Chapter 18

The goblin held the uprooted tree in both hands, staring at us with eyes like those of a ferocious beast.

A long fang was visible in its mouth, and a dark red tongue peeked out.

It didn’t seem to be about to attack immediately.

It was as if it was sizing us up like prey.

Can I really fight such a monster...?

But just as I was harboring these doubts,

The goblin suddenly raised the tree it was holding into the air—

And swung it down at us in one swift motion.

That massive body moved incredibly fast—

A shadow fell over my head in an instant, and the rough bark of the tree loomed close.

It was much thicker than it looked from a distance.

If I were hit by this, it would be the end of us, naturally.

But—

"Parry"

I slashed at the tree that was being swung down with my black sword.

The intense shock traveled through my hands.

The trajectory of the tree the goblin had swung was slightly deflected,

And it fell to the ground right next to us—

Plunging deep into the earth, gouging the soil.

—Somehow, I managed to deflect it.

Good.

It seemed that Leen, who was behind me, was also unharmed.

But that thought was fleeting.

—The goblin’s second attack.

Another large tree, held in its opposite hand, was hurled at us.

This time, it was a horizontal swing.

The goblin, using brute force, was cutting down the surrounding trees and sweeping the forest floor as it swung the massive tree at us.

—Given that it’s an intelligent monster,

It anticipated that we would jump to avoid this attack.

It was trying to knock us down while we were in the air, defenseless.

It already had another large tree in its right hand.

The strength it showed in swinging the trees was terrifying,

But what was even more frightening was the calculated look in its eyes.

But—I won’t let it have its way.

"Parry"

Instead of dodging, I thrust my black sword into the ground and forced the large tree upward.

The goblin, seemingly caught off guard, staggered for a moment.

—Now!

An opening for a counterattack had appeared.

I had no means of attacking,

But she did.

"—Leen, please."

"Yes, sir—[Wind Blade Wave]!"

Countless blades of wind, created by Leen’s skill,

Swirled like a storm and headed toward the goblin.

They tore through the surrounding trees and reached the goblin like a gust of wind.

But—

"Gyaa!"

The storm of blades Leen had unleashed was easily avoided by the goblin.

"—! [Ice Block Dance]!"

But Leen immediately created dozens of ice blocks the size of a person and launched them one after another at the goblin.

She didn’t give it a chance to escape or counterattack.

Each strike was like a cannonball.

It was a fearsome attack.

The trees shattered where they were hit, and the ground began to freeze.

But—none of them hit.

The goblin was too fast.

"I didn’t expect it to be this quick—"

Indeed, I had heard that goblins were agile.

But this was beyond what I had expected.

It dodged Leen’s ice blocks while weaving through the trees and threw the fallen trees at us.

I was struggling just to knock them away so they wouldn’t hit Leen.

—This isn’t good.

Leen’s attacks were barely hitting the goblin.

I had no means of attacking.

And to make matters worse—

"Why—! The wounds are healing...!?"

Leen’s relentless attacks had inflicted minor injuries on the goblin.

But the wounds that should have been there were now gone.

Leen’s attacks had indeed cut part of its arm, frozen its toes, and shattered a bit of its leg.

But those wounds had disappeared without a trace.

"Could it be that magic stone—!? Is it because of that—?"

Leen was muttering as she stared at the goblin.

—The magic stone.

The purple-red stone on the goblin’s forehead, perhaps.

It seemed to be shining more brightly than when I first saw it.

"Is something wrong with that?"

"Perhaps that stone is the source of the goblin’s power. We need to remove it somehow..."

"—A weakness, huh."

As the weakest of monsters, it makes sense that its weakness would be in an obvious place.

The problem is how to get close enough—

The goblin is very fast.

I can’t catch up to it even if I run at full speed.

What can we do—?

The goblin, seeing that we were hesitating, launched its next attack.

The large tree branches it had scattered in the air—

Fell on us all at once.

At the same time, it grabbed broken trees from the ground and threw them at us.

—Damn.

We’re done for.

The goblin had been observing us with those bulging eyes all along.

I had been knocking down its attacks one by one with my black sword.

It had been watching closely.

I had been knocking them down one at a time—

Knocking down a dozen or more trees at once with this heavy sword was difficult. I could barely manage two or three.

Even with a lighter sword, it would be the same.

The thick trees that grew in this forest couldn’t be deflected like a light wooden sword.

…I can’t deflect them all at once.

The massive trees raining down from above.

The trees flying at us from the sides like arrows.

I can’t protect her from all of them.

But—

"—! [Wind Blast]!"

Leen suddenly created a tremendous gust of wind.

The shock was so intense that it felt like an earthquake.

The countless trees were blown away by the wind pressure.

—Impressive, Leen.

At the same time, I had an idea when I saw the skill she had used.

"Leen, can you hit me in the back with that?"

"[Wind Blast]? But, that’s a powerful attack magic that can destroy walls...!"

"…I think it will be fine with that intensity. Please, I think this is the only way to catch up to that fast monster."

"...Understood, if you say so—"

So, I placed my black sword against my back, and she placed her hands on it.

"—Then, please."

"I’m going—[Wind Blast]!"

—The intense shock I felt in my back.

The pressure that felt like my body was being blown away, even through the black sword.

While being pushed by an incredible force, I activated [Body Reinforcement] and kicked off the ground with all my might.

—Fast.

Indeed, this speed was incomparable to when I ran on my own.

The scenery around me blurred as it passed by my vision.

And when I activated [Stealth Step] at the same time, the air barrier that covered the front of my body disappeared—further accelerating my body.

—I had always thought that [Stealth Step] was just a skill to eliminate footstep sounds.

But one day, I realized that it was different.

During training, when I wanted to move quickly, the "air barrier" often got in the way.

When I used [Stealth Step] in such situations, the "air barrier" disappeared along with the sound.

So, whenever I needed to move as quickly as possible, I used this skill—

—But this is the first time I’ve moved this fast.

The next step felt very far away.

I had to be careful not to lose my balance.

I focused on the next step and kicked off the ground with [Body Reinforcement] at its limit.

—The ground I stepped on cracked, and the muscles in my leg creaked.

I felt a crack in my bones.

But—this should be fine.

My [Low Heel] can repair muscle and bone fractures instantly.

And with each subsequent step, I put even more force into it—

Repeating this, I accelerated even further.

The goblin noticed my approach and tried to jump back to escape.

It had an incredible reaction speed and moved at an incredible speed.

But—

—Now, I’m faster.

I caught up to the goblin and touched the stone on its forehead.

Then, I clung to its face and

Grabbed the red stone with my right hand—

—And forcibly pulled it out of the goblin’s forehead.

"Gyaaaaaah!!!"

Blood spurted from its forehead, and the goblin let out a scream of agony.

It writhed in pain, thrashing wildly and knocking down the surrounding trees with brute force.

It no longer seemed to possess the intelligence it had before.

With the stone gone, its wounds no longer healed.

Even as I jumped back to a safe distance, the goblin rolled on the ground, thrashing and striking out in all directions.

It was a bit pitiful, but this thing eats people.

It should be put down here and now.

"Leen, can you take care of the rest? I’m sorry, but… please try to end it quickly."

"—Understood… [Destruction Flash Flame]"

When Leen activated her skill, the goblin was instantly enveloped in scorching flames.

It didn’t even try to escape from the flames, which were burning its body.

It let out a scream, seemingly unaware of what was happening.

"Forgive me, goblin."

And the goblin, writhing and groaning in agony, met its end.

When Leen stopped her skill, the charred body sank into the ground.

That was the moment we, for the first time, defeated the weakest of monsters—the goblin.

Thank you for reading.

I might revise this a bit later (maybe?).

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