Xila screamed with anger, her feet already thudding on the ground before her companions even realized what just happened.

  She was fast. Too fast.

  I looted the goblin body, glanced up, and heaved it at Xila with all my strength.

  She didn’t seem to expect it.

  Their bodies connected, and she flew off the balcony, still screaming with malice. Mark was shouting something, probably lamenting over me killing the goblin, but I didn’t have the mental capacity to listen to his remarks while surrounded.

  Using the confusion that permeated the platform to my advantage, I stepped closer to one of her goons. I didn’t even remember what animal he was, but that didn’t matter.

  He jolted as I came closer, slashing with both of his scimitars, the blades coming down in an arc.

  I blocked the attack with little effort, and smashed my head into his. I felt his teeth sink into his mouth cavity, felt his jaw breaking. I wasn’t done yet.

  I smashed one of my shields into his ribs, the attack followed by another into his neck. He collapsed to the ground, gurgling blood. I stepped on his neck, and reflexively took a step back. A hammer swung just where I stood, smashing into the now-dead insect. Playtime was over.

  Taking a step back, I watched the three remaining guys. One stood slightly to my right, one right in front, and one on the left.

  The right one picked up his giant hammer, not even looking at the corpse of his dead ally. The one in front of me held a rapier, his posture straight, though his look gave it the malice that the silly pose lacked in my opinion. The one on my left held… a giant shield? It had a spike protruding outwards in the middle of it, though. How strange.

  They eyed me closely, stepping forward with careful, small steps.

  “They are buying time!” Mark shouted from above, hovering right above me. Shit. He was right. Xila would be back any second now.

  And that’s when the ground shook once, twice, and then two more times.

  Risking a glance, I looked at the source of the sound. On my right were the other two platforms, and both were veering towards the ground, collapsing. Dust filled the ground below, but I knew who was responsible even without seeing more.

  Gummz has done as ordered. Smiling, I looked at the three players, who were watching the destruction below with wide eyes.

  How lovely. Surely I could afford one quip before I had to dip, right? Pissing these bugs off was important to me, for a reason I didn’t quite understand myself. “Much as I’d like to stay, I’m afraid I’ll have to leave! I hope you enjoyed the show! Until-”

  Before I could get the next syllable out of my mouth, Xila appeared, spearing upwards from behind the other side of the platform, behind her three companions.

  Her face, usually pristine and locked in a neutral, maybe a bit sneering expression, was replaced by one of pure rage.

  She didn’t just jump up, though. She flew.

  Four see-through wings were placed on her back, made of whatever the hell insect wings were made of usually, their shape resembling that of a dragonfly.

  Her scythes gleamed in pink light for a second as she reached behind her back with them. I watched with horror, realizing that I probably should have left without saying that last thing.

  I used [Block], almost without thinking, the idea to use it a reflex to the sight in front of me.

  Her scythes cleaved the air, and an arc of light shimmered forward. It tore through air, the energy hot even from a distance. I watched it bite into the rock, carving it as if it were hot butter, and continue straight at me in a line. It cut the poor guy right in front of me clean through, the man not able to react on time.

  The light hit the shield, dissipating around me, and the damn thing actually hurt! Not much, sure, but the heat was so high that I felt as if I was too close to the sun after getting a massive sunburn. Or at least I imagined that’s how it must have felt like.

  I hate you, whoever put this human nonsense to my head.

  Using the dissipating light as a distraction, I decided to jump down. No use trying to get to the stairs, and I really needed to get Fink and get out. Hopefully Martin didn’t get too deep with the players, cause I planned on leaving right fucking now.

  Air rustled my hair as I fell to the ground, planning on using a roll to break my fall as much as possible from this height.

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  I, of course, completely forgot about the hundreds of goblins just below. I fell onto several at once, smashing them to the ground.

  I hurried to get up, saying sorry repeatedly as if it could make up for my mistake. Some of them shouted back at me, but I ignored them, doing my best to get to the middle, where Fink was. Just a few more steps.

  “Duck!” A voice commanded, the tone familiar. I listened, and heard something whoosh over my head, exploding just above. I looked forward, registering the familiar punchable face.

  “Took you long enough!” Fink said, smiling.

  Looking behind me, I saw Xila staying put in the air, coughing. The vile gust of whatever Fink’s weapon made swirled around her in a thick cloud.

  We locked eyes, only for a moment. She looked angry, but I saw how she ran calculations behind her eyes. Her guide appeared, saying something that I couldn’t hear. And then she disappeared, diving toward one of the other fallen platforms.

  With a sigh of relief, I grabbed Fink by the fabric of his suit, and pulled. “We’re out of here! Quick! While we still have the chance.”

  “The goblins are winning, dude!” Fink said, trying his best to remain standing, yet failing against my strength.

  Mark appeared, urging us forward. “You’re completely crazy, Fink! Look at that portal! The main mage is dead, and I don’t see it stopping. We’re moving, now!”

  I had not even realized that. Looking into the portal, I saw darkness and energy. The same energy that I felt when walking outside, the feeling of something seeping under my skin and watching my every muscle as it moved. I shivered, and ran onwards.

  “Gummz! Everyone! Run!” I screamed. I didn’t see the goblin, of course. These little uglies all looked indistinguishable, but I hoped that at least some of them realized that the man, twice as tall as they were, was the man the organizer of this revolt told them to follow. Already, I could see several pairs of eyes turn to me, watching me as I sprinted away.

  I haven’t even realized fully, from watching above, but the ground was a damn battlefield. I watched as one goblin pierced another with a spear, just to be eaten by a Wurm a second later. Situations like that were happening all around.

  And worst of all? I had no damn clue which of them were on my side.

  Shaking my head, I just mimicked my battering ram technique from just a few minutes ago; walking forward and shoving everyone that got in my way. This time, it included a bit more blocking and stopping completely as my path got blocked by attackers, but Fink was proving his worth as well. He lobbed a gas grenade in front of us whenever the fight got too thick, and made a path for us.

  It took a minute for me to realize that the goblins really were following me. Behind me wasn’t a fight that continued, but instead an army of goblins that tried their best to retreat. I could swear that I saw Gummz in the front if I focused enough.

  I smiled as I continued going uphill, the small entrance barely visible above. I saw the top of the opening, at least. At this pace, we’d be there in three minutes or so. I saw figures standing close, maybe a hundred metres away.

  Non-goblin figures. They must have been the players!

  Upping my pace, I came closer and closer, until I stood shoulder to shoulder with the players, and caught my breathed. Fink heaved just behind me.

  Scratch that, he puked his guts out on the floor.

  “Ew, Gross.” I said, trying to not smell the liquid.

  “Fuck you.” He rolled his eyes, his hands placed on his knees.

  “You’re welcome.” I said offhandedly, looking over the players.

  They watched me with hopeful expressions, their breaths held still. There were less of them than I expected, too. Maybe twenty in total? I didn’t feel like counting them. Most of the guides seemed off, though two watched me expectantly.

  One of the players, a blonde woman with giant furry ears donning full plate steel armor, stepped forward. Something about her seemed… different, compared to the others, though I wasn’t quite sure what. The air around her, I supposed. She didn’t seem as scared, at least. But I didn’t remember seeing her before. I used [Analyze] to see if she was any different.

  Player - Guo

  Race - American Fuzzy Lop

  Level - 14

  Class - None

  Oh, she was different! Her level wasn’t as bad as the others’, at least.

  “Hey there! What is your favorite siege tactic?” She said, her face completely stoic.

  …

  “Yeah, I have no clue what use discussing that would be.” I sighed, ignoring the woman, and looked at everyone standing behind her. “Everyone, let’s get a move on! Out, now!”

  The goblins behind me cheered loudly for some reason, as if I just declared our victory. Rolling my eyes, I stepped forward, but a thought stopped me from doing another step.

  I looked at the bunny. “Where’s Mart-”

  A tearing sound suddenly evoked from the opening in the purple walls in front of us, and a portal opened. The blackness from the portal before replaced the sand in the tunnel, though it was less organized now, its edges crooked and in constant movement, the sight reminding me of Mark’s glitches when he talked about something he shouldn’t.

  A figure stepped out. Then another, and then about twenty others followed. I saw Xila, smiling at me the same way she did the first time we met. Around her were the two remaining goblin mages, and several of the goblins wearing full plate armor. They blocked the portal completely.

  I began running, wishing that I hadn’t used [Dash] already.

  Xila stood still, leering at me. She shouted down at me, though her voice kept its regal quality even as she did so. “You didn’t think I’d let you go that easily, did you, shrimp?”

  One of the mages next to her looked at her, then back at us, and started chanting in the weird language. The other one stepped closer to him, following his words.

  I didn’t look behind me, but I couldn’t feel everyone following my lead. The low level players must have frozen. Of course they did. Why couldn’t one of those mages have joined our side, at least?

  I continued sprinting, picking up speed, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough. I’d have to trust those shields of mine to tank the attack. A dozen other thoughts ran through my head.

  Should I use [Wall up] to try to block him? Would that stop it? Would the players behind me die after all? Could I survive if I ran into the goblins in front of me?

  The goblin mage in front closed his eyes now, his words rolling off of his tongue with bigger intensity. Just a bit more!

  The goblin opened his eyes again, meeting mine. He smiled.

  That’s when the goblin mage next to him shimmered, rose in height as turned into Martin in the span of a second, and severed the goblin’s head off with a Kukri knife.