Chapter 117: Worthy Challenge II

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Thokk watched in awe at first as the king faced off against a monster he had never seen the likes of before. The fight was of a scale he could not match.

In an instant, his king and the fierce monster were locked in a grapple of mighty strength that sent them flying high into the air.

There was the king, emanating his golden light and flames, and the beast, emanating a chilling yet mighty aura nonetheless, surging high up like a reverse falling star.

Among all of the goblins, Thokk was the only one with eyes sharp enough to follow the fight properly, and he knew that this battle was a hard fought one for his king.

Even as his king and the beast became mere dots in the sky, Thokk could see that though his king seemed to be dealing all the damage, the majestic light rupturing the beast's stomach, the beast himself was mere seconds away from clamping down those terrible and wide jaws on the king's head.

So, when the king threw the beast down, towards the goblins, Thokk gripped the blades of royal light his king had gifted him tightly.

He knew that now was the time to prove his might to the king.

His life before the king had ascended him was hazy, a far-off dream, but he knew from the very bottom of his heart that it had not been a life worth truly living.

Always, even before, when he was smaller and dumber and weaker, Thokk had wanted to fight and be strong, and he was strong, but oh how small his world had been. He was only stronger than his fellow goblins, more talented than them at picking up how to move this way and that in fighting, but that meant nothing.

What use was being strong when all he would use his strength on was scavenging rotting meat?

Picking fights with others for women or water or some tiny little weapon a human had probably left and forgotten about?

There was no purpose to his strength, but now, now, he knew: his strength was meant for his king, and his king was meant for something greater even then.

The monster slammed into the snow with a rumble, shaking the icy cliff face that Thokk and the others stood on. Plumes of snow rose up from the fall, cloaking the beast for a second.

"Surround the beast!" roared Thokk. "Use the blades the king gives us! They hurt the monster! Take the elder far away!"

He gestured with all four of his arms, getting the goblins to move. He could tell that the goblins were wary, some of them even fearful, because if the great king himself could not strike down this beast, then what chance did they have?

"Hold! Raise your blades! Any goblin that stands down now, I will personally carve their hearts out tomorrow!" growled Thokk as he narrowed his red eyes, watching the momentary driven up snow fall and reveal the beast.

Yes, this monster was formidable, Thokk confirmed as he landed his eyes upon the beast closer now, seeing its uncompromisingly powerful aura.

"Thokk! Be careful, it is a dragon!" exclaimed the elder even as he was whisked away.

"Dragon, huh," said Thokk to himself. When he was much younger, he often liked to hear the elder pass on his tales to Hrunt, the chosen successor. One of those tales, he remembered.

A tale about a great dragon, one that had fought the gods a long time ago, and how it had even shaped this entire place with his stormy and icy breath.

"You're pretty small for a dragon," said Thokk with a smile. "Disappointing. But Thokk the Dragon-Slayer has a nice ring to it."

The monster looked at Thokk and grinned.

Thokk noted alarmingly that already, the stomach wound on the beast was starting to regenerate. The scales had not yet formed, but the flesh was almost fully patched up, on the last ends up replacing burnt boils and scabs with new skin.

Thokk had to strike before then.

"Attack!" shouted Thokk.

Thokk surged forwards, powering mana into his legs. He knew some humans knew how to use the mana in their bodies for strange and incredible movements, sometimes even seeming like they teleported, but all he knew was the basics.

To put mana in the body and make it strong and fast.

Thokk closed the distance in less than a second and tried a twin slash across the beast's belly. However, before his blades got in range, he found the world spinning and his chest aching from a heavy blow.

Pain. Dull, aching pain. Broken ribs, maybe. Not enough to kill, though.

Thokk spun in the air and landed on his feet, his soles digging into the snow to brake him. The monster's two-finned tail had struck Thokk, the icy ends acting like the bludgeoning ends of a club. The ice had punctured into Thokk's side, but thankfully had missed his lungs or organs.

There was no reprieve for the monster, however, as the rest of the champions roared and began attacking him from every angle.

The monster was far too powerful for the champions, Thokk knew that, but he had to catch his breath, but still-

He saw as the monster punched a champion, Dob, in the torso, caving the goblin's entire chest in and sending him flying a dozen meters away. Thragg was right behind Dob, and ducked as Dob's body sailed past him, and Thragg managed to use Dob's sacrifice to land a slash on the monster's belly.

The monster growled as it looked down to see the white flesh of its belly. It was nicked with a tiny cut, but even that cut, filled now with the king's radiant light, became dangerous, spreading heat and and light all across the skin before swelling it up and bursting it in fire and blue blood and chunks of white flesh.

The monster swung its tail around, knocking back five more champions from swarming it, likely breaking far, far more than one or two ribs as was the case with Thokk. They might even have all been dead.

Thokk started to move. He could start to breathe again, the wind coming back to him, and already, this moment of break had cost him a life.

One of the champions, Thru, a smaller but courageous young one, leaped up on the monster's back, trying to stab at it with the king's light blade.

The monster reached behind himself, grabbed Thru's head, and crushed it with ease, leaving nothing but mangled chunks of skull, brain, and red.

Thokk roared again as he dashed forwards.

No more. No more lives lost.

However, the monster predicted Thokk's move and turned to him, ready to strike back.

Thokk, however, was ready to give up his life for the king. If he could drive both blades into the monster's stomach, then he would bare the thick layers of muscle and skin back to reveal the innards and from there, the king could triumph.

But today was not the day for Thokk to die.

From the sky, two elites fell, crashing into the monster's back with synchronized, powerful drop kicks. The blows generated squalls of wind from sheer force, but they were not powerful enough.

Thokk knew not where these elites came from, but they did not have the king's light on them. Their raw physical strength alone, though slightly greater than Thokk's, was not enough to penetrate the beast's scales.

However, the force from the blows distracted the monster, and it bent over a slight bit, losing focus on Thokk.

Thokk took this moment to slide under the beast, drive a dagger into its belly, and before the monster could grab Thokk in a bear hug, he scrambled backwards with such haste that he tripped and fell in the snow, narrowly escaping a crushing death by less than a tenth of a second.

"Everyone, back!" shouted Thokk as he saw the rest of the champions watch the sudden twin elites appear. The champions were keeping their distance, hesitant to commit to an attack when they knew they would die so quickly.

Thokk knew this, and though he could have pushed them to fight more, he figured that with more elites, they did not have to risk their lives.

"We will handle this!" Thokk stood up, watching as the elites beat at the beast with flurries of powerful punches.

The monster was hunched over, protecting its belly even as the dagger driven into it exploded, causing blue blood and white flesh to splatter outwards and pain the snow in front of it a deep azure shade.

The elites kept up their punches, slamming them a dozen times a second into the beast's sides and back, constantly moving so as to never be a still target.

Beautiful punches. Thokk had never seen goblins move like this. So refined, so smooth.

But this was no time for admiration. He gripped his one remaining light blade and circled the beast, trying to see when it would open up its stomach again for another strike.

The monster knew. It kept its eyes on Thokk, and then, assessing the situation, began to charge up an enormous amount of magical energy. Arcs of electricity began to crackle from the monster's bulky frame, coursing from its large back fin towards its mouth.

Thokk saw the other elites immediately halt their attack and sprint away. He did the same, and he felt no shame, for now, the king was here to claim his victory.