Nollan's voice remained calm. "Seems like they've evolved. At least fifty hobs on top of the same amount of goblins," The situation looked out of context, Kael covered his nose. The stench was too otherworldly disgusting. "I'll handle rear support. Zod will lead the offense. You two—", before Nollan could finish:
RRRAAHHHHHHHH!
Zodiac roared, shaking the entire riverbank.
CHHAA! CHHAA!
The horde roared back, clubs pounding, armor rattling. Moonlight revealed their hulking forms. Hobgoblins, larger than men, clad in ragged armor, wielding crude steel.
Without any other word, Zodiac dashed forward, drawing a long line on ground with his swords. Terren ran behind him to join. "I'll support him! Kael, cover what we miss!" Terren screamed.
Kael's pulse hammered. Still, he planted himself before Nollan, ready as the last line of defense. He has always been the last wall, the final hope. It was dark now, the moon had not properly risen.
Something came running towards Zodiac from trees. A hobgoblin, it swung a massive club down just before reaching Zodiac. Zodiac ducked low, a flash of blade slashed upward, shruckk. An arm came flying towards Kael, split clean from its body. Blood sprayed all over. Zodiac twisted his body, rising with a lethal arc of slash.
The hob fell in two pieces, from right hip to left shoulder. blood pooling fast, internal organs floated in blood like dead fish. Zodiac swung his blade again, drawing an arc on ground with blood. He tilted his head to left a little and screamed:
"That's all you got you fuckers"
The horde shrieked back, recognizing danger. Maybe they weren't the dumb creatures from stories Kael read growing up. The chaos felt silent, metal started ringing, slammed, screeched. A line of enemies came forward this time. They were just testing the strength of their enemy by sending just one of their own, now they had grasp of who they were fighting.
"This is war," Nollan said flatly. Kael looked back at him, just to see Nollan sitting crossed legs, unbothered by the chaos. And then the horde charged. The clash was chaos. Kael blasted, confused. His hands shivering, face sweating, expression of fear and confusion both.
"Take your stance," Nollan's voice rang behind Kael, maddeningly calm. Now, his cheek resting on his hand as if bored.
Kael turned to protest, but the words died. The horde was upon them. Howls split the night, weapons hammered against shields, the ground shook as the wave crashed forward. Zodiac leapt first, Terren right behind him. Kael held the line by the river, Nollan still motionless, frowning at the scene.
"You fuckin' bastards!" Zodiac roared crashing the first line, twelve of them snarled back, breath stinking of rot. Steel rang like thunder upon clash. His blades flashed, blasting a wave of something Kael had never seen. The impact sent bodies flying, scattered like broken dolls.
Kael's eyes widened. What… was that?
Terren faltered, stunned by the display. Zodiac dropped low, lunged forward, carving through legs. But that wasn't a good idea, sword swooshed past his face, a spear aimed for his back and clubs bore down from above.
It was careless of him to be in such a situation, when the battle had just started. Zodiac clicked his tongue, closing his eyes.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Something struck the spear, knocking it aside. Zodiac crouched, dodged the clubs, coiled like a spring. Ready to slash.
Thump. A hand gripped Zodiac's head, slamming it into the ground. An axe came down his face. He clenched his teeth just then his blades sparked again. A blast rang out and goblins flew back in pieces again. Zodiac leapt away, a stream of blood rushed his temple.
"Where the fuck is rear support!?" he bellowed at Nollan. Mad in anger, eyes filled with bloodlust. But the mage only sat, unbothered.
A group of three lunged. Zodiac blocked in time, snarling. Meanwhile, another group swarmed Terren. He was outnumbered, on top of that he was nowhere near strong as Zodiac. Terren barely dodged a swing, blocking another blow from the front.
"He needs your support," Nollan said flatly.
Kael snapped out of his trance. He sprinted forward, pebbles scattering under his feet. Just the unconscious swing of his claymore made Nollan look up in surprise. The sheer force Kael held was nonhuman, especially at the rank he was.
"This will be exciting," Nollan murmured, a smile tugging his lips.
Terren gritted his teeth, fending off blows from front and back. His breath hitched as a spear nearly pierced his eye. "Piercer!", Kael's voice cut through.
Terren hurled his sword forward, impaling a hobgoblin's skull. Another spear lunged at his neck and a dagger at his back. He leaned back, but the spear made contact with his shoulder. He clenched his teeth in pain.
Just then Kael's massive blade came down, cleaving the goblin behind Terren in two. Terren swung forward, cutting through the spear hob's arm. The hob shrieked, missing another blow for an instance when Skull Crusher crushed it's skull. Another dagger scraped Kael's gut, but his armor absorbed the blow. Terren finished his strike, splitting the goblin clean.
The two locked eyes for a heartbeat. Their boots sank into gore, blood rising around their ankles. Then they turned back to back. Another wave thundered toward them; forty more, relentless. Both of them held their breath in disbelief. They were dead.
Boom. The line broke and Zodiac appeared before them, dripping in blood from head to toe, eyes burning and still wearing that smile. A demon in human skin.
"Change of plan," he growled. "Retreat."
Kael blinked. Retreat? To where? Before he could ask, a spear smashed into his chest plate, knocking him flat but Zodiac cut the brute down without pause. The hobs no longer rushed recklessly. They circled in an arc, tightening the noose.
"Stand up, you Sidgal of a sage!" Zodiac barked.
At last, Nollan rose with a sigh. His hands joined, and the stream behind them lifted into the air. He levitated in air as water twisted into countless needles, glittering under the moon like a storm of stars. A beautiful scene as if the sky had come down to the ground. "Duck," he murmured.
Zodiac shoved Terren's head down. Kael was already on his back. Nollan pushed his joined hands at front, exposing the palm with force. The sky hissed. Water nails tore through the horde, shredding flesh, armor, bone. In a blink, twenty-thirty bodies collapsed, holes punched clean through them and the ground drowned in red, blood mixed with the stream, dying it crimson under cold light of moon.
Kael just stared at the scene, speechless. A mountain of corpses piled before him, blood soaking the earth until it felt like the forest itself bled. Now there was no stench, since they were a part of it.
"You should've left one alive," Zodiac snapped, striding through the gore toward Nollan. In an instance, he was at Nollan's face. growling and snarling at him.
"I told you. I don't like this." Nollan's voice was tired, disgusted. "Your vendetta forces my hand."
Zodiac's jaw tightened in anger. Kael's heart skipped a beat, fearing Zodiac might strike Nollan. But he just turned away, walking along the river.
"We need to move," Nollan said. More beasts will gather, attracted by the stench of blood.
Terren helped Kael to his feet. Kael's breath rattled, his blade dripping blood. He swung it, flinging crimson droplets aside. He put his blade back in the scabbard, the battle was finally over. But his chest was still tight, still uneasy.
Raaahhhhhh… A whisper. Low like a breath passed through his left ear. He froze, spine prickling cold rising from the bottom. His chakra activated and the world fell silent. His heart thudded loud in his ears, almost too loud to be endured. Back of his neck felt hot. He felt like the only existence throughout the entire creation. Alone. Lonely. Lost.
"What is it?" Terren asked, putting his arm on Kael's shoulder. Kael startled.
"No—nothing," Kael muttered, rubbing his head. But his eyes swept the trees as if something was there, watching him.
They regrouped, following the river upstream where Zodiac waited, blades drawn. Nollan made a sign with his hands, gaze locked ahead. Something was weird, not usual. Kael pulled his blade, gripping tightly. His skin crawled. Terren's sword hissed from its sheath behind him.
"Shhh," Nollan hissed, whispered something in the ancient tongue. Kael's eyes still roamed the plain, finding the source, but there were just trees, stream, light and a mountain. Wait… a mountain?
Humm
A deep guttural hum, an echo of something forgotten, something unknown.
Kael's body convulsed. Blood poured from his nose, his eyes, his mouth. He gagged, coughing blood but no one moved to help. They all saw it. The thing. The mountain.
It was enormous. Too big for the world. It sat cross-legged, a grotesque mountain of red flesh. Its belly bulged wider than hills and its teeth gleamed like jagged cliffs. Thin, monstrous arms stretched across the sky, meeting on its lap. It leaned forward, resting on its swollen gut, grinning at them.
Haaahhh… hmm…
The single sound shook the air, rattling their bones to its core. It was something that couldn't be expressed in words.
Then it rose. Slowly. Towering higher than anything they've ever seen, yet its feet never touched the ground. The colossus floated, weightless, laughing with a sound that swallows the soul. Just the mere shadow of it covered the ground as far as they could see. A living darkness. The void itself.
Its grin split its face nearly in half as it drifted toward the Spine of Zha'ath with no force to support it. Just the existence.
Kael collapsed, choking blood. Terren rushed to him, trembling and sweating, barely able to open his mouth.
"I saw him," Kael gasped weakly. "In my room yesterday… cough … I saw him…" His eyes rolled back as he fell unconscious.
"Kael! Kael!" Terren shook him desperately, but Kael didn't respond.
Zodiac turned to Nollan. "What the fuck was that? I've never seen anything like it. A demon… one of the Zar'Nokh legends?" His eyes filled with fear and disbelief. His voice was unsteady. Face dripped with sweat and blood.
But Nollan didn't answer right away. His eyes stayed fixed on the horizon, where the demon had floated away. Even Nollan was breathing uneasy now, fingers clenched on the black chain on his arm. Then finally he broke his silence:
"I think…" his voice cracked. "I think it's the time," He looked back at Zodiac, eyes wide open "Asmoda'an might be waking up"