Goblins fled from Daggat's presence like cockroaches in light. He strolled forward with confidence, using his telekinesis to spear a goblin or two.

These creatures were high-level, sure. But it's not like they were threatening. Most didn't use proper weapons. They avoided anything dangerous-looking, instead piling up on confused humans.

Most of the humans that fell to the goblins were the same humans they had brought with them. They simply didn't care. At least Daggat's humans were keeping their heads. All in all, the battle was going well.

Behind all the noise, he could hear Pote telling a story about a dwarf exploring a tunnel. It gave every ally night vision, or dark vision in Daggat's case. Simply to further remove the obstacle of vision.

"Excuse me. Which one of you messed with my humans?" A familiar voice asked.

That nilbog from earlier had made its way into the village.

The assistant floated next to Daggat, "Ooh, it's that guy. Do you think that's the apex of the hypnotic gaze? Oh, to your left."

Daggat speared a foolish goblin who was creeping towards him. It took a couple of tries; the goblin was quick. "Hey there. That would be me."

Its eyes locked onto Daggat, then they began to spin. Daggat activated his own hypnotic gaze.

He could feel himself being drawn into those eyes. It was indeed a more powerful version of his own.

"To the right, Master." Daggat looked away long enough to scare off a bugbear who was rushing around roaring.

"Who are you?" The nilbog asked.

"Glad you asked. You may remember me. Daggat's the name."

"DAGGAT?! The pompous gremlin who called himself boss?"

"Oh, you DO remember me. It must be an honor."

"Hardly. I was but a gremlin then, too. It is I, Spoggles!"

Daggat blinked at him, trying to remember, "Uh… who?"

The nilbog sputtered, "Spoggles! Leader of the Sharpes!"

Daggat looked to the Assistant, "You got any ideas?"

"Beats me."

Daggat turned his attention back on the furious nilbog, "Look, I don't know who you are. But, since you're here, how come you're leaking chaos essence?"

The essence leaked from him, drifting up and adding to the cloud overhead.

A hobgoblin jumped out of the shadows then, ready to stab Daggat in the back. An arrow caught it in mid-air, taking it down. The hex aura in action.

"Nilbogs are creatures of chaos! And thus it fills my core." Spoggles answered.

"Neat. How'd you get the Vaelion thing? Don't you need that for choosing Nilbog?"

"Why should I tell you? You are the inferior hypnotist. I knew your trick right away! But, still, everyone always whispered Daggat this or Daggat that. No one feared Spoggles, as they should! Thus, I have perfected your own skill. I took over when you died… or, didn't die, I guess."

"Oh, I died. No worries there."

The nilbog looked frustrated, "Why aren't you falling to my will?"

"'Cause I have an ogre."

"Fine! If you won't tell me… Kor! Kill him!"

Daggat turned to see who he was talking about. Just then, the troll hurled a boulder directly at his head.

Klaw appeared out of nowhere and caught it. For a moment, Daggat was left speechless by how utterly… cool he looked. Flaming blade-arm things, drake-like armor, and just the sheer weight of him that dug into the earth.

"Oh, thanks, bro," Daggat said, realizing Klaw just saved his life.

A spectral counterattack slammed into the troll, then Klaw was gone again.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Spoggles yelled.

Daggat rolled his eyes, "A paladin. Keep up. Now, one moment while I deal with this troll."

Kor, the troll, was just as shocked as everyone else when a draconic suit of armor appeared out of nowhere, took the boulder, hit him with an attack, and then disappeared. Blood ran down his face where Klaw's retaliation did damage.

Daggat lit a bomb with a thumb, then tossed it, "Catch," he told the troll.

It did. His awe-inspiring aura granted a measure of trust, and the instinct to catch something tossed is pretty strong. The troll peered at it.

"YOU IDIOT, DROP IT!" Spoggles roared.

The troll dropped the bomb, but it was too late. It exploded, breaking a few of its fingers and scattering death bone splinters over it. They looked like little spots of pepper.

Daggat ran at it, fully aware that Klaw was going to be angry at him later for killing the troll. He led with a lunge. His telekinetic strength was too much for Daggat's body, so the spear dragged Daggat along, sweeping him off his feet for a moment. That could be useful, if used properly.

At the moment, however, it threw off Daggat's timing. Which was all well and good, because a large tooth soared through the space where Daggat thought he would be. The tooth bounced off the troll and exploded.

Daggat hissed as tiny teeth bits stung at his face, but it was only a graze.

The troll, furious to have been blown up twice, slammed downwards at Daggat, who rolled out of the way. He left the spear where it was, then telekinetically thrust it upwards. He did not have the mental strength to damage the troll, but it distracted him.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

To Daggat's horror, he noticed the troll's broken hand snapping back into place. It had some sort of healing ability.

Another blow from the troll was narrowly avoided by Daggat, blocking it by pulling his spear to him and bracing it at the last moment.

It continued thrashing him, slamming down at Daggat with fury in its eyes. It was strong, but so was Daggat now. Still, he could do nothing but block attacks with his magic ring-reinforced spear.

A stabbing pain pierced his shoulder. One of the teeth. Panic gripped him. It was lodged in his back. If it blew, that would be it. He could not use telekinesis on multiple objects. If he focused on the tooth, the troll would crush him.

"Klaw!" he yelled desperately. Nothing.

The Assistant started screaming, "MASTER! Get it out! Get it out! Get it out!"

"YOU GET IT OUT!" Daggat yelled in frustration. He felt a sharp pain as the tooth was yanked from his back.

"…Oh?" said the Assistant. It sounded as though its mouth was full.

The tooth was floating a foot away from him… in the mouth of the assistant. Daggat didn't do that... he was still using telekinesis on the spear.

When it blew, tooth shrapnel tore at Daggat's back. But that was only flesh. He would live. But that did give him a moment's lapse in concentration. He failed to brace against a wild troll swipe. The attack was still blocked, mostly, but the force sent him tumbling through the air.

He landed on his feet.

Pleased with his act of acrobatics, he followed through with the momentum into a short flip. It was a small thing, but the little progress was satisfying. Soon, he would need an acrobatics skill to continue to grow.

The toothy hobgoblin was not far from him. He watched him tear another tooth explosive from his mouth. The other teeth he had used were already growing back.

It threw the explosive with precision, and, once again, the Assistant caught it in his teeth. Daggat reacted immediately. He grabbed the tooth and then threw it telekinetically back at the hobgoblin.

It landed in the creature's gaping mouth with an "urk!".

The explosion set off all of the remaining teeth, vaporizing the hobgoblin.

"Was that you?!" Daggat yelled at the Assistant.

"I… think so, Master."

A rock floated up and around the Assistant. Daggat's eyes widened. IT could use telekinesis, too? And separately from him? The implications of this were astounding… and useful. Still, the idea somehow filled him with dread.

Wind and light filled the area. Hunter had cast his spell and was collecting flames. The troll walked towards him, completely unhurt. Daggat had a sense of where the flame was heading and had an idea.

"Distract the beast, we're going to roast it," Daggat said.

Picking up on Daggat's plan, the Assistant knew everything Daggat knew; of course, he began to laugh.

The troll and the goblin met halfway. Daggat had superior reach and mobility, but the troll was tough and strong. The Assistant threw stone after stone at his face, eyes, and such.

After rolling away from an attack, Daggat grabbed a deathroot bomb from the inventory.

The Assistant grabbed it, lit it on the swirling snake of fire, and smashed it over the troll's head.

Roots grew out of the nooks and crannies of the troll's stone-like flesh, binding and catching him. It slowed, and Daggat found his moment.

He thrust with all of his mental effort, aiming for the stomach. The spear stuck a foot into the troll, who roared in pain and frustration.

Then, Daggat lifted it. Its will was low, but still, he might not have been able to lift it alone. But he moved the spear, and the assistant assisted by lifting the troll itself. Combined, they outmatched gravity. The troll screamed again as roots bound his limbs to his side. It hung in the air helplessly. They followed the serpent of flame that was heading towards the hole, then Daggat pushed the troll into it. He locked the spear in place to ease the strain on his mind.

There, he kept the troll aloft as fire poured over it. Daggat ignored the heat; he was resistant. Though that resistance was put to the test when the hole bloomed with even hotter fire. He was forced to drop the troll and retreat.

[You have slain - Stone Troll, level 16. You have gained experience.]

He wasn't sure if he would get the credit or if Hunter would. He was glad it went to him, even though it didn't matter. He turned to Hunter.

"WONDERFUL! This is why you're my favorite oni, Hunter." He said.

Then Daggat sagged. He was tired already, and his everything hurt. He had several small wounds. But, looking around… the goblins were now solidly losing.

"Impossible!" Spoggles yelled from his perch.

"Are you still here?" Daggat called back. "Is all you do watch?"

"No… that is not all I can do," the nilbog said.

"Oh, that's not good. Behind us." The Assistant said.

Willow and Willow's wolf, Moss, approached. Each of their eyes had the faint glow of chaos. Daggat REALLY hated mind control. When other people did it. But, this Spoggles person was not the most clever of nilbogs.

"Oh, hey. What's up?" Daggat said to Willow.

"Nothing much. Come here, we need to show you something." He said. Moss took a step closer.

Daggat opened his mouth to say something, then used lunge to propel himself towards the Nilbog. No way was he going to waste time fighting Willow. He aimed upwards, allowing the spear to carry him up. Then, he locked it, swung off the spear, used telekinesis to bring it into his reach, and then launched again. The technique worked better than he expected.

Willows trident sailed past him, then disappeared in the air, likely returning to his hands as it had before.

Spoggles looked shocked, then started to run. After another flip from his spear, Daggat landed with a roll and withdrew his last two bombs. Wordlessly, he lit them both, and both he and the Assistant used telekinesis to guide them towards the creature.

Was it a waste to use two bombs? Yes. Did he care? No. Daggat was getting annoyed. The first bomb exploded behind him, causing him to tumble forward and scream in pain. Daggat guided the second bomb directly above him.

This bomb bloomed into a giant ball of spiked bone, impaling the nilbog beneath it. It was as though the explosion froze mid-boom.

[You have slain - Nilbog, level 15. You have gained experience.]

Daggat relaxed. He glanced back just in time for Moss to nearly run him down. His face still had the mark where Klaw had cut him. The wolf licked Daggat once, then backed off.

"Whoa… didn't expect that. You good?" Willow asked from atop the mount.

"Yeah. How's your side going?"

"We killed a few dozen orcs, then they retreated. I've never known orcs to be cowards, but I'm glad for it. How's your side?"

"I don't know. I've been focused on the inside. I'll-"

Just then, the gate door exploded open. A large, four-armed figure roared as it crashed through. It wore armor made of rusted blades. Hogo. Smoke drifted off of him. He appeared singed, and webbing clung to him.

Behind him was a pack of bugbears streaming into the village. About two dozen of them. The last of the assault.

"Oh. I was wondering where he was."

A distant explosion popped outside the village, then a moment later, a pink mass hit the ground next to Daggat with a splat. It hoped right up on its feet. Elyndris.

"Boss is here." She said.

"I see that. How's everyone?"

"Uh… I don't know. Is Anath dead? She might be dead. And Zuss is hard to feel sometimes. I killed SO many goblins. I didn't know how fun you would be to blow up!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.