Chapter 1: Yang The Purger of Sins
Author's note: This story was made to vent out some anxiety because I accidentally watched that certain clip from the first episode of the anime on complete accident and I was not prepared for it. To simply get understanding of the setting and premise, I did a minimal research on this series (book, anime and manga) to at least get an understanding. I apologize if these chapters seem a little bit off in lacking proper information.
A man in the white gi like that of a kimono stood in a field of tall healthy grass, breezing through the wind. His neatly combed beard and ponytail that matched his attire waved and fluttered in the wind, eyes closed as he took in the moment.
With a hum he turned his head, eyes still closed as he faced a rising pillar of smoke that sank beneath a hill. Casually making his way over the hill he peered down and overlooked the burning of a small village. Down onto the streets could be witnessed a horde of goblins of running wildly, burning and looting buildings. Murdering men and children while even some breeded the women on the spot, their cries screaming out more than those of the dying.
With a growl of distaste the man slide down the hill before going full sprint towards the village, only picking up speed the longer he went. Reaching down to his waist he grabbed the handle of his katana, slowly pulling it out as the village drew closer and closer by the literal second.
The moment his foot set onto the first piece of a cobblestone sidewalk, he was gone in a flash of light. Zooming across the village as he meticulously countered the goblin onslaught faster than ever humanly possible. Zipping by to parry that deciding moment as an axe-wielding hobgoblin attempted to deal the final blow to a young adventure's skull. All while not slowing down, rushing into the house next door to have his sword pierce into the heart of a goblin that was torturing a young boy, taking the boy out of the village just as fast as before rushing back in.
As if knowing the layout of everything that was happening he rushed towards it, halting each goblin's own deeds as he either turned the tide of battle, or ended a conflict. To the normal eye however, it was like he was just a blur of white of a split second. It wasn't long before the final goblin was dispatched of. Taking those injured and a few healer class adventurers to the same place as the boy, making sure they received medical attention.
By the time the last goblin was slain the villagers were able regain their footing, noting that everyone saw the same blur rush through the village, some seeing it pass by multiple times, even mysteriously extinguishing the flames of the burning buildings. However they did not waste time pondering on their mysterious salvation and searched the village for any remaining goblins or survivors, not knowing that had been already dealt with.
"You there! Are you hurt?!" The young adventurer called out, seeing the man in white standing on a pile of rubble from a fallen building. He was oddly looking up at the sky, eyes still closed.
"Ah, you're the young man who almost fell to that hobgoblin, quite the misfortune you almost had." The man in white said calmly, surprising the adventurer. "Apologize, I'm actually the one who saved the village. My name is Yang and I was just passing by when I saw the smoke." He added, walking up to the man with a smile, eyes still closed.
"Y-You saved the whole village?! Are you a platinum rank adventurer?!" The young man asked, as his own village guild rarely came across such high ranking adventurers. Even he was just starting out, having only gone on a handful of missions.
"Well, I'm not exactly an adventurer by trade, but I do wander around and have epic encounters." Yang replied, rubbing his white beard with a smile as he tried to be a bit humorous.
"Warrior!" Another voice called out, causing the two to look back and see a Knight in full armor walk up onto them, he seemed far more experienced than the young man known as Warrior. "It seems nearly everyone in the village is alright, save for those before the gods graced us with their protection." He said, making his way to them, "However it seems that a large portion of the goblin attack was a distraction to cause mayhem and panic. A smaller group focused on stealing our supplies."
"Clever, must be one of those goblin lords or something." Warrior said, "But they got what they wanted, I'm sure we can recover and deal with them afterwards. It's all thanks to this guy!" He added, pointing behind himself and at Yang with a cheerful smile.
"But that's not all, several of the women are missing, no corpses or anything. Amongst them was Elisa and her mother. It's likely they were captured." Knight replied, the smile on Warrior fading fast.
"Elisa was… captured?" He said softly, his face turning to dread as it became pale. His lifelong friend now in the hands of those goblins, the images flashed through his mind as he could only picture her being raped or even brutalized for their amusement. Yet he knew that he had no chance of saving her as he was now, nor did the village in their weakened state.
"I shall go and deal with these goblins, have them return your things if possible." Yang spoke up, stepping in front of Warrior and looked at Knight with his closed eyes.
"So you were the one that saved our village? I take it you were that white blur then. You're incredibly fast, but that may not work well in a goblin cave." Knight replied.
"I assure you, I will try things peacefully before I attempt any fighting. However you needn't worry about my speed, I am far more capable than just running around at high speed." Yang stated.
"You intend to use diplomacy on goblins? They'll kill you if you aren't careful!" Warrior shouted, stepping to Yang's side as he looked at him like he was crazy.
"Every creature should be given a chance at redemption or salvation. I will not bring judgment down upon them until they bring a blade upon me. Now if you'll excuse me, I shall tend to this matter by myself while you tend to your village. On a related note I must weaken the grasp of the goblins in this region one way or another,as requested by my younger brother." Yang replied before turning around and headed out of the village and towards the goblin cave, even though he was never told of its location.
Crossing between fields and a river, he solely made his way directly towards the lair of the goblins. Traveling several hours, coming across their tracks returning home to see that it had to have been at a minimum of 50 goblins, over 100 at best. Eventually seeing the landscape change around him to a more rocky, boulders and rough chunks of stone protrude out of the ground.
To his surprise a group of adventurers were standing outside of a cave, seeming to be bickering. The group consisted of a male Paladin, a female Elven Archer, a female Human Caster and a male Dragoon.
"I take it your on a quest to slay the goblins in this cave? By chance did you come from a small village southwest of here?" Yang asked, walking up to the group, their conversation ending and turned to face the newcomer.
"Hm? Yeah we came from a village down south. Did you sign up on the quest too?" Archer asked, looking at the man, thinking he might be a Ronin or Samurai without his armor.
"It's a surprise you got here before us. Our party leader Paladin mixed up northwest and northeast and caused us to take twice as long to get here." Dragoon stated, getting a sour glare from from Paladin.
"Look we got here all save and sound, and we have this guy here. How about you join us? That way we can actually split the reward evenly, which we've been trying to discuss for the past twenty-five minutes." Caster said, hoping that the man, who looked greatly experienced by his age of perhaps fourty, would join them.
"As much as I'm willing to help your party out for nothing more but charity, I have to refuse. The village was attacked on your travel, probably missed the returning goblins due to your extended trip. The fighting is over, but I imagine the village you traveled from requires the extra help. Besides…" Yang said before stepping to the side of Archer and caught a sailing arrow between two fingers aimed right for her right breast, "These goblins have a dreadful sense of humor. For an Archer to fall to an arrow with goblin urine as poison would be quite the crude sense of humor." He said before snapping the shaft like a twig, throwing the arrowhead back into the cave for a goblin to scream with a gurgle.
"The village was attacked?! Guys, we need to see if everyone is alright!" Caster shouted, her voice full of concern.
"Wait a second! We can't just leave him! Not only would he be going in alone but he'd be taking the reward himself!" Dragoon replied, looking at the man.
"Young man I never said I signed up for this quest, nor do I care for the reward be it a single coin or a King's Ransom. Furthermore your team highly is unprepared for a cave of goblins. But if your greed has gotten the best of you, go ahead and brave the cave. Only when a goblin goes to your side and you turn to deal with them your lance gets stuck on the caves walls and you will be stabbed in the abdomen with a poison dagger. But have no fear, it'll be unwedged when a hobgoblin grabs it, and proceeds to shove your very weapon up your anal cavity and out through your mouth. That is his how you die, followed by Paladin with his head on said lance's tip, whereas the young girls will be bred till I come to save them and the others." He said, his tone and cold, leaving the party staring at him with a mixture of shock and fear.
"Let's just go back to the village." Paladin said, getting a nod from the girls and started walking away.
Only Dragoon stayed behind to give the man a scornful look before following his party, "Pompous asshole…"
Yang stood there in silence, waiting for the party to move far away before he traversed into the cave. The light of the entrance fading behind him, yet his robes flowed with a radiant white light that shined outwards several feet in all directions, lighting up the walls and ceiling around him.
He suddenly stopped and swinging down directly in front of him was a large axe, hitting nothing but the stone in front of him.
"Ah, I was hoping to have come across someone sooner or later…" He said, watching as a hobgoblin came walking out of a little hideaway hole in the wall, "I request that you release the girls in your captivity and return the stolen goods. We can avoid all bloodshed by doing so." He added.
Only the mass of muscle let out a small chuckle before preparing his axe, lifting at just below head level and swung for the man's feet. Only with a casual flick of the wrist and Yang's sheathed sword bounced the sharp axe back like a spring and it sunk into the rocky wall.
"I shall ask again, release the girls and return the goods. You and your fellow brethren are outmatched against me." He said, opening his eyes and stared at the hobgoblin, his eyes as black as a void; seemingly piercing into the goblin's soul as their eyes connected.
For a moment the hobgoblin became fearful, stepping back as he left his axe in the stone. Yet after a moment, he gritted his teeth and lunged at the man, only for his chest to suddenly feel hard cold steel run through.
"This discussion is over, a third attempt at conversing will bear no fruit with one such as you." He replied, pulling the blade out as the goblin collapsed on the floor. Swinging the blade downward to remove the blood completely before sheathing it. "You are only trying to survive and for that, I apologize. However clearly the inhabitants show non interest in talking, for that is your fault."
With that he continued his walk, descending further into the cave, only to be quickly interrupted as arrows sailed out of the darkness. As quickly as the sailed through the air, they split down the middle just as fast and sailed past Yang. Only something splashed onto his cheek. Wiping it off with a finger and inspecting it revealed to be fecal matter.
Glaring into the darkness as he heard the goblins snicker he flicked his finger clean and took a stance, hand on sheathed blade. With the faint sound of their bows straining he took of sprinting with his weapon in hand. Arrows flew towards him yet he dodged them in the narrow cave with ease. Coming up quickly on the goblins as their bodies became visible from his radiant glow.
Two stood side by side as one stood way in the back. Readying another set, only for the man to draw his sword and slice the goblin's throat on the left as he fell, spinning towards the right one before thrusting the blade into his brain. The third goblin fired his arrow, only for it to be deflected and miraculously bounce off the cave walls and hit the goblin dead square on the forehead. With that he swung his blade clean again before sheathing and continuing forth.
Halting at a fork in the cavern he looked at both sides, neither one looking particularly better than the other. Closing his eyes he focused, feeling a creeping wave of disgust climb over it before opening his eyes and stared at the left path, pushing forward through once more. Pushing farther in as that sense of disgust became more and more nauseating the further down he went.
Nearing an archway he could see several goblins huddled around a campfire, eating away at various meats and drinking booze. Yang could sense nothing but gluttony from them as they ate one species of meat before moving into the next, merely to sample each food. Outside of the camp fire could be seen a variety of material, weapons, armor and food.
"Pigs…" He mumbled, the disgusting sin of gluttony surrounding him as he grew closer, stepping out of the passageway and into the large cavern the goblins feasted in.
He drew his sword and a radiant light glowed from it, glowing far greater than him. The goblins saw the light and turned to face the intruder, quickly getting up and grabbing the weapons at their side. Only for Yang to swing his sword and the light turned into a wave of energy coming right towards them. With little time to react the wave passed through the goblins and their bodies split in half. Hobgoblins were cut right across the stomach while normal goblins had their heads split open.
Blood spewed everywhere as Yang sighed, wanting the kill to be clean by merely cutting off their heads at the neck. Yet the blood that left their bodies landed in the fire and extinguished the flames. Darkness almost consuming the man once again.
Yet in the darkness once more, he could hear goblins chanting, his composure unchanged. Balls of fire appeared in the darkness, only to rush towards Yang. However a white wall of fire shot out of the ground and surrounded Yang, the fireballs shot into the wall, only to be swallowed whole by the white flames.
Ice formed on the ground around the white flames, the air grew colder and colder as a fog seemed to surround the area. The fire suddenly moved upwards, circling around the upper portion of the cavern and became brighter as it lit up the entirety of the room. Hordes of goblins stood around him, some clearly trying to flank him had it not been for the room lighting up. The mass of species looked around, confused and squinting at the sudden drastic change in light.
"Goblins, hobgoblins, riders, and shamans. Quite the mass of enemies we have here. But I do not have the time to face you with my blade…" He said, raising a hand upwards, "Begone you sinners." He said calmly as he brought his hand down and the white fire responded by firing upon the horde of goblins like a massive volley of arrows.
Each goblin was hit with extreme accuracy, all lighting on fire as they screamed in agony. The goblin shamans tried to cast spells, heal and even douse themselves in water. Only the liquid was like gasoline and fueled the flames even more. Their bodies started to freeze solid before being eaten bit by bit by the flames, leaving no trail of ash or burnt pieces. A goblin's arm just gone in moments as it felt like every centimeter of his being was being torn off. Goblins that tried to pat the fire out or rolled around to extinguish the flames only made it worse as it spread more across their bodies.
Yang casually walked through the burning bodies as they cried out in extreme pain. The goblins too focused on their own problems to be focusing on the man who walked by them. By the time he reached the other side of the cavern and into another passage, no weapon, armor, limb or single piece of organic material was there before the white flames extinguished themselves.
Traversing farther into the cave, he still felt nauseated at the feeling of a sin, lust. The passageway being straight and clear as he dwelled deeper down, hearing the distant sound of grunting that made his skin crawl. Walking further down he started to pick up his pace from a casual walk to a fast paced one.
Halting at a new cavern, he could see that it was well lit enough to clearly see. Women lining the walls, their bodies bare and seemingly lifeless as their only noticeable sign of life was their faint breathing. Clearly this was the breeding room.
The grunting had stopped and he turned and looked to see four hobgoblins standing side by side, staring him down. Unarmed and with no armor as they were clearly casually enjoying themselves before his arrival.
Sword still in hand he took a battle ready stance. The goblins lunged at him as he became ready, the first rushing out over the others as he tried to grab the man. Only to fake Yang out and grabbed the sword instead as he went for a swing. Pulling it out of the man's hands.
The hobgoblin grinned as he held the katana in his hands until the sound of sizzling flesh filled the air. Dropping the katana as it literally burned him like a white hot poker on flesh. Screaming in pain as his hand was now seared with fourth degree burns.
However the loss of Yang's weapon didn't affect him. The moment the sword was dropped he sent a punch towards the goblin's stomach, moving to the side as the monster vomited from the hit. Yang swiftly moved behind the beast and sent an open palm strike to his back. The cracking sound of his spine sent the monster on to floor and into a state of paralysis that he could not even breathe from as he tried to gasp for air after just throwing up.
The second hobgoblin came rushing in, only to be delivered a roundhouse kick to the neck that sent his body flying into the wall, bones cracking on impact. The third goblin tried to flank Yang and tackle him down to the ground, only to be judo thrown onto the ground by Yang who took casually twisted his head and snapped his neck. The fourth had ran to the corner and grabbed a weapon. Yang casually stood up and rolled up one of his sleeves as the goblin just now was rushing towards him, giant cleaver of stone in hand.
The beast readied his weapon, and brought it down as he got within range of Yang. Only the man casually stepped forward and with his sleeve-rolled arm he pierced it into the goblins heart. The goblin immediately went limp as Yang stepped out of the way of its fall. Flicking his hand once and the blood was gone before he went over and picked up his blade, sheathing it.
Looking around he examined the room, several women and even children laying carelessly on the floor and against the walls. Seeing some clearly long dead, others even recent but left laying on the floor all the same. Respectfully, closing the eyes of the dead and giving a small moment of silence for each woman who passed before moving onto the woman still clinging to life. Their eyes dazed and faces expressionless as what they endured had broken them.
The day moved on, the sun was near setting as the sky glowed a beautiful orange. The village that was saved had moved along quickly in trying to recover what they had lost. Burnt homes were replaced with shelters as a temporary place to rest. Food was salvaged and rationed appropriately by the entirety of the village. Having to survive on the nasty slop one would eat on a poor harvest during the winter to survive.
Warrior stood outside of the village, tasked with guard duty. He couldn't help but think about that man in white, what he said and the fact that he would do it alone. Even to the point that he persuaded a party who accepted the quest to not do it. Worry filled his heart, and dread for his friend Elisa who might be a goblin mother by now.
"WARRIOR!" A voice called out, breaking the adventurer out of his funk and looked up to see a horse drawn wagon, attached to three other wagons being pulled across the field.
He squinted his eyes as his name was called out again, looking closely at the wagon as he drew nearer. It wasn't long before he could see who it was calling him out, and his eyes widened as they quickly became watery.
Elisa, his long time friend was sitting in the front wagon, smiling and waving to him. At the reins of the front wagon was Yang, steering the horses. Sitting in the back of the first wagon was Elisa and all the other women, strangely smiling and looking onward at the village as if the horror they went through never existed. In the wagons behind the first sat the three other wagons, each neatly organized and categorized from supplies, equipment and food. All three wagons filled to the brim with things.
The wagon drew just on the outskirts of the village and the women started to jump out, rushing towards the village as they called out their friends, family and loved ones. Warrior embracing Elisa a tight hug as the girl's mother walked up to them once the wagon had stopped. Tears flowed from the young adventurer as Elisa was about to seemingly start as well.
"You're back…" Knight replied, walking up to Yang as he got off the wagon once reaching the edge of town. "And you brought back not only the girls, but supplies as well. I've been through goblin caves, how are these girls still about their senses?" He asked, knowing that women captive in goblins rarely expressed joy in being saved.
"A simple matter, not to sweat the details but I merely removed that fear and despair from their hearts. The goblins were partying from the raid, there were too many for the adventurers that took the quest. Unfortunately however I was not able to bring back the dead, but I gave them a proper burial outside the cave." Yang replied, his eyes once again closed shut.
"I see, that's a shame. But this village is greatly in debt to you for saving us. Why not join us in celebration for your swift deeds?" Knight asked, smiling at Yang who merely shook his head.
"A mere thank you is all I require. I wish not to waste precious food on a party, not when the village greatly needs it." Yang replied, walking up to Warrior and Elisa, whom the former kept expressing his gratitude as he hugged his friend. To which Yang simply nodded with a smile and continued on his way.