Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”Tyr, help me strike down these Evil Demons!”

The sight of the three ferocious, ox-headed demons made nearly everyone’s heart skip a beat. Even Ron and the others, who had dealt with demons before, found themselves momentarily stunned by the horrifying creatures.

Andre, however, seemed utterly fearless. The new Paladin surged forward, the tip of his short spear trailing a golden light as he thrust it straight at the face of the foremost Giant Bull Demon!

As the spearhead sank in, Andre’s heart dropped. The impact felt like he’d stabbed a thick slab of tough rubber. Though his Divine Magic had allowed the spear to pierce the Giant Bull Demon’s skin, its flesh clamped down on the spearhead. ’My weapon is stuck!’

”MOO!” A cruel smile spread across the Giant Bull Demon’s bovine, humanoid face. It lowered its horns, accelerated again, and slammed into Andre’s shield like a war chariot, producing a deafening clang of metal.

”Andre, are you insane?!”

Just as Andre was about to be gored on the demon’s horns, a heavy tower shield, backed by a suit of Full Body Armor, smashed into the Giant Bull Demon’s head. A fiery red blade sliced into the demon’s flesh as easily as paper, drawing a pained roar. The demon swung its great axe, unleashing a furious but ineffective storm of blows against the tower shield.

”Aive...?”

Clutching his stomach, Andre struggled back to his feet. He watched in astonishment. Even surrounded by three demons, each nearly three meters tall, Aive’s defense was impenetrable. She stood like a mountain, weathering every blow. And she wasn’t merely defending. Whenever the demons tried to bypass her, the fiery red Longsword that flashed out from behind her tower shield would deal a heavy blow, forcing them to acknowledge her.

It was rather counterintuitive. Legends claimed demons in the Abyss lived near lava and even used it for decoration, but in truth, most of them had no special resistance to it. Aive’s Longsword, materialized from her Flaming Hand Armor, could easily harm them.

However, the demons’ physiques were far beyond mortal. Even after taking a Holy Slash to the face and being struck two or three more times by Aive, the foremost Giant Bull Demon was still full of vigor, fighting on without the slightest sign of faltering.

”Now this is interesting! Aive, cover me!” Sera flashed a grin, revealing two rows of snow-white teeth. A blood-red light exploded from her body, tinging even the glow of the Grip of the Vast Wave with crimson. The barbarian leaped, vaulting off the nearby wall and then Aive’s tower shield. With a roar, she brought her greatsword down on a Giant Bull Demon’s skull in a devastating overhead cleave.

Technique is for making up a lack of strength. For a Warrior like her, a simple, powerful cleave was enough to strike terror into any heart. Even a broad, burly demon wouldn’t dare meet it with its own body; it could only raise its great axe to intercept.

”Scorching Beam!”

Three rays shot from the Gemstone in Ron’s hand. Fired second, they struck first, slamming into the demon. The attack wasn’t powerful enough to cause significant damage, but it made its massive body stagger. In that split second of hesitation, with a resounding CRACK, Sera’s mighty blow shattered the demon’s axe. The terrifying slash tore through body and soul alike as the greatsword drove deep into the Giant Bull Demon’s torso from the shoulder, nearly splitting it diagonally in two.

THUMP! Victoria suddenly appeared at Sera’s side. The Hell Angel’s Zither pulsed with a verdant light, blocking sneak attacks from the other two demons. At the same time, a black shadow swept past the demons’ ankles like a phantom, kicking up several sprays of purplish-blue blood.

Seymour frowned as he came to a stop nearby. ’What a waste of my good poison!’ After just grazing the demons’ skin, his twin daggers looked as if they had been corroded. They were clearly ruined.

Demons were, of course, resistant to poison. Most toxins from the Material Plane had no effect on them.

The others joined the fray, focusing their attacks on the two remaining demons. Aiksuuri, the Young Dragon, used its size to its advantage, weaving between the clumsy Giant Bull Demons’ legs. It would periodically dart in to bite them or rake them with its claws, leaving behind trails of corrosive Strong Acid.

At first, the demons ignored the acid corrosion from Aiksuuri and Delaford. Their primary target remained Sera, though they occasionally attempted to charge toward Ron and Silvia. But as the Grip of the Vast Wave carved more and more wounds into them, they made a horrifying discovery. ’Our proud flesh is as silent as a corpse!’

’No healing, no regeneration, no recovery! The wounds are crawling over us like ants, slowly dragging us down!’

”Grom, witness my battle!”

The entire labyrinth trembled from Sera’s earth-shaking war cry. As the Grip of the Vast Wave sliced a line through the air, one Giant Bull Demon could only watch as its own body receded from its head, finally collapsing with a crash at the barbarian’s feet.

Meanwhile, the two bear goblins were using every ounce of their strength. Each grabbed one of the demon’s massive legs and tripped it. Before the Giant Bull Demon’s dazed brain could process what had happened, a gleaming halberd pierced straight through its bovine skull.

”A Magic Weapon?” Silvia glanced at the halberd in Klade’s hands. ”It seems you had quite a haul in Carolina.”

”Just this one,” Klade said, baring his tusks. He planted a foot on the Giant Bull Demon’s head and wrenched his weapon free from its skull. ”Good thing we had it, or I would’ve ended up like Andre.”

”I’m sorry, I…” The young Paladin retrieved his short spear, his face burning with shame. Victoria handed him a Healing Potion. It was best to save her Magic; they had no idea what they might encounter up ahead.

”Demons aren’t your average beasts,” Carlos said, walking over and slinging a friendly arm around Andre’s shoulders. ”You’ve got real guts, man. The second I saw those three behemoths, my knees gave out, but you actually charged them!”

The man was holding a pair of Hand Crossbows. Judging by the size of his Crossbow Arrows, he probably hadn’t been much help during the fight.

”Stay behind me next time,” Aive said, glancing at Andre. ”These opponents weren’t particularly agile, so I had a chance to save you. You might not be so lucky next time.”

”Victoria’s Resurrection Magic is limited. We can’t afford to waste it like that.”