Contrary to its big body that covered the entire cave room, my nose itched from the thick stench of monster blood. I felt like my whole stomach was filled with it. My eyes shook, trying to find the source. I looked above. I looked to the sides. I couldn't turn my head the least, but when my eyes swooped down to take in the little light in this cave room, under the humongous creature, I saw and heard a pool of liquid substance overflowing from its place from the sheer weight of the monster above. The thick crimson goo had a deep blackish colour, hidden underneath the ambient light of this place. It bubbled from time to time, bursting and spitting around. And wherever the blood-like goo touched, the rocky floor burned, melted, and released a trail of little smoke for a second before disappearing. The stench released from that continued to burn my throat, inside my nostrils, and even my stomach, which started to ache in agony. And I threw up, a fresh breath of air gushing in through my mouth, and I breathed more and more with each passing second. The suffocating feeling started to slowly disappear, and I glanced at the girl beside me.
She was on the ground. Her mouth was wide open, with saliva dripping from the corners of her mouth. Her eye whites were visible, like a luminescent glow. She passed out. Her completely naked body was still a little visible, painted with goblin blood, which dried out. Her plump lips still had their colour, as did the corners of her ears. Her beauty, hidden underneath the blood and gore, along with this unfound darkness, still shone like a breath of fresh air in a blooming garden of white lilies. Ignoring that, I crawled to her on my knees and shook her bare body by the shoulders. I could see everything. Everything that made her a woman, but her dignity, was the least of my concerns at the moment. She didn't budge. I put two of my fingers near her neck, and it was weak, but the pulse was there. I didn't know what to do, and her body suddenly started to spasm. I couldn't hold both of her hands. So, I held her body from behind and cuddled her tightly. It was no way of showing affecting, but both our bare bodies touched, with nothing in the way. I felt a warm sensation within my body, but I immediately shook my head to stop the vibrant thoughts that tried to course through my head.
Using my only hand, I rubbed her arms and the sides of her waist and thighs, still holding her tightly in place. But through her wide-opened mouth, froth began to come out, showing no signs of stopping. Her spasms increased, and a stream of blood dripped from one of her nostrils. I put my right hand on her forehead, holding her head tightly, and grabbed her lower body, entangling it with my legs. Mana coursed out of my core, spreading all around my body. The air around us heated, and I continued to rub her hands. When her struggle started to lessen, I let her go and went near her legs, rubbing under her feet with my right hand. I continued to heat the air around us and saw her struggle completely die down, with her muscles loosening up a little. Her stiff, painful expression changed to normal, and she started to sweat all over. The sweat droplets mixed in with the dried monster blood painted on her body turned into deep crimson, flowing down the ground resembling her blood. I held her in my arms, her head on my chest, supported by one of my knees and hand. As a few minutes passed, her body cooled down, and with a painful moan, she opened her eyes, and they met mine. "Ka-Kaiden?"
"I'm Ash," I said, and reality hit her as she widened her eyes and pushed me by my chest, distancing herself. She crouched, covering herself with her legs and arms, her eyes filled with panic and covered by a tinge of embarrassment that she tried to hide.
"Wh-What were you doing?"
"Nothing," I said, where even I wouldn't believe my own words. "Was that your friend's name?" I asked, and she didn't answer but looked away from me, and for the first time, I directed my gaze to observe the entirety of this cave.
It was nowhere small, until compared with the one before. All the goblins stood in silence, as if they had turned into living statues. But the thing that caught my attention were the numerous tunnels on top of the one we came out of, and to my right, at the end of the cave wall, there was a small stone platform, big enough to fit a few of the green goblins. It was something similar to the arena in the Colosseum from before. "What are they doing? And is that thing alive?" She asked. Not considering this strange behaviour from the goblins, I dared to look at the Hydra once again. Its sheer presence was breathtaking in a different sense. The nostrils on each of its five heads were contracting from time to time. One breath from it would be enough to make me die over and over again. "We will die, won't we?" I could feel her dejected tone even without looking at her face directly. Probably. I couldn't say that out loud. And when I thought it was all, I heard the sounds of multiple footsteps from behind. When I turned, the sounds only increased. I lifted my head a little. From within the numerous tunnels on the cave wall, rocks and dust fell, with the ground shaking a little, until the source of the sound exited from one of the tunnels, jumping over the other side. It was another monster. Taller like a red goblin but slimmer like the green ones. Standing on two clawed legs, the body was greyish-white from the front and a light brownish colour with deep brown spots on the back. Its mouth extended forward like that of a crocodile. Its tail, thicker than both of its limbs combined. Thick, clawed arms to top it off with a ragged cloth tied to its waist. A kobold.
One after another, in various sizes and with little difference in appearance, they jumped out from the tunnel above, filling the remaining part of the cave room with their hundreds of numbers. It changed the goblin's expressions from ugly to uglier. I could see a tinge of fear they tried to hide. The situation was already nowhere favourable, but I felt the ground tremble again and looked in the direction of the tunnels. From a few of them, black mud, like goo, fell, dripping onto the ground. Both goblins and kobolds didn't stay near that area, and the muddy, goo-like substance continued to pour, spreading a different type of nasty odour in the cave room. Eveline beside me puked immediately, and even the goblins covered their noses, with kobolds hissing with their long tongues out of their mouths. Even more tunnels started to drip with this substance, and when it stopped, the marsh-like goo on the ground started to move like it had its own life and gathered beside the Hydra of Lerna. It continued to tower on itself, reaching one-third the size of the serpentine monster.
When the process was completed, three depressions formed on its massive mountain-shaped blackish body, indicating two eyes and a mouth. It opened its mouth, the size of which covered its massive body, and a scream erupted from the unknown depths, making us all cover our ears. All the air present here flowed like a gust at our side, and its body matter spewed out in the form of spit, falling everywhere like muddy chunks. Some got on my feet, and when I tried to shake it, it didn't budge. I tried to clean it with my hand, but it was hard for me to remove the gooey substance, which stuck to my body like a marshy parasite. And when I did manage to get it off my body, I could see a paint of red at that place. It made me wonder what sort of thing it was made of. And when it closed its mouth back, the cave room was once again filled with silence. In all this, the Hydra didn't budge or was disturbed by its deep slumber.
A bigger kobold, separated from its group, walked to the stone platform to my right, went, and stood at one corner. He looked at the side of the goblins and made a gesture with his hand. The goblins stood at their places, with no sign of moving, and growled at the one on the stone platform. They opened their mouths, closing them again, beating their chests and legs in an agitated way. I could see some on my side trembling, with their eyes locked on the remaining number of kobolds. I didn't see this behaviour in them, and when I looked in the direction of the kobolds, they were as calm as ever, with hands folded and their tails tapping the rocky floor. Some were even laughing with their beak-like, jaw-opening mouths. I was surprised by their behaviour and even more surprised by my understanding of all that. When I saw Eveline on my side, she was shaking her head, trembling in fear, her eyes as wide as they could open. I could have held and consoled her with a few words, but in the current situation, it seemed rather useless.
Seeing as no one was going onto the platform, the kobold standing there made another gesture to his fellow kin, with his head this time. Two came out of the group, picking up a green goblin half their size, with each hand carrying it onto the platform. The goblin was lifted with no way to stop itself in resistance. It bit one of the kobold's arms, but nothing happened. Yet it struggled, rubbing its razor-sharp teeth onto their thick skin in hopes of wounding them, but to no avail. When they reached the stone platform, they swung the goblin, throwing it at the centre of the platform. Lying on the ground, it looked at the side of the goblins. Trembling jaw. Heavy gasps of air. Contracting eyelids. A face that was filled with pure terror. But none of the other goblins dared to take a step forward. In the short moment of fearful silence, the kobold flashed a small grin and walked forward, stopping right behind the goblin on the floor. The goblin was about to turn its head. But in another instant, a shadowless shadow covered the goblin, and a huge foot came down, crushing the goblin's head in its place. The blood and brain matter splattered on the stone floor, and the kobold rubbed its foot on the already squashed head, showcasing a gnarly grin, which made the remaining goblins shudder.
The remaining kobolds moved from their group, coming over to the goblins' side. Each one of them grabbed a goblin by their little head, twig-like arms, or even by their neck, dragged them on the ground, and threw them onto the stone platform. The kobold on the platform battered them left and right, crushing their measly bodies on the floor. I haven't seen them this helpless since the time I knew them. They were one-shotted as a group of tiny ants with no way of escaping. In the beginning, the numbers on each side were almost equal, with goblins having a minor majority. But as time passed and blood along with intestines splattered, the goblin numbers kept on decreasing. It was a pure one-sided massacre. My attention went to the outer circle of the stone platform. There was a slight gap there, and the blood from the goblin corpses on the platform flowed into it, making a blood-red circle that highlighted the entirety of the stone platform as a whole. As it was filled to the brink, the blood started to flow in some designated path, like a small stream, leading directly into the pool of blood that was underneath the Hydra's body. Even that bloody pool started to overflow. But slowly, a new change occurred in the cave room. The Hydra's body was filled with thick black scales dripping with some liquid that was crimson-black, shining like little red pearls. And at the same time, the blood in the pool slightly decreased. Is it absorbing all that? I looked at the figure of Eveline beside me to see whether she was seeing what I was seeing, but she was awe-struck in the sense that her mouth was open to say something, but words didn't come out. That was no bliss, but pure dismay that lost its expression.
The process continued. The lone kobold killed like a crazy beast it was. The goblins thinned in number. The blood flowed like a stream. The pool filled like a lake. The Hydra absorbed it like a parasite. And the change I thought I just imagined occurred at the place where one of its heads was missing. A small amount of bone and flesh grew back from there. It confirmed one thing, and it was worse than one could imagine. At the same time, a question begged my mind. What happens when all four heads regenerate? The word chaos would only belittle that kind of situation. The screaming, screeching, and growling sounds filled my ears. Other kobolds were clearing the goblin corpses, piling them on one side like some trained cleaners. I looked at the kobold on the stone platform, filled with ecstasy and bloodthirst. The grin never left its face. Its entire body was dripping in blood, covered in grime from flesh and other meaty substances. For one moment, it glanced at me, narrowing its already sharp eyes. I felt a cold chill run down my spine, but it also felt like nothing at that moment. Before the things I had seen and experienced in a short time, this kobold felt more like a strong monster than an actual threat. And I think my intentions were directly conveyed to it as the grin on its face completely disappeared, replaced with a sign of annoyance. I also maintained direct eye contact without trying to avoid his gaze, and it only increased the intensity of his expression even further.
He pointed his hand at me, making a gesture, signalling for me to come onto the stage of his butchering. I instantly shook my head, inviting a low-sounding growl from the monster. Every other kobold stopped in their tracks, leaving the struggling goblins in their hands and turning their heads towards me. A room filled with glowing yellow eyes stared at every inch of my bare skin. The murderous intent was as thick as I imagined. Even the remaining goblins looked at me, their eyes filled with curiosity and fear. The kobold made another gesture, and a kobold in the back rushed forward, grabbing the head of Eveline and pinning it to the ground. In that instant, she couldn't react, and I tried to reach her, but another kobold grabbed me and slammed me to the ground with its foot. I almost felt my intestines get crushed and my ribs shatter under the weight, but the kobold that pinned Eveline held her by her two wrists with one hand and lifted her like a feather. The kobold's body was bigger than Eveline's as it pulled her closer to its face. Her face was nothing short of terrified as she hiccuped against her will. And here I was trying to get free but failed and watched the scene unfold.
The kobold that held Eveline took her to the stone platform and threw her into the centre. The one on the platform went near her and crouched to match her eye level. She tried to back off, crawling, but the monster grabbed her by the leg and pulled her even closer than before. Using its beak-like mouth that had two small holes for a nose, it smelled Eveline's neck and went down her body, sniffing each part with care. When it came back to her face, opening its mouth with a long tongue dangling to the side, it licked her face from bottom to top. Due to the kobold's saliva, the dried goblin's blood on her face came off a little, making her features a bit more vivid. The kobold gave what seemed like a smile, grabbed Eveline by her jaw, and continued to lick her face until no trace of goblin blood was left. It then turned its face towards me, sneering at me. Then its eyes again went back to Eveline's as it groped her breasts with its clawed, blade-like hands. She tried to resist but could only tighten her fists, and a stream of tears rolled down her eyes. She couldn't bear to look at her own body any longer. Except for goblins, who were still trembling in fear, the remaining kobolds looked at the spectacle, gleaming with their small eyes. The kobold on the platform, using its left hand, grabbed Eveline by her neck and pinned her to the stone platform. She struggled to breathe, but the kobold ignored her silent pleas and tried to put his thing, hidden underneath a piece of rough cloth tied to his waist, into her.
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I screamed unbeknownst to me, echoes dampening my own sound. I struggled and tried to drag my body, but the kobold that was pinning me down sat on top of me, adding more weight to my painless pain. It held my head by a hand and pressed both its legs on top of my hand, sitting on top of me like a chair and restricting any moment possible. I gritted my teeth and tried to push the monster back, but my strength was nowhere near enough. I could barely watch the disgustingly sad scene when Eveline burst out of a tremendous amount of Mana, covering all her surroundings at once with a spectacle of icy spikes. The ice also froze her body, along with the kobold on top of her. But the next moment, the ice shook and shattered like a piece of glass, and the kobold emerged from it unaffected by it all. He shook his body, shaking off the remaining pieces of ice, and without wasting another second, he continued what he was going to do a moment ago. I directed Mana onto the ground, and a spear of rock formed before me. The kobold on top of me tried to hold it, but it was already fired towards the kobold on the stone platform. Looking at the attack with a side eye, it caught the spear by its right hand, barely moving its body, and smiled at me as it loosed the grip on Eveline's neck and stood up, facing my direction. She was already unconscious.
It now held the roughly made spear of rock in its right hand, and when it gestured with its left hand, the weight on me became lighter as the kobold pinning me down got up and went and stood to a side in the back. I got up on my feet, breathing chunks of air, and calmed myself. My eyes met the one on the stone platform. We continued to exchange gazes for a moment before it threw the spear in its hand at an incredible speed, directed straight at my head. I didn't blink, and when it reached an inch closer to my forehead, Mana spread out of me, separating the rocky spear into two halves, which brushed my hair and went to my right and left simultaneously. I looked back and found one half of the spear crumbling as it hit the cave wall, and the other half was now inside the chest of the kobold that slammed me to the ground previously. Shock and pain were painted over its face, but the wound itself was not that deep, as most of the spear was still outside its body. It tried to remove the spear, but I extended my right arm, and the spear moved deeper inside its body, making a clean hole out of its chest. Blood dripped from the hole in its back, and it collapsed on the ground. With dilated pupils, it looked at me as it struggled to remove the spear with painful moans, but when I made a gesture, the rocky half of the spear burst, puncturing the kobold's internal organs. Blood spurted out of its eyes, mouth, and holed chest, and strength left its body, as did its life at the same time.
The goblins were partly confused and partly scared as they looked at each other and the first dead kobold in this place. The other kobolds, filled with anger, snarled and tried to jump at me but stopped in their tracks. Their eyes were focused somewhere behind me, and I turned back again, locking my gaze with the one on the stone platform. From what I could tell, it was neither angry nor sad for the deaths of its kin. But an ecstasy-filled expression is what I saw, smiling with its mouth wide open, tongue swaying left and right, saliva dripping from the corners, and arms put out like inviting me for a tight, deathly hug. And when I saw Eveline's naked and almost dead figure beside him, which was on the verge of being defiled before, it only stirred the emotions inside me even more. The kobold then followed my gaze and kicked her in the stomach, throwing her body like a piece of rag. It hit the side of the cave wall and fell on the masses of goblins, who only made space for her as her body hit the ground. I slowly walked near the group of goblins. They showed no hostility towards me; rather, they made a path for me to reach Eveline.
I got down and observed the unconscious figure of the girl. She was still breathing, a pained expression painted over her face. I extended my arm, and a sphere of water formed in my hand. I used it to wipe the nasty saliva of the kobold on her face and also tied her hair back that came loose. Her back was a little bruised, and her head had a little bump with some bleeding. I cleaned it with another lump of water, but I had no way to treat it. When I put my hand on her abdomen, her expression contorted even more. Lifting her, I went to the edge of the cave wall and made her sit leaning on it. Manipulating the rock of the cave wall, I made a rocky cocoon that covered her body entirely, leaving out three holes, two on either side and one on top, for air to flow in. I then got up and walked to the small stone platform where the kobold was patiently waiting for me, and I stood facing him on the opposite side. His body was that of a fully grown man. Firm muscles with veins popping out here and there. His tapping his tail on the ground like a whip was enough for me to see through his eager thoughts that he was half-bothered to hide. His hands were crossed, urging me to take the first attack, and I followed.
I bent a little, and Mana rushed out of me as I extended my right hand to the side, and another spear of rock formed, extending from the stone platform. Grabbing the spear, I rotated my body, gathering momentum, and made a stabbing gesture at the kobold in front of me. Its tail swung like a whip, breaking the spear in two before it reached anywhere closer to its body, and with a smirk, it sprung at me, grabbing the upper broken part of the spear in the air and rotating it in his hand as the spearhead pointed at me. I tried to back off, but the kobold's tail grabbed me by my waist and pulled me closer to it, and at the same time, it stabbed the spear into my left shoulder and slid on the platform to stop its momentum while also swinging my body to a side with the tail that still held me. I pulled out a rock wall from the ground at a distance as I horizontally stepped on it, cancelling my momentum. I jumped back on the ground and looked at the kobold, who stood at the far end of me. The mocking smile stayed on its face as I pulled the spear head out of my shoulder and threw it to the side. But the next moment, the wound healed with no sign of previous injury left, and that changed the expression of the kobold's face to something serious as it narrowed its eyes, leaning his body a bit forward. I lifted my head high, putting out a smirk with gritted teeth, and gestured for the kobold to come at me this time.
Hissing, the kobold sprung at me, throwing a punch to my face. I put up both my hands to block it but was pushed back, and the kobold followed, throwing another punch with his right hand, and I intercepted it with a punch of my own with my left, metal hand. When both fists collided, they stayed still in the air for a moment before the kobold's fist pushed mine a little back, bending and crushing the entire metal fist in one go. A few metal parts fell off it, but ignoring that, I threw another punch with my right, and it caught it using the edge of its tail. Still, his eyes were fixed on my metal arm as it grabbed and pulled the already shaped-out metal prosthetic hand like it was nothing, while also twisting my right hand as I struggled to free myself from its grip. Looking at me, the kobold put more pressure on my right as I heard it break like a twig. I distanced myself by pushing its body away with both my feet. I observed my right hand as it dangled lifelessly. But I could already feel the sensation return to my fingers, as it had already started to heal. But the prosthetic metal hand on my left was no more. Before, it didn't take any damage to a goblin's bite. But now… The toughness and brute strength of the monster before me were something of a problem, and looking at the remaining kobolds in a group of a few hundred had my hope shaking. And their expressions only strengthened that fact, along with the group of goblins whose faces showed the origin of their fears. I now understand the meaning behind their fear, which I thought was unfounded a few minutes ago.
With a wide smirk, the kobold jumped at me again, and I did the same while also directing Mana into the ground below. As our bodies got closer in mid-air, a pocket of wind formed between us, bursting and pushing us in opposite directions. Even as I was about to hit the wall behind me, I looked behind the kobold, where rocky spikes, the size of its body, were formed. The kobold's body hit the spikes, creating rubble along with some dust at the same time. I landed on my feet by using the wind to slow me down, and I manipulated the ground under me, creating multiple rock shards and firing them into the dust-covered area. When I stopped after a second, the kobold emerged from the dust, dusting off his chest and shoulders. Except for the few scratches, there was no visible wound on its body. How tough is its skin, exactly? I was about to throw another round of attack, but the kobold was in front of me the next moment I blinked my eyes. With its left hand, it grabbed my tiny head, and with its right, it punched me at the side of my chest, making the sound of multiple cracks audible. I was unable to breathe for a moment, and even my skull felt like it was on the verge of cracking. But it threw another punch in the same place as before, and all the ribs inside were broken like twigs. Blood spurted out of my mouth, and my ears rang as I struggled to take in air. I tried to push his hand that was gripping my head with my right hand, but it didn't even budge an inch. Instead, it continued to punch on the side of my chest as my flesh depressed into a hole that was bruised and bleeding.
I tried to kick the kobold, but with a tough body, it stood firm in its place as it continued its downpour of singular attacks. The kobolds cheered with their lungs out, but only pain covered my world. I was about to lose consciousness, but gritting my teeth, I looked at its fist, which was about to hit me an unknown number of times, and jumped with all the strength I had. I was still held at my place by the kobold, who covered my head with his hand, but for a moment I was in the air, and his fist missed my body. I thought my neck would break, but ignoring that, I grabbed hold of his free hand with my legs and tightened my grip around them. He let go of my head and swung his right arm to shake me off, but like a snake, I used my entire body to curl around his arm, trying to stretch and twist it with everything I had. A roaring scream escaped my mouth as the kobold punched me on the side of the chest, using his left fist. A similar bone-cracking sound resonated, and in an attempt to get free from me, it continued to punch, but I fully concentrated on tearing his bulky, stiff arm, which showed no signs of being damaged.
At the same time, I heard a moan from the kobold and looked at his figure, which stopped punching me. His head now had a sword procuring from it. Glowing green for a moment before returning to normal. It was all chipped and seemed on the verge of breaking down. A feeling of joy erupted inside me as the kobold fell to its knees, and I too let go of his arm and took some distance. Gasping for air, I looked at the tip of the short sword that was holed in his head. Blood dripped. The kobold, still in surprise and with unfocused eyes, touched the blade as it breathed its final breath. It fell on its front, and the sword in its skull was pushed back a little. I directed my gaze at the side of the tunnels, from which an old man of short stature, covered in a cloak, slowly walked out with his eyes glowing green. His face was completely covered in beard and moustache air. The goblins made way for him. The kobolds were still in shock at the things that transpired just now. "What happened, Princess? Getting tired already?" He had this nasty, familiar smirk, which I was more than happy to see. Both sides of my chest were healing, including the broken ribs inside, which lessened the pain a little. I moved closer to the kobold, pulled out the short sword in its corpse, and looked at its lifeless figure, which didn't look so arrogant now. Rotating the hilt, I stabbed it in the back of its neck, using more strength to drive it deeper inside. "Calm down, princess. He is dead." The old man came onto the stone platform and removed his cloak, covering me with it. "And don't leave it on a tree again."
Words couldn't tell how relieved I was. "You could have come sooner," I said as he pulled out his sword from the dead kobold.
"Look at you, not being thankful, and who told you to wander off so late at night?" He came and stood beside me. We both now faced the hundreds of kobolds that were ready to attack us at any moment. "You seemed to have found your whole family, starting with your great-grandfather."
"What's the plan? I am tired and almost out of Mana. I don't have the dagger you gave me, and there is a girl on that side." The situation was still unfavourable for us. Excluding goblins and Hydra, there were now kobolds and that marshy monster, which didn't move from its place. But at least old man Gustav was beside me.
"I will take care of it all, boy." Those final words were the signal to my short-lived happiness as his sword was now inside my chest, which he held with both his hands, pressing deeper into me. The smile left my eyes as he breathed closer to my neck, where I couldn't see the expression on his face. I grabbed his clothes and tried to pull him back, but he didn't budge. Or was it because I didn't put in enough strength? I am tired. My eyes continued to watch the goblins and kobolds, who didn't move from their place. He directed the sword into my chest, downward, slashing through half my abdomen and intestines like a block of butter. Blood gushed out of me like a broken fountain as I fell on my knees, still perplexed. It flowed, mixing in with the goblin blood on the stone platform and joining the pool of blood under the Hydra. The old man took a few steps back. I tried to gauge his expressionless face for answers, but with cold eyes that I hadn't seen before, he opened his mouth. "Everything will be fine n—" His words were cut off as his head was gobbled up by one of the heads of the serpentine creature that came out of nowhere. His hand let go of his sword, and with a decapitated body, he fell on his knees and then his body on the cold stone floor. Blood spurted out of his lifeless body. The entire cave room shook, and in my blurry vision, I looked at the Hydra to my right, with all five heads opening their red, timber eyes in succession. For a moment, it looked directly into mine as I, too, fell on the platform, landing flat on my stomach with a thud, still wondering what's and why's in a never-before calm.