Chapter 60. Goblin
The wooden floor shattered apart.
The entire building shook from a single blow of the Goblin’s fist.
Count Siller’s temporary residence was a mansion set slightly apart from the village.
Could it be that the only fortunate thing was that no innocent bystanders would be caught in the crossfire?
Binaeril stamped off the ground and stood upon the second-floor balcony opposite Dominic.
The building had a structure with a square hollow in the center of the second floor.
He fired magic bullets at the Goblin while keeping his guard toward Dominic.
If they both teamed up against him, his chances of winning were slim.
“Hmph! Pathetic.”
The Goblin swatted away the flying magic bullets with his thick forearms and sneered.
Astonishing durability.
It was probably also because Binaeril’s attention was divided toward Dominic, weakening their power.
‘How many moves do I have available?’
Magic bullets and other spells that served as his main weapons, and the support of Eden the spirit.
‘The longer this drags on, the more disadvantageous it becomes. Isn’t there a way to take them both down at once?’
He recalled the wide-area magic he had used at Fairhill.
…Impossible. He would be completely exposed to attacks while casting.
“Dominic, join me! If we just shut this bastard up, everything will be fine!”
Dominic stood motionless with his arms crossed.
The sword he had drawn was sheathed before anyone knew it, and he showed a passive attitude.
“Goblin.”
“My family all lost their lives at the hands of black mages like you.”
“…What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“From that day forth, the ones I loathe most have been those called mages. Especially black mages like you.”
“This doesn’t seem like the time to bring that up.”
“I do not conspire with mages. Especially not with black mages. Since things have gone awry, the contract with you is terminated. Fight. I will not intervene.”
The last remark was spoken while looking at Binaeril.
As if to say, don’t mind me and focus on the Goblin.
“…You say strange things. Well, fine. I received the advance payment, and your face alone has been making my stomach twist for a while now.”
Binaeril exchanged glances with Dominic.
He didn’t know why things had gone sour between the two, but either way, the situation had turned in his favor.
“I’ll kill him, and then, Dominic, I’ll break your neck and drink your blood!”
The Goblin smashed the space where Binaeril stood while raising his fist.
He cast toward Binaeril, who leaped again and floated in midair.
A basic penetration spell. The power of the magic the Goblin wielded was uniformly terrible.
Binaeril neutralized it with a spell that was clearly a superior version.
Binaeril’s magic bullet pulverized the Goblin’s spell.
The magic bullet left a long trail of mana traces as it embedded itself in the bastard’s chest.
‘This one got through!’
Binaeril raised his head after landing.
The Goblin scratched the chest that had been hit by the magic bullet and sneered.
“That stings a bit.”
“…Ha.”
He felt it once more, but it was an absurd level of durability.
The elixir the bastard had taken didn’t simply amplify magical power; it was likely a type that enhanced physical abilities to the extreme.
And one more thing.
The Goblin threw a punch.
His fist, stretched out long like a whip, reached right in front of Binaeril’s nose in an instant.
Bam!
The stone wall Eden raised collided with the Goblin’s fist.
“Owowow…”
The Goblin let out a playful groan.
The bastard’s body could stretch out to great lengths like that.
Instead of crude magical skill, swinging his limbs like whips seemed to be the Goblin’s means of attack.
‘Simple magic bullets can’t pierce his hide. I need a more concentrated spell.’
Paying attention to defense meant diverting focus from controlling magic.
Choose and focus.
Binaeril judged that he had to set aside defense and raise the power of his magic bullets.
‘Eden, I’m counting on you.’
Eden would handle the minimal defense, as she had just now.
Kiiing— Kiiing— Kiiing—
Binaeril created numerous magic bullets and fired them.
He focused on deliberately increasing their number rather than worrying about power.
It was to induce the opponent’s carelessness, making him think, ‘I can take this much.’
The Goblin, who had deflected the magic bullets once again with his thick forearms, roared in fury.
Kiiing— Kiiing—
The magic bullets Binaeril cast continued to increase in number and were fired continuously.
Each individual bullet’s power had fallen, but they were attacks that were difficult to completely ignore.
“Annoying!”
The Goblin crossed both arms and swung them, targeting Binaeril’s upper and lower body simultaneously.
He intended to simply make him stop casting.
The bastard’s two arms whipped around like lashes, shattering all the furniture in the house.
Binaeril cast an acceleration spell and flattened himself against the ground to avoid the attack.
The moment his breath was taken away, the Goblin didn’t miss the opening and swung his arms as if wildly hacking.
Since he couldn’t expect Eden to block every attack, Binaeril dodged the heavy strikes while creating distance.
Even if his limbs stretched, they couldn’t exceed the range of magic bullets.
But that didn’t last long either.
Thud.
Binaeril’s back struck the first-floor wall.
The place they were fighting in was a narrow interior. He couldn’t retreat forever.
“Heh heh heh!”
Seeing Binaeril driven into a corner, the Goblin bared his teeth and laughed.
Binaeril looked at him and smiled back as well.
Binaeril had no intention of running forever either.
“Burst forth like a storm.”
Rays of light from magic bullets formed in numbers on a completely different level from before.
The number of magic bullets cast in an instant reached the dozens.
The laughter vanished from the Goblin’s face.
Should he retreat? No. Creating distance would only be advantageous to Binaeril.
“Die!!”
The Goblin clenched his fist tightly and swung wildly at Binaeril, driven into the corner.
Now it was all or nothing.
Binaeril’s magic bullets, their casting completed, also poured down like rain toward the Goblin’s entire body.
A true slugfest!
The two struck each other’s bodies as if they had promised that whoever stopped attacking first would lose.
Attacks that Eden failed to completely block sank into Binaeril’s abdomen.
They struck his cheeks and slammed his shoulders.
The Goblin’s blind punches shattered the wall as Binaeril was gradually driven deeper into it.
But the Goblin too received countless magic bullets with his entire body and was gradually pushed back.
The slugfest continued until Binaeril was on the verge of losing consciousness.
“Tch!”
The Goblin stopped attacking first.
He deflected the flying magic bullets with his hand and gained time to catch his breath.
“Kkeolok!”
He tasted the coppery tang of blood in his mouth.
‘Why did he back off?’
Even though Binaeril was in a disadvantageous situation.
The Goblin had stopped his attack and retreated when he saw a magic bullet flying toward his adam’s apple.
If so, there must definitely be a reason.
‘The adam’s apple is his weak point.’
If his entire body were as hard as steel, there would be no need to defend it.
Binaeril grabbed his trembling legs and smiled a triumphant smile.
“Hey, Goblin.”
“You have the antidote, don’t you?”
“…Ha! I thought you came to avenge the princess or something, but it was to get that antidote? How absurd.”
“Hand over the antidote. Then I’ll let you live.”
“What are you saying when you’re on the verge of death? Antidote? Of course I have it. Here, catch!”
The Goblin tossed a reagent bottle containing a clear greenish liquid.
Not to Binaeril, but to Dominic Siller.
Dominic, who had been watching the situation, caught the bottle reflexively.
Binaeril looked at the reagent in Dominic’s hand and asked Veritas.
‘Veritas, just answer me this. Is that thing real?’
-It is a real antidote.
‘That’s a relief.’
The Goblin sneered at Binaeril, who looked haggard.
“This is why Tower-born mages are no good. They’re like flowers raised in a greenhouse. The spells they know are only a few at best. This is the kind of magic you need to survive.”
The Goblin’s bizarrely developed muscles bulged one by one.
“Are you resentful? Are you afraid of death? Is this your first defeat? Mages outside the Tower experience these things all their lives. Someone born into a good family, wearing fine clothes and eating only the best—you can’t compare to them.”
The Goblin worked himself into a frenzy, spitting as he delivered a passionate speech.
“With that pretty face. Crawling in alone to save a friend and demanding an antidote? You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that. Take it and try, you suckling mage of Elfenbein.”
He pronounced the words “mage of Elfenbein” with a contemptuous tone.
“You’ll have to kill me, and even trample the corpse of that knight who hates you as much as I do, before you can take the antidote. Why? Don’t think you can do it? Feeling dizzy, like you’re about to collapse any moment?”
One, two, three.
After three seconds of silence, Binaeril finally opened his mouth.
“…Are you done?”
“I asked if your long speech was over. Professor Goblin, sir.”
“I don’t know what kind of life you’ve lived. What family, what environment you were born into. Because neither you nor I chose those. But I didn’t have as gentle a childhood as you seem to think.”
‘Thanks to my damnably loathsome brother.’
Binaeril muttered under his breath.
“Even now, when I close my eyes, the burning stake where my mother hung and burned to death is vivid before my eyes.”
It remained like a burned-in afterimage on Binaeril’s retina. Never once erased.
“Hm? What did you just say?”
The Goblin couldn’t properly make it out because of the low, muffled voice.
But Dominic had clearly heard.
Burned to death… his mother?
“One more thing. For a second-rate mage who hasn’t even set foot in Elfenbein to talk about Elfenbein this and that is hard to stomach. It’s a repulsive inferiority complex.”
“…Did you just call me disgusting? In that state? There’s a limit to provocations.”
The Goblin scoffed.
Binaeril, beaten by his wild attacks, was in a battered state.
Bruises covered his entire body, his legs trembling. In contrast, though the Goblin was panting somewhat, his monstrous durability and recovery meant he was still at ease.
“Goblin, and one last correction to your misunderstanding.”
“A man about to die certainly has a lot to say. Very well. Speak. I’ll listen.”
“I said it before, but you don’t seem to remember. I won this fight. You are going to die now.”
Binaeril stretched out his finger and pointed precisely at the Goblin’s adam’s apple.
What was this sense of incongruity?
The Goblin flinched in surprise, but nothing happened.
Did he want to boast that he had figured out his weakness?
Anyway, the bastard’s only means of attack was mana arrows. If he only watched out for those, there was no way he would lose.
“Folly, sheer folly! If your last words are finished, die now, fledgling mage!”
An angle that could never be seen by the Goblin. But in Binaeril’s eyes, it was clearly visible.
Hidden behind his swollen torso, beneath his jaw, it was definitely there.
The ‘shadow.’
Kiiing—.
‘…Huh?’
The Goblin felt the sudden cool sensation at the nape of his neck and tried to let out a bewildered exclamation.
“Hurk!”
But what came out through his throat was only a bizarre, deflated sound.
The magic bullet drawn from the shadow draped over his collarbone pierced straight through the Goblin’s adam’s apple.
Dominic, who had been watching, felt a slight shiver run down his spine.
It was the exact same move he had suffered at the Thornwinter Wetlands.
‘…What the…’
He could not properly comprehend what had happened even until the moment he died.
The Goblin’s massive body slowly collapsed forward.