Return of the Woodcutter

Chapter 125 - Lunar Eclipse (part 3)

The hobgoblin ninja zipped from rooftop to rooftop. Its leg power and agility were such that it could cover five meters in a single jump with ease, more if it wanted to. 

It had heard the call of the red moon, the announcement of the Crimson Hunt. As per their tradition, every hob would come out of their hiding place to face the enemies head-on. The ninja didn't know where it originated from, but it knew it was important. Or at least it felt like it. 

Such tradition was meant to prove their bravery to the… it didn't remember to what, probably to themselves, it supposed. 

No matter, what was important was in front of its eyes. 

Crouching on all four, on a rooftop near the despicable cathedral, the ninja heard its preys inside the disgusting building shouting weird sounds. 

It did not understand them, but it could sense their resolve.. That wouldn't do. The preys needed to fear it and the horde. Not that the tradition said so, but more because the ninja wished it to be so. 

Under its dark cloak's hood, golden patterns shone slightly in the darkness, highlighting blood-red eyes that looked right and left. The ninja contemplated its army. All fearless, thirsting for blood, with similar crimson eyes attesting to the blessing of the red moon upon them. 

Yes, it was time to respond to the humans. 

It got on its two legs. The ninja was taller than a goblin but smaller than the average hobgoblin, however; it was also the mightiest of its species. 

Unsheathing two long daggers akin to two short swords, the hobgoblin ninja roared. 

"GLUU GLAAA!!!!" 

Despite its size, a mighty voice came out of its vocal cords, reaching its entire army that responded in kind, just like one man… correction, one hobgoblin. 

"GLUU GLAAA!!!"

"GLUU GLAAA!!!"

"GLUU GLAAA!!!"

The ninja's face drew a devilish smirk when the voices of humans hiding in that despicable building fell silent. 

Normally, an invisible wall denied hobgoblins entry to the area around the cathedral, but tonight, it wasn't there. 

Tonight, the ninja would finally be able to satisfy its desire to destroy that filthy place!

Tonight, they would feast and enjoy themselves with human women. 

A roar pushed its way out of its throat, announcing the beginning of the slaughter. 

"GLAAA!!!"

***

"Everyone, prepare yourselves!" Aito shouted, still standing amidst the gods' statutes. 

Behind and in front of him, challengers made grim faces. Having never worked together before, they weren't organized. Aito knew that well. However, every challenger had a team with which they had trained and killed hobs for some time. 

Most challengers present in this room were veterans of the fifth floor. He counted on that experience. 

They had the time to quickly make a few barrages using the rows of benches, orientating them towards the windows, liberating some space at the center of the hall to fight unimpeded by the decor, and also create a small safe zone for the wounded. With around three hundred challengers, it had taken but dozens of seconds to do so. 

Meanwhile, the nimblest of archers had taken positions on the top of the chandeliers while the others stayed on the ground, preparing to shoot at the windows. 

Simple and quick preparations, but essential. Aito thought they could have done better with more time, but having barely a minute before the attack didn't help. It was already a blessing they had been able to do all this. 

"They are coming!" Sheyla shouted, seeing a grey swarm of hobs with red eyes madly rushing towards the cathedral from all sides. 

At that moment, taken aback by panic, some archers started to pull their bowstrings. One of them even released an arrow that broke a window and lodged into a random hob in the swarm.

'Shit, that's not good,' Aito thought. Sure, archers would probably hit something while randomly shooting at the swarm. 

But they would be wasting their ammunition. To his mind, it was better to wait until they reached the windows. Closer to them, archers were more likely to kill their targets with one arrow. Moreover, it would regulate the flow at which hobs entered the cathedral.

"Mages and archers, hold your fires!" 

Challengers didn't completely agree with him taking commands of the battle, panic didn't help either. They were all veterans of the fifth floor, but facing groups of hobs and an army of them was different in many aspects.

Some listened while others started to shoot, nonetheless. It was the downside of having people teaming at the last minute, but also showed that they weren't a real army. 

A genuine army would be more disciplined. Not considering the fighting prowess, discipline was what made an army fearsome. 

"HOLD!" 

Fortunately, Ogoro, Sheyla, and George's team spread the order, stopping most of the archers from firing their arrows. The rest stopped naturally when they saw no one else was shooting. 

Hobs started banging violently at the main entrance doors, the sound resonating in the entire hall. 

BANG! 

BANG! 

BANG! 

Fear spread, as each banging felt like a thumping heartbeat in the challengers' chests. 

"HOLD!" 

Outside, many hobs started to climb the cathedral walls, heading for the windows. Alone, a hob made no noise, but with dozens of them furiously climbing and more to come, the sound was akin to myriads of spiders. 

Windows broke as hobs finally reached their destinations. Challengers on all sides protected themselves from the incoming pieces of broken glass falling towards them. 

Behind Aito, the large beautiful rose windows on top of Valinar's portrait exploded, hobs prepared to enter. Broken glass rebounded on Aito's armor as he assessed the overall situation. 

"FIRE!" He shouted. 

Arrows and fireballs flew in disorganized manners towards every window. It was messy, but it did the job. Hobs that had been about to enter were rigged with metallic tips and burned to a crisp as they tumbled down, dead. 

However, they were rapidly replaced by others. Where one hob fell, another would take its place. 

Soon the fireballs and arrows volley weren't enough anymore to contain the swarm as hobs jumped down in the hall. 

Upon landing, they were met with warriors camped behind crude barricades hastily made from wooden benches. 

In a frenzy, hobs dashed towards the nearest challengers available to them, only to be met by pointy sword tips, masses, spears, etc.

From where he stood like a real army commander, Aito could see that they were managing alright, considering they were pretty disorganized. 

The main entrance was still holding strong thanks to the gods' statues.

'Praise be their names,' Aito joked mentally.

However, more and more hobs poured down the rose window. If he did nothing, soon their numbers alone might be enough to drown the challengers protecting it. 

Aito infused aura into his golden ring, revealing bright shining circuit patterns, and used the trump card he had been saving for such a moment. 

There, instead of a rose window, stood a wall that plugged the entire hole. It was as if the cathedral never had a window in that place.