But instead of going down, the goblin let loose a cry and lifted its own weapon. It aimed directly at Warren and a puff of steam burst out of the rifle’s mouth. A second later, the projectile shredded the leaves to the side of his face.
How the hell did it see me?
Warren ducked for cover behind a narrow tree trunk before leaning out to snap off a flurry of shots. One of his rounds struck a goblin in the eye, sending it sprawling to the ground. It seemed like anything other than a fatal shot was easily ignored by the creatures.
Beside him, Valentina added her firepower to the fight. Most of her shots found their mark, taking down one goblin and then another. She dropped to the ground as a barrage of shots peppered the bush she was sheltering behind.
“I didn’t expect those little bastards to be so accurate!” she called out while cycling in another magazine.
Thankfully, the goblin’s rifles took a while to reload—they had to press in each bullet by hand before closing the breach. It meant that he and Valentina had more firepower than the remaining eight goblins combined.
Not that any of his shots were downing the goblins. Even the one with the eye wound had staggered back to its feet, blood dripping down from an empty socket. What would it take to kill these things?
“Damn it,” he cursed under his breath. “I’m going to have to waste a deck cooldown, aren’t I?”
Another volley of goblin shots sprayed their cover, sending chunks of wood flying through the air like shrapnel. A few more rounds, and the tree he was sheltering behind would be reduced to little more than a stump. Meanwhile, Valentina had been forced to fall back, wedging herself behind a boulder.
With one last glance at Zarya and Kassandra, he activated his combat deck. Immediately, a swirl of light particles appeared where his bodyguard had been hiding. The sudden brilliant illumination near the goblins made the creatures jump, and a handful of them swung their weapons around. But none of them spotted Zarya, and she was smart enough to stay hidden
As the cards formed in his vision, he cursed as he read his opening hand.
- Duskwalker – 2 Energy
- Saberlyn – 2 Energy
- Blade of Deimos – 1 Energy
- Lab Accident – 3 Energy
His initial plan had been to call upon Kassandra to attack from the rear, along with Zarya. But he hadn’t drawn her card. That meant he either had to choose Duskwalker or Saberlyn.
He quickly discarded the idea of summoning Boone. The gunslinger would just get pinned down like him. He needed someone to get in close to the goblins and sow chaos in their ranks. Once they were no longer pointing their guns at him and Valentina, they could focus on aiming their shots.
However, he was concerned about summoning Saberlyn. While she was clearly powerful, she hadn’t been filled in on their current situation—she might attack and injure Zarya. To make matters worse, she hadn’t taken the last battle seriously. What if he summoned her, and she just died right off the bat?
With a grunt of annoyance, he settled on Saberlyn. He would just have to trust that she could take out at least a few of the goblins before falling herself. It was too bad that he had to summon her first, since she wouldn’t benefit from her ability that gave her increased stats for each allied minion.
He activated the Ring of Vlasiiang and then selected the Saberlyn card. A second later, the card dissolved in his vision and then his minion stepped out of a swirling verdant mist at the base of the ravine wall.
Saberlyn, better known as Ava, scanned the area before looking up and catching sight of him. She waved excitedly at him. “Hi Warren! How’s it going?”
“We’re under attack!” he shouted back, thrusting his arm toward the challenge monsters. “Take out the goblins!”
A shot rang out, whistling past Ava’s head. She jumped with supernatural swiftness, landing a dozen paces away like a cat. Her hourglass eyes fixated on the goblins. “Well, that wasn’t very nice. I think I’m going to have to claw off your face for that.”
Warren breathed a sigh of relief as his minion bounded forward, her feline tail flicking around excitedly. She smashed into the goblins, and true to her word, her claws raked the nearest one’s face. The goblin went down screaming, its face a bloody mess.
While his weapons had little effect against the high-level goblins, Ava had no such troubles. Her claws ripped through the creatures like they were made of paper, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake. In the span of a few seconds, three of the goblins lay dead or dying.
Now that the pressure had been taken off him, he was able to snipe the green-skinned creatures more carefully. He lined up each shot, focusing on their eyes or brain. Most of his shots missed—it was incredibly hard to hit headshots at this range—but his damage was adding up.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
The goblin he’d originally struck in the eye finally keeled over. And another one sagged down, holding onto its neck as blood pumped out in a crimson spray. He suspected that he’d struck the jugular vein, or the goblin equivalent.
But Ava hadn’t escaped unscathed. She’d been riddled with nearly a dozen bullets, and her fur was damp with blood. Even injured, she hadn’t slowed down, her attacks becoming frenzied.
Warren watched his orb refill, and another card was added to his hand. He was relieved to see Nocturne’s card, not that he could have drawn anything else with his limited deck. But she would be a great help to the hard pressed Saberlyn.
He cast his second card, and in the ravine below, Kassandra sprang forth from a squall of darkness. She landed lightly, and without hesitation, sprinted toward the goblins. As she did, she drew her dagger in one smooth motion and slashed one of the miner’s neck.
At the start of the fight, the miners had frozen in place, almost like they hadn’t known what to do. Maybe they’d expected the brutes to deal with the problem. But now that it was clear their protectors were in trouble, they hurled themselves into battle with wild abandon.
The wave of frenzied miners shocked Ava, who barely had time to react before the wave of goblins wielding shovels and pickaxes crashed over her. The creatures stood barely half as tall as a human, but they had thick, ropey muscles. And they swung their makeshift weapons with murderous intent.
As Ava pivoted to deal with the miners, Kassandra leapt at the Brutes who were reloading their weapons. Her attacks did far less damage than Ava’s, but she moved with a deadly grace. Another goblin went down as she plunged her dagger deep into its neck.
One of the brutes lifted his gun and pointed it at Kassandra’s head. Warren quickly lined up a shot, let out a breath, and then squeezed the trigger. Something must have guided his bullet, because it slammed right into the creature’s forehead. It dropped to the ground limply.
“Nice fucking shot!” Valentina whistled. “Now watch this one.” She smiled and snapped off a round. A miner beside Ava pitched forward, the top of its skull disintegrating. Blood and brain matter splattered across the feline woman.
“Ewww!” Ava shrieked, trying to shake it off her furry hands. “Oh my god, that’s so gross!” Without missing a beat, she tore out the throat of a charging miner before returning to try to get the brain matter off her arms.
As Warren’s orb refilled again, he decided to try out a strategy he’d thought of before. He selected the Blade of Deimos, and the dark weapon formed in his hand. But instead of climbing down to join in the melee, he hurled the weapon at the goblins.
The blade spun end over end before slamming into the moss-covered ground. It sank deep into the rock and stuck up almost like the mythical Sword in the Stone.
“Kassandra!” he called out with cupped hands. “Take the sword!” When she craned her head over her shoulder, he pointed at the Blade of Deimos.
Understanding flared to life in her face, and then she dashed across the floor of the ravine. She dropped down, sliding past the sword, and snagged the hilt with one hand. With one smooth motion, she pulled the weapon free.
Kassandra rose up, the galaxies contained within the blade emitting a dark light, a wicked grin on her face. Stalking back toward the goblins, she ignored the shots that struck her.
She reached the first goblin and plunged the blade into its belly. Ripping it upwards, she split the creature in half. The wet sound of the goblin falling apart filled the ravine. As she pulled the blade free, Ava’s wounds sealed shut.
With renewed determination, the two young women tore into the goblins. After they killed the last of the brutes, the remaining miners tried to flee. But Zarya was waiting for them.
The purple skinned beauty stepped out from cover, her body shimmering as it took form. She stabbed her sword through the first miner’s neck, then spun around and impaled the second. Tearing her blade free, she finished off the last of the goblins with a precise slash.
Warren was entranced by Zarya’s movements. It was almost like watching a professional dancer. She moved with a grace that not even Kassandra could match. And she had none of the accidental brutality of Ava, who didn’t even seem to realize what she was doing half of the time.
As the last goblin collapsed to the ground, silence reigned in the ravine. Thanks to Kassandra wielding her sword, none of his minions had any injuries. Which was a nice turn of events.
Motioning for Valentina, he clambered down the rock wall. He felt highly self conscious as he struggled to get down—he couldn’t compare to the agility and skill of the women he’d just watched dispatch more than twenty goblins.
Before he reached the base, a new notification appeared in the side of his vision—he’d leveled up again.
Striding forward, he picked his way through the corpses. He’d seen some pretty brutal things during his time as an ER doctor, but the way Ava had dispatched the goblins almost turned his stomach. She was incredibly deadly.
As his second orb refilled, he decided to cast Boone. It might be good to give the gunslinger some time out of his void. Though he wished he could have given him longer than a few minutes.
In the future, he’d have to upgrade his bodyguard perk. That way, he could give his minions turns protecting him. But it would take a while until he trusted Boone in that position—especially since he couldn’t order his bodyguards.
A moment later, the gunslinger stepped out of the swirling darkness. He immediately drew his six shooters before lowering them. He gazed around with a raised brow. Then he tipped his hat to Ava, who was licking her fur like a cat. “Your work, girlie?”
“Maybe,” she giggled. “And you are?”
“My name is Boone,” he said. “I’m another passenger on this guy’s shit show.”
Kassandra stepped forward, her face darkening. “I’d like to see you do a better job.”
Warren raised a hand to stop Kassandra. He understood she was still pissed off from the last time Boone had threatened him. But he didn’t want the situation to escalate again.
“We’re facing a world challenge,” Warren said to Boone. “There are four goblinoid camps we need to defeat before their leader emerges. This was just a gathering party for whatever they’re doing in their camp. It looks like they have a massive forge going.”
“Interesting,” Boone said. “I bet these things are some sort of government experiment gone awry. I saw a video about this exact sort of thing not too long ago. It’s probably in conjunction with the grey aliens.”
Warren blinked his eyes at Boone. “No, it’s the Holy System creating a challenge for the Terran squire.”
Boone gave him a blank stare in return. “What the fuck is a Holy System?”
With a sigh, he waved Zarya over. There were a lot of things he had to explain to his minions, and not a lot of time. Hopefully, his new vassal could explain it better than him.