"We're almost there!" Wall Buster shouted as he kept pushing obstructions in his way. He swung his club to destroy more furniture and crude barricades. It was a pain in his ass while Priestess lent her shoulder to Desert Marksman. The sniper's wound wasn't fatal, but that left him vulnerable unless he extracted the pellet from his shoulder first. The group hastened their pace when they heard more gunshots across the place. They feared for the worst, especially when it suddenly went quiet after the third shot.
"What should we do?" the young cleric asked. "What if there are more goblins?"
"You only stay behind me and keep Four-Eyes safe. I ain't letting any of those freaks get past me!" Wall Buster tried to reassure her despite sounding more upset than anything.
"Are you...worried...for them?" Desert Marksman groaned to Priestess.
"I am..." she answered, somewhat alarmed, but she tried to not lose her cool. "But I'm confident that Mr. Goblin Slayer and the others are okay."
"Hah, at least one of us is optimistic!" the big guy remarked after he kicked the last barrier between them and the last door.
They halted and quietly approached the door leading to the altar. Would they engage in combat after entering the next room? Would they find safety? Whatever came after this was a roll of the dice.
"Brace your selves," the big guy whispered before kicking the door with his heavy boot. He wasn't much for subtlety, the opposite of Goblin Slayer's usual approach.
Thankfully, no danger was afoot when they saw the aftermath of that place.
"What the hell?" Wall Buster muttered when he saw the pile of dead goblins as if they were trash on the side of the room. The exposed guts and brains, the dripping blood, and the stench could give more of that similar nauseating sensation back from the temple's entrance.
Of course, despite such a horrific sight, nobody felt unsettled as they saw the rest of the group gathered around, watching one more person sitting on the only intact bench in the room. He wore a tattered black coat, had some scratches on his face, and had a missing right arm. He was chugging a bottle of healing position as he was drinking ale.
"Feeling better?" Goblin Slayer asked that man.
"So far..." he answered before stashing the empty bottle in his coat. "Do you have a stamina potion to spare me too? I haven't slept well while trying to hide from those goblins."
"One stamina potion coming right up, Bro!" Dagger Scout cheerfully handed another bottle to the tired man.
Wall Buster, Priestess, and Desert Marksman sighed in relief after seeing everyone safe and sound. The girl was most surprised after seeing the man on the bench and asked, "Is he...?"
"Yeah, that's him, alright..." the big guy answered.
They hurried toward the others. When Wall Buster kicked the door, Grimm Slayer and Goblin Slayer were already aware of them. Nonetheless, there was much rejoicing for the reunion.
"Hey," the big guy said to his leader. "You look like crap."
"Just doing overtime," he replied while letting out a snide smile. "I did not expect you to bring Goblin Slayer, of all people, to my rescue."
"We were just lucky!" Dagger Scout exclaimed.
"Umm...excuse me?" Priestess said. "Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but you friend needs help!"
Everyone redirected their sights toward Desert Marksman, who was trying to bear the pain in his shoulder. The rest quickly got concerned about the wound, with Dagger Scout rushing to him, Grimm Slayer covering her mouth, and Duelist jumping from his seat.
"What happened to him?" the hooded girl said in horror.
"Goblins..." Desert Marksman answered, struggling. "But that's...not the worst...part..."
"What do you mean?" Goblin Slayer said.
Nobody answered, but it would be necessary as Wall Buster decided to show it instead by handing over the cause of his ally's anguish. What the armored guy received in his hand was a pistol, and everyone's blood went cold in an instant.
"It cannot be..." Grimm Slayer gasped.
"Oh, believe it!" Wall Buster howled. "Not only did we stumbled into more of those freaks, but one of them carried this thing, and Four-Eyes had to save Shorty here!"
"It is m-my fault for noticing sooner! I wanted to use my Miracle to cure him, but he wouldn't let me use it."
"Don't blame yourself," Goblin Slayer stepped in and touched her shoulder. "Nobody would expect that goblins had such a weapon on themselves."
"But..."
"It was a good call not to use Healing yet. We need to extract the pellet from his injury first."
"Oh, so you know how it works?" Duelist said impressively.
"I assume it is the same as extracting arrowheads," the armored guy nodded.
"Well, since you have experience with that, let me show you how to extract pellets!" Dagger Scout said as he pulled a strange tool from his bag. It seemed like a pair of small, thin, metallic pincers. He asked Desert Marksman to lie on the floor and remove his clothes. They only needed to see how nasty his wound was, and fortunately for the man with glasses, it wasn't as deep as they hoped to be.
In the meantime, there was something more important to discuss.
Duelist asked everyone to gather and sit on the ground before they could reassess their situation. They became attentive to what happened so far.
"I should start telling the moment after my companions escaped," he said while sitting back on the bench. "If they explained to you already, we were outnumbered. Those goblins were very restless on every corner. We never faced such creatures in Remnant, so our lack of experience made us underestimate them. The goblins got the upper hand on us." He paused for a moment, looking at Desert Marksman groaning in pain due to the procedure. Duelist continued. "You probably already saw what I did at the entrance, and that was more than a simple massacre."
"There's more than that?" Grimm Slayer tilted her head.
"I tried not letting them escape."
It should have been a shock, yet knowing how many goblins failed to reach the exterior was unnerving. How resilient was Duelist to fend off a large goblin horde by himself? Not much different from Goblin Slayer. It was unbelievable, nonetheless.
"How many goblins escaped?" appropriately, the armored guy was the only one who asked.
"Let me think..." Duelist mumbled. He scratched his chin for a moment while looking at the ground. He looked back at the group with certainty in his eyes. "Twenty-six were the only ones able to escape. But considering all the noise that woke me up minutes ago, you probably encountered the searching group. How many you killed on your way here?"
The rest of the party exchanged looks while recounting everything so far. It was imperative to get their facts aligned and clear. Dagger Scout was done extracting the pellet from the sniper's shoulder. Priestess handed a healing potion and applied some first aid with herbs and bandages. The man with glasses moved his arm with minor issues.
"We got six," Desert Marksman said, no longer bothered by the pain. "It would been five because Wall Buster took too long to kill the champion."
The big guy groaned and yelled, "Says the dumbass who got shot by one that forgot to kill first!"
"We found four dead on the dining room," Grimm Slayer continued, ignoring the bickering of the other two. "And then we killed seven here."
"That makes, I believe...seventeen in total," Priest confirmed.
Dueslits shook his head. "That means twelve only remain," he said, fretting. "That's more than I hoped."
"Then we should leave and track them!" the hooded girl exclaimed while standing up, but the man in black signaled her with his hand to sit down.
"That won't be necessary," he said. "Since you killed their scouts, the rest will come to us for one final assault. We have until dusk to prepare for anything they have."
"Why would they come back here? You already scare them off to the point of leaving the temple!" Dagger Scout pointed out. "I mean, I wouldn't try to return to a place if a spooky monster had already killed too many of us!"
"Goblins are resentful creatures," Goblin Slayer explained. "They wouldn't let things be when it comes to humans."
"They are not here for me."
Everyone quickly stared at Duelist in confusion. Even the armored guy seemed lost when letting out a grunt despite not being apparent underneath that grimly steel helmet.
"Not for you? Then for what?" Grimm Slayer raised an eyebrow, but the man in the black coat went quiet for a minute before he stood up from the bench.
"It would be better if I showed it to you," Duelist said. He touched the top of his head as if he felt something was missing. "By the way, haven't you seen my hat by chance? I think I lost it somewhere while fighting goblins. It is black, somewhat dented on the top, and the brim was rolled on the sides."
The Adventures and Grimm Slayer, evidently, had no idea. The others only shook their heads, much to Duelist's disappointment.
"Sorry, Bro. No luck..." Dagger Scout shrugged.
"Well, I wouldn't say that," Wall Buster said confidently. "I thought you might need a hand with this!" The big guy showed what looked to be the right arm from a knight's armor. Dagger Scout laughed while the rest remained quiet.
Duelist, surprisingly, cracked a smile upon seeing that piece of armor. "Heh, someone's been listening to Dagger Scout's jokes on my absence."
Wall Buster shifted his mood as he frowned and groaned, "Ah, you know what? Screw you! Whose fault is for putting me in charge of these two idiots anyway?"
"I thought I was in charge?" the scrawny Huntsman said.
"Shut up!"
"Umm, not to be rude," Priestess interjected. "But I don't believe there is much use to you, Mr. Duelist."
"Why you say that?" he responded.
"Your arm..." She stared at the man's missing limb.
"Oh, that," Duelist sighed. "I didn't lose it to goblins...if that's what you think. That arm you found is specially made for me."
Grimm Slayer looked at the piece of armor, and her eyes widened upon closer inspection. "No way!" she exclaimed like an excited child. "Is that what I think it is?"
Duelist firmly nodded. "Yep, that's a Phantom Limb," he said.
"Phantom Limb?" Goblin Slayer murmured, curious.
"I don't blame you if you folks from this side of the world haven't heard of this," Duelist explained. "You could say it is one of the most significant advancements in magic from the Kingdom of Atlas. Allow me to show you how it works."
With a simple hand gesture, the man in the black coat instructed the big guy to put the armor on his missing arm. It shouldn't be possible to equip it. However, they found their answer when Duelist got the right arm on him like nothing.
The armor began glowing, and a strange hiss sounded from inside. The Duelist reacted somewhat discomforted until he relaxed his right shoulder when the glow stopped. For a few seconds later, the armor began moving. It articulated like he had a real one from the joints of the shoulder, the elbow, and the fingers despite remaining hollow. It freaked out the Adventurers, but they were in awe when Duelist clenched his right fist and extended the arm. He gave a little demonstration by punching the air twice before stopping and giving the thumbs up.
"How does it work?" Goblin Salyer was the first to ask.
"It uses magic runes," Duelist explained. He detached his right arm to let the armored guy peek at the armor's interior. "They carve the runes with my blood and it consumes some of my stamina to move like a real one. Unfortunately, I can't use it in towns or cities since, apparently, it is considered taboo outside of Remnant."
"Nobody but you can use that arm, right?"
"Very perceptive, Goblin Slayer," Duelist complimented. "Either be bandits or even goblins; this arm would only be an old piece of armor without me."
"Hey, this whole cultural exchange is nice and all, but aren't you supposed to show us something?" Wall Buster barked at his leader.
"Sorry..." Duelist shrugged. "This way."
The group followed the one-arm leader behind the Supreme God statue. The room's dimness prevented them from seeing behind the statue's base. Goblin Slayer wanted to use the torch, but Duelist didn't allow it. He suggested using an old lantern instead. The light gave them the necessary visibility to notice the oddity of the wall behind the statue:
There was a gap between the blocks that could fit someone's hand.
"What I'm about to show you has many more ramifications to goblins, this region, and beyond." Duelist's dire warning sent chills down everyone's spine before he began pushing the wall with only his right arm. The wall was solid stone, and yet it moved like paper. The arm gave the man in black comparable strength to heavy hitters like Wall Buster or Lizard Priest.
Of course, the real point of interest was the trap door underneath the wall. It was a well-hidden secret, and one wondered if it existed before or after the temple was abandoned. It was sure that goblins didn't create this.
Goblin Slayer opened the trap door and went first with the lantern in hand. One after another, they all went down the secret chamber, with Duelist being the last to follow them. The air in that basement was dark and musky, but those were the least of their worries as they saw a bunch of crates, barrels, and sacks around the place. All of them emitted a potent yet familiar essence that only Huntsmen would recognize, and that was when they got an awful revelation the moment Duelist decided to open one of the crates.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Wall Buster yelled alongside a collective gasp from the others.
"For the Maidens..." Desert Marksman muttered as he was the first to touch what was within the crate's content. "Those are rifles!"
It was clear as day that they were inside an armory. The secret chamber contained a surplus of rifles, pistols, barrels of gunpowder, and ammo for a small army. The weapons were pristine, almost untouched by the dust.
"How? I mean...HOW?" Dagger Scout questioned with such an alarming tone that it felt unusual for the group.
"Where did those come from?" Grimm Slayer asked, inspecting one pistol with both hands.
"No idea," Duelist answered without stammering. "After my companions escaped, the goblins brought one of those crates from a different room. I couldn't tell if they had an idea, but it didn't take me long enough to learn that they knew how to use them. I began connecting the dots in my head to assume this temple was once a hideout for smugglers from Remnant, and the goblins took over the place sometime later before we arrived."
"T-This is s-serious..." Priestess struggled to keep her composure. "If g-goblins get a hold of the g-guns..."
"Then the rest of the Frontier might be in greater danger."
Like knives, the Goblin Slayer's blunt words could instill significant fear in their flesh. They felt knots in their throats, and their hands were shaking. The magnitude of the possible terror only fed their anxiety to the point of denial.
"Hold on, wait a second!" Grimm Slayer spoke with an agitated tone. "It couldn't possibly be all bad! Goblins should have difficulty using guns since they must know how to reload them and what they can do with the gunpowder!"
"That's what I believed at first," Duelist said somberly. "But they began shooting at me and quickly reloading in intervals. I presume they learned how to use them by watching the smugglers." He sighed while his artificial arm grazed on the sealed crate. "Either case, the remaining goblins only have a handful of guns and ammo. It's obvious that they intend to get everything else. At any cost."
"Then we will give them that!" Grimm Slayer spoke as the group gave a weird look at her.
"Are you crazy?" Wall Buster protested. "You want to give up the armory to them?"
"That's not what I mean!" she argued. "I'm saying about using these supplies to defend our position and kill the rest." Grimm Slayer's idea began to sink into her allies' minds. She knew that they had the advantage and they could overcome this.
"I like the idea," Desert Marksman said when looking at the bag of pellets. "On my tribe, when we go in hunting groups, we always lay some of our remaining food as bait for packs of beasts in an open space. We can see everything while hiding under the sand and waiting for the game until the right opportunity finally approaches."
"In this case," Dagger Scout said with a sly smile. "We take same for ourselves, leave some for the goblins, and then BAM! We catch them with their pants down!"
"Goblins don't use pants. They use loincloths," the sniper commented.
"That's beside the point, Four-Eyes!" Wall Buster chided.
"So, we must prepare before they get here, isn't it?" Priestess mused, and despite that frightening thought, she was willing to go with the plan. She trusted her allies to know what they must do.
Goblin Slayer remained quiet. It was hard to say what he was thinking underneath the steel helmet. The armored guy only briefly stared at the open crate before grabbing a pistol and inspecting it. For the first time, he seemed curious about such weapons, which Grimm Slayer found odd. Was he willing to use them? When it came to goblins, there was no doubt that he was using every trick to exterminate them.
"What's our plan?" Goblin Slayer asked.
"Oh? Want me to teach you how to use a gun?"
"I'm only using it for the right moment. I don't expect to rely on it in a fight unless I must so."
There was no turning back, and time was of the essence. The group knew that they must defend their position. They had plenty of time for the ambush, and the only truth they knew was that this temple would fall apart by the end of this incoming confrontation. Victory or failure, only two outcomes were expected to happen.
"Say, Goblin Slayer..." Duelist said to the armored guy with an intrigued look. "How well do you work with explosions?"