Over two hundred and twenty F-Rank gnomes gathered in a dense, semi-circular formation. A wall of gnomes and metal pickaxes.
Behind this formation stood the two remaining E-Rank giants. They didn't charge blindly like their comrades. They let out rough, guttural barks, directing the herd, fully exploiting their overwhelming numbers. They realized that brute force alone wasn't going to bring down this human and his monsters.
The White Goblin and the Rock Gnome pulled back from the flanks and stood beside Ren, making the squad of five whole again.
Ren wiped the drops of blood blurring his vision. His breathing was heavy.
'Five against an entire army. A pure war of attrition,' Ren thought, his mind calculating the odds. 'If we let them surround us from all sides, we'll drown in a sea of pickaxes. We have to break the formation.'
"Rock Gnome! Armored Goblin!" Ren barked out. "Form a spearhead! Do not take a single step backward, no matter what it costs. White Goblin, Sewer Goblin, stay behind them and sever any hand that reaches past. We're punching through the center!"
The summons responded instantly.
The Level 10 Rock Gnome and the E-Rank Armored Goblin stepped up to form the front wall. Right behind them, Ren, the White Goblin, and the Sewer Goblin took their positions.
One of the giants let out a deafening roar and pointed its hammer at Ren.
The gray tide surged. Around two hundred and twenty gnomes charged all at once, their shrieks shaking the walls of the pit.
"Now!"
The two armies clashed.
The impact was brutal. The Armored Goblin and the Rock Gnome took the first wave with their bodies. Metal pickaxes rained down on their stone armor, sending sparks and chunks of rock flying in every direction.
The Armored Goblin swung its fists like hammers, crushing three gnomes in a single blow. The Rock Gnome used its body as a living shield, pushing forward and crushing gnomes under its heavy feet.
From behind this wall, death snatched the gnomes smoothly.
The White Goblin used its (20) Speed to dart through the gaps in the formation, swiping its claws across the gnomes' throats before retreating before the pickaxes could hit. The Sewer Goblin struck like a snake, using its tail to snap legs and necks.
And Ren? He was a harvesting machine. His metal pickaxe rose and fell without stopping. Every strike pierced a skull or shattered a ribcage. Green blood completely covered his face.
But the gnomes didn't stop. Every time one fell, another climbed up to take its place.
The massive weight of the herd began to press against the spearhead. The Rock Gnome started to slowly retreat. Its black armor was filled with deep cracks from the continuous strikes of dozens of pickaxes.
That's when the leaders moved.
The two E-Rank giants didn't step in to save their followers. Instead, they took advantage of the Rock Gnome and Armored Goblin being busy holding off the herd, and advanced from the open flanks.
The first giant vaulted over the corpses of the gnomes, ignoring its dead allies. It swung its massive stone hammer with all its might, targeting Ren's head while he was busy killing two gnomes.
The angle was lethal. Ren didn't have the time to raise his pickaxe or dodge the strike. The hammer was mere centimeters away from crushing him.
Suddenly, a heavy shadow shoved Ren aside.
The Rock Gnome. It abandoned its position in the formation and threw its entire body directly into the path of the giant hammer.
CRAAAAACK!
A horrifying shattering sound echoed in the pit.
The colossal hammer of the E-Rank giant completely crushed the F-Rank Rock Gnome. Its black armor, which had endured dozens of strikes, couldn't withstand this brute force. The Rock Gnome's body exploded into scattered gray dust.
[Warning: Summon 'Rock Gnome' Destroyed.]
Ren fell to the ground, his eyes wide. That silent creature was the shield that had just saved his life.
The collapse of the Rock Gnome left a fatal gap in the formation. Dozens of F-Rank gnomes flooded through the opening like a dam breaking, surrounding Ren and the White Goblin.
"Damn you all!" Ren roared with a savage anger he had never felt before.
He didn't retreat. He dashed straight toward the giant that killed his summon. He slid under the next hammer strike, and with his strength, swung his steel pickaxe to bury it deep into the giant's Achilles tendon.
The giant screamed and fell to one knee.
"Armored! Crush it!"
The Armored Goblin spun around, ignoring the small gnomes tearing at its back. It activated [Critical Strike]. It lunged at the kneeling giant, burying both of its glowing stone fists directly into the giant's face.
The skull of the first E-Rank giant shattered like a rotten watermelon.
But the price was high. The second giant took advantage of the Armored Goblin and Ren being distracted. It advanced with a speed that surprised everyone, extending its massive hand to grab its closest target.
The Sewer Goblin.
The giant tightened its grip around the hybrid's slender body. It lifted the goblin into the air, a filthy smile appearing on its gray face.
"No!" Ren screamed, trying to dash forward, but a sea of F-Rank gnomes blocked his path, forcing him to deflect their continuous strikes.
The giant squeezed its fist.
Ren heard the sickening sound of the Sewer Goblin's bones snapping. Its ribs were shattering into splinters.
But the Level 10 Sewer Goblin was no weak prey. The hybrid that had accompanied Ren from the beginning refused to die like a doll. Even as its bones were being crushed, the Sewer Goblin twisted its torso fiercely. Its bald tail wrapped around the giant's neck like a hangman's noose. And with whatever strength it had left, it lunged forward and sank its venomous fangs deep, incredibly deep into the giant's main artery.
The giant roared in pain and terror. It tightened its grip with absolute savagery, completely crushing the Sewer Goblin's spine.
The hybrid exploded into gray mist.
[Warning: Summon 'Sewer Goblin' Destroyed.]
But the mist left behind a staggering giant. Black and green blood gushed like a waterfall from its torn neck. The second giant lost its balance and dropped its hammer, clutching its open throat trying to stop the bleeding.
Ren didn't give it a single second to recover.
He bypassed the small gnomes with an acrobatic leap. He pushed off the Armored Goblin's shoulder, jumping into the air to reach the level of the staggering giant's head.
Ren gripped his pickaxe with both hands, putting every ounce of his (20) Strength stat into this strike.
The pointed steel blade plunged directly into the center of the giant's forehead, piercing the skull until it protruded from the back of its head.
[Exterminated: Gnome Warrior (Rank E)]
[Exterminated: Gnome Warrior (Rank E)]
The massive body of the last gnome leader collapsed.
As soon as the giants fell, something strange happened. The remaining F-Rank gnomes—who still numbered over a hundred—stopped fighting.
Their trembling little eyes looked at the massive corpses of their leaders, then at the blood-covered human standing over them like an incarnate demon, flanked by the Armored Goblin and the White Goblin.
The herd's morale completely shattered.
They dropped their pickaxes at the exact same moment, turning around and fleeing toward the crevices and exits of the pit, screaming in panic.
But Ren's eyes were cold and dark. He had just lost two of his most important summons.
"Don't let a single one of them breathe. Kill them all," Ren commanded in a voice stripped of any mercy.
The White Goblin shot forward at lightning speed to catch the runners. The Armored Goblin roared and pounced on them from behind, endlessly crushing their bodies. Ren himself sprinted after them, his pickaxe harvesting souls in silence.
It wasn't a battle after that. It was an extermination.
♢♢♢♢
A full hour later.
Ren fell on his back over a pile of shattered rocks.
The pit was completely silent. No sound of digging. No screaming. Only the sound of the dry wind blowing over a sea of gray corpses and sticky green blood that covered every inch of the dirt.
The White Goblin was sitting on a rock, licking its shallow wounds. The Armored Goblin stood still, even though its stone plates were almost entirely shattered.
They survived.
But Ren's summon space had two empty, dark slots. The Rock Gnome and the Sewer Goblin were not coming back.
Blue notifications cascaded before his eyes.
[Gained Exp...]
[Gained Exp...]
[Leveled up!]
[Level: 10 | Current Exp: 150/1000]
Ren didn't care about the upgrades right now. He slowly stood up, his limbs trembling from pure exhaustion.