'That’s a goblin, not a troll?'
The Goblin King’s presence was different from the start.
Bluish-green skin, a large hooked nose, and a thick, wafting stench.
By its features alone, it was unmistakably a goblin. The problem was its size.
It was far bigger than an ordinary goblin—easily twice as large as us.
On top of that, whether it had a fair bit of intelligence or not, unlike the other goblins that wandered around naked, it had even draped animal hides over its upper body.
Thanks to that, its lower half was completely exposed.
'...Ugh, my eyes.'
In any case, it didn’t seem like it had only grown bigger.
The moment the Goblin King appeared, the surrounding goblins went wild.
As if they had seen an idol, they shrieked and squealed as they swarmed around it.
Perhaps encouraged by their fervent support, it set down whatever it had been holding.
Thud.
What fell was the carcass of a huge bear.
It seemed it had gone out hunting personally.
For something called the Goblin King, it was surprisingly diligent.
“Kiek!”
Just then, one goblin couldn’t endure its hunger and leapt at the bear carcass.
Whoosh—crunch.
It was mashed to a pulp without even getting the chance to scream by the club the Goblin King swung.
No, what it swung was closer to a log than a club.
“Keeek! Keeeeek!”
The goblins who saw that made a fuss and backed away.
Unable to contain its temper, the Goblin King slammed the log down onto the ground.
“Kuwuuugh!”
A heavy roar.
With that one blow, the noisy atmosphere was completely quelled.
The way it overwhelmed the entire gathering was certainly worthy of the Goblin King.
“Shouldn’t we be running away?”
Galeson the foul-mouth, who had looked ready to fight at any moment, whispered with an uneasy expression.
Honestly, for something with the title of Goblin King, the settlement was extremely shabby.
The weapons they carried were only crudely carved wooden spears or clubs, and there weren’t all that many of them either.
It felt more like, Isn’t this just a goblin chieftain?
Even so, however, it was not an opponent we could handle.
After setting down the bear carcass, the Goblin King looked around.
The surrounding goblins were lying flat, obediently, as if they couldn’t even breathe properly.
“Grwooo.”
When the Goblin King gestured, several goblins began moving busily.
They started to butcher the bear carcass with clumsy hands.
Seeing blood pouring out made my brow furrow on its own.
Rather than butchering, it was closer to dismantling—messy, crude handiwork.
“...All this fuss over one bear.”
Beside me, Nick the gambler muttered quietly.
To be honest, I agreed.
A short while later, once the bear meat had been cut into suitable chunks, the Goblin King first grabbed a large piece for itself.
Then it began tossing the remaining meat to the goblins around it.
“Kiek!”
There were goblins that fought over the pieces thrown to them, but for the most part, they were quiet.
Perhaps because they were watching the king’s mood, they didn’t dare act recklessly.
'What’s this? They’re more orderly than I thought.'
The moment I thought that inwardly—
The Goblin King turned its head toward us.
For an instant, my heart dropped.
'No way.'
Instinctively, I crouched down as low as I could.
Without making even a sound, I pressed myself as close to the ground as possible.
However.
After letting its gaze linger for a moment, it flung a lump of bear entrails into a corner.
A few small goblins that smelled the meat ran over and began tearing into it in a frenzy.
I swallowed a sigh of relief.
It seemed we hadn’t been discovered yet.
After the Goblin King finished dismantling the bear, it took the log back into its hand.
“Kuwuuuuugh!!”
Then it let out a massive roar directly toward us.
In that instant, the goblin horde stirred.
“...Fuck. We’ve been found out.”
Galeson muttered lowly, his face hardening.
“Kieeeek!!”
With shrieks, the goblins began charging all at once.
Piiing—thuk.
But the first attack was ours.
Nick’s handmade bow was more than enough to pierce through one goblin.
The goblin charging at the very front took an arrow straight to the head and collapsed.
The goblins flinched for a moment at the death of their kin.
But soon, after glancing at the Goblin King, they began charging again as if consumed by spite.
Shuk! Shushuk!
Several goblins in the back hurled wooden spears and stones.
“Behind me!”
[Waterflow Barrier]
Thud! Thunk!
With that level of power, it was difficult to pierce the barrier.
Most of the projectiles were blocked by the Waterflow Barrier and fell powerlessly to the ground.
But the goblins didn’t just keep throwing things forever.
Before long, several of them had charged right up to the barrier.
Just then, Galeson burst out from beside me.
“Euriyah!”
Whoosh!
With a bizarre battle cry, Galeson swung his two-handed axe with all his strength from behind his head.
The axe struck the goblin’s upper body head-on, biting in as if it would split the creature apart.
He planted his foot on the split goblin and pulled the axe free.
Spurt.
“Worthless goblin bastards—”
Swoooosh!
“Galeson!”
At my call, Galeson turned his head, and a wooden spear grazed past his face by a hair’s breadth.
At the dizzying sight, Galeson’s eyes went wide and he shouted.
“You filthy son of a bitch!”
Enraged by the fact that he had nearly died, Galeson began rampaging like even more of a madman.
Well, he’d manage somehow.
Meanwhile, lanky Jeminik was clashing with the large goblin we had initially mistaken for the Goblin King.
He lightly blocked the wildly swung club with his buckler, then aimed for an opening and thrust his one-handed sword with his long arm.
But perhaps it wasn’t an easy opponent, because it dodged here and there while facing Jeminik.
Shwaak! Thud!
However, Jeminik wasn’t alone either.
A Water Bullet struck the left side of the creature’s back, and because of that, it ended up allowing Jeminik to stab it once.
After that, its momentum waned. Jeminik’s victory became certain.
I turned my gaze back to the other fight.
Charlie was catching his breath in short bursts, gauging the distance while pointing the spearhead tucked under his armpit at the goblins.
Sweat running down from his forehead trailed along his double chin and fell.
Nick, on the other hand, was calm.
Beside me, he fired arrows one by one, accurately toward his targets.
It didn’t seem to be an easy task, as nausea lingered on his face, but his hands still did not shake.
I drew in a short breath.
Right. Everyone here was a veteran in their own way.
They all knew how to handle the basics.
The battle itself seemed manageable.
That wasn’t the problem.
Even while fighting, everyone’s minds were focused elsewhere.
The one doing nothing, quietly looking down at us.
The Goblin King.
It had not moved a single step.
It was merely watching us.
Huge yellow-green eyes.
They were the eyes of a beast, as if waiting for its prey to tire and collapse.
Without realizing it, I swallowed.
An ominous feeling crept up over my entire body.
Slash.
Jeminik finally took the head of the large goblin.
The goblin’s head rolled as it sprayed blood. The goblins faltered and backed away.
At the very moment the momentum had completely shifted to our side—
It began to move.
“Kuuuuwooooooo!”
A shriek that seemed to tear the eardrums rang out.
Immediately after came heavy footsteps that shook the ground.
The Goblin King was charging toward us with the log in hand.
[Water Bullet]
I fired a Water Bullet on reflex.
But perhaps it was too slow for the creature.
Thunk!
The Water Bullet was blocked by the massive log and failed to inflict any real damage.
In the meantime, Nick released the bowstring he had drawn taut.
Swoooosh! Thuk!
The arrow buried itself straight into the creature’s arm.
Tch. So it has to be that fast to work.
“Kuwuuuu!”
It hadn’t sunk in deeply, but it must have been an unfamiliar pain.
As the creature roared and shook its arm, a spatter of blood flew.
I glanced at Nick beside me as he nocked another arrow, then drew up my mana.
To me, magic was not a difficult process.
I drew up mana, then recalled the spell as if entering a command.
I didn’t know how other mages did it, but to me, that was an entirely natural method.
If there was a drawback, it would be mana.
The only water I could use now was the water inside my canteen.
Thanks to the staff’s assistance, I had somehow managed to cover one barrier and a Water Bullet or two until now.
But even that was at its limit.
The battlefield was too chaotic, and there was no room to borrow water from another mercenary.
In the end, I squeezed out my mana and created a Water Bullet from scratch.
[Water Bullet]
Thud!
The Water Bullet struck the charging creature’s shin.
But perhaps because of its thick hide, the creature simply shook its leg once and continued its charge.
In the blink of an eye, it had rushed right up to us.
The first one it targeted was fat Charlie.
Booom! Bang!
With an ear-splitting sound of air being torn apart, the log came crashing down as if being swung with both hands.
With astonishing reflexes, Charlie rolled his body and barely escaped.
It was speed that truly didn’t match his build.
Piiing! Thuk!
An arrow lodged itself in the creature’s back.
At the prickling pain from behind, the Goblin King growled and turned its head.
At the end of its gaze were Nick and me.
“...Uh, uh?”
The Goblin King’s eyes flared wide.
“Kuwuuuu!!”
The moment our eyes met, it roared like a wild beast and charged.
“You shithead, are you ignoring me?!”
From the side, Galeson swung his axe.
But the creature swung the log violently, not paying him any mind at all.
Whoosh—bang!
“Guh—”
Even though he hadn’t been struck properly, Galeson was sent flying as if knocked away.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Its movements were clearly aimed only at us.
A dense pressure weighed down on all sides.
“Run!”
Nick shouted first, and I instinctively twisted my body.
The log swept past us.
It struck the air by my ear by a hair’s breadth, and behind me, a tree snapped and collapsed.
“Huff, huff.”
In that short time, Nick started to pull out an arrow, then stopped.
The creature was too fast.
The Goblin King came charging madly between the trees.
It was hard to believe something that size could move at that speed.
It paid no attention to obstacles whatsoever.
It simply smashed through them and advanced.
There was no way to win against it in a contest of speed.
Behind us, Galeson threw his axe, but with a thunk, it hit the animal hide draped over the creature’s shoulder and bounced off.
As if nothing had happened, the Goblin King continued its charge without the slightest reaction.
Its target was clear.
Nick, who had kept shooting those irritating arrows.
Nick fled desperately, but there was no escaping the Goblin King.
Whoooooosh—!
In the end, the moment the creature reached Nick, it swung the log with all its might.
'He can’t block that.'
I sensed it instinctively and was just about to close my eyes when something burst out of the pouch and blocked Charlie’s front.
Claaaang!
A blue light flashed, barely deflecting the Goblin King’s attack.
“Grwoooo!”
The creature was thrown off to the side, carried by the powerful inertia.
At the astonishing sight, I opened my eyes wide and confirmed what it was.
The thing that had stopped the log was unmistakably “Gerangi.”
Clack.
Gerangi stood in front of Nick, protecting him while spreading a blue barrier like mine.
Its size looked a little smaller than mine, but it was definitely a Waterflow Barrier.
“Gerangi!”
I shouted reflexively. Was that thing copying my magic?
But that wasn’t what mattered right now.
I grabbed Nick, who had frozen from barely surviving, and began running again.
Charlie and Jeminik were still fighting the remaining goblins.
Only if we drew the Goblin King away could they finish things up over there and join us.
Calculations raced through my head.
“Nick, canteen!”
“Ah, yes!”
Having barely come to his senses, Nick threw me the canteen at his waist.
As soon as I caught it, I turned my body first.
Then I started running toward the mountain without looking back.
As if he had grasped my intention, Nick followed right behind me.
The Goblin King must have regained its senses too, because I heard heavy footsteps.
“You crazy bastard—do I look invisible to you?!”
Galeson’s furious shout rang out from behind us.
The slope of the forest was steeper than I had expected, and the ground beneath my feet was muddy, making me slip again and again.
But the creature didn’t care about any of that.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Each of its footsteps struck the ground as it chased after us.
The moment I glanced over my shoulder, its figure had already caught up right behind us.
“Split left and right!”
Nick shouted.
If we kept running in a straight line, we wouldn’t last.
Nick veered left, and I ran right, circling around a large boulder.
The Goblin King faltered for an instant.
Damn it, the bastard decided to chase slow-ass me.
My heart pounded.
My breath rose to my throat.
But if I stopped now, I’d die.
[Waterflow Barrier]
I drew out my remaining mana.
With a clear vibration, a faint Waterflow Barrier formed.
I twisted my body so I could slip it into the bastard’s line of sight.
Thud!
The log in its hand struck the barrier, sending water spraying, and in that fleeting instant,
I rolled out from behind the boulder.
“Haa… haa…”
My breathing came raggedly.
But the bastard hadn’t completely lost track of me.
Thump, thump—once again, its footsteps headed my way.
At that moment,
Shweeek— thud!
An arrow flying in from somewhere grazed past the side of its crown.
It was Nick.
The bastard turned its head again.
Now its gaze shifted to Nick.
I didn’t miss the opening either.
I opened my canteen and spilled water onto the ground.
“If we can just hold out a little longer…”
The others would come join us.
Then it would be worth a shot.
I poured the water onto the ground.
It wasn’t exactly a lot. About enough to cover two spread palms.
Fortunately, though, this was a land of thick mud.
[Condensation]
I placed my hand on the ground and used what mana I had left as thinly as possible, forcing it out like I was wringing it dry.
Rather than gathering water, it felt more like drawing it in from the surroundings and pressing it down to spread it through the ground.
It was closer to diffusion than condensation.
The water seeped deep into the mud and spread quickly.
The ground, already damp, rapidly softened from that point.
I watched the ground and held my breath.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Each footprint struck the earth, the sound of pursuit drawing closer and closer.
Perhaps it had decided it was too late to follow Nick, because the bastard turned back toward me.
It seemed to find it strange that I had suddenly stopped as well, and slowed down slightly.
But it was already too late.
Squish, squish.
The moment it slowly approached me and stepped onto the mud,
Squelch! Plunge!
One foot was instantly sucked deep into the mire.
And since it had put its weight forward in that state…
Lurch.
Its balance collapsed to one side.
The arm raising the log cleaved through empty air and slammed into the ground.
Boom—!
With a tremendous tremor, the giant figure toppled.
“Nick!”
I shouted, and Nick, who had been waiting in the distance, responded.
Shweeeek— thud!
The arrow buried itself deep beneath the bastard’s neck, in a spot not covered by animal hide.
And then,
“Fuckface, I told you not to ignore me.”
Galeson appeared, seething with rage.
His entire body was drenched in blood, and his eyes flashed from beyond his disheveled hair.
Like a yaksha, he drew his axe with a twisted expression on his face.
“Kwaaaar—”
Just as the Goblin King, covered head to toe in mud, raised its upper body and tried to roar,
Whoooom—
The single edge of Galeson’s axe cut through the wind, sweeping deep across the bastard’s neck in an instant.