Luka slowly raised Oblivion before his face, the black blade glowing with a faint magenta light, reflecting his crimson eyes along its edge. Blood dripped from his chin, while smoke billowed from beneath his gambeson.

’This filthy, disgusting abomination!’

Despite his miserable condition, Luka’s focus and grip remained unchanging.

The Goblin Shaman continued its mockery atop the shrine, while dancing within the chaotic swirl of Miasma, unaware of Luka stealthily devouring it.

"Kihihihihi!"

Luka’s expression darkened.

He swallowed the cold, foul-tasting air and moved.

The ground burst beneath his feet as he charged forward once more.

A trail of dark-red smoke followed behind him.

"Protect Lord Luka, keep them away from him!"

Gerard’s roar echoed from the left flank as several knights immediately forced themselves forward to intercept nearby goblins trying to cut Luka off.

No matter how tired the men were, with Gerard and Luka’s rallying Miasma, their bodies rapidly recovered, practically forcing them to follow.

It was a cruel but necessary evil.

"Move, you disgusting bastards!" Iris buried her axe into a revenant goblin’s jaw, ripping it free as she hopped from head to stone, rushing towards Luka and Brea with a ferocious scream.

Meanwhile, Galatea rushed out from the rocks, slamming into a goblin with her shoulder, lifting it off the ground with great force.

The Goblin flung against the wall, slipping down.

Shhkk!

A sharp elven blade pierced through its throat the moment it landed.

Her blonde hair whipped wildly behind her as she raised her greatsword above her head. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"-Wait! It’s me!" Luvia crossed her daggers to block the incoming strike.

"Ah... Forgive me, for I couldn’t tell the difference." Galatea snorted before turning to the central pillar of the shrine. "Let’s clean these things up, so he can focus on the battle, Dark elf."

The disgusted tone lingered whenever she spoke to Luvia, but the Dark elf took it in her stride, smirking as she twirled her daggers.

"Hmph!"

Her golden eyes shone with wisdom.

"Jealous little knight."

Galatea’s shoulders shook, but she continued heading towards the flock of goblins fighting on the stairs.

"Hah!"

The next moment, her blade exploded with force before ripping through two charging goblins hard enough to tear their bodies apart.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Luvia appeared atop the wall beside her, glancing down at the messy corpses.

"What a brute..." She murmured, before sinking into a dark emerald mist once more.

"Tsk, ignorant wench."

Luvia ignored the attempts to insult her and crouched along the walls, keeping her daggers loose, spinning them between her slender fingers.

Her golden eyes never left the Goblin Shaman.

"...there!"

Atop the shrine, the Goblin suddenly screeched.

Its swollen stomach convulsed grotesquely beneath layers of rotting robes.

Then several undead goblins hurled themselves directly toward Luka without fear for their own lives.

Their bodies were already expanding.

"That won’t get me twice!" He roared.

Luka quickly slashed across the air, unleashing two crescent slashes with two beautiful arcs of magenta flames that followed his blade.

The moment the flaming crescents struck the undead goblins, Luka twisted his wrist sharply.

’Remember the feeling!’

He traced the flow of his Miasma, remembering every burning moment of pain when he activated the devastating slash while in his Wrath form.

Then let it unfurl from within.

"Inferno!"

BOOOOM!

He compressed Miasma within the slashes, which exploded instantly upon impact.

The first revenant Goblin burst apart mid-leap while the second was swallowed whole by magenta flames before its unstable corpse could erupt. Burning flesh and blackened bone lay scattered across the shrine steps.

The shockwave forced nearby goblins backwards.

"Krrraaagh!"

Several stumbled directly into Galatea’s path.

A cold glint flashed through her blue eyes.

"Hmph."

Her greatsword descended vertically.

"Die, die, die!!"

CRASH!

The stone stairway cracked beneath the impact as three goblins split apart alongside it. Purple blood splattered across Galatea’s gambeson while the remaining creatures recoiled instinctively from her overwhelming aura.

It was as if she transformed into a banshee, her eyes pouring with tears, her lips twisted into a bizarre shape with each Goblin she killed.

"Never again, Never again!"

Meanwhile, Luka continued charging straight ahead.

His breathing grew rougher.

The heat within his abdomen brewed itself into a smouldering furnace.

Each pulse of Dark Red Miasma spread further beneath his skin like molten cracks threatening to tear his body apart from the inside.

Yet the Goblin Shaman still laughed.

As if it didn’t care, only existing to revel in chaos and death.

"Kihihihihihi!"

Its twisted fingers pointed directly toward Luka before dark Mana gathered once more around the corpses littering the battlefield.

Luka’s expression twisted violently.

"...Again!?"

Suddenly, a green mist surged upward behind the shrine.

Luvia emerged soundlessly from the shadows.

Her golden eyes gleamed sharply.

"There you are."

The Goblin Shaman’s eyes widened as it finally sensed her presence.

Shhk!

One dagger pierced straight through its shoulder while the second slashed across its back, tearing through rotting robes and darkened flesh.

"KRRRRAAAAAA—!"

The creature shrieked violently.

Its spell collapsed instantly.

Luvia hopped in the air, smashing the Goblin towards Luka with a kick.

Luka’s eyes widened.

’Now!’

He slammed his foot against the final stair and leapt upward toward the shrine.

Oblivion sliced through the air straight toward the Goblin Shaman’s neck.

"Gigigi!"

The Goblin’s eyes widened, bloodshot and murky, enduring the pain from Luvia’s sudden assassination attempt. Yet instead of retreating or falling into panic, it tossed its staff in the air before forming a strange hand gesture.

A grotesque smile stretched across its face as a bright blue Mana crackled from its wounded fingertips.

"KRRRRAAAAK!"

Luka’s instincts screamed.

The Goblin swung its arm towards Luka.

Crackle!

A violent arc of lightning burst from the tip of its fingers.

The luminescent purple lightning twisted through the air like a living serpent before instantly multiplying into branching streams.

"Chain Lightning!" Galatea shouted.

The spell struck Luka directly in the chest.

His body convulsed mid-air violently as a thousand volts of pure electric devastation devoured him. Electricity surged through every nerve and muscle at once, while the black-red Miasma coating his body exploded chaotically outward.

Yet Luka refused to let go.

"AAAAAH!"

His muscles tore themselves apart as the lightning surged through him. Blood exploded from reopened wounds while the scent of burning flesh spread across the shrine.

But his sword never stopped moving.

Oblivion howled.

The black blade carved downward through the storm of lightning with violent momentum. Crimson Miasma erupted around Luka’s arm as Wrath forced his body to continue despite the damage.

In an instant, the Goblin’s disgusting grin vanished.

Its eyes widened in genuine fear.

Shiiing!

Oblivion severed straight through the Goblin’s left arm at the shoulder.

Dirty purple blood spurted outward.

"KRRRRAAAAAAAK!!"

The severed limb spun across the shrine while the Chain Lightning instantly destabilised from the sudden interruption. Wild arcs of electricity scattered across the wooden structure, blasting apart pillars and corpses alike.

The lightning jumped towards nearby corpses, towards Galatea and anything nearby.

BOOOOM!

Part of the shrine collapsed inward.

Galatea crossed her greatsword defensively just before the spell slammed into her armour. Purple sparks exploded across the metal while her entire body skidded backwards several metres.

"Tch!"

Meanwhile, Luvia vanished into emerald mist moments before the lightning reached her previous position.

The lightning faded into the air, leaving behind the foul scent of burnt flesh. Luka landed heavily on one knee directly before the screaming Goblin Shaman, smoke rising from his charred chest as electricity still crackled faintly across his body.

"Haa....Haah....damn Goblin....!" His breathing ragged and uneven, yet he remained focused, eyes locked onto the beast which glared at him like a murderous rival.

The Goblin stumbled backwards while clutching the ruined stump spewing corrupted blood.

Luka couldn’t help but smirk, his lips twisting much like the Goblin’s from a few moments earlier, distorted and like a beast relishing in the chaos.

It looked afraid.

Once again, Luka raised Oblivion vertically in front of his face, the Magenta flames now several inches in size and extremely dense.

Its remaining hand twitched violently while corrupted Mana leaked uncontrollably from the severed shoulder. The black smoke surrounding the shrine had become unstable after Luka’s strike, pulsing wildly with every movement within the fog.

Knights, warriors and goblins clashed in the darkness.

Yet Luka slowly stood.

Even after enduring Chain Lightning directly.

Even with smoke rising from his burnt flesh.

He stood.

"...What’s wrong?" Luka asked quietly, his voice hoarse from the damage to his lungs. "Aren’t you going to laugh again?"

The Goblin screeched furiously before trying to gather Mana once more.

Yet the moment it raised its hand, Luka dashed forward, his foot splitting the fragile rocks beneath him. An overwhelming pressure exploded outward from his body as only Wrath surged violently through his veins. Crimson-black Miasma coiled around him like living flames while Oblivion emitted a piercing hum.

Luka slowly tilted the blade downward toward the Shaman.

His crimson eyes glowed brighter beneath the dancing magenta flames.

"Your kind should’ve stayed buried in the filth where you belonged."

The aura erupting from Luka blasted shattered wood and corpses away from the shrine entirely. These uncontrolled emotions flowed like a raging river breaking through a dam, surging from his abdomen to his limbs.

"Goblins should never have existed!"

He thrust his blade without mercy.

The Goblin’s disgusting, murky eyes widened as it gasped for air.

"Die!"

His words carried the loathing and hatred carried deep within his heart after watching Galatea and Iris suffer in their past lives. He even thought about the lost knights, villagers and hunters who likely perished without a chance.

He twisted the blade.

The former Archangel let his emotions free.

In such an explosive display that even the nearby goblins recoiled instinctively.

For that single moment.

Stood amongst the flames, lightning and swirling Miasma, Luka resembled something far more terrifying and omnipotent than a wounded human lord.

It was as if jet-black wings grew from his back.

Blood poured from the Goblin’s mouth as his blade destroyed the Goblin Shaman’s heart.