The Goblin King towered over Archer at seven feet five inches, dark-green muscle coiling like steel cables under taut skin. His eyes burned with boredom and malice. Archer jumped back, boots scraping stone, as the air thickened around the creature — heavy, oppressive, almost alive with the promise of death.
Adrian lay crumpled against the cavern wall, blood streaming from his mouth, nose, and ears. His arms dangled at unnatural angles; forearms shattered, hands twisted like snapped branches. Each breath drove jagged pain through cracked ribs and a fractured spine. Blood clouded his vision, turning the torchlight into a hazy red smear.
But he could hear. Metal collided with metal. Flesh ripped. Bones snapped. Grunts of exertion and wet, final thuds reached him clearly.
Adrian clenched his teeth. Enough mana remained. Barely. If he healed now, only one spell would follow. He focused, letting faint, controlled white light flow from his handwraps. Bones ground back into place, muscle knitted, blood vessels sealed. Pain screamed through him — sharp, pure, unrelenting — but each movement restored him fractionally.
Archer's fear was gone, replaced by a burning, lethal determination. He swung at the Goblin King — a clean arc aimed for the neck. The Goblin King barely moved. The strike glanced off, an irritation, nothing more. Archer countered immediately, aiming for the throat. The Goblin King swung a massive double-edged longsword in return. Archer barely blocked it. The impact reverberated through stone and bone alike. Force slammed him across the cavern, boots skidding on rock, body smashing into the wall. He coughed, blood flecking his lips, but he was already moving again, blade humming.
Archer recited the incantation under his breath, voice low and lethal:
"In all that is in front of me, my blade will meet the neck. Distance does not matter. Angle does not matter. By the words of the Air Sovereign…"
Invisible arcs of cutting energy tore through the air. The Goblin King sensed them but could not see them. He lifted his blade, blocking each strike casually. Predatory grin spread across his face.
"It's been four years since my blood has pumped like this," he rumbled.
Archer vanished in an instant, reappearing directly before the Goblin King. Two strikes — aimed at the vitals. Both missed. The Goblin King leaned back, blades cutting only air.
Adrian, healed enough to stand, cracked his neck and bent down to pick up a fist-sized rock. He crushed it in his hand. Mana surged through the fragments, white-hot, humming, ready to kill.
The Goblin King swung at Archer's head — a killing strike, unstoppable. Adrian let the rock fly. It detonated through the air like a cannon shot. The Goblin King jerked back, narrowly avoiding a crushed eye. The stone smashed into the wall behind him, shattering rock like brittle bone.
Adrian stepped forward, slow, deliberate. Blood dried on his chin from the earlier impact. His hands hung loose, handwraps glowing faintly white under torchlight. The Goblin King narrowed his eyes.
"How are you still alive?" he rumbled. "I should have split you in half."
Adrian smirked — small, cold, bored.
"You hit my handwraps. That's all. They don't break."
The Goblin King's grin twisted, lips curling.
"Even so… the impact should have killed you."
Adrian arrived before him, close enough to look up into the creature's towering face.
"You talk big," Adrian said quietly, voice low, casual. "For someone who had to sneak up to attack first."
The Goblin King's eyes narrowed. "That rock didn't throw itself."
Adrian's smirk widened fractionally. "If you can actually fight fair, we'll do it right."
He turned, walking back toward Archer, rolling his sleeves to expose forearms bound in glowing white threads — mana condensed into unbreakable, lethal fabric. Every movement promised pain, destruction, and chaos. Every step a subtle, deadly taunt.
Archer watched him approach, golden eyes sharp, sword raised, muscles tensed like coiled steel.
"Ready?" Adrian asked, voice low, calm.
Archer exhaled once, flat.
"Yeah."
The cave fell into a heavy silence. Even the air seemed to hold its breath.
Archer took the lead, bursting forward in a blur of mana-enhanced speed. His blade sang — a perfect, clean arc aimed for the Goblin King's neck. The creature swung its massive double-edged longsword downward, a single motion that could have cleaved a man in half.
Adrian moved faster. Hands open, he intercepted the swing, catching the descending blade between his palms. The impact shook the stone floor, ringing like thunder. Sparks danced along the edge of his glowing white handwraps. The Goblin King's swing froze.
Archer surged past Adrian, upward strike toward the throat. The Goblin King caught the blade with both bare hands. Metal screamed against skin. With a flick, he flung Archer sideways like a ragdoll. Simultaneously, he yanked his own sword with brutal force and swung downward in a crushing overhead smash.
Adrian let go after two bone-jarring strikes slammed into the ground. He rolled back, hitting his feet beside Archer. Both landed in fighting stances, breathing heavy, eyes locked on the towering monster.
Adrian wiped blood from his lip, voice low, steady.
"Why could it copy my move after seeing it once? Regular goblins need two tries to adapt."
Archer steadied his grip, eyes narrow.
"Because it's the Goblin King. Stronger than any regular goblin. One look — it sees, it adapts, it improves."
The Goblin King grinned wider, fangs glinting, muscles rippling as it shifted weight, ready for another strike.
"Smart boy," it rumbled.
Adrian cracked his knuckles. White threads of mana pulsed along his forearms.
"Then let's make this interesting."
Archer launched again. His blade became a blur of arcs and slashes — fast, precise, relentless. The Goblin King blocked each one casually, every parry effortless, yet Archer didn't falter. He darted, pivoted, slashed from impossible angles, forcing the creature to constantly reposition.
Adrian circled, calm, calculating. He leaned in, whispering just loud enough for Archer:
"It can't adapt to magical attacks. Only raw, physical moves."
Archer's golden eyes flicked toward him.
"Keep it busy," Adrian continued. "I have a spell that will end this. But you need to hold its attention."
Archer nodded, and then he moved like a storm — no more careful, measured strikes. He darted across the chamber, over and under swings, around the Goblin King's massive frame, forcing it to react constantly, parrying, pivoting, roaring. Blood, sweat, and spit sprayed the stone floor. Every block made a ringing clang, every slash left a red smear.
Adrian stopped at a safe distance, hands raised. His voice carried softly, steadily, almost meditative, but beneath it there was a dark thrill:
"Let all boundaries collapse.
Where light cannot flee, let meaning follow.
I name this existence recorded —
I name this record denied.
Matter, memory, cause, and consequence,
fall inward and be unmade.
By the silence beyond gravity,
by the dark that leaves no echo —
Event Horizon: Null Archive."
The Goblin King noticed. For the first time, it paused, ignoring Archer entirely. It charged at Adrian, massive blade swinging to crush him.
The moment it struck, Adrian's handwraps flared black. The sword didn't meet flesh. It vanished where it touched the mana threads. The edge disintegrated into nothing, leaving only the stump of a blade.
The Goblin King froze, eyes wide, fangs bared, disbelief mixing with fury.
"Why… am I holding a broken blade?"
Archer, mid-charge, skidded to a halt. His eyes followed — shock flashing across his face. Even he couldn't comprehend it immediately.
"Why is he holding a broken blade?"
Only Adrian remembered the weapon had ever been whole. He lunged forward, fists flashing, two strikes aimed at the Goblin King's chest — precise, brutal, unhesitating. Both missed.
The cave seemed to shrink around them. Every thundering heartbeat, every ringing clang, every spray of blood, made it clear: this was no ordinary fight. This was carnage. And Adrian and Archer were just getting started.
The Goblin King stepped back, eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at Adrian's hands.
"I don't know what that was," he said, voice lower now, less amused. "But I know I shouldn't let you touch me."
Adrian let out a slow breath. The black faded from his handwraps, returning to white.
"Yeah… figured as much," he muttered. "Missed my shot."
The Goblin King let out a rough laugh, the sound echoing off the cavern walls.
"You really thought that would work?" he said, shaking his head. "I've been messing around with you this whole time. Letting you try things. Letting you feel like you had a chance."
He looked between the two of them, grin stretching wider.
"But I'm done playing now."
Adrian didn't respond. He shifted his stance slightly, raising his hands again. The faint hum from earlier was gone, but his focus hadn't dropped.
Next to him, Archer adjusted his grip on his sword, sliding one foot back. His breathing was heavier now, but steady enough.
"Still with me?" Adrian asked, not looking at him.
Archer let out a short breath. "Yeah. I'm not dead yet."
"Good enough."
The Goblin King moved.
He didn't dash. He just… closed the distance.
Archer reacted first, swinging upward toward the neck. The blade didn't even make it halfway before two thick fingers caught it. The impact rang through the cave, then stopped completely.
Archer's eyes widened for half a second.
That was all the time the Goblin King needed.
His fist drove straight into Archer's stomach.
The sound was dull and heavy. Archer's body folded around the hit, a spray of blood leaving his mouth as the air got knocked out of him. He was launched backward, skidding across the stone before slamming into the wall hard enough to crack it.
Adrian was already moving.
He stepped in and swung. The Goblin King knocked the strike aside with the back of his hand, then drove his palm straight into Adrian's face.
A sharp crack followed. Adrian's head snapped back, blood spilling from his nose and mouth as he staggered.
The Goblin King didn't stop there. He grabbed Adrian by the side of the head and twisted, using the momentum to spin him before driving a kick across his jaw.
Adrian's body lifted off the ground and crashed into the cave floor, sliding across loose stone and dirt before coming to a stop.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Archer forced himself up, coughing, one hand pressed against his stomach. His sword was still in his grip, but it shook slightly now.
The Goblin King appeared next to him again, placing a hand on his shoulder almost casually.
"You're slower now," he said. "That hit did more than you want to admit."
Archer gritted his teeth and swung again, a wide horizontal cut aimed at the neck.
The same two fingers stopped it.
Again.
At the same time, Adrian pushed himself back to his feet and rushed in.
The Goblin King didn't even look at him.
He grabbed Archer by the face and threw him backward.
Archer slammed straight into Adrian mid-run. The two collided hard and went down together, rolling across the uneven ground.
Before they could recover, the Goblin King was already on them.
His fist slammed into Adrian's chest. The impact forced the air out of him in a broken gasp. As Adrian's body started to lift from the ground, the Goblin King caught his ankle and swung him sideways.
Adrian's body crashed into Archer again.
Both of them hit the ground hard, momentum carrying them toward a weakened section of the cave floor. The stone gave way beneath them, collapsing into a shallow sinkhole and dropping them into a lower section filled with broken rock and roots.
Dust filled the air.
They barely had time to react before the Goblin King dropped down after them. His landing cracked the ground beneath his feet.
He stepped forward and drove his knee into Archer's chest.
The armor didn't hold. It crumpled inward with a sharp metallic crunch, fragments breaking loose and scattering across the ground.
Archer choked, blood spilling from his mouth as his body went rigid under the pressure.
Adrian tried to push himself up, but his body wasn't responding fast enough.
The Goblin King leaned down, close enough that both of them could feel his breath.
"You two…" he said quietly, voice losing that earlier playfulness, "don't understand what you walked into."
Adrian wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, forcing himself upright despite the pain.
"…Yeah," he said under his breath. "I'm starting to get that."
Archer coughed again, trying to pull in air.
"This… isn't normal," he forced out. "Not even close."
The Goblin King straightened, looking down at them like they were already finished.
"No," he said. "It's not."
The Goblin King reached down and tore the last scraps of Archer's armor away. The metal came off like wet paper, exposing bruised flesh and ribs that didn't sit right under the skin.
Archer sucked in a sharp breath but didn't make a sound after that.
The Goblin King shifted his attention to Adrian, who was still trying to push himself up, arms shaking, handwraps faintly flickering.
"I'm not some wild monster you ran into by accident," the Goblin King said. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried. "And I'm not some boss you beat by figuring out a pattern."
He straightened to his full height, looking down at both of them.
"I run this forest. Everything in it knows that. Everything listens."
He tilted his head slightly, studying them.
"And you two walked in here like you could handle it."
Adrian wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, breathing uneven but steady enough.
The Goblin King's lip curled.
"You're out of your depth."
He rolled his shoulders once, the movement slow, relaxed.
"So I'll make it simple. You can try to run. You can drop your weapons and stay down. Or you can keep going and die here."
The cave went quiet again. Even the distant sounds deeper in the tunnels faded.
Adrian let out a short breath, then looked up at him.
"Yeah… not doing any of that," he said, voice rough but clear.
Archer let out a weak laugh beside him, dragging his sword closer across the ground.
"Same here," he added. "Running's not really an option anymore anyway."
The Goblin King watched them for a second, then smiled. It wasn't wide. It didn't need to be.
"Alright," he said. "Then we're done talking."
He lifted one foot and held it over Adrian's head.
The pressure in the air shifted. It wasn't just him anymore — it felt like the whole cave was leaning in, like something bigger was paying attention.
Dust trembled along the ground.
Adrian's hands tightened, the faint hum in his wraps flickering again, unstable but there.
Archer planted his sword into the dirt and forced himself up onto one knee, using it to hold himself steady.
Neither of them moved to dodge.
Neither of them backed down.
They were hurt. Badly. Breathing wrong. Standing on will more than strength.
But they weren't finished.
The Goblin King looked down at them, foot still hanging there.
This time, there was no hesitation in him at all.