Return of the Woodcutter

'Time for round 2,' or so he thought would happen immediately after absorbing the souls. 

But as his ability to think properly came back to him, and with his newly acquired ability to sense souls, he knew it wouldn't be enough. Not if he wanted to do what he had previously planned. 

Hobgoblins were everywhere, and their numbers reached well above a thousand. He couldn't tell exactly how many, since his range of detection couldn't go that far. 

However, he could sense that as soon as there was some free space, hobs would step inside his range, which could only mean that there were much more of them than he had originally expected. 

With nothing else that came to mind, he turned back his attention to his soul, in search of an answer it could perhaps provide.

Power originating from all the accumulated energies surged inside Aito's body. His soul vibrated with excitement, like every fiber of his being.

United and forming a single entity, he perceived every minute detail that had been kept from him before. 

Surplus of mana and soul power fueled his damaged organs, muscles, and bones. 

Progressively recovering his five senses, the battle sounds around him that had been but tiny background noises a few moments ago rammed into him like a truck, plunging him back into the gory material world. 

As his body healed itself, he could see hobs breaching the allied defenses. Challengers had been forced to spread around in groups. Some unfortunate ones were furiously fighting alone, soon to die. 

He could feel again the iron taste of blood akin to defeat pressing against his dried tongue. 

Bathing in crimson liquid, his armored head moved to the side, scratching the once sparkling marble floor, the coldness biting into cheeks through his opened helmet's visor.

The putrid stench resulting from the evacuation of human fear invaded his nostrils as he took a better look at his surroundings, searching for a soul he was linked to, the one desperately calling for help. 

There, amidst the corpses, Aito's gaze laid upon a paralyzed Ogoro. Next to him, another familiar soul was fiercely fighting to keep her dearest one safe from harm. 

Wearing shredded and damaged armor parts. Out of ammunition. Riddled with wounds. Sheyla wielded two long daggers, hacking and slashing hobs in a flurry of blades despite her apparent exhaustion. 

"You will not have him!" She shouted, her blue eyes radiating with fury. 

Unlike most other female challengers, she has been able to escape raping thanks to her poison resistance. Next to her were George and his remaining teammates, defending the same area.

Seeing the ones—Aito had sworn to save in front of Valinar—in a precarious situation, he slowly clenched his fist, thinking about the goddess watching from the side and how difficult the task would be even with a level up. 

'I need… more…,' he thought, his statement resonating with his very soul. Hearing his call, his soul vibrated and started compressing the unusual excess of energy, slowing down the normally near-instantaneous recovery provided by a level up. 

The blue light emanating from his body faded, retracting into himself through his pores. Mana, soul force, and the excess of soul essence that have been escaping were sucked back inside.

Traveling through still-recovering mana circuits into Aito's bosom inhabited by a core. One that was already undergoing a drastic change, expanding beyond its very limits. 

"You little pieces of grey shit!" George said, casting five twirling water bullets that instantly pierced five hobgoblins' heads. Then, using his remaining mana, he summoned a high-pressured water wall to replace the disappearing one, preventing hobs from flanking them. 

"We have to run!" Jean-Paul said, activating her skill Power Slash, slaying two hobs in one strike. 

"No!" Sheyla replied, "He will definitely come back!" 

"The black challenger is dead!" Fritz replied, stabbing an enemy with his rapier. Out of arrows, he couldn't use his bow any longer. "Abdul is dead! Hundreds of challengers are dead! And everyone will soon die if we don't—"

Taking advantage of the teenager's talkativeness that distracted him, one hob plunged a dagger through an unprotected area, stabbing Fritz's stomach. The young man spat out blood, spraying it all over the hob's face. 

"NOOO!" Jean-Paul exclaimed, rushing madly to Fritz's side, hurling hobs left and right with her heater shield and longsword.

The teenager fell, mouth agape, eyes widened with fear of death. All of this seemed to happen in but an instant, though, to him, the fall was gradual and painful. 

Watching from the floor, feeling his strength slowly returning to him, Aito started moving. Clawing the marble covered with blood in search of something to support his rise. 

But his core was already saturated, filled to the brim with condensed energies, and could no longer expand, denying him his wish. 

At that moment, his gaze met Ogoro's eyes, full of despair. Behind the blurry curtain of tears, the grey-haired man saw something move. Someone. Even though his eyes showed him the impossible, his heart refused to admit it. It refused all hope despite its yearning for it.

'… power,' Aito said to himself. His soul pulsed violently in response, the signal spreading to his entire body, ordering again for more energies to gather in one place. 

Next to Ogoro, George tried to close the breach caused by Jean-Paul breaking the formation. He couldn't condemn her for it, though. His heart ached as much as hers at the sight of Fritz's fall.

However, George alone wasn't able to compensate for the lack of manpower. Try as he may, hobs got through, overwhelming all of them. Powerless, he had no choice but to watch the horrors occurring near him. 

Eager to satiate their desires after such a long battle, some hobs rushed past him to the struggling Jean-Paul, surrounding her on all sides. Having developed a poison resistance, they weren't able to paralyze her. 

And so they swarmed the female warrior, forcing her down to the floor. Undressing her of everything they considered unnecessary and acted upon their impulses. 

Aito gritted his teeth at such a horrible sight. Struggling with the incomprehensible phenomenon inside him, he could barely move.

'More!' He thought, his soul pulsating a signal of denial. Even though it wanted to help, there was nothing it could do when already filled to the brim with energies. 'I know! But this is not enough! Just look at George struggling despite his level 2! I, WE need more! We can do this!' 

His soul stopped responding as if it was focusing on something. The flux that prevented soul essence, soul force, and mana from escaping decreased drastically. 

'No, no, no! What are you doing!?' Three different energies slowly but surely started to make their way out of his body. 'We cannot give up now!'