The pressure continued to pile up on Rick, but while he didn’t have the decades of experience that someone like Minister Franc had, he was still a King.

  This wouldn’t be enough to rattle or sway his focus in any way shape or form.

  Especially when things were going according to plan.

  Yes…being pushed back like this was apart of the plan.

  Rick wasn’t stupid.

  He knew full and well, where he lacked as both as a fighter and a leader, and he worked constantly to try and get better at both.

  And he also knew pretty well that fighting a maddened beast wasn’t the same at all at fighting someone who could think and plan just like he could. Especially since over the last couple months he’s been sparring with his Royal Guard nonstop.

  But he also knew that it would be hard to get his hands on any type of manual for spear techniques without literally breaking into a shop somewhere in another country. Too risky.

  Yet here was the perfect whetstone.

  A Tier Seven human who was clearly a practiced swordsman. If all he could do was learn from experience, then at this point in time there was no greater source of experience than the man before him.

  And it wasn’t just for him, all of the Goblins on the battlefield now were all here to both kill the enemy and protect their King and lands, but to also gain invaluable experience in fighting against humans and other sentient races.

  Now of course Rick didn’t go into the battle telling his Goblins to allow themselves to get damaged, nor did he plan to do the same to himself.

  Every single wound he picked up was a genuine one since he was trying his very best to not only avoid getting hit but to kill his opponent. But the gap of natural Tier governed power between them was already wider than what just Ruknar could help to keep up with, but when proper techniques were added, the gap between them only widened further.

  So while Rick was trying his best, he was prepared for the event that his opponent would be too much for him.

  They were all prepared for it.

  Which was exactly why there were two Chiefs for each Tier Seven human.

  And something that could’ve been a long and bloody battle, was reduced to something that only lasted a few powerful and fatal moments.

  Despite their advantage in technique, weaponry and armaments, two Tier Sevens vs one would almost always result in a loss for the lone combatant, today would be no different.

  While their King was being pushed back and receiving wounds all over his body, the Chiefs fought with even greater force and power than they probably needed to. Due to that, their respective battles were finished quickly.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  The amount of power and mana being put on display would’ve looked like fireworks to Rick if he had time to focus on the battles happening around him.

  Even the fights below the Seventh Tier were a display for multiple different abilities. Especially when considering the fact that Rick’s flames were dancing among both the Goblins and the humans.

  With the former being strengthened and the latter slowly fighting with maddened rage.

  But Rick still had no time to worry about any of this.

  ‘Velora, are you still not able to keep up with him?!’

  [No! I don’t think I’ll be able to, he’s too fast and I don’t think it’s a skill helping him either.]

  ‘Dammit! How much longer do I need to hold on?!’

  [Chief Grul is already on his way over!]

  As if right on que, a mass of darkness appeared just behind Minister Franc, and a muscular green arm wielding a sword shot out of it with all the intention in the world to decapitate the Minister.

  But again, the Little Killer proved he was not a greenhorn when it came to battle.

  Even while still engaged with Rick and pushing him back, he managed to sense the attack and while delivering a kick to the chest of Rick and pushing him backwards.

  He used the force of the kick to spin himself around and he quickly parried the attack of Chief Grul with practiced ease then distanced himself from the battle without missing a beat.

  And it was a good thing he did so, since more Chiefs showed up around Rick in that moment.

  Minster Franc observed them with silent glare, and his only response to their arrival was to ready his sword once more.

  Only this time…the amount of mana being gathered around him had reached new heights as it began to take on a feint light blue hue.

  Not quite like water but more like…

  “Frozen World!”

  Minister Franc roared out as he slammed his sword into the ground and a chill unlike anything any of these Goblins ever felt before spreading out from the sword.

  They barely got time to react before actual ice followed it up and quickly began spreading like a web in all directions, and every single thing that was touched began being covered in ice as well.

  The danger was apparent.

  “Protect the weaker Goblins!!”

  Rick yelled at his Chiefs while he simultaneously began pouring everything he had into his flames to combat the ice and keep it at bay as it spread without a care for friend or foe.

  At the same time, Minister Franc didn’t just stand still.

  He had a goal here, and he knew that returning home without completing it would only end one way.

  The Minister had been the one to place the recon teams around the Dark Lands of Mir, and he had read every single report that came to his desk in the last two and a half years.

  Every single one.

  So when suspicions of a Tier Seven Goblin potentially dwelling within the Dark Lands of Mir reached him, he knew it was time to put some plans into motion.

  There were some holes in his plan, but he felt his assumption that the potential Tier Seven Goblin was the new Goblin King, and he would be the only one present.

  It was only after reaching the Dark Lands of Mir and engaging with Rick that he came to learn the gravity of his mistakes.

  They didn’t just have one Tier Seven…they had 6. Six of them were here and not a single one of them was the Goblin King.

  That position was clearly reserved for the one who came out to talk to them in fluent Verdanian. Another thing he couldn’t have possibly accounted for.

  Even the initial bravado he displayed was nothing more than a ploy to gauge the reaction of the being in front of him.

  But things spiraled further from there. The King was of the Sixth Tier, there was no doubt about that, yet he was able to keep up enough to ensure he didn’t die a quick death, despite the gap in power and technique.

  All in all, the situation was bleak and there was likely no winning here.

  The Knight Commanders were dead, the companies were in disarray, and he was surrounded on all fronts by Goblins on the Seventh Tier.

  Yet…the Litter Killer did not feel like hope was lost.

  For his sword was still in his hand.