"Who's this guy now?" After knocking down the green mound of flesh, EeDechi jumped back to her teammates, asking curiously.
The old, cranky goblin was over there, shrieking and cussing up a storm. Barrett, ever patient, explained to EeDechi, "That's a goblin shaman. Pretty rare, a high-tier goblin with some magic tricks up its sleeve. If I'm not wrong, it's probably the boss of this goblin camp."
"Huh, that's kinda cool," EeDechi said, stroking her smooth chin as if she had a beard, nodding thoughtfully.
"Human! Adventurer! DIE!" the goblin shaman roared from its withered throat, long pointed ears jangling with iron rings.
It muttered some garbled incantation, slamming its staff into the ground. A green vortex of light flared at the tip, quickly coalescing into a glowing orb. Scarlet runes swirled around the emerald sphere, which spun faster, growing larger by the second.
Barrett shook his head. Classic goblin brain at work—small and dumb. Magic or not, a human mage would've sized up the situation by now and hightailed it out of there, not charged in like an idiot to get smoked.
The orb had swollen to the size of Griffin's head. With a sharp "pop," it shot off the staff, hurtling toward the four adventurers.
EeDechi leaped forward, taking the hit head-on. Green smoke billowed around her. She brushed off her clothes, staring at the goblin shaman, her face blank as a stone.
"You… you… you…" The goblin shaman's red eyes, once blazing with rage, now flickered with terror.
"Since you're throwing magic around, guess I'll hit you with some new magic I picked up," EeDechi said. She raised her right hand, palm out, fingers pressed together.
Rings of magical light flared around EeDechi's palm, intricate runes spinning slowly as mana surged. Blue, green, and red motes of magic lit up the cramped stone chamber.
EeDechi chanted the spell's name:
"5th Tier Magic: Landslide—"
Barrett lunged, grabbing her outstretched right hand, cutting off her incantation. He shook her hard, voice frantic. "Captain, no! You can't! We're in a cave! One 5th Tier spell like that, and the whole place collapses. None of us—except you—would make it out alive!"
"Oh! Yeah, that tracks," EeDechi said, lowering her hand. She tilted her head, thinking back. "I think The Mystery of Magic said this spell's best used in wide-open spaces."
A loud clatter echoed as the goblin shaman's bone staff hit the ground. It snapped out of its daze, eyes shifting from terror to raw fear.
Ever since EeDechi's magical aura had flared, the shaman's legs had been shaking. It finally realized what kind of monster it was up against. Dragging its frail, ancient body, the goblin shaman stumbled toward a tunnel entrance in the stone chamber.
Whoosh—an enchanted steel arrow pierced its neck, snuffing out the goblin shaman's life.
Sean lowered his longbow, exhaling deeply. With the shaman dead, the captain wouldn't be tempted to unleash some catastrophic spell that'd bury them all.
If the goblin shaman had fought back, a single enchanted arrow wouldn't have been enough to kill it. But it was too scared, too focused on running, and that's how platinum-level adventurer Sean ended its life.
With the goblin leader's body hitting the ground, the battle seemed well and truly over.
Following the sound of a woman's cries from earlier, the Last Defender of the Way adventurer party began searching the area. Soon, they found three girls in the stone chamber, along with a mangled, barely recognizable male human corpse.
Judging by the clothes, the corpse seemed to have been an adventurer in life. As for the three girls, one was a cleric like Stella, another was a female martial artist, and the third was a female mage—all adventurers.
Barrett checked their badges: two silver-level, one copper-level. A pretty weak team, probably done in by underestimating the goblins and running into some bad luck.
Of the three girls, only the cleric was in decent shape. The other two were in rough condition.
The martial artist's left knee was shattered, her combat gear torn to shreds, leaving her pale, toned legs and shapely hips exposed. It was clear the goblins had been about to violate her.
The mage had a gaping wound in her abdomen, blood pouring out, her mage robe yanked open to reveal her bare chest. Her long hair spilled out from under her black pointed hat. The goblins hadn't even spared an injured woman.
The blonde cleric cowered in a corner, trembling, her staff lying on the ground. Her pristine white cleric uniform was smeared with cave dirt. Her eyes were vacant, tears streaming, clearly shaken by watching her companion die horribly right in front of her.
Stella, Barrett, and Sean understood that their captain was most disturbed by such scenes of female nudity. They quickly pulled spare clothes from a spatial ring and draped them over the mage and martial artist.
The martial artist's leg was broken, and her right arm seemed to have an internal fracture. The mage's abdominal wound was deep, still gushing blood, with more trickling from her lips. Stella performed emergency first aid to stem the bleeding.
Having cast too many spells in the earlier fight, Stella was drained of mana and mental energy. Even so, her face pale, she gripped her staff, determined to cast a healing spell.
"Take a breather, I've got this. Been a while since I used healing magic anyway," the adventurer captain said, shoving Stella aside and planting herself boldly beside the martial artist and mage.
EeDechi raised her giant sword with one hand, chanting—or rather, bellowing: "Great Gaia, lend me your strength! If Gods Deny Salvation's Hand, With Sacred Blade I'll Reprimand!"
As her words rang out, golden light erupted across the stone chamber's floor, warm currents flowing through the air. This was the high-level area healing spell Stella had once "taught" EeDechi.
The martial artist's pained expression eased instantly, her mangled arm snapping back into place. The mage's abdominal wound closed rapidly, the gruesome gash fading to smooth, pale skin.
Though Barrett, Sean, and Stella had seen EeDechi cast this healing spell once before, they were still awed by their captain's raw magical power and lulled by the soothing warmth that coursed through their bodies, leaving them refreshed.
A rustling sound came from behind the four adventurers. They spun around to see the massive goblin giant, previously felled, slowly rising, its hulking flesh-mountain quivering with each movement.
The goblin shaman beside the giant sat up, Sean's steel arrow still lodged in its neck.
They were back from the dead.
"Huh?" EeDechi scratched her head, puzzled.
"Captain, your area healing spell is also a 5th Tier resurrection spell! And it doesn't care who's friend or foe—it's a true area effect!" Barrett could only gape and gripe in shock.
Sean snapped to action first, nocking another arrow and planting it square in the goblin shaman's head, sending the twice-dead wretch back to hell.
EeDechi shook her head with a sigh, strolling over to the freshly revived, dazed goblin giant. She raised her giant sword and gave its head a solid smack. The green-skinned meat-mountain slumped back to the ground.
The mangled male corpse in the stone chamber, however, stayed dead. After some debate, the four concluded that EeDechi's healing/resurrection spell could only repair damaged organs and infuse life force.
The goblin giant, likely reduced to brain mush by EeDechi's earlier blow, had been restored to pristine condition by the spell, allowing it to revive. But the human corpse, beaten to a pulp beyond recognition, was too far gone to bring back.
Thanks to the healing spell, the blonde cleric, who'd been in the best shape, finally pulled herself together. Sobbing, she thanked the Last Defender of the Way adventurer party. Stella, a fellow cleric, gently comforted her.
The two female clerics, close in age, stood in stark contrast.
Stella's chestnut hair was tucked under a great helm, her body clad in dense, heavy chainmail. The sobbing blonde cleric, in contrast, wore a fancy white-and-gold cleric skirt uniform, her feet in white leather boots.
EeDechi patted Stella's back proudly and said, "Look at my cleric's gear, so proper and hardcore."
Her eyes flicked to the blonde cleric's uniform, then to the mage and martial artist's tight, waist-cinching clothes, and she frowned. "And look at you guys, exposing your arms and legs. Dressed like that, are you going to a battle or a compensated dating?"
Stella, held up as the battlefield gold standard, gripped her staff and gave an awkward laugh, swaying from EeDechi's hearty backslaps.
The chaotic battle finally wrapped up. After settling the three shaken low-level adventurers, Barrett and Sean dove into every adventurer's favorite part—looting the spoils.
The stone chamber seemed to be the goblin tribe's main hangout. There was plenty of stuff, but most of it was junk. Only a few items, likely stolen from humans, had any real value.
Barrett headed to the goblin shaman's corpse, still sporting two of Sean's arrows, and rummaged through it, hoping for something worth a decent coin. Since Sean had taken both of the shaman's lives, he'd get half the loot from it.
EeDechi wandered the cave chamber, poking around curiously, while Stella sat on a rock, meditating to restore her mana and mental energy.
Suddenly, a strange noise echoed from the cave behind the four adventurers…
"Clank—clank—clank—" The sound of steady footsteps rang out, the clatter of armor echoing sharply through the cave.
A torch flared to life, its light blazing in the gloom, igniting a spark of fierce hope.
But brighter than the flame was the piercing red gaze beneath the visor, a steely blood-red stare that seemed ready to cut through any darkness in its way.
The four adventurers whipped their heads around, staring toward the torchlight in the pitch-black cave.
EeDechi said in surprise, "Who's making an entrance with such an impressive presence?"
A warrior's tall figure emerged from the shadows.
Clad head-to-toe in iron armor, he wore a closed helm with soft fur lining around the neck. His left arm held a small round steel shield marked with a cross-shaped scar, and his right hand gripped a shortsword. His stance was agile, brimming with coiled power—an elite warrior, no doubt.
EeDechi frowned. "And you are?"
"Goblin Slayer." His voice was low, magnetic.
EeDechi leaned toward Barrett, whispering, "'Goblin Slayer'? What's that about?"
"Probably an adventurer title for someone who specializes in killing goblins," Barrett guessed.
The elite warrior glanced around the cave, spotting the corpses of the goblin giant and shaman. "These goblins… all dead? Need any help?"
"Nah, we've got it handled. No work for you here."
"Oh, alright." The armored warrior rubbed his hands together, a bit awkward. "If there's nothing for me, I'll head out."
He turned to leave the way he came.
"Hey, hold up, kid," EeDechi called after him. "Come here a sec."
She pointed to the blonde cleric, martial artist, and mage sitting against the wall. "These three adventurers—take them down the mountain. We're sticking around to search for any kidnapped villagers. No time to babysit."
"Got it," the warrior replied, his tone a touch deflated, though his expression was hidden behind the visor.
He sheathed his shortsword and shield at his waist, helped the mage and martial artist to their feet, and the blonde cleric trailed behind. The four of them slowly headed out of the cave.