If there are evil creatures, it is the duty of the warrior party to defeat them. Therefore, we decided to stop and subdue them.
The goblin's traces were so easy to find.
They didn't seem to know how to clear their path. Well, that's only natural, since even humans, unless they're professional hunters, don't know how to do that.
But since we're on our way to the treasure trove, shouldn't we at least hide some traces?
'Something feels ominous.'
It would be a simple task, but I feel like there might be some difficulties waiting for me.
"There's a cave here."
Camilla muttered, pulling down her hood. She seemed annoyed by the wind hitting her face.
When we discovered a den that was more like a cave than a cave, we set up an ambush in the grass a little way away. It would be a bad idea to rush in without thinking.
"It looks like a small hole, not a cave. It's barely big enough for a person to fit their body in."
"Probably dug by goblins. Like ants."
Goblins are usually very small, so they can use narrow spaces with satisfaction. If necessary, you can have them do the work with captured human slaves.
"Ugh… . Look over there. I guess those people are the mothers."
Near the goblin's lair, there were various 'decorations' hanging.
Humans with their legs and arms tied. All of them had dead eyes. They were either giving up on life or they had no choice because of their posture. They were lying around like luggage.
Was she raped by a goblin? Judging from her belly that hasn't bulged yet, she seems to be far from being pregnant.
'Disgusting.'
It's clear that goblins have low tastes, but decorating dismembered corpses seems excessive.
Is it for provocation? Or is it to threaten?
"Oh there!"
"Are you a scout? Let's hide deeper for now. "
Contrary to expectations, they were not scouts. They were there for a more lowly purpose.
A girl with a body similar to a goblin was dragged out of the small entrance, as if she were a burden.
If I were to get rubbed bare-handed, I would scream in pain, but I seem to have lost that ability. It's not like I can do it when blood is pouring out of my neck.
"These filthy things… . I can't stand it anymore!"
No, what are you doing?
Elisa jumped up from her seat and fired an arrow at the demon. This drew the goblin's attention in her direction, but she let go of his hand as if nothing had happened.
"Keeeek!!!"
Paaat—! The arrow's shape blurred for a moment, and then it lodged itself in the mouth of the screaming goblin. It was so deep that the tip pierced the back of his head.
"Keep on! Keeek!"
"You idiot! What are you going to do if you suddenly start acting up!"
"Are you scared of just that number? I think I can wipe it out by myself?!"
Pababababat! As if she really wanted to make those words come true, she started firing arrows in rapid succession.
One shot, one shot. The arrow sliced through the air, piercing the goblin's eyeball or neck. If the arrow did not miss, it meant immediate death.
A 100% accurate, fatal arrow. It was a firepower that the goblin could not withstand with its armor, which was limited to covering its body with leather or grass it had picked.
'But you know what? You made a mistake.'
Elisha, for someone who was attacking from the rear, struck too far forward.
At the same time, as if poking a beehive, goblins rushed out of the small cave. Elisa's arrows blocked the entrance, killing two or three at a time. However, they could not completely stop their advance.
"Keeek!"
"Intruder!"
"Kill him! Kill him! "
To save her, the rest of the party ran out, but goblins appeared from somewhere and grabbed their ankles.
"What the heck! Where did they come from? And there are so many of them!"
"It's an ambush! It seems like they already noticed our arrival."
"No, there's no way Elisa would miss that!"
They were armed with cotton cloth and looked like they numbered in the hundreds. They were about 1.5 times larger than a normal goblin. Naturally, they were stronger than that.
'Is there another Demon King watching the warrior party besides me?'
It's probably Heizen Uruk. They probably used surveillance magic and teleportation magic to launch surprise attacks.
I think he was trying to create a siege by provoking the entire party, but he was only half successful.
"Stop bothering me and get out!"
Goblins hiding in the trees and bushes and rushing at him with screams could be a nuisance to Sloan.
Her sword strike split five of them at the same time, but she didn't give in and charged forward. Sometimes, she would intelligently widen the distance slightly to lure Sloan to another place.
'…Looking closely, it looks like that guy strengthened it.'
They say that the stronger the mother, the stronger the next generation of goblins will be. That guy must have caught a strong female adventurer and bred her several times.
'Was it a trap? They knew the warrior party would pass by here… Then there's a high chance they're nearby.'
The fact that such elite soldiers have been deployed here means that the bastard has something in mind.
And this number! It's much faster than Sloan's killing speed. There must be hundreds of them in the cave. Plus, the place itself is too narrow for a wizard to sweep them away in a wide area.
'You've really prepared thoroughly. How many weeks ago did you start building it? Unless you dug a passageway connecting it to another place, this number can't be explained.'
The surprise teleport was truly groundbreaking. Not only did it isolate Elisa, but it also occasionally appeared with a time difference to target magicians and healers.
Some guys appeared behind me and swung things like clubs. I took them out without much effort. If this is how it is, I'm in trouble too.
"Where the hell…! This kind of trash!"
The goblin was intelligent enough to make tools, so he hid in cover and rushed at Elisa when she was about to re-string her arrows. He too was often kicked by her long legs, and her jaw was often dislocated. Just getting close to the archer was a great achievement.
'What should I do? Our Elisa… Party members can't help you. If you use magic, you'll get caught up and get hurt. The warrior's sword strike is sharp, but it's honest and doesn't increase your speed.'
Five of them die every time Sloan's sword strikes, but more are coming.
In the end, it means that I am the only one who can help her. I quietly spread my magic power through my body. It would be bad if I die here. You have to help me kill the Demon King!
"Elisa! Wait! I'll be there to help you right away!"
"I will go."
"That won't do. We can catch this number in no time."
As he said, no matter how many goblins there are, they can't stop Sloan. If they're skilled enough to kill the Demon King, they'll rescue Elisa in no time if they try a little harder.
But if it was Uruk Heizen who did this, he wouldn't let it be. He would lead Elisa further and further away. He would send his powerful subordinates to stop Sloan somehow.
Therefore, only I, who can hide my appearance, can solve this problem.
There is only me.
'You can't just help me here.
I plan to be a little more dramatic. I plan to create a situation where I will be in big trouble without the help of others, and then I will attack in earnest.
Not only Elisa, but this party of warriors will become dependent on me. If they do, they will turn their backs on me.
'The supporting actor just showed up.'
Kuuung—! With a vibration, a green muscle mass that looked to be easily over 3 meters tall appeared from the widest entrance of the cave.
Elisa aimed her bow right away, but the ogre's body shook and the distance suddenly narrowed. This was also a teleportation spell.
"Ogre…? Why is it here!"
Of course, goblins are pack animals. To unite this many, a strong leader is needed.
The powerful leader, the ogre, was holding a wooden spear in one hand. As long as the creature was, the spear was also about 3 meters long.
"Elf, seed carrier."
The ogre suddenly appeared and swung his spear. Elisa quickly jumped back, but was unable to do so because several goblins suddenly appeared nearby.
Boom! The terrible impact from that large body was transmitted as is. Elisa's body flew up like a bird! A normal person would have been turned into a handful of blood by that one blow.
"큭"
Just before the collision, Elisa managed to slightly increase the distance, and thanks to that, she was able to slightly avoid the collision. However, she ended up losing her bow and arrows in the process of flying several meters and hitting the ground several times.
"hwa, bow…."
"Elisa!"
It is said that elves only use one bow in their entire lives. They say they make the bow using their mother's hair.
When you see him get up and try to pick up his bow even though his arm is broken, you can probably guess what it means.
"You son of a bitch!"
The Ogre didn't finish it off and sent the Goblins away. He said that since his arm was broken, there was no need to fight him.
The goblins ran as if they were in a godly mood, not knowing that they were walking towards death.
Without a care, I hid and dug among the goblins.
'No matter how strong a goblin may be, it's still a goblin.'
And once, twice. He swung his dagger without much effort. Sigh— The goblin's body was cut in half. The bone and flesh were gently pulled out,
"Keeek?!"
"Ma, wizard! Magical! "
"Keeeek!"
The goblins screamed and scattered in all directions at the sudden attack. They were letting go of the siege. I was able to reach Elisa's side without much difficulty. Of course, I picked up the bow.
"Are you okay?"
"You… How?"
"As I said, I'm a very talented person. This is a piece of cake."
Sure, this goblin was quite elite. But still, it was a lowly creature. When something happens that it doesn't understand, it immediately runs away. Especially when it comes to magic.
"Get out!"
Fear breeds fear. Sloan finally burst through the goblin encirclement and ran towards them. There were so many goblins blocking his path that he couldn't even see ahead.
"Han Ki-yeo, become a sharp spear."
A 1m long icicle flying from behind pierced through a group of goblins in an instant.
"You!"
Oh, yeah. He seems to be pretty strong, but when his stealth was broken, he rushed at me like a madman. Sloan behind him, me in front. Of course he'd try to kill me, who was easy.
"If you can catch me with that."
You must be the Demon King.
There is no special posture required for evasion. All you have to do is lightly bend down to dodge the spear swinging to the side, and the small size of his body makes the process much easier.
"Huh? Huh!!"
He chose to stab as a last resort. He must have been unfamiliar with the fear of Sloan being behind him, so he made an attack. Normally, he would have died from the swing. That's why his posture is sloppy.
Without even having to exert any effort, I threw my dagger and stabbed the bastard in the eye before he could reach out.
"It hurts!"
The creative motion was naturally canceled, and the intense pain that was rushing in made him jump and try to pull out the dagger with his hand. Of course, he wouldn't just sit by and watch. He quickly dug in and sliced off his ankle. The dagger easily tore through his skin, spraying blood.
"AAAHH …
Sweet screams. I'm also a demon lord, so seeing someone get hurt makes me feel so good that I can't stand it.
Yes! Howl! Beg me to save you! The ogre staggered and fell to one knee. His eyes were still full of fighting spirit, so he dug the other one out as well.
"Eww! Ewwww!!! In front! In front!!"
The ogre cried out, clutching his face with his thick hands. But all his men who could have helped him were either dead or had long since fled.
"Okay, I was wrong… . I won't do anything bad again, ever again… . Sa, save me! "
Although he was over 3m tall, he got down on both knees and, thanks to the fact that I stabbed him in the head, his face came down to where my hand could reach, and after stabbing him in the neck with a long dagger, I spun him around to torture him even more.
"Ouch! Kekek!"
Phew, that's a killer touch. It always feels good to kill something bigger than me.
Finally, the blade pierced the back of his head. Even so, this guy didn't die. His life force was tenacious. Of course, he was going to die soon. It was just the perfect thing to harass… .
"Nice Valley."
Seogeo-eok—! But my amusement didn't last long. Sloan came over and cut off the ogre's head.
'Oops. I did something stupid. I should have killed him right away without hesitation. Did it look strange to you?'
I guess I'll have to hide my feelings from now on. If I do something wrong, things might go wrong.
"Elisa, are you okay? Your arm… is broken. I'll heal it right away!"
"Uh, yeah… "
"The goblins scattered in all directions. It's only natural since their leader is dead. They'll die soon anyway. The more goblins are scattered, the weaker they become."
Elisa, who had been healed, sat up again. Then she stared at me intently and bit her lower lip.
'I saved you, so you're not going to act rude here, are you? If you do, I'll beat up your real target and everything.'
But surprisingly, Elisha bowed down to me.
"Thank you, Valley."
It was just that one word. The bad feelings that had been weighing down on a corner of my heart disappeared.
Why not? When you see a different side of a person, your evaluation of them changes.
When I heard the words of thanks coming from Elisa, who I always thought was venomous, my annoyed heart slightly eased.
"No. I was just showing off my skills. What the… . Anyone can do this much."
But I didn't forget to tease him.