Volume 3 - CH 11

Chapter 11 – Offense

On the morning of the decisive day, after having breakfast at the inn as usual, Eto and his party headed to the east gate which was set to be the meeting place of the squad. Yes, they didn’t want to break the rhythm by doing something different from usual. On the way, they asked the soldier guarding the city regarding today’s raid, and it seems the Goblins just disappeared into the forest when the sun was rising after attacking all night long just like the previous days.

As they arrived at the square in front of the east gate, 『Arrow of Light』 and 『Shrine of Aragami』 had already arrived, waiting for them. They lightly greeted each other, and then waited for the other members of the squad to come. And from the gathering place, they could see many knights and soldiers moving around in a hurry.

Apparently, a strict order prohibiting citizens near the east gate from going out was given today. That was because the gate will be opened once. Hence, the kingdom has to raise their vigilance even if the Goblins never attacked during the day. At any rate, not long after that, the knights and the magicians led by Puke finally arrived. Behind them, 2,000 cavalrymen lined up on the main street in front of the east gate, making the sound of horse hooves echo through the area.

Prime minister Bismarck then delivered the words of encouragement from the King, and right after him, the knight’s captain also gave some words to encourage the members of the suicide squad. The reconnaissance unit, which has already begun searching for any enemies outside the walls, also reported that there were no abnormalities found in the immediate vicinity. Which means, it was time to open the gate. And as soon as the gate opened, the 2,000 cavalrymen were immediately stationed outside the castle walls.

After the cavalrymen, with ten knights at the front, the thirteen adventurers and five mages of the suicide squad went out of the gate. Although everyone was riding a horse, Kohaku, who had little experience in riding one, sat behind Amou. Incidentally, it seems, every member of A-rank parties in the squad is skilled in riding horses.

As the main members of the suicide squad arrived at the center of the cavalry, the signal for the sortie was finally given. Until now, the kingdom could only defend against the onslaught of the Goblins, but today for the first time, they finally will carry out a counterattack. Albeit nervous, the knights and soldiers shouted to increase their spirits for the battle.

The squad also began to move, and as they gained the momentum, they slowly marched into the forest. The forest near the royal capital has its trees logged by humans, making the distance between trees wide, and there are also not many small trees around. In other words, it was an environment easier for horses to pass compared to a natural forest, allowing the squad to be able to steadily go deeper into the forest. Their objective is the entrance of the newly appeared dungeon.

However, around halfway to the destination, the left side of the cavalry was attacked by the Goblins. Even so, the cavalry never lowered their speed and just focused to move forward in order to send the suicide squad to the destination. And since then, the Goblins kept attacking from every side, reducing the number of the cavalry each time. Still, the speed of their advance did not show any sign of slowing down. The cavalry members sacrificed themselves for the sake of delivering the main members of the suicide squad, who were saving their stamina for the final battle, to their destination1.

Unluckily, as they were about to arrive at the entrance of the dungeon, numerous Goblins began to flood them from both sides. Seeing that, the cavalry captain immediately divided the army into two sides and ordered them to attack the Goblins right away. Subsequently, he led a small group of cavalry to attack the hordes of Goblins that were attacking them from the front. Thanks to the cavalrymen, who were prepared to die, the hordes of Goblins are crushed. However, the fact that they were outnumbered still doesn’t change, and soon, the cavalry gradually lost their momentum.

“Please proceed without us!”

The captain of the cavalry shouted and ordered his group to form a wall to protect the squad from the enemies on the left and right. Following their captain, the other cavalrymen each also took charge of an area and stopped the Goblins.

“Sorry! We’ll go ahead!”

In response to the captain’s words, one of the elite knights said, before rushing through the hordes of Goblins. Then, as if detonating the power they have saved, the leading knights sped up their advance, slaying Goblins after Goblins.

Eto promptly gave Strength, Magic Force, and Haste buffs to the squad. With his buffs, the vanguard led the squad at the frontline, while the rearguard reduced the surrounding Goblins with magic and arrows. However, the numbers of the Goblins were just too much for them, causing the speed of their advance to slow down, and they were gradually flanked by the Goblins.

But when everyone thought they would be doomed, Eto casted Dark, a debuff that blocked the visions of the surrounding Goblins around the squad.

“Lift your swords!”

After seeing that the pressure from the Goblins weakened a little, Eto shouted a predetermined signal that they had decided in advance. Hearing that, the vanguard quickly lifted their swords and spears, and Eto enchanted all of those weapons with fire magic.

While Eto cast his enchantments on the vanguards, the rearguards attacked the Goblins in the front with their arrows to buy some time for them. Then, knowing that this was the crucial moment for them, the knights and adventurers whose attack power has been increased by Eto’s enchantment, immediately tried to increase the speed of their advance by force.

Support magic uses a large amount of magic power depending on the number of the humans and weapons it buffed. Hence, it couldn’t be used like that many times. That is why, at this moment, with a mana potion in his mouth, Eto could only hope that they could pass through the hordes of Goblins.

“We made it!”

Suddenly, Eto heard a shout from the knight in the forefront. Following that, the knights who managed to pass through the hordes of Goblins also loudly reported their situation.

Shortly after that, Eto, who was near the very rear of the squad, also managed to pass the horde of Goblins. In the direction of their destination, there was an open area with only a few trees left. And beyond that, they could see the entrance of a cave, as if the ground rises into a little mound at that spot. That was undoubtedly the entrance of the newly appeared dungeon. Even from a distance, every member of the squad could sense a strong magical power floating around it.

And as if blocking the entrance of the dungeon, there stood a white-skinned Goblin. Its blood-like red-eye shined, and its mouth distorted, making a creepy laugh. The size of its body, however, is the same as a normal goblin. The white-skinned goblin didn’t hold any weapon, and just stood there creepily staring at the squad. However, the amount of magic power felt from its whole body was by no means normal. Without letting his guard down, Eto also stared at the white-skinned goblin, preparing himself for a fierce battle that will soon begin.