Infinite Mana - Chapter 213: No Longer Quiet (Thank you for your support, D4rk Sheep!) (Patreon)

The first group reached Sieghart before he finished deciding whether disappearing again would actually accomplish anything. Seven goblins poured through the nearest intersection, spreading immediately instead of charging together, while another four appeared from an alley farther to his right.

That alone told Sieghart the roar had changed something. The earlier patrols moved according to routes and formations, but these goblins were searching for him specifically, weapons already raised as they entered every street connected to his position. Sieghart reacted before the first spear reached him. Impulse pushed him backward while Telekinesis grabbed three abandoned goblin weapons from the ground, lifting a sword and two spears into the air around his body.

The first spear became a projectile. Sieghart accelerated it toward an approaching goblin’s chest, forcing the creature to raise its small shield just before the metal point struck hard enough to throw it backward several steps.

The second weapon curved around that defender rather than following the same path. It struck another goblin from the side, punching through leather armor beneath the ribs before Telekinesis ripped it free and redirected it toward a third target. Sieghart controlled the stolen sword differently. Instead of throwing it once, he kept the weapon moving through the air like an independent fighter, cutting toward exposed wrists, necks, knees, and whatever openings appeared between shields.

One goblin blocked the floating blade with its own sword and stared at the weapon for half a second too long. An Earth Bullet struck its forehead immediately afterward and sent the creature collapsing onto the stone. Sieghart chose Earth Bullets deliberately. Fireballs would be faster, louder, brighter, and far more effective, but explosions would reveal his exact location to every patrol within an absurd distance.

He still believed keeping the battle relatively quiet might let him relocate before the entire district responded. That belief lasted approximately twelve more seconds before one goblin pulled a curved horn from its belt.

Sieghart noticed too late. The creature blew once.

The sound was not particularly loud compared with the roar from deeper inside the city, but it carried strangely well through the surrounding streets, producing a sharp rising note that echoed between stone buildings.

Sieghart fired an Earth Bullet. The horn shattered. Unfortunately, the signal had already been sent. Several distant horns answered. Sieghart closed his eyes for the smallest fraction of a second while another spear passed close enough to brush the illusion covering his coat.

“Of course they have an alarm system…”

The thought barely finished before the fight became considerably more crowded. Goblins rushed from windows, side streets, broken buildings, elevated walkways, and narrow alleys that Sieghart had assumed were abandoned moments earlier. Sieghart twisted aside from one sword and used Telekinesis to yank the attacker’s weapon forward, pulling the goblin off balance before the floating stolen sword drove through the opening beneath its chin.

Another shield struck Sieghart from the side. Protection absorbed most of the impact, but the blow still knocked him several steps sideways. Three spears immediately followed, their points attacking from different angles before he could stabilize. Mana Barrier appeared between him and the closest two weapons. Both spearpoints struck the translucent surface and stopped momentarily, giving Sieghart enough time to duck beneath the third and fire several Earth Bullets at point-blank range.

The first projectile broke a goblin’s nose. The second struck its throat. The third hammered into the shield of another attacker instead of penetrating, producing a heavy crack without bringing the creature down.

Sieghart frowned. More shield users were appearing.

The newer goblins carried larger, reinforced defenses than the earlier patrols, several constructed from thick wood covered by overlapping strips of iron. Individually they were crude, but together they formed an increasingly irritating wall.

Sieghart launched all three stolen weapons at once. The shield line tightened. A spear slammed into one shield and remained embedded. The second struck another hard enough to make its wielder stumble. The sword bounced from an iron rim and spun uselessly toward the ground.

Sieghart caught it before it landed. Earth Bullets followed. The goblins lowered their shields. Stone projectiles hammered repeatedly against wood and iron, cracking surfaces and forcing several fighters backward, but the formation held long enough for more goblins to arrive behind them.

Sieghart’s expression slowly changed. He had started the encounter surrounded by approximately a dozen enemies.

Now he could see more than thirty. Another horn sounded somewhere beyond the buildings. Then another answered from the opposite side. That was becoming a problem. Sieghart used Impulse vertically. Wind exploded beneath his feet and launched him upward above the street, carrying him past the first-floor rooftops while he reinforced the upward push with a sustained current of Wind Magic.

It was not proper flight. Sieghart still had no dedicated spell capable of letting him float effortlessly through the air, but combining Wind Magic, careful balance, and short Impulse bursts allowed him to gain enough height to escape ordinary melee weapons.

For approximately three seconds, the solution looked brilliant. Then the arrows came.

Sieghart’s eyes widened as nearly a dozen projectiles rose from different streets below. Some passed harmlessly beneath him, but several had been aimed with enough prediction to intersect where his upward momentum was carrying him.

He twisted in midair. One arrow passed beside his leg. Another struck Protection around his shoulder and bounced away. A third came directly toward his face. Sieghart formed Mana Shield almost instinctively. The arrow struck the translucent surface and shattered, but two more immediately followed from a rooftop he had not noticed.

He used Impulse sideways. The abrupt movement saved him. It also ruined what little stability his improvised flight possessed. Sieghart spun once through the air, corrected himself with Wind Magic, and immediately saw another volley coming from several different angles.

There were far more archers than he expected. Some fired from rooftops. Others used balconies. Several stood behind the shield line below, using their allies as protection while aiming upward.

Remaining in the air would turn him into the most convenient target in the entire city. Sieghart dropped.

Wind Magic slowed the descent enough to prevent his legs from taking the full impact. He landed on the roof of a low stone building, only for three arrows to strike around his feet almost immediately.

A goblin climbed onto the roof from the opposite side. Sieghart kicked it back down. Then another appeared. More were already using neighboring windows and broken walls to reach him.

“So much for taking the high ground.”

He jumped from the roof before they surrounded him there as well, using Impulse to cross the street and land behind another ruined building while Telekinesis dragged several dropped weapons after him.

The weapons became his primary offense.

Sieghart launched spears through windows toward approaching mana signatures, curved swords around corners, and repeatedly used fallen goblin equipment against whatever group tried entering his temporary position. Earth Bullets filled the gaps.

The spells were relatively quiet compared with his Fire Magic, and their solid impacts worked well enough against goblins without shields. Heads snapped backward, knees broke, and exposed fighters collapsed whenever the stone projectiles found clean targets. The shields remained the problem.

A coordinated group entered the street ahead with eight defenders positioned across the front. Archers and spear users moved behind them, advancing slowly enough that Sieghart could not simply bait them into breaking formation.

He launched six Earth Bullets. The shields rose together. Impacts hammered through the street. One wooden surface cracked. Another buckled near the center. None broke completely. Sieghart followed with stolen spears. The first embedded deeply.

The second pierced through enough wood to injure the arm behind it. The third was knocked aside by a goblin carrying an iron shield thick enough to make Sieghart wonder where something that size had come from.

The formation continued forward. More goblins entered behind it. Sieghart retreated through another intersection. That only revealed enemies approaching from the opposite side.

He turned left.

Another patrol emerged.

Right.

More goblins. Sieghart stopped. Magic Vision expanded. Mana signatures filled the surrounding streets.

Dozens. Then more beyond them. He had finally achieved something he had specifically intended to avoid. Complete encirclement. The city had swallowed him. Sieghart exhaled slowly while the nearest shield line approached. His floating weapons hovered around him, several chipped or bent after repeated impacts, while fresh Earth Bullets formed beside his shoulders.

The situation was not actually hopeless. That was what made it irritating. He possessed plenty of spells capable of clearing the street instantly.

Fireball.

Giant Fireball.

Flamethrower.

Lava Sphere.

Enough raw magical output could turn the entire intersection into a crater before the goblins finished their next step. The problem was everything afterward. Large explosions would advertise his location across the entire underground city.

Whatever had roared earlier might come personally. Sieghart had wanted ambush practice. He had somehow progressed directly from ambushing five goblins to considering urban magical bombardment. That escalation felt excessive even by his standards. The shield wall advanced again. Sieghart sent the floating sword low.

It curved beneath one shield and cut through an ankle.

The goblin fell.

Earth Bullets immediately struck the opening. One fighter collapsed. Another moved into place. The formation closed again. Sieghart clicked his tongue. More arrows came overhead. He formed Mana Barrier at an angle rather than directly ahead. Several arrows struck and bounced while he redirected the floating spears toward another group trying to circle him from behind.

One spear punched through a goblin’s shoulder.

Another missed. The third struck a shield. Sieghart recalled it instantly and sent it downward from above. The shield user looked up too late. The spear entered through the collarbone. That worked once. The surrounding goblins adapted quickly.

Shields began tilting upward whenever his weapons rose, while archers started targeting the floating equipment itself whenever Sieghart attempted another overhead strike. He smiled despite himself.

“They learn fast.”

The words disappeared beneath another chorus of goblin shouts. Several fighters charged simultaneously from both sides.

Sieghart used Impulse through the narrow opening between them, letting two spears pass behind him before rotating mid-burst and firing Earth Bullets toward exposed backs.

Three goblins fell.

The movement carried Sieghart directly toward another shield wall. He stopped with Mana Barrier. Not for defense. The transparent wall appeared between him and the advancing goblins while his momentum carried him safely to one side.

The shield users struck the barrier unexpectedly and lost formation. Sieghart attacked the opening. Telekinetic swords stabbed inward. Earth Bullets followed. Four goblins dropped before the barrier shattered. Then another ten replaced them. Sieghart stared.

“This is getting stupid.”

The surrounding streets were almost completely filled now. Some goblins climbed onto roofs. Others blocked alleys. Archers occupied every elevated position with a clear line of sight, while shield users slowly compressed the space available around Sieghart.

The clever solution was probably retreat.

The practical solution required creating a retreat route first. The easiest solution involved Giant Fireballs. Sieghart raised both hands. Fire Mana gathered. The temperature around him increased immediately.

Several goblins hesitated.

Good instincts.

One Giant Fireball began forming above his palm, growing rapidly as Sieghart finally decided subtlety had lasted long enough. He was about to say fuck it and turn the entire street into an explosion. Then several buildings collapsed. Sieghart stopped.

A tremendous impact came from his left. One stone wall exploded outward. Then another. Then a third. Goblin fighters scattered as something enormous simply smashed through the buildings instead of bothering with streets.

Dust filled the intersection.

Sieghart dismissed the forming Giant Fireball and strengthened Protection. Something moved inside the debris.

Fast.

Far too fast for its size. A massive silhouette launched itself through the final broken wall and crossed the remaining distance in one jump. Sieghart used Impulse. He barely escaped. The creature crashed into the exact spot where he had been standing. Stone shattered beneath its boots.

The shockwave knocked several nearby goblins from their feet. Sieghart landed farther away and finally got a clear look at what had joined the fight. The creature was a goblin only in the broadest possible sense. It stood at least eight feet tall, towering over every ordinary goblin nearby, with shoulders wide enough that even the heavy armor covering its body failed to make it look bulky.

Dark iron plates covered almost everything from neck to boots.

The armor was scratched, dented, and repaired in several places, suggesting the creature had survived enough battles that appearance had long stopped mattering.

Its left arm carried an enormous iron shield nearly one and a half meters tall. The surface was thick enough to resemble part of a fortress gate, with deep cuts and impact marks crossing the metal.

The weapon in its right hand looked worse.

A huge cleaver-shaped sword rested across one shoulder, the blade broad enough to split a person completely in half with one clean swing. Jagged chips along the edge somehow made it look more dangerous instead of less.

The surrounding goblins moved away from it immediately. That reaction told Sieghart almost as much as Magic Vision did. The creature possessed far more concentrated mana than anything he had seen in the city so far.

Red-brown energy moved through its enormous body in dense currents, reinforcing muscles already several times larger than those of ordinary goblins.

Sieghart stared upward. A hobgoblin seemed like the obvious answer. Maybe a goblin champion.

Whatever title the dungeon eventually gave it, one conclusion was already obvious.

This was going to be annoying.