The Hero's Demonic Return

A single warrior carrying a shield and a sword dashed forward. Meeting him head on is a goblin that leapt towards him. Looking for the gap in the warrior’s defense as the creature held its poisoned dagger on its vile right hand – a decision that proved to be erroneous as the goblin got hit by an arrow right away. Digging through its left eye as it fell to the ground.

Then came the footsteps that stepped through the corpse of the fallen monster. Five more goblins rushed towards the knight who continued running towards the monsters in return. As he did, three more arrows are shot from behind him. Hitting one more goblin and leaving four to be dealt with.

The fighter began murmuring something behind his shield. A short incantation that took nothing less than five seconds to finish. And as he did, a radiant golden aura filed the entirety of his body which sped up and finally closed the gap between him and the remaining goblins.

Within a second, he’s already in front of them – bashing one of the four goblins with his shield that sent the monster flying. This left his body open for a couple of seconds. Allowing the monsters to attack him but, they aren’t able to capitalize on this at all. The moment is just too sudden for them to be able to do anything about it.

Meanwhile, the warrior already swung his sword towards the neck of another goblin. The blade got stuck on it for a split second before cutting right through. Decapitating one of the remaining goblins and leaving only two which are now at a loss on what to do.

The creatures dropped their weapons, turning tail and running away. But even this is a poor choice on their part as arrows went flying towards them. Hitting both of their backs and making them drop to the ground. As soon as they did, the warrior ran towards the monsters. Handing down judgement as he plunged his shield down on the back of one goblin’s neck after slicing through the back of the other.

“That makes fifteen.” The warrior said as he got to his feet. Taking off his helmet as he heard the footsteps of those that are coming towards him. All five of them who are part of his group.

“This is a lot of hard work for something that’s supposed to be a [Rank D] mission August.” A woman complained. She holds a bow in her hands and a quiver full of arrows is loaded at her back. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what she contributed to this fight.

“Oh don’t whine about it when we’ve already gotten this far Ellaine. The king himself issued this mission, didn’t he? If we finish this, that guarantees us a pass to a better life.” Augustus commented with a smile spreading on his lips.

 

“Yeah but you have to take into account the other groups that are coming for that same reward.” Ellaine said in response. Brushing off what his ally just said about the reward and all that. “You said that nobody else is coming for this mission but, there’s already five other groups that came here before us.”

“That’s only because they paid a hefty sum to hide the quest from the rest of the hunters as soon as they took it. That’s not my fault anymore, give me a break here.” August replied. “Besides, didn’t I already shoulder the payment for getting the information? All you guys have to do is share in on the rewards so what’s really the problem here?”

“I agree with August here.” Clein said, a cloaked cleric who uses a large staff that boosts his incantations. Though it doesn’t seem like it, he actually helped by healing through the wounds of another ally of theirs who got hit by the initial surprise attack of the goblins.

Their other members include another warrior who stays in the front line alongside August and a porter who carries all of their stuff for them. This is the group that Augustus is handling and, is actually one that has no chance of failing a [Rank D] mission such as this.

“You guys both know full well why I’m complaining, don’t pretend that you don’t realize it already. Five other groups already went here within the past three days. If this is really a [Rank D] mission, then shouldn’t they’ve been able to finish it by now?” Ellaine asked.

“Bah! You’re thinking about it too much. They’re probably too weak. That’s why they haven’t finished it already. As long as the main nest of the monsters isn’t destroyed, the monsters will keep on reproducing. But if all we have to concern ourselves about are goblins, then there isn’t really anything to worry about don’t you think?”

Ellaine didn’t give an answer right away and Augustus used this as the perfect opportunity to push his intentions further. Nodding at Clein who is thinking the same way as him.

“We’re not forcing you to tag along Ellaine. You can always go back to the kingdom if you’d like. But don’t expect us to share the reward with you when you quit halfway through.” Clein said.

“Come on Ellaine, just think of all the things we can gain from this. Get those doubts out of your head and let’s continue pushing through.”

That’s all it needed. That’s all it took. Human greed is something that can never be satiated no matter how much one tries. And the easier it is to grab, the easier it also becomes to blind those who wants to claim everything to themselves. The easier it is to turn anyone into a fool.

That is what happened to all of Ellaine’s allies and, that is now what’s happening to her as well. The promise of a good life that’s well within reach. The easy way of accessing it. All of these are right in front of her and only a fool would deny himself or herself such an easy pass at life and so, she finally gave in. Breathing one last sigh as she said:

“Fine.”

“Perfect” Augustus said. “Then that settles it right? We’re all gonna continue down this road and get that item that our king is making us look for.”

“Agreed.” Clein said.

“No complaints here.” The other two members commented.

“Alright then. If we want to finish this quickly, I suggest we keep on moving. It’s almost night and I don’t want to be caught deep inside the forest without any preparation.”

This is something that all of them can agree on easily. Though the goblins prevented them from doing so quickly, they still have a bit of time before darkness completely envelops the night sky. They already checked the calendar as well. They know that there is a full moon tonight which will help them see even more.

Hence the group went on their way and, as soon as ten more minutes passed, they encountered another group of goblins. But this time, they aren’t taken by surprise anymore so they are able to fight back a lot easier compared to the first time.

Augustus had the support he needed in the front lines since Baraq has recovered from his earlier injuries. From the back comes the arrows fired by Ellaine and there is supportive healing as well as buffs from Clein.

These factors led to the inevitable outcome. After fifteen minutes of combat, Augustus’ hunting group came out victorious; sustaining little to no injuries.

“See? What did I tell you? Easy as pie.” Augustus commented.

“Save it for when we finish this August.” Ellaine said.

“You head the boss.” Clein jokingly added with a playful grin.

The group continued marching forward without anything stopping them in their path. There are more goblins that tried to finish them but, none of these actually lived up to the task. All of them got defeated and, with each passing victory came the greater assurance of the group that they would win.

This cockiness and arrogance, mixed with their desire to gain the treasures that would lead to a better life for all of them, continued to tunnel their vision towards their goal. They moved hurriedly and in such a way that they decided to forgo with the original plan to make a camp and rest for the night. After all, the moon is shining brightly up in the sky. There’s no way they would be caught in a surprise attack.

Yet that is precisely what came next.

An hour after deciding to continue travelling even during night, they encountered countless mobs of goblins. Ten mobs, each consisting at least ten monsters at minimum and, twenty at maximum.

The group fought and fought without any seeming end in sight. Though having to deal with nothing but goblins, the mere fact that these kept coming also meant that the group cannot rest. They wore down their bodies. They wore down their minds. And as far as items and equipment are concerned, the potions they prepared for this adventure have run empty as well.

Five minutes passed and more goblins arrived. The group killed these and continued progressing.

Five more minutes passed by and the same thing happened, now with two more goblins adding to the horde.

Then four more minutes came to pass without them noticing and just as soon as they killed the last one from the previous batch, the next one came. A larger one once again and all bearing arms.

At that point, a single though ran in the head of all members of Augustus party. The same warning that Ellaine raised before they started off. The concern that she has with this whole ordeal and how it seemed to good to be true because, that is being proven right.

It is too good to be true and they have been caught within the spider’s web. Prey that think they are predator that are paying for their arrogance and idiocy – starting with a stab at the side of Clein’s waist.

“AHHHH!” The cleric screamed from the top of his lungs, making the others look at him.

This instantly led to their porter getting stabbed as well. Right in the middle of his stomach as the poor man dropped to the ground. Instantly flooded by five more goblins that began killing him and biting his flesh mercilessly. The next victim is none other than Ellaine herself.

Fighting for as long as they’ve been, she finally ran out of ammunition. Without anything to use other than daggers that she isn’t as proficient with, she instantly got cornered by the goblins that ripped off her clothes and stabbed her side. Raping the poor woman just as what goblins always do.

Augustus watched all of this with horror drawn on his face. Even the vanguard fighting alongside him is beginning to get killed. The screams of his allies filled the air as the warrior instinctively took one step back –a realization finally hit him. In that moment, he abandoned every bond that he has with his allies.

Augustus ran away.