Setsuna didn't have much interest in conversing with gods.
To him, the gods of the Goblin Slayer world seemed somewhat unhinged.
These lunatics who treated worlds like board games might harbor some bizarre ideas.
Just to be safe, before setting out, he went to the library to consult Lucoa.
The dragon lady was instructing Nia Honjo on writing in the Tome of Revelation.
Seeing Setsuna, she looked a little surprised.
"Ara? Setsuna-kun, it's been a while, hasn't it? I heard you went to play with big robots before?"
"What did you bring me back this time?"
Lucoa had no interest in the fights and killing outside.
Her greatest pleasure was lounging in the library, checking out whatever strange new artifacts Setsuna brought back from other worlds.
Setsuna never forced this lazy, monk-like dragon girl to do anything—she made a great guardian for the house.
"Observer and Kayo Senju are still studying the stuff from the Transformers world. It's all purely tech-based; probably not your thing."
"This time, I'm going to a world with gods. I wanted to ask you something."
Setsuna briefly explained the situation in the Goblin Slayer world.
He was mainly concerned about whether the gods there would notice his and his companions' sudden arrival.
After all, that world functioned like a divine chessboard, where heroes and demon kings were basically pieces.
In a sword-and-magic world, a bunch of aliens showing up in spaceships would definitely look suspicious.
If the gods took notice, there might be some moderate trouble.
"Hm?..."
Lucoa tilted her head, thinking for a moment, then opened her sleepy eyes.
"You've become more mature and cautious, Commander."
"..."
Setsuna grunted, accepting the compliment.
Before visiting any world, gathering intel was essential.
He had to be responsible not just for himself, but for all the expedition members—eliminating every possible risk.
"A commander who truly considers his comrades is adorable!"
The dragon girl pounced, hugging Setsuna and patting his head.
Just like he would hold a destroyer girl and pet her head.
Setsuna felt like he got run over by a big truck again.
He had no idea why a rugged man like him was being called adorable.
It took considerable effort to extract his head from Lucoa's chest—he was almost suffocating.
Too big.
Among the dragon girls: Kanna was A-cute, Tohru was D-just right, and Lucoa's G was frankly excessive.
It could kill a man.
Taking the opportunity, Nia pulled out some draft paper. Her mind flooded with big-girl-crushing-little-boy story ideas, and she began furiously scribbling.
"I'm trying to ask something serious here, thank you! And Nia's still watching!"
Setsuna cleared his throat.
"Hm?"
Lucoa let go of him, sat on the desk, and pondered seriously for a bit.
"Don't worry. From what you've described, the gods over there aren't omnipotent. You're from another world, after all."
"Their dice-rolling games among gods can't affect you. They don't have the ability to interfere with your fate."
"Unless you flip the table, at most they can only mess with you under their world's rules—like maybe dropping some monsters in front of you."
"Hmm..."
Setsuna thought it over.
"So as long as we don't start an interdimensional war, it should be fine."
He wasn't worried about standard monsters from the Goblin Slayer world. With the Eternal Snowfall carrying Tohru and Mio, they could handle any number of them.
"Right. If you're still uneasy, I do have a spell you could use."
Lucoa thought for a bit and pulled out a magic book.
"That one I gave you a long time ago?"
"Ah?!"
Setsuna racked his brain and finally remembered: after returning from the Date A Live world, he had unlocked enough entries in the species index to receive a special reward.
It was a system-modified spellbook: Presence Concealment.
It could take effect even against high-ranking gods, making them unable to sense his identity and ignore his presence.
Everything he did in that world would be twisted into "reasonable behavior."
Much like Tohru's cognitive distortion spells.
He had handed the book to Lucoa long ago and forgotten about it. Since the next few worlds hadn't involved gods, it had never come up.
If Lucoa hadn't pulled it out, he might've forgotten it even existed.
"You've already mastered it? Can you teach me?"
Setsuna felt this spell would be essential when visiting future worlds with gods.
At least he wouldn't be immediately targeted by gods or bizarre entities, letting him act freely.
Might even allow for some creative shenanigans.
"Of course. Call Mio, Tohru, Elma, and the others over."
...
The spell wasn't hard to learn.
A few days later, Setsuna emerged from the Grand Library with the Spirit of Origin and the two dragon girls.
He summoned the expedition team, along with shipgirls, Spirits, and Heroic Spirits, gathering in front of the plaza.
Everyone looked the same as usual.
But others quickly realized they could no longer sense anything from them.
Normally, Spirits and Heroic Spirits could sense each other's power levels—but now, not even a trace of spirit or magical energy was detectable.
As a top-tier system spell, it completely hid all true information.
To others, their status screens now appeared as nothing but "?" marks.
"Could be useful in some game worlds..."
Setsuna calmed his mind, activated his Authority, and space above him began to distort.
Boom—
A dazzling, multicolored space-time corridor burst open.
[Earth - Goblin Slayer, space-time tunnel established.]
"Let's go!"
...
Goblin Slayer World.
Royal Capital.
It was early evening. The bustling city was teeming with people.
Adventurers in armor, mages with staffs and hoods, hunters with bows—they were everywhere.
Shining-armored soldiers stood atop the city walls, spears and shields in hand, patrolling in groups.
Laughter and shouting came from the taverns, while the Adventurer Guild teemed with parties accepting quests.
It looked like a typical sword-and-magic world.
"Tsk tsk tsk, kind of like Tohru's hometown, huh?"
High above the capital, the Eternal Snowfall cruised slowly, its optical camouflage activated.
The companions aboard curiously observed the scene below.
In terms of city size, the capital here was about the same scale as the Akame ga Kill Empire. But the species variety was much richer.
In the city, you could see many unusual demi-human races:
Lizardmen, tigerfolk, dwarves, elves, and more.
Humans coexisted peacefully with them. Many adventurer teams were made up of mixed races.
Strange magical beasts also roamed the surrounding forests.
"Let's get to business first."
Setsuna activated the Eternal Snowfall's scanning system.
Every time they entered a world, it was crucial to first assess the environment and confirm the timeline.
Shu—
A stream of data flooded the starship's holo-display.
It scanned the entire capital and surrounding areas thoroughly.
The onboard AI helped Setsuna analyze potential threats nearby and search for any targets he had in mind.
In the interstellar age, there was no need to ask locals for directions—just scan from orbit.
Bzz—
An invisible beam enveloped the capital, scanning every person in the city from head to toe.
Suddenly—
[Confirmed: Target Found.]
[Target located 76.2 kilometers to the northwest.]
The AI marked the location on the holographic interface.
"Target? I thought we only had a few we needed to find in the Goblin Slayer world..."
Setsuna was confused and zoomed in.
Near a cave halfway up a mountain, an adventurer party was preparing their gear.
From the goblin corpses at the cave entrance, it was clearly a goblin nest.
The party included a warrior in armor, a mage, priest, archer—a standard configuration.
After checking their gear, they lit torches and entered the cave, laughing and chatting.
Clearly, they didn't take it seriously.
"!!"
Setsuna suddenly noticed a blonde ponytailed girl in light armor, wielding a scale sword, among the team.
Her pretty face had a hint of charm, and she looked very young—likely a newly minted adventurer.
She followed the others cautiously into the cave.
"Hah?!!"
Setsuna confirmed the information repeatedly, then slapped the control console.
"Eternal Snowfall, full speed ahead!"
Boom—
Plasma burst from the starship's rear thrusters, propelling it forward.
Winds howled over the capital below.
The citizens looked up, sensing only a wave of heat in the air—nothing unusual.
"What did you see?! Commander?"
Jeanne Alter, Tohru, and the others were startled.
"I spotted the Sword Maiden, factory-fresh."
"Hurry up—if we're late, she'll end up as a mining card. I don't want a second-hand ride."
...
Step—Step—
In the dark, treacherous cave, the Sword Maiden—or rather, the girl destined to become her—and her party advanced deeper inside.
A warrior in heavy armor led the way.
Behind him were the girl and the other adventurers, with a mage bringing up the rear.
Clang—Slash—
From time to time, a few small goblins leapt out from the corners to ambush them, but were quickly sliced into pieces by the warrior's sword.
"Tsk tsk tsk..."
"What a boring commission."
The warrior at the front, carrying a greatsword, walked carelessly, opening the path.
The weak goblins posed no challenge and gave him no thrill.
For this team, ranging in rank from iron to bronze, such a minor quest was clearly beneath them.
Still, it was a chance to show off a little in front of the girl—not a bad deal.
"If we keep doing jobs like this, when are we ever going to rank up to Silver..."
The hunter yawned, casually pulling his bow and shooting a goblin in the head, pinning it to the wall.
"No way. You'll never make it to Silver by hunting goblins. Not in this lifetime."
The mage clicked his tongue.
"These small commissions are worth so few points. Even if you wiped out every goblin in the country, you still wouldn't hit Silver."
Adventurer ranks were determined by the guild based on completed quests and overall societal contributions, evaluated through assessments.
Goblin slaying barely ranked above catching thieves or clearing slimes—just slightly better grunt work.
Any trained adult male could handle them. Most adventurers didn't even bother with such missions.
Even when goblins occasionally caused havoc in towns or villages, kings and nobles paid them no mind.
Compared to demon gods and other monsters, goblins were just not that big a deal.
The group chattered idly as they delved deeper into the goblin nest.
The smell of blood in the air grew stronger, making the sword girl shiver involuntarily.
"Careful."
"It's nothing. Just a bunch of little pests."
Her teammates clearly didn't take goblins seriously.
"Small, weak, and stupid—couldn't even beat a gate guard. Heh."
The warrior struck again, cutting down a few more goblins.
Laughing, he kicked their corpses aside.
Then he turned and glanced at the girl gripping her scale sword nervously.
"What are you scared of? Think the goblins are gonna kidnap you or something?"
"...~..."
The girl frowned in disgust.
She'd heard the stories—what happened to girls captured by goblins.
Used as breeding tools, discarded or eaten when the monsters were done.
Fates worse than death.
But only rookies got caught like that. Seeing her strong teammates around her, she felt somewhat safe.
"Move it. Let's speed up. This cave goes deep—there might be some treasure inside."
The warrior picked up his pace.
He even shouted provocatively into the depths of the cave.
"Slow down. Watch for traps."
The mage warned.
"Those brainless monsters wouldn't kn—"
He didn't finish.
Click—
The ground under the two frontmost adventurers suddenly gave way. They plunged into a pit lined with spikes.
"What the—!!"
Crude, sharp spears punctured the warrior in several places.
He tried to curse, but realized the tips were poisoned—his strength drained rapidly.
"!!!"
Before they could react further—
Gya gya gya...
A chilling screech echoed.
From both sides and deeper within, a large number of goblins charged out, wielding spears, swords, and bows.
They had green skin, ugly faces, hunched backs, and wore expressions of savagery and greed.
Their eyes gleamed with bloodlust as they stared at the adventurer party.
"It's an ambush!!"
The team's formation collapsed instantly.
The warrior stuck in the pit was brutally skewered by goblins from head to toe.
Another adventurer tried to draw his bow to cover them—
Swish—Swish—
Several goblin arrows struck his limbs, and in mere seconds he was swallowed up by the mob.
Thump—Thump—
A rumble echoed from the depths of the cave.
A giant goblin lumbered out, carrying a wooden club larger than a person.
It wore leather armor and stood several stories tall. One casual swing reduced an adventurer to bloody chunks.
Goblin King!
The sword girl and the remaining survivors felt ice in their veins.
They had never seen such a creature!
Weren't goblin nests supposed to only have those small, weak, ugly creatures?! Why was this monster here?!
Boom—
Two more teammates were crushed by the Goblin King's club.
Male adventurers were just meat to the goblins.
The sword girl tried to flee.
Whiz—Thud!!
A stone from a sling struck her leg and head with precision.
She collapsed helplessly.
It was over!
As the goblins closed in, only one thought filled her mind.
Everything had happened in minutes—they'd stepped into a goblin trap.
If they'd been more careful, they might have stood a chance against the Goblin King. But now, it was too late.
They paid the price for their arrogance.
There was no escape, no resistance.
The girl closed her eyes and prayed to the gods.
Her final act of hope.
Suddenly—
She had only uttered a few lines of prayer when—
BOOM—
BOOOOOM!!!
The cave violently shook.
Crash—
Chunks of rock rained down.
"An earthquake?!"
Even the goblins stopped, glancing around in confusion.
Zzzzzt—
A crimson energy beam tore through the mountain above.
The starship's supergravity cannon sheared off half the mountain, revealing the cave below with a smooth cut.
For the Eternal Snowfall, digging through caves was too much hassle. It was easier to slice the mountain.
Many goblins caught in the energy blast were instantly vaporized.
"???"
The goblins stared dumbfounded at the sky, unable to comprehend why their mountain home suddenly had no roof.
This was a cave halfway up a mountain!
They looked up at a colossal starship, blotting out the sky.
Its cold metal hull shimmered with a faint blue glow.
The goblins lacked the intelligence to understand what they were seeing, but instinctively, they were terrified.
Some fired arrows, threw stones, or cast fireballs—but none even reached the ship's shields.
"Gross."
Tohru, Elma, and the others frowned as they watched the cave interior.
There were remains, and some captive goblins.
"Didn't dragons used to eat goblins? Want me to catch you some for a snack?"
Jeanne Alter teased.
"Who would eat that?! Totally different species, okay?!"
Tohru grimaced.
"Our goblins just pick fruit and fish. Taste like beef or fishmen. What is this trash?!"
"Besides, ever since I became the Commander's maid, I haven't gone hunting even once!"
The Heroic Spirits and shipgirls didn't quite follow, but it seemed Tohru had experience with eating other races—typical chaotic evil dragon.
Setsuna didn't join in the banter.
Click—
Point-defense turrets under the starship locked onto targets and unleashed a volley of kinetic rounds.
To avoid friendly fire, this was the weakest weapon onboard.
Boom boom boom boom...
Splatter—
A thick blood mist rose in the goblin cave. Anything hit by those rounds left no remains.
The Goblin King lasted no longer than the rest. Its magic-resistant body was nothing against near-light-speed kinetic slugs.
Another chunk of the mountain was carved away.
After the bombardment, the terrain was cratered and riddled with holes. Every goblin was dead.
"???"
"Is this... did the Supreme God answer my prayers?"
The sword girl stared in a daze.
She looked up, mouth agape, eyes fixed on the starship.
She had hoped a god would answer her plea and destroy the goblins with divine intervention.
What came instead was a spaceship.
The goblins were wiped out efficiently, sure—but this was not what she imagined.
What the heck was going on?
Did... did the Mecha God answer my prayers instead of the Supreme One?!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven