Yet he leapt anyway. He leapt off his back foot with such force, that even as the Horned Goblins tried to gloat their almost certain victory, there was a hint of anxiousness in their movements, as they hurriedly tried to respond to the speed at which the attack had come.
Three points neared Beam's chest, as he lunged at them, his sword arm just behind him, and a monstrous scowl on his face.
"ARCHERS! LEFT FLANK! FIRE!" The officer ordered hurriedly – even the soldiers were thoroughly put off by Beam's reckless attack. Some even looked away. They'd seen men charge at the spear wall more than once – more often than not, it was their own spear wall that the enemy flung themselves on.
The outcome was never pretty. Even chain-mailed opponents would find themselves pierced. The sharp spear point would carve open a lung, or burst even a heart. They'd glance down at the weapon that had taken their life, blood would rise from their mouths, and they'd collapse at the feet of the spear wielder.
Few could bear to see a mere boy go through the same hardship.
Yet, as those spear points neared Beam's chest, even mid-air as he was, he remained composed. The sword was slack in his hand, with his arm behind him. When he finally tensed that sword arm, and put might into his swing, the strike came with such speed and force that it surprised even himself.
Rarely did Beam put his all into a single, and never before had he used a backhanded slash as a power strike. Such a thing seemed illogical. But he was in the monster's mind at the moment. The only thing that mattered was power, crushing the enemy in front of him.
Even without his legs beneath him to lend it power, the twisting of his body lent his blade such fearsome might that the air rushed around it. The spear points that neared him were severed cleanly, before they could even near his skin, and the enemy was forced back, in a thoroughly dominant display.
Beam's sword dug into the shoulder of the Horned Goblin on the right of him before it could even react. The goblin beneath Beam's feet was barely holding on, even as its crushed ribs pierced its lung. He spared it a slash that carved across its face, using far more energy than he normally would have wasted on a downed opponent – but it made for a far more intimidating sight.
Arrows were flying through the air, heading their way towards the leftmost flank, just as the officer had ordered. Beam turned his attention to the right, and the Gorebeasts that were eyeing his back.
Three Horned-Goblins were already dead, and their ranks buckled as Beam crashed into them. The monsters moved to run, but they were far too slow. The next goblin on the right presented its back to Beam, as it made a mad scramble forward, nearly falling over in its attempts to run. Beam's sword cut deeply across its back, in a single and merciless slash.
Even as that strike fell, Beam was moving onto the next. He kicked the corpse out of the way with the irritated movements of an animal, and he stepped into range of that final enemy. It was only just in range of his sword.
With a single vicious swing, Beam hacked its leg off.
From the sounds in his ears, of arrows hitting soil, Beam was able to tell that the soldiers' attack had already landed. He finished off the goblin.
Two Horned-Goblins remained and two Gorebeasts, and a very angry Half-Titan that could hardly believe how easily its army had been ploughed through.
The Horned-Goblins that managed to escape on the left retreated back towards their archers, who were in front of the Half-Titan a short distance away, as though they'd earned its protection.