In a single second, the five goblins had closed the distance between us to a mere ten paces as I finished my spell cast. Right as the goblin at the forefront raised its sword in an attempt to slash at me, I yelled out once again, "CHAIN LIGHTNING!"
A loud bang rang off as the bolts flew but two feet into the vanguard, instantly paralyzing it and causing it to fall to the floor at my feet. "Frost Bolt!" repeated the man next to me as the cold ball of ice smashed into the back of the head of the goblin underneath me.
In the blink of an eye, between the flash of my lightning and the explosion of white frosty mist that enshrouded the goblin in front of me, the dwarf had lunged forth and used his [Call to Challenge] to taunt the remaining goblins onto him.
With his loud bellow, the goblins instantly turned their attention to the short and stocky man with a shield as their eyes burned with rage. Losing what little sense they had, the goblins worked themselves into a reckless frenzy over the taunt and wildly hacked and slashed at the man who could barely withstand their attacks.
Drawing my axe for but a split-second, I swung down with the force of a seasoned lumberjack as the goblin between my legs struggled to get up. Entering through the back of the skull and clearing through into the dirt below, brain matter and skull fragments splattered across my cheek as I immediately threw an arm out and yelled, "Arc Lightning!"
The nearest goblin started to convulse in place as a solid tether of electricity formed between it and my open palm. Pulsating electricity surged forth as it burned the goblin internally, draining its health and my mana at an unprecedented and unsustainable rate. As the goblin's muscles contracted involuntarily, it was rendered defenseless and shook in place.
Seconds later, arrows had found their mark into its head as a frost bolt pelted it in the chest. The second goblin collapsed to the floor as I turned my focus to the third goblin and began another channel of [Arc Lightning].
All the while, in the four seconds since the fight had truly started, two heals had fallen on the tank. One had started three seconds early before the first blow had even landed, yet the dwarf was already at a near critical 32% remaining health from the onslaught of the [Guard] and the remaining goblins.
As the dwarf desperately tried to defend himself from the [Heavy Thrusts] and the [Lunges] of the guard, I switched to the nearest of the last two remaining [Outcast Goblins]. A third tether and channel resumed, as I locked the goblin in place for the party members to easily dispatch of it. But right as the goblin was about to fall, my channel cut-out as my mana ran dry.
No longer under any crowd-control, the goblin turned to charge me, as my threat was the highest of all the participating players in the group. It raised its sword as it closed the distance between us, cursing at me with what little energy it had left.
Then, in an instant, the goblin released its attack and slashed away with a speed I was unaccustomed to. Grasping my axe as quickly as I could, I barely swung in time to partially deflect the sword blow as it sliced away a portion of my triceps.
Gritting my teeth, I tried to ignore the pain as it flashed through my mind while bringing my axe to a high-guard. The goblin lunged at me as if to skewer me but a swift counter swing led to the axe finding itself deep in the goblin's neck as its sword weakly glanced off my leather armor.
Yanking the axe free, I kicked the goblin onto its back and raised it up once more.
Dropping the axe with one fluid movement, it landed cleanly in the middle of the goblin's chest, right through the sternum and between the ribs. The goblin's chest now completely split open, I ignored the bulging eyes and blood flowing out of its mouth as I quickly ran behind the [Goblin Guard] and swung with all of my might.
As I landed my blow, at the edge of my peripheral vision I could see that the archer and mage had finished off the last of the remaining [Outcast Goblins] as it fell to the floor. The side-swing found its mark in the ribs of the goblin guard that was completely unaware of my presence but it quickly turned and threw its shield back in reaction to my attack, knocking me onto the flat of my back.
The sudden unexpected impact with the hard ground caused me to lose my wind as I gasped for breath, struggling to breathe for a moment. In that instant of struggle, the guard launched a [Heavy Thrust] at me that I barely managed to avoid as I kicked out at the dirt and rolled to my side. The spear lodged deep into the mossy ground and as he violently pulled his spear back, loose clumps of dirt were flung over me just a foot or two away, falling onto my face and getting into my eyes.
In a precarious position, I was afraid of the next attack.
But then a frost bolt hit the goblin from behind and as it turned its head to glance back, I used that momentary distraction to leap onto my feet and prepared for a second attack. As I raised my axe and pulled down with all of the muscles in my core, back and shoulders fully engaged, the guard raised its shield to meet me halfway.
The sudden thud of the axe head clashing with the wooden shield reverberated through my hands as the shaft of the axe splintered and snapped in two, sending shards of wood flying into my face.
Instinctively squinting my eyes so as not to be blinded by loose wood, I lost sight of the spear that was being thrust in my general direction. Pain instantly registered in my abdomen as I turned to look at the goblin guard in front of me.
As the guard pulled the spear out and attempted a second thrust, a sword found itself lodged deeply in the back of its skull, to the point where part of the sword blade was no longer visible on the surface, and was coming out the front of the goblin's head. It was a fatal blow to the goblin and a sigh escaped my lips as the second thrust pierced through my chest.
"What," I muttered as I reactively coughed out some blood.
Collapsing to the floor, I couldn't help but wonder what had just happened.
The fatal blow, wasn't fatal?
Its brain was split in two… yet it was still moving, still fighting with barely any health remaining. A quick glance at my own health told me my fate was sealed, as the 2% remaining ticked down to 1%. The dwarf with his sword stuck in the skull of the goblin guard looked as if he was playing ring around the rosy with the goblin as they circled each other in an attempt to dislodge the weapon.
The last thing I saw was a frost bolt exploding into a shower of frosty mist as my vision went black. In a moment I found myself in that gray-blue world with haze surrounding me. I could barely make out what appeared to be a graveyard from where I was standing, somewhere out in the middle of the forest.
I had no clue as to where I had been transported to, but a glance at the flowing river in the sky told me all I needed to know. Following that intersecting river of blue and gray, I eventually made my way back to the entrance of the dungeon. Going through the portal as a ghost didn't have the same feeling… in fact, it was an empty feeling void of any of the normal senses.
It was a creepy feeling.
Returning to my body was the same as before, and as soon as I accepted the resurrection I found myself being sucked back in. My vision went black one last time and then, I opened my eyes to find myself staring at the dark domed ceiling of the abandoned mining complex. Watching the light flicker about as shadows cascaded and danced above me, I couldn't hear any sounds of battle.
Sitting up, I saw that the group was relaxing as well as they sorted through the equipment from the fight. It appeared the boss fight was largely a success. Minus my stupid mistake, all was well.
Somehow in the midst of the hysteria, I had lost track of the dwarf and the guard's last movement. I partially wanted to blame the shattering of my axe as the main culprit but I knew that wasn't true. I let my guard down thinking the goblin had died from the blow to the head. Not in my wildest of dreams would I expect a creature with a sword split down the middle of its skull and coming out of its forehead to still continue to fight.