Chapter 24

This is the second part of today's two-part posting.

If you haven't read the first part, please do so first.

□＜Nex Plain＞ 【Holy Knight】Ray Sterling

Those 【Goblins】 had more impressive physiques than the 【Little Goblins】 Luke and I fought in the ＜Easter Plain＞. While the 【Little Goblins】 were about half my height, these were around 80% of my height. They were also armed with swords, armor, and bows. A few of them were even riding small carnivorous dinosaur-like beasts.

Their names were displayed as 【Goblin Warrior】 and 【Goblin Archer】, clearly indicating they were superior species.

A hundred of them were attacking a merchant caravan.

The caravan's NPC guards were fighting back, but the numbers were overwhelmingly against them.

“On average, the 【Goblin Warriors】 are level 15 and the 【Archers】 are level 17. What do we do?”

Marie's question, "What do we do?" was about whether to fight or not.

In terms of level, I am the same as a 【Goblin Archer】, and Luke, while nearly level 30, has lower stats than me.

Our strongest force, Marilyn, is on par with the boss monster 【Demidragonworm】 as a 【Demidragon】, but even so, facing such a large number of well-equipped 【Goblins】 might be dangerous.

Marie has no combat ability, so she's already excluded from the equation.

Our chances of winning are slim. If we consider safety, the best course of action would be to retreat to the ＜Mountain Path＞ and wait for the 【Goblins】 to leave before heading to Gideon.

However, that would mean leaving the caravan to its fate.

That... would leave a bad taste in my mouth.

“Luke, Marie. We might fail the quest in Despina, but...”

If you're okay with it,

“Let's do it.”

Luke took over the words I was about to say.

He then released the latch between the dragon carriage and Marilyn,

“'Run them over'”

and urged the now unencumbered Marilyn to charge at the 【Goblin】 army.

“VAMOOOOOOOOOO――!!!!”

Marilyn roared and charged forward, shaking her three horns as she rushed into the 【Goblins】.

The 【Goblins】 finally noticed the presence of something other than their prey, the caravan, but it was too late.

Nearly ten 【Goblins】 were crushed by Marilyn's horns.

“Let's go, Ray. Even Marilyn can't handle that many alone.”

“...Right!”

‘Hmm. Just as my master is unexpectedly passionate, this one might have a rather dangerous nature.’

“Muuu! It's not fair that Marilyn is outperforming my senior Babby!”

Luke, Babby, and I jumped into the path Marilyn had created and joined the melee with the goblins.

“Zu!!”

I swung Nemesis, transformed into a greatsword, with all my might at the 【Goblin Warrior】 in front of me.

The greatsword embedded itself 10 centimeters into the 【Warrior】's shoulder, but stopped when it hit the armor.

“Gigi!”

It wasn't a fatal wound, and the 【Warrior】 was still trying to raise its weapon.

“Naraa!!”

I lifted the greatsword, still embedded in the 【Warrior】's body, and slammed it into the ground.

The momentum added to the blow, and this time it cleaved through the nearly severed armor and bisected the 【Warrior】's body.

The increase in STR from leveling up paid off, and now I can pull off such feats.

However, it takes too much time, so from now on I'll aim for the neck.

‘Kuku, quite an aggressive battle. Not bad at all.’

Nemesis seemed a bit amused.

...Zombies are not allowed, but gore is fine, Nemesis.

‘Behind you.’

“...!”

I turned around and swung the greatsword horizontally, decapitating the 【Warrior】 that had approached from behind.

Unfortunately, thanks to Nemesis, I have eyes in all directions. I'm not bad at melee battles.

“You, who are you!?”

One of the guards protecting the carriage shouted, questioning us.

I'll just convey the essentials for now.

“We're on our way to Gideon. We'll help. That demidragon is our ally, so please don't attack it.”

“Got it, understood! Thanks for the help!”

The guard understood and relayed the information to his fellow guards.

With this, we can coordinate to some extent, distinguishing friend from foe. Since the enemies are only 【Goblins】 and their mounts, it's easy to tell who's who once we explain about Marilyn.

However, the number of enemies is still overwhelming, and it's still dangerous.

Marilyn, unable to get a running start, isn't as effective at taking down enemies as she was initially. The guards are fighting hard, but the numerical disadvantage is too great.

Then I noticed. Luke and Babby were nowhere to be seen.

I searched for them and found that they were both standing in one spot.

In the midst of the melee, Luke and Babby were standing back-to-back.

Then, they moved.

“《Male》”

“《Lilim》”

Luke extended his right hand,

Babby extended her left hand,

“《Seduction》”

They moved their hands as if to beckon.

In the next moment, a female 【Goblin Warrior】 who had been fighting bravely in the 【Goblin】 army cut off the head of a companion beside her.

Another 【Goblin Archer】 who was directing from the rear was smashing the head of the mount it was riding.

“Gigi! Sister, what, what are you doing!?”

“Captain!?”

Screams and panic spread.

The damage continued to expand.

One after another, the 【Goblins】 lost their sanity and began to kill their allies.

Those who were 【Charmed】 attacked those who were not, and those who were not hesitated to attack the 【Charmed】 and either became 【Charmed】 themselves or were killed.

The damage increased exponentially, and eventually, all the 【Goblins】 were either 【Charmed】 or dead.

“《Lilim Drain》♪”

Babby drained and killed the 【Charmed】 【Goblins】 one by one.

Some of them regained their senses during the process.

But they were either killed by the 【Charmed】 or became 【Charmed】 again.

“Thank you for the meal♪”

With those words, the battle, which was a hellish scene for the participants, ended abruptly.

The 【Goblin】 army was annihilated. The bodies of the 【Goblins】 that weren't killed by us or the guards were either killed by their allies or mummified.

‘...In contrast to our counter being effective in one-on-one battles with bosses like the 【Demidragonworm】, these two might be the most dangerous combination for eliminating large numbers of enemies.’

The nature of Luke and Babby's strength is completely different from ours.

By using 【Charm】 to create scattered forces within the enemy group.

This makes it impossible for the enemy group to concentrate their forces in one direction, completely breaking their coordination.

During this time, more and more of the enemy's forces are turned against them. This cycle repeats.

In a sense, it could be said that in group battles, this is a nightmare that surpasses the area-of-effect firepower of powerful attacks.

“Good thing we weren't the enemy.”

Yeah, really.

The number of original guards is unknown, but about seven survived, and the merchants inside the carriages seem to be unharmed.

However, Luke and Babby's faces are tense, as if they are repulsed.

Well, it can't be helped.

These two are good, but what they do is completely on the side of the villain.

F**k bouquet is scary.

“It was the first time we used it in a real battle, but I'm glad we could be of help.”

“It wasn't very tasty, but I'm full!”

This is terrifying, considering they are still in their lower-tier and first form.

“A! Luke, Luke! Your skills have increased! Babby, you've evolved to your second form!”

“Really!?”

Then I heard their conversation.

There was no visible change, but it seems that Babby had evolved after this battle of annihilation.

Well, if you can do that much, it's to be expected.

Checking the simplified status, it seems Luke's level has easily surpassed 30.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you! So, Babby, what new skills did you get?”

“It's 《Drain Learning》!”

Luke looked at the skill displayed in the ＜Embryo＞ window, and I also looked at it when he showed it to me.

《Drain Learning》Lv1:

When draining from a monster, there is a low probability (1%) of randomly learning one of the target's skills.

Passive skill.

Learning.

A famous example would be the Blue Magic from a certain classic RPG series.

The ability to use the techniques that enemy monsters use.

For Babby, the current probability is 1%, but with 100 drains, there's a strong chance of about 60% to learn one skill.

Since you can have as many skills as you want, this learning ability is very useful.

...It could become terrifying in the future.

‘Muu...’

Suddenly, Nemesis groaned as if troubled.

“What's wrong, Nemesis?”

‘I just realized that our performance seems rather dull compared to Luke and the others, and it's bothering me.’

“...No, you don't need to worry about that.”

After the first 【Demidragonworm】, we've only been fighting minor enemies, so there haven't been any flashy performances.

But if powerful enemies like ＜Super-Class Killers＞ or Mr. Figaro keep appearing, we'll just die again.

Regardless of Nemesis's troubles and my inner voice,

‘GooooooGAAAAAAAAAAA!!’

-- A scream echoed as something descended onto the battlefield where the 【Goblins】 had been annihilated.

No, it wasn't just a descent.

A huge something -- no, a "demon" fell from the sky.

The "demon" landed with a thud, its body intact.

I looked up at the imposing figure of the "demon."

It was an unusual monster.

How should I describe its appearance?

Its body was colored red and black.

The horns protruding from its forehead, and its robust body, over 5 meters tall, were truly that of a demon.

However, what came next was bizarre.

The demon had large mouths on its head and both shoulders.

From these three mouths, black-purple smoke constantly leaked out, and just looking at it sent shivers of fear down my spine.

Above the demon's head, the name 【Great Miasma Demon Gardolanda】 was displayed.

The oppressive aura emanating from 【Gardolanda】 slowed everyone's reactions.

Immediately after, one of the guards was crushed under 【Gardolanda】's right foot,

and I was punched by its massive fist.

To be continued

The next posting will be at 21:00 tomorrow.