Chapter 136 Horde Invasion: Akali’s Discovery

"C'mon, now's not the time to freeze!" Ritsuka shouted. Lee Seng's legs started to speed up and Ritsuka dragged Lee Seng into a run. Akali watched as Ritsuka pulled Lee Seng away. She turned to face the hobgoblin.

"Afera lkfjea!" The hobgoblin screeched in its foreign language.

"What're you even saying?" Akali gripped the light swords harder. "It's just you and me now, pal. You're gonna have to play with me now." The hobgoblin shot out black liquid at Akali and dashed to her right. Akali burnt away the black liquid as the sword in her left hand shrank into a dagger. She threw the dagger straight at the hobgoblin and watched it sink into the goblin.

The hobgoblin shrieked as the light dagger began to burn it. The hobgoblin's black liquid forced the light blade out as blood gushed forth. The hobgoblin screeched at Akali as it lashed forward. Akali blocked with her right light sword. The black liquid hissed as it evaporated. The hobgoblin shoved Akali backward, releasing the black liquid sword.

Black liquid surrounded the hobgoblin, creating another layer of armor. The black liquid pulsed and moved around. Two blades shot out of the pulsing armor. The hobgoblin rushed forward and swung at Akali. Akali deflected the hits and watched as the liquid swords started to evaporate. The sword reduced in her hand and she jabbed forward, landing another blow onto the hobgoblin.

Akali continued to make quick work of the hobgoblin, forcing it back. The hobgoblin huffed as beads of sweat rolled off its face. The black liquid was sizzling and pulsing erratically.

"Areanelk jeoiw!" The hobgoblin screeched.

"Shut up," Akali snapped her fingers. Blades of light erupted all around the space. The swords of light shot straight at the hobgoblin. The hobgoblin managed to dodge and weave the attacks as the swords of light continued to rain down on it. Swords impaled and burned the hobgoblin, slowing it down as it continued to dodge for its life.

Three swords shot straight through the legs, dropping the hobgoblin to the ground. Akali clicked her tongue and shook her head. The blades of light stopped mid-flight as Akali moved forward. The hobgoblin gushed evaporating black liquid and blood.

"Who's behind this?" Akali asked. She kneeled down and grabbed at the hobgoblin's face. It screeched as Akali's light scorched its face. Smoke sizzled off as she forced the hobgoblin to look at her. She watched as the black liquid began to swirl in the hobgoblin's eyes. It began to leak out of its eyes and Akali clicked her tongue and let go. The blades of light shot and rained down on the hobgoblin as she stood up.

Akali leaned over to observe the hobgoblin. Its body was pierced in many places and burnt. Akali sighed as she switched her light form off and opened its eyes. She pulled a dagger from her side and ripped the eyes out.

'The eyes are still red. The black liquid started to fill them a bit. I wonder if we can get something out of this.' Akali enveloped the dagger in light and quickly slipped the dagger back into its slot. She pulled a bag out and threw the eyes in it.

"Can I salvage anything else that might be useful here?" Akali muttered. Her eyes caught something moving in the distance. Akali stood up straight and watched the bushes moving. "Show yourself." A light dagger appeared in her right hand as she stepped over the dead hobgoblin's body. The bush continued shaking as she slowly continued forward.

Just as she was about to throw the dagger, a bleeding male adventurer's head popped out.

"Please... help..." The male adventurer croaked. Akali extended her arm out and observed the man.

'Broken leg, maybe a couple of cracked ribs? He seems to be profusely bleeding, too.' Akali observed. She released the light blade and kneeled down.

"Are you the only survivor?" She asked. The man slowly shook his head and motioned with his head behind him.

"T-there's a couple more... in more critical condition than me... I tried my best to... get your attention..." The man's strength began to slip and his upper body fell onto the floor. Akali quickly hovered herself over the man, checking to see if he was going to pass out.

"I'll administer some healing beads for now. I'm not a doctor nor healer, so I can't help you with everything else." Akali explained. She pulled out from her pouch a green bead and showed it to the man. "Open up." She moved the bead to his mouth and dropped the bead into his mouth. In an instant, the bead dissolved and his body began to shimmer.

The man's bleeding had stopped at the cost of his exhaustion. His eyes slowly closed, falling under the effects of the healing bead.

"It should stop him from going critical. I'll need to find the rest of the survivors and give them a bead. Then I need to call for backup. I hope the students got away." Akali muttered to herself as she stood. She moved past the bushes and watched the bloody scene appear in front of her. Three or four squads were lying on the floor. Blood splattered all over the forest and most were crushed and imapled like the other adventurer.

Akali quickly checked the bodies for pulses and began to administer healing beads for those that were dying. Their bodies shimmered as the healing beads helped pull them away from critical condition. She counted each body she went to until she reached eighteen total adventurers. Out of the eighteen she had checked on, only six had survived the hobgoblin's crushing and impaling power.

Akali tapped her watch. A screen appeared in front of her and she quickly pinged for assistance, showing her location. Immediately a female scout with an eyepatch picked up and was staring at her.

"Number 9, what's your status?" The female scout asked.

"Six people need to be moved back to base..." She began. "Twelve dead from a single empowered hobgoblin. I also had my team of students run back to base."

"Alright, help is on the way. I will look out for your group." The female scout leader nodded.

"I'll survey the area ahead to see if anything else needs to be handled," Akali spoke. The female scout leader nodded and the holographic screen disappeared. Akali stood up and looked around. "Only six survived. If they're healed and taken care of, they'll make great assets to the AA."

Akali moved deeper into the forest, passing the bloody scene. She moved closer to the SW point 4 area. The small minimap on her watch was telling her she was a couple of minutes away. The forest was silent. She spotted goblins and black-veined goblins sprawled around as she closed in on the point.

A couple of minutes went by and she was nearing the point. She slowed and looked around. The forest was opening up to a small clearing in the distance. Akali could hear the quiet sounds of moving and decided to pull her dagger out. She knew her light abilities would only give away the stealth and surprise she needed. She inched closer to SW point 4, hearing whispering.

"How many... dispatched?" A low male voice spoke.

"Forty..." Another male voice answered.

"Good... to collect the... they do..."

Akali pushed herself up against a tree and peeked into the clearing. A large dug-up hole sat in the middle of the clearing. Dead goblins laid around the two men. The two were looking at the hole.

"It seems we were the first here cause two other points just reported they've seen holes just like this, too." The male adventurer in robes spoke. He tapped away on the holographic screen in front of him as the heavily armored adventurer continued to look.

"Were there any other reports? I thought more squads were meeting at this point." The heavily armored adventurer asked. The robe adventurer scrolled and shook his head.

? "I'm not sure, Leonhart. It's getting a bit too quiet, though. The other squads we met up with went silent too."

"Dammit. What happened?"

Akali flicked her holographic screen up. She scanned the area for any allies nearby and noticed three pings around her. She pinged and watched as the robe adventurer's holographic screen made a small ping noise.

"Someone's nearby." The robe adventurer spoke. The two men turned to look around and Akali stepped out with a dagger in her hand.

"L-lady Akali." The robe adventurer stuttered. Akali slipped the dagger back in place and looked around.

"Is it just you two? I pinged three others around me, but you're the only one to physically respond." Akali moved closer to the men and the large hole. "What's this?" The heavily armored adventurer moved forward and bowed at her.

"The goblins and hobgoblins have been coming out of these tunnels. We asked HQ if we should go in and they allowed some squads to go in. They haven't come back up. There were some other squads that were supposed to report back to me after their surveying but they haven't returned."

"You didn't get the notification from HQ?" Akali asked.

"What notification, m'lady?" The heavily armored adventurer asked. Akali sighed and shook her head. She peered into the darkness and then whipped a light blade straight at the heavy man's armor. The armor sizzled and screeched. The heavily armored man jumped backward and the robe adventurer began to look puzzled.

"You know enough to pass as one of my allies, but you aren't good enough." Akali shook her head. "Reveal <strong>yourself</strong>" She pointed her light blade straight at the two men. "Who're you trying to be, shifters?"