213 Playing Dirty (Pt 2)
Jared’s body was impaled by the spear, stuck on the ground.
The Hobgoblins’ top brass all reveled at the sight of the young human’s gaping eyes and shocked outlook. It was a cause for celebration, was it not?
The rat that had been scampering about was finally dead, struck by the spear it never saw coming. Jeremy was the rat, and by the means of throwing an unavoidable projectile at him, he had inevitably met his doom.
However… this illusion of victory soon vanished as the Hobgoblin Boss first noticed the strangeness of the situation before them.
Looking closely at what should have been the young Gifted’s corpse, there was something different about it, something unreal…
“Guriuk… Guriuk Garu?!” A growl proceeded from the mouth of the Hobgoblin Boss as soon as it noticed, drawing the attention of the already-celebrating Chiefs.
They ceased their felicitations and also took a closer glance at the corpse and noticed the same thing too!
“Guriuk Guriuuk Garu!!!” The Cheifs said all at once.
The translation of the monster language they spoke could only possibly be one thing—there’s no blood!
The corpse of Jeremy Lewis, the one who challenged them and was supposedly smitten, had no blood!
The face and features of the body didn’t even look dead, and there were no signs of destruction in the outfit he wore. That could only have meant one thing… the illusion of victory that they had was merely just that—an illusion!
What they had been seeing for the last few moments was an illusion!
“GARAUIK GURU GARWIOK!!!” The Hobgoblin Boss banged its hand upon its armrest the moment it noticed something. As soon as it lifted its eyes from Jeremy’s fake corpse and took a look around, the monster noticed that the numbers of its troops—the Hobgoblin Champions— had significantly reduced.
That could have only meant one thing.
“GARUIIIIIKKKKKK!!!”
***********************
“That’s right, you bastards! Fooled ya!”
My grin was broad as I sped across the motionless Hobgoblins and gave taps on them, unfettered by the troublesome foes in a distance.
As I had already expected, none of them were affected by the effects of <Paralysis>, being Grade 2 and all.
Still, I was able to get away with this… something that would have ended in certain death!
[Moments Earlier]
‘I’m done for!’ My mind rang.
With my body falling straight to the ground due to the sudden slip made by one of the Hobgoblin Chiefs, I was knocked entirely off-balance.
The momentum built up by my speed made this a fatal mistake, and the spear lunging at me didn’t help matters.
If I chose to divert my attention to stop the spear and absorb it into [Subspace], I was certain to be vulnerable to other strikes—there were four Hobgoblin Chiefs, after all.
Usually, it would be an impossible situation… however… a saving grace appeared that turned everything around.
A Skill in my possession… <Coordination>!
[Skill Information]
<Coordination>
Grade: 1 (Fixed)
Level:1 (Upgradable)
A skill obtained from the lesser Demon, ‘Hobgoblin (Archer)’. It is a low leveled skill that grants the user heightened and sharpened senses, especially that of sight. They are also freely able to move their body more fluidly in response to their intention.
Now in its maxed-out state, alongside the buff effects of several other Skills, this Skill allowed me to fluidly compensate for my lack of balance and regain my bearing.
Realizing this was a perfect chance, I decided on a gamble!
“<Illusory Arts>”
It could create an Illusory Clone, a direct duplicate of myself with no consequence!
With this in mind, I made the clone and placed it right in front of me—in the exact same position I currently was.
My Agility was higher, so I could think and move faster than they could. Using to my advantage, I pushed my body to its limits and achieved a frightening state of speed, rushing behind one of the frozen Hobgoblin Champions while the clone took my place and got struck with the spear.
Once the hit connected, I took advantage of the window of opportunity and continued collecting Hobs into my [Subspace].
And that led us to the present.
[The Present]
“Haha! Ain’t that something. Bet you didn’t see that coming!” I nearly burst out laughing as soon as I saw the mortified expression of the Hobgoblin Boss.
It was amusing, but I couldn’t lose sight of my goal.
In an instant, the Hobgoblin Boss summoned another spear, which I spotted from the corner of my eye, and I quickly absorbed it before it could be launched.
This was the best move to make.
In what seemed like a flash, three minutes were up and I was left with nearly a hundred Hobgoblin Champions left.
“This much is doable!”
“<Summon>”
The Hobgoblin Chief’s Staff appeared in my hand once again—I recalled it when I realized I would need both hands unoccupied, but now… it was perfect for the job!
Casting <Fireball>, I poured a lot of mana-infused air into the atmosphere while charging up the spell with both my mana and the boosted effects of the staff.
The small fireball increased beyond the size I had ever made, and not only that, but it doubled in number.
I now had two enormous balls of flame above me.
Summoning a bunch of Mana Cores underneath the Demons who would unfreeze at any moment, I poured down my gigantic mana while ensuring my eyes watched out for any distortion.
Sure enough, I spotted the same defensive trick the Hobgoblin Chiefs resorted to the last time, but this time I wouldn’t be caught off-guard.
I quickly collected the hardened, distorted sir, and allowed my fireball to fall on the group of Hobgoblins, with me jumping far above the area of impact.
The result? As expected, it was—
>BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!<
Shockwaves rang through the entire area as the nearly hundred Demons were decimated beneath me. I watched as their bodies turned to dust and they dropped their Demon Cores, which, not long after, vanished into my [Subspace].
“Now that’s one problem out of the way…”
My gaze shifted to the final opponents I had to face.
“Next up is…!!!”