Chapter Volume 2, Intermission: A Forged Strength

Volume 2, Intermission: A Forged Strength

Name: Gi Go Amatsuki

Race: Goblin

Level: 65

Class: Noble; Subleader

Possessed Skills: Sword Mastery B-; Self-Made Man; Veteran; Chivalry;

Warrior's Soul

Divine Protection: Sword GodLa Paruza

Attributes: N/A

Self-Made Man - The requirements for evolution is greater, but the resulting boon after evolution is also greater.

Veteran - Critical rate is increased against opponents of lower class, while defense is increased against those of a higher class.

Chivalry - Charm is increased against all races. (LOW)

Warrior’s Soul - During one on one battles stamina is increased and skills have higher chance of occurring.

“Too fast.”

When Gowen realized that chasing the goblin wouldn’t be happening, he looked around him instead. The rummage left by the chaos that goblin spread was worst than he’d expected. Everything in its path was mowed down altogether without question. The sight made even him start wondering. Should he keep on fighting? Or should they retreat?

Who would’ve thought such a thing would be lurking right next to his territory, Gowen thought when a soldier approached him.

“I bring word from the scouts to the west, Lord,” the soldier said.

“Speak,” Gowen urged the soldier to speak without any hesitation.

“A horde of goblins approaches from the west; their number: approximately 100 goblins.”

“…Is this the same horde we previously defeated?”

“No, Lord. Their numbers include many unfamiliar types. The scouts believe it to be a different horde.”

“Perhaps, it’s their main force.”

Stroking his mustache once, Gowen closed his eyes and knitted his brows, then almost immediately after, he gave a command.

“Have the soldiers retreat from the village. Yuan will lead.”

“As you command!”

“I will watch the back. Now, hurry! This is a battle of time!”

At Gowen’s behest, the soldier quickly stood up and left with the other messengers to bring word to all their forces.

“Yo, Mr. Iron-Armed Knight. You seem really busy,” a familiar voice unreservedly said. The voice itself seemed enthralled, while the eyes of its master looked mad as they darted to and fro the surroundings in search for prey. The sword in his hand, Fifire, trickled with blood even as the man held it still.

“I came across some gobs and orcs along the way; I think I took out 20 of them myself. Ahh, I just can’t get enough of killing! …So did I make myself useful, hmm, Iron-Armed Knight?” Gene said.

“While I won’t reprimand you for your odd… disposition, there’s not really much to praise in killing a bunch of small fries… regardless how many,” Gowen provokingly said.

Gene smiled when he heard that. Such provocation sounded almost like a plea to die to his ears. And naturally, he was neither the type to refuse nor ignore such a plea.

“Ho…”

“And so, I believe I have a job more… suitable for your skills.”

“You have a tastier prey for me?”

‘A prey tastier than you’ is precisely what those words implied.

“A goblin above a lord class,” Gowen nodded.

“Hmm… And on what basis do you say this goblin is greater than a lord?”

Hera, the goddess of wisdom’s, light seemed to return to Gene’s entranced eyes upon hearing Gowen’s words. A goblin greater than a

lord should not exist, that was common sense. Yet if it did exist, it would be an existence straight out of the legends. Perhaps it might not compare to someone like the veteran, Gowen, or the holy knight adventurer, Gulland, but to Gene, who truly loved the hunt, such a monster was more than enough to rouse his interest.

“It was colossal even compared to all the goblin lords I’ve seen. Moreover, the seal of the Goddess of the UnderworldEvil God was on its right arm, while in its left hand was an orb I’d never seen before.”

“In other words… A goblin king?”

They knew of the orc king’s existence since its appearance some decades ago, but a goblin king was unheard of.

“Perhaps… But even without it, the food chain in this place is just too strange. The orcs are weak, while the goblins reign strong… Something like that is unheard of.”

Gene became thoughtful at Gowen’s words before his face broke out into a huge grin.

“Well, alright. Let’s just say I believe this fairytale monster of yours. So, where is it?”

“Up ahead. It should be chasing after the saint.”

“Seriously? Darn… What a pain,” Gene said, seemingly complaining, but there was a calmness to him that spoke otherwise.

“Well, I’m off then. It’s time for the Lightning-Fast Knight to make his entrance!” Gene said, his eyes once again entranced.

“I suppose,” Gowen said.

“I bring grave news, Lord! The fourth platoon has fallen to the goblins! Casualties are rising! And the soldiers are requesting reinforcements!” A messenger said.

Gene smiled when he heard that report.

“Do watch my back, Iron-Armed Knight,” Gene laughed loudly as he pulled Selena’s hair. “Open a path that will bring me to the end of this road!”

The elven maiden appeared haggard, but she opened the path all the same. She was clearly spent well beyond her means, but Gene had forcefully fed her the blood of a demihuman to increase her strength.

In fact, the elven road wasn’t actually something that could be opened at will. It was only thanks to the demihuman’s blood that she could do what she was doing now. As for what side effects awaited her, not even she herself knew.

Unfortunately, the collar around her neck made it impossible to revolt, so she had no other choice but to pray and open the path. As she did, the nearby vines gathered into the shape of a gate.

“See ya,” Gene smugly said as he stepped through the gate.

“Hmm… Luck seems to be blowing my way,” Gowen muttered.

If so… He brandished his sword.

“Yuan, I give you temporary command of the army. I will go support our men.”

The Iron-Armed Knight made his move.

◆◇◇

After receiving directions from the old goblin, Gi Gu Verbena mercilessly led the horde against the humans.

“Don’t let even a single one of these human scum go!”

Gi Gu howled in his fury as he called death upon the humans.

“Slaughter them!”

With Gi Zu, Gi Do, and the rest of the rare class goblins in tow, they cut down the humans as soon as they saw them.

Gi Gu Verbena swung his axe with the ferocity and power of a noble class. The humans wore armor made of iron, but it mattered little, as the contents were flesh all the same. When Gi Gu’s axe descended on one of the humans, the iron helmet bent under the terrifying prowess of his axe, crushing the human head contained within.

“Goblins! And there’s a lot of them!” The soldiers screamed as the goblins slaughtered and surrounded them.

The humans may have made camp in the flatlands, but they were still within the forest, and the forest was home to the goblins.

To make things worse, the humans had their guard down after previously winning against the goblins and seeing the king move by himself. They thought the war was over. Never did they expect that the previous battles were merely an overture to the true battle at hand.

And so, when Gi Gu Verbena led his goblins to battle, it did not take long for the battlefield to turn into a pool of human blood.

The goblins originally had the advantage in strength, so when they fought with wisdom, the humans fell back. And in no time at all, they were driven into a predicament.

“Hide behind the wagons! Call for reinforcements!”

Fortunately or unfortunately depending from which perspective one looked, the Herculean Wyatt, who ran because of the king, had ended up here.

He took the panicking humans and ordered them create a barricade from the wagons’ cargo.

“Calm yourselves, men! Hide behind the barricade and wait for the goblins to approach. When they near you, thrust out your spears!”

“The wind sings!Air Slash”

The wind mage, Gi Do, casted his spell, but—

“Vajra!Guardian”

Wyatt managed to block it with his skill and the shield of a fallen soldier.

But compared to Wyatt the real headache was the white Hand of Life, who healed everyone at the center of the camp. Because of her the soldiers kept coming back to battle until they were killed.

In contrast, the goblins had to fall back the moment they were injured. It was not a battle Gi Gu Verbena could prevail in easily even with his high leadership skills.

Yet hope had not been snuffed out for the goblins. In fact, Gi Gu Verbena had actually been fighting leisurely all this time, and for good reason: he was waiting for the other hordes to come.

Rashka of Gaidga, with his great strength, Gilmi and Narsa of Ganra, who could fight from the distance.

The moment their tribes arrive, the whole battlefield would be turned upside down.

There was no reason to push themselves, but there was no reason to idle either, so Gi Gu strove to battle the humans while minimizing their losses.

As Gi Gu Verbena formulated a plan by himself, the goblin encirclement around the humans gradually grew tighter.

◇◆◆

Whereas Gi Gu Verbena chose to attack the nearby humans, Gi Go Amatuski decided to take the wide-eyed Gi Jii, the stealthy Gi Ji, and a paltry force of goblins to quickly reach the village.

The humans were detestable, yes, but to Gi Go, the fact that the king had gone ahead was of greater importance.

“We must hurry to the king,” he said.

Most of the normal goblins from the Gi Village went with Gi Gu Verbena, while Gi Go took a paltry force with him to hurry to the king.

Gi Go did not want to follow another noble class like himself, so instead, he decided to leave most of the forces to a friend who could lead well.

Gi Gu accepted his proposal, and he told the wide-eyed Gi Jii to go with him along with the others as a farewell gift.

“Enemy, ahead, 15…” Gi Ji said.

Gi Ji would take advantage of his specialty in covert ops to scout ahead, allowing the small horde to quickly kill off the enemies in their path.

“Those who block the way, only have one fate: to be cut!”

Quickly unsheathing his curved sword, Gi Go Amatsuki ran up to the unsuspecting humans and attacked them. The whispers of the Sword God allowed Gi Go’s swordplay to shine.

The humans wore armor all over their body, but there were still gaps here and there. Such a thing was necessary so as to not impede their sight or movement. Which also goes to say that the parts near their joints were particularly undefended. And it was exactly those small gaps that Gi Go took advantage of.

As his curved sword swung, it went straight for the dominant elbow, cleanly lopping off the arm of the enemy. The human screamed at the pain of losing his arm, but by then, Gi Go’s sword had already pierced his eyes, bringing him the peace of death.

The soldiers nearby quickly struck out their sword and spear, but Gi Go allowed his body to fall to dodge them. At the same time, he struck out his sword to cut at the back of their knees, causing the soldiers to fall to the ground. But before they could ever hope to reach it, their heads were already dissevered from their body.

Blood rained as the humans fell down, and as the ground dyed with red, the whispers of the Sword God grew ever stronger.

—More… More, more! More! More! I want a strong foe to cut! I want to cut someone strong! I want to reach the heavens with my sword!

Those thoughts grew stronger every passing day. And every time he cut someone down, the thirst grew stronger.

-Isn’t there anyone strong? A strong foe like… like… like the king.

Gi Go’s hair stood on end when he imagined himself fighting the king. He immediately shook his head as if to force away those thoughts.

The king was an existence he should serve; he was not someone he should fight, nor yearn to fight.

“Not bad.”

The sound of that low voice awoke Gi Go from the Sword God’s whispers. When he turned around, what greeted him was a silver- haired man with a mustache calmly walking toward him. The human looked older than those he’d fought, yet the aura he felt emanating from him was far graver than any he had come across yet.

“What is your name?” Gi Go asked.

The man’s brows slightly raised up when he heard Gi Go’s question. Apparently, he did not expect such a request.

“Gowen Ranid, a holy knight,” the man introduced himself.

“Gi Go Amatsuki,” Gi Go said back in courtesy.

After greeting each other, the two warriors brandished their weapons as they closed in on each other.

“Lord Gi Go,” Gi Jii called out as he attempted to surround the human along with Gi Ji and Gi Go.

“This is a one on one duel. Do not interfere,” Gi Go said, but his eyes did not leave Gowen for even a moment.

Then Gi Go bolted for the man.

As Gowen held his long sword with one hand and took on a lower stance, Gi Go wielded his curved sword between his armpits to hide it. One took on a stance to receive any blow, while the other took on a stance to make a quick attack.

Gowen came here to help his men, so it was only natural that he would be thinking of the battles to come. It was because of that that

he decided to use a defensive stance; he could not allow himself to be injured. And with the iron armor to protect him, he was certain that the enemy before him would aim for its weak points.

Their bout lasted only for an instant. When Gi Go’s curved sword flashed from the left, Gowen’s long sword reached for the goblin’s throat… but that was exactly what Gi Go was aiming for.

“Die!”

Suddenly, Gi Go stopped his body from moving to the left, dodging the oncoming sword by a hair’s breadth, to then launch another attack toward the enemy’s side. A normal human would surely bring back his sword to protect himself, allowing Gi Go to finish him off, but…

What happened next was something Gi Go could never have expected. The enemy took back his sword quicker than Gi Go could charge, brushing off Gi Go’s attack, and cutting at his legs in a straight line from left to right before finally finishing the flurry of attacks with a thrust to his shoulder. As the man took back his sword, Gi Go fell to the ground.

The speed of their swords were too different. But unlike Gene, this was not a power the man borrowed from his weapon, but a power he gained after arduously training day after day. A skill known as Martial Barrier, a skill he earned from sheer hard work.

“Lord Gi Go!?” Gi Jii cried out as he stood with Gi Ji to block the man. With two goblins, two of which were rare, their power surely wasn’t weak, yet…

“Stop it! You can’t win against him!” Gi Go told them to stop.

But it was not possible to retreat. In the next instant, Gi Jii and Gi Ji bolted for the enemy. They attacked from both sides; Gi Ji took the

enemy’s attention, while Gi Jii attacked. It was a combination attack taking advantage of the two skills: Meld and Cooperation; and yet Gowen destroyed them without even breaking a sweat.

Gi Ji’s blow was repelled with a single blow, while Gi Jii’s attack was stopped by the enemy’s iron arm. After which, the sword that sent Gi Ji flying was used to cut Gi Jii’s legs before piercing his shoulder in the same manner Gi Go was injured.

“Bastard!”

Gi Ji ran at the man once more, but he was beaten in the exact same manner as Gi Jii. By this time the normal goblins had frozen up in fear. They knew full well how strong goblin rares were, and yet here was a man who could treat even a noble like a child.

“Ku…”

Gi Go forced himself to stand and fight.

—Just one blow!

Gi Go jumped with his sword to slash at the man, but in return, the only thing he got was a line from his cheeks to his brows that dyed his vision in red.

“That’s enough…”

After seeing Gi Go’s paltry group fall, Gowen no longer fought and instead walked again toward the people he meant to aid. But as he walked, the soldiers who came with him asked.

“Should we finish them?” One soldier asked.

Gowen shook his head. “I intentionally left them alive. Leave them alone.”

“But…” The soldier did not seem convinced.

“Do you not understand why I left them alive?” Gowen asked.

“Apologies, Lord.”

“They are not normal monsters. The goblin that leads them is able to think. If so, then that peculiarity should have an effect to the rest of its horde… Since the goblins I left alive can no longer move, isn’t it only normal that someone would carry them?”

When the soldier heard his answer he shook, and again he remembered that the seemingly ‘old man’ in front of him was a veteran who has walked through countless battlefields.

He intentionally left the goblins alive, even going as far as to specifically hinder their ability to walk, to force their brethren to save them, effectively reducing their numbers, and thus, allowing them the leisure to withdraw their army.

Gulland might be stronger, and Gene might be crazier, but when it came to the battlefield, no one knew better than the Iron-Armed KnightGowen Ranid himself.

“Understood,” the soldier finally said after being enlightened.

The soldiers shivered as they followed the holy knight.