While Jasmine was struggling and had come incredibly close to dying a few times, Jake, on the other hand, was having the time of his life against the beasts.
He didn’t even need to transform... not like he ever actually needed to, but the dude was simply flexing his normal strength and speed against the goblins like it was a sparring session rather than a life-and-death battle.
A sword sliced through the air, heading straight for him, but Jake only shook his head with a smirk.
He pinched his two fingers against the blade, clamped down, and with the slightest pressure, the sword shattered completely. Before the goblin could even react, Jake’s foot shot forward in a brutal kick that slammed into its chest. This update is available on novel⦿fire.net
Its eyes rolled back instantly, while a gaping hole appeared on its chest. The force of the kick sent the goblin’s body hurling away at full speed before crashing violently into the ground.
Another arrow whistled through the air, aimed directly at Jake’s head. He casually tilted his head to the side, letting the arrow graze past his cheek, almost like he was teasing it. Then, without warning, he spun around, dashed after it, and caught up with the arrow midair.
Snatching it between two fingers, he immediately hurled it back with a flick of his wrist. The arrow doubled in speed and in the twinkle of an eye, it pierced through the goblin that had fired it.
The sharp head blasted through its skull and even burst out the other end with a thunderous bang, splattering gore across its companions.
Another beast lunged at him with a thrust aimed at his abdomen. The goblin swung with all its strength, but Jake nonchalantly raised his knee, meeting the sword mid-strike.
To the goblin’s utter horror, the blade snapped apart on contact, shattering into dozens of glittering fragments that rained down around them.
Before the goblin could even blink, Jake’s foot whipped upward in a brutal upper kick that connected with its jaw. The impact lifted the beast clean off its feet, its body spinning helplessly in the air before being hurled several metres away.
The goblins finally had enough. Deciding to stop underestimating him, they roared in unison and charged as a group.
About fifty of them remained, their numbers still overwhelming as they stormed forward after coming to the conclusion that Jake was the biggest threat in the clearing.
"Now this will be fun." Jake grinned widely, his teeth flashing as he finally untucked his hands from his pockets. He bounced lightly on his two feet like a professional boxer stepping into the ring, his shoulders loose, his gaze sharp.
The smile never left his face as the goblins rushed closer, snarling with bloodlust. He kept bouncing, his body language taunting them, and in only a few seconds they were a single metre away. That was when he acted.
His calves bulged, the muscles tightening so hard they looked ready to rip through the fabric of his pants. The ground beneath his feet cracked violently, then caved in with a thunderous snap as raw power surged through him.
He shot off his spot with a speed so explosive it sounded like the air itself had ruptured. In the blink of an eye, Jake appeared directly in front of one of the goblins.
Without even wasting a breath, he smashed his fist into its face. The goblin’s skull caved in like wet clay, the blow creating a deafening bang as the creature’s body was sent flying backward. It barreled into its allies, knocking several off their feet and leaving a clear path of destruction in its wake.
Jake didn’t even spare it a glance. He blurred forward again, his foot slamming into another goblin’s chest before the beast had a chance to move. The crunch of bones echoed as it too was launched away like a broken toy.
Another goblin tried to be clever, slipping in behind him and swinging its sword straight for Jake’s groin.
"Huh? How am I supposed to give birth to little monsters like me if you destroy that?" Jake chuckled, his grin widening as he suddenly leapt high into the air.
He twisted his body in midair, easily avoiding the reckless swing to his "manufacturing company" by a wide margin.
Kicking off from the air, Jake shot into the distance, and in the blink of an eye, he grabbed two goblins by their faces and smashed them directly into the ground.
Their eyes rolled back instantly, blood spewed from their mouths, and the impact was so intense that the earth beneath their bodies caved in with a violent crack.
Jake’s sharp ears picked up the sound of hurried footsteps closing in on him. Without hesitation, he flipped backward into the air at the perfect moment, narrowly avoiding several sword strikes aimed at the back of his head.
As he twisted in the air, his heels came crashing down onto the skull of another goblin. The sheer force of the strike made its knees buckle, and with a pitiful grunt, it collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Jake landed smoothly, a wide grin plastered on his face, as his gaze swept over the battlefield. He realized he had cut down their numbers massively, leaving only twenty-five goblins standing before him.
The surviving beasts hesitated. Fear flickered in their bloodshot eyes, and one after the other, they instinctively began to back away, taking shaky steps, unwilling to draw closer to the overwhelming predator in front of them.
"Oh, come on now, I’m not a monster, am I?" Jake teased, though the devilish grin stretching across his face was so wide it nearly looked unnatural, as though his mouth could split to his ears.
Before they could muster the courage to either fight or flee, Jake blurred forward. On his way, he stooped low, casually plucking two swords from the corpses of fallen goblins.
The remaining beasts panicked the moment they realized they couldn’t even track his movements. Some spun around, hoping to escape, but their eyes widened in despair when they saw another figure standing at their backs.
It was a human, a sword gleaming in his hand, and a sinister grin spread across his lips.
"So this is where you’re having all the fun, huh, Jake?" Max said with a wicked chuckle, before his body blurred forward with equal speed.
The goblins froze. Trapped between the devil in front of them and the predator behind, their desperation forced them into one final gamble. They roared collectively and chose to attack Max together.
"Sheesh! Big mistake." Max grinned confidently. Raising his sword, he let it hover above him for a moment as he spread his hands outward, his gaze fixed on the horde barreling toward him.
"Get ready to wreck, Jake!"
{Skill: Draconic Force Palm activated}
The sound was earth-shattering. A colossal shockwave erupted from Max’s palms, the air quaking so violently that trees bent under the pressure. The force flung the goblins high into the air, hurling them helplessly into Jake’s path.
"Gladly," the hunter smirked. In a heartbeat, he launched himself upward like a blur, his swords flashing silver arcs as they carved through the airborne beasts. Heads rolled, limbs flew, and blood rained in crimson streaks.
Max wasn’t idle either. He leaped high, catching his hovering sword mid-air, and kicked off again with explosive force. In a blink, he joined Jake, his blade tearing into the goblins that remained.
The two moved like demons incarnate, slicing, dicing, and dismantling the horde in a storm of steel and blood. In just seconds, the massacre was over.
Both of them landed gracefully on the ground, their movements smooth and controlled, as though the carnage had been nothing more than a warm-up exercise. Smirks curled across their faces, unbothered by the rain of shredded goblin corpses showering down from above.
"Sensational," Jake commented casually as he cracked his neck from side to side, his grin returning with full force.