Chapter 132 Horde Invasion: The Unexpected Visitor

Just as quick as the growing black liquid, the goblin exploded into nothingness, Akali's light form pulled back into her body. The normal looking Akali quickly moved to Lee Seng through the cracked and shattered ground around him.

"Are you guys okay?" Akali asked. She held her hand out for Lee Seng and he grabbed it. Akali lifted him up and he brushed himself. She moved to check Felicia and the others, carefully taking in any signs of damage.

"Just a bit bruised." Felicia brushed the dirt off of her butt. "That bat hurts." She rubbed her face as Akali moved to check on Jason. Jason was looking at his scars on his arms.

"Are you doing fine, Jason?" Akali asked. She glanced at his scars and studied Jason. He didn't show any outward signs of pain, but he kept staring at his scars. "Did your power flare any pain?"

"Oh, no... It's nothing too big that I can't deal with, Number 9." Jason looked up. He hid his pain well but Akali looked into the young man's eyes for awhile before nodding.

"Let me know if it starts to act up, 'kay? I want you to get out of this alive with the rest of us, 'kay?" She leaned in and whispered into his ear. She could feel Jason's Dark Matter pulse erratically. The amusing thing she found out about Dark Matter was it mimicked what the user was feeling. Akali pulled away and smiled at him before turning to check on Ritsuka.

"How 'bout you? Doing fine?" Akali asked.

"O-oh, y-yes, ma'am." Ritsuka stuttered. Akali nodded and patted him.

"Good. It seems you guys can handle goblins without a sweat. We'll just have to be careful about any black-veined goblins, 'kay."

"Yes, ma'am." The group responded.

"Good," Akali moved to stand in front of the group. She scanned the group and nodded one last time. "Let's continue pushing towards SW point 4." Lee Seng walked over to his sheathe and reached to grab it when Jason snagged it. Jason lifted it up to Lee Seng.

"Here." He extended his arm out for Lee Seng. Lee Seng hestitantly stared at the sheathe before grabbing it.

"Th-thanks." Lee Seng sheathed the blade and held it in his right arm. With a single turn, the wisps and aura vanished from Lee Seng. Lee Seng and Jason took up the rear following the group deeper into the forest.

"So, when did you learn how to do that? I think I only saw white the last time." Jason asked. Lee Seng and Jason jumped over a dead goblin body and continued forward. He dragged his 'hmmm' for awhile before clearing his throat.

"Recent development, why?" The group curved to the left and Lee Seng could hear the sounds of people growing. He looked over at Jason, who shook his head as they jumped over some more goblin bodies.

"Hold it!" Akali threw her arm up. They slowly came to a stop. Lee Seng listened to the sounds of people grow louder into screams. The screams were loud enough that the whole group heard them. Lee Seng winced and covered his ears.

"No." Lee Seng shook his head. The crunching noises of bones and blood gushing made him instantly uncomfortable.

"Lee Seng, what's wrong?" Felicia asked. Jason and Ritsuka turned to look at Lee Seng. Lee Seng shook his head and kept his eyes shut.

"K-Kali..." Lee Seng stuttered. "P-people are--" A loud crunch noise spooked Lee Seng. Lee Seng jumped backwards as the whole group turned to look to the left. An adventurer's body smashed into a tree and laid lifeless. Blood splattered on the tree and ground. Lee Seng forced his eyes to open and took a gulp before turning towards the noise.

"Dammit." Akali muttered. She moved towards the body. Just as quickly as the screams had come, they died. Silence filled Lee Seng's ears.

'Did it... disappear?' Lee Seng wondered. He watched Akali slowly move closer to the dead body. She crouched and observed the holes in the dead adventurer's body.

"Something had enough strength to crush and impale it all in one go..." Akali observed. She looked at the tree and noticed it was barely holding itself together. Her gaze slowly shifted over to the left where the body was thrown from. Her eyes hardened and she slowly stood up. A humanoid-shaped person stood in the shadows. Akali's eyes narrowed at the humanoid.

"Which squadron were you with?" Akali asked. The humanoid didn't answer. Akali didn't move. She continued to keep her eyes on the humanoid. "Answer me. Which squadron were you with?" The humanoid figure started to take a step forward. In one motion, Akali summoned light and the humanoid retracted for a moment. The humanoid shape was of a hobgoblin with green skin and pointy ears. It wore light armor and had a huge scar across the top of its head.

The hobgoblin stared straight at Akali with its red eyes. Akali didn't see any black veins.

'Something's different about this one.' Akali thought. She focused her eyes and realized there was something different about the hobgoblin. It pulsed a similar energy to the two black-veined goblins they had encountered earlier. 'It's like the two goblins from earlier. This one's stronger.'

"Mo--" Akali began to shout when the hobgoblin rushed forward. The goblin materialized a black liquid sword and slashed at Akali. Akali summoned two swords and blocked. Lee Seng froze as soon as the light swords blocked the hobgoblin's attack. It was soaked in blood.

'That's what I heard.' Lee Seng thought. His breaths began to pick up as he watched the two push against each other. Akali grunted as she pushed the hobgoblin off. It slid backwards and growled.

"Go back!" Akali shouted. She gripped her swords and quickly looked at the group. "That's an order! Go back to the base and tell them hobgoblins are a part of the invasion, too!" The transfer students were frozen. They had all seemingly felt the power of the red-eyed hobgoblin. Something was definitely different about this one.

The hobgoblin lashed forward extending its black liquid sword into tentacle-like spikes. Akali rolled to the side and listened to the trees behind her, instantly smash in half. She rolled onto her feet and lashed her light sword forward, turning it into a whip. The whip wrapped itself on the hobgoblin's arm and Akali pulled with one swift motion.

The hobgoblin stumbled forward as the black liquid tentacle-like spike rushed back into its sword form. Akali let go of the whip and swung the sword downwards. The hobgoblin blocked with the sword as the black liquid rushed out and pierced Akali. Akali flew backwards into another crushed tree and grunted.

"GET HELP!" She screamed. "Don't worry about me, dammit!" She could feel her energy ripping away from the black liquid. Her human form ignited into light and the black liquid instantly burned away. "Find help now! That's an order!" Her black void eyes stared at the group. Ritsuka snapped out of it and forced Felicia and the others to turn.

"Come on! We need to go!" Ritsuka shouted. Felicia and Jason turned to run, but Lee Seng watched in fear.

"Lee, let's go!" Jason grabbed him. Jason forced Lee Seng to turn and the hobgoblin shifted its gaze to the students.

"A Fox." The hobgoblin spoke. Lee Seng stopped and turned. The hobgoblin chuckled and turned to face Lee Seng. "They'll be happy if I take you with me." Lee Seng froze, again.

"How can you...?" Lee Seng asked. The hobgoblin smiled wide, showing its jagged and spiky teeth.

"You'll be a great trophy." The hobgoblin rushed at Lee Seng. In an instant, Akali blinked in front of Lee Seng and blocked the hobgoblin's attack. The black liquid sword extended past Akali, towards Lee Seng like a homing missile. Akali's light body extended outwards immediately burning away any black liquid. The hobgoblin jumped backwards and growled.

"Go now, pipsqueak! Do you wanna die!?!" Akali shouted. Ritsuka grabbed Lee Seng and pulled him away.

"C'mon, now's not the time to freeze!" Ritsuka shouted. Lee Seng's legs started to speed up and Ritsuka dragged Lee Seng into a run. The four transfer students rushed back the way they came. The sounds of the hobgoblins screams filled Lee Seng's ears.

"THEY'LL FIND YOU, FOX!" The hobgoblin shouted. "THEY WILL FIND YOU!" Lee Seng and the group made distance as quickly as possible. Once they were far enough, Lee Seng pulled away and the four students slowed to a stop. The howling of the hobgoblin could faintly be heard with Lee Seng's hearing. He moved a little further away from the group and turned around.

"Th-that was a... A hobgoblin!" Ritsuka pointed out. Ritsuka and the others seemed to wear the same facial expression as Lee Seng. They were all spooked. "What the hell happened? Did it kill all those people? I thought hobgoblins were C-ranks! They sh-shouldn't be able to d-do that much damage!"

"We need to get back, r-right? W-warn the others?" Felicia stuttered. Jason and Lee Seng looked away. They were both trying to process what had happened. "Well, we need to keep going, right? Let's go." Felicia and Ritsuka waved the two boys to continue. Lee Seng and Jason turned and started, again.