Harem Online: My Party Is Full of Beautiful Celebrities-Chapter 39: Their Tango

[The Dark Blue Goblin Boss (Elite) Lv. 5 HP: 1000/1000 MP: 750/750]

Across from the doorway, in the middle of the crude throne room, sat a human-sized goblin. A torn strip of leather covered his crotch, but otherwise he was naked, showing off thick muscles bulging along his arms and a six-pack hard as armor.

His skin was dark blue, yet the muscles and veins running across it glowed under the bright blue crystal light.

Despite such an impressive build, his face was the very epitome of goblin ugliness. His sharp features made his downward-hooked nose look like a broken blade, and his long lips stretched into a monstrous smile.

The Goblin Boss sat on a throne carved from a thick blue crystal vein. It had been crudely shaped and left full of rough edges, yet those edges only chipped under the monster’s weight and thick hide, showing just how tough he was.

The rest of his throne room looked no better.

Huge heaps of crystals had been piled into small mountains behind him, as if to flaunt his power and wealth. Some had been fused into makeshift pillars, but with so many broken shards scattered at the base of each one, the pillars looked anything but majestic.

A sour, rotting stench clung to the air. Somewhere behind the crystal heaps, bones and spoiled meat had been left to rot together.

Even so, the room bore a clear human touch. Countless human statues carved from crystal stood scattered across the chamber. Some clutched their throats, some reached out for help, and some were half-broken, perhaps to make the room look even crueler.

[Chaosgraphy: That’s what happened to the miners working here. Goblins evolved to neutralize the crystallization debuff, while humans suffered until the very end.] 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

[NukEncore: That’s awful.]

[Kill Clause: The craftsmanship is good.]

[Emperoar: Oi. Show some empathy, girl.]

The Goblin Boss’s eye twitched as the humans across from him barely reacted to him. Yes, they had looked him over from head to toe, but they did not seem intimidated or even interested. Instead, all their attention had gone to his throne room and the victims of crystallization.

NukEncore’s face softened, and even Martin’s gaze lingered on the crystal statues. Only the elf woman looked on without a trace of pity.

Yet in his eyes, that same woman, the hottest of them all, seemed the coldest underneath.

The Goblin Boss liked that cold look. He wanted to see that one kneel.

But ignoring him was the worst thing they could have done.

They deserved punishment.

"Kill them already!" the boss shouted.

Armored goblins slid out from every corner, from behind crystal pillars, from between jagged cargo heaps, and from the shadows near the walls. They did not rush in as a messy mob. Long spears leveled first, splitting into two lines around the center as they tried to box Martin’s group in, while swords followed behind with the rough discipline of guards who had done this before.

Martin reacted instantly, stepping forward before the others could.

[Emperoar: Run at the boss, Chaos!]

In that single moment, he decided to send Chaosgraphy at the boss and force him to show at least one of his tricks. Two vulnerable ranged classes stood behind him, and only a single duelist stood at his side. One wrong call here would get someone killed.

He had to decide instantly.

BANG!

Martin slammed his foot onto the rough floor and rushed into the left lane with his shield angled forward. Bulwark Rush flared around him, strengthening his body before he crashed into the monsters. Their spears and swords could not withstand Martin’s shield and brute force.

At the end of the rush, Martin used the last of his 100% increased STRENGTH buff to hurl his shield into the other lane. It struck a goblin soldier with a loud bang, then ricocheted through the rest, stunning them one after another.

In the gap between those two lanes, Chaosgraphy remained untouched.

A late spear thrust scraped through empty air where she had been a heartbeat earlier. The stunned goblins could only twitch and stagger as she slipped through the gap, body low and blades ready, before any of them could recover.

As the boss rose from his throne, crystal cracked beneath his weight, and the nearby goblins flinched aside to clear a path for their ruler before Martin’s thunderous roar shook the room.

"THREAT!"

The boss’s cold, gleaming eyes locked onto Martin.

"You go through me first," Martin said, raising his sword while his shield still ricocheted through the other monsters.

Gripping his crude crystal throne, the boss ripped off a piece of it and fashioned it into a thick, needle-like blade. Then he charged at Martin with shocking speed.

Martin braced himself. Parrying with a sword was not something he was proud of, let alone good at. Still, he believed he could at least stop the boss for a few precious seconds before his shield returned.

Yet something unexpected happened.

Before the boss could bring down his crystal blade, Chaosgraphy cut across Martin’s front.

Not only did she take Martin by surprise, but even the boss himself had not expected such a bold move. She cut across Martin’s path at the last possible second, and the boss barely had time to turn before her twin swords drove into his stomach. Her twin swords cut deep into the monster’s abs, drawing fountains of blood that splashed across her chest and wings.

[Critical Strike!]

[Bleeding inflicted.]

[The Dark Blue Goblin Boss HP: 846/1000]

Her smile widened as if the enemy’s blood were her fuel.

"It takes two to tango. Could it be that you’ve forgotten that?" she said, quoting the line of the villainess she loved from the book.

A sharp thrill shot through her chest.

Blood is warm, my swords are buried in real flesh, and there’s no green screen or director in sight. It’s a game world, but it feels so real and exciting. I love this thrill!

Martin licked his lips. "How could I, when you’re my partner?"

Chaosgraphy chuckled and planted her foot against the boss’s stomach, kicking him away. Her swords slid out of his flesh, tearing the wounds wider.

[Bleeding worsened: Severe.]

[The Dark Blue Goblin Boss HP: 818/1000]

The boss looked at the duelist. "You wounded me. A strong woman? Disgusting."

"Oh? So Clause only counts as an elf to you because she looks weak? That explains a lot," Chaosgraphy sneered.

Crystal plates pushed out of the boss’s skin with sharp crackles, sealing over muscle and blood alike. In seconds, a layer of shining armor encased his body.

Chaosgraphy narrowed her eyes. I used his speed and inertia against him. I doubt I could’ve cut that deep without the perfect momentum. And now he’s armoring himself? Good.

"You think he’s wary of me, or does he just not waste time on foreplay?" Chaosgraphy asked Martin, who had already stepped in front of her with his shield raised.

"You’re just not his type," Martin chuckled.

—

Meanwhile, NukEncore and Kill Clause were left to fend for themselves.

The sudden shift caught NukEncore off guard. Martin had been the wall in front of her this whole time, and seeing him choose Chaosgraphy over her sent a small, bitter pang through her chest.

Kill Clause snapped her out of it. "Focus, NukEncore."