As the shadows inside the cave seem to crawl along its walls and floor, the smell of viscera, blood, and gore, accompanied it. That and the fact that they were exhausted both physically and mentally made it difficult for them to breathe through their noses alone.
A party of four porcelain rank beginners entered the cave, only two now ran along its path.
They never expected for the quest to be this difficult. They took the advice of the receptionist girl in the Adventurer's guild hall seriously and started only with a few quests regarding giants rats and roaches in the sewers just below the town. While those quests themselves paid a bit decently for porcelain adventurers, they offered little experience. Since they wanted to rank up quick, they decided that it was already time for them to take on a different quest.
A goblin slaying quest.
Regarding the payment, goblin slaying quests' rewards aren't all that different to the rewards for the giant rat and roaches slaying quest.
However, they do give more experience.
More experience equals faster chance to rank up.
But what they didn't expect was that the difference in terms of difficulty between the quests they've done before and the goblin slaying quest was too wide. Giant rats and roaches were quite strong but simple to deal with. Goblins on the other hand were quite tricky and even though they were quite stupid, they can think for themselves. Alone they don't amount to much, but they hardly act alone. They often attack in groups and likes to perform ambushes on unwary adventurers using the darkness inside the cave to their advantage. They carry weapons from stolen weapons and tools from adventurers and villagers to plain rocks they picked from the ground.
They already managed to kill eleven goblins including the two who seemed to be standing guard just by the entrance to the cave. It would've been much safer to wait out the goblins and set a surprise attack to counter them, but the knowledge of the captured village girls convinced them to rush in and save the girls as fast as possible.
And that's when they got ambushed by the goblins.
Human archer was at the rear of their formation. As they got ambushed, he was the first one to get attacked. With the use of a stone pickax, he was hit in the head before he could even nock a single arrow to retaliate. As he fell on the hard ground with a discernible thud, he was soon ravaged by several goblin and was ripped to countless shreds of flesh and blood.
Half-Elf brawler was almost stabbed in the back with a knife, but she was able to react by instinct and used her gauntlet covered hand to swipe the knife away from the goblin's hands and follow up with a punch with her other hand. However, due to her exhaustion, she couldn't muster enough strength to smash the goblin's head. Before long she was holding off several goblins at once.
Apprentice Scout did her best to give aid to her fellow party members. With the help of her daggers, she'd slain five goblins as she helped Half-elf brawler. But due to the sheer number of goblins, her daggers were soon slick with blood and fat making them less effective as a tool for slaying goblins.
The two of them would've been incapacitated by goblins already if it weren't for Rhea Fighter. She was the main frontliner of their party and stood strong as she fended off goblins after goblins. With her hammer she mashed more goblins than her two remaining party members. With her hammer and round shield, she had a good balance of offense and defense. But a single Rhea could only do so much against such numbers. Before long she found herself slowly being surrounded by goblins. She made a decision to gather as much goblins as she can and turn their attention towards her. After that. she shouted at her party members to run towards the exit of the cave.
Though they didn't want to leave Rhea Fighter all by herself as some sort of scapegoat, both Half-elf Brawler and Apprentice Scout knew that they had no choice. It was Rhea Fighter's own decision, so they had to honor it. With tears falling from their eyes, they ran away from Rhea Fighter leaving her to fend the goblins all by herself. They didn't want to think about it, but they knew what goblins did to the humans they manage to capture. So they felt really guilty about surviving with the help of the sacrifice of Rhea Fighter.
"I'm so sorry!"
"Don't apologize now! Do it when we get out of here!"
Due to the uneven ground in the interior of the cave, despite the elves' natural fleet footsteps, Half-Elf Brawler slipped as she stepped on a rock resting on the ground spraining her ankles. Apprentice Scout did help her, but their speed was way slower than before.
"I'm really sorry... please, leave me."
Hearing her please, Apprentice Scout glared at Half-Elf Brawler and reprimanded her.
"No way am I losing another ally! Don't speak like that! We mustn't let the sacrifice of our party member go to waste!"
"I'm sorry!"
"Enough! Just focus on not tripping again!"
Even with all their strength and will focused on their escape, none could deny the fact that they were severely exhausted and one was injured.
A group of goblins chased them relentlessly with sickening grin on their faces. Each goblin were already imagining the acts of violation they would do the two adventurers once they capture them.
They would treat them as their playthings and their means of multiplying their numbers.
With lust and greed shining in their eyes, the goblins chased the adventurers with no rest.
"T-they're... catching up!"
"Shut up! Just shut up!"
Apprentice Scout did her best to ran as swiftly as she could while supporting Half-Elf Brawler with her shoulder. But she could see that her effort was futile. She didn't bother to look back, but hearing the sounds of footsteps getting louder, she could tell that the goblins were gaining on them.
A sickening thought crossed her mind.
In her mind, she imagined her casting Half-Elf Brawler aside and leaving her. Without the excess weight on her being, she could somehow manage to escape the cave.
Truthfully, she felt disgusted for thinking such an action. She shook her head to dispel to the idea and just ran with all her strength. She closed her eyes as tears from her eyes rolled down without stop.
It was futile.
She was terrified.
She felt like she was about to vomit as she thought about what would happen to them once they were capture by goblins. They would be their playthings. Violated in the cruelest and most barbaric of ways. Tortured for the sick amusement of the goblins. They would be impregnated and give birth to disgusting goblin offsprings till they let out their last breath.
A sick life of torment.
It was here that she thought of the tale of Goblin Slayer. Many adventurers and civilians chastised the adventurer for managing to reach the silver rank through exclusively slaying goblins. They mocked his cheap and dirty armor and his lack of common social skills. They thought that it was incredibly weird for someone to hunt a single kind of monster and reach the third highest rank.
However, him going on goblin slaying quests alone and coming back alive was actually an incredible feat by itself.
Their entire part was prepared and they didn't really underestimated the goblins. But they committed a mistake and that was all it took for the table to turn completely around against them.
As she heard a distinct noise behind her, Apprentice Scout let go of Half-Elf Brawler and drew out her daggers. She turned and saw a goblin leaping straight at them. With a spin of her daggers, she leaned backwards and as the goblin closed the distance she swung her daggers in a cross direction and slit the goblin's throat.
"Go."
"What?"
"Just go! Run away!"
"NO! I CAN'T!"
"JUST GO AWAY!"
"I WON"T LEAVE YOU!"
Despite Apprentice Scout's pleading, Half-Elf Brawler rejected her words.
"I can... still fight."
With shaking legs, Half-Elf Brawler stood up and poised herself into a fighting stance. She winced as she felt pain from her ankle as she put her weight unto it. With a torch in her left hand, she readied herself.
"You're such an idiot."
"So are you."
Side by side, the two adventurers stuck close with one another ready for the last stand. The horrific events they will experience afterwards weighed heaviliy in both their minds and hearts.
But there was no way around it.
The goblin ahead of the group grinned widely as he jumped forwards with a huge stone in its hand. It intended for the for the stone to strike the head of one of the adventurers and knock it down. Then they would feast in depravity on the poor helpless adventurer.
"Hyaaah-!"
As Apprentice Scout was about to swing her daggers, a loud deafening noise erupted throughout the interior of the cave. Both her and Half-Elf Brawler's ears rung painfully as the loud noise echoed all throughout the cave. After the noise, they heard the sound of a body falling disgustingly on the ground in front of them.
Looking in front of them, they saw the goblin whom was leaping before one the ground lifeless with a huge hole on its head.
They looked back to where the loud noise seemed to originated from and saw a figure standing a good distance away from them.
Due to the distance and the darkness of the cave, they could hardly make out what the figure exactly looked like. But from what they could see with their eyes; the figure wore a dark cloak with a hood over its head. The figure was holding a weird weapon that none of them recognized.
The weapon was long and a bit thin. The figure wielded it pointed towards their general direction.
"...-asses."
The figure spoke, but they could't really hear it clearly.
"I said on the side and on your asses, you morons!"
With the shouting of the figure, both Apprentice Scout and Half-Elf brawler rushed to the side up to the cave walls and sat their as they held their arms over their heads.
The figure adjusted its weird weapon slightly and continued aiming at the confused goblins. With a slight movement on its finger a quick flash of light appeared and another deafening noise erupted. After that, another goblin fell lifelessly to the ground.
"Eight."
With swift movements, the figure adjusted something from its weird weapon and a small object came out. The object was small and hard to see but it made a metallic clanking noise as it fell on the ground.
The figure adjusted its weird weapon's aim slightly again.
A quick flash shone and a noise erupted.
Another goblin fell with a hole in its head.
"Seven."
Once again, the figure repeated its action of adjusting something on its weird weapon and another small object fell and made a clanking noise.
The figure aimed, a flash, a noise, and a goblin fell.
"Six."
The figure repeated its action several more times.
"Five."
A goblin fell.
"Four."
Blood and brain matter spilled on the cave wall and floor as another goblin died.
"Three."
Two goblins fell simultaneously as their head were blasted through.
"Two."
The goblins became afraid as another one of their kin fell to the ground without any sign of life remaining.
"One."
With another loud deafening noise, a goblin fell as its mouth got blasted apart with a disgusting sound.
"Zero."
Apprentice Scout and Half-Elf Brawler couldn't believe the scene that was unfolding before them. The figure with the use of its weird weapon just killed goblins one after another with such ease.
The figure looked forward to the remaining goblins and shook its head.
"Eww there's a lot of you. It makes me wanna puke."
The figure raised its weird weapon and slung it across its back. The weird weapon was secured by what seemed like a leather strap. Reaching with its hand, the figure unsheathed a knife with a serrated side opposite to its sharp edge. The knife that seemed to have been made with dark steel shone as the light from Half-Elf brawler's torch reflected from its glossy surface.
Flipping the knife in the its hand to hold it in reverse grip, the figure rushed towards the remaining members of the goblin group that were chasing them. With quick footsteps, the figure reached the goblins in no time at all.
One goblin swung its hammer down towards the figure, but the figure caught the hammer's handle with using its free hand and flipped the goblin to its back. With swift hand movements, the figure swung its knife in a horizontal direction and slit the throats of two goblins approaching her. Using the momentum gained, the figure directed its hand towards the first goblin it flipped to its back and stabbed it straight through the head.
Another goblin ran towards the figure, but was kicked on the knee and thus feel to the ground face first. As the goblin fell, the figure threw her knife towards the goblin just behind the first goblin. The knife flew straight towards the goblin's head and it fell to the ground. Unsheathing another knife from her belt, the figure swung it down towards the first goblin that was still on the ground and killed it.
The remaining goblin swung its grime covered sword, but the figure swatted it using its free hand. As the goblin lost its balance, the figure plunged its knife through the goblin's chest and it died quickly.
"Hmph."
After the last of the goblins that chased the two adventurers fell, the figure looked around and seemed to have released a sigh. The figure raised both its arms and stretched them releasing a sound from its lips.
"Aww this is so lame. Look at this shit." The figure said as it looked at its knife that was now covered in goblin blood and fat. "Disgusting." The figure walked up to one of the goblins and took its knife that was embedded on the goblin's head.
The figure reached into her hood and adjusted something. Afterwards she pulled out a piece of cloth and carefully wiped the blood and fat that covered both of its knives.
"Is there anyone else inside?" The figure spoke.
Apprentice scout and Half-Elf Brawler only looked at the figure in bewilderment and offered no response. The figure looked back at them as it finished cleaning the knives and threw away the used cloth. With quick and slightly aggressive footsteps, the figure approached the two adventurers whom were still seating on the ground.
The figure stood before the two adventurers. With a swift motion, the figure took off its hood and the clear glass gear that seemed to be some sort of protection hung from its neck by a strap.
Without anything obstructing the view, the two adventurers could finally see now what the figure's face was underneath the hood.
The figure was a beautiful woman. She had long glossy raven-black hair and jet-black colored eyes to match. She had skin so white it almost looked translucent. She had a sharp gaze to her eyes and her mouth was in a slight scowl. On her left ear was dark-violet earring that glowed as the light from the torch shone on it.
"Did I fuckin' stutter?" The woman leaned in closer "I asked if there was anyone else inside!?"
The two adventurers flinched at the sudden increase in volume.
"...J-just goblins."
Hearing their response, the raven-haired woman rested a palm on her face as she released a sigh of exasperation.
"I do know for a fact that there are more of those green shit-faced swines further inside. This is a goblin nest after all!" "She then raised a finger and tapped her forehead. " What are you deaf or dumb!? That's not what I'm asking about!"
The adventurers then realized what the woman was asking about and hastily spoke up.
"O-one of our party member... sacrificed herself to help us escape."
"So she's a female adventurer then?"
"Yes."
"Alright then. Huge chance that she's still alive, but whether or not her mind is still completely safe is unknown."
The woman pushed aside a portion of her cloak and reached into the satchel she was carrying that was hidden from plain sight by the cloak.
"Catch."
She then threw two objects towards the two adventurers which Apprentice Scout caught both with her hands. Looking at the object she saw a glass vial that was covered halfway with a brown cloth and threads.
"A stamina potion. Knock it up then follow me."
The two adventurers looked at the woman with wide eyes due to their surprise. A potion cost one gold per vial. It was an exceptional luxury item that can help adventurers in various ways. Such an item was hard to buy for beginners. After all, beginners use their money for equipment, thus they don't have the spare money to afford luxurious items.
A healing potion, a stamina potion, an antidote. Such recovery items were expensive but highly recommended to be bought by an adventurer.
The woman leaned against the cave walls and grab the weird weapon from her back. She rested it along her forearm as her other hand reached into her satchel and took one several tiny objects.
The tiny objects the woman took out seemed like small brass-colored cylindrical metallic containers or tubes. With precise hand movements, she grabbed one with her thumb and forefinger and inserted it into the side of her weird weapon. She repeated the action several times to a total of 9 times.
"The hell you looking at me for?" The woman scowled at the two adventurers. "Knock those potions up and do what I say."
With the aggressive tone of voice of the woman, the two adventurers had no other choice but to drink up the stamina potion given to them.
"Good. Looks like your minds' still decent enough to follow simple instructions." The woman mocked.
Though she wanted to say something in response, Apprentice Scout didn't open her mouth. The woman did save their lives after all. The least they can do is obey the instructions of the woman despite her rude disposition and unusual yet crude manner of speaking.
"Now then, you two." The woman pointed to one direction among the cave floor. "Pick up those cartridges err-metallic casings for me. I need to reuse them."
Half-Elf Brawler looked to the direction where the woman was pointing at and directed her hand holding the torch to the area. There were several small metallic casings similar to the ones the woman was inserting to her weird weapon scattered on the floor.
"Pick those up for me. There should be a total of nine of them." The woman then turned her back and started to walk further into the cave. "After that, follow me."
"D-don't you need any light?"
The woman didn't say anything but instead raised one finger and gently tapped it on the earring she was wearing on her left ear as a response.
Staring at the back of the woman as she walked further away from them, they notice another strange weapon slung across her back.
There were several loud noised that echoed throughout the cave, but they couldn't care less about it.
Why?
They figured it was no use worrying about it because it would be impossible for the remainder of the adventurer party to defeat them.
It was only a matter of time before the others came back with the two female adventurers in their arms.
The goblin shaman laughed.
In his sights he could see his fellow goblins enjoying their acts of violence and lust in the captured female villagers. Groans and the sound of struggling were music to their ears and only helped inflate their greed for dominance. It was a good day. Though they did lose some of their numbers, they managed to obtain another female woman to play around with and breed with.
A Rhea.
She was strong for someone her size. If their numbers were any less, perhaps the Rhea could've managed to defeat them or at least run away.
But alas, their number advantage was good and the Rhea was soon incapacitated.
He already had his fill of the village girls, so he was generous enough to let the others play around with the Rhea. Soon though, he too would have his way with the Rhea.
"Get off me!" A voice shout out.
Looking over towards the Rhea, he saw that she was completely surrounded by his brothers.
"I-I'll kill all of you! All of you!"
The sound of straining and groaning engulf her part of the area and the sound of other human women sobbing was mixed here and there. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the lone goblin champion they adopted a while ago eating a huge portion of the cattle they stole from a village. He was smaller and noticeably weaker than most champions, but he was one nonetheless. He was strong and his brute force was second to none in their group.
He managed to convince the champion that he was stronger by showing his magical powers and how much influence he had on the group. Thus the champion was quite loyal to him.
Soon, their numbers would grow greatly and then they would be able to attack villages out in the open with full numbers and take everything for themselves
As he was about to laugh, he noticed something fly in their direction. The object was small and round. It bounced a few times before rolling closer to him. He smelled something strong emanating from the object. He stood from his seat and approached the object which was just a few steps away from him.
Looking down, he noticed the object was dark and round. It had a small rope or string sticking out from one of its side. The end of the string was burning slightly and producing smoke.
As he was about to pick it up, the object exploded.
Two more explosions erupted followed by the sound of the familiar loud noise.
After collecting the small metallic casings, Half-Elf Brawler and Apprentice Scout hurriedly followed the woman further into the cave.
When they reached into the area deep in the cave, they covered their noses as they smelled something burning along with the smell of viscera and gore. Remains of countless goblins were splattered all over the cave walls and floor. The captive village girls were stark naked and were covered by goblin entrails but they were unhurt from the explosions.
In a panic, Half-Elf Brawler and Apprentice Scout scanned the area with their eyes in hope to find the Rhea Fighter. Their eyes rested upon the naked body of the Rhea Fighter hanging in the air by a big green hand. A huge muscular goblin was holding Rhea Fighter with its arms and were pointing with other hand at the woman whom were standing in front of them at a decent distance away.
Rhea Fighter was struggling under the arms of the huge goblin, however due to her exhaustion her efforts were in vain.
Though the huge goblin's words were gibberish to all of them, it wasn't hard what intentions was behind those gibberish words.
Drop your weapon or this girl dies.
That was the meaning.
Their hearts raced as they watched the woman stare at the huge goblin in silence. After a moment of pure silence from the woman, she removed the strap attached to her strange weapon. She bent her body forwards and carefully place her weapon on the ground.
"Happy?" The woman said.
The huge goblin grinned widely at the sight. With slow steps, the huge goblin walked towards the woman.
"...N-no...Look ou-"
"As if."
Once they huge goblin was just a few steps away from her, the woman reached to her back and drew out her other weapon from its leather holder.
The strange weapon was similar to her other weapon that was on he ground. It was long, but not as long as her first weapon. It seemed to be made of black metal and dark wood.
The woman twirled the weapon in her hand and pointed it at the huge goblin's knee. With a slight movement of her finger, the end of the strange weapon produced a spark and smoke which was accompanied by a loud noise.
"OOOOGGGGBBOOOOOoooghh!"
The huge goblin howled in pain as its right knee was completely blown right into countless bits of blood and flesh. With one of its knee gone, the huge goblin fell down to its hand on the ground.
The Rhea Fighter was thrown to the side.
It was hard to see, but the huge goblin was sweating profusely. His faced was painted with a discernible expression of intense pain and agony.
"Yeah, that's right. On your knees." The woman said. With a smug expression, she took steps closer to the huge goblin and looked down on it. "Where's that shit-eating grin you wore on your face moments ago?"
The woman then looked back to both Apprentice Scout and Half-Elf Brawler and gestured them towards Rhea Fighter with a tilt of her head to the Rhea's position. With haste and without any hesitation, both of them ran towards Rhea Fighter.
"I've heard of your kind before." The woman looked back to the huge goblin. "You're like hobgoblins right? But bigger, stronger, and smarter. Goblin champions was it?" The woman rubbed her chin with her free hand as she fell into thought and let out a snort. "Champions...pfft... What are you the champion of? Champion of rocks and filth?"
The woman then brandished her strange weapon and pointed it directly at the huge goblin's face as it looked up to her.
"You're nothing more than a big green disgusting swine." The woman inched her weapon closer to the huge goblin's head. "So why don't you do me a solid and fuck the right off?"
With one final blast from her strange weapon, the huge goblin's head erupted into countless chunks of blood, flesh, and brain matter.
To be Continued(Maybe)
Afterword
Hey ya!
I've always wanted to write a story about the series Goblin Slayer. It's one of my favorite light novels to read, though number one spot is still overlord haha! The Goblin Slayer universe is really fantastic for bringing out the grim and dark feelings of a fantasy story. Realistic and not afraid to show dark and disturbing stuff! Though I do dislike when I read the parts about the women being abused by goblins, it does feel satisfaction and a bit of liberation when the goblins meet their end.
You know what was one of the things that made it quite hard writing this? Typing 'Half-Elf Brawler'! I always seem to incorrectly type it as either 'Helf-Elf Brawler' or 'Half-Elf Bralwer.' Sometimes I even type it as 'High Elf Archer' by mistake! It's kinda funny thinking about it.
Anyways, hope you all will like it. Please leave a review as they are always helpful in writing and are very good inspirations and guides. Tell me what you think.
A question though; What do you think should the class name for the wanderer be?
If you spot any mistakes regarding spelling, grammar, continuity, feel free to send me a message and I'll fix them as soon as I can. Have something to recommend? Feel free to message me all about it.
Again, I hope you'll like it.
See ya in the next chapter(I hope)
Laters~
