This would be the part where I apologize for the long wait. But honestly, if I offered up an apology every time I had to write an essay for class or otherwise got busy in real life, I'd be doing so in the beginning AN of literally every chapter in the future, ha ha.
In any case, man, to think it's been several weeks since the last update! Was practically feeling antsy by the time I even got a chance to write this. Here's to hoping all that time spent essay writing hasn't somehow dulled or influenced my fanfic writing, heh.
Whelp, for once, don't actually have much to say, so without any further ado, let's get down to business! And this time, it's Goblin Slayer and his friends in the limelight!
Please enjoy!
P.S. As usual, please consider purchasing any of my novels! Links to them can be found on my profile page, just remove the spaces!
Chapter 23
"…Beard-cutter, ye see 'em?" asked Dwarf Shaman, his voice tinged with confusion.
"Mm," was Goblin Slayer's usually eloquent response.
Following the briefing received from Sword Maiden – and the brief and private meeting he'd had with her immediately thereafter – the party of five had taken their leave from the water town and headed off to the location Sword Maiden's scouting party had noted to be the beginnings of a goblin nest.
Normally a few days' worth of travel, they'd managed to cut that time almost in half thanks to a coach they'd been able to pay for and traveling with little breaks in order to get here in time before things could escalate.
Having left the coach more than half a kilometer away and traveling the remaining distance on foot, the adventuring party was now out here in the hilly area where their quest was to take place. Lack of trees and other shrubbery had made for a fairly open field, all things considered… and when combined with the clear skies above, the scenery looked picturesque, like something from a novel.
However, said natural beauty was ruined by what Goblin Slayer and his friends were observing from afar-.
-Goblins.
As the scouts had stated, these goblins were considerably larger than average, easily the size of the typical hobgoblin. One or two even looked like they could be goblin champions of all things.
Yet they weren't actually hobgoblins nor champions – such classes of goblins, in addition to their greater size and strength, tended to have somewhat different facial features as well, almost mature or grizzled in a sense. These goblins, for all their size and presumably greater strength, still retained features that could be found on the 'average' goblin anywhere in the Four Cornered World.
A mutation, maybe? It was the only explanation that was coming to mind for the time being, but with all the events that have been happening, the silver ranked adventurer could no longer be sure of anything other than that these strange goblins would need to die.
If nothing else, it didn't seem like these goblins shared any traits in common with those strange and dangerous blood goblins he and his party had encountered before. Whether or not these differences would make these bigger ones more or less dangerous than their blood-spewing brethren remained to be seen, however.
"See anything?" Goblin Slayer asked of High Elf Archer, who was just off to his side.
Said high elf could only grimace. "…No. I'm not seeing any sort of cave or hidey hole."
And that was yet another thing that was so terribly odd.
Goblins, while willing to trek a fair distance away from their nests in order to pillage and violate, never traveled so far away that their makeshift home would be completely unnoticeable. It was a part of their very nature to pick caves and other such shifty dwellings that were as close as possible to a source of food and women.
This area, filled with hills as far as the eyes could see, simply didn't match up with their typical behavior. As far as the party's archer can tell, there were no signs of any dwelling where the nest could be rooted in.
Lizard Priest licked his lips. "My word. It seems every time we venture out to slay these creatures, they get ever increasingly odder."
"…" Goblin Slayer made a noise, only marginally acknowledging the lizardman's words. Ever since he'd met Priestess and later the rest of his party, the goblins he's slayed have taken on all sorts of different forms and abilities.
But this was the first time the most basic traits of their behavior has seemingly shifted. Even the blood goblins had made an abandoned fort their home in comparison to these larger ones.
It was almost as if…
"…They're patrolling," Goblin Slayer finally murmured after a long minute of silence.
"Pardon?" Lizard Priest said, even blinking in surprise. But then, he seemed to reassess the situation from afar and then hummed. "Ah, it does seem that way. How… hmm, I'm not certain of how best to put it."
Priestess, who'd been silently hanging back this whole time, finally spoke. "But they always do have some patrol…" Her time spent goblin slaying with them was showing through with how swift and certain her comment was.
"And you are absolutely correct," Lizard Priest replied with a nod. "But their patrols never went far from their homes unless a greater power commanded them to do so. Moreover… well, milord Goblin Slayer, I believe you've clearly noticed first, yes?"
"They're too disciplined," he immediately said, a sense of unease filling him now.
And that was the crux of it all right now.
Goblins did indeed patrol their territory, but it was always with a sense of laxness and even laziness, tinged with resentment. For the ones that patrolled, they always felt they should be the ones resting while the other goblins should be taking their place. It was very typical behavior for them.
But these ones were different. They were outright marching in a tight formation, just arms length from each other and with their beady eyes wide and alert. Muscles were tense and their makeshift spears and axes were firmly gripped in their hands.
It was almost like looking at soldiers, Goblin Slayer realized. Perhaps not quite up to the same strict standard held for soldiers, to be sure, but it was close enough that the difference mattered little.
…Good thing the five of them were making their observations from so far away, thanks to the incredible eyesight of High Elf Archer, plus the little thing – a telescope – that he'd been making use of as well; with how alert these goblins were being, if the adventurers had risked getting closer, they would have been spotted without issue. It was really only due to this simple advantage and the fact that goblins tended to have relatively bad eyesight out in the daytime that they were able to stand somewhat out in the open atop a hill.
Unfortunately, this was the only sort of advantage they had right now.
With the complete lack of cover, there was no real way to sneak up on the goblins. Trying to pick them off from a distance with High Elf Archer's arrows and Dwarf Shaman's spells would be possible, but there was no guarantee the goblins would die in a single strike and even if they did slay these ones here and now, they were still left without any way to locate the primary source of the goblins and wipe them out.
"Can you determine what path they've been taking up until now?" Goblin Slayer asked of High Elf Archer.
High Elf Archer didn't even bother looking back at the scenery, simply shaking her head instead. "Nope. I may have some sharp eyes but not even I can pick out tracks from this distance. Besides, seems like those foul things have been walking for a while now, so who knows how far they've walked."
Goblin Slayer grunted. He'd expected as much but it had been worth a shot.
With determining the goblin's initial path impossible, there was only one thing they could do.
"We'll follow them. Be sure to keep some distance," he commanded.
His party agreed without issue and soon enough, once the goblin's backs had been turned to the adventurers, the latter began to trail after the green skinned creatures.
Goblin Slayer could only hope that this tracking wouldn't last too long…
…
…
…For more than half an hour, he and his friends trekked on, the goblins seemingly oblivious to their presence. It helped that High Elf Archer's exceptionally keen eyes allowed for her – and by extension, the rest of them – to maintain a far distance from the goblins. The only times where they'd encountered any issues was when the hills proved to be an obstacle. Thankfully, the goblins followed a so far simple path and never broke rank or sped up.
Alas…
"Phew, the damned things are oddly well-trained, ain't they?" Dwarf Shaman commented. Despite his rather lighthearted words, he had quite the grimace upon his face.
"Indeed. It's… decidedly uncanny," Lizard Priest said from the rear of the party. "…I still have yet to see any type of dwelling in sight. Just where could they have come from?"
"Assuming they're even heading back at all," Goblin Slayer murmured.
As his friend just said, there was nothing in sight that could prove to be the goblins' den, with hills aplenty for the seeable distance. Only a scant number of trees and bushes now seemed to litter the area, but they were spaced out enough to make it impossible for any sort of goblin to hide behind. This was especially true for goblins of this size.
"H-Hey, hold on," High Elf Archer suddenly spoke up. "…Anyone feel that?"
"Feel what, long-ears?" Dwarf Shaman asked gruffly.
"That!" The high elf sounded somewhat irritable. "Something's not right!"
"What are ye-?" Dwarf Shaman began, only to stop just a few words into his question.
"…!" Goblin Slayer made a sound of surprise as the goblins suddenly disappeared from view, almost as if they were mere haze now dissipating into true nothingness. It had happened just as soon as they crossed some kind of threshold marked by the largest tree in the area, not it was that much bigger than any of the other trees around.
"An illusion…!" Priestess muttered.
"And one of considerable strength if even our dear lady elf can sense it," Lizard Priest commented. He licked his lips. "Milord Goblin Slayer, it would seem we may have discovered where the goblins might be holing up at. Shall we…?"
"Mm." Goblin Slayer nodded. "We go swiftly – but stay alert."
The goblins didn't appear to be exiting whatever was hidden behind the illusion, but for all he knew, they could be exiting any second now. Rushing right up to the goblins by accident would be a potentially fatal move, but at the same time the five of them couldn't just stand around and stare at the open(?) view.
Breaking out into a jog, the adventurers took off towards where the goblins had gone. With his shield arm held up slightly in case of an ambush, Goblin Slayer led the charge with High Elf Archer trailing just behind him as backup.
"Hold it, Orcbolg," said high elf commanded, bow out and arrow nocked as a precaution. "Something's funny here."
She patted him on his arm to move aside and he obliged. He was only marginally confused when the high elf took rather careless aim with her bow and let loose an arrow.
Confusion turned to startlement when the arrow, upon making contact with the illusion's boundary line, suddenly burst apart into flames.
The surprise got light gasps of shock out of most of them, with even Goblin Slayer himself flinching somewhat. If not for High Elf Archer's sudden intuition there…
"H-How did you know about that?" Priestess asked, understandably nervous.
"Just felt something really – and I mean really – off. Was more of a case of Chance than anything else." In other times, High Elf Archer would've probably boasted about her skills with the smuggest look possible, but this time she uttered those words as seriously as could be. "…This feeling… for some reason, it kind of reminds me of those blood goblins."
Everyone tensed at that.
"…Let me try something," Goblin Slayer said after a few tense seconds. He couldn't fathom how this somehow relates to those blood goblins – everything felt too different, with only the goblins' inexplicably more disciplined behavior being the only correlation and only barely. But regardless of the possible connection, there were goblins that needed slaying.
Hesitantly, he reached out an unarmed hand towards the boundary line and thrust it through the illusion. There was nary even a visible ripple as his hand disappeared from view.
There was no pain and he could still feel his hand… and through it, he could also feel what was on the other side, at least somewhat.
A contradictory case of stickiness and slickness, like something was in the air. Even with his armor and mesh on, the very skin on his hand tingled oddly but it didn't appear to be immediately harmful.
…Despite his better judgement, Goblin Slayer could only press onwards, silently beckoning his friends to follow his lead.
With soft steps, he walked through the illusion-.
-And immediately wished he hadn't.
What had remained hidden from view had actually been a village of sorts and one that had presumably been abandoned long ago since there had been no visible roads outside of the illusion, unless whatever powered said illusion was also covering up the paths as well.
But in any case, the village was moderately large, easily big enough to house more close to two hundred or so people with room to spare. However, every hut appeared to be in shambles and coated in some dark substance – blood, he belatedly realized.
Said blood was so thick that it seemed to coat the very air itself here, hence the odd wetness he'd been feeling. Why, he was practically breathing in droplets of blood by this point!
But more than that, it was the village's residents that immediately caught his eyes.
Goblins, numbering at about fifty from when he could immediately gather, many of them significantly larger than the average goblin and some of them appeared to have darker than average green skin, bordering on red. Then again, it was hard to tell for certain if this was the case given the deep red tint that the entire place seemed to have from all the blood…
…And it was the source of the blood that got Priestess behind him to hitch her breath.
Though only partly visible from their current angle, the center of the village could be seen. Tens of people had been gathered up like wood around several pikes and were burning slowly. Said flames seemed to not come from a source like a torch, however, but instead from within the bodies themselves. It was as if it was the villager's blood that acted as the source of flames.
Atop the pikes were more people, who seemed to have to have only been killed recently if the relative 'freshness' of their bodies was anything to go by. Then again, it was hard to tell for sure when the people's bodies, slick with blood all over that made it hard to identify any particular features other than indications of their genders, were treated like spits with nearly a dozen goblins gathered around as if awaiting a feast.
Said goblins grunted and cackled in eerie glee as the bodies upon the pikes seemed to lost bits of their flesh, not so much burning but rather peeling off and crumbling apart as some unknown wind carried the chunks away.
…Those bits of flesh and the blood particles must be the reason why the air felt the way it did to them.
"Those sick little freaks!" High Elf Archer hissed as the party subconsciously moved behind a stack of relatively intact barrels. "Just what other insanity will they get up to?!"
"Must be whatever made those other goblins from before become the way they are," Goblin Slayer mused aloud, trying to clinically process the situation as best as possible. But there had been just a bit of a tremor to his voice as he'd spoken.
For some time now, he'd been feeling more easily rattled by things, an oddity considering just how used he'd gotten to the depravity and rampant pettiness of his preferred prey. This had been especially true ever since the encounter with those poor possessed common folk. Sword Maiden's miracle usage may have helped alleviate a great deal of the burden that had been weighing down on him since then, but some effect still lingered and that was making him jumpier than he's been in years. Combined with the other news acts of Chaos he'd been bearing witness to recently and… well, even one as lacking in self-awareness as him could silently acknowledge how off-putting things were increasingly becoming.
"Well, whatever's causing this crap, we better get a move on, yeah?" Dwarf Shaman grunted out, angered by what he's seen just now. "…I know them goblins never show any respect, but this is too much even fer them!"
Goblin Slayer made a sound of agreement, already trying to formulate some kind of plan. Unfortunately, nothing was really coming to mind. The five of them may have brought a bit more supplies than usual on them, but ultimately their arsenal wasn't particularly more loaded out than normal – it wasn't as if they could carry all their tools and supplies on a trip this long, after all.
Not only that, but the layout wasn't particularly to their favor. While the huts and small buildings could serve as good cover to sneak around and pincer goblins as needed, the sheer number of goblins around combined with their changes meant picking them off one by one was impractical. Nor were they huddled up enough to try and trigger some kind of explosion to take them all out like had been done with the first group of blood goblins they'd encountered.
"…?" High Elf Archer made a sound, her ears twitching rapidly as something definitely grabbed her attention. "H-Hey! Something's about to happen! We need to move!"
Her cry of warning, sadly, came just a bit too late-.
-for already, the world that Goblin Slayer knew came to be filled with sudden pain.
Within the ruined house that had once belonged to the village chief sat a goblin. Much like its other brethren, it was noticeably larger than average with significantly strengthened muscles. This was due to the rapid increase in blood within its body, not just in terms of amount but also in flow, circulating through it and somehow triggering all sorts of otherwise impossible mutations that never would have happened.
But the goblin knew exactly how such an impossible thing had come to be – it was all thanks to the blessing of the great Blood Star, their Formless Mother.
Once a typical goblin, petty and cruel and stupid and self-centered as could be, it had been dumb luck – or perhaps a form of divine intervention – where it and others of its ilk had come to this power spot, where what vestiges of the Formless Mother's influence had remained at its strongest, with the villagers having been none the wiser to the great blessing that had been permeating the land itself here.
It had been its sudden contact with said vestiges that had allowed it and its fellow goblins to begin to transcend, evolving and gaining newfound knowledge. It was through this that they even knew of the blessed mother's blood-coated touch and they had wept from utter delight at having a chance to serve. That it had been them and not the villagers that had lived here who had been granted power by the Formless Mother had only heightened their euphoria.
However, it was worth mentioning yet again that their ascension had merely been due to the vestiges of the Formless Mother's influence – something out there had curbed Her proper arrival into the Four Cornered World.
That wouldn't do, not one bit.
Armed with greater strength and knowledge than they'd ever known, the goblins had sworn then and there to figure out a way to ensure the Formless Mother's expansion of Her influence.
And this particular goblin, wearing a robe over its blood red skin and little else other than a tattered loincloth, had been particularly blessed with great knowledge in order to achieve their newfound purpose in this life.
With arcane knowledge on par with that of any competent spellcaster out there, the goblin had sought to try and establish a sort of miniature world within the world, complete with a barrier meant to deceive any outsiders for the time being, though it would allow entry whilst preventing any attacks from passing through. It'd been difficult to do so, for the Formless Mother's magical arts understandably relied more on the usage of blood as both catalyst and weapon, but it had been due to this particular fact that the goblin had managed to make this spellcraft work in the first place.
Through stroke after stroke of Chance given ingenuity, the goblin made managed to make use of not just its own blood but also some of the blood of its fellow goblins to establish the foundation of this pseudo-world that was compatible with the Formless Mother's presence and then it was through the ritualistic sacrifice of the village folk that had allowed for the goblin to strengthen the field and begin to steadily expand it.
Admittedly, the growth hadn't been by much due to have only so much blood available between them all, but his kin had been tasked with fashioning weapons and going out patrolling the lands for any more people they could use to help grow the field further while their stock of the village folk steadily got used up.
It would be a long and arduous process, of that there was no doubt, but the goblin was patient, having learned that sometimes patience could indeed be rewarded.
…And sure enough, it had been.
Serving as the sole focal point of the spellwork, maintaining the field in addition to managing its growth as the villagers still burned nicely out there, the goblin was afforded a certain level of omniscience within the field.
By no means was this perfect… but it was more than enough to know when the village received some most welcomed visitors – five, from the feel of it.
With a massive smile that saw blood freely dripping from between its teeth, the goblin performed a short series of symbols with its hands.
May the new arrivals enjoy but an exquisite sample of the Blood Star's great love.
Priestess, much like High Elf Archer, had been keenly aware of something horribly twisted about this once normal village. Unlike her much older companion, however, the young girl hardly knew how to vocalize such a thing and so had been unable to offer up any kind of warning.
Not that a mere warning would have done much to prevent what was now happening.
Where before the five of them had been tensely trying to take in everything they were witnessing, the adventuring party were now screaming out in unison as pain suddenly assaulted them.
It was a deep kind of pain, literally so as it seemed to come from within their very bodies. Through her quickly hoarse screams, Priestess could actually feel her blood pulse with a fierceness that shouldn't be possible. It was as if her own blood had a life all its own and demanded freedom from her svelte body, so much so that she could actually feel small bursts of blood breaching past her skin and dying her Earth Mother vestments a deep crimson.
Her dear friends were in the same exact predicament as well, convulsing as the wave of dark magic – for that is what this clearly was – passed only for another wave to assault them immediately thereafter.
Dwarf Shaman was keeling over, vomiting blood in addition to the rough calluses on his hands from his lifetime of forging and fighting seemed to darken from the blood gathering directly beneath those points.
Lizard Priest's eyes turned red, the vessels visible and about to rupture while blood poured from the very corner of his eyes. It also spurted out from underneath his sharp nails.
High Elf Archer, the loudest screamer among them, was suffering damage similar to the party's lizardman in addition to a very noticeable bloody nose.
And then there was Goblin Slayer, doing his best to not scream though the grunts of pain he let out were hardly any quieter. Due to how covering his armor and gear was, Priestess couldn't tell what sort of wounds he was now sporting, but there was no denying the blood that pulsed from out under his helmet wildly.
Needless to say, their cries drew the attention of the goblins, all of whom seemed to screech and cackle – not out of petty cruelty as was common to most goblins, but more out of some fervent delight.
And some of those goblins now appeared to be slowly approaching them.
Something had to be done and fast.
And she was the only one who could do anything at the moment.
Coughing up the buildup of blood in her throat, Priestess raised her staff high and screamed to the heavens above. "Purify!"
Her miracle took effect and the results were immediate. Every member of the party let out a breath of pure relief as whatever twisted magic that was harming them was negated, with even the very air immediately around them briefly losing what dark potency it had just moments ago.
Alas, the five of them had no chance to be celebrating their freedom as the purified air was swiftly taken back over, the horrible combination of stickiness and slickness returning. Thankfully, the horrific magic they'd been subjected to didn't seem to immediately return but it went without saying that none of them wanted to stick around and see how long it would take for it to be used again.
"W-Withdraw!" Goblin Slayer croaked out.
Despite his command – more like a plea – the party was a little too slow to react. The shock of losing a noticeable amount of blood, to say nothing of the pain, wasn't something they could just shrug off.
As a result, some of the goblins were already all but upon them.
Priestess let out a squeak of terror as one of the goblins closed in on her. It looked at her with eyes of lust – but not of the depraved sexual kind like usual but with the eyes of a true believer in a cause that it would never be swayed from. And if anything, that somehow felt worse in this moment, made the goblin feel more alien for it no longer seemed to be 'just' a goblin.
However, as it swung down its makeshift mace, Lizard Priest came to her rescue with one of his battle blades. With a croaky bellow, the lizardman interlocked his weapon with that of the goblin's – but unlike in the past, where Lizard Priest's great strength would've more than sufficed in sending a goblin sailing through the air, he could work up only enough strength to simply match the muscular goblin.
That said, the lizardman still had greater combat skill and he used this to his advantage, the goblin merely blinking in surprise at the sudden blade-lock before it received a fierce kick in its stomach from Lizard Priest. The blow made the large goblin keel over and nearly drop its weapon, only for Lizard Priest to then use his scimitar-like blade to stab it through its right cheek and then use his strength to lift it up and throw it at another goblin that had started to run their way.
As the thrown goblin collided with the charging one, High Elf Archer nocked three arrows right next to Priestess, an affronted look on her normally beautiful face. "Back off, you scum!" she bellowed with great vigor as she let the arrows fly.
Her target, a particularly big goblin, proved to have some excellent reflexes by being able to swing its club down and actually smash up all three arrows, but it hadn't accounted for Priestess herself, who in a show of unusual bravery after everything that's been happening, had managed to pull out her sling with a rock already in it and shot said rock directly into its face.
The slung rock smashed up its nose, eliciting a gurgle from the goblin but it did little else in actually halting its charge. At least up until Goblin Slayer made his move, dashing up to it at a low angle and using his short sword to slash at the side of its left knee. Then he immediately stood back up, pivoted and performed a violent low kick that caught the goblin in the newly made wound. This made the goblin actually stagger and fall onto its knee, giving the goblin slaying adventurer the opening needed to stab it in the side of its throat twice over.
Last but not least, there was Dwarf Shaman nearby, having been surveying the land and mumbling out the chant to one of his spells. In his hands were several small stones that had been lying about, serving as catalysts for his spell.
An instant later, the dwarf yelled out "Stone Blast!" before chucking the stones in his hands. They instantly flew forward at far greater speeds than what any of them could manage had they physically thrown the stones and said stones pierced through three goblins that had been huddling up the small incline towards them.
Unfortunately…
"There's just too damn many of 'em!" Dwarf Shaman bemoaned, still coughing up a little blood.
Sure enough, though they'd managed to take down a few goblins in very short order, Priestess could see the remaining goblins coming their way visibly tensing up. They were taking note of how the adventurers were moving and were reassessing their approach.
These goblins were learning.
"Allow me!" Lizard Priest replied before shambling over while beginning to mutter a chant to one of his miracles – Dragon's Roar.
As the name of the miracle suggested, it produced the roar of a mighty dragon. Typically, it was an intimidation move, but the sheer volume produced along with the affected air could easily blow back people and objects not hunkered down.
That was exactly what happened here, several goblins that had been approaching being sent stumbling down the inclines and slopes as they lost their balance while various pieces of rotted and blood soaked fencing and barrels were blown away into the growing crowd of goblins.
"Now!" cried out Goblin Slayer as this happened.
No one wasted time obeying and the party turned tail, heading back the way they came.
Except-.
"A-Ah!" High Elf Archer screeched as she was the first to make contact with the illusion/barrier that disguised this village. But unlike their entry, which had been a simple affair, the high elf ended up colliding with it as though it were a physical wall, with a wave of dark magic even pulsing off the exact spot she'd crashed against. Evidently, it stung quite a bit too.
"Damn it! Now we're stuck here with 'em!" Dwarf Shaman grumbled all too loudly. "What now, Beard-cutter?!"
Priestess too looked to the party leader for advice as panic filled her heart. This nightmarish scenario was beginning to feel very similar to what had happened with those frenzied people, with seemingly no way out. Except this time, their sole path out was in fact gone for the time being. Combined with an environment that could do them harm just by existing in it and the plethora of goblins that remained – now that she got a good look at all the goblins striding out of several rundown shacks and houses, she estimated their numbers to be close to sixty – this situation was actually starting to feel worse.
Never before have they ever been in such a truly hopeless battle… and it was beginning to quickly wear down whatever courage the young girl has been able to muster up so far.
But what kept her from just breaking here and now? The same thing that had given her courage up to this point:
Her faith in Goblin Slayer.
"…Get to the top of a house or shack – anything." It took but a split second for him to begin speaking as he turned to look upon the village of blood and madness. "Pick them off from the roofs," he said as he now looked to High Elf Archer. Then he looked to Priestess. "Stay with her as support… and be aware of any other magics in the works."
He then glanced at Dwarf Shaman. "…You good at running around?"
His dry comment got a huff out of the dwarf despite the circumstances. "Can't say I'm the best at it, but I manage. What do ya need, Beard-cutter?"
"Stick to the outer edges of the village as best you can, use your spells sparingly to provide additional cover." Finally, Goblin Slayer motioned to Lizard Priest. "We'll go into the thick of it – act as vanguard and distractions."
As the lingering effects from before now seemed to fully wear off, Lizard Priest was able to stand to his full height and gripped his weapon firmly. "Very good, milord Goblin Slayer," he said with a fierce grin. "Let us show them we shall not be easy prey!"
Goblin Slayer nodded and that simple but self-assured action of his was enough to lift Priestess' spirits considerably. Unlike before where the young man had been in dire straits following their encounter with those afflicted people, he now seemed much more like his old self.
"Move!"
With a plan now made, it was time for them to get to work.
"Tch. Sure as hell not picking up anything here. You?" Spy called out.
As he looked over in Changeling's direction, the woman shook her head.
This just got another grimace out of him. As expected, this really was something better suited to other people.
In the relatively short timeframe since the two of them had been assigned their newest quest, they'd hightailed all the way out here to where the sightings of madness-afflicted people had been said to be at.
But by the time they'd gotten here, said people were already dead, having been cut down quite some time ago. Just a few days or so, if Spy had to take an accurate guess.
It was odd though – the report that Burglar's student had given as part of his quest had detailed a fair number of people infected with this supposed madness, but there were only a relative handful of bodies scattered throughout the area. Presumably, these bodies were of those that the adventuring party had had to kill in order to make their escape.
…Which meant there were plenty of people still unaccounted for.
"At least this is gettin' interesting," Spy murmured to himself as he put his hands into his pockets.
Looking back over in Changeling's direction, he spoke again. "How do ya want to handle this?"
The young woman hummed in thought. "Well, it was said that this area is sort of near the border, isn't it? Maybe whatever this is came from there?"
Spy grunted. He sure hoped that wasn't the case; he wasn't in the mood to go traveling too far after his last quest. His piqued interest wasn't strong enough to warrant him gallivanting off into a region of nothing but plains and wetlands.
Sadly, as this was a quest, he didn't exactly have the luxury of being able to just call it off and go back to sleep away his days. Besides, he was hardly one to just quit a job when in the middle of it.
"I guess," he finally replied after collecting his thoughts. "If nothing else, we can at least say we were thorough in case anyone asks us why we couldn't crack this case."
"Ah, seekers of truth. I can certainly admire such a trait!"
"-?!"
A voice that neither of them recognized – and damn, it sounded crackled somehow, hoarse too, like someone trying to speak after inhaling smoke – suddenly called out to them and from somewhere too damn close for their liking.
Spy glanced around with his sharp eyes, hand going for his gun as a precaution while Changeling's lithe form tensed up, ready for combat.
After only a second, the voice spoke again.
"Oh, no need to be so wary now," it called out, jovial as could be. "I assure you I come in peace."
-There.
From among the trees that lied in the direction of the border emerged a cloaked figure. Or perhaps he'd been there all along and they somehow hadn't noticed him until now. Either possibility felt likely, odd as that may be.
"Seekers of truth, you say? Does that mean you're aware of what this is?" Changeling asked as she eyed the unknown man.
Normally, giving up any details about their quest, no matter how vague or discreet, was frowned upon. But given this man's single comment so far, it seemed he was relevant to some capacity, hence why Spy didn't try to stop his ally from asking such questions.
"Oh, I most certainly do," replied the man as he continued to approach. He didn't appear to be armed, yet still gave off this dangerous air. It was enough to make the hairs on the back of Spy's neck stand all the way up. "While its initial appearance in these lands was certainly unexpected, I'd be remiss if I did not do my part in spreading its word."
The man paused, both orally and physically. He seemed to consider something. "…Come to think of it, would you two perhaps be interested in joining? My quip just now aside, it is always good to have more likeminded allies in spreading the great Flame's cause."
Flame? How the hell does a flame relate to apparent madness of all things?
In any case, it didn't much at all now to see this guy was just an agent of Chaos, jovial as he may be.
"Sorry but we're not interested in joining any new groups," Spy drawled out as he undid the strap on his gun, ready to fully draw it out in an instant. He made sure to keep the motion subtle just in case the man turned truly hostile. "That said, it sure does sound to us like you have all the answers we're looking for. Care to share?"
The enigmatic man merely sighed. "…Ah, yet another two who are uninterested in my god's message. A pity. No matter, there is still a chance I can find the one who may yet become my lord of Chaos." He spoke more to himself than to them. "…Hmm, he doesn't feel much farther away either. Perhaps just another few days of travel from here, if that."
He and Changeling shared a glance for all of a second and then nodded, already coming up with a simple plan.
Subdue this man, make him talk… then make him disappear. Worse comes to worst, eliminate him outright then just move on with the quest. There must surely be another lead out there somewhere.
But that plan, right before they could begin to enact it, came to an abrupt end when rustling began to emanate from all around them.
Out from the forests and shrubbery, people began to pour out at random. All walked with the same stoic gait, as though they were all just out for a stroll.
However, the deathly silence they were all in, combined with the way their once full eye sockets now burned a sickening yellow, made it more than obvious that they were not out here to enjoy the weather.
The man, whose hood-covered head had been somewhat lowered until now, now craned his neck up slightly. This action was more than enough to expose his eyes to them, which burned even more brightly – and more deadly – than any of the others around here.
Spy actually jolted somewhat, a feeling of actual horror overcoming him momentarily.
It wasn't simply the eyes, but rather the impact of the eyes. Something was washing over him like a flood drowning out most of his surface thoughts. It was a trance-like thing and one that he resisted only because of his own stubbornness, but even then it left him rankled.
But more than whatever this mysterious power was, it was the state this unknown man was in, looking like a burnt body that had somehow retained the ability to continue moving and speaking like normal.
A revenant of some kind? A new form of undead?
Whatever the case may be, this man was undoubtedly no joke.
"Though you both may not appear to share my lust for the one truth, I suppose it is still possible to open your eyes to reality. Either that… or you shall be eliminated here and now," the man said flatly, as though he was making a random comment about the weather.
But then he smiled darkly and motioned with his hands. "Now then, let's see how the warriors of this world compare to the ones I knew from mine."
The people all around them surged forward.
A fairly short chapter as I get back into the groove… but also one that sets up a confrontation that will be happening in due time.
Also, as you might have been able to tell, that goblin magic user (got to think of a title for him) in the village basically pulled a very watered-down version of Mohg's memetic 'Nihil!' on Goblin Slayer and the party there. And as I'm sure we all know, that sure hadn't been a pleasant thing to experience, ha ha.
Regarding the illusion/barrier thing enveloping the whole village, try and think of it as being akin to a Boundary Field from the Nasuverse or perhaps even an extremely low-grade pseudo-Reality Marble or something along those lines.
Oh, and as to why the goblin was able to pull something like this off? The Formless Mother granted him specifics bits of knowledge to make use as it tries to strengthen its foothold in the Four Cornered World. With the Dark Moon having the Four Cornered World essentially on lockdown while the other Outer Gods still battle the GSverse gods, it will take the Outer Gods that already have some influence in it to think of ways to meddle further. This is the Formless Mother's attempt at doing so, combined with several strokes of random ingenuity for the goblin to make the most of it.
Hope these comments clear up any and all confusion you might have after reading this chapter… and hope you also look forward to what happens next as Goblin Slayer and his party really start learning the 'git gud' lessons that Soulsborne games demand people to learn in addition to Shabriri beginning to become even more active in the plot.
Until next time, everyone. Take care!