Return of the Woodcutter

Having prepared for a breach in advance by freezing the ground, Aito had an easier time dealing with hobs coming from the gap in the double door. 

Hobs slipped upon touching the ground, turning them into easy targets ready for the picking. But more and more died. Their corpses progressively covered the frozen marble floor, serving as a bridge of sorts for new hobs to cross. The frozen floor was no longer a viable defense. 

Moreover, he had attracted the attention of the whole hob army, turning him into the #1 public enemy. 

Hacking left, right, front, and behind, Aito was attacked on all sides. The activation of the Suicidal Horn had brought relief to the other challengers but placed a heavy burden on his shoulders.

Hobgoblins pouring out windows went for Aito, rushing at him like he was the most delicious treat in the Tower. 

Challengers realized something had changed when hobs stopped attacking them. They took this opportunity to kill some hobs and were met with fewer resistances. 

The hobs that were attacked would turn towards them and defend themselves. However, the others would continue to rush towards Aito. 

Understanding it was their chance to counterattack, challengers redouble their efforts in slaying hobs that, too busy running after a more enticing meal, fell by the dozens.

Exhausted, some also took this opportunity to rest, falling behind the defensive lines where the wounded laid on the floor. Certain challengers had yet to develop the Poison Resistance passive skill and were entirely paralyzed. 

From the chandelier, Sheyla watched Aito struggling against the swarm. Challengers indeed made a difference, lessening his burden. Aito was fighting well, however, for one hob that fell, two others took its place. 

If he continued like that, even if it was him, it could get more dangerous than it already was for him. 

Ogoro was too far from Aito to provide support and too busy with hobgoblin slaying.

Other archers had just run out of arrows and proceeded to the ground floor to fight with melee weapons. Despite replenishing their mana with mana cores, mages were tired. 

The paralyzed challengers were in the process of taking antidotes. Others had pushed themselves too much and had entered a feeless state due to using their reserve of soul power to the limit. 

Aito appeared to understand that he risked death by staying in front of the main entrance and started to retreat to a more secure location. At least he tried. 

Hobs wouldn't let him move an inch. Uncaring for their own lives, they jumped at him with crazed gazes. 

Enemies who accepted death were already hard to deal with, but those who did not care for their own life were even more fearsome. 

Fear could be a decisive factor in a fight. It could make one's opponent hesitate, doubt, show weakness, etc. But hobs appeared to be devoid of it. 

Having made her decision, Sheyla shifted her attention to the hobs coming for Aito. She drew her repeater and, aiming at those to his left side, unleashed bolts after bolts, lessening Aito's burden slightly. 

By now, piles of corpses were built up. Agile and nimble, it didn't bother hobs one bit as they climbed or jumped past them. 

Nearby, wearing a full plated armor, riddled with a few wounds and bruises, George slammed two hobs with his giant club against a cathedral wall. His gaze laid upon Aito and it took but a moment to see that he was in trouble. 

'What's got into those hobs?' George thought, crushing two hobs' skulls under his heavy club. 

More were coming by the window he was guarding with his team, all heading for the same target. 

'We can't let too much of them pass, or Aito would be swarmed. I don't know what he did, but it seems to be working for now.' With those thoughts, he ordered his teammates to redouble their efforts in killing more of the grey pests. 

He instantly cast two high pressured water bullets that pierced two enemy heads. Almost out of mana, he switched to melee and bashed his enemies. 

Aito looked left and right. Hobs on all sides with no end in sight. He didn't know how many they had killed or how many were left to kill. But what he did know was that if he wanted to live, plugging that damn hole was his top priority. 

His head started spinning. Having used Whirlwind for too long, he needed a break. Amidst two strikes, his eyes laid upon Filona's ugly stone tits, giving him an idea. 

He deployed his shield, infused aura in it. Upon impact, a powerful shock wave cleared the way to Filona's statue as he took advantage of this small window of opportunity to dash to his target. 

Aito rapidly reduced the statue's weight by 3.5 times and lifted it. Bulging veins appeared on his face because of the sheer effort. 

Using Filona as a club, he sent at least eight hobs flying with a single swing. The double door was already breached, so keeping the statue as a support frame was a waste. He had another idea in mind, anyway. 

Once he had cleared enough space, giving him some breathing room, he quickly took out a spell bead and threw it near the breach. 

Suddenly, an earth wall rose from the marble ground to plug the hole and provide support to the double doors. 

'That should lessen my burden for a while,' he thought, gripping his Filona-club tightly before swinging it. 

It was heavy and slow, yet extremely effective. The two massive stone boobs even added to its lethality by acting like two hammers. 

Filona-club's only downside was that it required a lot of effort to wield. Aito activated Pneuma, welcoming the small boost of stamina, and continued the killing. 

***

Outside the cathedral, the hobgoblin ninja heaved an unsatisfied groan as it realized that a bit more than half of its troops had been decimated. 

It never knew humans could put up such a fight. Normally, they'd all run and avoid confrontation. Just what was happening inside, exactly? 

The hole they had painstakingly made had been plugged by some magical earth wall. Where did it come from? 

What's more, its troops were madder than usual. Even it felt a sudden urge to speed up towards the cathedral, like something was calling for it. 

However, since the ninja was special, it resisted the call somehow until now. But there was definitely something suspicious happening inside that required investigating. 

Growling, it activated its innate ability, Partial Invisibility. Its grey body with strays of gold immediately turned transparent. It was still visible, but harder to see to the untrained eyes. 

During the daytime, it was easier to spot it when the ninja used Partial Invisibility, but nighttime gave it an edge over its preys. 

Moreover, it could activate the cloak's special effect that would allow it to turn entirely invisible for some time. That, though, was only reserved for tough opponents or escaping. 

The ninja nimbly scaled down the rooftop, jumped, and landed with ease on cobblestones before running at incredible speed towards the cathedral. 

Its subordinates wouldn't listen to it, so it dodged them, jumped on their heads. Its agility was such that it moved practically unimpeded despite the ridiculous number of hobs in its way. 

Once it arrived at the foot of the cathedral. It pushed aside two hobs, drew two daggers, and started climbing. 

Arriving near a window, it stealthily examined the hall filled with disgusting yet tasty humans. 

It believed that there were two hundred of them left alive. No, there were fewer. With so many piles of corpses around the place, it was hard to judge accurately at first glance. 

The ninja's gaze shifted from left to right, examining the different fronts the battle was fought at. It quickly found the problem. 

A sudden urge to run at a man wielding a… statue as a club filled him. For some reason, it wanted, no, needed the human's blood to cover the floor. It desperately wanted to bathe in its guts. 

Why? It didn't know. But what it knew was that if it took down that man, the other humans would follow. 

Humans inside the hall appeared extremely tired already. What a good opportunity it was. Moreover, its kin seemed inexplicably attracted to that man wielding the statue. 

Yes, the ninja was more than certain that if it killed him, victory was its! Hobgoblins would no longer be mindless and swarm the others. 

With a target in mind, it jumped down the window, its powerful legs propelled him on a pillar. It stabbed its two daggers into the pillar to prevent it from falling, then jumped on a nearby chandelier. 

On it, the ninja slashed the rope by which the chandelier hung to the ceiling just before jumping on another chandelier. 

Down below, several challengers turned into scrambled eggs as a chandelier smashed against the ground. 

The ninja spread chaos this way, dropping one chandelier after another, killing dozens of challengers this way. 

It finally reached the chandelier next to the main entrance. However, someone else was on it already, a human female with blue eyes that was shooting projectiles after projectiles. 

She looked deliciously pleasing to its eyes. The ninja licked its lips, thinking about all the pleasure it'd take from ravaging her. But now was not the time. 

It stealthily approached the woman, prepared its daggers coated with poisons, and proceeded to slash a shallow wound on her neck. It intended to keep her alive. Also, a shallow wound in this area would make its poison reach her nervous system faster. 

Too focused on her task, the female human didn't react in time to avoid the blow. However, instead of being paralyzed, she turned towards it and searched for a potential enemy. 

The ninja stayed still, but somehow the woman saw it!