Ray leapt back, putting a little bit of distance between her and Edwin. After her dramatic statement, the act probably seemed a little cowardly, but she didn’t want to be anywhere near the warrior for what was coming next.

A quick glance told her that the goblins had moved into position around them. Seeing several of them reaching for the flaps on the back of their pants, Ray could guess exactly what was about to happen.

She felt her regeneration finish fixing her face into its proper shape. She moved her jaw a bit, trying to relieve the stiffness caused by having the bones shattered and then put back together.

As she did so, she looked up. Several goblins were flying over Edwin. In near-perfect sync, they released the flaps covering their butts and then a horrible stench filled the air. A rainbow of sparkles rained down in abundance on Edwin, covering him in the goblin’s characteristic glitter.

At the time when Ray had personally experienced the colorful deluge, she hadn’t suffered from any side effects, other than horrendously damaged pride.

However, Edwin seemed to be suffering from side effects now. He fell to his knees, pounding his chest with his fist as he began to cough. His eyes were swimming with tears and filled with terror as his gaze settled on Ray. It took her a moment to realize that he wasn’t seeing her, he was staring at something that only he could see.

“Operation: Skyfart,” Lexi commented as she came up beside Ray.

The young woman raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous, yet apt, name.

Lexi patted Ray on the shoulder and then rushed past the temporarily incapacitated warrior to take on Jonathan and Bill who were standing nervously near the gate. A group of ten goblins, including Vorg and Tyrion, the Lord of Commerce, followed her charge. Shaman came up beside Ray as they observed Edwin for a moment. There were three lines of goblins behind her. Og and his team signaled from the opposite side and she smiled.

She wasn’t alone in this fight.

Ray started to laugh. This was the first time she had fought an opponent with other people.

Shaman placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you… alright? Every hit you received there looked lethal.”

Ray shook her head, dispelling her own strange laughter.

Shaman tilted her head to the side in confusion but moved past it without further question.

“Og’s group and I will assist you as best as we can. If we can stop this warrior here, then the remaining kin might be saved.”

Ray motioned as if to leave but then she paused.

“If you die in this fight, you won’t respawn. Are you sure you want to participate further?”

Shaman smiled and waved off the inane question.

“This is where I must stand. We will speak of this again after you have saved my family. Go.”

Ray charged toward Edwin once more. Though he was still under the effects of some illusion, he still reacted toward Ray’s approach.

***

Lexi charged with Vorg and Lord Tyrion at her side. They had been assigned to work with the converted Gobber Goblins for the remainder of the battle and the job they had been given before strategic command went silent was to secure the gate.

Jonathan and Bill were the two enemies blocking the gate.

The blonde-haired blue-eyed warrior stood in front of the dark-haired archer. Lexi had never interacted with either of them before, but she had seen them training many times. She hadn’t seen their training in over a week though, so she would need to test the waters a little bit to get a complete grasp of their capabilities.

The two of them noticed the approaching force and prepared to receive the goblins. Jonathan raised his shield while holding his sword poised to strike. Bill knocked an arrow on his bow, sighting it on the catkin in the lead.

Lexi released her mana and channeled the only elemental spell that she knew, one that she had learned just a week before she became a slave.

Gathering fire to her hands, she charged straight at Jonathan with two goblins at her side while Vorg took four goblins to the right and Tyrion took another four goblins and circled to the left.

As Bill released his arrow, Lexi relied on the magic users amongst the goblins to protect her. A small barrier appeared in the air, halting the arrow in its path. Lexi sidestepped the projectile and continued moving forward while lashing out with her claws. Five flaming slashes burst toward Jonathan. The fire sputtered against his raised shield and left scorch marks on the smooth metal surface.

“Isn’t this Ray’s slave?” Jonathan called back to Bill.

“I believe it is,” Bill replied dryly. “Yet another piece of evidence against that feral bitch.”

Lexi raised an eyebrow at their commentary but otherwise ignored it.

Jonathan observed Lexi appraisingly as the goblins finished surrounding the two adventurers.

“Could she always use magic? It would cost a lot of money to keep her restrained now.”

Bill shrugged indifferently.

“Doesn’t really matter. We don’t need goods that don’t know their place.”

Lexi’s ears stood on end.

“You talk as if you think I can’t hear you.”

Jonathan waved her comment away.

“She’s still worth money though. Should we take her alive?”

Lexi hissed, thoroughly irritated with the nonchalant attitude of the two adventurers. She stalked forward, gathering mana into her right hand. As she moved, the goblin encirclement started to collapse inwards.

Jonathan met her enhanced punch with his shield. Lexi twisted, dodging the shortsword by a hair's breadth as she hooked her heel toward his head.

He ducked under the blow and struck out with his sword. Lexi backed off and avoided the blow. She glanced at Bill to see how the goblin’s charge had fared. In mere seconds, two goblins fell to arrows despite the best attempts of the magicians to block them with barriers. However, they now had the ranger engaged in melee and he was quickly getting overwhelmed.

Small daggers flashed under the sunlight and the air was filled with severed limbs. Arms were sundered, weapons broke, and heads rolled.

And then Bill was knocked to the ground by the wave of goblins who leapt onto him, tearing into him with their nails and teeth. The ranger screamed as he desperately tried to pull the crawling creatures from his body.

Lexi grinned, baring her canines. While she would have preferred that fewer goblins died in the charge, every single one that had gone down was a baptized follower of the new god. Every single one of them would respawn.

She returned her attention to Jonathan just in time to duck under a wide swing. She stepped forward, closing her fingers in like a tiger’s palm as she thrust her hand out and struck his chin. His head snapped back, and he stumbled, falling to his knees.

Lexi glared at his weakened form. She gathered mana into her claws and reached for his neck.

“You’re too weak to be this closed-minded.”

***

An immortal, a master Illusionist, and four assassins against a single silver-ranked warrior. Ray, Og, Trog, Urg, and Jug were keeping Edwin pressured. Urg moved from structure to structure, firing arrows with pinpoint accuracy that weaved between Ray, Og, Trog, and Jug to strike at joints. Edwin had a single arrow jutting out from the back of his left knee, severely limiting his movement. A normal person would have been taken out of the fight with that attack, but he somehow persisted. He took extra care to deflect the arrows while holding off the four melee attackers.

Og, Trog, and Jug were like wraiths. Any time one of Edwin’s attacks seemed to hit one of the goblins, they would disappear, only to strike from a shadow. They would use Edwin’s own shadow or those cast by the other two goblins to move around - Og, with his twin daggers, Trog with his two-handed mace, and Jug with his sword.

The sight of the three goblins moving in and out of each other’s shadows looked to Ray like they were performing a beautiful and deadly dance.

It was unclear to her exactly how much Shaman was contributing to the flow of the combat before her. The old goblin was sweating profusely and looked to be in pain as she channeled some sort of spell. A trickle of blood ran from her nose. Ray couldn’t see any illusions herself, but she did notice that Edwin occasionally flinched or moved to block an attack where none was coming.

Ray sprinted forward and struck with her battle hammer. The warrior raised his shield to intercept the blow and the edges quivered as the center of the shield caved even further. The shape of the metal board was no longer conducive to deflecting, so Edwin was forced to ‘block’ more and more often.

Ray pressed the attack and swung another overhead strike. Simultaneously, Og appeared behind the warrior while an arrow flew in from the side. Edwin flinched, presumably reacting to yet another illusion.

He caught Ray’s strike with his shield and then spun, throwing her off balance. He took a step to the side to dodge the arrow and, continuing the momentum of his spin, the warrior thrust his mace out toward Og. The goblin assassin ducked under the blow and jabbed his dagger into the gap of Edwin’s armor over his elbow. The assassin kicked off Edwin's chest, leapt back, and vanished.

Ray backed away, taking a moment to check on Shaman’s condition.

“You okay?” Ray called out.

Shaman grunted in response. Ray glanced back in time to see the old goblin collapse down onto her hands and knees, gasping for breath. Seeing that Og and the others had renewed their attack, Ray rushed toward the old goblin and pulled a piece of cloth out of her inventory. She dropped to one knee beside Shaman and held the cloth out to her.

The old goblin accepted the cloth, using it first to wipe the sweat off her forehead and then the blood from her nose.

“Have you seen the assassin?” Shaman asked, swaying unsteadily.

Ray shook her head.

“She disappeared after she cleared out the command post. She’s probably hanging around here somewhere waiting for the right opportunity.”

Shaman groaned weakly.

“I’ve been standing here with my back wide open for a while now and she hasn’t taken the bait.”

Ray shrugged, feeling a hint of unease.

“If we don’t know what she’s doing then we can’t do much about it. Let’s end this fight here and take care of whatever happens.”

Shaman coughed, flecks of blood scattering on the ground in front of her.

“You’ll have to finish this one without me.”

Ray nodded and donned a reassuring smile.

“Leave it to me.”

She stood up and directed a glare at Edwin. The warrior was facing away from her, heavily occupied dealing with his four attackers. She took a second to calm her mind and then she rushed forward, her hammer poised to strike.

The four assassins noticed her approach and readjusted their rhythm. Jug jumped forward and swung his sword. Edwin caught the blow with his shield and deflected it. Trog rolled out of Jug’s shadow and ducked underneath the shield. He struck the warrior’s knee with his mace and the warrior stumbled as his armor caved in. He swept out with his own mace, but Trog disappeared.

Ray approached in an arc, keeping to the man’s blind spot. Edwin seemed to sense something as he quickly spun around. His eyes widened in surprise as he took in Ray’s charging figure. The surprise quickly transformed into an amused expression as he turned to deflect an arrow coming from the right.

Trog and Jug pressed the attack from behind while Ray shifted to the left. She enhanced her left arm and intercepted the mace that swung at her. She grabbed the mace just below the head and held it in place.

Edwin grinned, a line of sweat running down his face.

“Good, now disarm him!” Trog shouted from behind the Warrior.

Ray yanked the mace toward her. Edwin maintained his grip on the weapon and was forced to lurch forward, caught off guard by her unexpected superhuman strength. Urg ducked out of Edwin’s shadow and his sword curved up toward the small gap under his shoulder.

As her prize came loose, Ray jumped back and held the mace in the air to display the bloody appendage. Edwin stared at Ray for a long moment, his eyes moving between her triumphant figure and his arm still grasping firmly onto the mace.

Edwin chuckled merrily.

“Hah.. haha. ‘Disarm’... that’s a good one!”

Ray felt her spirit dampening.

“Are you even taking this seriously? I haven’t seen you use magic once yet.”

His smile twitched.

“It’s not fun if you take it too seriously,” he replied.

Ray clenched her teeth.

“Are you implying that we’re not strong enough to make you get serious?”

He shrugged and waved her comment away.

“Thank whatever god you worship that I didn’t go all out, or you would have all died a long time ago. They call me a silver-ranker, but I’m pretty close to my promotion.”

Ray quivered, anger rising inside of her as her vision tinted red. She took a step forward.

“If you won’t get serious then you’re going to die!”

Edwin sighed.

“So be it.”

Ray paused.

“What?”

“There’s a reason my team is called the Earthbreakers. If you want me to get serious, then goodbye.”

“...”

The warrior’s figure blurred and then he jumped impossibly high. Then he accelerated toward the ground unnaturally fast.

“Earthbreak!”

As he hit the ground it caved beneath his feet. A wave of cracks appeared around the warrior as the ground seemed to roll away from the epicenter, flattening everything in its path. Every structure in the camp collapsed and every one of the few remaining goblins fell to the ground.

Ray stood dumbfounded. She could only watch as Edwin took a red vial out of his bag and drank it. Immediately, his arm regrew from the stump and then he pulled a two-handed mace out of his bag while storing his shield.

This mace was glowing with a faint blue hue. An enchanted weapon.

He was a real adventurer. He wasn’t restricted to measly training weapons like she was.

Ray slapped herself, jolting her body into action.

She ran forward while enhancing her left arm. Edwin casually swung the weapon down with one hand. Just before she intercepted it, she felt a wave of mana enter the weapon.

The mace took on a dark and eerie glow. Her arm bent oddly, though it quickly snapped back into place like a tight rubber band due to her reinforcement and her regeneration.

Edwin swung a glowing left gauntlet toward her face.

Ray’s nose splattered and her skull crumbled as her head snapped back. Her eyes filled with tears involuntarily and she stumbled away from the warrior.

“Earthbreak!” Edwin called out again as he stomped a foot into the ground. This time, the earth ruptured in a cone. The same amount of destructive force that had leveled the camp was now all focused in a single direction.

Ray was blown away. Cries of pain filled the air as dozens of goblins fell with shattered bones. At least a dozen more died instantly from the attack. She crashed into the ground, tumbling uncontrollably as agony surged through her body.

She came to a stop and rolled over, coughing out blood as she pushed herself onto her hands and knees. She glared toward Edwin’s stationary form. He hadn’t moved after blasting her away.

“See?” Edwin sighed. “This isn’t any fun.”

Ray chuckled weakly.

“He’s a monster,” she muttered.

Og crawled out of her shadow beside her.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concern in his eyes.

Ray shook her head and motioned toward Edwin.

“We have to get out of here. We can’t beat that.”

“My offer still stands young lady!” Edwin shouted. “We don’t have to fight. My job is to kill the goblins, not you.”

Ray unsteadily lifted herself to her feet. Og placed a hand on her arm to stop her.

“Don’t do it. This is our fight and, as you said, it's impossible. There is no reason for you to continue to suffer.”

She shook his hand off.

“I know.”

Her face itched as her nose reformed. She felt a sharp pain in her chest telling her that her ribs were moving back into place.

She let out a sigh of relief as the various sensations of pain that had been nagging her slowly faded away.

Edwin started walking toward her. He had a hand outstretched as if expecting her to go with him.

What kind of idiot would believe his claim after all of this?

Ray rushed forward, screaming with all of her might as she swung her battle hammer.

Edwin shook his head sadly. He swung his enchanted mace and smashed the head of her weapon aside, shattering the mass into little pieces.

“Oh…”

Ray unintentionally let out a surprised sound as her momentum continued to propel her forward.

Edwin discarded his mace and grabbed her by the neck. He lifted her into the air and looked into her eyes. He saw only defiance.

Edwin sighed.

“So be it.”

A large, black blur descended from the sky and Edwin nonchalantly backhanded it with his gauntlet. Lord Mortimer crumbled to the ground and then faded away.

He turned Ray around, showing her the camp. She cried out as she saw a blur. The assassin appeared behind Shaman and stabbed forward with her blades. Another blurry figure jumped out of Shaman’s shadow, intercepting the blades with its body. Urg fired the arrow on his bow into the assassin’s chest as he fell to the ground. The light faded from his eyes.

The assassin stumbled. As she fell forward, she reached out with her dagger and jabbed it into Shaman’s leg.

“Hmm,” Edwin muttered. “Though Samantha is pretty new to the assassination gig, I wasn’t expecting that.”

Edwin turned, noting that Lexi, Tyrion, and their six remaining goblins had managed to take out Bill and Jonathan. The victorious group was now watching him warily from beside the destroyed gate.

“Am I really the only one left?” he sighed. “I guess I’ll have to increase their training. I didn’t expect my teammates to die today.”

He let out a tired sigh.

“Though it's been fun, I doubt you have much else to show. Why don’t we just end this?”

He motioned as if to walk toward the gate but then paused as the goblins took battle stances. Lexi raised her arms and summoned a ball of fire.

The warrior looked back and saw Og, Trog, and Jug ready to attack.

Edwin raised Ray high into the sky, examining her struggling form with interest.

“This is in my way. I guess I don’t have to take her back alive…” he muttered.

He ignored her desperate punches and kicks that dented his armor as if he was merely being stung by an insect. He swapped his enchanted mace for a large sword, threw her to the ground, and placed a foot on her back to hold her in place while he raised the sword, poised to strike.

Lexi yelled in protest. She rushed forward along with several dozen goblins as the sword descended.

“Don’t be angry when you respawn, you chose this!” Edwin warned.

His enchanted sword arced down smoothly and separated Ray’s head from her shoulders. Edwin bent down and grabbed it, holding it up by the hair to display it to all the watchers.

“Come and get me!” Edwin roared.

Lexi, Vorg, and the five other surviving converts rushed toward the warrior. Og and Trog danced out of his shadow, aiming for the moment right before the charging force crashed into him. As if he had eyes on the back of his head, Edwin thrust his fist back and smashed Trog aside. The goblin assassin soared through the air. His weapon flew out of his hands as he rolled across the ground.

Simultaneously, he tossed Ray’s head at the charging beastkin and the girl flinched, releasing her magic as she caught the flying bundle of silver and blood. He spun in place and his now empty hand snatched Og by the neck like a viper. He squeezed, crushing the goblin like an egg.

He tossed the corpse aside, laughing as he stomped his foot, once again pushing mana into the ground. He caused the surface to quake, throwing the attacking goblins off balance. He raised his glowing sword once more and, with five sharp movements, five heads rolled. Then he threw his sword like an arrow and pierced Jug through the heart with uncanny accuracy.

Edwin turned his attention to the last surviving member of the final attack force. The cursed beastkin hugged the severed head against her chest, backing away slowly with fear in her eyes.

“So, you were the ‘hostage’, eh?”

Edwin muttered nonchalantly as he observed her for a moment.

“I’m not really sure how the anonymous tip missed the fact that you were a beastkin, but whatever. Technically, I don’t have to kill you since you aren’t a goblin. You can leave. Take that head if you want it.”

Edwin turned as if to walk away.

Lexi growled in defiance. She raised her right arm, the one shackled by the chain that once represented her bondage. Now, that chain represented her freedom.

Lexi grasped the chain in her right hand while cuddling Ray’s head softly with her left. She leapt forward and swung the chain toward the warrior’s head. Edwin reached up as if to grab the chain out of the air.

For the first time since obtaining the authority, Lexi channeled her mana into the chain and activated the master’s disciplinary measure. She cried out in pain as her shoulder was wrenched out of its socket. The chain smashed into Edwin’s outstretched hand and his arm bent underneath the weight.

Edwin’s eyes went wide with shock as his arm snapped despite his use of enhancement magic. Despite the pain, Lexi smiled as she fell to the ground. Her shoulder throbbed and tears streamed down her dirt and bloodstained face.

Edwin examined his broken arm for a moment with interest before turning back to the sobbing catgirl. He lifted a glowing boot and smashed her head into the dirt. Her head burst like a melon and her crying stopped.

He turned to move back toward the illusionist who was lying on the ground, dying.

Then, he heard an unexpected voice behind him.

“There, are you happy?” the voice muttered, her tone obviously pissed.

A brilliant, golden light filled the sky.

Edwin turned around to see Ray’s body dusting off the head that Lexi had been holding tightly until the moment of her death.

The unbelievable sight was perpetuated as she reached up and placed her head back onto her shoulders, her neck seeming to reach out of its own accord. The light descended and enveloped Ray’s body.

“H...how…?!” Edwin spluttered, fear in his eyes.

Ray placed a hand on her neck, feeling the space where it had reconnected. It was smooth as if there had never been an injury. She craned her neck to the side and popped it to relieve some tension.

“The term is ‘mortally’ wounded for a reason. What did you think would happen if you cut off my head?” Ray taunted.

“W..what?” Edwin asked, confused and afraid.

“Who knows?” Ray replied mystically. “Judging from your reaction, you didn’t see when I pulled the same trick on Melissa.”

Then a voice rang out that Ray immediately recognized.

“Edwin Weston, I am thoroughly vexed with you.”

“Who are you?” Edwin challenged, his eyes wandering throughout the camp. He was unable to identify the source.

“Who am I indeed?” the voice thundered. “You and your ‘adventurers’ waltzed into this camp and executed every single one of my followers. Having done so, you still have the gall to ask that question?”

“Followers? Are you supposed to be some kind of god?”

“Indeed, I am. More specifically, I am the God of War, I am the God of Harmony, and I am the God of Freedom.”

The voice paused for a moment as understanding started to dawn on Edwin’s face. Ray looked on with a miffed expression.

“Amongst the goblins that you slew, several of them were my followers. I am thoroughly pissed off.”

“Well damn,” Edwin muttered. “Leave it to the higher-ups to pick a fight with a fricken god, of all things.”

“You dared to lay a hand on my prophet. You dared to kill my priestess. You dared to slaughter those who have placed their trust in me. However, I fail to see a point in killing you as you would simply respawn. I have thought of another task for you.”

“Oh?”

He raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

“Edwin Weston,” the voice uttered. “I would have you deliver a message for me.”

“A message?”

“You will be a messenger - a harbinger if you will. You will first return to Cairel and deliver this message, and then you will spread the word as far as you can.”

“And what message might this be?” Edwin humored him.

“I will place a curse upon you as a sign of your calling. If you fail to accomplish the task that I have granted unto you, your soul will wither in eternal torment!”

Edwin flinched. His eyes narrowed and he started paying much closer attention to what the voice was saying.

“This is the contents of the message you will deliver. Tell the world that there is a new god. Tell them that I am the God of War, the God of Harmony, and the God of Freedom. Tell them that I have taken it upon myself to be the god of all those who are oppressed and persecuted. Tell them that I will not stand for slavery, persecution of races, or the slaughter of innocents. Tell them that I will bring harmony to this world.”

Edwin nodded furiously, revealing his willingness.

“Other gods have dubbed the non-human species ‘monsters’. We will embrace that title and turn it against them. If these races are to be known as monsters, then tell all who hear my call to come unto me!”

The voice paused and Edwin gulped nervously. In a calmer, commanding tone, the voice issued its final edict before disappearing.

“Tell them that I am Legion, God of Monsters!”