Reincarnated One Last Time

Chapter 27: Hobgoblin King.

 

On the Cirean Kingdom border right now, dead bodies are everywhere. To prevent the spread of diseases, the carcasses and corpses are being moved and buried underground. The monster tide hasn’t penetrated the army's defense. However, the casualties are increasing, and the monsters still don’t show any sign of slowing down the attack.

 

In the middle of a large tent, the middle-aged general is looking at the map and report. A young soldier hurriedly enters the tent with a salute.

 

"Sir, there is a report from the palace." The soldier relays the message that he got.

 

"Do we receive any other orders?"

 

"No, we just need to defend the border."

 

Following the soldier's departure, the general murmurs, "Violet forest monster tide, is it a coincidence?" Violet forest monsters usually only attack nearby villages or towns, and their number is higher than last year. The monster tide also manages to enter Sheffield city. According to reports, there are supposed to be no minotaur living in Violet Forest, but right now they have been sighted in the city.

 

"Something is amiss." While he is thinking, suddenly the general feels a chill, not only for him but for the entire army camp, coming from the monster tide's direction. The general comes out of the tent; he knows this feeling very well when he meets with a master of rank.

 

Monsters are kneeling on the snowy ground inside the monster camp. A dark orange-skinned and dark gray-haired hobgoblin wearing full body armor with spikes and a horned helmet is riding a large red-scale lizard with four legs. The monster addressed him as King Nozag, the leader of goblins and hobgoblins. He is escorted by a group of hobgoblins dressed in a leather mage-style robe with unknown monster skin or full body armor.

 

King Nozarg rides toward the human army camp without fear. While the human army is feeling threatened by the approaching entourage.

 

The middle-aged general watch the mighty figure coming closer and orders his men to get ready to attack. Although he knew it would be useless, to kill a master rank, they need to use a powerful weapon or master rank. Fortunately, they have a master rank in the camp.

 

A middle-aged peasant with gray hair wearing a tunic shirt comes out of the camp. The soldier who doesn’t recognize the peasant tries to stop him but is prevented by the older soldier. In their eyes, the peasant in front of them is someone who is respected and feared.

 

The general saw the peasant come and greeted him respectfully. "Sir Theodore, how is your stay here?"

 

"It was comfortable." Theodore stretches his arms while looking in the direction of the monster tide.

 

 

The new soldiers are confused about why the general is respectful to a middle-aged peasant. Only after the other soldier explained who that man did their expression change from shock to excitement. If they can become middle-aged men's disciples, their lives will change. Master warrior Theodore in the past manages to stop a master tide alone while waiting for reinforcement. Since then, his name has become a legend in the Cirean Kingdom.

 

The older soldiers know what the new soldier is thinking. However, until today, no one managed to become Sir Theodore's disciple. No one knows why.

 

After ten minutes, the hobgoblin king arrives in front of the human army.

 

The soldier beside the general shouted. "What do you want?" Normally, most monsters can’t speak human languages. Why do they need to learn their food language? It’s like humans need to learn the chicken language. However, there is an exception: some hobgoblins, after evolving from goblins, thirst for knowledge. Because of that, they learn human and other races' languages.

 

A hobgoblin wearing a leather mage robe spoke, and a magic circle appeared in his mouth to make his voice louder. "The great king Nozarg is willing to spare your life if you surrender; if not, you will become food for the monster tide!"

 

"Impossible, we will fight to the death!"

 

"We shall fight to the death!" The whole human army shouted in unison.

 

Sir Theodore nodded in approval. "General, let me handle this."

 

Without waiting for a reply, Theodore leaped above the human army and landed in front of the hobgoblin king. After that, his aura begins to change, and the monsters and humans can feel the suffocating pressure coming from Theodore.

 

"Who wants to die?" said Theodore, and a sword made by wind materialized in his hand. Once you reach the master rank, everything can be turned into a weapon. Another reason most weapons can’t handle master-rank power is that they can be easily broken.

 

King Nozarg's gaze became stern, but he soon relaxed and spoke to the hobgoblin interpreter.

 

The hobgoblin interpreter looked at Theodore and spoke. "Sir, how about you fight with our great king in another place to avoid accidentally being casual?"

 

"Fine, let’s go." After saying that, Theodore floats to the sky.

 

King Nozarg also floated to the sky and flew far away from the area, while Theodore followed from behind.

 

After an hour of flying, King Nozarg stopped in the air with Theodore. The area they have chosen is surrounded by rocky mountains.

 

"I don’t know what your plan is, but you will not leave this place alive." Theodore raised his hand, grasped the air, and made a wind sword.

 

"?????" King Nozarg sniggers and takes out his saber.

 

"Sorry, I don’t understand hobgoblin language." Theodore disappears, appears in front of King Nozarg, and slashes with his wind sword.

 

King Nozarg calmly blocks the wind sword with his saber. These clashes cause shock waves that make the rocky mountain shake and rocks fall.

 

Next, both of them exchanged attacks that could cause massive destruction if they were in the city. King Nozarg and Theodore step back and keep a long distance from each other.

 

"You are strong." Theodore still looks energetic.

 

While King Nozarg looks fine, his saber has a lot of cracks.

 

"You should change your saber."

 

King Nozarg, although he can’t speak human language, can vaguely understand Theodore's words. He shakes his head and throws the saber from the sky. The saber, when it hits the hard ground, does not shatter but instead pierces it like butter. Any warrior that sees the saber will droll because of its quality.   

 

This is not the first time King Nozarg has fought a master-rank human. However, even with their superior number of monsters, they still failed to conquer any kingdoms bordering Pondover Forest and vice versa. The humans also failed to expand their territory into the Pondover Forest.

 

Even if humans manage to build a settlement in Pondover Forest, every winter they will get destroyed by the monster tide.

 

"Do you want to continue?" After the first fight, Theodore is confident he can win; even if he can’t kill the hobgoblin king, he can injure him enough to make him flee.

 

King Nozarg doesn’t show any reaction because he knows that each year the kingdoms will send only one master rank to guard the border. Most masters will be in seclusion to preserve their lives and enjoy life, or exploring the world to find an epiphany for their grand master rank.

 

The longer you live, the more you are afraid of death.

 

The hobgoblin king and others have planned this for a long time, and if it fails, he can flee to Pondover Forest.

 

Theodore, gets ready for the next attack. His body is imbued with mana, and the wind sword is getting larger and sharper. Suddenly he senses an attack, and when he turns around, a large war hammer is coming at him. He quickly defends himself using his wind sword.

 

"BAM!" Because of the force of the attack, Theodore flew toward the rocky mountain and embedded it into the hard rock.

 

King Nozarg grins and looks at the newcomer. "You are late."

 

"I am busy." The green-skinned orc answered without any concern.

 

While both of them are talking, Theodore, without any scratch, comes out of the human-shaped indentation and flies to the sky again. "That is not nice." This time, both of his hands are holding a wind sword.

 

King Nozarg's aura begins to change, and both of his hands, using mana, create a long red claw. While the orc imbued his mana into the war hammer without cracking it.

 

After that, the shockwave of their fight caused the rocky mountain to collapse.

 

-

 

After King Nozarg and Sir Theodore left. The monster tide begins its attack again, but this time it is accompanied by shamans and elite hobgoblin warriors. Fortunately, they have hired a mercenary to fight them.

 

When both sides are getting intense, a loud war horn sound can be heard throughout the battlefield. However, the weird thing is that the sound is not coming from the monster tide's direction but from behind the human defense line.

 

"General, a monster tide is coming from behind!" A soldier hurriedly reported the situation.

 

"Is it the monster tide from the Violet Forest?" That is the only explanation for why there is a monster tide.

 

"No, it’ was the Orcs from Pondover Forest."

 

The general's face is pale. If it were a goblin and gnoll monster tide, they could try to hold on until reinforcements arrived. But orcs are mostly stronger than humans. Even a female orc can kill adult humans.