The canopy thickened as Yoshiya's team pushed deeper into the woods. Every crunch of a leaf felt like a warning. They had handled scattered patrols so far, but the air here was heavier—charged with something waiting to spring.
"Eyes up," Yumi whispered, her small wand already glowing faintly. "They're close."
Yoshiya adjusted his grip on his **shield** and steadied the **staff** in his other hand. A faint shimmer of mana crawled over the shield's surface—**Guard**. Omina lingered at the rear, a **short sword** drawn and ready. Dorobo prowled the flanks with his **dual daggers**, restless. Kokoro, towering just behind Yoshiya, hefted his **great sword**.
A guttural horn blast echoed. From the undergrowth burst a tide of goblins, larger than any group they had seen. Among them loomed several **hobgoblins**, bigger and better armed, their eyes glittering with malice.
"They're everywhere!" Yumi shouted, flicking bolts of light from her wand.
"Hold formation!" Yoshiya barked.
But Dorobo darted out to the side, chasing a kill. The gap he left was all the goblins needed. They poured through, swarming the team from every angle.
Kokoro swung his great sword in wide arcs, cutting down goblins by the handful. Yoshiya blocked a strike with his shield and thrust his staff to push a goblin back, chanting **Heal** under his breath to close a shallow cut on his arm. Omina stayed at the rear, cutting down two goblins that tried to flank them with her short sword, but one managed to slash her leg before she kicked it back and finished it.
Three **hobgoblins** charged straight at the front. Yoshiya braced behind his shimmering shield and raised his staff.
"They're too strong!" he warned.
Kokoro stepped up beside him. "Then we hold the line!"
The first hobgoblin slammed into Yoshiya's Guard. His arm jolted with the impact; pain lanced up to his shoulder. The second caught Kokoro across the ribs, drawing blood. The third swung low and carved a line across Yoshiya's thigh before he could fully twist aside. He hissed and staggered, muttering **Heal** again, closing part of the wound but not enough to stand steady.
Behind them, Omina grit her teeth, still fending off goblins at the rear despite the cut on her leg. Yumi's wand flared as she fired bolt after bolt into the press, but the tide kept coming.
A sharp, whistling *thunk* cut through the din. One of the hobgoblins jerked and fell with a bolt through its skull. Another *thunk*—a second dropped. A third bolt buried itself in the last hobgoblin's throat.
From the trees emerged **Seikaku**, a massive **crossbow** leveled at the enemy, two archers at his sides already nocking arrows. Without a word he loosed again; each bolt found a head or heart. His companions' arrows flew just as true. Goblins crumpled one after another, their charge breaking under the relentless precision.
In moments the horde was in retreat, shrieking into the shadows.
Omina dispatched the last goblin at the rear and limped back to the group, blood running down her leg. Yumi hurried to Yoshiya's side. Kokoro sagged to one knee, blood seeping through his tunic but eyes still fierce. Dorobo crept in, silent but alive.
"Rest," Yoshiya ordered. "We're too battered to push on like this."
He set his shield down and whispered another **Heal**, this time focusing on himself. The shimmer of magic closed the worst of his wounds. Then he turned and laid a glowing hand on Omina's leg; the bleeding slowed as her wound knit.
Kokoro let out a low growl. "If you weren't so busy blocking everything, maybe you could've healed properly from the start."
"If Dorobo hadn't broken formation, we could've handled it!" Yumi snapped, her wand still faintly glowing.
Dorobo straightened, smirking despite his bruises. "I had the highest kill count. My contribution's huge."
"If you still have the strength to argue," Omina snapped back, "use it against the goblins next time!"
The tense silence was broken by the sound of splintering wood. All of them turned as trees began to topple in the distance—one after another, loud and deliberate. Seikaku and his two archers came sprinting back toward them, urgency on their faces.
"Retreat! It's a goblin chieftain!" shouted one of the female archers.
With a final crash, an enormous shadow stepped into view. A towering goblin emerged from the treeline, a massive iron club in one hand and the limp body of a fallen adventurer in the other. Its roar shook the forest floor.