Not going to lie, guys, but I actually felt kind of iffy about how I wrote this chapter. Well, the first section or so, anyways.

As I'm sure you guys have noticed by now, quite a few days have gone by since the Tarnished and Ranni got transported to the Four Cornered World, so I like to think time has been going by fairly quick as far as the in-universe timeline is going. However, at the same time, while the obvious point of this fic is to let the characters ultimately explore and do things other than just trying to complete the 'main objective,' I don't want to risk making it seem like this fic is stretching on too long by having the characters get sidetracked, so to speak.

Needless to say, it's quite a delicate balance to maintain. But I do think I've done a decent enough job of doing that so far hence why I decided to… take something of a risk with how this chapter ultimately starts and ends.

However, make no mistake – there will still be plenty to do and random events to occur in the course of this fic, so try not to feel too taken aback if the story suddenly comes off feeling a little rushed in terms of events.

Now with that totally not ominous statement made, ha ha, let's just get on with it! Hope you enjoy!

And as usual, please consider buying any of my books! Universal links found in my profile, just remove the spaces!

Chapter 12

The Tarnished rode atop Torrent with a bit of a heavy heart.

It's been roughly a whole day since he'd encountered those goblins influenced by the Formless Mother and although he'd slaughtered them all down to the very last just as easily as he had everything else so far in this world, he couldn't take much joy in this fact…

…For he knew that he hadn't gotten all of them.

Oh, that second group of goblins he'd sought out with the Darkmoon Greatsword had certainly been a large one indeed but it also went without saying that it couldn't have possibly been the whole horde. There were very likely more goblins still out there, driven to a unique form of madness and bloodlust by Mohg's most cherished deity.

Unfortunately, he had neither the time nor will to seek out the rest.

That wasn't to say he didn't put in some level of effort into surveying the surrounding area to see if he could locate where these blood goblins – the simple name he's decided to give them – had taken up residence in, but his efforts had gone unrewarded. Additionally, the map that had been generously updated by Goblin Slayer's friends had no area nearby that would suit the goblins' tastes such as any caves and the like labelled, so he could only assume that these new goblins were from somewhere further out.

Alas, as much as he would indeed like to find the remainder and end them swiftly, he found it in his best interest to just focus on reuniting with Ranni as quickly as he can. Once that is done and they get their collective bearings together, they could perhaps do something about the gods' influence at large and go from there. After all, he could tell that the gods of his world were trying to establish a foothold in this one, so there would really only be more of those blood goblins popping up eventually. While slaying the ones out and about now would indeed do the people of these lands much good, it would just be a stop-gap measure; he desired to stop this issue at its source as soon as possible.

Even so, the knowledge that the blood goblins he'd slain had merely been a splinter group that had seemingly gone off to do their own thing was undeniably worrisome – it meant that the horde must indeed be significant in size if the splinter group had been nearly twenty-five strong, when factoring in those five blood goblins he'd first encountered.

The only solace he could find in this new mess was the simple fact that the path he was taking seemed rarely traveled by, which hopefully meant that the blood goblins wouldn't be finding many people to terrorize any time soon. Of course, this was assuming the remainder of the horde was solely focusing their attention on this region and not all the other surrounding ones.

"…"

Said solace did little to actually put him at ease. Should time permit it and if he and Ranni can't think of another method with which to solve this issue, he will return to this region and do a much more thorough search for the remainder of the group.

His mind made up, he pressed on, Torrent speeding up in response to his will. If need be, he shall go without rest until he finally meets Ranni.

Before long, the Tarnished warrior had left the area entirely, silence following him as he went.

High Elf Archer was, needless to say, not having much of a good time recently.

First, there had been that strange guy with the even stranger and flat-out terrifying sword that had reeked of wrongness.

Then, there'd been that horrifying sensation that had practically ripped into and through her and just about everyone else that was sensitive to the forces of nature and spirits.

Thirdly, there'd been that strange and oh so conveniently timed quest for goblins (ugh! Always goblins!) that had apparently gotten a bloody makeover and with radically changed behavior at that too.

And now, here she and the rest of the party were on a clearly off-the-beaten-path, well, path that led to the once abandoned fort – Guild Girl had called it an outpost, but it was clearly a proper fort, albeit on the smaller side – that no longer was abandoned if the info Guild Girl had provided them was anything to judge by.

And the closer they got to the damned place, the more wrong the very air felt – a pervasive force that threatened to engulf the natural order with its abominable existence.

But more than that…

"O-Oof! Even from here, the smell! Ye gods, how could anything be so intense!" mumbled that loud and meddlesome dwarf. But sadly, he made a good point.

By now, they were perhaps a solid ten minute walk from the fort's main entrance, less if they made a run for it with all they had. But even from this distance, there was a distinctly putrid smell of blood that emanated from the large structure, so strong in its scent that even from here it was overpowering.

And if it's this bad from this kind of distance then High Elf Archer didn't want to imagine how bad it'll be once they got even closer.

Her other friends weren't taking the smell so well either. Lizard Priest was just barely suppressing a perpetual grimace. Poor little Priestess looked like she was just about to faint if she took even a few more steps.

But more importantly, even Orcbolg was almost visibly reeling from the smell, his usually bold stride now cautious and almost even unsure.

Unfortunately, Orcbolg just kept on walking which meant the rest of them had to follow along.

After a few more minutes, they were closer to the fort now and thus had a better look of it from here. Motioning for them all to come with him into the thick bushes nearby, Orcbolg proceeded to pull out a miniature telescope and put it to use.

This lasted about ten seconds or so before he passed it over to Lizard Priest. "Tell me what you see," spoke Orcbolg in that ever annoyingly passive voice of his, though it was tinged slightly with some tension.

"Mm, a few goblins actually performing lookout duties quite seriously," spoke the lizardman, using a clawed finger to point at the top of the fort. High Elf Archer, being who she is, possessed eyesight good enough to see these goblins just fine. "…And as the lady receptionist told us, they are indeed blood red in color. Most peculiar."

Orcbolg nodded. "But more than that… the time of the day is odd too."

Goblins were usually at their most active from dusk to dawn. During the day itself, they were usually asleep or otherwise resting in some other manner with only a handful of the little monsters being forced to act as lookouts for their lazy brethren. Moreover, those goblins that were standing guard right now really were looking pretty serious about it; not so much as any of that grumbling gibberish could be heard from this distance, the sentries just vigilantly surveying all that they could see.

Good thing the path leading up to the fort was nothing but woods for miles on end. It also helped that while the goblins may have clearly taken up residence there, they still apparently weren't savvy enough to try cleaning up the surrounding area a bit so that they could better see any enemies coming.

Enemies such as themselves, for example.

It was at this point that High Elf Archer could no longer remain silent.

"So, how do you wanna go about this, Orcbolg?" she asked in a genuinely serious tone. Normally, she'd be positively catty over doing yet another goblin slaying quest, but doing any quest in general right now was way better than just moping over all these weird and scary things recently. Plus, the sooner they figured out how to get this quest over and done with, the sooner they could leave and pick up a real quest.

Why, she honestly wouldn't even mind if Orcbolg decided to go all in and just blow the whole fort up with his usually whacky methods and tricks. If it meant getting out here quickly and in one piece, then she was all for it.

"…" Orcbolg remained silent save for an indiscernible sound that made it clear that he was thinking deeply about a plan here. Eventually, he turned to Dwarf Shaman. "What is that fort made of?"

Dwarf Shaman stroked his beard as he wordlessly asked for the telescope from Lizard Priest. Upon receiving it and giving the fort a much better look, he spoke. "Hrm, given its age, I'd say pretty typical stone and wooden beams – nothing fanciful at all. Definitely not handled by any dwarfs, can tell ya that in an instant. Might be some parts made of iron or somethin' inside, but otherwise it's as typical a fort as I've ever seen back in the day."

"Would you know its layout?"

The dwarf grunted. "The lady said it was some decades old or so, right? If so, then yeah, the fort layout should be pretty straightforward. You thinking of a path in, Beardcutter?"

"That's one thing, yes." He then asked for the telescope back and after giving the fort a final glance over, he put it away before continuing. "First, we sneak in there and see what awaits us. Then we figure out how to kill the goblins."

"We're not going to take the sentries out first?" Priestess spoke up in surprise from beside him.

"Goblins are acting too different. If the rest are as serious as those ones, there might be a risk of the rest being alerted right away if anything happened to the sentries," Orcbolg answered. High Elf Archer could practically hear the frown in his voice as he'd spoken.

He then turned to Dwarf Shaman again. "You and me will take point – guide us along the best way to get into that fort without getting spotted." He promptly motioned to Lizard Priest. "Guard our rear as we move. If need be, make some of those warriors of yours if things go bad."

"Of course," replied Lizard Priest as he readied his weapons.

"And I take it I'm in the middle along with our little one here?" High Elf Archer asked, a bit of her usual cheekiness seeping back into her voice as she nudged Priestess, who blushed in slight embarrassment as being referred to as the 'little one.'

Orcbolg nodded. "Support either the rear or us as needed. And you, keep your miracles ready… especially that Purify one."

Given the report had also mentioned severe scalding being inflicted on a horse and some of the survivors, it went without saying aloud why Orcbolg would tell Priestess such a thing.

"R-Right!" Said Priestess clutched her staff ever more tightly.

With a barebones plan now set, it was time to move out.

As the party of five took off, with Dwarf Shaman and Orcbolg in the lead, High Elf Archer hung back with a not insignificant sense of trepidation.

She sincerely found herself hoping this quest would be over and done with soon.

Priestess did her best to control her breathing. Not simply because of the physical exertion she was going through – she still had quite some more work to do before her stamina was fully up to par with the rest of her party – but also because of the impossibly foul stench that wafted from the fort.

She'd thought she'd gotten somewhat used to the smell of blood and viscera but what she could now smell was putting all her past gory experiences to shame so far.

More than simply causing a physical recoil within her, however, it was also making her shiver down to her very core.

Something was horribly wrong with this place now and it had something to do with the strange goblins that had taken up residence in it.

As she and the rest of the party moved swiftly through the forest around to the western side of the fort, Priestess couldn't help but spare a glance upwards to where those goblin sentries were at. Didn't seem like they'd noticed the adventurers just yet and she could only pray to the Earth Mother that things would stay that way for a good while longer.

"Over here," Dwarf Shaman said in a deceptively quiet voice, motioning with his stubby fingers towards the fort as they rounded the corner. "There's always a back way into places like this, for the times when the soldiers here had no choice but to cut their losses and run. Since the west faces a small cliff, it was easy for them to navigate their way down since they woulda known a safe path."

"Meanwhile any pursuers who got too confident would end up tumbling to their demise," surmised Lizard Priest from the rear with an interest hum. "A simple yet effective method of deterring possible chases."

"Got it in one, scaly," Dwarf Shaman said, a bit of his good cheer returning for the moment. "And look – the fort is so beaten up from the passage of time and other elements that the section of the surrounding wall is down."

As he just said, the side entrance/exit had a solid portion of the surrounding wall just utterly gone, pieces of stone and wood still scatter about the area. It must have happened long ago, perhaps even part of the reason why this fort was abandoned in the first place since it was clear even to Priestess' novice eyes that said debris had been out in the sun and rain for a long time.

"Move swiftly and carefully – if the goblins are just smart enough to post such diligent sentries, then they might have some members watching such an opening too," spoke Goblin Slayer, hand slightly extended towards his belt where the throwing knife was at.

He took point, darting out from the bushes towards the ruined door and wall, the others following after him. Priestess readied her staff to use as a medium for her miracles just in case. Goblin Slayer had come to trust her a great deal in knowing when and how to best use the blessings of the Earth Mother and that was a trust she didn't want to break for any reason.

They entered the fort without issue, stepping into a rather cramped hallway that had Lizard Priest grimacing slightly at.

"Don't worry, big guy, the rest of the fort is much more spacious," Dwarf Shaman commented with a chuckle.

"Mm, I would certainly hope so; if not, my ancestors would certainly be disappointed in me for not being able to fight in their honor yet again." Lizard Priest licked his lips as he tried to squeeze properly through the hallway. He even had to put away his weapons for the time being or else he'd risk scraping them against the wall.

Forced into a single file line almost, the party followed Dwarf Shaman, once more in the lead. "If any hostages remain, where would they likely be?" asked Goblin Slayer.

"A lot of forts back then had some fairly small holding cells for prized individuals that could have attacked this place. Should be our best bet. The cells should lie this way towards the very back of the fort, away from the others."

"Um, are we… are we going to check and see if the prisoners are okay first?" Priestess immediately asked from her spot in the line.

Normally, it was Goblin Slayer's preference to take out the goblins first before checking for any surviving hostages. That he would seemingly make the location of the captured women his first question upon entry here was surprising.

"It's just to know what area to avoid if things have to get especially violent," he answered in that same neutral tone of his. "But since we are close… we can check on them first, count how many are left and how best to move them later. Then… we wipe out all the goblins."

"Of course," High Elf Archer muttered with a roll of the eyes.

"If there's anyone with severe injuries," Priestess began. "I should heal them."

She couldn't help but be uncharacteristically bold in this moment. Perhaps it was due to just how different this goblin slaying quest was from even the most esoteric ones they'd taken in the past. Maybe this overwhelming atmosphere of raw malice and lust was getting to her more than she'd initially thought. Or maybe it was due to something else entirely.

Whatever the case, she said her piece and dearly hoped her words wouldn't be dismissed. Despite having felt compelled to say those words, she was now terribly worried her friends would dismiss her resolve.

It didn't help that they all gave her a solid five second long stare in response. Then…

"…Alright. But try to reserve at least a few miracles for us later." Goblin Slayer's words practically heaven sent.

"My, how our little Priestess has grown," spoke Lizard Priest. "I wonder if this is perhaps what being an elder feels like when watching over the younger generation moving forward."

Dwarf Shaman suppressed a guffaw. "Maybe."

"Yeesh, just when did you get so tough?" High Elf Archer quipped as she nudged Priestess a bit.

Priestess blushed lightly, trying not to beam at the support her friends were giving her.

They moved on, following through the narrow hallway. Thankfully, the hallway opened up a bit more, allowing them to resume their previous formation as they began to enter the back of the fort where the cells were at.

…And what awaited them was the stuff of nightmares.

The smell of blood was especially strong in here, due to being the source of it… and with very good reason.

Numerous women, easily totaling more than twenty or even more, had clearly been thrown about into the cells Dwarf Shaman had spoken of. And not a single one of them was spared of blood, either their own or from that of others, coating their battered and nearly naked forms.

It was clear that many of them were dead, a host of flies swarming over their prone and very much mangled bodies, the goblins having literally torn them apart.

The ones that still seemed to be alive, what with all the groans and moans of agony, could arguably be said to be suffering far more than the ones that had died. Priestess had to avert her eyes momentarily, struggling to control her heaving stomach now as the ones that still lived writhed about with horrific scalding wounds all over their torsos.

…It would seem too that when some of the goblins had taken to attempting to grow their numbers, whatever was the source of the scalding had evidently gotten 'down there' as well, resulting in injuries that undoubtedly meant none of these women would ever have children in the future, if they had ever desired such a future.

The rest of her party had been stunned into complete silence. Even Goblin Slayer, who was usually taciturn most of the time anyways, seemed to go completely still at the sight.

After what felt like hours of staring in open horror, Goblin Slayer was the first to move-.

-Only to stop when one of the surviving women noticed them. She uttered out a hoarse warning. "Don't!" The sheer desperation in her voice was just as palpable as the smell of blood and viscera. "Avoid the blood! Avoid it all!"

The woman, who was near the front of an open cell – all the cells were open, Priestess realized… and why wouldn't they be? None of the women could even move anymore – managed to raise a shaky arm that still seemed to sizzle from something and pointed weakly at the puddles of blood throughout the whole room.

Goblin Slayer could only nod in response. Then he proceeded to slowly make his way over the woman, careful to not step in any of the puddles around. Said puddles were pretty far apart and haphazardly made from the looks of it, which made it at least somewhat easy to avoid contact. However, some streams of the blood existed and had seeped into the cracks between the stones that made up the floor.

Priestess watched as Goblin Slayer's right foot made contact with one of these streams and widened her eyes at the way her party leader visibly recoiled from the mere contact. The bottom of his boot seemed to sizzle in the spot that had touched the blood.

Just what is going on?

"…If you wish to heal her, then come," he said, beckoning Priestess. "Trace my path and avoid the blood at all costs. The rest of you stand guard."

As far as anyone of them could tell, there seemed to be only one way in or out of this particular area. This was both a boon and a bane; it meant defending it should be theoretically easy since they only had to worry about one way in, but it also meant if they were swarmed then they had no chance of an easy escape.

As the rest of the party acknowledged his command, Priestess began to shakily retrace Goblin Slayer's path.

Upon doing so, she neared the woman that had warned them and did her best to not stare too openly at the state she was in. For now that Priestess had a better look at her, she could see horrible burns and bruises along not just the young woman's torso but also some sections of her face as well. It put the wounds that poor elf had suffered back on their first quest together with the rest of their party to shame, frightening as that is to even think.

The woman had apparently once had long flowing hair, but now entire parts of it were gone, looking torn and burned. A small portion of her scalp was exposed and looking absolutely hideous, having clearly been bleeding at one point before being cauterized and certainly not out of good intentions.

Given enough time, the woman could certainly be healed and live on… but never fully whole again.

It was enough to make Priestess tear up.

"I…I'll…" She had no idea what she even wanted to say and ended up trailing off. Eventually, she decided to just get on with it. Time was of the essence, after all.

Now that she was this up close, she could actually sense an unnatural power at work, chaotic and so frighteningly malevolent. Her faith in the Earth Mother made her sensitive to some degree concerning the presence of the gods and other such existences and that sensitivity was warning her that this power, horrific as it was, belonged to an entity on that scale if not somehow higher.

Using a Heal would not work, not alone at least.

Closing her eyes, Priestess concentrated and mumbled her chant to the Earth Mother. Instead of using a minor healing miracle, she chose to use the Purify miracle.

Her instinctive choice turned out to be the correct one, for after a moment of intense silence, she could feel the oppressive feeling pervading the woman's body slowly dissipate.

The woman let out a wheeze of audible relief. Though very obviously still in a horrible pain, it would seem that using Purify had alleviated whatever effects the wounds had still been having on her.

Alas, this was about the best Priestess felt she could do. She currently only knew the Minor Healing miracle, which would hardly help the woman in her current state given the severity of the scalding wounds she possessed. Not only that, but while she could use more miracles per day than when she'd first became an adventurer, the number she could use was still severely limited. Using any more miracles when they still had a job to do would be risky.

"…I'm sorry…" she murmured, clenching her staff tightly.

The woman shook her head. "…Any bit… helps…" She started to reach out to Priestess. "…Stop those… those things… can't let them… spread…"

She was referring to the goblins. Had to be.

Goblin Slayer was the one to respond to her. "Of course," he said. His quiet tone had gained a strong edge to it, as it always did when speaking of goblins. "We'll wipe out all the goblins."

His simple and outright curt reply nonetheless reassured the woman greatly. She let out the most tired smile Priestess had ever seen… and then the hand she'd been reaching out to Priestess collapsed.

"…!" Priestess nearly started to cry right then and there, only for Goblin Slayer to suddenly place a hand on her shoulder.

"She's still breathing," he said. "…She probably hasn't gotten any rest at all because of those wounds."

Priestess stared at the woman and sure enough, could make out the rising and falling of her chest. That she still lived brought her some relief, but hardly a lot. In the end, her determination earlier had only helped this poor woman finally get some shut eye for the time being.

But even so… it would have to do.

Priestess looked up after a few long seconds, taking in all the other woman that still lived. Unlike the one she'd just helped, they didn't look particularly coherent. Thus, uttering anything at all to them would be a lost cause.

Even so, she spoke anyways. "…We'll come back for you," she whispered out.

Standing up to her full height, Priestess turned away and followed after Goblin Slayer, who'd already started to carefully head back to the rest of their party.

"I take it that it's time, milord Goblin Slayer?" asked Lizard Priest in a somber tone. The other two looked just as torn up inside as the rest of them.

"Yes," replied Goblin Slayer as he finally drew out his short blade. Priestess felt her own determination harden as he continued his reply.

"Time to kill all the goblins."

The next five minutes or so were spent with Dwarf Shaman explaining in as much detail as possible the sort of layout this fort has in addition, of course, to anything that could be of use.

And indeed, there was.

The fort had been abandoned long ago in quite the hasty manner and thus it stood to reason that quite a few supplies had been left behind – random knickknacks and the like. In addition to food and other supplies that may have long since gone bad or were otherwise just uselessly lying around…

…Such as bags of flour, for example.

It was at this point that Goblin Slayer had come up with a simple plan with which to kill all of the goblins and ensure none escaped.

First, search out for the bags of flour that could have been left behind. Upon determining if there was flour left, the plan was to then divvy up the amount and use them to trigger dust explosions in key areas. Said explosions, aside from killing whatever goblins were in the immediate area, would then force the remaining goblins to head for the center of the fort, which was essentially a kill box at this point and it would be there where Goblin Slayer and his party would wipe them all out. Priestess' miracles would be key at that point.

As for the possibility of there being no flour left to work with… well, depending on what supplies were found, it should still be possible to carry out the plan anyways. If not, then they could always just serve as bait for the goblins to force them into an ideal situation anyways.

This was the plan Goblin Slayer had come up with and now it was time to carry it out.

The party of five adventurers left the holding cell area and proceeded to follow Dwarf Shaman towards where the foodstuffs and supplies would normally be held at. To their luck, said area could be reached just by following the hallways, allowing them to avoid the center of the fort where the goblins were primarily taking up residence.

Alas, that didn't mean that their trek was without any sense of peril.

Case in point, one of the blood red goblins ended up wandering into the hallway from a side entrance behind them. It had startled slightly at the sight of them, but rather than try beating a retreat since it was outnumbered five to one, it instead prepared to raise its crude club to attack instead.

But Lizard Priest, still bringing up their rear, proved to be much faster and the lizardman let out a quiet but still fierce grunt as he closed the miniscule distance between them and brought down one of his blades upon the goblin's head. His blade cut into the skull with a sickening squelch and crunch as blood was drawn and its skull was cracked very wide open.

Blood spurted out as the body now crumbled to the floor, obviously dead. Some of the blood coated Lizard Priest's front and the lizardman snarled in clear pain.

"By my ancestors!" he whispered as he nearly leapt back, as much as the hallway would allow such an action anyways. "The foul creature's blood-!"

Goblin Slayer, from his position in the front of the group, nodded grimly. "It's dangerous. Don't try to wipe it off directly – use a cloth or something else, and quickly."

As the lizardman had been about to say, the blood of the goblin was… off, for lack of a better way to put it.

This was something Goblin Slayer had experienced for himself just several or so moments ago, when he'd tried to approach that hostage. Though he'd only stepped in the puddle of blood for merely a second or two, it had stung. He knew nothing of curses and the like, but contact with the blood had felt akin to such a thing, burning like flames without actually being flames… and the silver ranked adventurer had gotten the strange feeling back then that getting coated in too much of the blood or otherwise remaining in contact with the blood for too long would result in something bad, though he knew not what that meant.

It'd merely been an instinct but that alone had been more than enough to make him even more cautious of this whole situation, especially since it now was clear in hindsight just how all those women had gotten so scarred physically, to say nothing of all the blood that had coated the cells.

Something had caused this change in the goblins. Goblin Slayer couldn't even begin to imagine what, but he didn't feel too keen on finding out.

They continued their trek in tense silence.

As they neared where the food storage was at, the party heard something coming.

Or rather, it had been High Elf Archer who had heard something.

"Whoa, whoa… hold on," she called out quietly. She readied her bow and waited while the rest of them remained still.

From around the upcoming corner that led directly to their intended destination, two goblins emerged. Blood dripped down sporadically from small wounds across their torsos and arms. Whether the wounds were self-inflicted or not, Goblin Slayer couldn't tell due to the somewhat poor lighting of the place.

In any case, as soon as the two goblins came into view, High Elf Archer rapidly shot out two arrows, her aim fast and true. The arrows pierced their skulls and they dropped dead on the spot, though not after wheezing out in surprise at what had happened.

"Well done, lady ranger," Lizard Priest complimented. His own encounter just a moment ago made him the most appreciative out of the whole bunch at their resident high elf sparing the others the risk of getting blood on them.

High Elf Archer grunted in acknowledgement and simply motioned with her free hand now. "Come on. Let's just get this done. Don't forget to avoid putting the hostages at risk, though, Orcbolg."

"I know. I will try," Goblin Slayer replied swiftly. As they continued on, he used his short sword to give the two goblins a stab in their necks, careful not to touch the blood as he did so. Upon making sure they were indeed dead, he pressed on and his party followed suit.

Thankfully, these two encounters proved to be the only ones and they reached their destination without further issue. Even more thankfully, there did indeed remain some bags of flour, enough to enact the plan with just a bit leftover to spare.

"Alright, let's move fast now," Goblin Slayer said. "We'll spread some flour around in a few rooms and detonate them."

His friends replied in the affirmative and they promptly took off, spreading some flour around in the food storage area before they left.

Following the system of hallways this fort had, they moved as one and put some flour here and there in every room that would cause the floor above to collapse and take down the goblins above, which seemed to comprise the whole group.

Moreover, Dwarf Shaman made sure to leave behind little straw dolls that he'd been hastily preparing this entire time in the center of each room they filled with flour. Once it came time to detonate, all he'd have to do is cast his spell and the wicker dolls as they were called would ignite and set off the flour. Ordinarily, such a method was something he's never had a chance to use on their previous quests for one reason or another – usually because the layout of any given area they were in just wasn't suited to their use – but this fort was as ideal a place as could be for such a strategy.

It took approximately twenty minutes for them to use up all the flour required for this plan, but to Goblin Slayer's surprise, it had gone off without a hitch. It was honestly enough to rankle him, even more so than everything else so far.

More than just the strange evolution these goblins seem to have undergone, the goblins' collective behavior was vastly different from other goblins he's slayed up until now. Not even those goblins he and his party had seen when encountering that stranger for the first time had been this unusual.

"Ready to set off some fireworks, Beardcutter?" Dwarf Shaman asked. Despite his lighthearted words, his tone was anything but.

"Wait," Goblin Slayer replied. He then proceeded to head for the nearest entryway that would lead up to the center of the fort, where the rest of the goblins should be at.

Slowly, carefully, he poked his head out and observed what was going on.

Aside from the goblins that were serving as sentries like the ones he'd spotted earlier, the remainder of the goblins were remarkably inactive, docile even. Spread throughout the whole area, the goblins sat upon the hard stone floor, each one staring off into nothing.

…It was almost as if they were in a trance of some sort. Whether or not there was even more going on than he'd originally thought, Goblin Slayer knew not but this was as good a chance as any to take care of things.

"Do it," he said to Dwarf Shaman as he returned below.

Dwarf Shaman began to recite his chant to activate his Kindle spell, Goblin Slayer barely even listening as the dwarf did so. Instead, he tried to keep a keen eye on the goblins from his current position. The seconds needed to active the spell felt like hours to him, maddeningly so.

However, before long, the spell was activated and just a second or two after that, the chain of dust explosions went off.

Said explosions, in and of themselves, were fairly powerful, obviously enough to start collapsing the sections of the fort above the rooms as the ceilings gave way, but each explosion had only been just that powerful. In other words, hardly anything to worry about. But the fact that so many explosions were going off all at once made for a very rocky experience, the entire fort shaking as a direct result.

It was enough to almost throw all the adventurers off their feet despite having braced for the explosions and this had nearly cost them-.

-For even though numerous goblins had most assuredly been killed by the explosions – the brief squawks of surprise that had been slightly audible above the sound of explosions had confirmed this – it was clear that not all the goblins had been taken out by the explosions.

Sure enough, as the aftermath of the explosions started to settle down, Goblin Slayer and his party could hear the all too familiar 'gorb! Gorb!' cry of the remaining goblins… and they were clearly out for blood.

As the adventurers all got fully back on their feet, Goblin Slayer managed to peer out into the now ruined center of the fort whereupon he witnessed firsthand the devastation his plan had wreaked so far. Entire sections of the floor had caved in. Walls had been blown apart, some tarps and other cloths that had remained in the fort had been set aflame.

But most importantly, a lot of the goblins that had been just resting had bore the brunt of the explosions, with many no longer where they were at – presumably, they'd fallen into the rooms below and had been crushed by the rubble – while he could see bits and pieces of other goblins that had either been caught directly in the chain reaction or had been brutally peppered to death by chunks of the walls that had blown out in their direction like shrapnel.

Not a bad start, to say the least.

However, all the goblins that had been working as sentries had survived without much issue. Somewhat bruised and battered due to being chucked into nearby walls or rotten scaffolding from the shockwaves of the explosions but otherwise still alive and kicking.

"…!" Goblin Slayer immediately retreated as he felt their beady golden eyes on him. Despite all the dust and debris flying about still, they had somehow locked onto him. It was as if the explosions had somehow given away his position, for the next thing he knew, the goblins cried out in mad glee and began to charge his way.

However, his retreat had lasted only a mere second or two, more as a way for him to see if all the remaining goblins were indeed coming his way and not trying to flank him from any of the other possible paths available to them.

Upon determining the remainder of the group were rushing towards the opening he'd popped out from, he motioned for Priestess to come with him.

"Now, your Miracle!" he commanded.

"Right!" Priestess replied, staff in hand as she darted out into the open. Despite her understandable fear of being so exposed to the running goblins, she clasped her weapon tightly and began to utter her brief prayer.

"Protection!" she called out after a few brief words.

Holy power manifested into the ever recognizable wall used to guard one's self from attack… or so was the typical purpose of such a miracle.

Ever since Priestess had started to travel alongside Goblin Slayer, she's come to weaponize the defensive miracle and now was no different from those other times.

In what was easily her biggest display yet, the forming wall took shape above the entire center of the fort, acting a new roof essentially…

…And in turn, making the area into the perfect killbox, just as Goblin Slayer had intended.

At the exact moment the wall had formed, Dwarf Shaman came rushing out, bag of flour in hand. Though short and stout, he was still a dwarf, meaning he possessed considerable physical strength. This was a fact well demonstrated as Dwarf Shaman chucked the hefty bag of flour a fair distance forward and into the air.

Immediately after his throw, he started to chant the activation to the Kindle spell, which would ignite the wicker doll he'd placed in the bag beforehand.

The wicker doll was set aflame – and ended up setting off the biggest explosion yet as it interacted with the flour and dust inside the bag. And thanks to the wall above, the explosion was essentially compressed into the area where the remaining goblins were at.

Said creatures hardly even had a chance to react to what was going on before the explosion enveloped them – and would have enveloped Priestess as well, who'd been standing stock still in order to maintain a barrier of this size. It was only thanks to Goblin Slayer grabbing hold of her with one arm and rushing back down the stairs that Priestess avoided potentially being caught up in the blast. As for Dwarf Shaman, he'd managed to successfully retreat all on his own, having thrown himself down the steps immediately after he'd performed his duty.

Even then the sheer strength of the explosion had sent the three careening down the steps and into the wall below with quite the impact. Goblin Slayer in particular let out quite the grunt as he ended up taking the brunt of the crash, but better him than the much more fragile Priestess, he reasoned.

Dust and smoke ended up spilling down into the system of hallways even as the Protection miracle ran its course, leading them all to cough and hack quite violently.

Goblin Slayer vaguely saw Lizard Priest help Dwarf Shaman up while High Elf Archer stumbled on over to help him and Priestess up, more so the latter rather than himself.

"Ugh! I know that I okayed this plan, but still! Don't you ever know how to make smaller explosions?!" High Elf Archer whined, her usual mood seemingly returning in the wake of what had happened.

"Perhaps," Goblin Slayer retorted in his typical stoic voice as he got back up. He swayed slightly upon reaching his full height, marginally concussed from the blast, but he managed to stay strong and focus on the matter at hand. "Stay alert. We can't be sure we got all of them."

"With an explosion like that?" Dwarf Shaman began, incredulous. "I'm surprised most of the fort survived it! Would be crazy if any of the goblins did pull through in one piece! I wouldn't even trust the gods' luckiest dice rolls to save anyone from that!"

It certainly had been a bit more powerful than he'd expected, Goblin Slayer will admit. But even so, he always had to be sure.

He made his way slowly up the steps and out into the open. His party followed behind him, though High Elf Archer grumbled a bit as she did so. With his short sword in hand, he cautiously looked around for any signs of life, goblin or otherwise.

If the chain of explosions had done some damage before, however, then this big one had done even more, fittingly enough – scaffolding and walls had been fully blown away, more sections of the floor had been obliterated from the explosion or at the very least had collapsed in on themselves…

…But most importantly, he could no longer see any immediate signs of goblins. Whatever remains there were from the previous batch of goblins had been completely annihilated and so far there seemed to be nothing left either of the ones that had been running his way a moment ago. But until he can confirm their deaths, he couldn't let his guard down at all.

"…!"

His suspicions proved correct as a mild yet still noticeable burning sensation began to fill his lungs… and though this was really only his second time encountering this, he was already aware of what was happening.

Goblin blood… the explosion had wiped out the petty and violent creatures but in doing so had effectively reduced them to a bloody mist which was mixed into the air for the time being. And here he was, effectively breathing those miniscule particulates in.

"Back!" he said in a somewhat hoarse tone. He didn't need to say anything at all, however, for the others had also started to look to be in pain once they'd stepped out into the open with him.

Once more retreating down the steps and into the hallway, they all took their time coughing and hacking out as a result of the pain and had no choice but to just wait it out.

"Ugh! Just when things couldn't get any weirder!" High Elf Archer rightfully complained.

"S-Should I use Purify again?" Priestess asked as she clutched at her slender chest.

"…No, hold off for now. The sensation is subsiding for me. The same for you all too?" Goblin Slayer turned to fully face his party.

"Yeah." Dwarf Shaman's voice was dry and disgruntled. "Yeesh, it seems ta me like goblins have always been up to some strange things whenever we journey with you, Beardcutter!"

"Is that so?"

Lizard Priest let out quite the rumbling chuckle in response. "I would dare say none of us have ever had encounters with goblins quite like the ones we've had when traveling with you, milord Goblin Slayer. Adventuring by your side is certainly never a routine."

"…I see…" Goblin Slayer murmured. He wasn't sure what to make of those words. He took no offense, he simply didn't know if those words should make him feel good to know he's been so indirectly entertaining to his friends or be all the more worried that goblins seemed to be changing just as often and as much as he was.

Such idle chatter droned on for the next several minutes, the party waiting for the air to clear out a bit before finally beginning their sweep of the fort, ruined even more than ever before thanks to their little plan.

Eventually, they did just that, combing over the whole area as swiftly as they could. It took a solid half hour despite their efforts, however, for pools of blood here and there had remained from the unnaturally changed goblins, warranting slower and safer steps lest they be subjected to that horrific effect again.

But ultimately their sweep concluded without any fanfare; the goblins had all been taken out.

Having circled back around so that they were in the center of the fort again, the party of five took this time to go over what had happened.

Alas, not much was really said between them – their quest still wasn't over, after all. They still needed to check back in on the women down in the cells and figure out how best to transport any survivors out of here.

Unfortunately, there were no wagons or other modes of transportation that they could use here. With that fact made known to them, they had two options that the adventurers could currently think up.

One option would be to salvage any materials from the fort itself to build their own wagon to use. This option wasn't particularly favored since while some of them – especially Dwarf Shaman – had some measure of skill in crafting such a thing, the fort itself had been absolutely devastated from the ravages of time in addition to their own actions from earlier. Fashioning a wagon of any size out of the debris and other materials here would be a chore for even the most masterful of carpenters.

The second option would be for one or two of them to either send a message back to the town or go back themselves to inform the proper authorities of the situation and have them prepare the proper necessities to successfully retrieve the hostages. This option was a far better one than option one in terms of success rate, but it would still require roughly a day or so to properly take the surviving women out of here… and with the wounds many of them had been sporting, there's no telling how likely it was for the ones still alive to remain among the living by the time they received proper medical treatment.

Their options were indeed not any good, but it was all they had to work with.

With some measure of reluctance, the party decided to go with option two. Lizard Priest and High Elf Archer opted to go back to town as soon as possible, the former's great endurance allowing him to travel long and far without rest while the latter's sheer nimbleness made her the ideal runner for the party.

"We shall return as swiftly as we can!" Lizard Priest called out as he took off at full speed. "May your ancestors watch over you in the meanwhile!"

"Don't go doing anything else crazy while we're out!" High Elf Archer cried out as she trailed after the lizardman with graceful ease.

"Ah, it's gonna be so quiet without our resident flat chested elf around," quipped Dwarf Shaman once the two, particularly High Elf Archer, were out of earshot. "I can't tell if that's supposed to be a good thing or not in this case…"

"Mm," was Goblin Slayer's classy comment on the matter.

It was definitely a lot quieter with the loudest member of their group now gone, that was for sure. But that meant he was now a lot more alone with his thoughts.

And Goblin Slayer found himself very much lost with those very thoughts right now.

All things considered, taking out these… these blood goblins had been a quick task thanks to the flour found within the fort. He was never one to trust the gods' dice rolls, much less allow the gods to roll in the first place if possible, but perhaps for once the dice had favored them completely?

This was perhaps the first time in a long while the young silver ranked adventurer could say goblin slaying had gone well. The last time he could recall such efficiency was when he'd first started to party with Priestess, when she'd used her Protection spell to trap goblins within a large burning tree, and when he and Priestess had first adventured with the others to kill those goblins in their sleep after the combined use of Silence and Stupor. The only hiccup in that particular quest had been the appearance of that big what's-it-called, the one he'd had to use the Gate scroll against.

It would seem that every now and then, goblin slaying was almost as easy an affair as many people liked to believe it was… it was rather unsettling, to be honest; he never could quite get used to such a low level of difficulty in these cases.

But he knew it would never – could never – last. It was inevitable that there will be quests where the goblins nearly get one over him and his friends, push them to the brink of death…

…And if more of these blood goblins end up becoming a more common sight…

Beneath his helm, Goblin Slayer's teeth grinded against one another tightly. The very thought, however brief, of goblins coming to have such dangerous blood coursing within them more often… they all had lucked out immensely thanks to this fort but if they were to encounter more of these things within a cave or some other cramped space as goblins were used to occupying?

The silver ranked adventurer couldn't even begin to envision what measures he and the others should be taking to minimize the risk in the future.

"Umm, Goblin Slayer, sir?" Priestess' voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Once he tilted his head in her direction, she continued. "If it's alright with you, I'm going to go ahead and use the rest of my miracles to heal the wounded."

"Alright. Just remember to focus only on the ones with the most grievous injuries," he said. The girl had already used two miracles, meaning she had only a few left at best. Far from enough to treat every survivor, but it was better than nothing.

"Of course!" Priestess chirped in determination before beginning to make her way back to the cells.

"Come on, Beardcutter, we should give her a hand. Don't know how well us two can treat those poor girls, but at least we won't be twiddling our thumbs around her." Dwarf Shaman gave Goblin Slayer a solid slap to his lower back as a form of encouragement.

"Right."

Goblin Slayer rolled his shoulders and slowly followed after the other two, grimly preparing himself for the unknown future that lied ahead.

…

…

…

Priestess used up her remaining miracles to treat the women with the worst injuries. All this accomplished was taking a few women that had been dying and merely placing them in a critical but stable condition.

Together with Dwarf Shaman and Goblin Slayer, they treated the remaining women with what first aid supplies they always carried on them… but it hadn't been enough for a few of the survivors.

The three adventurers spent the next twenty-four hours doing what they could to clean and bandage the surviving women, numbering at around eighteen total. That number dropped down to thirteen when five of them ended up with their wounds worsening due to how much blood the goblins had shed within those cells, the continued exposure to the blood having caused these unfortunate women to suddenly die from severe hemorrhaging. Evidently, this is what would have happened to the adventurers themselves had they been exposed to the blood for much longer.

It would be just a few more hours longer before Lizard Priest and High Elf Archer returned, wagons in tow along with trained healers to better treat the survivors on the way back to town.

Though the quest to kill the goblins had been a simple matter in the grand scheme of things, the ramifications of these blood goblins' very existence and the ultimate fate of these survivors resulted in a heavy mood among the adventurers as they helped load the remaining women onto the wagons.

Perhaps the only other form of solace Goblin Slayer could take out of this is that at least none of the survivors had been impregnated by those damned goblins… though not for lack of trying on the goblins' part; a good number of the women had sported injuries down there, presumably from when the goblins' blood had spilled during their attempts at bolstering their forces.

Hardly something to be pleased over, but Goblin Slayer had long since learned to take what victories he could in his crusade against goblins, no matter how meager or even dark those victories may be.

With numerous complicated feelings swirling within him, the young adventurer began his journey back to the guild along with his friends.

In the blank realm outside of the Four Cornered World, the battle between the gods and the intruders waged on, ever fiercer.

But despite the gods now being able to fight on much better footing thanks to relentless and creative usage of their authorities, they still could hardly be said to have the advantage – nor was it always possible for them to continue keeping all the intruding entities away from the world.

Now was one such case.

And so, with the battle just chaotic enough for it to take advantage, the essence of the Scarlet Rot, weakened though it may be from its true self being sealed away below the Lake of Rot, was able to get close to the Four Cornered World…

…And begin its own invasion of it.

The one known as Malenia had served it well back in the Lands Between, but had failed to bloom properly. So perhaps in this worlds, things would turn out differently.

…Within the Four Cornered World, a section of the sky above the lands turned scarlet in color, a pollen-like substance traveling with the wind over an unsuspecting populace.

May everyone bloom beautifully.

May everything bloom eternally.

It has been close to two full days now since the Tarnished had slain those blood goblins. During this forty-eight hour window, he and Torrent hadn't so much as stopped or even slowed down once, their veritable lifetimes spent in harsh conditions in addition to their very nature as Tarnished or spirit alike having allowed them to press on well past the point where most others would have collapsed from the strain of such relentless efforts.

That wasn't to say the Tarnished wasn't feeling some fatigue building up, but it was a minor sensation, easily ignored for the time being.

With an occasional 'hyup!' of encouragement to Torrent, the duo pressed on even as dusk fell upon the open region.

For another hour, along a convoluted path that only marginally followed alongside a large river, the Tarnished rode on. It was only now that he had no choice but to slow down, if only to avoid him and Torrent being plunged into either the watery depths whenever the river came into view or the rough looking rocks that the path took them by. That this path was clearly old and worn down from time to the point where sections of it would crumble and fall seemingly from the most minor of breezes only caused him to slow down even more.

Nonetheless, he kept a steady pace and pressed on until the end of the path was reached, the makeshift road ahead having been ruined long ago by what he could only assume had been a landslide.

Traveling further on with Torrent would still be possible, but difficult – not to doubt Torrent's ability to navigate damn near any terrain, but for the immediate future, he'd be better off making his way down on his own two feet.

"Rest for now," he murmured to Torrent before dismissing the steed. After doing so, the Tarnished started to take some steps down the ruined and jagged side of the small mountain he was on. It was only thanks to his own incredible sense of balance that he didn't go foolishly tumbling down. Not that such a thing would kill him, but it certainly would be an embarrassing fate to avoid.

Over the course of the next several minutes, the Tarnished made a few small jumps here and there. Then when he was finally nearing the bottom, he decided to emulate lord Godfrey and made a mighty leap that saw him go sailing tens of meters through the air, clearing the rest of the way and landing safely upon flatland again.

Said flatland only extended about another kilometer before giving way to forest yet again…

…But rather than rush on ahead, either on foot or with Torrent, the Tarnished actually slowly walked forward as a near all consuming sense of anticipation filled him.

For he could sense his goal – his beloved – just ahead.

After walking a hundred meters, he could vaguely see someone emerge from the forest ahead, someone he could never forget.

Fairly short in height, especially when compared to her demigod siblings, and dressed in pure white robes that complemented her blue skin…

Yes, without a doubt…

He picked up his pace, though not to the point of outright running. He could see her mirroring this action as well, her steps quick but still notably short of sprinting.

A few long minutes go by before the two of them finally met below a bright moon, no more than an arm's reach apart.

"My dear consort," spoke Ranni in a soft voice.

"Beloved," the Tarnished greeted in kind.

The two were finally reunited.

Yeah, so again, was actually super unsure of myself when it came to writing this chapter. Not so much for Goblin Slayer and co. confronting the goblins – that had always been the intended 'meat' of this chapter.

Rather, I'd been kind of iffy on whether or not I should finally have the Tarnished and Ranni meet up in this chapter. On the one hand, I could have probably/reasonably extended their time apart from one another for another chapter, maybe even two depending on how I went about it.

On the other hand, however, that likely would've been padding considering the relatively little distance between them that I've implied within their respective narrations.

In any case, what's done is now done and I've no intention to do any rewrites unless absolutely, 100% necessary.

Soooooo… yeah.

Point is, here they are, together at last and perhaps not a moment too soon now that the Scarlet Rot will soon be getting in on the action.

It will be a while though before its influence becomes particularly known in the Four Cornered World. But in the meantime, another force that had already been shown will finally be getting some of the limelight, so please look forward to that.

Until next time, everyone. Take care!