Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

Crackle

"Kwaaaargh!"

The Orc commander screamed as sparks flew off his body. The enhanced magic lingered, scorching his flesh for a long time.

It was a spectacular sight to witness up close. Had Nina really just fainted after getting hit by something like that? Justin glanced to the side, where Nina was trembling, visibly shaken by the sight of the Orc commander. It seemed to remind him of something from the past.

"K-Kuhuh..."

As the purple electricity finally faded from the Orc's body, it gasped for air, clearly struggling. The creature was unsteady on its feet, clearly not in its right mind, but it still didn't let go of the ladder it was gripping.

"What the hell..."

"It survived that?!"

The Pioneers around Justin voiced the thoughts he himself was having. Not only had the Orc commander not fainted, but it had managed to keep hold of the ladder despite everything.

But Justin had no intention of letting the Orc recover.

He pointed a finger at the Orc commander and muttered, "Black Missile."

Boom!

"Kraaaah!"

A black beam shot out, slamming directly into the Orc commander's head. Finally, one of the creature's hands slipped from the ladder.

It tried to grab the ladder again, but Justin's next spell was faster.

"Black Missile."

Boom!

"Kugh!"

The second Black Missile hit, and the Orc commander's other hand was knocked loose from the ladder. With both hands detached, the Orc commander fell to the ground with a loud crash.

Although the sound of its body hitting the ground echoed, the Orc didn't die like a goblin would have—it was simply too tough for that. However, it seemed the magical impact had been no less harsh, as the creature struggled to rise, as if weighed down by something heavy.

Justin's eyes gleamed as he shouted, "Alright! Now we go down and wipe them out!"

"Huh? You want to go down?"

"Yeah!"

"Is that really necessary? Wouldn't it be better to let the mages continue casting spells from above, reducing their numbers as much as possible before we engage?"

It was a good point. Even though the boss was weakened, there was no need to rush down and expose themselves to the attacks of the minions. The safest course of action would be to stay behind the walls and wear them down with ranged attacks before finishing them off. That had been Justin's original plan.

But the situation had changed.

"The boss is in a groggy state right now. If we wait too long, it'll recover. We need to press the advantage and finish it off while it's still disoriented."

At this point, their victory was all but certain. However, a boss was still a boss. If they got careless, it could unleash some final, desperate attack.

In the worst-case scenario, it might even use some kind of hidden ability to take someone down with it. They needed to end this quickly.

"The goblins and hobgoblins are just a distraction. Once we deal with the boss, cleaning up the rest will just be manual labor."

"But there are still two more orcs left, aren't there? If the goblins swarm us while the orcs mix in and attack..."

"Don't worry about that," Justin grinned at Zachary.

"I've got a skill that's perfect for handling mobs like them."

The goblins were trapped. If they had the intelligence of a human, they all would have thought the same thing: We can't attack the humans hiding behind the walls. Meanwhile, the humans were free to attack them. And now their leader was in that pitiful state.

What do we do now?

The goblins exchanged confused glances. These were low-level monsters, only capable of attacking humans or obeying orders from higher-tier monsters. Now, with no one to attack and no orders to follow, they had no idea what to do.

If only that one gate would open, they would immediately rush in and attack the humans...

Clang!

"Kreee?!?"

Just then, as if in response to their desperate thoughts, the gate opened. The Pioneers who had been stationed on the walls suddenly poured out.

Finally, no longer confused, the goblins screeched with joy and charged toward the humans.

"Kyaaaah!"

"Kiiii!"

They didn't care about the difference in strength. Whether they lived or died didn't matter to them. Their only instinct was to attack humans. If their commander had been able to give orders, things might have been different. But without direction, the goblins acted purely on instinct.

"Crap, it's like a green tidal wave!"

"Is this really going to be okay?"

The Pioneers flinched at the overwhelming force of the goblins' charge. Individually, goblins were the weakest of monsters. Any warrior could easily handle two or three of them. But what if they were swarmed, stabbed from every angle by those dagger-like claws?

Even Fafnir, perched on Justin's shoulder, raised its head as if sensing the danger.

"Krrrr...!"

"It's fine. Stay calm," Justin said, gently stroking Fafnir's chin, calming the dragon down. As Justin soothed the creature, it lowered its head again.

From the distance, the remaining orcs let out fierce roars. After losing eight of their kind to the climb up the walls, only two orcs remained. Now, they charged at the humans alongside the goblins, knowing this was their last chance.

Justin closed his eyes as the green wave of goblins surged toward him and whispered to himself, "Intimidation."

Whoosh

There were no dazzling flashes of lightning or brilliant light. Just for a moment, the air seemed to grow slightly heavier than usual. It was a change so subtle that the frenzied orcs didn't even notice. Experience tales with empire

But for the charging goblins, it was as if a great wave had hit them.

"K-Kiiieee...!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Kyaaaah!"

The goblins, who had been charging madly toward the humans, suddenly stopped in their tracks. Then, with terrified shrieks, they began to flee in all directions.

The orcs, left confused by the sudden retreat of the goblins, roared in frustration.

"K-Kuh?! C-Come back! Come-Back!"

"If you don't come back, I'll kill you!"

The two remaining orcs shouted as they resisted the wave of fleeing goblins. They even killed a few as an example to the others. However, not a single goblin listened to them. As all the goblins fled like a receding tide, only two unscathed orcs remained, along with the orc commander, who still couldn't stand properly.