Running through the square, I leapt over another massive root on the far side and landed with a roll. Springing back to my feet, I took off in a sprint, crossing whole blocks in a few strides each as I headed to the northeast. The farther I went, the more frequent the crystals got. They jutted out of the stonework at odd angles, faintly glowing in the dim light filtering through the Dreaming Crown's canopy, casting the streets in a brilliant rainbow-colored glow.

  Along with the crystals, the corpses of goblins got more frequent, too. By the time I made it to one of the larger streets forming one of the rings surrounding the Dreaming Crown, I'd found dozens of them, each of which had some vital slashed open, their blood forming long rivers in the cobblestones. A few of them looked like they'd gone through a meat grinder, too. Vral wasn't pulling any punches out here.

  Once I found an avenue heading directly north to south, at the mouth of which was lying a group of seven dead goblins, I slowed my pace and scanned the ruins for threats before dropping down and checking the bodies. It was clear that they were Vral's handiwork. The precise cuts had her name written all over them. Not only that, but these kills were fresh. Their bodies were still warm.

  Standing, I scanned the area, looking for any indication of where she'd gone. There, staining the southwestern corner of what looked like an old shop, was a small, bloody handprint staining the stone.

  My heart skipped a beat.

  Looking more closely, I saw that there was a trail of blood drops staining the street, one that led straight back to where I was standing.

  Vral was hurt.

  "Damn it, Vral," I whispered as I ran to the bloody handprint. Once I reached it, I looked around the corner to find her blood trailing up the alleyway. On the far side, lying against the far wall where the alley came to a T, there was another trio of bodies. The trail of blood disappeared into a narrow passage heading to the left. Sprinting up the alley, I took the turn, and my stomach immediately dropped.

  The blood trail was erratic here. It zigzagged up the alley until it pooled under a long smear of blood staining the right-hand wall. In the pool of blood, there were some ragged strips of blood-soaked cloth lying on the ground. Moving away from the wall, in a straighter line, small, bloody footsteps continued up the alley. Slowly, I walked to the wall. Pulling my gauntlet off and reaching toward the stain, I found myself hesitating before my fingers could touch it. With a deep breath, I rubbed my fingers on the blood.

  It was still wet. Tacky, but wet.

  "Vral..." I breathed. "I'm coming." Following the bloody footsteps down the alley, my boots crunched on the old cobblestones as I ran. Turning at the nearest elbow, I followed that alley a short while before bursting from that alleyway and onto a main thoroughfare. With a quick glance, I found Vral's trail meandering up the road. I followed it three blocks before entering another alley.

  A short while later, I found myself at the edge of a new district. The size of the buildings and the relative intactness of the area were far beyond anything else I'd seen in the ruined city. The buildings here were far taller and more ornate. Other than the lack of people, one would be hard-pressed to tell whether the city was actually abandoned.

  The problem was that the buildings were tall enough that the light filtering down from above got dimmer. I couldn't quite make out her footprints in the dirt anymore. Stopping, I closed my eyes and listened. Just at the edge of my hearing, I could hear voices... a group of voices bouncing off the stone walls ahead.

  Opening my eyes, I carefully stalked forward until I reached a crossroads in the alleyway. There, I could barely make out what they were saying. Slowly, I peered around the corner to find a group of eight or nine goblins standing in front of an old wooden door. The door was marked with gashes and gouges, but it seemed like they hadn't been able to get through it.

  "Come on out, Slasher!" one of them called, his voice high and mocking. "We know you're in there!"

  "You killed my brother, you fucking cunt!" another screamed, his voice cracking with rage.

  "And my cousin!"

  "And half my fucking crew!"

  My jaw clenched. So these weren't just random Black Ears. These goblins knew her, back when she was still part of that world.

  "It's been a long time, girlie!" A goblin woman's voice called out. "I just want to catch up!" As she spoke, she thumbed the sword on her hip.

  "Yeah, we just want to play!" Another woman shouted. "Just like back in the day!"

  "I'll give her something to play with," One of the men grumbled.

  For a time, there was nothing but silence as they waited for Vral to interact with them, but she never did.

  Eventually, one of the men shook his head, then cupped his hand over his mouth and shouted, "Come on out and show us what you got! Or are you too scared now that you got cut good?"

  "I thought the Slasher could take down anyone!" Another goblin man cackled as he spoke. "Word is, you got tamed! You're soft now!"

  Another one of the men chuckled. "I wouldn't mind taming her."

  "You don't have the stones," One of the women snapped and slapped him in the groin.

  "Oof!" The man fell to his knees, red-faced.

  For another long moment, things were quiet.

  "I told you she ain't shit," The woman who'd slapped the man grumbled. "She fucked up all those dipshit wannabes, but the second she faced down someone real, she got got." The woman spat. "Now she's too much of a little bitch to face us head-on."

  "What should we do when she comes out?" One of the women asked. "I'd hate to kill her right away. It'd be more fun to put her in her place."

  One of the women clapped her hands. "I say we cut her arms off and keep her chained up outside our base. You know, as a pet."

  One of the men slapped his forehead and laughed. "Once a day, we can take her for a walk around Brightwater! Like a dog!"

  The group all started throwing out ideas in a frenzy. For a few moments, I couldn't make out what they were saying. I could only tell that the ideas were horrific. When they finally slowed down enough that I could make them out again, I could hear my heart pounding in my ears.

  "No, no. I say we put her down. Then, we can bring her head back to our base and hang it up on the wall!" The first woman shouted.

  One of the goblins held his hands up as if he were framing a picture. "We can even make a plaque for it!"

  That made the bastards cackle and jeer.

  "She's probably dead already!"

  "Nah, she's too mean to die that easy. She's just hiding." He cupped his hands around his mouth. "LIKE A COWARD!"

  "Maybe we should smoke her out!" One of the men pulled out what looked like flint and tinder. "She won't last long if the place is burning around her."

  "That's an idea." One of the women pulled out a bottle of what looked like whiskey. Uncorking it, she tore a strip of fabric from her tunic and stuffed it into the bottle, causing the brown liquid within to begin wicking up the fabric. "Light away."

  The man began sparking the flint.

  As the fabric ignited, I felt my blood boil.

  I was going to kill them.

  They had no place in the world I was going to build.

  The world I was going to build?

  I frowned.

  Where did that come from?

  One of the goblins, a scrawny, ugly thing, hawked and spat on the doorway. "What's wrong, Slasher? Afraid of getting gutted?"

  Another one grabbed his crotch and thrust his hips forward. "Maybe she just needs some motivation to come out! I bet that pretty blue-eyed human people told us she hangs around with would give us plenty of fun!"

  "I heard she's been spending time with a guy, too," One of the women murmured. "A big one."

  "Heard he's not bad on the eyes," Another replied. "Once we cut this rat bitch down, we'll have to track them down. I'd like to see what he's made of."

  "Yeah! Where's that bitch you've been fucking? We want a taste, too!"

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  "What's yours is ours now, girlie!"

  The final goblin's words rattled in my head. Throughout this entire quest, I'd learned to build bridges with people I'd never have considered before. Ark and her crew. Irileth and Ushai. Dhurak. Even Ro and Na-Ya. I'd been trying to find common ground. I wanted to believe in a better world. That we could make it. We just had to try to make that world, together.

  My jaw clenched.

  But these irredeemable pieces of shit? These worthless fucks? They didn't belong in that world.

  Fuck 'em.

  [Shield Throw]

  My shield flew from my fingertips like it was shot from a cannon. It flew through the air in a perfect arc, spinning as it went, and slammed into the last goblin's head with a loud crunch. His skull caved inward like an eggshell, then exploded. His body dropped like a stone.

  My shield bounced off the wall next to him and returned to my hand.

  I caught it without looking.

  For a moment, there was silence. Then they all burst out laughing.

  "Did you see that?" one of them wheezed, doubled over. "Gretch's head exploded!"

  "Gretch is fucking dead!" another howled with laughter.

  The largest goblin, a female with a jagged scar running down her cheek and matted black hair, just grinned at the corpse. "Ah, Gretch. Always was a dumbass." She reached into her belt and pulled out a small vial filled with green liquid. Uncorking it with her teeth, she knelt beside the dead goblin and poured the contents into the corpse's gaping throat.

  I watched, my stomach sinking, as the corpse's neck began to crack and pop. Bone and muscle and flesh reformed and knitted back together until, after a few seconds, the dead goblin's head was whole. Fresh black hair sprouted from the top of his head an instant before his eyes snapped open, and he gasped, coughing and sputtering on thick globs of blood as he sat up.

  "Fuck," the newly revived goblin groaned, rubbing his head. "That hurt!"

  The others laughed harder.

  "Welcome back, Gretch!" one of them called out.

  "Dumb ass!" Another slapped his shoulder.

  The leader stood, chucked the vial to the ground, and dusted off her hands. She looked at me over with a cruel grin. "I think we found Vral's boy toy, gang."

  The goblins all snickered.

  "I wanna ride." One of the women licked her lips.

  "Me first," Another took a step forward.

  "I'm the boss around here," The scarred leader snapped. "You know the rules. The spoils are mine."

  The nearest goblin man drew his saber and inspected its edge. "See, here's the thing, girls. I know you wanted to try him out, but now that he's killed Gretch here," He smacked the back of Gretch's head with his free hand, eliciting a yelp from the seated goblin, "I don't think we can go and reward him, you know?" He pointed his blade at me. "I say we cut him to pieces. Real slow, too. That way, Vral can listen to her man scream as he..." He grinned. "You know."

  I drew my sword, the steel ringing as it cleared the scabbard. Potions or not, they were going to die. "Who hired you people?"

  The leader tilted her head. "What?"

  "You heard me. Who. Hired. You." I needed to confirm that answer before I put them down.

  She laughed again. "I ain't in the habit of talking to dead men, human."

  Gretch chuckled and started pulling himself back up onto his feet.

  [Shield Throw]

  The goblin's head exploded for the second time. When he fell to the ground, his ruined skull started knitting itself back together.

  "Drink the potions, gang." The leader uncorked another vial and downed it. As she did, her crew did the same. Swallowing, she chucked the vial, wiped her lips, and said, "This one's strong."

  "Who hired the Black Ear Company? Was it an old mage?" I pulled Kasimir's face up in my mind's eye. "Long white hair. Snow-blue eyes?" I knew the answer, but I wanted to know why.

  The leader's eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

  "Phah!" Gretch spat out globs of blood. "Knock that shit off, or else—"

  [Shield Throw]

  This time, my shield caught Gretch in the chest. His entire body wrapped around the shield and shattered. Loudly. His corpse flew until it struck the side of the house Vral was holed up in, crumpled to the ground, and was still.

  "His name is Kasimir, right?" I didn't need her to answer me with her words. I only needed to look for the tells. "He gave you tools to mine the crystals in this area? And what about the beast that lives here? Did he send you after it?"

  The leader's eyes flicked away from me just for an instant before returning.

  That was my answer. "Thanks for the information." Behind her, Gretch's body began snapping and popping. However, unlike the previous two times of put him down, his body merely twitched and shuddered for a moment before it fell still. This time, he didn't come back to life.

  Three times. I had to kill each of them three times. Maybe four, if I didn't explode their heads. Was it dependent on how much damage they took? That was good, though. I was me. I did a lot of damage.

  Still... I took a deep breath.

  Kasimir.

  My mind raced.

  Why? He was supposed to be a hero. So what did he gain from all of this? I just couldn't understand his motivations. All I knew was that I was going to have to watch him a lot more closely after this. That, and I needed to tell Faye. She'd know what to do.

  The leader must have seen something in my expression because she laughed and said, "Oh, you know him! Small world, huh?" She took a step forward. "Were you sent out here on the same job?" As she walked, she thumbed her swords—twin short swords, just like what Vral used.

  I took a step back.

  Once she was in range, she'd attack. Vral always did the same thing.

  "Yeah, that's it." I took another step backward, creating more space between us. "He told us to come to the big tree to fight some monster. Then, we needed to get him some crystals."

  "Well, you got here too late for the monster." She nodded up to the tree and smirked. "Berik already got the beast with one of her arrows." At no point did she stop stalking toward me. "That being said, why don't we team up? I know you and Vral've been having fun, but why not dump that bitch and team up with us?" She licked her lips. "We heard you're strong. I bet you could keep us entertained, if you know what I mean?"

  Before I could tell her where she could shove her swords, one of the men reached for his belt, and his hand blurred. A dagger flew from his grip, spinning end over end, aimed straight for my throat.

  Before I could think, my sword moved. I felt the metal object thump against my blade and bounce away.

  The leader cursed under her breath as the other goblins reached for their belts. In unison, all eight of the remaining goblins threw their daggers.

  [Iron Skin]

  Every one of their weapons bounced off my metal skin and fell to the ground.

  "Nice try." I held my shield up high and readied my sword. "Alright, assholes. Let's see what you've got. Do your best."

  With wild howls, they charged.

  I met the first goblin with a horizontal slash. My blade bit deep into his neck, nearly severing his head. He gurgled and fell, but I was already moving to the next one. A club swung at my ribs. I caught it on my shield, the impact jarring my arm, then drove my sword into the goblin's gut and slashed upward, opening her up from navel to neck. She screamed and collapsed.

  Blocking another slash and parrying it with one of my own, catching one of the goblins in the eye, I heard wet, crackling sounds behind me. I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw the first goblin I'd killed twitching. His neck wound was closing, flesh knitting back together with wet slorping sounds. The one with the gut wound was beside him, clawing at her innards as they pulled back into her ruined torso.

  That glance cost me. A club struck me on the left side, forcing the air from my lungs. Another struck my knee, sending sharp pains shooting up into my hip, and the goblin man's saber dug into my breastplate with a loud screech before bouncing off to the side.

  This wasn't going to work.

  Not here in this tiny alley, where they could surround me and keep me pinned down. I'd learned that the hard way when I fought the No Life King. I had to move. Backpedaling, I bowled over the two regenerating goblins and reentered the alleyway, then turned at the crossroads. After a few buildings, I was out in the street, where there was space to move. Darting to the side of the building, I lifted my sword high and waited. When the goblins' footsteps got close, I heaved.

  One of the goblins tried to rush into the street. Its eyes flicked to me as I swung, but before it could react, my sword bit into its head. I felt my blade cut through its head with ease. As it emerged out the other side, the top of its skull flew off and struck the next goblin in the face. Chunks of brain followed.

  "Ew!" She shrieked.

  With a twist, I cut downward. My sword bit into her throat, cut through her torso, and emerged out of her groin in a spray of blood. Her eyes went wide as her insides became outsides.

  Leaping over her fellow, the leader stabbed with both of her twin swords, aiming directly at the eye holes of my helmet.

  [Iron Skin]

  My skin turned to steel, and for the second time in my twenty-nine years, I got to experience the pleasure of feeling swords bounce off my eyeballs. I swiped at her, but she twisted in the air, avoiding the hit.

  Tumbling over my head, she wrenched her swords away, tearing my helmet off my head in the process. When she landed, she flicked her blades, sending my bronze helmet clattering off across the street.

  "You almost had me there," I said as I backpedaled away from the alley, putting distance between me and the rest of the approaching goblins.

  Her eyes narrowed on me as she reset. "You're fucking strong!"

  I shrugged. "So they say."

  The rest of the party filtered out into the street.

  Taking a high stance, one derived from the Sunfire Path, the movement form Renard and Ro taught three years ago, I bounced on my toes and said, "This is fun. So which one of you wants to try first?"

  They all looked at one another, but none stepped forward.

  "Oh, and I thought you all would be strong." I whirled, flowing through a section of Radiant Edge, the circling form, before returning to my high, light stance. "With you all calling Vral a little bitch, I thought you might actually be a challenge." I smiled at them. If I were going down, it'd be fighting, not running. But I wasn't about to go down in some forgotten ruin against a pack of shitty goblins. That wasn't my story.

  "Bastard!" One of the goblin women shouted.

  "Oh?" I asked mockingly. "You think I'm a bastard, do you? You know what Vral calls me?"

  The leader spat. "What?"

  I grinned. "She calls me boss." With that, I leapt to the side.

  [Provoke]

  Every goblin's head and body jerked off balance as my spell took hold.

  With every ounce of strength I'd developed in my legs, I charged, leveling my sword to a goblin's neck height as I did. Once I was within striking range, I cleaved through the goblins in one solid strike, just like Faye had cut through Maluphet when she dueled him down at the Seal. I felt my steel sever flesh and bone and sinew, cutting through everything until it hit something metal around one of the goblin's necks. That's when the blade shattered.

  Letting go of the ruined blade, I skittered to a stop, turned, and watched as, one by one, the goblins' heads fell from their shoulders, until only two of the goblins were left standing. Before either could react, I pulled my fist back and launched it at the nearest goblin's chest.

  [Stoneshatter]

  My fist flashed with brilliant green energy the instant it struck the dumbfounded goblin's chest. In an eruption of gore, my fist tore through the goblin's body and emerged out the other side. The little goblin twitched on my arm as I lifted him into the air, then punched downward, sending the goblin's ruined body bouncing to his friend's feet.

  The final goblin's eyes went wide with terror as he took in the scene around him.

  I took a single step forward and grinned. "Do you think you have what it takes?" I took another step. "Are you ready to face the Hero of the Pit in single combat?" I felt the bloodlust bubbling up deep inside my soul. I was going to tear this fucker apart.

  "I-I-I" The goblin sputtered, his teeth chattering. "I-I d-don't—" Throwing his weapon to the ground, he turned and ran past me, toward the north.

  With a mighty whirl, I sent my shield flying.

  [Shield Throw]

  The shield whirred and wobbled as it carved through the air, empowered as it was by my skill.

  The goblin looked back at me and, when he saw what was coming for him, he shrieked. Pumping his little legs as fast as he could, he tried to outrun it, but it was no use.

  The shield struck the goblin in the back of the neck. There was a loud crack, and the goblin was thrown face-first into the cobblestones.

  An instant later, my shield returned to my hand. Turning, I looked down on the twitching, regenerating weaklings. With a smirk, I asked, "Who's next?"