Dark Goblin who had remained frozen throughout the opening exchanges finally regaining life.

Visible tears had dried upon her cheeks while she watched Humans and Beastfolk tear into the twisted thing that had once been her father.

Then, something in her expression hardened.

"No!"

The Goblin Shaman turned toward her.

Vesha wiped her face with one sleeve.

"That is still Father!"

Her hands rose as Dark Fey light gathered between her fingers.

Compared with the Moon Elf’s magic, it was pitiful.

Compared with Damian’s spells, almost laughable.

Vesha was merely Level 5, the only novice here on the field, not to mention her strengths had never been straightforward combat.

Like Mirelle, much of what made her special involved perception, intuition and the strange ability to sense things other people could not.

But no, she was not entirely powerless.

Vesha whispered a crude Fey phrase as purple mist appeared around her, then she vanished!

Julia’s eyes widened when Vesha reappeared several meters away and threw one hand toward her father.

A knot of thorny violet energy formed around Varkas’s injuries, temporarily reinforcing the failing flesh.

It was not healing him, but holding him, keeping the body together.

Another gesture sent flickering Fey lights toward Julia, forcing the Elf to abandon her shot when several false Varkas images appeared inside her vision.

"She can use Illusions!" Julia warned.

The Shaman joined her immediately, bone charms clattering as a crooked staff slammed into the grass, causing dark energy to spread outward.

Paulina’s paws suddenly sank several inches into earth that had become unnaturally soft, causing the Wolf Beastwoman to stumble.

Varkas saw her and charged, causing Paulina’s eyes to widen and the Shaman to grin.

Then Ronan appeared between them, his swords crossing against Varkas’s claws.

CLANG!

The impact drove Ronan backward, and this time, the veteran failed to fully redirect it as one knee struck the ground.

Varkas raised both hands to crush him.

The Shaman’s smile widened until Julia fired, and the blue-green energy arrow missed Varkas, because the mad Goblin had never been the target!

The projectile crossed Greenmoss Flats like a railgun and struck the Goblin Shaman directly through the torso.

BOOOOOOM!

For one instant, his body remained intact, then wind and lightning erupted from inside him.

The Shaman’s upper torso twisted violently in one direction while his lower body went another.

There was no final speech, no farewell, nor any last piece of wisdom.

One moment, the old Goblin stood beside Vesha casting spells.

The next, half his body hit the ground several meters away.

Vesha stared in stupefaction.

"...Grand Shaman?"

That was all she managed.

Stella roared, the Half-Tiefling coming from Varkas’s side with her greatsword already moving.

WHOOOOOM!

Varkas abandoned Ronan and raised one arm.

The blade hit and something broke.

CRACK!

His entire forearm bent at the wrong angle, but Stella continued through.

The greatsword carried enough force to throw Varkas away from Ronan and send him crashing across the grass!

Paulina finally ripped her feet free from the Shaman’s dying spell as her red aura surged, vanishing after the mad Goblin.

Varkas bounced once, Paulina reaching him before the second impact as her claws tore across his back.

Varkas roared and swung blindly, but Paulina ducked with ease while Janet appeared behind his opposite leg and drove both daggers into the back of his knee.

"Surprise!" the Halfling greeted sinisterly.

Varkas turned to deal with her, but Janet vanished before the claw arrived.

Julia fired again and another energy arrow pierced Varkas’s side.

BOOM!

Ronan reentered, two swords striking from opposite directions while Stella followed with another enormous horizontal swing.

Paulina attacked low, moving like a powerful alpha wolf.

For several glorious seconds, the entire group moved like a single machine.

They had different Classes, different backgrounds, and different fighting philosophies, yet every weakness created by one person became an opportunity for another.

Ronan forced Varkas to guard high while Paulina attacked his legs.

Stella forced the monster to commit his entire body to defending one direction while Julia fired through the opening.

Janet disrupted any counterattack dangerous enough to break the formation and Eunice kept everyone standing.

The Priestess clapped her hands together.

"Malum et bonum!"

<Dispel Evil and Good>!

Holy energy washed over Varkas, and the Fey corruption inside him reacted violently.

Varkas screamed as purple mist erupted from his wounds.

The command driving his madness weakened, though not enough to remove it.

Eunice followed immediately, calling her spiritual weapon back as she imbued it with divine power.

"Para Bellum!"

<Shillelagh>!

The energy weapon hardened beneath sacred force.

Varkas somehow broke through Paulina and Ronan at the same moment, staggering directly toward the Cleric.

Eunice’s eyes widened, then narrowed.

Fine, then!

WHACK!

She swung with her full power, the divine staff cracking across Varkas’s face.

Everyone froze for perhaps half a second, and even Eunice looked mildly surprised.

Varkas stumbled sideways while Paulina howled with laughter.

"AGAIN!"

Eunice blushed furiously.

"This is not funny!"

"It was a little funny," Julia called while firing another energy arrow.

Vesha continued fighting, desperately and pointlessly.

She used weak Fey teleports to reposition, launched small curses that Eunice repeatedly stripped away and created illusions which Janet somehow navigated almost immediately.

More than once, she reinforced Varkas’s body just enough to prevent some injury from ending the battle.

Yet every spell made her face paler and every attempt became slower.

She was not built for this.

She was simply a daughter refusing to stand still while her father died.

Kellan watched from behind the formation.

Eunice’s healing had restored his body, but Ronan’s earlier order and the emotional shock of everything happening around him kept him from recklessly jumping back into battle.

His hands clenched around Garrick’s spear.

Varkas had changed, the creature before him barely resembling the proud Chieftain he’d fought.

Whatever revenge Kellan wanted...

This wasn’t it anymore.

This... was something else!

It was more akin to a mercy killing performed by committee.

The battle dragged onward for a few minutes, but it was difficult to judge once Greenmoss Flats turned into craters, broken grass, divine light, Fey mist and streaks of magical lightning.

Eventually, even the Moon Elf’s enchantment reached its limit.

Varkas slowed, his grotesquely swollen muscles began losing tension while the red veins inside his bell-shaped eyes faded.

His regenerative reinforcement weakened enough that old wounds stopped closing entirely.

Ronan was breathing heavily now, both swords coated in purple-green blood.

Stella leaned against her greatsword for half a second whenever Varkas gave them space.

Paulina’s red aura flickered rather than blazing consistently, her movements no longer carrying the same feral speed.

Julia’s forehead symbol remained visible, but sweat ran down her face and every energy arrow took longer to form.

Janet had reappeared beside the formation, chest rising and falling rapidly.

Even Eunice looked exhausted.

The field around her still carried remnants of divine support, but the sheer number of spells, heals, buffs and emergency interventions had taken their toll.

Yet Varkas looked worse than all of them combined, much worse.

The seven-foot monstrosity stood barely upright, one arm hanging uselessly while the other trembled.

His chest was covered in sword wounds, claw marks and blackened punctures from Julia’s energy arrows.

The enormous injury Kellan created earlier had reopened beneath everything else.

Each breath came slowly and raggedly.

Then, something changed.

Varkas blinked once, then twice, then the animalistic madness inside his eyes receded.

"...Vesha?"

The young Goblin froze.

"Father?"

Varkas looked toward her, and for the first time since the Moon Elf touched him, recognition appeared.

His monstrous face softened by the smallest possible amount.

Vesha immediately ran toward him.

"Father!"

Ronan lifted one sword, but Eunice raised a hand.

"Wait."

Vesha stopped several paces away from Varkas, and perhaps even she understood that his body remained unstable.

The transformed Chieftain looked toward the pieces of the dead Shaman, then toward his fallen elite warriors, then toward the people surrounding him.

Finally...

His eyes settled upon Kellan.

Something unreadable passed through them.

Was it regret? Recognition? Acceptance?

Nobody knew.

Varkas looked back toward his daughter, his voice barely audible.

"Vesha..."

She was crying again.

"I’m here."

The enormous Goblin inhaled painfully.

His body seemed to shrink slightly as the final remnants of the Fey enchantment bled away.

"Live..."

Vesha’s lips trembled as Varkas struggled for another breath.

"Live well."

Purple-grey mist erupted beside him, causing everyone to react.

Ronan raised both swords, Julia drew, and Paulina’s claws flared.

Then, they saw who emerged.

Damian stepped out from the Fey mist, and beside him was the silver-haired Moon Elf.

Her hood remained down, but her face was still flushed enough that something extremely strange had clearly happened wherever Damian took her, although the murderous look she directed toward him suggested questions could wait.

Damian held Longtian casually in one hand and Varkas barely had time to turn.

SHING!

One clean silver-blue line crossed the air and the Dark Goblin Chieftain’s head separated from his shoulders.

For an instant, his enormous body remained standing, then the head struck the grass.

THUD!

Varkas’s body followed.

BOOM!

Silence fell across Greenmoss Flats.

Damian flicked Longtian once, sending the purple-green blood from its edge.

Then he looked toward the corpse.

"It’s over."