"Aella! Pay attention to your stamina and mana." Reina reminded the youngest among their team.
"Don't waste your blink and bullets on the small fry." She continued. Her handguns were already raised. Scanning the chaotic, scuttling horde. "Only blink when you have to. Use the weakest voidfire bullets for these pink ugly things."
Barnaby, high in his tree, took notes of the change of enemies. He immediately switched his tune. The battle song shifted from the fast and wild rhythm to a slower, more subdued tempo.
He was playing the 'Twilight Elegy'. The sound of his music pulsed around his team mates. Creating a subtle injection of energy. This was a song that boost energy recovery, for health, mana, and stamina.
The goblins, spurred by their greater numbers, charged. They were not powerful individually. But their sheer numbers could indeed cause a threat for their opponents. They launched themselves at the visible targets... Reina and Aella. Screaming a shrieking wave of malice.
Reina blinked. Appearing five meters away from her former position. The goblins crashed into empty air. She fired her handguns. BANG! BANG! Picking off two of the lead goblins with quick, economical shots.
The two tumbled down. Twitching for a brief moment, before going still.
Aella held her voidfire revolver tightly. She looked ready to unleash hell. Pouring his energy into devastating shots. But Reina's words had registered. She held her voidfire power.
She teleported a few steps away to evade the wild charges of some goblins. Her revolver spat a voidfire bullet. BANG! A goblin fell. Its head was pierced by a small, smoky hole.
Aella's small form was trembling slightly. Not from fear or disgust. But more from holding back her power. The wild, raw voidfire energy coiled within her was too eager to be unleashed. But she held back.
Ned's rifle cracked. BANG! BANG! Two more goblins, eager to flank Aella, dropped with headshots. He was a hidden protector and reaper of lives. None of the goblins managed to sense him.
The goblins soon found that their initial charge was thwarted. They fanned out. Attempting to surround Reina and Aella. Their chittering grew louder. More aggressive.
This was a different kind of fight than the one against the werewolves. This one was less about power, more about attrition against overwhelming numbers.
And with Judge Jack being fully occupied by the berserk Crimson Mammoth, the team was on their own against the encroaching tide. But the four crew members of Silent Mermaid were not weak. They had their own ways to survive.
Meanwhile, Jack wasn't idle either. He kept clashing against the mammoth. The creature was much bigger than he was, with hardened furry hide and jagged, obsidian-like tusks. It wasn't an easy opponent to defeat.
The mammoth swung its head with enough kinetic force to uproot the nearby luminescent trees. Its trunk was like a deadly, gigantic flail. Driven by enormous strength.
Jack could block the attack. But, he was not dumb and bored enough to do such pointless thing. He rolled on the ground to evade the attack. Planted his feet hard to the ground, and pivoted.
His [Judgement Warhammer] moved in a deadly arc and crashed against the beast's flank. Creating an extremely loud explosive sound. KA-BOOM!
While Jack held the brute's attention, the clearing had now become an infested area. Filled with hostile goblins.
The Pink Goblins were not individually threatening. A single well-placed shot from any of the team could kill one easily. But they were relentless and swarmed with a terrifying, mindless ferocity. They didn't fear death. They merely desired to overwhelm their enemies.
The goblins were even brave enough to interfere in the deadly clash of Judge Jack and the Crimson Mammoth. Fearlessly attacking both targets.
Jack roared. His voice was like an explosive thunder that shook the red leaves from the nearby branches. He smashed a goblin into the dirt with the back of his hand. Not even breaking his focus on the mammoth.
The mammoth was as brutal as he was. Trampling upon several goblins that were in its way. Ignoring their feeble attacks and focusing on the more threatening Judge Jack.
Not far from them, Reina was a graceful dancer of death in the clearing. She utilized her [Absolute Blink] with rhythmic precision.
She appeared in mid-air above the goblin horde. Her dual handguns barked rhythmically. Each flash of white light from her muzzle signaled the termination of a goblin's existence.
She teleported away before she even landed on the ground. Appearing several distance away. Calmly firing a shot behind her without looking. Pinning a goblin mid-leap before blinking again, across the clearing, to avoid a swinging claw strike from another goblin.
Reina truly moved like a phantom. Unpredictable. Never staying in one place for more than a few seconds.
Aella was a storm in her own right. Her [Voidfire Blink] made her practically untouchable, just like Reina. Her voidfire revolver constantly spat black-and-purple voidfire bullets. The weaker ones, but enough to end most goblins with just one shot.
Worse yet, for the goblins, she was a natural taunting master. She didn't say any word. Just letting out chuckles and giggles as she teleported and unleashed her weak voidfre bullets. But the result... the goblins nearby turned completely enraged. Ignoring their defense and safety to chase after her.
These berserk goblins were easy targets for Ned, who nestled in the safety of the glowing canopy some distance away. The scout played the role of the sniper at the moment. Picking off the enraged goblins one by one calmly.
On another tree branch, Barnaby sat in a relaxed way. As if enjoying a theatrical performance during his vacations. His lute was still playing the 'Twilight Elegy'. Producing a calm, driving melody that imbued the team with enhanced recovery and regeneration.
The battle went on for some time. The number of the Pink Goblins dwindled quickly. More and more of them dropped down. Dead. Massacred by the team's bullets.
Jack, meanwhile, had quickly adapted with the way the Crimson Mammoth battled. He unleashed his [Chains of Vengeance] and grabbed hold of the beast's tusks. His rakshasa's strength surged out as he forced the massive head downward.
"Rune!" He barked. "Blind it!"
The tiny fairy, now in the form of a tiny dragon, appeared. Right in front of the mammoth's right eye. It pulsed with a fierce, blinding white light.
Jack didn't close his eyes. Rune was, in a way, linked to him. Her light could never blind him. Instead, Jack used his [Eyes of Judgement] to detect the creature's structural weaknesses.
He had used them several times before, during the clash. He found none those times. But now, Jack saw the glowing red nodes on the beast's neck. A weak point.
Without hesitation, the black rakshasa swung his [Judgement Warhammer]. With a two-handed overhand strike.
KA-BOOM! The impact was deafening. A shockwave that flattened the surrounding underbrush and sent goblin limbs flying.
The Crimson Mammoth let out a weak, trumpeting shriek. Before collapsing to the ground.
Jack widened his eyes as he realized that he truly struck the weak point of the beast. He didn't waste the chance. Barrage of hammering sound reverberated as the rakshasa launched relentless attacks toward the same point.
The beast bellowed in pain and rage. Its massive frame finally shook the surrounding one last time before it stopped moving. Dead.
The law of the realm started to work as the monster's death was confirmed. Its gigantic corpse started to dissolve slowly into shimmering particles. Being extracted by the realm... or more accurately, by the people who tampered with the realm.
"Finally done." Jack grunted. Exhaling a cloud of steam from his nostrils.
He turned. Scanning the remaining goblin pack as they remained fearless. Attacking Reina and Aella mindlessly without caring about their significantly reduced number.
Jack sighed. "Mindless creatures, huh? Looks like we have to..."
He stopped. His enhanced hearing caught the rhythmic crunching of boots on the forest floor. A sound that didn't belong to the messy, frantic movements of the goblins. And he was right.
Out of the tree-line emerged several figures. They moved with the deliberate, confident stride. A movement of those who knew exactly how powerful they were... or those dumb ones with unreasonably exaggerated self esteems.
Jack scanned the newcomers. Leading them was a man they had seen in the previous event of Battle King Duel. The loser beaten savagely by Leon. Crimson Shark. The blood controlling warlock of the Glorious Pirates.
Walking beside him was a heavy-set man. Another eldritch warlock from the same faction. This one was followed by a two-headed troll. The creature lumbered behind him on a thick iron chain. Showing a vacant, drooling expression. But its muscles were coiled like steel cables. Jack's [Eyes of Judgement] showed that it was his summoned monster.
The third human newcomer was also from Glorious Pirates. A lean primal sorcerer who held a vial of caustic, bubbling liquid. One that hissed whenever a drop hit the ground. Jack's appraisal showed that the sorcerer was a poison controller, specializing in controlling corrosive liquid.
Flanking them were two members from different faction. They were from the Undeath Sect this time. Both looked like corpses stitched back together. Pale, emotionless, ugly, and radiating an aura that made the very air feel stagnant.
One of the two was leading three skeletal centaurs. Their rusted blades was dripping with black ichor. Another summoner type of transcendent beings.
The other one from the Undeath Sect stepped forward. Without even saying anything, he started to take action. His body suddenly shivered and twisted... until he stood as a hulking, undead revenant. With grey and translucent skin.
"A team of weaklings." Crimson Shark hissed. "A child, a woman, two hidden cowards, and an ugly beast shapeshifter. Pitifully weak. Unfortunately, today your luck is rotten, encountering us. With the five of us here, your destiny is only... death."
Jack shifted his grip on his war hammer. Grinning. "Said the one who got beaten black and blue by his opponents in yesterday's match." He countered bluntly. "Your track record makes your words hard to believe, you know?"
"Bastard! Kill them!" Crimson Shark roared.
"Attack!" The warlock of the Undeath Sect responded. The three skeletal centaurs he summoned immediately charged toward Jack. Their hooves thundered against the soil with a rapid, rhythmic beat.
Reina appeared at Jack's side. Her handguns were leveled at the newcomers. "What should we do, Dear?" She asked, knowing that the three pirates in their opponent group carried troublesome things within their hearts. The Demon Seeds.
"Kill the Undeath Sect members." Jack simply said. His gaze kept locking on the Crimson Shark. "The pirates? Beat them and make them unconscious. Let's try the heart surgery plan. We missed the chance with that Scorpion. Let's not do the same this time."
Reina grinned and pulled the triggers of her handguns. BANG! BANG!
Sparks of defensive wards appeared in front of the centaur skeleton's summoner. The man had a protective artifact.
The gunshots seemed to signify the start of the next confrontation. Even when the previous one wasn't completely over. There were still dozens of Pink Goblins near the clearing.
The corrosive liquid controlling sorcerer joined in the battle instantly. He hurled a glob of his green, bubbling liquid toward Reina.
Aella responded by blinking in the throwing trajectory. She sent a blast of voidfire shot from her revolver. The blast immediately atomized the acid mid-air. The screeching sound of burning liquid filled the clearing.
The two-headed troll roared. Emitting a sound that felt like grinding stones. And then, it charged at Jack.
The beast was an engine of pure violence. Its two heads which often argued against each other now had the same goal. Killing Jack.
But, their target was... Judge Jack. A terribly wrong target to choose.