The cleaver came down.
The pain was… well, it was a blade. He knew that pain. Less refined than a kitchen knife, more brutal, dirtier.
The cleaver cut into his chest, but not deeply, just a superficial slice, to "season" the meat, perhaps.
Kyne opened his eyes, looked at his own blood flowing, and then at the goblin chief.
"You can do better than that." He said, his voice steady despite the situation.
The chief seemed to understand the tone, if not the words. His red eyes flared with anger. This time, the cleaver came down with full force.
And this time, it hit something vital.
Kyne felt the blade pierce his heart, a sensation he knew well, but one that never ceased to be interesting. The sudden system failure, the darkness that began at the extremities and advanced rapidly toward the center.
He died with a smile on his lips, while the goblins began to scream in anticipation around what they believed to be their next meal.
…
[You were killed by a Rank D+ Goblin Chief.]
[Slash Resistance has been updated to Rank E-]
[You will respawn in 3… 2… 1…]
Three seconds later, at the exact spot where his body had been tied to the spit, Kyne opened his eyes.
The ropes that had bound him lay loose around him, apparently, anything that was not part of his body was "expelled" during resurrection. His torso was intact, without the mortal wound. His blood had disappeared.
He was sitting on the ground, in the center of the goblin camp, completely unharmed.
The goblins froze.
The chief, still holding the bloodstained cleaver, looked at the blade, then at Kyne, then at the blade again.
His primitive brain struggled to process what it had seen. He had killed this creature. Cut its heart. Seen life leave its eyes.
Kyne stood up, brushed the dirt from his back, and looked around.
"Thank you for the experience," Kyne said, his voice calm and almost polite amid the chaos of the goblin camp.
Of course, they did not understand the words. But they understood the tone, a tone that was not fear, not pleading, not pain. It was… gratitude. And that was more terrifying than any scream.
The smaller goblins took a step back, their weapons trembling slightly in hands that had once been firm. Their yellow eyes widened in confusion and a primal fear that came from witnessing the impossible, a dead thing standing up.
But the chief goblin did not retreat. His red eyes no longer burned only with anger, now they burned with fanatical determination.
He was chief for a reason. In his simple world, if something did not die, you hit it harder. If it still did not die, you hit it even harder.
With a guttural grunt that was more a roar, he charged again.
The cleaver, still stained with Kyne's blood from moments before, traced an arc through the air.
This time, the strike came from above, diagonally, from the left shoulder to the heart. A deep, clean, efficient cut.
Kyne did not move. He did not try to dodge. He simply watched the blade approach, his brain registering the trajectory, the speed, and the rudimentary but effective technique.
The impact was violent. The blade cut through the clavicle, pectoral muscle, ribs, and finally the heart. Kyne felt each layer give way, each organ being violated. It was different from the previous strike, cleaner, deeper, and more lethal.
He fell to his knees, then to his side, his blood gushing in a spray that splashed onto the goblin chief's legs.
But even as darkness took him, his face kept that maniacal smile, his gray eyes fixed on the chief as if they were saying.
'Just look at what you managed to do.'
…
[You were killed by a Rank D+ Goblin Chief.]
[Slash Resistance has been updated to Rank E]
[You will respawn in 3… 2… 1…]
Kyne was reborn in the same place, his body perfect once again, the blood gone.
This time, he did not even bother to fully stand up, simply sitting down, resting his elbows on his knees, like a spectator waiting for the next act of a play.
The smaller goblins were now clearly terrified. Two of them dropped their spears to the ground and fled into the shadows of the forest. Others trembled so badly they could barely hold their weapons.
But the chief… the chief was determined.
With a scream that was half rage, half desperation, he attacked again. And again. And again.
Each of Kyne's deaths was followed by a rebirth three seconds later. Each strike of the cleaver became a little less effective, where before it cut cleanly to the heart, now it required two blows, then three.
…
[You were killed by a Rank D+ Goblin Chief.]
[Slash Resistance has been updated to Rank E+]
…
[You were killed by a Rank D+ Goblin Chief.]
[Slash Resistance has been updated to Rank D-]
[You will respawn in 3… 2… 1…]
After the sixth death, something changed. The chief, exhausted and driven mad by the impossibility before him, threw the cleaver to the ground and shouted orders to the other goblins.
They hesitated, fear of the supernatural stronger than loyalty to their chief, but when he grabbed a spear and pointed first at Kyne, then at them, the choice became clear.
Face the immortal creature or face the immediate wrath of their chief.
Three goblins with spears advanced, their steps hesitant.
The first spear pierced Kyne's abdomen. The pain was familiar, piercing, not cutting. Different.
[You were killed by a Rank E- Goblin Warrior.]
[Piercing Resistance updated to Rank E]
[You will respawn in 3… 2… 1…]
He was reborn. More spears. More deaths. More adaptations.
…
[You were killed by a Rank E- Goblin Warrior.]
[Piercing Resistance updated to Rank E+]
[You will respawn in 3… 2… 1…]
…
[You were killed by a Rank E- Goblin Warrior.]
[Piercing Resistance updated to Rank D-]
[You will respawn in 3… 2… 1…]
After the twelfth death, Kyne had lost the exact count, but the system recorded everything, the goblins seemed to be running out of ideas.
They tried beating him with clubs. Impact Resistance rose to Rank F+.
That was when one of the younger goblins, or at least, smaller, pointed toward the central bonfire and said something in his guttural language.