EDIT: I didn't realize they finally added a category for Goblin Slayer, so I changed it. If you're new to this story then that's why it suddenly appeared.

The place smelled like absolute shit. A prone man pitifully moved forward into a cavern. He kept glancing over his shoulder as he did this. He found what he believed to be a suitable place to rest, a boulder, just big enough to hide behind in case any more of those...whatever they are, went away. The man took a better look at the cave he chose to take shelter in. He knew it was risky to go in there defenseless, but what more could he do? He sat there. Silent. Unmoving. The slightest noise would've given him away. He heard the pitter patters of those tiny monsters. They stopped. Shit. A tiny wet Slap echoed throughout the cave. The source? Right behind the boulder. The entrance.

The man heard some sort of very rough, garbled gibberish between what he assumed to be a couple of them. Their language is just as barbaric as their actions. That village...how often does that happen? Why were those people so secluded from the rest. Why were there no guards? Did they think if they were secluded that would keep them safe? Oh, the irony. The man was sure he was about to share the same fate with those people. He wouldn't die too defenseless though. With his right arm, he reached into one of his multiple pockets on his vest. A frag grenade. He'd take these bastards with him.

Just as he was about to pull the pin when the steps grew closer, he heard something quietly slice through the air behind him. The next second he heard whatever had been thrown somehow penetrate what he believed to be two of the monsters. The one currently unharmed let out a high pitched scream and started to furiously talk in its language obviously distressed about what just happened. The monster attempted to flee knowing it didn't stand a chance but was silenced by another unidentified weapon.

A body hit the floor. He carefully turned his head and body to take a look at what just happened. Two arrows, two decapitated heads, and another monster who, unlike his two comrades, had an arrow sticking out from its forehead. Someone or something had saved him. He wasn't complaining. This didn't mean his savior wasn't any friendlier either. He stayed behind the boulder begging whomever it was to just go away and leave him to his own devices.

"Forty-two." Someone said. The voice sounded gruff and somewhat emotionless. Mechanical in a way. A man most likely. He heard someone walking slowly and gulp timidly at the scene before them. "A trail of blood…" A...woman? Girl? The man couldn't identify the second voice. "Is it…" The girl went quiet. They know I'm here. The man thought to himself. He was going to get caught either way so he might as well try to-

His train of thought was suddenly cut off when the boulder he was leaning on rolled backward. He caught himself with his good arm and looked up at the man in the dirty, rusted and beaten armor. His helmet obscured his entire head despite having rectangular holes to see through. Behind him a girl in what to him looked like a young priestess. "He's hurt!" She suddenly blurted and began advancing toward the man. The knight in rusty armor, however, moved his right arm up and blocked her path. "Goblin Slayer, sir?" The girl looked confused. Goblin Slayer...that's his name? Or at the least his status. The man known as Goblin Slayer spoke up. "He's holding something." The man looked down at his hands. He pulled the pin and tossed the frag grenade deeper into the cave. The clinking of the pin and grenade echoed throughout the cavern. Five of the same creatures emerged from the cave running in fear but the explosion overtook their screams of fear. Limbs and blood were sent splattering all over down further into the cave. The roof of the cave began to quake. Small and large portions of rocks began to fall near where the explosion occurred.

Both the girl and Goblin Slayer looked on in fascination to what just happened. After the explosion had subsided they both turned to look at the man. They got a better look at him and came to the realization that everything he currently wore looked nothing like they've ever seen before. A grey ballistic helmet with a mandible and visor that obscured his face, vest, large combat boots, heavily padded armor that covered the entire body, black gloves, and unknown items on the rest of his body. The only things they could identify were the dog tags and the ballistic knife.

"Slow down, Long-Ears! I can only move so fast through this damned swamp!" Someone said. "Allow me to help." Another voice came through. This one bore a hissed tone about him. Almost snake or lizard-like. At this point, nothing would surprise the currently injured man. "What was that just now?" A young woman said as she came too close the entrance. She stopped walking toward the two she directed her question towards and stared at the man lying against the walls of the cavern. "Oh my, a survivor." A lizardman walked right through the entrance as well said this as soon as he saw the man. On his shoulder was a very short man. A midget? No, wait. A dwarf. The ears...same goes for the other woman. Elf of some kind. What is this? Some kind of fantasy land? The man was definitely going to have trouble getting adjusted to what he's currently seeing.

"I currently do not have anymore refreshes. I apologize." The lizardman solemnly stated as fact. "I still have one minor heal…" The priestess spoke up, unsure if her magic would even help the man. Suddenly he shifted and began to crawl towards the group. "What are you…?!" The Elf was taken aback as the man powerfully lunged towards the entrance past her. That's when they noticed his half cut off legs. As he crawled away the wounds began to open and blood oozed out almost every time he made any movements. He was surprisingly strong and was almost at a normal walking pace. "S-stop! You're going to bleed out!" The priestess yelled.

The man made his way towards the would-be village now turned to almost ash. Goblin Slayer walked towards the man and helped him up. His feet dragged across the ground, still bleeding. The man pointed to his left. Goblin Slayer noticed the one house that didn't take as much damage. He noticed tiny objects on the floor. What were they? It looked like peanut shells, except metallic in a way. He had trouble discerning what they were. Where they from this man? Was he responsible for this? In any case, he still helped him reach the hut.

The man refused any more help from the rusty knight and shoved himself off of him and began to go to one of the rooms. Goblin Slayer noticed the few dead bodies that lay around the home. Two men, one woman. They died with weapons in their hands. Both men had their skulls crushed by some blunt object. The woman's tendons had been cut leaving her immobile. At this point, I'm sure you know what the goblins did to her. A fire burned inside of Goblin Slayer. Every time he saw something like this it only added to his hatred of goblins.

They died with weapons in their hands. Primitive weapons. Same as the goblins. They didn't stand a chance. Especially against high numbers. Goblin Slayer heard a chest open followed by some rustling and clinking of objects. He walked towards the room the man had dragged himself towards. He noticed an unfamiliar object in his hand. A needle. The man pierced his throat with the object and pushed the top of it to force the strange blue substance into his body. He dropped the needle and lay against the chest he had retrieved his items from.

"The wounds on these goblins are nothing like I've ever seen before." The lizardman crouched and examined one of the goblins riddled with holes, his tail swinging in great interest, speculating what could possibly have done this to them. "I'm sure that man was the one who did this." The dwarf chimed in inspecting a different body. A shaman. Half of his head was missing his brains and blood splattered against one of the destroyed homes. They noticed around nine champions among the dead. Chunks of their stomachs were blown away by some unknown weapon. "I don't like this." The Elf said stepping over bodies every time she encountered one. "This is not the adventure that I wanted!" The dwarf and lizardman stopped inspecting the dead bodies and started making their way towards Goblin Slayer.

As they entered the house they found the previously injured man now healed. The blood stains were still there but overall he looked liked nothing had happened to him. He stood there looking and inspecting his weapons and gear. Next, to him, Goblin Slayer helped by handing him his weapons and strange small rectangular shaped boxes that contained some sort of metal. "Hey!" The elf loudly said. Both men turned to face her. Goblin Slayer asked: "Is there a problem?"

The elf let out a small growling noise and with a tone of annoyance said: "Of course! Who are you?" The elf directed her question to the man in the padded and broken armor. He stopped what he was doing and turned around to look at the group of adventurers, but didn't say anything. Instead, he walked past Goblin Slayer and headed towards one of the other rooms where the dead woman was. He shuffled through drawers searching for something. "Hey! Stop ignoring me!" She yelled. The man found a blank white scroll along with a feather but no ink. He looked around the room and spotted a knocked over inkwell. He then turned his attention to the dead woman on the bed. He lay the items next to her and pulled out his ballistic knife. In one sharp movement, he slit her wrist. All the members except Goblin Slayer were taken aback by this sudden action. They had the strange compulsion to stop whatever he was doing. The man jabbed the end of the feather with the woman's blood and began to write on the blank scroll. After thirty seconds he looked over whatever he wrote and showed them the scroll. It read:

I cannot talk.

The man then pointed to his throat and placed his index finger in the middle of his throat and revealed the strangely precise straight line going upwards and downwards. "It seems he is unable to communicate through regular means." The lizard said. The man walked past everyone else and motioned with his hand to follow him. He waited for them to come outside and look at him once they did he crouched and pointed to a goblin on the floor he then opened his hand and a made a crushing motion. Then he pointed back to the cave he was found in. "Are there more goblins that way?" Goblin Slayer questioned. The man nodded in response. "Then we shall proceed." Lizard Priest said.

Goblin Slayer confidently began to walk back to the cave, short sword, and shield at hand. The rest of the group followed suit already knowing he wouldn't let any goblin go. The priestess looked back and saw the man had not moved from his position. "Are you not going to help us?"

Everyone else heard what she said and looked back at the man as well. He shook his head no. "The least you could do is help us finish them off." The High Elf said. "He's made up his mind, lass. Don't force him." The Dwarf said. "Besides… we already have a pro on our side." The Dwarf said turning his head and looking at Goblin Slayer. Who had resumed walking toward the man's previous shelter.

Goblin Slayer entered the cave once again. He looked down at the goblins and noticed the dagger on his hip. He crouched and removed it from the corpse. He then used said dagger to penetrate the dead goblin's stomach. He looked at him and noticed the squeamish Priestess looking disgusted as she always did whenever he did this. After everyone had reluctantly masked their scent. They proceeded down the cave. The only option was to take the path down to the right since the other was previously sectioned off thanks to the explosion. Goblin Slayer reached for his unlit torch and using a flint and steel set the top of it on fire. His stride emanated a strong aura of determination and violence as he always did when facing goblins.

But something was off...Goblin Slayer stopped in his tracks. The group noticed his sudden lack of confidence. "Goblin Slayer, sir?" The priestess looked confused as did the rest of the group. A loud pop suddenly rang out further down toward the cave. A flash of light accompanied the sound along with a projectile that came flying towards them. It just barely missed the group as it ricocheted along the walls of the cavern. That, however, was not the end of it. The attack was quickly followed by more shots and the war cry of goblins further down the cave. Lizard Priest let out a hiss of pain and clutched his leg where he had been hit. Priestess reacted quickly and began to conjure a shield. "O EARTH MOTHER, ABOUNDING IN MERCY BY THE POWER OF THE LAND, GRANT SAFETY TO WE WHO ARE WEAK!"

"PROTECTION!"

Priestess' shield had blocked many more bullets that would've surely heavily injured the group if not for here. Goblin Slayer threw his torch down towards the cave revealing the location of the goblins shooting at them. The High Elf raised her bow and the Dwarf began to use his slingshot against the evil creatures. They both let loose a few arrows and rocks towards them. They managed to kill or injure five or six goblins. The goblins backed off further down towards the cave. They, however, knew they had the upper hand, and because of this, they wouldn't flee from this fight. The group somewhat relaxed but still kept up their guard.

"Are you injured?" Goblin Slayer asked Lizard Priest. "This wound is tolerable at the moment." He answered. "Beard-Cutter. What was that form of magic? Is that some sort of rare tactic goblins use?" The Dwarf asked. "No. They learned it from him." He responded. Almost just as soon as he had finished his sentence they heard a footstep behind them. It was the silent man. He had the same paper in his left hand and a fresh inkwell strapped to his hip. He also carried a combat backpack that had a sniper and shotgun strapped to its sides. He walked towards the group and showed them the same scroll with new writing. It said:

I've come for what's mine.

"Those weapons of yours. How many of them do they have?" Goblin Slayer asked. The man unrolled the piece of paper and pressed it against the cave's wall and began to scribble something down on paper. He then showed it to the group.

I count nine missing from my inventory.

As the adventurers all looked at each other, the man scrawled onto the scroll and presented it to the group once more.

I'll handle this. You don't stand a chance against these ranged weapons.

And with that, the man took off his backpack and pulled out some sort of gear the group was unable to identify. The man pressed on something near his visor and a very dim light surrounded it. The light, however, went away and it looked as if nothing had happened. The man reached for his pistol looked down the sight and slowly began to make his way down towards path. The adventurers stayed put and waited. It was completely silent except for the occasional inhale and exhales of the party members. A loud pop erupted from the tunnel with a flash of light. Another. Then another. Then again. Again. Again. Again….

Suddenly, bursts of light and sounds of shots being fired emanated from the tunnel. Goblins from within shouted in panic, the tiny pitter patters of their footsteps and bodies hitting the floor were not stopping. The sound of two beings struggling came from within. It ended with a goblin screaming with gargling soon after. Goblin Slayer peered down the tunnel and watched as the man came back with blood all over his armor. He held up the paper once and on it is a line of text that said:

The monsters now sleep with the villagers.