Yes... It's been a year since I've updated, right...? Man... my writing style changed a lot since then, but well... I'm back~!

Anyways, sorry for the long wait people. Here's the new chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it! Promise that I won't drop this one!

After another restless night with the Amazon Warrior, I woke up first, finding my lover to be still asleep. Leaving her alone because I knew just how cranky she could become via sleep deprivation, I began to prepare a brunch for the both of us. It seemed that the day had already past eleven solartime and lunch was coming around, thus, I was preparing a large sized brunch for the two of us.

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Ah… of course, I cannot forget about dear Luna.

Kneeling down, I scratched the pup's ears and began to serve a portion of wolf-food for the little girl, who began to gnaw on my heel.

Suddenly, a small knocking on the wooden door was heard, and I answered the door with a glock ready in my hand for countermeasures for an ambush.

It wasn't an ambush. Instead, I was greeted by a very familiar somebody wearing a very dirty helmet.

"Help me"

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Quite sudden, but alright. Be more specific so I can understand.

"Goblins"

Excuse me? I do not understand Goblin Slayer. Can't you defeat goblins on your own no matter how much there are…?

Oh?

He's shaking his head… Strange… I did not exaggerate when I said he was capable of killing goblins no matter what their numbers were, unless it went over a couple thousand. What is it then? Is it an army of goblins or—

"You are correct"

Well, fuck. Seems like this is going to take a few days.

"No. There is no time. The goblins must be finished within today"

I blinked, staring at the Goblin Slayer with my dead eyes as my eyebrows slightly rose. Although I catch on things quite quickly, I haven't got the foggiest idea why this whole thing should end quickly… I mean, are you trying to wrap up this hunt fast because they're trying to move their nest to a different location, or because you haven't killed enough goblins these days, or because there is some kind of goblin that evolved to a degree that it could end the world? What is the problem?

"No" He spoke. "Inside a cave, I could kill every goblin. Let it be hundreds or thousands, I can kill them. But tonight, there will be a hundred goblins on foot. I… I cannot defeat that no matter what. I know my limitations."

An invasion? Oh please don't nod your head signaling that I'm right. I wish to be wrong. A goblin army does not sound good at all.

…

Oh fuck. He just nodded his head, confirming my suspicions.

"Help me"

Of course. No need for any compensation. Consider my helping hand a favor for a dear friend of mine.

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Wait… I'm not the only one you've asked for help right?

Behind me, the Amazon Warrior was snoring quite loudly and the two of us turned our heads towards where the snoring sound came from.

"Could she—"

Yup, most certainly. She'll gladly join us as long as you do the planning. You're the expert on goblins after all. You'll know how to counterattack and predict all of their moves.

"And the Wizard? Would she be following you too?"

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She's an Adventurer herself. She makes her own decisions through her own volitions. Whatever her choice may be, I'll respect her choices, and if she happens to come with us, I'll make sure she doesn't die.

"Souka"

Of course. I care for her, you know?

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Aren't you going to ask your party members?

"What?"

Don't tilt your head as if you don't know who I'm talking about. The flat-chested elf, the drunk dwarf, the mature lizard, and that cute priestess.

"Ah. Them. Yes, of course"
…

They just slipped out of your mind, did they?

Obviously, the Amazon Warrior and the Wizard agreed to come with me, although the Wizard was quite skeptical with the whole thing.

The poor thing still wakes up with shivers down her spine and cold sweat running down her brow as she recalls that blunt dagger plunging through her stomach. She still dreams of the pain and fear she had felt when the goblins cackled with glee as the Wizard screamed an agonizing tune of cacophony. She still remembers how she abandoned all of her hope as the goblins caught up to her as they violently ripped her clothes off of her, ready to have their way with her.

But, during our time adventuring, it was obvious that she had gained back some of the pieces of her scarred confidence. And with those pieces of confidence, the Wizard was at least able to accompany us, with enough resolve and courage to face what had haunted her for months.

Goblin Slayer's party members also joined without wasting a heartbeat, especially the High Elf Archer who got a bit worked up. Of course, we couldn't forget the cute little Priestess who courageously volunteered too.

But this shouldn't be enough…

"No, it is not"

Are you looking for the Spearman? He's the most skilled fighter in the guild…

"Yes"

Should be in there then. Sure enough, we found him drinking along with other adventurers along with the Witch who gracefully smoked from her fancy pipe. Wordlessly, I threw a money bag on the table, which got the two Silver-Ranked adventurers' attention.

"Hey, what is this?"

Your pay day. Goblin Slayer needs help.

"... what's the occasion?"

"A horde of goblins will attack a farm. Judging by the number of scouts… a Goblin Lord is with them. That means that there are at least a few hundred goblins"

Murmurs and whispers spread around the place like wildfire as many adventurers talked about this new information with their party members. Most of the whispers confirmed that they were not going to take Goblin Slayer's request, which wasn't all that surprising, given the fact that an adventurer's first priority is their lives.

After all, fighting 100 goblins along with other high ranking goblins would be a bit hard to survive.

"Are you forgetting something?" Spoke the Spearman with annoyance. "This is an Adventurer's Guild… filled with adventurers. If you want something, skip the requests and make it a quest, period"

A reward is what Spearman is wanting. A reward is what everybody is wanting. Everybody who is an adventurer in this room wouldn't hand out charity freely to others. In order for them to stick their necks out for others and get in harm's way, they need the money up front.

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But, just for the record, know this. Know this well and know this now. This man that bows his head towards all of you is a man who has done nothing but slay goblins. Hence, the title of a Goblin Slayer was given to him. He never desired for glory, he never craved for wealth, and he never wished for a beautiful wife(a few choking sounds were heard). All this man ever wanted was a world without goblins, or to be more exact, a peaceful village without goblins. Villages that would prosper and smile with happiness, knowing that the green critters wouldn't harm them during the night.

Goblin Slayer went on quests on behalf of the village's pleas. He went and killed goblins before they overtook a village. He went and destroyed everything before chaos sprung. Village, after village, after village, after village, and after village he had saved them from the goblins.

Villages.

Villages adventurers, villages where you have come from. Villages where you have been born from. Villages where your loving parents, friends, and others you care about live. Villages where memories were made and are cherished in the present.

Your home.

Your home adventurers. This man that stands here and asks for your help is the man who has probably saved your village from damnation and would certainly continue to do so whenever those goblins come out with their knives in the dark.

Guild Girl.

"Y-yes!" Squeaked the Guild Girl.

The records of the adventurers. The guild must have the records of the quests that a certain adventurer took. Do you have the Goblin Slayer's records?

"I-I do, sir!"

Read them. All of them, but not every information of the quest he had completed, but the location of where he went. Locations of villages where he went and saved. Locations of where the goblins could have ransacked a person's precious home.

So she did read. It didn't take a long time for the Guild Girl to bring out a clipboard, or something that resembled a clipboard and began to read out loud the villages that the Goblin Slayer had gone to slaughter goblins.

At first, the girl was a bit shy speaking out loud in front of a whole crowd of adventurers, but by the passing second she gained more confidence and proceeded to speak in a louder tone and a bit more professionally.

The list went on, but everybody was listening intently. They all listened to the list of villages that received help from Goblin Slayer while the other adventurers ignored the quest to do something more daring and more fun.

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So, isn't this a good time to collect your debts from this man? Isn't this the time where you repay him for hunting down goblins that had the potential to destroy your homes?

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I can't force you to do anything.

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But still though, it would be nice to help.

Surprisingly, many came to aid.

The first ones to make their move were the Goblin Slayer's party members as they all walked up to the Goblin Slayer, announcing that they would aid him.

Then, a man who claimed that he made a promise to lend a helping hand whenever Goblin Slayer needed one, came up front. Seeing that the Goblin Slayer acknowledged him, I guess that there was some history between them that I am not aware of.

Next was the Heavy Warrior, who said that he had a debt he would pay with his sword. Naturally, his party members followed him, teasing him slightly for being a softie as the Heavy Warrior firmly denied it with a red face.

The Spearman joined in next, grumbling about how he isn't the type of guy to hand out charity and such. The Witch followed in suit, giggling as she winked at the Goblin Slayer.

Then, more and more started to join, being motivated and becoming confident by seeing the silver-ranked adventurers willingly standing up to give a helping hand to the Goblin Slayer's request. However, we only have fifty-three adventurers who were grateful enough to help Goblin Slayer, free of charge.

Is this enough…? Is this enough for the hundreds of goblins that are about to stampede their way to civilization…? Is this enough for us to win…? Is this enough…?

"It's more than enough" Spoke Goblin Slayer, personally eyeing me and the Spearman. Good. He's currently conjuring up tactics in his head to ensure our survival and victory.

"Thank you" He spoke once again, tilting his body into a 90 degree angle. "Thank you for helping me"

"Don't get too emotional bastard" Spoke the Spearman, his face turning into a slight tsundere look. "Just remember to buy all of us a good drink after we survive this…"

"I'm just doing this because you saved my village a long time ago" Spoke the Heavy Warrior, smiling slightly. "Think nothing of it Goblin Slayer"

Truly, be it good or bad, karma comes back to all of us.

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Now, what would be our course of action?

Of course. We had to prepare a lot for the incoming invasion.

Adventurers took turns in keeping watch after we got the outline for what to do when the goblins come to us. Everybody memorized their part and everybody waited for the fateful time.

One wrong step and we all die. One wrong step and this Goblin Lord may evolve into something worse with more knowledge and experience. One wrong step and we doom several villages. Failure is not an option.

"Well, at least we have you, Defui" Spoke the High Elf Archer grinning. "And Orcbolg too!"

"Indeed" Nodded the Dwarf Shaman sagely. "Nothing could ever stop Kamikirimaru in his conquest to hunt down goblins"

"He is the most committed warrior I've ever met" Spoke the Lizard Priest adding his two cents. "I'm positive that we would live to be in another battle"

Before I could say anything, one of the scouts rushed in and shouted.

"They're coming! Everybody get ready!"

Lighting up one last cigarette, I stood up ready along with my party members. The Wizard grabbed her staff tightly with anxiety and the Amazon Warrior simply smiled wickedly anticipating the bloody battle that was about to happen.

The goblins make their first move, advancing towards us with hostages tied to wooden planks. Covered in scars, both in body and mind, I could smell their death and despair piercing through the fresh night air. To be completely objective, this method used by the goblins were bloody brilliant. For somebody who lacks experience, they would falter and hesitate, not quite knowing what to do and become emotionally compromised by their sudden drive to save those women. However, the Goblin Slayer was far from an amateur.

His name spoke for itself.

Now. As I carefully watched the advancing goblins, I quickly gave the signal to the spell-casters.

"Stupor"

"Sleep"

Every goblin was knocked out. Now… we had only a few seconds to evacuate every single hostage.

"GO GO GO!"

"DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THE GOBLINS! JUST GET THE HOSTAGES!"

Since we were low on numbers, speed was essential. And every execution must be perfect… or else we're fucked.

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Not me, but the others will be fucked for sure. Figuratively and literally.

Now… all we need to do is to wait until the archers and long-ranged combatants take out the Shamans, one by one.

If that's done…

"I'll be back my love!"

Please do. In one piece.

"Oh you silly little man!" She huffed as she reached out to pat my head, before retracting it. I don't blame her since I'm covered in animal guts. "It's a shame you trust little in me!"

Then off she went. With the hostages and Shamans out of the battlefield, it was a slaughterhouse for the goblins. If this battle happened inside a narrow dark cave, the goblins would've had more leverage over the adventurers. However, the battle took place in the open fields of grass where cattle would tread upon the earth to graze. Obviously, the Adventurers had the advantage.

Meanwhile, I was silently waiting for my que.

No Luna. Bad pup. These guts aren't yours to eat.

Luna simply whimpered as the Wizard grabbed the baby wolf and lifted him up so that he was far from reaching out to gnaw on one of the animal guts. She didn't grow any sharp canines to properly chew on meat yet, but I know that she'll grow a few soon.

"Riders!" Roared one of the archers. "The riders are here!"

As I mentioned, everything was going according to the Goblin Slayer's predictions, and we have done a terrific job of countering the green pests' every single move.

Now, my que was called, and I stepped into the open fields, drenched in blood and guts. The riders close in, riding on tamed wolves that were meant to kill and feast on the human flesh. However, to make them more vicious, they have somewhat starved these beasts, and when they smelled the fresh blood and flesh coming from me, only a few could resist a tasty morsel in front of their eyes.

Within seconds, several had already jumped upon me, sinking their teeth into my neck, my arms, my legs and my torso. However, I couldn't afford to falter and fall over. So I stood my ground, the muscles located in my legs clenching hard as I managed to hack off a wolf's head with my machete. Of course these wolves couldn't resist the urge to take a juicy morsel out of a defenseless chap drenched in tasty carcasses. As predicted many jumped on me despite the rider's orders to jump at the cluster of Adventures, which ultimately led them to fail their mission in creating chaos among our ranks, and mess up our formation.

Fools. Starve the beasts too much and all ounce of obedience flies out of the damn window.

Some wolves manage to withstand the urge to taste the carcasses and jump at the prepared Adventurers who had long wooden stakes ready to pull up at the exact moment. The whines and shrieks that came behind me signaled that the opponents perished.

More weight, I fell on my knees. The wolf's soggy breath stinks up the air as the goblins cackle from their backs, believing that I'm a goner and I don't blame them. If anybody saw me right now, they would surely assume that it would take a miracle to revive me.

Strange. Rather than feeling the teeth and claws that are tearing my skin apart, I could only feel the wetness of the fresh sickly blood that dyes my clothes in red for the nth time. The Goblin whacks me on the head for good measure.

Thank you, you miserable creature. That hit on the head was refreshing.

My machetes move and they slice through flesh as if they were butter. Goblins scream in confusion, the wolves drop dead unable to whimper as their throats are slit. I force myself to feel nothing except for a single focus on killing.

So I killed, killed, and killed again until nothing but the sounds of oozing blood reached my ears. I killed again and again, more and more, reacting to the slightest rustle or the slightest movement, I plunged my machetes into corpses when my blades no longer had living targets left. Even as some goblins managed to stab or club me in my head or my other vitals, I kept going as if I were in a trance, as it forced me to sway my body to the tune of death.

I don't know how long time has passed. But when I found myself still and my eyes staring up at the pretty dark blue sky that had luminous stars in the sky, only then I knew my part was over.

"You did a good job…"

I heard the Amazon Warrior behind me, and realized that I was lying on top of her. Even more, I realized she had embraced with a hug, so strong that it broke a few ribs. Blinking, I could guess what had happened. Being in a trance of slaughter, I probably had no control over my actions as I kept on repeating the same actions of swinging my machetes over and over again. Thus, the only action the Adventurers took was to let my girlfriend calm me down, which she did by forcefully plucking me up from the ground, and trapping me in her thick arms. Maybe I struggled against her grip, causing her to trip over the pile of dead goblins and the wolves.

"Yeah… you did struggle a lot, you little squirt~!" Laughed the Amazon Warrior as she roughly gave me a love tap on my cheek. "You almost broke free out of my grasp! And well, nicked me here and there, but that's not important. What's important right now is those ugly bastards that just came out. Look"

Following her gaze, I noticed what she was talking about. With the assault with the wolves failing, the Goblin Lord seemed to have sent out his champions to the battlefield, and boy were they a mean bunch. It would be such a pleasure to kill them all, right?

"Indeed!" Huffed the Amazon Warrior as she sat up, still hugging me from behind. Then, she suddenly dropped me as I landed on my feet.

"Sorry about that" Apologized the Amazon Warrior as she started to stretch her body. "But… to be frank, you smell too bad for me to hold you any longer."

I cannot blame her for doing that after listening to her reasoning. I had dumped myself with a bunch of random guts, sliced through goblin and wolf guts, and most importantly had some of my own guts running down from my stomach. No matter how much one could love me, there was an extent of how far they would go to show their love. Therefore, I couldn't condemn her for her actions, although they hurt a bit.

"Too bad! But don't worry! We'll make it up with some rough sex tonight!"

That's not making it up for my sake. You just like to do that with me…

"Oh, nevermind the specifics!" Yelled the Amazon Warrior as she grinned at the approaching enemy as a bunch of Silver to Bronze veteran adventurers took the front lines, glaring at the horde of significantly evolved goblins. To my right, the Spearman was lightly jumping left to right with a crooked smile on his face while the Witch was supporting him from the back. To my left were the Heavy Swordsman and the Female Knight, and they were specifically looking at the largest goblin, which I assumed was the Goblin Champion.

"CHARGE!"

With the battlecry from somebody amongst us, we all roared as both sides rushed at each other with the intent to kill. From far away, elven archers were shooting their arrows into the goblin's eyes, blinding them and giving the adventurers the chance to kill them with more ease, while magic users buffed our stats with whatever magic or blessing they had. However, even without their help we were doing fine. Although I wish the Amazon Warrior would stop being too rash all the time… Gods… this was the sixth time I jumped in front of her to intercept a swinging club or an axe.

She so owes me a blowjob after this.

Surprisingly, no casualties were made on our sides. While we were focused on the goblins who dared to step their filthy feet on human grounds, the Goblin Slayer and the little Priestess took out the entire goblins that remained at base while their lord was leading an army. In addition, they also beheaded the Goblin Lord, which was the most important part of this adventure. If he actually managed to escape… the same situation would occur again with the Goblin Lord raising another army and commencing a full fledged attack with more improved tactics that might outsmart the Goblin Slayer.

But that didn't happen, thus here we were, drinking away cheap booze and chewing on some side dishes. Considering that today was a special occasion, I reluctantly decided to drink with the Amazon Warrior who roared with approval as I chucked down a large portion of my beer mug. Thankfully, this body of mine had somewhat tolerance to alcohol.

"Shame…" Pouted the Amazon Warrior as her cheeks puffed up. "It would be a great sight to see you drunk! I've always wondered how you'd act with all of your inhibitions lowered and your thoughts no longer clouding your true self!"

Giving the Wizard a pat on the back, I signaled her that she shouldn't be forced to drink.

"Spoilsport!" Yelled the Amazon Warrior, slamming her fist on the table, rattling several wooden plates. "You need to loosen up!"

"I-it's okay mister Zombieman…" Squeaked the little girl as her glasses slid slightly lower than before. "I-I can handle one drink…"

That's the problem… It never finishes with just one drink when it comes to the muscle-bound idiot over there.

"Hey!" Yelled the muscle-bound idiot as several other adventurers laughed along with me. "You're going to pay for that in bed!"

As if you can think of anything better than that… Besides, you always break my hips during sex. Have some self-control!

With the Wizard and several other reserved adventurers faces turning red, the small banter and flirting(?) between the two of us kept on going as more drinks and dishes were ordered for everybody who gave a helping hand in fighting goblins. It felt… merry. Happy. Light. Cheerful. It was a nice atmosphere to sink into, and for just a few moments, I felt a small warm sensation inside my chest. To be fair, the sensation may just be the alcohol kicking in, but even so, it felt pleasant to certainly feel something good after so long.

"Oh… my… GOD!" Screeched the drunk High Elf Archer as she scrambled up on the table, knocking over my beer and drenching my lap. "ORCBOLG TOOK OFF HIS HELMET!"

"He did what?!"

Instantly a horde of adventurers, even those who didn't participate in Goblin Slayer's request, all began to gather around the silver-ranked adventurer, who indeed had his helmet off.

Coming to think of it… have I ever seen his face before?

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No… no I have not.

With feelings of curiosity and obligation, I pushed around the other adventurers who were taking a good look at Goblin Slayer's exposed face as several of them cursed to see that he was just a normal human being, as those who guessed right called out the betting pool. Then… I saw him.

With locks of ashy hair covering the top of his head, I finally got a good look at my friend for the first time in years. Contrary to what I thought of, he had somewhat soft features as his red eyes that used to blaze with fury now looked weary and tired. In addition, his skin, shielded from the sun for years thanks to his helmet, had turned him to look a bit pale. But still, he sure looked like a fighter. A firm jawline, a few nicks and scars on his face… Now I was curious to see his face when he faced goblins.

"Ah… Zombieman."

Yes. I am Zombieman.

"Thank you. Without your speech, I doubt I could've won against the goblins."

Stop being so modest. I couldn't have made that statement without your accomplishments. You basically helped yourself.

"But still… thank you."

"He's too kind for his own good… Even if he's an asshole…" Slurred the Spearman from the back as he glared at the face of Goblin Slayer. "I don't like his face…"

Hm? I personally like it. I think he should show his face more often… although he's too paranoid to do that, I suppose.

"... Souka."

This was the first time we've seen the man smile, and I've come to realize how our presence has humanized him from his broken self. Hopefully, just hopefully, all of us would survive long enough for him to become a full fledged human once again… for if one of the Goblin Slayer's friends dies… I cannot fathom what it would further do to the broken man.

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And most importantly… I don't know what it'll do to me.