Luck didn't waste any time, as he summoned his undead, taking Asher, Dwayne, and some of his Skeleton Fighters with him. He would deal with the other hobgoblin.
"Luke, stay here with the others and protect them. Tara, Terra, and Freya will take care of the third hobgoblin."
And with that, he rushed off in the other direction, leaving the rest with confused and annoyed looks.
Tara clicked her tongue. "This guy really gets on my nerves sometimes."
"Same," Harry quipped.
"He had his reasons, though," Terra said matter-of-factly, causing the others to turn to her for answers. She was the voice of reason after Luck.
"He basically had no time to fill us in on everything since he plans on dealing with the hobgoblin as quickly as possible. As for why only we can handle the last hobgoblin-"
Terra cut herself off as she abruptly stamped her feet on the floor, causing dozens of tree roots to form a wall.
*Thunk**Thunk**Thunk*...
Dozens of arrows pelted the wooden wall in an instant. But that didn't seem to be enough as Luke suddenly moved towards Tara, gripping his blades as he slashed forward.
*Puchi**Clang*
An arrow pierced through the wall with blinding speed, as it met Luke's blade with unhindered momentum, forcing him back a few steps.
Terra looked at the arrow that was now on the floor with an unreadable expression. "It's because the last one is an archer."
...
The hobgoblin proceeded with caution. Just a few moments ago, it had entered the other side of the clearing to catch its prey, only for half of its squad to be killed off like flies.
It considered itself lucky, though. It had watched with evident shock as the other attack squad was pulverized, their captain dying within minutes, without any chance of fighting back.
It didn't want to die like that. But he also could not return home empty-handed.
So he decided to take advantage of the current situation and attack them while they were still holding off the ranged unit of the hunting party.
It was still wary, though. Very much so, as its senses were screaming danger.
Nevertheless, it was this caution that saved its life.
The hobgoblin suddenly rolled to the side as a spear landed where it previously was.
It launched itself back to its feet, just in time to block another strike from the spear.
It gritted its teeth. It was clearly annoyed. After all, it could faintly make out the face of a skeleton underneath the black armor.
To think a mere skeleton would try to stop it!
The hobgoblin swung his sword at Asher's head. It wanted to be done with this farce quickly.
Much to its surprise and irritation, the skeleton dodged, albeit narrowly.
Asher hurriedly made distance, shooting several Spirit Arrows to keep the captain busy.
The hobgoblin dodged with ease, but Asher had succeeded in putting distance between them as he began to run around it, firing the occasional Spirit Arrow to find a crack in its defenses.
The squad captain chuckled to itself. It could clearly feel Asher was weaker than he was, and by a large margin at that, and yet he was still risking his life.
*Boom*
The hobgoblin exploded with speed, reappearing beside an unaware Asher as it swung its blade to deliver the kill.
A dull sound rang through the air as the sword met a barrier.
The barrier disintegrated instantly, but this brief moment allowed Asher to evade the blade as he activated one of his armor skills.
Asher's speed doubled, catching the captain by surprise and allowing him to get behind it.
*Puchi*
The hobgoblin's face twisted in pain as he felt his enemy's spear pierce his back, narrowly missing his heart.
A mere D- ranker had managed to injure him?! It was unacceptable!
*Boom*
The hobgoblin's foot swung back, denting Asher's armor and sending him flying back with a sound akin to a mini explosion.
Asher immediately balanced himself in the air, forcing himself to the ground with enough time to intercept the squad captain, who was already in front of him and clearly surprised by his abrupt recovery speed.
It made sense, though. He was just bones; He had no nerves to transmit the feelings of pain, fatigue, and other unnecessary feelings to their non-existent brain.
He was the ideal killing machine.
So the hobgoblin could only watch as Asher nimbly ducked under its chaotic swing while delivering a swing of his own.
His connected.
The hobgoblin stumbled, losing its balance and crashing into a nearby tree.
Asher immediately capitalized on the situation. Unfortunately, he also seemed to have misjudged his opponent's recovery time.
The large tree that the hobgoblin had crashed into was now in front of Asher, thrown with such strength that it seemed to breeze through the resistance of the air.
Asher flipped, landed on the trunk, and immediately launched himself at the hobgoblin. The hobgoblin seemed to believe it had hit Asher.
*Crack*
Its joy was short-lived as Asher delivered a roundhouse kick to the captain's face, breaking the entire lower jaw as it was sent flying to the side.
He crashed into another tree, this time still incapacitated. Asher's kick was not only as heavy as iron, but his foot also seemed to be laced with untold heat, leaving its face severely burnt.
Asher arrived in a flash, piercing its chest again, but this time his strike struck the heart.
The light in the captain's eyes began to dull, signifying its dying state.
Unfortunately, that was also short-lived.
*Boom*
The hobgoblin's aura exploded, sending Asher flying and crashing into several trees.
Its blood red aura flared with indignation as its eyes had turned red entirely.
It seemed the hobgoblin was using its remaining vitality to activate its Berserk skill.
It glanced in the direction that Asher flew and was ready to give chase.
That was until a dagger stabbed it in the head.
...
Luck watched the hobgoblin with an indifferent gaze.
He had hidden in the shadows as he watched Asher battle the hobgoblin. He was pleasantly surprised by the way his skeleton could hold its own against someone an entire rank higher than him, but he somewhat expected it.
Although Asher was still learning how to use the spear and was a little clumsy with his attacks, his overall battle prowess was better than the hobgoblin's show of power.
With the armor added on top of that, it was already set in stone. He was just here to deal with any unexpected variables.
(Like this.) Luck thought as he watched the hobgoblin look in the direction the dagger came from.
Its eyes conveniently landed on Luck.
*Boom*
It was in front of Luck in seconds, already swinging its blade with such speed that there seemed to be no room for escape.
Luck stared at the hobgoblin with a bored expression
(Predictable.) Luck thought disappointingly. He could read his opponent like an open book.
There was a reason he brought Dwayne after all.
A huge, pristine white hand flashed out of the darkness, grabbing the crazed hobgoblin in a vice grip.
*Boom*
The bone golem appeared before the hobgoblin, preventing it from getting a moment's rest after being slammed into the ground.
*Boom**Boom**Boom*...
The hobgoblin was pummeled into the ground. By the time Dwayne had had enough, its body was no different than paste.
It was truly dead this time.