Overwhelming Firepower

The Lightning imbued bullet flew straight to the target. The Goblin King, who was blinded by the ice in his eyelids, had calmed down a bit and felt the bullet coming towards him.

He swung his jagged sword, but the positioning and timing were wrong. The bullet pierced through his sword and broke it.

The Goblin King's instincts were screaming at him that he needed to evade this attack no matter what.

***

Lucen watched as his bullet flew. The world seemed to slow, the line of lightning tracing its path like a divine spear.

The lightning round struck true. It slammed into the Goblin King's chest with enough force to crack the bone armor enhanced by mana and tear through flesh.

The monster's body jerked violently as arcs of lightning crawled across its skin, illuminating the veins beneath like molten rivers. For a moment, Lucen thought it was over, until he saw the shift.

The Goblin King twisted at the last instant, the bullet carving a searing path just shy of his heart.

It tore through his chest and burst out of his back in a shower of blood and electricity, but even with that much damage, the Goblin King was able to survive and was forcing his body to heal.

The king staggered, clutching the gaping wound, his breathing ragged and wet. His broken tusk gleamed faintly as he let out a low, guttural growl that echoed through the gorge.

Lucen's eyes widened. "He was able to dodge that..."

The Goblin King straightened, blood dripping from his mouth as he grinned. "Not... Yet, human. You haven't taken... Everything!"

He raised what remained of his shattered sword, his body trembling, but his killing intent surged once more, heavier than before.

"Heh, I gotta admit you have a f*cking thick healthbar, you monster."

Lucen's breathing came in ragged bursts, the cold air slicing into his lungs like broken glass. His arms felt numb, his heartbeat uneven, too fast, too heavy. The edges of his vision flickered, but through the blur, that stubborn fire in his eyes refused to go out.

'As expected of a boss monster, no time to rest or pause. I can't believe this sh*t is making me remember the time I went on a twenty-four-hour game marathon wearing a f*cking diaper.' Lucen did not notice it, but he was smiling right now.

The Goblin King ripped the ice from his face with a wet crack, flinging shards that hissed against the ground.

His roar wasn't just a sound. It was a wave of fury that made those who heard it tremble. Even wounded, even half-blind, the monster moved like an avalanche with purpose.

He dragged his broken blade along the frozen ground, sparks flaring against the pale blue ice.

The sparks that were flying mingled with the arcs of lightning still dancing across his wound. Each step shook the gorge like the march of an army.

Lucen steadied his aim, but his arms felt heavier than ever before. His body screamed in protest, muscles locking.

The flow of his mana was like rusted pipes that refused to move as he wished. Every movement felt wrong, too heavy, too slow.

The Goblin King swung his broken sword wide, but still fast. Lucen did not flinch as he fired twice. Both bullets struck true, slamming into the creature's abdomen, but neither was enough to drop it.

The monster's sheer endurance was absurd. It refused to fall, even as its flesh sizzled from the thunder coursing through it.

Lucen barely managed to roll away as the shattered blade came crashing down, splitting the ground open. A blast of icy mist surged up, frosting his coat and hair white.

When the haze cleared, Lucen was crouched low, panting, one knee pressing against the cracked ice.

The Goblin King was swaying now, bleeding, burned, and still grinning through the pain.

Its golden eyes, half-frozen, still found Lucen through instinct alone.

"Human..." It rasped, its voice guttural, broken. "You... Would've made a fine... Goblin."

Lucen exhaled sharply, pulling the bolt of the Gewehr back with trembling hands. "Sorry, I'm not interested in those monster-type reincarnations." He loaded bullets imbued with the fire element.

Lucen's aim wasn't steady; even with his marksmanship skill, it could not stop his hands from shaking due to exhaustion.

The Goblin King dragged his feet forward, each step leaving behind smoldering blood on the ice. His grin widened as he lifted the remains of his jagged blade like a club.

"Let us see... Who gets to take... And who gets to be taken... From..."

Lucen steadied his breath. His vision blurred a bit due to declining stamina. It was getting a bit harder to focus, but he did not stop.

This wasn't the first time he experienced such a thing. In his past life, as a gamer who said 'just one more match' until a whole day vanished without sleep or rest.

"Is that your endgame dialogue?" Lucen joked.

The Goblin King didn't understand the words, but the mockery in Lucen's tone was unmistakable.

"A fool... Until the end..." The mana in the Goblin King's body surged.

Vardon, who was watching the battle from atop the fortress walls, wanted to intervene, but he told his son that he could fight the Goblin King by himself.

To dishonor his son by interfering in his duel, or to simply continue to watch even in this situation. Vardon gnashed his teeth as he decided to believe in his son.

The Goblin King raised his broken weapon high, its jagged edge glowing from the mana flooding through his arm. Steam poured from the wound in his chest as if his blood itself burned with rage.

Lucen steadied his rifle, flames flickering along the length of the barrel.

The Goblin King roared, voice echoing through the gorge. The very air seemed to shatter from the sound. Lucen squeezed the trigger.

The fire-imbued round ignited the air between them, a streak of red cutting through the mist. And then... Impact. A blinding flash, and a wave of heat came.

Vardon, who was watching from the battlements, squeezed his hand on part of the stone wall, crushing it.

The smoke cleared, showing a kneeling Goblin King, half of its body no longer there. Lucen, whose knees were trembling, was using the rifle in his hand as a cane to push himself up.

Even in this situation, the Goblin King was alive, but barely. Steam hissed from his wounds as he turned his remaining eye toward the human child who had beaten him.

"I have failed... To take... Anything... From you..." Each word came with a wet rasp, blood bubbling at his lips.

"You have... taken everything..." The Goblin King continued his voice, gurgling, half-drowned in blood. "My life... my future... even my hate... You took it all... like... a true... goblin..." The Goblin King spoke with a somewhat satisfied smile on its face.

Lucen's breathing came in ragged gasps. Every inhale burned like broken glass. His lips twitched into a weak grin, the kind of smile that comes when pain and relief mix until you can't tell them apart.

"Can you stop... Calling me a Goblin..." He muttered. "Also, I didn't take anything from you... You offered your life willingly... By fighting me..."

For a moment, silence filled the gorge, broken only by the faint crackle of a fire and the slow drip of blood melting the frost.

The Goblin King wanted to laugh, but it couldn't; its eyes softened before speaking. "It would seem so... You're the first... Being to be given... Anything... By a Goblin..."

His words faded into a rasp, then nothing. The last wisp of steam escaped his mouth as his body fell forward, lifeless.

Lucen exhaled shakily, falling to the ground on his butt. "I said... Stop calling me a Goblin..." Before Lucen was about to lose consciousness, he heard and saw the system notification.

[Level Up]

[New Trait Acquired: To the one who had been given to (Legendary)]

[Effect: Lesser Goblins and Hobgoblins will listen to one command. Goblin Gladiators and Goblin Heroes will show respect. Goblin Mages and Goblin Generals will not be hostile unless provoked.]

The second Lucen read those words of the new trait he acquired, before he lost consciousness, he used every remaining stamina he had to shout. "RETREAT!"

After saying that one command, Lucen fainted. Sir Thalos, who was nearby, caught Lucen's body before it hit the ground.

***

The people in the first fortress were surprised by the final words Lucen said before he fainted, but then something even more surprising happened.

The word echoed like a divine command, carried by aura through the freezing gorge. For a moment, even the monsters seemed confused, and then, as if bound by invisible law, they obeyed.

The lesser goblins and the hobgoblins started going back where they came from. The Goblin Heroes did something similar to a knight's salute before retreating as well, and so did the Goblin Gladiators.

The last one remaining was the Goblin General. He didn't say anything, simply looked at the unconscious Lucen for a few seconds before leaving as well.

The noisy battlefield where you could see goblins from every direction had become quiet, and what monsters remained were only the ones who had died.

Vardon, Thalos, Robert, Harlik, Roderick, and everyone from the First Fortress were at a loss for words. They had won, but they could not understand what had happened.

No cheers rose, no shouts of victory. Only the crackle of dying fires, and the faint sound of snow settling on blood. Lucen Thornehart had not just won the battle; he won the war, and no one quite understood how.