The Goblin Commander was a towering beast of pure muscle and rage, standing at over two meters tall with an extremely buff, powerful physique that rippled with raw strength.
It was clad in a formidable suit of armor that gleamed with dark energy and covered in intricate magic arrays that pulsed with an eerie, malevolent glow.
Its ears were long and sharp, its teeth jagged like broken glass, and in its massive hand, it wielded a serrated sword.
’Completely different from what I’d expect from a goblin...’
Fwoosh! Bam!
Two awakeners immediately tried to attack that thing by surprise, hoping to catch it off guard.
But it dodged both of their attacks with contemptuous ease and cut their bodies swiftly, their forms collapsing to the ground.
At the sight, almost every single awakener had a chill run down their spine, their courage faltering in the face of such overwhelming power.
Though they were still forced to continue their battles as the goblins, even though their numbers had been reduced massively, were still fighting with savage ferocity.
Alicar had to use his Lightning and Water combination to stun the Goblin Warrior long enough to use Demon Fist again, the elemental energy crackling through the air.
Thankfully, this time, it was enough to kill it, the goblin’s body going limp.
Ding!
[You have killed Lv.17 Goblin Warrior]
[You have levelled up to Level 11!]
[You have gained one point in every attribute, and two free attribute points.]
But then, as it watched almost every goblin die, leaving only the commander standing, the monster opened its mouth, its voice grating and cruel.
"...Surrender to the Goblin King, humans."
And then it dashed forward, its massive form a blur of motion, aiming to kill as many as it could in a single devastating charge.
The Goblin Commander was a rare-rank monster, meaning much stronger than the average awakener of the same level, a true force of nature on the battlefield.
And as he stood before Alicar, he understood exactly how that would be the case, his mind racing with the implications.
The commander took on around a dozen awakeners at once, dodging every attack with supernatural speed and killing them all one by one, their bodies falling like wheat before a scythe.
They were absolutely overwhelmed, and even the few level 20 awakeners in this base seemed reluctant to fight, their faces pale with fear.
"WHEN DOES THE BASE LORD COME BACK?" one of them shouted, his voice cracking with desperation. "HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF THIS!"
"No idea," another replied, his entire body shaking with terror. "H-He said he was helping another base...!"
"FUCK...!"
’Is that the power of Tier-1 monsters?’ Alicar thought, his eyes wide with the realization.
The Goblin Commander was only a rare-rank, meaning that there are still epic-rank and even perhaps legendary-rank ones lurking in the First Layer.
Alicar could only imagine how terrifying it would be to face a legendary-rank monster in the First Layer after facing the Sun Beast, the thought sending a chill down his spine.
Either way, the Goblin Commander’s massacre continued, its blade claiming life after life with brutal efficiency.
Alicar launched several spells at the monster, but none of them seemed to actually hurt it, their impact deflected or absorbed by its powerful armor.
Its armor, as well as the fact it was 9 levels above Alicar, made it impossible for him to hurt it, his attacks barely making a dent.
’I’d have to evolve [Six-Elements Affinity] but I have no Evolution Points right now,’ Alicar thought with a grim expression as he looked around at the chaos unfolding.
Someone like Alicar was not even supposed to be here, transported to this war zone by some cruel twist of fate, so what he needed to do more than anything was survive.
But now that he was here, what other choice did he have but fight with everything he had, even if the odds were stacked against him?
He quickly rushed toward the Goblin Warrior he had killed and tried to use his Cutting Knife to grab the core from its body.
But...
Clang!
The Cutting Knife couldn’t actually pierce the skin of the goblin, its blade useless against the monster’s tough hide.
’Goddamn Tier-0 item,’ Alicar groaned as he stared at it, frustration boiling inside him. ’And it cost me $10,000!’
He decided to simply store the Goblin Warrior and Small Goblin bodies in his [Small Storage Ring] for later, hoping to salvage something from this disaster.1
Though simply by putting these two corpses inside, the storage ring filled up completely.
’Luckily, goblins seem to be rather skinny, even a normal human corpse would not be able to enter this ring.’
Then he gazed back at the Goblin Commander, who was still causing chaos anywhere it walked, repeating the same words like a mantra: "Submit to the Goblin King!"
Every awakener present seemed to have lost their hope in ever defeating that thing, many actively running away from the base in terror.
Alicar was planning to do exactly that as well, he wasn’t dumb, and he wanted to look for Iris and Leon rather than die in this pointless battle.
But the moment he took a step back, the Goblin Commander, having killed almost everyone going after it, turned its head toward Alicar, its yellow eyes locking onto him with predatory focus.
"...Fuck," Alicar muttered, his blood running cold.
Fwoosh!
It dashed toward him with terrifying speed and swung its sword at him, forcing Alicar to hold up Demon Guard again.
The sheer power of the Goblin Commander’s attack sent Alicar flying, crashing against the ground as he spat blood, his vision blurring.
But still, he wasn’t dead, his Demon Guard and Platinum Body saving him from death, though barely.
But Alicar was injured, and even if he wanted to fight that thing, there was nobody nearby to help him.
’Think, Alicar, think, you defeated the Sun Beast, that means that you can defeat this thing!’ he told himself, his mind racing for a solution.
Yet as the Goblin Commander approached the injured Alicar and it opened its mouth, its voice dripping with contempt...
"Submit to the Goblin King, weak human."
...Alicar knew that he couldn’t defeat that thing, not at his current level at least, he was completely outmatched.