The goblin archers were relentless. Their bombardment never stopped or even showed any signs of slowing down, even after Luke put up defenses as well.
Tara gripped her pistols in two hands. They couldn't just hide here forever. Luck had faith in them for a reason.
Tara glanced at her sister. Terra nodded in response as she turned to communicate with Fr-
Where was Freya?
"Kraaaaaaa""Kraaaaaa""Kraaaaaaa"...
Several shrieks resounded through the air as Tara suddenly leaped over the defenses in place to see what was causing the commotion.
Sure enough, she found Freya, only she was a little busy.
Freya weaved through the ranged unit with evident speed and precision as the hobgoblin archer shot arrow after arrow at her.
She occasionally fired off bolts of her own, but that was aside from the point. It wasn't her main goal.
Smoke filled the air, hiding Freya's movements as she shot several bolts to deal with the small fries. She was giving the archer a run for his money as he struggled to locate her in the mass of moving bodies.
But it was obvious she was running out of room to dodge.
Tara grinned at the scene before her. By now, the rest had joined her side as she watched Freya weave circles around the frustrated hobgoblin.
"I think it's about time we help our little friend here."
The others nodded in agreement, and without another word, they shot off to finish the fight once and for all.
Tara opened fire on the hobgoblin. Seizing its attention as it nimbly leapt back to avoid the metallic rain.
Unfortunately, it wasn't able to rest."
"Entangle"
Numerous roots erupted from the ground in an attempt to ensnare the squad captain, forcing him to dodge again.
He skirted through the branches as the trees followed with surprising aggression. He never stayed on one branch for too long, as he could already see the dangers of doing just that.
Unfortunately for it, that was where its death began.
Too focused on the attacks that came his way, the hobgoblin never noticed that the next branch he was leaping to was quickly being covered in ice.
As an archer, the hobgoblin always prided itself on its mobility and its ability to stay balanced no matter the situation.
So he could imagine how it felt when he found out he was falling because he had slipped on ice!
Ice didn't come until winter. And it was sure as hell that it wasn't winter!
It was an experienced hunter, though. It quickly righted itself as it plunged a dagger into the bark of the tree, halting its fall.
*Boom*
Luke was already in front of it before it could even scan its surroundings.
He wasn't holding his swords this time; his arched fist was glowing with condensed fire mana, waiting to-.
"Exploding Apex!"
*Boom*
The tree trunk exploded into bits, sending the hobgoblin flying with tree bark that pierced his charred skin.
Freya aimed for its figure as it tumbled through the air. She had adopted a strange stance as she aimed with terrifying precision, moving only her crossbow and nothing else.
Her crossbow, Crossrain, had granted her the skill Siege Tower. It was a skill that guaranteed a hundred percent hit damage as long as the user maintained complete stillness.
Siege Tower was already a frightening skill on its own. When she combined it with skills like Power Shot, though,
It was a shot that could cross the boundaries between ranks as if it were paper.
The hobgoblin didn't even get the chance to dodge as three bolts practically teleported in front of him.
*Boom*
His head exploded like a watermelon.
Silence pervaded the air as the group stared at the headless corpse with a confused expression.
Was it that easy to cross between the levels of power?
Of course it wasn't.
The only reason it looked so simple was because of their frightening level of cooperation that they had used to overwhelm it.
Plus, they had Freya, whose case was very similar to Asher's.
Either way, they had handled the hobgoblin.
The combined efforts of Luck and Luke's forces had exterminated the rest of the small fries and the Goblin hounds.
The hunting team had been officially dealt with.
Luck watched as his party began to collect their spoils. Of course, he had already harvested the two cores of the hobgoblins he had killed. Along with the rest of their squad and since the archer was killed by Freya, it naturally went to her.
(Which means it belongs to me.) Luck thought as he grinned widely.
In short, he had harvested three rank C cores in one night. Though it was a far cry from what he had gained from the horde, it was still an incredible accomplishment for someone at his level.
(!!!)
Luck suddenly slid to the side, as a goblin lunged past him, its little hands wielding the knife he planned to kill Luck with.
Luck's foot shot out, striking the goblin in the back and sending it flying dozen of meters into the forest.
His friends, who had witnessed everything, had already caught up to him as they all stared at him with different looks.
But Luck didn't have time to entertain their curiosity.
"Follow me."
*Whoosh*
Luck was gone before his sentence even registered in their brains, leaving them to play catch up.
Which wasn't easy 'cause Luck was really fast.
They managed to keep up, though, as Luck seemed to be holding himself back. Purposely following the goblin as it fled into the forest, careful not to alert it.
The goblin stopped at a small camp. The two guards posted watched as it ran into their leaders' tent.
Luck glanced at his party as they nodded their head in response.
The first hunting squad took them unaware and they were able to demolish them.
What about now that the roles were reversed?
...
Luck and his party effectively took out five more camps in the span of six hours. Each time they picked a different goblin to make sure the next camp couldn't be warned of their schemes.
They were fully ready to take of another camp as they let the sixth goblin run 'scot free'.
That was until they watched their target run through a stone gate.
Behind the gate were numerous huts. These homes didn't contain people, though.
They were built and lived in by the same cretures they'd been hunting since last night.
They had arrived at the goblin village.
*Ding*
Name: Goblin Massacre
Ojective: Exterminate the entire Goblin Village
Rank: A+
Rewards
1. 150 stat points
2. 50 Rank C cores
3. 150 skill points
4. 1 Death affintiy skill (Rank depends on contribution rating!)
5. 250 physique points
6. 1 A rank Goblin Chief core.