Brolx

The goblins and orcs were monsters created by the Demon King for the sole purpose of being mindless soldiers for war. After the Demon King was sealed away, goblins and orcs were scattered all over Ocaleveth. They formed their own tribes and religions living independently from the demons. Despite that, they were still monsters who harmed the innocent so it was a Holy Knight's duty to deal with them.

As I have stated before, goblins are the weakest monsters in Ocaleveth, but the chief of the tribe is a different story. I had heard tales of goblin chiefs who were able to summon the dead or split mountains in half with their ridiculous strength. And standing in front of me at that moment was one of those very beings.

Brolx stared down at me as if I were an unlucky cub caught in a bear trap. I felt so inferior under the intense gaze of the Chief of the Shin Tribe that it felt like I might crumble to dust.

Right behind me, Ulguc stood up and started praising his tribe's leader.

"That was an amazing trap, Chief Brolx! The foolish human didn't see it coming!"

Brolx said nothing and continued to stare at me. Despite not getting a response, Ulguc cleared his throat and spoke again.

"While I understand that you want to RIP this human apart yourself, please allow me to do it! As the last surviving member of the group, it is my responsibility to"

"I will do it."

Brolx coldly stated aloud. The tall hobgoblin then tilted her head, her red eyes now fixed on the young goblin.

"And you will die too, Ulguc."

"...Huh?"

Ulguc stood where he was dumbfounded at what he just heard from the chief's mouth.

"Y-you're...going to kill me too...?"

"That's right," Brolx assured Ulguc with a simple nod.

"B-but why!? What did I do!?"

"You are alive."

"W-what do you..."

"You know the rules of the Shin Tribe Ulguc. All goblins of Drogmaria have been taught it since the age of ten. One of the most important rules is that if your brother or sister is fighting for their lives you must fight alongside them. You either bring them to victory or die with them. All your comrades have perished but you are still breathing."

"B-because the human spared me! He took it easy on me because I am young! Despite that, I continued to challenge him in hopes of avenging my fallen brothers-"

Brolx stomped her right into the ground with such power that it felt like the whole world would flip over. Ulguc stopped talking while Thor proceeded to whine.

"Why were you challenging this human after all your comrades died? Why were not fighting with them?"

"U-uh...I-"

"I know why," Brolx snarled. "Because you were scared. You stayed in the background while your brothers fought their enemy to the death..."

Ulguc stared down at the desert floor, sweating profusely and shaking.

"N-no! I-I didn't mean to...I was just waiting for my chance to..."

"Your cowardly actions are a disgrace to the Shin Tribe. And according to the law, you are now a traitor Ulguc."

The young goblin looked up at his chief in complete disbelief at the words he just heard. Tears flowed out of Ulguc's eyes as he fell to his knees. He put his hands to his face and started weeping loudly.

"P-please Chief Brolx...don't do this...I-I can beat him and bring honor back to the Shin Tribe, I promise!"

Brolx scoffed while staring at Ulguc as if he were a bug.

"A coward like you who waits to act after his comrades die will never have honor. Shut your mouth and accept your punishment..."

Even though my attention should have been on the powerful enemy right in front of me, I was fully focused on the young goblin who was sobbing and begging for mercy. His eyes were filled with sadness and despair, and his shaky voice revealed the crippling fear of facing death, it all gave me flashbacks to my very own banishment.

I remembered the same way as Ulguc as the citizens of Eleiweth demanded my execution. The pain of the Council of Chronos implanting the Brand of the Unforgivable on my fragile human body and the hopelessness I felt when the people I loved turned their back on me and left me to my fate.

"This is bullshit..."

Turnin g my back to Brolx, I walked over to Ulguc whose face was stained with tears. As I got closer to him, Thor got in between us trying to intimidate me with a mean growl.

I petted the warg's head while I put my other hand on Ulguc's shoulder. The little goblin child and the monster dog looked up at me with confusion that their supposed enemy was being gentle with them.

"Don't worry you two."

"U-uh...huh?"

"Wipe those tears and take a breather. Neither of you are going to die."

Ulguc's eyes widened.

"W-what do you mean?"

I stood up and turned back to Brolx who hadn't moved an inch.

Grinning, I put my fists together while loudly declaring my promise to Ulguc and Thor.

"I'm getting beat the shit of this bitch and get us out of here!"

The Chief of the Shin Tribe scoffed as she unstrapped the battle axes she had attached to the back of her armor.

"Let's see what you can do little human..."

Not wasting another second, I charged right at the armored hobgoblin with my fists up. The moment I was close enough I unleashed a flurry of attacks, landing a few on her muscle arms. The force was enough to repel her back but not enough to knock her down.

Brolx then retaliated with swings from her axes which she did with incredible speed. Her arms moved as if they were snakes slithering around which was hard for me to keep track of. After one attack was finished the next wasn't far behind, and because of this I never got time to take a breath.

And as I continued to parry and dodge all of Brolx's attacks I realized that I was quickly getting exhausted while the Chief of the Shin Tribe still seemed calm and collected.

Realizing that my endurance was soon to run out I thought of a counterattack quickly. I kicked up a pile of sand into Brolx's eyes, temporarily blinding her.

"Now's my chance!"

As I went to deliver a punch to Brolx's stomach, a tree branch was forced off from the ground and blocked my attack like a shield.

"What-"

Another second later, another branch fired out of the ground like a spearheading for my neck. Before it could impale me I backflipped away.

After gaining some distance I looked over at the Chief of the Shin Tribe who casually wiped the sand in her eyes off. Once her vision returned, her fiery gaze landed right on me making me shiver.

"Should have known it wasn't going to be that easy..."

"Did you think such cheap tricks would work on me?"

Multiple large branches sprung up from the sand surrounding Brolx like the tentacles of a squid.

"Earth Magic...and a very powerful one."

Brolx smirked.

"I am the Chief of the Shin Tribe. The spirits of the earth gifted me the power to use the very planet to protect my people and vanquish all our enemies."

The branches stopped moving and then began to grow thicker and larger.

"Earth Magic: From the Heaven's Walls..."

Out of nowhere the wooden branches exploded, releasing millions of small splinters. It was impossible to dodge so I covered my head as my entire body was pierced. Once the dust was cleared the loud sound of Thor wailing captured my attention.

"Thor! Oh no, Thor!"

Ulguc, who was also covered in blood and splinters, was clutching Thor who seemed to have lost consciousness. One of the splinters was embedded within the warg's left eye causing his dark blood to flow out.

"You don't have the luxury to worry about them human..."

I was distracted for a few seconds which was enough time for Brolx to close the distance between us. She came in with a swinging motion, trying to plunge one of her axes into my stomach. My body reacted in time letting the upper part of my body fall while the axe nearly missed me. Immediately after successfully avoiding a hit I kicked the hobgoblin right in her chin with all that I had.

Brolx recoiled back, her brain bouncing from the strike. I then grabbed he left arm and then swept her feet, forcing her to fall. I was on top of the female hobgoblin, pinning her down while trapping her left arm in my armpit.

I tried to break her arm but that proved to be an impossible task for my strength. The gigantic green arm of Brolx was as unbendable as a metal pole.

"How strong is this damn monster!?"

Before I knew it I felt something touching both my shoulders.

"W-what the-"

I looked to my right and left to realize that Brolx's feet were clutching onto me like arms. The Chief of the Shin Tribe then pushed her body up with a mighty yell and did a whole flip with me still attached to her. Midway through the flip, Brolx kicked me off of her, slamming me against the wooden bars of the cage.

I fell to the ground and groaned aloud in pain. As I rose my head slowly I saw that Brolx was back on her feet too, spitting out some blood from her mouth.

"Nice technique...but that seems to be all you're good for..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I yelled from across the cage as I forced myself to stand.

Brolx continued, "You are a Null, aren't you? The fact that you haven't been using any magic since the beginning of this fight proves it."

The goblins outside the cage started to laugh and started talking amongst themselves about how doomed I was. I ignored them and scoffed at the female hobgoblin.

"So what if I am a Null? I'll have you know I am one of the strongest Nulls around!"

"Hmph, maybe so but a Null is still a Null. Your strength means nothing against the power of mana. Allow me to show you..."

Brolx summoned another branch but it was covered in strange white flowers.

"Earth Magic: Mother Nature's Soul..."

The flowers then opened up to reveal glowing white centers. The centers then flew out of the flowers and started flying across the room like a swarm of flies. Not trusting what the spores would do I tried to get away from them but thanks to the cage my space was limited.

"S-shit..."

As two of the white glowing spores got close to me, they started to glow even brighter to the point that my eyes started to hurt.

"Earth Magic: Mother Nature's Judgement!”

The spores then exploded, releasing a green fire that smelled like mint. And when some of the embers touched the skin of my hand it felt like an unbearably cold frostbite.

As I was seething in the pain I was feeling in my hand, I tried to back away from the rest of the spores.

"You cannot escape the wrath of the earth human..."

Brolx said aloud with a cold voice.

I tried my hardest but the spores surrounded almost every corner of the cage. Just as I managed to escape from one end the spores quickly managed to enclose me again, ready to explode.

At some point I stopped trying to run and realized a problem, I wasn't the only one in the cage.

Looking over at Ulguc and Thor, the two monsters were holding onto each other and cowering as explosions were going off. Their eyes were open to see the handful of spores floating over to them, ready to ignite.

"DAMMIT!!"

I hurried over to the two and covered them. There was no time to escape as the spores released their dangerous green flames throughout the entire cage. The only one not being affected was Brolx whose affinity was so strong that her body wasn't even being scorched.

"A filthy human protecting a goblin and warg...what a strange sight to see."

As the smoke cleared, the three of us could be seen covered in soot and barely moving. I took the brunt of the explosions and my entire body was battered.

"H-human!?" Ulguc screamed out. "Y-you protected us?"

"Don't scream so loud kid! I'm right next to you..."

"B-but why did you save me and Thor?"

"Are you stupid or something? I said I was going to get us out of here-OUCH!"

"Human! Are you okay!?"

Ulguc cried out in worry while Thor, who was now awake, barked in my direction.

I replied, "No kid...I took a full-on explosion with my body! But...don't worry about it."

I forced myself to stand as I turned to face Brolx once more.

"I'm gonna win this fight! Mark my words!"

Brolx shook her head.

"Your determination is quickly turning into stupidity. Know when you are outmatched and accept defeat."

"You kiddin'?" I raised my fists. "I'm just getting started!"

I tried to attack Brolx again, however, I was unable to land a single hit due to my body moving much slower than before. I was exhausted and severely injured, the Chief of the Shin Tribe didn't even have to try as she simply stepped out of the way of my punches and kicks.

"Pathetic..."

Brolx swung her right axe, but I managed to stop her midway by grabbing her wrist. I ducked under the blade and clung onto the hobgoblin's head.

"W-what are you-"

With a mighty yell, I forcefully plunged Brolx's head to the ground. Afterward, the hobgoblin loosened the grip on her right axe and I immediately took it for myself. I tried to take her head, but the monster rolled out of the way.

"Nice one," Brolx said as she glared at me. "But don't think you will be this lucky the second time around."

I quickly examined the battle axe I stole, admiring the craftsmanship.

"Pretty neat weapon! Stole it from some poor saps?"

"I made it myself."

"Goblins can make good weapons? Could have fooled me!"

A vein was visible on Brolx's forehead after hearing my words.

"Do you intend to make your execution more painful by insulting me? Rest assured that I will make your death miserably long."

Wielding the great axe, I struck the female hobgoblin. She blocked my attack with her other axe and retaliated with her own with much more force. For who knows how long, me and the Chief of the Shin Tribe were locked in savage combat unrelenting any chance of rest.

Eventually, we both stopped and gave ourselves time to catch our breaths. Both of us were covered in sweat and wounds but neither of us had that look showing that we were going to give up.

"I...gotta admit," I spoke up. "You are definitely...the strongest goblin I have ever faced..."

Brolx responded, "I have to also give credit where it is due. It has been years since any warrior has given me such a battle. And the fact that you are a Null makes it even more impressive."

"Oh? So do you take back your previous comments about Nulls being inferior?"

"...If all Nulls are like you then yes, I take it back...however the victory is still mine..."

I raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?"

Brolx smiled and then pointed at the axe I was holding.

"Earth Magic: Mother Nature's Degree!"

Out of nowhere, the axe exploded. My arm had small roots and branches sticking in and out of it. My skin was ripped apart and the bone inside was completely cracked. Unable to bear the pain I screamed to the top of my lungs and fell to my knees.

"Have you forgotten? I said I made those axes. You are a fool for taking it."

"I-I didn't think you would fucking booby trap it!"