Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age - Chapter 153

It wasn’t long until the goblinmancer’s lair came under siege. The goblins who were outside the lair were picked off in a confrontation that forced the rest of them to retreat.

The wooden wall erected around the entrance was far from sturdy yet it was enough to force the knights into a siege. The goblins mocked them with their growls while they were standing behind their wooden palisade of crookedly cut trees and trembling logs.

The goblinmancer wasn’t all too keen with what was happening, he made sure he sensed his goblins from time to time but not once did be notice that the enemy had already infiltrated deep within his territory, not until it was already too late.

One and the knights actually thrust their attack inward in a thin line, doing so did not make it seem to the scattered goblin groups that there was an intruder since none of them knew except for the small bands that were unfortunate enough to be in One’s way.

Filled with rage and fear, the goblinmancer stormed out from his quarters and urged one of the hobgoblins to lift him up using his hands. The hobgoblin laid his hand near the ground and the goblinmancer walked over it, as he was lifted, he gritted his teeth in anger.

He was lifted just enough so he could see beyond the wooden palisade, the knights were few but surrounded them and there was a mage with as much magic as him standing in the middle. There was also a peculiar man whose eyes glowed purple, the same man he planned on talking to when he possessed the goblin the other day. The man had no magic but he was surrounded with this unsung darkness that devoured magic all around it.

“Tsk,” The goblinmancer then cast a barrier spell to protect from arrows, arrows themselves weren’t a problem but arrows with fire were. Some parts of the palisades were made from dry wood and arrows with flames would easily cause a fire that would burn it all to the ground.

One had this exact idea in mind but not with arrows, no, he was going to burn the palisades himself using his energy weapon. But to do so would need considerable energy, One was only able to use his energy weapons embedded in his palms due to the immense amount of magic pumped into him by the purification spells, One wondered if Toby could do the same.

His energy level was now stable, not too much or not too low. His systems were functioning at their normal extent and would not be pushed hard without relocating power from elsewhere within his body. One did not want to risk it.

Instead, he was forced to devise a new plan. Sure he could take them on head long but he wanted the goblinmancer alive, a full frontal attack that would quickly overwhelm said goblins and hobgoblins would result in him trying to escape, knowing the powers magic, it was possible that the man would just teleport away.

While he was thinking of various ways to end it all, the goblinmancer’s barrier came into effect and appeared as a transparent and greenish dome that surrounded the entrance. One was unimpressed and just stared at it blankly, even Hailey had a poker face in the form of a projection inside One’s mind.

[Why not just snipe him?] Hailey said.

“Oh, good idea,” One was not up to his game. The goblinmancer was somewhat exposed, although he was a few hundred meters inside the large cave, his upper body was exposed and within One’s range. One drew his pistol and pointed at the goblinmancer, the goblinmancer did not flinch.

“The hell is he doing?” He asked himself.

In an instant, a straight line erupted seamlessly from the rectangular barrel of the pistol which travelled so fast that the goblinmancer bȧrėly had anytime to react. The beam hit the goblinmancer’s right shoulder, turning it into a steamy hot cut. The goblinmancer howled in pain, lost his balance, and then fell from the hobgoblin’s palm.

He crashed into the ground and continued to howl in pain, his wound did not bleed, that was the only positive thing about the entire ordeal.

With their leader gone, the goblins’ morale collapsed and One lead the charge into the beast’s lair. One and his knights broke through the crude gate requiring only One to punch it open and then they poured inside.

The goblins stood no chance, disorganized and frightened, they were slaughtered. The hobgoblins were the main obstacle, there was exactly two more that needed to be killed before they could wipe out the goblins, One decided to take all two at once.

Learning from his first fight with one of these behemoths, One immediately jumped onto the back of one of the hobgoblins, crawled all the way under his chin as it flailed about and before the beast could grab him, One slit its throat open using his energy blades. Blood poured out and the hobgoblin collapsed into its own gurgling puddle of blood.

The last hobgoblin, seeing his brother taken down so easily, was overridden with too much fear that it just stood and tried to storm out. This endangered not only the knights, but the other goblins who were on and around the walls. The knights immediately pulled back from the fighting and retreated to the side as the ground trembled with every step the hobgoblin took.

Bending his right leg behind his left, One readied himself to perform the finishing move. As the hobgoblin was about to break out of the palisades, One dashed forward with all his might, he then jumped and landed on its back just as it broke out of the palisade.

Logs and dried wood flew everywhere similar to an explosion as the hobgoblin made its way into the forest.

Seeing that victory was finally at hand, Toby lead the knights and slaughtered the remaining goblins inside while some managed to escape into the wilderness.