Chapter 67. Victory of Humanity (7)

The scar-faced man bolted with a mighty roar. "

Waaaah!

"

The two others followed closely behind, fleeing in the same direction toward the goblin settlement.

Escaping toward the cave entrance would have been more natural, but I was blocking that path. Instead, they chose to flee deeper into the forest, putting their hunting comrades between themselves and me. They must have calculated that their familiarity with the terrain would give them an advantage.

So, they plan to hide.

Their hesitation-free escape showed careful preplanning. Not only the scar-faced man, but the others moved quickly and decisively as well.

"Why are they running all of a sudden?"

"What the hell are they doing?"

One of the men whose wrist I held scowled and drew a short blade from his waist, aiming to stab it into the narrow slit of my helmet. "Hey! Just attack!"

Clink.

His fingers didn't feel the soft rupture of an eyeball. Instead, they encountered an empty void. The blade, designed for dismantling, slid effortlessly through helmet's slit, meeting no resistance.

Screech. Screech.

Metal grated against metal, its sound echoing through the air and unnerving those watching. Even the goblins caged nearby turned their gaze toward me, their eyes flickering with fear, confusion, and... faint hope.

"

H-Hieeek!

"

The squad leader dropped the knife in terror. I caught it midair with my left hand. The blade was still smeared with green goblin blood, likely not cleaned after their butchery.

I drove it straight into his neck.

"

Gugh... guh...

"

I yanked the blade free, and a geyser of red blood erupted from his wound. The green goblin blood washed away, replaced by crimson as it dripped down the blade.

I turned my head, but the blood splattered against my helmet, staining my armor further.

The archer who had been aiming at the goblins yelped and tried to ready his bow.

"Wha-what the—!"

I threw the knife in my hand. It flew straight and true.

Whoosh!

Thwack!

It pierced the archer's heart. He collapsed backward without a sound, and his corpse was added to the forest floor already littered with goblin bodies. The hobgoblin tied to the tree widened its eyes in shock as it stared at me.

Eight humans surrounded me now.

"What kind of lunatic did they bring here?!"

The remaining humans raised their weapons in unison. They aimed their spears, swords, broad-bladed axes, and iron maces directly at me.

The first to strike was a spear-wielding man. He shouted as he lunged from the side, "

Hyaah!

"

His attack was clumsy and slow, clearly the work of someone used to jabbing at restrained targets.

Thunk.

I caught the spear's blade with my gauntlet. With a forceful yank, I sent the man tumbling backward.

"

Urgh!

"

He rolled several times across the ground and finally stopped when he crashed into something.

Thud.

"

Aaaahhh!

" he screamed.

His face was soon drenched in blood. It seemed he had collided with the goblin cage. The bars were spaced just far enough apart for goblins to reach through. One of the humans turned around in alarm, but the rest shouted and swung their weapons at me.

I gripped the sword in my hand.

Clang!

I deflected one of the human's swings, reversing the trajectory of the sword. The blade found its way to its wielder's neck and pierced through.

"

Hyaahhh!

"

An axe came crashing down from the side. I sidestepped slightly to the right and swung my sword effortlessly.

"

G-guh...

help..."

The man with the axe tried to speak, but arterial blood sprayed forth as his life ended. Whatever he had to say in his final moments wasn't worth hearing. The experience points I gained from him were in the double digits—too low to warrant any consideration.

The rest were of similar skill. The battlefield quickly quieted.

***

I searched the squad leader's body and found a ring of keys. If Rubia were here, she would have looted every corpse down to the last coin and trinket, but I lacked that kind of enthusiasm.

I glanced toward the goblin cage and approached it with the keys.

"

Grrr!

"

The goblins stiffened in fear as a blood-soaked human walked toward them after killing their tormentors. They couldn't be certain I was an ally. Wary and tense, they huddled against one side of the cage.

"

Hiss... Hiss

—!"

Their stress was palpable. It didn't take long to find the right key.

Click.

The lock opened, and the cage door creaked as it swung open.

Thud.

I tossed the keys to the goblins.

"

Hiss... Hiss!

"

One of them grabbed the keys. At that moment, I felt the hobgoblin's gaze on me. Faint messages flashed before me, indicating a slight increase in Affection from the goblins.

The goblins scurried toward the bound hobgoblin, confirming its role as their leader. As I turned my attention to the hobgoblin, its eyes, once clouded with pain, now shone with a newfound light.

Snap. Crack, snap.

The ropes binding the hobgoblin were cut, and the cuffs were unlocked with the key.

The hobgoblin limped toward me. "Are you... human?"

The question flowed from his mouth in a fluent common tongue, though his tone sounded somewhat youthful. Of course, I had no way of determining the goblin's age.

I didn't answer.

"My name is Hobgoblin Zixkisses Boomtong. Please call me Zix. Once again, thank you so much for saving us."

Zix bowed his head deeply. Around him, the other goblins chattered in their harsh, hissing language that I couldn't understand.

"What are they saying?" I asked.

Zix translated. "They want to chase after the humans and kill them."

"And?"

"They're asking if you'll join them."

At that moment, a message appeared before me.

[Dungeon Boss: Zixkisses Boomtong]

[Rank: F-]

[Player Level: 33]

[Recommended Clear Level: 5]

[Difficulty: Very Easy]

So, he's the boss of this dungeon?

My grip on the sword tightened unconsciously. The task was to eliminate the humans—not save the goblins. There was no need to spare him. I would earn points for killing him.

The message confirmed that he was an absurdly weak F-rank boss. For the first time, the difficulty rating was "very easy" for me. I wouldn't earn many points, but even a small gain was better than none.

I should cut him down...

Just as I made up my mind, Zix asked, "May I ask your name?"

A name.

"I have no name."

Even if I had one, there was no reason to share it with someone I was about to kill.

Should I stab his heart or sever his neck? I could finish this in an instant.

However, instead of drawing my blade, I said, "Get out of here."

"Yes?"

"Run into the forest. Or do you plan to let the humans go?"

"

Ah

, no!"

I couldn't decide between stabbing his heart or severing his neck. That hesitation led to inaction. My grip on the sword loosened, and I didn't draw it.

"

Hiss! Hiss!

"

The goblins picked up weapons, their eyes gleaming with determination. Even Zix picked up a sword, occasionally glancing back at me as they headed into the forest.

I let my sword hang loosely by my side and watched them disappear into the quiet, dense forest within the dungeon.

Why didn't I kill the goblins?

I reflected on my decision. This was an E-rank dungeon with an F-rank boss. Killing him would have leveled me up, granted skill points, and possibly dropped valuable items.

The system always made it clear: violence yielded rewards. If I took by force and desired more, then the rewards would grow.

Yet, I had let them go.

Was it pity? Compassion?

I dismissed such thoughts. No, it must have been because F-rank was too weak to bother with.

Clatter!

A sudden disturbance snapped me out of my thoughts.

Something's not right.

I quickly identified the source of my unease.

They're too weak.

The dungeon was E-rank, but the goblins seemed frail, and ordinary humans could easily hunt them. Perhaps this made sense if the humans had thinned their numbers significantly before I arrived.

But the discrepancy lay in the boss's rank—an F. There was too large a gap between the dungeon's rank and the boss's rank.

Something must be hidden in this dungeon.

It would be stranger if there wasn't. I headed deeper into the goblin settlement.

* * *

I moved quickly, because the so-called "overseer" could arrive soon. I had slaughtered the humans in the main hall and sealed it with the trap mechanism. This would likely be the overseer's first visit to the dungeon, but they might bring a map—or worse, discover the corpses.

If they ventured further inside and saw the carnage, they would likely retreat and return with elite reinforcements. That would complicate things.

Hastening my pace, I tried to avoid any further incidents.

Is it here?

In less than five minutes, I came across three human corpses. The signs of a struggle were clear, and they had been horribly mutilated. The wounds on their necks and other parts of their bodies were ragged, as though they had been torn apart rather than cut. It was the work of claws, not weapons.

A beast.

The gouged and torn remains left no doubt: a beast had slaughtered them, not humans or goblins. Even a goblin mob wouldn't leave corpses in this state—they lacked the strength for such brutality.

I tightened my grip on my sword and studied the twisted positions of the corpses. Their deaths had been agonizing. Pushing forward, I carefully scanned my surroundings. No goblin corpses lay nearby.

Were they dragged away, or did they successfully escape?

I moved cautiously, aware that a beast capable of mauling three humans could leap out at any moment. The chill of tension ran through my bones.

The beast was close. I could sense it—a living, hot-blooded creature lurking nearby. I inspected the ground and trees around me thoroughly.

Click!

A faint noise drew my attention to a tree. I spun around with my sword at the ready, only to find a small squirrel scurrying along the branches.

I relaxed slightly, but then...

Growl...

A deep, guttural growl resonated through the forest. The sound seemed to swirl and echo from all directions as if the beast were circling me.