Don't know about you fellow soulsborne genre lovers, but the more I saw of Lies of P in these past few weeks, the more my interest in it grew. Now here I am having preordered it, ha ha.

Honestly, something about the setting is just fueling my fanfic writing heart, because I can't help but look at the game's aesthetic and combat and start thinking to myself 'I could totally do a crossover with this and Bloodborne or Elden Ring!'

But one idea I'd gotten recently that my mind is refusing to let go of? A crossover fic between Lies of P and Devil May Cry… and as a pseudo-sequel(?) to my Village of Darkness fic, of all things! And of course, not long after I'd started having such a thought, short trailers of Lies of P revealing the existence of clearly non-human/non-robotic enemies made this crossover idea much more likely to happen now.

For real, once this fic is completed and I have a handle on Lies of P's story and setting, I may very well write such a crossover. Can't say this is set in stone just yet, but I'm putting it out there now that the likelihood of this happening is quite high.

Now to just hope I'm not somehow biting off more than I can catch chew.

But obviously, better to focus on this fic before I start getting a big head about any future projects.

Speaking of this fic…

Would you believe me if I said this is actually lasting a tad bit longer than I expected? I mean, I never intended for Age of Adventure to be super short or anything, but as I plot out some future stuff, I'm noticing that it may very well be quite a few chapters longer than expected! Not a bad thing at all, per say, but I don't want things to get too stale or feel as though there's just too much padding.

So with that said, I may try to trim down the excess of certain things planned for this fic, if only to keep from needlessly bloating the word count and chapter numbers. Hope you guys will understand.

Now without further ado, onto the chapter!

P.S. As usual, please consider purchasing any of my books! Universal links are available on my profile page, just remove the spaces! Fading Darkness, Rising Light and my Infinite Genesis trilogy can be found on a variety of sites, ranging from Amazon Kindle to the Apple store to Barnes and Noble and more!

P.P.S. Just want to say in advance that the next chapter might not be out for a while – got school stuff and other obligations to take care of... in addition to being busy playing Lies of P, ha ha. Just thought you should know!

Chapter 24

"Duck, milord!"

"Mm!"

Goblin Slayer obliged as Lizard Priest's tail soared over his lowered head. The swung appendage struck a goblin that had been about to slam a meaty fist upon him, the tail swing knocking the large goblin through the air. Goblin Slayer, not about to let this favor go unpaid, then spun around and swung his short blade downwards, stabbing another charging goblin in the arm as it had tried to thrust a crudely made spear into Lizard Priest's side. Then before the goblin could do much else, he tugged on the blade hard enough to throw it off balance and then pulled out his weapon before slashing the goblin across its expose neck.

It scarcely started to gurgle by the time he turned back around to continue charging deeper into the village. Lizard Priest, wielding his two signature curved swords, followed suit, shoulder checking another nearby goblin before chanting another spell.

Lizard Priest, granting himself increased strength, promptly swung down with both blades that cut through the staggered goblin with ridiculous ease and then threw the body parts at the other ones closing in. Immediately thereafter, the lizardman let out a bellow of challenge at the largest goblin around and charged directly at it. The goblin responded in kind and the two beings collided with immense strength, neither one looking to give ground even though there was still a noticeable size disparity between them.

However, Goblin Slayer had no desire for any sort of fair fight and he took this chance to get behind the struggling goblin and stabbed it in the back of its neck. For added measure, he then whacked it across the back of its head with his shield. Lizard Priest then took the chance to grab at the goblin, pick it up like a sack of potatoes and slammed it headfirst into the hard ground, fully busting the skull open.

This marked the sixteenth goblin slain in just the past several minutes. By any normal measure, sixteen goblins would actually be a decent number…

…But not this time.

Goblin Slayer let out a grimace as he rolled to evade a mean swing from a club. Even then, it managed to graze him and resulted in the roll being an awkward one that left him on his side. The goblin that had just attacked him smirked in violent glee as it quickly towered over him, several veins across its muscular arms and chest literally beginning to burst with blood now. It was as though there was an excess within it and now it had to find release.

Some of it spilled across Goblin Slayer… and it burned. The sensation, while relatively mild, was exactly like what had just happened to him and his party moments ago and it was enough to make his usually regulated heartbeat speed up a few ticks from genuine worry.

But Dwarf Shaman came to his rescue in the form of a launched stone at breakneck speeds that impacted against the side of the goblin's head just as it had raised its club for a second swing. The goblin, now dead, stumbled to the side and collapsed which allowed Goblin Slayer to roll out from his previous spot and get back up.

Lizard Priest, having gone further into the village in the meanwhile, called out to him.

"Milord Goblin Slayer! Are you alright?!"

Goblin Slayer could only grunt as per usual and reached into his pouch, tossing something from within at a goblin that had started to run towards the house both High Elf Archer and Priestess were upon. It was a very small makeshift bomb, the only one he'd had on him for the time being and very experimental.

Nonetheless it proved its worth by exploding with enough force to blow off the goblin's right ear and part of its face, albeit not enough to kill it. It did, however, draw its attention from the two girls as it now turned around to face him.

That was when three goblins slammed through the wall of a nearby shack, screeching and howling as they set themselves upon the silver ranked adventurer.

Goblin Slayer leapt back as best as he could to avoid the incoming dogpile but still had to raise his shield to deflect the strike of a crude axe strike from the goblin on his far left. The strength behind the hit was greater than expected and staggered him slightly due to his poor posture in mid-leap. It nearly threw off his guard and he had to make a less than graceful spin to avoid the middle goblin reaching out for him with its bare hands before retaliating with an upwards slice that cost the goblin its left hand.

Blood spewed out of the cut limb, far more than the strike should warrant and the crimson liquid hissed upon making contact with the ground. With a grimace, Goblin Slayer gave the goblin a solid punt kick just in time to knock it into the final goblin and sending them tumbling somewhat.

As for the goblin that he'd thrown the bomb at, he looked up in time to see Lizard Priest run it through from behind with both of his curved swords, even lifting it up and throwing it through the closest structure possible for added measure.

"Not to criticize your plan, milord Goblin Slayer," the lizardman began as he stood almost back-to-back with the goblin slaying adventurer. "But even for me, this situation is not a pleasant one."

"Noted," Goblin Slayer replied dryly.

The plan he'd come up with had been a simple and somewhat crude one, but unfortunately it was the only thing that seemed viable for the moment.

However, it was also unfortunate that said plan was quickly looking quite untenable.

While him and Lizard Priest serving as the main fighting force and distraction was working well, allowing High Elf Archer and Dwarf Shaman to pick off any stragglers along the edges of the area with Priestess as last resort support, it wasn't a strategy that could be sustained for long stretches of time. The simple fact of the matter is that the longer this went on, the more worn down they would get in addition to running low on any supplies, a very bad scenario to have happen since High Elf Archer would soon low on arrows to say nothing of their resident two spell casters running out of catalysts to use for most of their spells.

Not only that, but it was worth noting for the umpteenth time that these goblins were far from normal. Their greater size and overall physical ability meant he and Lizard Priest had to exert themselves more in order to overcome the goblins in unavoidable clashes of brute strength. Not only that, but these goblins were also noticeably more disciplined and intelligent in combat, making good use of their makeshift weapons and even making sure to try flanking the adventurers when possible. That none of them even remotely expressed a desire to flee was also notable even as they were steadily being cut down.

And finally…

"We still have this strange barrier to worry about as well," Lizard Priest pointed out before grunting in exertion, locking blades with a goblin that had lunged at him from the side. Using his greater size and longer reach, the lizardman maneuvered his blade and position to force the goblin onto a knee before slamming a knee of his own into its face, knocking it back.

Goblin Slayer, stomping on the downed goblin's crotch as hard as possible before stabbing it through the left eye, let out a sound that was equal parts a grunt of effort and a thoughtful hum.

That was indeed the most major concern they all had right now. That damnable barrier that had caused such a horrific effect on them earlier.

That it hadn't happened again was indeed a blessing but Goblin Slayer knew it was only a matter of time until its caster decided to use it again.

That meant, above all else, they would need to find the whomever was in charge of this barrier and taking down the caster as soon as possible. Doing so should disable the threat of this dark magic and allow the party a proper chance to escape if need be.

And in that case…

"…Any eyes on the village chief's house?" Goblin Slayer called out to High Elf Archer, who'd been taking her shots carefully this whole time. Though he could see them only barely from his current position, he noted the fallen bodies of goblins off in the far corners of the village, arrows jutting out from around their faces or chests. The sole high elf of the party had been busy.

For all the differences between these goblins and the normal ones, Goblin Slayer realized, these ones still vaguely acted like typical goblins. Yes, they may be bigger, stronger, and much braver and more disciplined, but now that he thought of it, it was simply a disturbingly straightforward evolution of conventional goblin tactics:

Using their numbers to flat out overwhelm adventurers.

Utilizing ambushing tactics by attacking from the sides and behind, only using frontal assaults when that was the only route available.

Relying on whatever they had on hand to serve as weapons, albeit in this case, these large goblins were willing and capable of making decent quality beginner weapons from the materials around the village such as spears and clubs.

With that in mind now, if all else held true with only a handful of differences to distinguish these blood goblins from normal ones, then that meant the goblin leading this small horde was likely using the village chief's residence as the base for whatever was powering this barrier.

Alas, the rundown state of the village in addition to its size meant finding the village chief's house wasn't quick to do.

That is, not for those on the ground level.

"…Over there! Due east and just a bit to the north!" called out High Elf Archer just as she fired another arrow into a goblin that had been trying to creep up on Goblin Slayer. Said goblin had actually sensed the arrow coming and had managed to lash out with a swing that destroyed it in mid-flight, but it also left it open for Dwarf Shaman to rush in with his own axe and bury the weapon's sharp edge in its side. With a 'hup!' Dwarf Shaman pulled out the axe and then swung upwards, catching the goblin on its jaw and knocking it back with a new opening in its face.

"Hurry up and get over there!" High Elf Archer exclaimed before moving away from the edge of the house's top just as a goblin made a grab for her foot. "I'm almost out of arrows here!"

Goblin Slayer nodded and then looked to Lizard Priest. "Ready?"

"Mm! Let us be hasty for once, milord!" Lizard Priest replied with a smile.

Now with an idea on what to do, the two adventurers steeled themselves as the next wave of goblins made itself known.

And then, with a combined battle cry, they charged into the fray ahead.

Spy let out a sharp tsk as the small horde of frenzied people headed right for him and Changeling. The second the first one tried to reach for his neck with both of their hands, he thrust out his fist into a straight punch that snapped the man's neck, if only due to said man's bad positioning. Immediately thereafter, he snatched the dying man by the labels and spun around before throwing him at the next one, an older woman who has clearly seen better days in her youth.

No sooner than when he'd let go, however, another frenzied person rushed in from the side with a random plank of wood in hand, swinging it wildly at him. Spy weaved in between the surprisingly rapid strikes before throwing another punch that caught the person straight in the gut. As the person practically folded over from the strength of the blow, Spy snatched the plank out of their hands and swung downwards viciously. The plank broke from the force of the impact as it struck the person's head.

However, it wasn't a deathblow and while it did stagger them, they were already recovering.

Grunting in annoyance, Spy immediately broke into a retreat. Knowing that these people, maddened as they are, would ignore any and all injuries suffered was one thing, being here to see it for himself was another. He may not exactly be the strongest guy around nor did he care to be, but he knew his punches can pack some mean force yet here this person was scarcely reacting to the bloodying blow.

From just a short distance away, he could make out Changeling fighting off several of the frenzied individuals as well. Though she was a very capable magic user, especially in the use of shadow magic, she forewent making use of it for now in favor of a large combat knife. The combination of her nimble build, hidden beneath her usual overcoat, and said knife made for swiftness allowed her to quickly close any gap between her and the frenzied people before slitting their throats or otherwise stabbing them in vital areas. In just this short time frame, she'd already killed almost twice as many as Spy has so far as a testament to her skill.

Unfortunately, this number was but a drop in the bucket and any injury that wasn't an immediate deathblow didn't do much more than slow down the individuals coming their way.

Another person, a heavyset man, somehow managed to come up on Spy from behind in the form of a grab. The instant Spy felt the arms wrap around him, though, he flexed and broke free before the grip could properly tighten and then after taking hold of the man's right arm, he flipped him over. As soon as the big man landed on the ground, Spy stomped twice, first on his neck and then on his face for good measure.

He grimaced as he both heard and felt the breaking of bone and cartilage, the ending of the man's life. He may not exactly be a saint nor was even the friendly Changeling, but he didn't relish this either. He'll kill to defend himself no matter what, but to say he'd be completely unaffected would be wrong. At least in the past, he'd gone up against some real nasty pieces of work. But these people? They were once just normal people living out their lives, now forced to attack others because of whatever madness had gripped them so firmly.

"I see," suddenly spoke the burnt man, who'd yet to move so far. "So this is the level of ability you seem to have so far… interesting. While not up to the same standard at all from back home, I can see how this world may resist my lord's efforts if others are roughly on par…"

Spy threw a glance in the man's direction, glaring at him as he cupped the flaking skin on his chin in thought. Whoever or whatever this bastard is, he clearly couldn't be human.

As this man appeared to be the driving force in all this so far – assuming this 'lord' he mentioned wasn't an active participant in this shitfest – surely taking him out would accomplish something, right?

Jumping to the left to avoid another charging person, only to then get tackled by a deceptively lithe young woman whose eyes burned especially a bright and sickly yellow, Spy allowed himself to be thrown to the ground. Once downed, he used the momentum to roll back, taking the woman with him and kicking her off and into a nearby tree.

Getting up right afterwards, instead of finishing the woman off, Spy charged over to where Changeling was at, his partner steadily getting overwhelmed as a majority of the frenzied people were going for her due to proximity.

He rammed a shoulder into one of the people and then followed it up with a vicious eye poke to another person, jamming his left index finger all the way into the socket. Spy could feel blood – and something else – leak out and soak his gloved finger as he pulled it out, the person dropping dead. With his other hand, he grabbed Changeling by her arm and pulled her back just in time to help her avoid a pitchfork that would have stabbed into her side.

"We need to take him down," he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear him. "Think it's time to not hold back our party tricks too much."

Changeling grimaced – not at him but at the unknown burnt man. Seems like his very presence was rubbing her the wrong way in a much more visceral way than it did him. Must be a magic thing, Spy reckoned. "I'll try to pin him down once I get a bit more in range. It'll be your turn afterwards."

Spy hummed in acknowledgement before then leaping back into the fray ahead. His sudden turn in direction didn't take the attackers aback at all, though they weren't fast enough to properly react nonetheless. To be expected since he pulled off an uncharacteristic flying body slam that saw him crashing into three people at once.

…One of them was a kid and Spy's weight, heavy relative to his height, along with the momentum of the move cracked the child's skull. For the first time in a very long while, Spy felt something die inside himself before shoved the feeling aside for the time being.

Rolling off the other two, he looked up in time to see Changeling charge forward as well, running a young man through with her knife. After stabbing him through the heart, she pulled the blade out and then performed a jumping spin that saw her slash another man behind the first one, the attacking landing across the throat. Upon landing, she ducked low and did a leg sweep, making the gurgling man fall and not get back up.

The burnt man wasn't particularly far away. Hell, he even stepped a little closer in growing interest, his horrid yellow flame eyes burning ever more brightly.

Spy's right fingers twitched, itching to draw his gun and fire. But he held off; Changeling still had to make her move.

In a low crouch, he dashed forward, feinting a tackle before suddenly throwing himself upwards and bashing his cap covered forward into the exposed nose of an elderly man. The blow made his head snap back, nonfatally at first, but Spy rectified that by immediately circling behind the man and used both hands to twist his neck. Death wasn't quite instantaneous, but it left the man disabled in the last few seconds of life.

Spy then pivoted around in time to raise his right forearm to guard against a swing from a woman wielding a shovel, grimacing from the pain. Good thing his coat was made thick to take on the brunt somewhat otherwise that would've hurt a lot more and done notably more damage too. With a light battle cry, he shoved back with his forearm, sending the woman toppling onto her ass. When she tried to get back up, her rather pretty face met the unfortunate fate of meeting his boot, a violent snap kick that pulverized her skull.

He reached for the shovel and wrest it free from the woman's literal death grip and swung it about in time to catch another attacker across the arm just as they'd tried to throw a wild punch. After deflecting the blow, Spy spun the shovel around and thrust it upwards headfirst into the attacker's throat before swiftly retracting it. With blood now coating the shovel's edge, Spy swung it again and caused said blood to flew and blind another person just long enough for him to swing the shovel downwards like a sword and bust their skull open.

By now, he'd covered just a few yards as has Changeling. Their target was closer, not by a whole lot, but it would do.

Making it seem as though they were still focusing on ending the frenzied people, Changeling suddenly turned towards the burnt man and cast her magic.

"Hmm?" That was the only reaction the man had as his own shadow sprung to life, wrapping around him like a series of ropes. Said rope-like appendages of the shadow made sure to pin his arms and feet in addition to one final rope forming around his neck to keep him from turning his head much in any direction.

Spy didn't need any incentive at all to stop what was he doing to draw his gun and immediately fire. In less than a half second, he pulled out his gun and fired a single shot at the man's forehead-.

-Only for his eyes to widen as the man, just after the shot was fired, to actually turn his head to avoid the damn shot.

Not completely – his bullet still managed to pierce the man's left cheek and part of whatever remained of his left ear… but that was it as far as damage went.

As for the man himself, he'd actually managed to break free of the shadowy binds somewhat, the one around his neck gone along with the ones that had pinned his arms. It evidently hadn't been easy, for the man had grunted loudly in exertion, but the fact he'd accomplished such a thing at all was insane.

Behind his mask, Spy actually gaped. While he didn't doubt there were some individuals out there who could probably pull off a similar level of reaction time, actually meeting one wasn't something he'd expected.

Changeling had even gasped in shock at the sight, drawing Spy's attention to her briefly and in time to see her cast her shadow magic again. This time, she manifested tendrils from the man's own shadow in order to stab him.

But yet again, he demonstrated an inhuman level of speed by jumping away from the spot where the tendrils had manifested from. While they originated from his shadow, they were essentially 'pinned' to the spot where the shadow had been upon the magic being cast. As such, his leap allowed him to avoid impalement.

His movement had caused his cloak to somewhat open up, exposing more of his burnt form. His hood had fallen off to reveal his face, a truly hideous sight to witness as there was nary a patch of unburnt flesh anywhere. Yet he showed no signs of discomfort at all.

In fact, the inhuman creature was smiling now.

"I must confess, that was unexpected," he started. "Though my ability is more or less limited to my current form with only a sliver of my true strength bleeding through, that could have very well been my end had I not acted quickly enough."

His twisted gaze fell onto Changeling. "I applaud your magic, young one. If the Black Knife Assassins had such magic in addition to their other attributes, I'd dare say they would have been truly an unstoppable force so long as there was no way to force them out into direct combat."

Then his smile fell. "Sadly, I believe this is to be where we must part ways. In this short time, you've slain a fair number of my people and I still have something quite important to do." His sickly glowing eyes, flickering with yellow flames, began to glow ever more brightly…

…And dangerously. Something was coming.

"Accept this as my farewell to you."

With a cry, the man's head snapped back – and from his eye sockets, a multitude of what looked like yellow fireballs spewed forth with a speed and force that would have even the strongest spellcasters looking like greenhorns in comparison.

It was all Spy and Changeling could do to avoid contact with the fireballs as they flew and landed all over the place, setting the whole area rapidly on fire.

"-!" Spy made a noise as one fireball came all too close to hitting him. Performing an awkward roll allowed him to avoid contact by the skin of his teeth but he wasn't out of the fire just yet, figuratively and literally.

Changeling was chanting something very briefly and promptly hopped in front of him just as another blast of flames came his way. With her hands thrust outwards, a wall of water spawned into existence, acting as a shield.

As fire met its antithesis head on, an explosion of steam occurred with enough force to make them step back hastily. Said steam was extremely thick due to how much water the spell had produced. Changeling made quick use of it by then performing a wind spell to blow the steam towards the direction of the man.

"Come on!" she hissed to Spy once the steam spread out, hopefully obscuring the man's vision.

Spy didn't need to be told twice, already up and turning tail.

Unfortunately…

"Now, now, none of that."

"…Rrgh!" Spy spun around as the voice of the man came from all too close behind them.

Sure enough, the man emerged from the steam, swinging towards Spy with a plank of wood. The speed of the attack was such that Spy was only barely able to swat it aside and even then, it stung like hell. This man had both speed and strength in abundance, frustratingly enough.

Undeterred, the man simply used the forced misdirection to perform a follow up swing, heading upwards this time. And Spy wasn't able to guard.

The plank hit Spy directly under the chin despite his attempt at a step back, his vision blurring just from the brief contact. Even then, he could still vaguely make out the sight of the man twirling the plank around in order to stab at him with the end of it, which had been sharpened somewhat. It'd be more than enough to skewer him, no doubt.

"No!" Changeling cried out, dashing in with a swift slash of her knife. This caused the man to give up his attack and shift to defense, using the side of the plank to halt the knife in its tracks. The instant he succeeded, he moved the plank to the side then downwards, the suddenness of this throwing Changeling off balance. He then kicked her in the stomach, launching her away.

That was when Spy, now recovered, came in with a violent swing of his right fist – only for his own intervention here to miss, the man pulling his head back just enough to avoid contact. A punch then thrown in his own direction, countering him as it made contact with his face.

Spy could only cry out as the man's fist damn near crushed his nose in, but he was able to retain his balance. Not that it did him much good since it also gave the man an opportunity to swing the sharpened end of the plank at his neck, a clear sign of his desire to cut his throat wide open.

With a roar, Spy pulled off an insanely risky move by bending forward as fast as he could, finally landing a hit in the form of a headbutt that struck the man's own burnt face. The man staggered even as his body was still in motion to slice at him, but their much closer proximity allowed Spy to grapple him.

However, before he could do much of anything, the man shifted his balance and then thrust his hips to the side, throwing off Spy's own building momentum and sending the member of the Rogue's Guild flying to the side.

No sooner than when he hit the ground, the burnt man brought his foot down. Spy immediately rolled to the side – then kept rolling as the man followed up the missed stomp with a stab of the plank. Spy's coat got caught by the stab, pinning him, but this wasn't the first time something like this was tried on him, so his response was immediate and took the form of a kick to the plank, smashing it apart and rendering it useless.

"Oho." The burnt man sounded most amused, which only infuriated and even scared Spy further. This shitbag was bad news and of a different kind than anyone else he's encountered to this point.

As if to compound this point further, the man's flame-spewing eye sockets burned an even more ominous yellow

Whatever he was about to do, however, was stopped in advance as Changeling managed to successfully come up from behind and stab him in the back with her knife. She made sure to get his heart with this move, even literally twisting the combat knife about to ensure maximum damage.

This actually got a lurch out of the man – more out of surprise than pain – and caused him to stumble forward.

And Spy was all too happy to take advantage of this, kicking out the man's legs from under him and grabbing him by the back of the head. There was a rock nearby and Spy slammed the man's head against it as hard as he could.

For a split second, he entertained the thought of victory… only for reality to not be the case. Fate and Chance were rarely so kind.

At the last possible instant, the man had reached out a hand to grasp at the rock and shove it aside, resulting in his face being planted directly into the softer ground instead. Even so, it still seemed to daze him, which allowed Spy to get back up and land a vicious stomp on the back of the fucker's head, seemingly stunning him for the time being.

But even so, the burnt man was clearly still lively. Woozy to be sure, but already pressing up against his boot and ready to counter.

With his gun still needing to be reloaded and Changeling already low on magic, there wasn't really a surefire of killing this guy here and now beyond just going at it in combat – and with the sort of strange and terrifying abilities this man has demonstrated so far, he wasn't about to take that risk.

He gave one more quick stomp to knock the man down and promptly turned tail.

With what was likely the last of her magic for the time being, Changeling uttered out a quick phrase that produced an effect akin to a blinding flash of light that seemed to stun the remainder of the frenzied people around, all of whom had ceased moving at the burnt man's silent order earlier and only now had begun to move again. The stun effect seemed to do its job, finally allowing Spy and Changeling to go running deep into the woods.

With adrenaline coursing through them like never before, neither one showed much interest in slowing down any time soon.

They covered yards of distance, then meters and then more. For nearly twenty minutes straight, they ran like the Demon Lord was hot on their collective ass.

Only once it seemed like there was no one giving chase did the adrenaline begin to steadily wear off… even then, the duo jogged at a slower yet still brisk pace, preferring as much distance as humanly possible for the time being.

"I… think… we may have made… some… progress…" huffed out Changeling, a tinge of sarcasm somehow managing to bleed into her words.

She spoke, of course, of the quest they'd been given.

The man had mentioned a god of sorts along with a lord, which didn't seem like the two were one and the same… at least, not as far as they could tell. Presumably it was this god that was responsible for the frenzy that now seemed to be running amok in these lands, though they had only the word of this crazy shitbag to go off of.

Even so, it was now substantially more info that they had on hands than they did earlier, so Changeling's words held a lot of weight.

Spy let out a harsh bark of laughter, his partner's words bringing a sense of levity – of normalcy – back into this crazy situation.

"That's puttin' it lightly," he snarked back. "…Come on. We better get word back to the guild… that guy, whatever he is, is some damn bad news."

Changeling made a sound of agreement.

While there was likely still more to investigate in this matter, such as who or what this god is or what exactly that man is, this was a bit of info that absolutely had to get back to others soon.

For there was just no telling how much more damage could be caused if that veritable being of pure Chaos was allowed to roam around unchecked.

"Ah… how regrettable," Shabriri mumbled as he got back up.

His two prey had managed to get away. A pity.

He had no one to blame but himself for such a thing. After all, even after having some odd days to adjust, he's yet to fully adapt to this body he's inhabited.

Were he at the height of his power, doing away with those two would have been a simple affair, hardly even worth taking note of – while they were certainly capable, they lacked heavily in the level of physical ability that was common back in the Lands Between nor were they quite as battle-hardened as many beings had been back in his world. Even so, they were warriors worthy of the name and there were undoubtedly many more out there who were at their level or above to some degree.

Meanwhile in his current situation, only a sliver of his power was able to trickle through into this body and it was taking some time to properly adjust this body accordingly. Additionally, he lacked in the weaponry and equipment he'd had back in the Lands Between, Yura – his previous host – having been far better armed and trained.

Before, he would have been able to use the incantations of the Frenzied Flame with little pause between use but now he could only force out such incantations after moments, which was akin to an eternity in the heat of battle.

To be perfectly frank, he was quite the weakling compared to his previous self.

However, despite his disadvantages, Shabriri was far from angry at his current lot in this life. Instead, he viewed it as a learning experience. He got to better learn the limits of his new body so that he could move and fight better in the future as needed and he was able to get an estimate of the sort of level warriors were presumably at in this world.

This meant that as he continues his trek towards the one who could become his lord of Chaos, he would be much better prepared in dealing with any obstacles that come his way.

All things considered, he was still a victor.

And that put a smile on his face.

"Come, my brethren," he said to the ones who still lived, his fellow believers in the Flame of Frenzy. "Let us be off… there is still some odd days of travel to be had… and more that we must open the eyes of."

With a good read of where the potential lord of Chaos was at, Shabriri led the march onwards.

In due time, he'll finally – finally – get his greatest wish.

He could hardly wait.

From her spot near High Elf Archer, Priestess had her sling at the ready. With a rather dainty battle cry, she then flung the rock that she'd had swinging around in said weapon and it flew far and true before hitting a goblin in the side of its head as Dwarf Shaman had been engaged in a quick battle with it.

"Nice shot! You've been getting good at that, lass!" Dwarf Shaman shouted from the ground level, his grin big enough for her to spot it even from this distance.

"T-Thank you! Just watch yourself!" Priestess called back, her bright blue eyes surveying the village swiftly but cautiously.

It's been several minutes since both Goblin Slayer and Lizard Priest had braved the horde of blood goblins, delving deeper into the village to find the one responsible for this strange and wicked barrier. Even though the village was relatively small, the sheer number of goblins remaining combined with the threat of the barrier's effect somehow seemed to make the place feel simultaneously smaller and bigger.

Smaller in the sense of having no real place to run – with the barrier preventing escape for the time being and all the goblins that remained, it was as if she was back in that cave all that time ago, when Chance had allowed for Goblin Slayer to cross her path in time to save her.

Bigger in the sense in that it felt as if her two friends had been gone too long already, as if they were traversing a veritable labyrinth when in reality, it was simply a matter of getting to one particular house.

And unfortunately, they were no longer in sight due to a combination of distance and just how focused she was on keeping an eye on the goblins.

"Over there!" she cried out to High Elf Archer, pointing at one particular blood goblin that had climbed onto the roof of an adjacent house and clearly preparing to jump over to them. Its blood red skin only made its wicked smile that much worse.

"-Tch!" High Elf Archer, having been in the middle of taking aim at another target, hastily switched her position and let loose her arrow just as the goblin jumped at them with a pick axe raised high.

The arrow struck the creature in its throat, causing it to lurch in mid-jump and fall to the ground… though not without getting far too close for comfort, smacking against the very ledge of the roof they were on.

Priestess shuddered, only barely able to keep her shaky composure. It was only the fact that the horde was pretty thinned out by now that made it a little easier for her to retain her focus, but only barely.

Fact of the matter is, her dear high elf friend was running dangerously low on arrows and Dwarf Shaman down below was already looking quite fatigued. It was only thanks to how spaced out the remaining goblins are that he was able to take monetary breathers, but it wouldn't last for much longer.

"…!" Priestess sensed a shift in the barrier – exactly the same kind of shift from before.

She didn't waste a second in taking action. After all, this was what she was truly meant to do as part of the party's strategy.

"Purify!" she cried out, activating her miracle just as the barrier was about to take effect.

By casting it in advance, even if only by a mere second or two, she was able to effectively negate the horrific effect from before. However, the dark magic composing this barrier still washed over her and her friends, eliciting deep shudders that made it clear a third time may not go so well for them.

While her limit was certainly higher than it had been first starting out, Priestess was still only able to cast a handful of miracles per day. As things stood now, she may only be able to cast Purify once more before running out of stamina and that was assuming something didn't force her to use a different miracle instead.

"Oh Earth Mother…" she mumbled, beseeching the god she followed for additional strength.

It is her faith in the Earth Mother that allowed her to cast these miracles as well as she could, but while her faith is strong, it still has limits. If this keeps up, those limits would be met in short order.

…Goblin Slayer taught her, in his own awkward way, to never let the gods roll the dice. Things such as Fate and Chance should have no bearing on how any adventure should turn.

It was a belief of his that she would like to wholeheartedly follow… except she couldn't. Even if in other, very indirect ways, she couldn't help but look back on their previous adventures and ponder how Fate or Chance may have been involved.

And she wondered now how the whims and luck of the gods would affect the outcome of this situation, if she and her friends were to fail.

Alas, she need not fret over such matters for much longer.

As if to answer her silent inquiries, a loud and shrill cry of pain rang out across the village, seemingly emanating from the barrier itself.

-The goblin that cast it, that is who was screaming.

Said scream was abruptly cut short just as quickly as it had appeared and with the goblin's death rattle, the barrier began to flicker and crack like glass. As this happened, the remaining blood goblins all paused in their actions to stare upwards, the violent yet focused gazes they held now turning murky, unfocused.

Then the barrier finally shattered apart, the blood tinted sky and atmosphere in general that permeated the area disappearing into nothingness.

"T-They did it!" Priestess exclaimed, relief flooding her whole system.

From beside her, High Elf Archer let out a huge sigh. "About darn time! Orcbolg always knows how to drag out certain things!" Her words of complaint aside, she was grinning long ear to long ear.

"Hey now, anvil, don't ya go relaxing on us too soon!" Dwarf Shaman called out, earning their attention. "Seems like our dear goblin friends here are still actin' weird! Just not the same kind of way as before!"

Returning their collective gaze from the now normal sky to the village grounds, Priestess saw the remaining blood goblins just… standing there, listlessly.

…No, not even that. It felt as if their minds had suddenly shut down, for they all now stood there with arms and shoulders slumped and weapons now audibly falling onto the ground. They just stared up at the sky, their yellow eyes practically glazed over.

"…" Priestess made a sound. Though the goblins now seemed harmless at first glance, the sudden change in their behavior was more than a little significant.

…This kind of magic was far too dark to be something that the goblins had somehow thought up. Nor did it seem like something that they could have otherwise stumbled across. As young and inexperienced as she still is, Priestess felt certain that some higher power had been responsible for this.

…But by the Earth Mother, just what sort of power could have caused this change in the goblins, let along this type of horrifying dark magic?

She was roused from her thoughts as Dwarf Shaman gave a nearby goblin a good shove, causing it to fall over and simply not get back up. It still lived but was completely unresponsive. Looks like whatever was going on, their connection to the barrier – or whatever dark magic itself that had generated the barrier – was severed and it was having a heavy backlash on them.

"…Huh. Well, ain't that something." Dwarf Shaman was just as nonplussed. "Come on down, you two! Knowin' Beard-cutter, he'll be taking this chance to finish 'em off and work his way back to here! Might as well do our part in the meantime!"

High Elf Archer groaned. "Ugh! For once, why can't one goblin slaying quest ever be a clean one?!"

Though she could tell her two friends were just as bothered by these changes as she is, Priestess couldn't help but smile lightly at their successful attempt at levity.

It had a way of normalizing this otherwise nightmarish situation now that things appeared to settle down.

…But as she and High Elf Archer now began their way down, her smile vanished as the worry from a moment ago returned.

Seeing as this was now the second time they've encountered these blood goblins alongside whatever that terrifying frenzy had been in those poor people… just what did the Four Cornered World have in store for them all next?

Yeah, so as you can tell, not exactly a very drawn-out situation, which I hope it fine with you guys. As for Goblin Slayer and Lizard Priest offing the goblin responsible for the barrier off-screen, well, the barrier aside, it is still just a goblin. Just a bigger and brawnier one that was ultimately a sitting duck since it had to remain focused in order to maintain the barrier and trigger the Nihil-esque effect.

That said, don't think this is quite the end of the Formless Mother's influence in the Four Cornered World. As is common in works of fiction, the rule of 3 is in effect here… and I intend for it to be a doozy.

And of course, with Shabriri still running amok, don't think that anyone will be able to rest easy for too long. While he is much weaker than he was before, he can be quite crafty and his ability to spread the Frenzied Flame's influence means that if left alone for too long, he'll end up amassing an army of frenzied beings.

That being said, I will say this now that I have no intention of making some utterly massive finale like what I did with Slave of Light – while certainly appealing to write, it's not something that I believe is suited for this fic. Because at the end of the day, this fic is more of a pitstop of sorts for the Tarnished and Ranni while something more of an eye-opener for the Four Cornered World as a whole as to what sort of crazy shit can go down if they get too complacent.

That also being said, the stakes will be fairly high since the implicit threat of any Outer God, especially one such as the Frenzied Flame, isn't exactly something that can be brushed aside so easily.

It's a hell of a balance to maintain with this fic, but I'm doing the best I can. And I can only hope you all will continue to read and enjoy as Age of Adventure steadily begins to reach its… well, maybe not exactly the climax yet, but we're close now.

So until the end, may you guys continue to enjoy!

Until next time, everyone. Take care!