With a primal roar, the goblins abandoned their feast, their bloodlust ignited by the assault on their leader. Eyes blazing with malice, they turned their attention to the audacious intruder, their teeth bared and dripping with warm blood.
“Kekekeh!”
“Kyeeeh!”
“Kyakyakaah!”
Razor-sharp fangs, claws, and blades, once busy carving flesh from the fallen, now turned menacingly towards Daisuke. The goblins charged forth like a relentless tempest, only to halt abruptly in their tracks, frozen by an unseen force.
Daisuke’s eyes gleamed with an intensity akin to a bird of prey, instilling an overwhelming and primal fear in the monsters.
Intimidate!
As the goblins cowered from the skill’s effects, Daisuke swiftly scooped Amara into his arms and leaped atop the rise. Awestruck by his impressive display of power, Morgana glanced from the wolf pup to the silver-haired youth whose eye’s radiated confidence and resolve. Her heart sank when his head snapped around, almost mechanically, and his gaze fell upon the shuddering toddlers.
“W-Wait!” she pleaded, her voice quivering with desperation. “They mean no harm! Please, don’t hurt them!”
“S-She’s right,” Gloria concurred with a respectful bow, firelight illuminating her black tunic. “These children pose no threat.”
Amara stood in stunned silence.
Daisuke’s gaze narrowed as he observed the toddlers clinging to their mothers in despair, their large, tear-filled eyes innocent and devoid of malice or evil.
According to the Monster Guide Handbook, Daisuke pondered, flipping through the mental pages with a furrowed brow, monsters are generally predisposed to having an inherent aversion to humans and an uncontrollable desire to either kill or devour them, even from infancy. But… these baby goblins look incredibly human.
Are you seriously telling me that those genes that predominantly exist in most monsters weren’t inherited by them? Is it possible those traits are just delayed until puberty or something? Can I really trust them?
As Daisuke looked into the eyes of the horrified toddlers, memories flooded back of the distrust he faced when he attempted to apply for a job in Dusthaven. All he had wanted was to save money for his mother’s medical bills, but his origins in the slums had led everyone to doubt his intentions. If only they had given him a chance, would his mother still be alive?
“Rawrwu,” whimpered Zephyr, as if echoing the sentiments of the others.
“SEIZE THEM!” came a sudden and furious bellow from the goblin leader, his teeth gnashing, veins bulging in his forehead as he unceremoniously peeled himself up off the ground.
Daisuke’s eyebrows furrowed. He really is an anomalous monster, he mused inwardly before turning to his partner. “Zephyr,” he commanded firmly.
As Zephyr’s jaws widened, an intense heat radiated from within, accompanied by a blinding orange-red aura. The toddlers and their mothers instinctively shut their eyes, bracing for the impending inferno. Morgana and Gloria raised their arms pleadingly, but it was too late.
WHOOSHHHHH!
Zephyr’s neck snapped forward like a coiled spring, unleashing a torrent of incinerating flames. However, instead of targeting the innocent toddlers, the fiery deluge engulfed the goblin leader and its monstrous horde. When the flames subsided, more than two-thirds of the goblins were reduced to ash, and the rest lay badly injured.
Amidst the smoldering aftermath, Daisuke locked eyes with the leader, its protective barrier dissipating.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
DING!
[Goblin Shaman | Lvl 22 | ????]
“Of course you weren’t going to go down so easily,” he murmured before turning to the others. “Stay here,” he commanded calmly. “We’ll finish them off.”
Dumbfounded, Morgana watched as the duo confidently hurled themselves off the ledge and into the fray. “That small wolf… in an instant,” she murmured incredulously. “Just who are they?”
“Haxks and Zephyr—they’re adventurers like us,” informed Amara, equally astounded. “I knew they were strong, but this is…”
“More importantly,” Morgana pressed urgently, “what about Price and Lilith?”
Amara’s response was a slow, sorrowful shake of her head.
“I see,” Morgana replied, her tone conflicted as she attempted to rise. It was only then that Amara noticed the archer’s missing leg.
“Oh no!” she exclaimed frantically, her eyes widening with panic as she hurried over to the girl. “Morgana! Your leg!” she sobbed, her voice trembling. “Your leg’s been—”
Morgana offered a faint smile as the girl rushed to support her. “This is my atonement,” she murmured quietly.
“Atonement? What are you—”
“Please forgive me. I’m sorry I’ve always been a bystander instead of stepping in to protect you from the constant bullying. What Price and Lilith did to you was unforgivable. I knew it… I’ve always known, and yet—”
Amara shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. “There’s nothing to forgive,” she admitted earnestly. “If you had intervened and become a victim, I would have felt even worse. It’s my fault for never finding the courage to stand up to them.”
Gloria approached them with a sympathetic smile. “While courage is an admirable quality that we should all possess, everyone finds it in their own time and circumstances. It wasn’t fair that you had to search desperately for yours just to find happiness. The blame lies with those who abused you, not with yourselves.”
Morgana and Amara exchanged smiles, a mix of sadness and gratitude, before their attention was abruptly drawn to a goblin slamming into the wall below them. The creature slowly slid to the ground like a squashed bug, leaving a trail of purple blood along the wall.
Despite wielding offensive magic to aid its kin, the shaman watched with growing unease as the goblins fell like wheat before a scythe. Death loomed closer with every passing moment; it knew that if things continued in this manner, its own demise was imminent.
Driven by desperation and the instinct for self-preservation, the shaman finally decided to summon its trophy—its ultimate achievement despite risking its destruction.
With a furrowed brow, Daisuke observed in confusion as a beam of light shot out from the shaman’s staff and struck an elevated platform on the far side of the cavern.
“Huh? Did that previous attack roast its brain cells or something?” he quipped, but when he spied a blur of movement, he fell silent.
Using the falling rocks as stepping stones, hopping from one precarious foothold to another until it landed on solid ground, a curious goblin emerged on the scene.
At a single glance, it was evident that this creature was different. Unlike the toddlers, its human-like features bore the marks of maturity, reflected in its towering stature that rivaled even the shaman’s, and a gleam in its eyes that betrayed any innocence.
It yawned with a dreary, indifferent gaze, its body clad in leather armor likely scavenged from fallen adventurers. The creature exuded an air of disdain, as if the entire world had done it an injustice and it would much rather be exempt from all worldly affairs.
Every movement emanated a weariness, as if existence itself was a tiresome burden. Yet, without a single command uttered, it pivoted its club towards its foes, eager to dispose of them so that it could return to its slumber.
DING!
[Demihuman Goblin | Lvl 26 | Unique]
Unique? Daisuke’s eyes widened in alarm. I thought Giant and Filed Boss was the last tier in the hierarchy?
The moment it received a defense buff from the shaman, the demihuman lurched forward, its lethargic gaze fixated on the wolf pup. Zephyr was caught mid-strike, sharp teeth primed to plunge into the neck of a random goblin, when the demihuman’s massive club hurtled toward him with terrifying velocity.
Instinctively, the canine aborted the attack and instead used the monster’s chest as a springboard to launch himself to safety. In a heartbeat, the club made contact with the goblin’s head. Time seemed to stretch as blood, brain matter, and fragments of skull erupted outward.
Zephyr’s gaze burned with ferocity as it locked onto the demihuman, a silent challenge passing between them as they prepared for the inevitable clash.
Daisuke’s heart pounded with concern as he watched Zephyr darting around like a leaf swept up in a fierce storm. Even while suppressing the goblins that persistently swarmed like flies, the pup desperately tried to fend off the stoic hybrid. But his fangs and claws couldn’t penetrate the creature’s armor, nor the defensive buff it had received.
Daisuke clearly noted that the odds were firmly stacked against the canine. Unwelcome memories of Zephyr’s previous downfall flashed through his mind like lightning. Urgently, he attempted to carve a path through the goblins blocking his right flank. However, for every foe he dispatched, another swiftly took its place, creating an endless tide of adversaries.
As desperation mounted, Daisuke summoned his Magic Chains in an attempt to subdue the demihuman and grant Zephyr a moment of relief. Yet, his efforts were promptly foiled as the goblins seized the chains, their mocking laughter echoing through the chaos. To make matters worse, the shaman unleashed a barrage of offensive magic, intensifying Daisuke’s predicament.