Isolated in the fields that seldom housed any living trees to speak of, Goblin Slayer covered himself entirely in the same heavy blanket that he had taken from the Tavern Keeper in Londobell; his weapon visibly inaccessible, as he followed the path through the dead-wooded area, via his holographic map. Hearing the ice crunching underneath the sole of his leather boots with each step he took, Goblin Slayer let out a frosty breath as he tightened the blanket around his small body; attempting to warm himself up; showing no signs of caution, as the woodland elf who had been tracking him draw the string of his bow back.

Disgusted with what he thought he had to do, the tan-skinned elf muttered a quiet apology underneath his breath, while taking aim at the back of Goblin Slayer's head. Positioned high above the woods, crouched down on a sturdy branch, the woodland elf held his breath and brazened his resolve before finally letting go of the tail-end of the arrow; watching through keen eyes, while praying to Supreme God that the boy's death would come quickly, and painlessly. Having aligned his shot carefully, the woodland elf was astonished when he saw from afar as his arrow was redirected the moment it came within six-meters of where the boy was walking; the velocity of the arrow coming to a sudden halt by a blinding flash of light that interrupted its course entirely, as though an invisible force had smacked it away from Goblin Slayer.

A few more moments passed since the woodland elf had been thunderstruck by what he had just witnessed, before finally the archer was finally able to regain his focus. Deciding to test whether or not whatever it was that protected Goblin Slayer could deflect multiple arrows being fired at him from different angles, the woodland elf began hopping swiftly from tree-to-tree; using his magic to create magical homing-arrows that were left suspended in the air, as he worked hard to ensnare the child in a trap. Within only less than ten seconds, the woodland elf had create nearly two-hundred magical homing-projectiles that were on locked onto several different parts of Goblin Slayer's body; once he was at a safe distance, the woodland elf kept his steady gaze on the ten year-old as he raised his indigo-glowing hand up over his shoulder.

Upon lowering his hand down onto the air, the woodland elf had released a volley of magical arrows that cut through the chilly air of the woods at speeds faster than sound itself; sacrificing any stealth he had, as multiple, miniature sonic-booms erupted in the snowy fields. Half-expecting some sort of magical barrier being created to block all his arrows altogether, what the woodland elf ended up seeing surprised him even more than any sort of invisible force-field. What instead happened was that the woodland elf was able to catch a glimpse of Goblin Slayer's dusty-red rose colored eyes beginning to burn brightly with a crimson-light, moments before the boy turned around toward where he was.

With the magic crest on the back of his hand glowing just as intensely as his eyes were, Goblin Slayer's agility and dexterity were exponentially enhanced by the reinforcement magecraft that endowed him with a large fraction of Fairy Knight's powers; allowing him to leap and dodge through the homing arrows, before creating a trail of kicked-up snow behind him, as he headed straight toward where the mortified woodland elf was perched. Seeing the homing arrows all trailing behind the unfathomably fast boy, it didn't take long for the woodland elf to realize Goblin Slayer's plan.

Refusing to get pierced by his own volley of magical-projectiles, the woodland elf quickly retrieved a short-distance teleportation scroll from his leather belt; using his nimble fingers to skillfully unroll it in record time, before suddenly disappearing just as Goblin Slayer got within seven meters of where he had been perching. Reappearing several hundred meters away from the tree-top he had been on, the woodland elf, for a moment thought that he had lost Goblin Slayer. That all changed upon him catching a glimpse of indigo-light mixed in with crimson coming from the direction of where he had been.

Questioning to himself how Goblin Slayer knew where he had teleported, all without needing to seemingly search for him to begin with, the woodland elf began firing arrow-after-arrow toward the oncoming child; hoping to distract him from his female mage companion, who was setting up rune-spells within the snow from a safe distance off to the side. Considering that all of her trap-spells were invisible, the female mage had been anticipating that Goblin Slayer would have set at least one of them off, with how fast he was heading toward her woodland companion. However, she was shocked to see that not only was Goblin Slayer able to evade each-and-everyone of her traps, but he was heading straight toward her location, despite the invisibility spell she had casted upon herself.

Realizing that she was his new target, the female mage tried holding still for as long as she could— hoping that he didn't actual see her, and that she was just assuming the worst— but just when he got within four meters of her, the ginger mage immediately raised her hands up to cast a magic-barrier spell around herself; absorbing the entirety of the woodland elf's volley of magical-projectiles, and thus expending every inch of her mana in the process. Knowing that she would be in a vulnerable position, the female mage attempted to defend herself with her dagger while using her other hand to quickly uncap the blue-mana potion she had grabbed from underneath her purple-robes.

Attempting to predict the movement of where Goblin Slayer would come from, the female mage was caught off guard when all of a sudden a powerful rope appeared out of seemingly nowhere around her. Letting out a confused scream as Goblin Slayer grabbed one end of the rope to begin binding her wrists, legs, and ankles together, the female mage accidentally dropped her dagger just as the boy finished tying the knot in between her cleavage; being pacified through bondage rope-play, before falling onto her side in the snow to watch as the boy hastily picked up the dagger from the snow.

Dodging several arrows that had been fired at him, Goblin Slayer spun around to build momentum before suddenly raising the dagger up-and-over his shoulder; skillfully throwing it at the woodland elf, and incapacitated him by having the dagger piercing through the dominant eye the archer had been using to target him. Blinded in one eye with warm-blood began to gush out of the corners of where the silver-blade was stuck inside of his boney socket, the woodland elf remained perched on the tree; trying his damndest to ignore the searing pain radiating from his busted eye, while using his only remaining good eye to assist him with aligning another shot.

Before he could even reach down into his hip-quiver to pull out another arrow, the woodland elf was intercepted by High Elf Archer, who proved herself the better marksman by firing twleve arrows all at once; each of them landing into the woodland elf's back, which caused nerve damaged that sent the small man tumbling down five meters from the branch he had been perched at.

Finishing the mana potion that he had picked up from the binded mage, Goblin Slayer knocked the paralyzed woodland elf out by smashing the empty bottle against the back of his head; making sure to not trip over the elf's petite body, as he began advancing toward the direction of where the armored paladin was storming toward him from the distance. Waking past tree-after-tree, Goblin Slayer surprised the assassin who had been camouflaging himself along the trunk of one particular trunk; disarming the chain-blade from the six-foot tall man's hand, before using his reinforced strength to judo-throw the bewildered assassin over his shoulder, several meters away.

Planning on activating a cloak-spell that would hide him far better than a mere invisibility spell would, the assassin was able to use his incredible acrobatic skills to quickly recover from where he had been thrown; skidding on his heels through the snow; and landing just in the center of one of the many runes that the female mage had casted earlier. Exploding into a ball of fire that enveloped his entire full-body suit with magical blue-flames, the assassin began screaming while attempting to drop and roll through the snow to extinguish the flames that were eating away at his clothes and skin; completely unaware that Goblin Slayer had been wrapping his entire body with the chain of his own blade.

Knowing better than to assume that an assassin wouldn't be able to break free from any sort of binding, Goblin Slayer was able to use his holographic screen to identify the concoctions of the vials of poison that the assassin had on him; fishing one particular glass filled with green liquid out through the chains around the man's body, before force feeding it down the gullet of the resisting assassin. Once he had finished poisoning the man with his own literal medicine, Goblin Slayer decided to go the extra mile by knocking the squirming assassin out by shattering the empty glass-vial against his bare forehead.

From nearby, High Elf Archer found herself being ambushed by a eight-foot tall anthropomorphic shark woman in cladded armor, who was roaring out a battle cry while making a beeline toward her with a two-handed cleaver-sword. Attempting to fire several arrows at the woman proved futile, as not only was the armored hide on the mighty berserker durable enough to make the arrowhead explode into shrapnel off of her rubbery-scales, but the shark woman was surprisingly fast on her feet on land. Cursing under her breath, High Elf Archer managed to duck and roll off to the side just in time to avoid being cleaved in half from the top-down.

Before she could get up on her feet, High Elf Archer was blindsided by the shark woman's powerful tail, which flung the petite elf several meters away after being hit when her berserking opponent swung it at her sideways. Knowing better than to try the same method of attack more than once, High Elf Archer tried firing an arrow directly into the shark woman's blue eyes; feeling her heart sinking down into the bottom of her small chest, as the muscular woman skillfully deflected the shot, before using her elbow to bash through High Elf Archer's raised bow.

Even though the brunt of the shark woman's mighty brute force was absorbed by her now-broken longbow, High Elf Archer still got the wind knocked out of her when her opponent's elbow made contact with the middle of her ribs. Stumbling backwards while trying to regain her balance, High Elf Archer let out a loud gasp as she was forced to nose dive out of the way at the very last second; narrowly avoiding being cut in half from the midsection by the shark woman, but in turn landing flat on her face in the snow.

Before the green-haired woman could crawl away from her, the shark woman pinned High Elf Archer down against the snowy ground, underneath her large foot that she had on top of her slender back. Raising her nearly two-meter tall blade up, the berzerker was moments away from completely severing High Elf Archer's head from her neck in one-swift motion. But before the shark woman could even begin to swing her powerful sword down, a massive bolt of lightning shot out through the forest; bursting its energy through the nervous system within her large-muscular body, before sending her body flying backwards and through several trees.

Having expected to be saved by someone else completely different, High Elf Archer was pleasantly surprised to see the same teenager with honey-combed twin-tails and piercing golden eyes sprinting toward her with her rapier raised in hand; flashing a cocky grin at her confidently, before quickly leaping over her body to begin engaging with the fifth member of the paladin's party of experienced gold-ranked adventurers: a dark mage who was levitating toward them with several floating magical-swords he had conjured up from Hell itself.

Quick to help High Elf Archer up on her feet, Noble Fencer raised her rapier up to momentarily blind the dark mage with a blast of electricity; giving High Elf Archer plenty of time to pick up the spare longbow that BB had placed out by her feet for her. Together, the two women wordlessly began cooperating with one another to engage in combat with the dark mage; parrying the razor-sharp edges of his fiery swords that he was telekinetically swinging furiously at them, before finally High Elf Archer was able to shoot through his defenses to plunge an arrow deep into his chest. Although the fatal wound greatly slowed down the powerful dark mage, the light-skinned man underneath the blackened hood still continued to put up a strong fight against the two women; distracting them, while the armored leader of his nearly defeated party stood before the ten year-old off to the distance.

Staring down at Goblin Slayer through the slits of his face-shield, the armored paladin gripped the handle of his claymore with one hand tightly, the armored paladin gave no mind to his own losses as he remained silent before finally opening his lips to speak. "… You claimed innocence back in the tavern, and yet you stand before me as a child who's defied that in which is possible. Boys your age aren't capable of inflicting the destruction you've bestowed upon my comrades; even if you aren't the fabled entity in which the bar maiden had spoken of, your existence still proves itself troublesome… Who are you, to stand before me as the horrifying abomination that you are? In the eyes of the Supreme God, juxtaposed with the innocence that children should have, you are nothing more than a wolf in sheep's wool," the paladin wordly said in his low-brooding voice; ignoring the cries of pain coming from the dark elf, as the arrow in his body became electrified the moment Noble Fencer shot a bolt of lightning into its shaft.

Throwing the same blanket he had been keeping over his body with one hand, Goblin Slayer unsheathed his short sword before getting into battle-stance. "… I have no idea what you just said," Goblin Slayer admitted out loud, while still trying to sound stoic like how Fairy Knight spoke. "Hey… You aren't winning this fight— in fact, all of you pretty much accepted defeat, the moment you all followed me out of the tavern— so instead of throwing your life away, why don't you just… Take your friends, and head back to Matterhorn? Get them healed up, before doing whatever it is that you six came out here to do in the first place," Goblin Slayer suggested with a pleading look in his glowing-red eyes; the same very pair of eyes that had attracted the unwanted attention of the armored paladin in the first place.

Although the merciful offer would have been accepted by almost anyone within his predicament, the armored paladin continued to grasp the handle of his golden claymore; tension filling the air, as High Elf Archer, Noble Fencer and the wounded dark mage spectated the scene unfolding from the near distance. "… Supreme God's judgment is unyielding as it is uncompromising. His word is final… It has to be this way," the armored paladin said in an accepting voice, fully preparing to die while upholding his dogmatic beliefs, as he raised his sword over his armored shoulders to swing it down toward Goblin Slayer.

That's when Fairy Knight appeared out of Goblin Slayer's soul; intercepting the armored paladin's sword by effortlessly disarming him with her dual-wielded forearm-blades, before leaping up to deliver a powerful roundhouse-kick that shattered his orange-plated chest-piece, while sending the man flying backwards through several dead trees. "One can't help but to admire the level of dedication that he has toward his cause… It's too bad that he fought against us, instead of with us," Fairy Knight mused with an unbothered voice, as she looked away from the path of destruction left behind by the splintered trunks.

With the armored paladin's unconscious body nowhere to be seen— as his servant had launched the large man too far for him to spot him over the horizon— Goblin Slayer was left with a bitter taste in his mouth, as he stared back at Fairy Knight with a disappointed look in his fading-red eyes. "… I appreciate you for willing to allow me to try to take care of this whole mess, without you killing them; I felt how hard that was for you, while you were lending me your support," Goblin Slayer said with a melancholy voice, before his eyes finally returned to their usual dusty-rose colored hue, as he slowly averted his gaze down toward the snow by his feet. "… It's a shame that things couldn't have been resolved earlier with words instead of violence; all of this could have been avoided…"

Blinking her eyelids a few times, Fairy Knight shrugged her shoulders while letting out an amused chuckle from her soft voice. " Heh… But where would have been the fun in that? Besides, if anything I think you went far too easy on these weaklings; death would have been more deserving than your mercy," Fairy Knight mused, with her sharpened canines showing, as she opened her lips to smile a toothy grin at the conflicted ten year-old. "… Those who aren't able to defend themselves are at, and always will be at the mercy of those who are stronger than them. Those who defy us will learn to kneel before us, or die taking their fictitious, meaningless hubris to their graves."

Having forgotten that Fairy Knight was once the left-hand of a primordial dragon-god as well as an evil knight who found pleasure in brutally slaying those who were Aurora's enemies, Goblin Slayer was left wide-eyed as he stared back at his servant in silence; not even noticing BB, until she came between him and his servant, who was still riding a dopamine rush from having caved in an armored man's chest with one swift-kick.

"Allow me to be the voice of reason and reassurance here," BB said with a comforting smirk, as she placed a hand down on Goblin Slayer's left shoulder; looking him straight in the eye, as she parted her pink lips to speak. "That was… An admirable display of tactics and skill, Ashta-Kun, and you shouldn't feel too bothered that Melusine-San stepped in at the last moment to steal your thunder. There isn't a shadow of a doubt in mind that you would have won that fight, if only your servant showed some self-control every once in a while," BB explained in a sweet voice, all the while throwing shade at Fairy Knight, who was glaring back at her the moment the managerial AI turned her head over her shoulder to meet the servant's menacing gaze.

' … I mean, at least making an effort in trying to comfort me; now that I think about it, it would be pretty unrealistic to expect a " managerial AI" and a dragon-fairy to be able to relate to a ten year-old kid, like me, ' Goblin Slayer thought to himself with a quiet, elongated sigh; shaking his head softly, while smiling endearingly at the two bickering women who were beginning to argue about whether or not Fairy Knight should have intervened at all. ' Still, maybe they have a point… If that girl didn't show up to save Artemis when she did, I wouldn't have had time to go easy on that shark woman… Holding back definitely has its drawbacks, that's for sure.'

Wanting to check up on High Elf Archer, and greet the mysterious teenager who's character profile was showing up on the holographic screen of his menu, Goblin Slayer took a moment to look down to read that Noble Fencer's vaguely archived information that the Moon-Cell had been able to record since Fairy Knight first appeared to him, three days ago; skimming through enough of it to get a general feeling of the kind of girl she was, as he jogged through the snow field, to where the two female were approaching him.

"I hope everything's fine; I'm sorry that I couldn't have gotten to you before she did," Goblin Slayer apologized with a concerned smile on his face, while momentarily averting his gaze away from High Elf Archer's gorgeous face. Checking her vitals and condition through his menu, other than a couple of small bruises she gotten during the skirmish she had with the shark woman, High Elf Archer was completely healthy; earning a thumbs up of approval from BBB, who smiling cutely while flashing a pose in the overlay of the holographic menu.

' Thank the gods she's okay… And this girl, " Noble Fencer"… Other than her mana being a quarter-of-the-way depleted, she seems perfectly in good health as well, ' Goblin Slayer thought to himself with a satisfied look in his calm gaze, before intriguing the aforementioned teenager by minimizing the holographic menu with his fingertips. "After the kind of unwelcoming greeting we got from the tavern, I didn't think anyone would have come to our aid… Words can't express just how thankful I am that you were able save my friend here," Goblin Slayer said with an appreciative tone in his voice, while displaying a tranquil sense of calm-collective kindness that Noble Fencer wouldn't have guessed he would have been capable of having in such abundance; especially not after she arrived on the battlefield, just in time to see him throwing a fully-grown man nearly thirty-feet over his shoulder with little effort.

Crossing her arms over her flat breasts, High Elf Archer let out an uncomfortable laugh as she shrugged her slender shoulders while turning to look at Noble Fencer with a slightly-embarrassed smirk. " Hehe, ehh… I-I mean, I'm glad you showed up when you did, and all, but… Your assistance wasn't necessary; I would have handled that overgrown fish just fine on my own," High Elf Archer proclaimed, while trying to save face.

Letting out a chortle while grinning smugly at the blushing elf, Noble Fencer raised a hand up to fix her honey-comb blond bangs while rolling her eyes at High Elf Archer. " Heh… No need to be stubborn about admitting that you needed my help. If anything, you should feel honored being the first damsel in distress that I've rescued so far in my career! You'll look back on this day fondly, I'm sure of it," Noble Fencer said with a snide smile; leaning in a bit with her eyebrows raised, while stifling a laugh as she saw High Elf Archer's fake smile drop into one of utter offense.

"… Did you just call me a "damsel in distress"?" High Elf Archer asked with a deadpan tone in her voice; one that sounded as though she was on the cusp of wanting to punch the somewhat arrogant teen straight in her snickering face.

" Hahah, hehe… ! Yeah, I did…! Why, whatcha thinking about doing about it~?" Noble Fencer jeered jokingly; giving it some time to soak up the look of absolute bitterness High Elf Archer was silently giving to her, before finally breaking the tension by busting out laughing. "At ease, high elf! I'm only playing with you! There's no need to justify yourself: I was there to witness how great you were, before you got overpowered by that shark-thing; plus, I wouldn't have been able to neutralize that dark mage, had you not slowed him down with that arrow in his chest," Noble Fencer said reassuringly; trying to eliminate whatever tension she could from their tense interaction, all while Goblin Slayer stared at them with Fairy Knight standing a few meters behind him.

Needing a moment to register what just happened, High Elf Archer let out a fake laugh as she continued to narrow her eyes at the cheerful and prideful teenager, who was standing beside her. "Hehe, yeah; whatever… Anyway, we really do appreciate the help you've given us, but since it's no longer in Orcblog and I's best interest to show our faces back in Matterhorn, him and I are going to need to start building our own shelter for to hunker down for the night, so if you don't mind… We'd really appreciate it if you took your leave," High Elf Archer said, while making it clear to Noble Fencer that she didn't want her around them.

Motivated even more to stick by Goblin Slayer's side— especially since she knew that it was irritating High Elf Archer— Noble Fencer flashed another smug grin at the glaring woman to her right, before turning her head forward to greet Goblin Slayer's uncomfortable, nervous smile. "I apologize if I came off as rude in any sort of way; it's the adrenaline talking, not me," Noble Fencer said with a sorry laugh; momentarily turning her head over to High Elf Archer, so as to shrug her shoulders at her before turning her attention back to Goblin Slayer.

' She's kind of full herself, isn't she? But even so, her heart's in the right place… And you know what? It's kind of alluring in a way; that kind of unapologetic confidence is attractive… She and Artemis both have that going for them, ' Goblin Slayer thought to himself, while blushing slightly the moment he realized just how beautiful the fourteen year-old girl was, with her still-developing breasts and hips having quite the amount of curvature in them; all of which was foretelling of the voluptuous woman that Noble Fencer was destined to be, in the future.

"It's… Alright. Usually, I'm on edge after these sorts of encounters… But I get where you're coming from," Goblin Slayer said, as he continued to smile softly at the attractive teenager, all the while being completely oblivious to how jealous High Elf felt in the moment.

Nodding her head, Noble Fencer showed her swordsmanship off by flashily twirling her rapier around, before sliding it back into the sheath she had on her hip. "Perfect, I'm glad you and I are on the same wavelength then! So allow me to make my motivations clear from the start; so I don't come off as having some sort of ulterior motive," Noble Fencer said, before playfully raising her arm up, so as to lean it on top of High Elf Archer's shoulder.

"My name is Relena Bernkastel; I usually just go by my Adventurer title, "Noble Fencer" though. Anyway… I heard you have a vendetta against goblins. Think I've got a " side-quest" for ya, that might intrigue you and your friends here," Noble Fencer offered, while gesturing toward Fairy Knight and High Elf Archer, before recovering as the green-haired woman gently pushed her elbow off of her shoulder; earning herself a side-eyed glare from the high elf, while gaining Goblin Slayer's interest as he felt something violent resonating within him at the mentioning of goblins.

"… I see. Please, tell me more."