They were going to lose. The non-stop group of screaming goblins pushed in from every side. It was like a tight crowd of rough clubs and angry faces.
Eric's arm with the shield was bleeding a lot. Each time he blocked, it sent new pain through his body.
Jin's leg was making him slow. It turned his exact moves into bad, hard tries. Erica's breath came in short, rough gasps. Her mana was almost gone.
For every goblin they killed, two more came to take its place. They could not win by making them tired.
But Dante did not plan to fight in a fair way. A cold, clear idea came through the mess. 'I can't fight them on my own, but I don't need to. I have an army ready to make. I just need the bodies.'
"Erica! Masha!" he yelled. His voice went through their hard fight. "Put your fire on the spot right in front of Jin! Don't spread it! Give me a stack of dead bodies!"
They looked at him. Their eyes were big with surprise. He was telling them to leave their sides open. It was a bad idea.
"Are you nuts?" Masha shouted back. She just moved away from a swinging club. "They will run over us!"
"Jin! Eric! Keep that line for ten seconds, no matter what!" Dante told them. He did not listen to her. "Talia, fix any open spots!"
They did it right away. Their trust in him was the only thing keeping them as one.
Jin and Eric got ready. They became a wall of metal and strong will. Erica used her last power and sent out a lot of fire. It was a big wave of flame that went over the goblins running at the middle.
At the same time, Masha hit her hands on the ground. A bunch of sharp ice points came up in the same place. They stuck the ones that lived through the fire.
For a few bad seconds, their walls broke. Goblins came into the open spots.
WHOOSH.
A club went past Talia's head. It was so close she felt the air. She turned into a fast mover. Her foil went out to hit the new dangers.
But the plan did its job. In front of Jin and Eric was a burning, frozen pile of at least twelve goblin bodies.
That was what he needed.
"Now!" Dante shouted. He stepped up. He held out his hand. For the first time, he did not just watch the fight. He got in it.
He went for his power. Not with his head, but with his heart. A cold, black energy like wet shadow sat in his chest. It felt like it wanted to eat.
He sent that energy out. He put it into the pile of dead ones.
The air got very cold. The ground under the bodies got dark like it had ink on it. Then, with bad sounds, the dead goblins started to move. There were dozens of them.
Snap. Crack.
Their heads came up fast. Their broken arms and legs pulled them to stand.
Their eyes, once black and small, now had a dead, purple light. They were not goblins anymore. They were his tools.
The live goblins stopped. Their screams went away. Small cries of fear came instead. They looked as their dead friends, now moved by his dark power, turned to them.
"Kill them," Dante said. The words had a strong echo.
His new dead army ran forward. They felt no hurt, no fear. A goblin hit with its club. It broke the arm of one tool. But the dead one kept coming. It tore at its old friend with the hand it had left.
The fight changed fast. It was no longer ten of them against a big group. It was a wild fight between live and dead. His team was like the cutters.
"Now we hit back!" Dante yelled. "Use the good spot!"
They got new energy. The team started a strong attack back. Jin fought next to one of the dead ones. He used the empty tool as a block for a hit. Then he turned to cut open another goblin.
Erica laughed with dark happiness. She could now send her fire in a wild way. She hit parts of the field without worry of hurting friends. His tools could be thrown away.
Masha made a group of goblins freeze hard. One of the dead helpers just ran forward. It broke their frozen bodies like glass with hard, breaking hits.
Talia moved through the mess like a dancer. Her blade found the neck of every goblin that looked away at the bad sight of their brought-back family.
The goblins got scared by this dark magic. The full attack was too much. They lost their brave feeling. They let go of their weapons and ran in all ways. They screamed in fear.
"No ones left," Dante said. His voice was cold. "Find them and kill."
What came next was a big kill. His dead tools felt no tiredness. They chased the running goblins. His team killed any that stayed.
In minutes, the area was quiet. Only the sound of left fires and the hard breathing of the team.
The ground had bodies all over.
When Dante let go of his hold, his dead tools fell down. They became dead piles of meat again. The cost was small. It took a little of his energy. But the win was big.
He thought 'So that's how I let them go, but I did it by mistake. I need more control over my power. I need to find a way so they stay with me. Anyway, they were no use as they were weak and lost most of their arms and legs'.
When the rush went away, they stood with the dead. They had hurts and were very tired, but they won.
From every dead goblin, a bit of clean energy started to come up. It filled the air with a soft, shining mist. There were almost forty.
"The Goddess said how to get strong," Dante said. His voice went through the quiet area. "This is our prize. Take it in. All of it."
One after one, they paid attention. They pulled in the energy of the dead. The feeling was great.
It was a warm, strong flow that went through their bodies. It filled their lost energy and closed their small cuts and marks.
It felt like drinking from a spring of pure life after walking in a dry place.
They stood there for a long time. They let the power stay in them.
They had met their first real test and came out not just alive, but as better hunters.
This was their first take, and Dante knew it would not be the last.