Rain continued to inch closer, step by step, until the distance between them felt suffocating. The goblins stiffened, their bodies tense, as if coiled and ready to strike at any moment.

  Rain hesitated.

  He didn’t know whether he should attack first or wait for them to move. His mind raced, weighing the options, but he quickly realized he didn’t even have the luxury of thinking. Time was burning away just like the fortress behind him.

  He swallowed hard and suddenly lunged forward.

  Rain dashed toward the nearest goblin, swinging his sword sideways with all the strength he could muster. The blade struck the goblin’s chest plate with a loud metallic clang—but the goblin didn’t budge. It didn’t even attempt to block.

  It simply stood there and took the hit.

  Rain’s sword bounced off the armor, the impact sending violent shockwaves up his arm. Pain rippled through his hand and shoulder, his grip nearly giving out as his arm went numb, like it had turned to jelly.

  What the fuck?

  Why did it just take that?

  Rain staggered back, retreating a few steps. The second goblin stood directly behind the first, positioned almost deliberately, as if they were forming some kind of crude formation.

  Neither of them attacked.

  Rain’s stomach twisted.

  Were they mocking me?

  Did they already know my attack wouldn’t pierce their armor?

  How intelligent were these goblins, really?

  His gaze flicked to the left.

  Light was already fighting, clashing against the three goblins guarding the other cages. Though none of them were dead yet, the difference was obvious. Light controlled the fight, forcing the goblins back again and again with sheer strength.

  He could kill them.

  If Rain had been in Light’s place, he knew the truth—he would’ve died.

  The realization hit him harder than the recoil from the armor.

  Why had he thought he could take on these two alone? Where had that confidence even come from?

  …Vampirism.

  It had to be.

  Rain turned back to face the goblins. They still hadn’t moved, still hadn’t attacked, and somehow that made it worse. It felt like they were waiting for him to embarrass himself further.

  His stomach clenched violently.

  The hunger surged again, sharper this time, crawling up his spine and tightening around his chest. The scent of blood hung thick in the air—old blood from the tortured men, fresh blood from the chaos spreading through the fortress.

  It flooded his senses.

  The smell slipped into his lungs, into his mind, twisting his thoughts. His body reacted before he could stop it. This wasn’t normal hunger. It was deeper, more invasive, carving into him from the inside.

  Painful. Consuming.

  Rain shut his eyes.

  Then opened them.

  Closed them again.

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  Opened them once more.

  “…Fine,” Rain muttered.

  His voice didn’t sound like it had moments ago.

  He raised his head, locking eyes with the goblin he had attacked earlier, and lifted his sword, pointing the blade directly at it.

  “Do you hear that?” Rain asked calmly.

  The goblin’s expression remained hostile and possessive, but something else flickered beneath it—a faint trace of curiosity.

  Rain smirked.

  So they can understand me.

  “Listen closely,” he continued, gesturing vaguely around them. “All those screams. The yelling. Your fellow men and women burning alive in the flames.”

  The goblins’ faces grew unreadable.

  Rain inhaled deeply through his nose, savoring the air despite himself, his sword never wavering. “Who knew,” he said slowly, “who knew goblins burning could smell so… fantastic.”

  The shift was immediate.

  The goblin’s aura snapped from territorial aggression into pure rage. With a guttural roar, it charged forward, lifting its massive iron cleaver and bringing it down with terrifying force.

  Rain barely dodged in time.

  The blade slammed into the ground where he had been standing a split second earlier. If it had connected, he would’ve died instantly.

  Yet his heart didn’t race.

  Fear didn’t come.

  Instead, a reckless confidence flooded his veins, so intense that he no longer cared whether he lived or died. All he wanted was to push the goblin further. To provoke it. To drown in the chaos.

  “How are you so painfully slow?” Rain laughed.

  The goblin swung downward again.

  Rain tried to dodge backward, and although he managed to avoid the worst of it, the cleaver still nicked his leg, slicing just deep enough to draw blood. The sharp sting was immediate, and it was enough to drag Rain partially back into reality.

  If he stayed on the defensive like this, two more hits—maybe even one—would cripple him.

  Rain staggered back again, widening the distance until there were roughly five feet between them. His chest rose and fell as he forced himself to look past the goblin’s weapon and focus on its armor. The chest plate was solid, thick iron, but it didn’t cover everything. Below it, the goblin’s lower stomach was exposed, a narrow gap of green flesh left unprotected.

  It would be difficult to hit.

  But it was the only option he had.

  The goblin didn’t hesitate. It swallowed the distance between them in an instant, but instead of another overhead swing, it twisted its body and slashed sideways. The cleaver cut through the air with a heavy whoom, the force of it loud enough to be felt more than heard.

  Rain didn’t dodge.

  He couldn’t.

  Instead, he raised his sword and met the attack head-on.

  The impact sent a violent jolt through his arms as steel slammed against steel. The goblin didn’t recoil. It leaned into the clash, forcing its weight forward, boots grinding against the dirt as it pushed Rain back step by step.

  Rain’s heart pounded wildly. Sweat ran down his temples and soaked into his clothes, and his arms still felt unsteady—half numb, half burning—from the earlier blow.

  He was losing this exchange.

  There was only one thing he still had over the goblin.

  Speed.

  Keeping his blade locked against the cleaver, Rain shifted his grip and suddenly twisted his wrist, snapping his sword sideways with everything he had. The sudden movement knocked the cleaver off line, forcing the goblin’s attack wide.

  Before it could recover, Rain surged forward.

  The goblin had overcommitted.

  For just a fraction of a second, its guard was open.

  Rain took his chance.

  He poured everything he had into the swing, driving his blade into the goblin’s exposed stomach. The sword cut deep, slicing into flesh, but before Rain could follow through, the goblin lashed out again. Rain barely avoided the counterattack, stumbling back as the wounded creature roared in pain.

  Dark blood poured from the gash in its stomach. The goblin let out a broken, animal cry and collapsed to one knee.

  Then the second goblin moved.

  The one that had been watching the fight surged forward without hesitation. Rain raised his sword to block, but his arms were heavy, his breathing ragged. The clash sent him skidding backward, boots scraping against dirt as he barely kept his footing.

  So… hungry, Rain thought.

  He glanced to the side and saw Light standing over two fallen goblins, locked in combat with the last one. Light was winning—but not fast enough. If Rain could hold on just a little longer…

  The goblin charged again.

  This time, Rain couldn’t deflect it.

  The thick iron blade tore across his right arm, slicing through flesh and drawing a rush of blood. Pain flared instantly.

  “Fuck,” Rain gasped aloud.

  He forced himself to breathe, gripping his sword with both hands as his arm throbbed and blood dripped steadily to the ground. Every drop only sharpened the ache inside his chest, that deep, gnawing hunger clawing at his thoughts.

  Rain lifted his gaze to the goblin.

  There was only one way this ended.

  As the goblin lunged again, Rain met the attack head-on, deflecting the first swing. The second came immediately after, heavier than the last, rattling his arms to the bone.

  Then came the third.

  The force was overwhelming.

  Steel slammed against steel, and Rain was driven to the ground, his sword knocked aside as he crashed into the dirt. The goblin loomed over him, raising its iron blade high for the finishing strike.

  Rain closed his eyes.

  This was it.

  A second passed.

  Then another.

  Why… why isn’t anything happening?

  Rain opened his eyes.

  The goblin lay sprawled across the ground, blood pooling beneath it.

  Standing behind the corpse was Light.