I left Anna with the twins and went to help Cali; I didn't need Anna's answer. The answer was for herself, after all.
I turned around in time to see the goblin chief break the phallic staff with his sword, opening a gash from his shoulder to the middle of his chest.
Unconsciously, I activated the [triple shot] skill again and fired arrows at the distracted goblin. As always, the chief's instincts proved exceptional; he defended against all three attacks, though not completely.
At least he moved away from Cali, giving her time to retreat and eat her last red fruit.
With the chief's attention focused on me again, I prepared myself with my bow for the final showdown.
I have 5 arrows, two of which are shorter and not very good against the chief, 1 throwing knife (which should actually be used to clean prey), 1 short sword, and the wooden bow with iron tips. He had a sword that looked like a meat cleaver, and armor made of a mixture of leather and iron with some skull adornments.
But beneath the equipment, he had several wounds all over his body, mainly the missing right ear.
This seemed to give us a certain advantage if we attacked more from the right side, where he was missing his ear. And I doubted it would be easy to use that "sword" with a hole, still bleeding, in one of his hands.
'Just a little more, just a little more.'
I thought, grabbing another arrow. I was about to use the [plasma shot] for the last time today when I noticed something strange about the goblin chief. How can I describe it... it was as if the air around him was different. More feral, without the intelligence I had seen before, it was almost the same...
'Just like he was when we fought him 2 months ago.'
******************
Kaio's POV
'Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. They should have needed him when they could instead of going after the elite soldiers.'
Not that I could blame them, the choice between defeating the boss first and the soldiers later, or the soldiers first and the boss later, has always been and always will be an ambiguous topic when it comes to final battles.
On one hand, you give the boss space to heal and strengthen itself with buffs (something I've encountered quite a bit in games), on the other hand, you have multiple sources of damage (even if not necessarily serious) from various places that can still heal and strengthen the boss to varying degrees depending on the type of soldier.
Then comes the question: is it better to get rid of the small annoyance before dealing with the big one, or the big one and then the path is clear for the smaller ones?
'It's a question that doesn't have a defined answer, always changing according to the situation.'
[However, in this case, you specifically designated the goblin boss to be defeated as quickly as possible, both for the second phase and for the possibility of it becoming a Raid boss.]
'Weeeeeeeell….. yes.'
That's why I said they made the wrong choice, but since they don't even understand this kind of mechanics, there was simply no way to blame them.
'But even if our boy Connor knew, I'd say he still would have gotten rid of the henchmen first before fighting Grumpy. In fact, I even think he would intentionally instigate the second phase himself if he knew the requirements.'
[?. Please explain.]
'I don't need to, just consider everything that's happened to him so far and his personality. Do you think he's the type to choose the easy way out or the complete path when given those options?'
[.... Indeed]
Although Sys doesn't have a physical or even visible form beyond the notification table, I could feel him intently watching Connor, and the look he was unconsciously giving Grumpy.
A look of pure, unwavering determination.
***************
Connor's POV
'Well, it's good that he's like this. If he weren't like this, it wouldn't be the same; we'd still fight, and I'd definitely win somehow, but him like this, in this state... It's perfect.'
Just like he was when the captain died, when dozens were mercilessly killed, when my master was injured protecting me. He did all that when he was in that state, so facing him in that state was the right thing to do.
A way of saying that even in this state I can overcome what I couldn't before. I only have 5 arrows and a short sword. He has a "long" sword and slightly worn armor, with an open hole in his hand, missing an ear, a "minor" wound on his thigh and a few more along his body.
But in that feral state, I doubt any of those wounds bother him, like a bear with arrows or spear points embedded in its flesh. At least that was the impression I got when I saw him in that state months ago.
His advantage was that he didn't care about injuries, that his strength also seemed to be increased, along with a bit of speed. But that was also his weakness; he could ignore the injuries, but they would still be there.
My advantage wasn't just that he was becoming more careless, it was the fact that he was now alone; even the common goblins weren't showing up anymore, while I still had allies with me.
Taking the two smaller arrows, I shot them together towards the goblin chief. This time he didn't try to dodge; one arrow lodged in his shoulder, and the other, which had gone for his head, was caught in his mouth, the tip still opened a wound in his mouth that he ignored.
He turned to me, and in the next instant, the sword was above my head. Unable to dodge, I used the tip of my bow to parry the blow.
Of course, it was a terrible idea.
The blow continued, but because of my shooting stance and the way I used the bow to parry, its force ended up forcing me slightly to the right, dodging a fatal blow but still opening a gash from my collarbone to the base of my ribs.
With the blow having pushed me away, I tried to throw one of the knives at the goblin. But he dodged a direct hit, causing one to miss completely, and the other to get stuck in his other hand.
He waved his hand to take it away and then continued his attack with a lunge that I had already anticipated. Dodging to the side, I grabbed another arrow but didn't put it on the bow.
Instead, I spun my body a second time, dodging another downward slash, and delivered a proper cut with the bow's tip on the goblin's thigh—it was even less than a scratch. But it still ensured he aimed only at me and not Cali.
Jumping back while drawing my bow, I fired another arrow towards his head. He used the hand where the knife was stuck to protect himself as he came towards me. The arrow went through his arm and almost hit his eye, but once again he didn't care. Holding the "sword" with only one hand, he delivered an upward slash while we were "in the air."
Without any way to dodge or protect myself effectively, the blow would have hit me squarely and would have been my end. If I had been alone.
Just before the sword reached me, in milliseconds, we both heard a *boom*, and the arm the goblin was holding the sword in was "pushed" inward, moving the sword away from my torso. However, it opened a cut on his arm, not very deep, but still painful for an archer.
With no way to dodge or properly protect myself, the blow would hit me squarely and that would be the end of me. If I were alone.
Just before the sword reached me, in milliseconds, we both heard a *boom* and the arm the goblin was holding the sword in was "pushed" inward, moving the sword away from my torso. However, it opened a cut on my arm, not very deep, but still painful for an archer.
Falling on my back, I rolled backward just in time to escape a punch that literally opened a small crater in the ground. If he could, the chief would certainly come after me, but luckily Cali already had plans for him.
Appearing in the gap between the sword and the ground, she delivered a spinning kick with her foot to the goblin's back, sending him face-first to the ground. He did a somewhat clumsy somersault (I even think it was an attempt to kick Cali), throwing his broken arm, still holding the sword, back trying to hit her.
Retreating immediately after the kick, the "spike" on the "tip" of the cleaver managed to make a small cut on Cali's forward arm, but as small as the scratch my bow made on his thigh. Having retreated, she quickly positioned herself to launch another air fist.
But the goblin, even in a feral state, still felt the danger of the blow and dodged, opening another small crater. A little distance from me and Cali, the goblin finally removed the arrow from his arm with his teeth and spat it towards the stone hut.
His condition now was worse than before, with one arm broken with a hole in the hand and another in the shoulder. The other arm also had two holes, one in the hand and another in the forearm, two scratches that, while not lethal or debilitating, would certainly be irritating on his thighs, and without an ear, he displayed an increasingly strong feral air.
Perhaps it was my imagination, but his fingernails seemed to grow, as did his sharp teeth, while he growled at us. But one thing that certainly wasn't my imagination was the fact that his blood was partly moving along his body and forming some kind of writing on his arms and face.
They were spirals with some waves that seemed to follow some kind of flow. I don't remember seeing this last time, but I felt it wasn't good. My Aether reserves were almost depleted, but I still had enough (I believe) for two more abilities.
Drawing as quickly as I could from my last two arrows, I activated [sure shot] and fired at the goblin's eye. He didn't dodge or defend; instead, he roared.
*UUUUURRRRROOOOOORRRRROOOOOOUUUUUUU*
A roar so loud and strong that the air moved around it, and my arrow seemed to hit a wall, ricocheting and causing it to fall a little over 3 meters from the goblin. At the same moment, the physical impact of the roar hit me and Cali.
The impact almost sent me flying again, but I managed to steady myself even though I had been pushed almost 2 meters from where I was, as had Cali. The blood symbols on the goblin's body seemed to glow slightly, and the broken arm began to heal on its own. And the wounds from my arrows seemed to be closing.
You don't need to be a genius to understand what was happening, but how would be a good question, just not for now. Grabbing my sword with my left hand, I ran towards the goblin chief with Cali by my side.