Meanwhile, Gerard was having the time of his life.
"Gyahaha! You filthy goblin scum, come on! There is still fight in these old bones, look!"
He slashed across the walls, beheading a goblin with ease, his armour stained with filth and blood, wearing a beaming smile. "Come on! Fight you cowardly knaves! A few goblins and you're shivering?! HAH!"
"Captain..."
"Calm down, Boss!"
The knights who followed behind him all sighed, forced to support his reckless stupor, their efforts to keep the walls already straining them to the limit.
In the distance, Gerard saw the hobgoblin, and his lips curved into a sinister grin.
"Oh no..."
"What's he doing now!?"
He stepped onto the sharp wall, his sword pointed at the huge monstrosity, "Oi! You! Yeah, you, the ugly bastard cowering in fear in the back!"
Gerard's unrestrained nature wasn't a secret among the knights; in fact, many of them followed him because of his down-to-earth personality.
Many of them, having lost loved ones to monsters, felt his actions galvanised the feelings smouldering within their hearts. His actions allowed them to endure their fear and face these beasts with all their rage, again and again.
"To the Captain's Aid!"
"I'm not yet captain! My lovely Galatea is!" The old man grumbled that his sword was lodged in the mouth of a goblin. "To think that boy would finally wake up... Ack! Are you watching, brother!? Babylon will finally rise! Rise with our grandchildren standing together!"
The misty patch in Gerard's iris almost completely covered his sight, yet he still fought like a fresh, young man.
"Have at thee, foul beings!"
.
.
.
Over two hundred metres away, safe from the arrows and spears thrown by the defenders, the hobgoblin watched the battle with arms folded and a foul expression. Beneath him, the black wolf howled at the loss of her kin, feral and unrestrained even beneath her captor.
"Quiet, bitch!" The hobgoblin seethed, kicking her.
"Awuuu!"
He couldn't understand the wolf, so he just hit her until she became quiet.
Vagul watched the small outpost before him, 'inferior humans.' He snorted within his heart, the memories of savouring the flesh and bodies of the village he'd easily overrun thanks to his evolution.
Before becoming a hobgoblin, he lacked intelligence or thought beyond his hunger, lust and bloodlust. On the day he evolved, a group of warriors from that village wiped out his entire den, mercilessly cutting, smashing and burning all he knew.
So, when one of the weaker females lingered too long in the darkness...
He struck her from behind with a rock, dragging her into the depths where even goblins feared to dwell.
And savoured her.
The next day, he awoke with a sense of self, a name and a purpose.
Vengeance.
Whether it was due to luck or the fact that he evolved after eating a human, he gained the ability to understand their language. This helped him to gather allies, subdue monsters pretending to be a weak, helpless human, before striking from the shadows.
And finally, when he learned that the warriors had left the village.
He struck.
"Hmph."
Vagul gripped his club, a piece of heavy stone almost two metres long, which claimed the lives of many foolish humans.
That's when he heard a shout from the walls.
"Oi! You! Yeah, you, the ugly bastard cowering in fear in the back!"
A grainy, old man stood atop the pathetic walls, pointing a blade at Vagul, yelling insults while throwing a goblin to his death.
'What?!'
From the moment he evolved to now, there had been fewer than three humans who showed him such disrespect. A whirl of heat exploded within his chest, and he gasped for air as if each breath scalded his throat.
"That damned kid, the bitch who fled... and this old man!"
Flashes of his past, fleeing, trembling in fear when the warriors came to hunt them in the caves... and that fiery red hair which resisted him to the end before fleeing to this tiny little outpost.
He would kill them all.
Humans served as food and sustenance to breed more goblins.
Nothing more.
"I am Vagul! King of Goblins!" He bellowed in the human tongue before kicking the wolf's sides and shooting towards the walls. "All of you shall die, filled with regret!"
.
.
.
Gerard and the knights all stopped when the massive hobgoblin rushed into the battle with the last fifty goblin riders supporting him. He snapped back to himself. No longer his jovial and playful self, he gave orders.
"Prepare the hunters, we cannot let them breach these walls! If all looks hopeless, drag back to the inner keep."
There wasn't any answer from the troops.
He skimmed at their faces, able to see the pale dread growing.
'This isn't good! They're being overwhelmed by that big one's aura.'
He glared at the huge goblin, approaching at high speed, its massive figure at least two metres of pure muscle.
Before the fear took root and became terror, he made a move.
"You foolish cowards! This is not the place you die! Remember our Lord's words! He values our lives more than this lifeless wood and outpost."
"What...?"
A trembling young hunter glanced around him, then looked at the mass of goblins rushing at them, before turning to see the elderly knight bellowing from the walls with words mocking the terrifying abomination.
Beside him, another awoke from their daze.
One by one, the people started to awaken. The wave of dread lingered, and yet, Gerard drew their voices to him, gathering their courage forcibly through his bellowing voice.
"Captain..."
A knight called from behind Gerard, with mottled brown hair with flecks of grey in his beard.
"What is it, Simon?"
"We cannot—Ngh!?"
Gerard grabbed the knight's throat and headbutted him.
Thud!
"Fool!? Are you trying to break our morale? Do you think I cannot see that, me? Your captain?!"
How could Gerard not know?
The monster facing them wasn't something a normal man should ever face, even a seasoned knight like him felt tingles rushing down his spine. If he didn't gather his mind and face the monster head-on, even his legs might become weak.
He released Simon and smiled fleetingly, turning to face the oncoming threat.
"Remember this, Simon, no matter how terrified, difficult or hopeless the situation... the ones who lead mankind cannot show such feelings."
He stepped to the front of the battlement, grasping his longsword.
"This small sword might be worthless when held alone, but the moment I wield it to protect others.... *Shing* It becomes a holy blade of protection!"
Gerard's pupils shrank as the massive hobgoblin reached ten metres from the wall, its figure almost halfway up the wall atop the hulking black wolf.
The arrows shot by the hunters bounced off the iron fur of the wolf, while the hobgoblin used his massive stone club to smash them.
'My lovely Galatea, I hope you remain in the west and leave with the lord.'
He swallowed to moisten the itchiness in his throat.
Despite bravado and his desperate attempts to quell his own fear... the slight tremble lingered at the tip of his blade.
But he refused to submit to these feelings, which made him human! So he bellowed, one last time as the Goblins climbed the walls.
"Hear me, brothers! Do not fear, Stand and Fight with me! This is the reason we became knights, the reason we were born in this world. For this very moment! So we must fight, and fight we must. For those who come after!"
His body shimmered with a faint golden light.
A warmth flowed through his tired muscles, something he'd never felt before. The aches and pains of years gone by faded... replaced with an explosive power.
Facing the hobgoblin, he smiled while raising his sword.
"For the glorious and beautiful Babylon!"