Chapter 474 Invasion [40]

Dribb remained where he was, his axes still raised as the undead orcs slowly freed themselves from the hardened earth and began advancing once more.

He rolled his shoulders, his body still steaming from the injuries he had sustained earlier.

"I'll take them on."

He tightened his grip around his axes and stepped forward.

"The rest of you can leave."

Gobbo snorted at Dribb's attempt to sound cool.

"I'm the closest to death here. If anyone's doing a last stand, it should be me."

The words had barely left his mouth before he immediately regretted saying them.

He noticed Sheera's reprimanding gaze.

Gobbo's expression stiffened.

"What do you mean, 'closer to death,' Gobbo?" Sheera asked, her voice calm but carrying the kind of warning that made him instinctively want to take his words back. "I'm pretty sure I did a good job fixing you up."

Gobbo shuddered under her intense stare.

"Indeed. I am sorry. I feel great. It's like I haven't even been injured."

Sheera smiled.

"Good to hear."

Gobbo quietly exhaled in relief.

And it wasn't just his injuries that had been dealt with.

Not only had Sheera completely healed the damage to his body and regenerated his lost limb, but her healing had restored his stamina and mana to a full one hundred percent as well.

So Sheera wasn't simply a healer in the sense that she could only close wounds and repair physical damage. She could basically restore everything.

The difference was almost absurd.

Gobbo looked down at his restored arm and flexed his fingers.

He couldn't help but smile.

With Sheera behind them, they could afford to fight far more recklessly than they normally would.

That realization made Gobbo feel considerably more confident about their chances of surviving this battle.

"So no one is leaving?" Dribb asked, looking around at the others.

"No one is doing a last stand, Dribb," Gobbo replied. "This is only the beginning of many things to come. We're not dying here."

Dribb grinned, clearly pleased with the answer.

"That's what I want to hear."

The tattoos covering his body glistened with a red hot glow, their light pulsing across his skin as his aura surged with power.

He looked almost eager for the undead to attack again.

Gobbo turned toward Sheera and Doro.

"What about you two? You can head to the shelter if you want. Staying here isn't a command."

Doro glanced toward the battlefield, then toward the direction Veyra and Zivra had disappeared.

"I'm pretty mad that everything I spent days building was destroyed in minutes. Ain't no way I'm just going to let the culprits get away with it."

Gobbo turned toward Sheera.

"Well, you need me to stay alive. So I'm going nowhere."

Gobbo nodded, pleased with their decisions. Having the two of them stay would definitely make it easier to hold back the undead, especially since they could afford to fight much more aggressively with Sheera around.

"I stay too."

The troll spoke up.

He had the exact same skill line as Dribb, which meant that as the battle became more intense and he continued taking damage, his strength would only keep increasing. Having another fighter like that on their side could make a significant difference, especially against enemies that refused to stay dead.

Two raging monsters, a healer who could take someone from zero back to a hundred percent, and a goblin capable of changing the landscape simply by placing his palm against the ground.

With a group like this, their odds of surviving weren't nearly as bad as they had initially seemed.

"Alright, then."

Gobbo picked up his axe, feeling the renewed strength coursing through his body thanks to Sheera's healing. Every injury he had suffered was gone, his stamina had returned, and even the exhaustion that had weighed down his body earlier had completely disappeared.

He tightened his grip around the weapon and stepped forward.

"Let's do this."

***

Raghul stood in front of the barrier, his gaze fixed on Granny Flogga as though he could already see the fear she was desperately trying to conceal.

His words seemed to have shaken the old goblin more than she wanted to admit.

Flogga was trembling, her hands gripping her walking stick tightly as she tried to keep herself composed, but the faint clattering of the wood against the ground betrayed her.

Raghul grinned when he noticed.

So Eli was the sentimental type.

Those kinds were always the best to break.

Raghul personally believed the goblins of this world were nothing more than tools, things to be used when they were useful and discarded when they had served their purpose. There was no point in forming attachments to them because attachments only created weaknesses that an enemy could exploit.

He didn't even have any attachment to his own kind. Humans.

Why would he give a shit about these goblins?

His gaze moved across the clan, taking in the buildings, the goblins running through the streets, and the barrier surrounding everything.

There were far bigger things to be concerned about beyond this little bubble of green.

This clan, these goblins, even the King's Game itself were merely obstacles standing between him and what he actually wanted.

And soon, once the King's Game was over, he would break free.

When that happened, none of these goblins would matter anymore.

"Don't you have any attachments to the goblins?" Flogga asked seemingly out of nowhere.

Raghul's grin faded slightly, replaced by a faint frown as he studied the old goblin.

"What brought on this statement?"

There was something strange about the way she was speaking, almost as though she had forgotten that she was supposed to be nothing more than an ordinary goblin.

"I get that you're a chosen youngling, but do you have to be this heartless?"

"A goblin preaching about having a heart."

Raghul let out a quiet laugh, his eyes narrowing with amusement.

"You're quite the comedian."

Flogga tightened her grip on her walking stick.

There was nothing funny about what she said.

But despite her annoyance, she responded with a smile.

"You're quite...