by Kumo Kagyu
“My personal preference would be to investigate and clear each floor individually, but…”
No way. High Elf Archer was giving Lizard Priest the evil eye; he ignored her.
“…there is an elevator here that will permit us direct access to the fourth floor, and I think that may be the wiser decision.”
“I’ll let you tell us where to go, then.”
“Well and very well. First, to the north.”
The party began the “hack,” moving forward carefully but with assurance. This was a dungeon—a dungeon from which the monsters had already been cleared. Despite the indelible, lingering smell of death from those adventurers and demons that had been here once, nothing remained on these early floors.
Or at least…nothing’s supposed to.
“…Hmm.”
“…”
At a movement from High Elf Archer’s ears, Goblin Slayer stopped.
That was all it took. Tension ran among the adventurers; they all looked at one another and nodded.
The dungeon’s walls were solid stone. Gloomy though it was, potential hiding places were limited to secret rooms, or the corners of the maze.
It was a simple matter, then, to predict what the goblins would think of.
“GROBGB!!”
“GBB! GBBOROGGBGR!!”
An assault from the front.
It was the best way for the goblins to use their greatest strength, their numbers. Now they came pouring around the corner ahead.
The goblins had a wide variety of weapons in their hands, and their skin was scored with the strange crest.
They came in waves with no evident formation, relying only on the selfish conviction that it was their fellows and not they who would be attacked.
“Ha-ha-ha, come, come! I shall give you each your eternal reward.”
“Eh, I think we’re gonna be wishin’ for spells before this is over.”
“…Hrmph, I think a dagger would actually be more useful than arrows right now.”
Three people, three opinions. The brave one, the analytical one, and the slightly exasperated one.
Lizard Priest and Dwarf Shaman came out in front, shielding High Elf Archer and Priestess behind them. The dungeon hallway was exactly wide enough for three adventurers moving abreast. Three in front, then, and two behind.
Goblin Slayer looked at his friends—it still took him a moment to think of them that way—and said, “Let’s go.”
“Right!” Priestess, paying close attention to the footsteps closing in on them, frowned but nonetheless nodded firmly. The adventurers became like a ship cutting through the sea of greenskins that assailed them.
“GBBRB?!”
“GOORBGB!!”
“Incoming!”
“On it!”
Stones and arrows, improvised ammunition of all sorts, came raining down, but Goblin Slayer blocked them with his shield.
Lizard Priest, protected by his scales, howled and deflected everything that made it past Goblin Slayer.
“Ergh! Knew I shoulda taken my uncle up on that helmet…!” Dwarf Shaman exclaimed, working his ax this way and that. “Distance five tiles—four—three—Scaly!”
“Hrah, behold the blade of the lizardmen!!” Lizard Priest howled and jumped at the attackers. His claws and claws and fangs and tail, the traditional weapons of his people, lashed at the goblins.
“GOBORG?!”
“GOORB?!”
Geysers of blood, innards, chunks of flesh, and death cries were suddenly everywhere. Two goblins were torn apart like old rags. Lizard Priest’s power seemed beyond what should have been possible in unarmed combat, but regardless, this was by no means the end.
“GOROBG?!”
“Three—four!” Goblin Slayer swung his weapon with absolute precision, fending off attacks from the right and the left. He caught a blow with his shield, stabbed with his sword. He slashed a throat then kicked the body into the enemies behind it to block their movement.
He carried the momentum of the move directly into a throat with his sword then shattered a skull, and that was two more dead goblins.
Goblin Slayer moved forward, grabbing a club dropped by one of the dead monsters.
“I hate! To shoot! In such! Close! Quarters…!!”
A monster that had gotten past Goblin Slayer was closing in on High Elf Archer, where he was met with a rain of arrows. The elf and the human girl in the back had looked like easy pickings to him, and he had advanced with a grin on his face. Now that grin was run through with an arrow; the goblin fell backward with the bolt lodged in his brainpan.
High Elf Archer kicked the body away with her long, slim legs; drew another arrow; and loosed at the next enemy.
He took an elven shot at close range. The impact alone was enough to blow the goblin backward.
“I’m not gonna have enough arrows…! Where are we going?!”
“We push past this corner, then through a door. The other passages lead to burial chambers, which we can ignore. Once we’re through the door, take a left!” No sooner had he shouted the instructions than Lizard Priest drove his fangs into a goblin’s shoulder and shook him about. “Eeeeeeyaaaaaaahhhhh!!”
“GOOROGBG?!”
The monster found himself slammed against the walls, used to push back his companions, and finally flung bodily against the floor. Blood spewed from the shattered goblin’s body; Priestess involuntarily looked away.
This was not the first time, however, that she had experienced the carnage of battle. She held her sounding staff tightly in both hands, staring intently at the passageway as she said in a tight voice, “We’ll keep an eye behind! Goblins might come out of the burial chambers…!”
“Sounds good! But don’t go nuts back there!” Dwarf Shaman called, adjusting his grip on his weapon.
Exactly like we expected.
Room guards in this dungeon had never come out before. In the Demon Lord’s army, those who guarded the important places and those who patrolled the halls were separate. Now, though, the only ones who remained here were foolish goblins.
“GGOROGOB!”
“GOB! GOBOGORROBG!!”
They came pouncing out of the side rooms, smashing through the doors with hideous cries.
This, though, was something she had known about since her very first adventure.
“Ehh—yah!”
Priestess swung her staff as hard as she could, stopping the oncoming goblins. Priestess was not strong enough to do more than stymie them for a moment, something she well understood. Defeating goblins wasn’t her role. She just had to do what she could to support the strategy.
“Take this!!”
“GORRO?!”
One goblin paused when he received a bop on the nose from Priestess’s staff—then died when he received a bash of the skull from Dwarf Shaman’s ax. His brains spilled on the floor, his head split open like an overripe fruit.
“No need for ya to take any more risks than y’have to!”
“Right! Thank you…!” Priestess struggled to do all she could, sweat pouring down her face.
Goblin Slayer would send the goblins in one direction, and Lizard Priest would tear them apart, or High Elf Archer would shoot them. Those that came from the sides or behind found themselves corralled by Priestess and then finished off by Dwarf Shaman.
The party flew through the doorway and found themselves at a crossroads. They formed a circle and charged through.
Now in formation though refusing to use spells, the adventurers’ attacks became even more overwhelming. But did the goblins feel threatened? Heavens no.
They were simple creatures. They were winning by strength of numbers. They (each individual goblin thought) would not die. And so they would win. They may have looked askance at the deaths of their fellows, but they trod over the bodies just the same to continue the attack.
They attacked with all the force of their lust, their desire to tear the adventurers limb from limb and have their way w
ith the girls.
“GOBOG!!”
The goblin focus shifted from the front row to the back, perhaps seeing that it was more vulnerable. The blades of spears and daggers glinted in the dungeon’s phosphorescence, lashing out at every opening. The tips were daubed with black liquid; Priestess went stiff when she saw it.
“Eek?!
“Look out!”
Dwarf Shaman grabbed her shoulder and dragged her back just in time then came forward to trade blows himself.
He launched a body blow into the goblin with all the strength in his dense little frame. The monster yelped and stumbled back, and then came the ax.
Dwarf Shaman fought like he was cutting down trees; he lacked the refinement of a specialized warrior but had all the power of a dwarf.
“I-I’m sorry…!” Priestess shook her head and shouted, “They’re using poison!”
“Won’t matter if they don’t scratch me!” Dwarf Shaman called back. “But gods, Beard-cutter! There’s no end to ’em!”
“Yes.” Goblin Slayer smashed a goblin’s head with a club then jumped over the dead monster and jammed his torch into the face of another one.
“GGOROGB?!”
A muffled scream and a twitch. But the creature wasn’t dead. Goblin Slayer brought the club down.
Goblin Slayer beat his way through the horde with his club and his torch, rhythmically, as if pounding a drum. When the club finally broke after crushing the skulls of who knew how many goblins, he tossed it aside and said shortly, “Eleven. You said left, correct?”
“Indeed!” Lizard Priest howled. “Head for the inner door!”
“…Take the lead.”
“What are you planning to do this time?!” High Elf Archer called, clicking her tongue when she saw how few arrows she had left. Goblin Slayer pulled a small bottle from his item pouch.
“It won’t be water, or poison, or an explosion.”
No sooner had he spoken than he pitched the torch and the bottle at a goblin in front of them.
“GGBOROOGOBOG?!?!”
Doused with gasoline, immediately followed by a source of fire, the creature burst into flame; Goblin Slayer mercilessly kicked him down. “Twelve… Now go!”
“As you say!”
The adventurers moved quickly. Lizard Priest vaulted over the flames, through the opening Goblin Slayer had made, and pressed forward.
With the goblins behind them safely at a distance, Dwarf Shaman came pelting up. “Fire?! We need to go that way!” He turned to Priestess. “Can you make the jump?!”
“I’ll do it…right…now!”
Priestess hugged her staff and closed her eyes then flung herself over the flames.
High Elf Archer secured her bow on her back and hopped over with a nimble leap, kicking off the wall and settling to the ground.
The door is right in front of us.
“We’re all here, Orcbolg!!”
“Okay.”
High Elf Archer provided covering fire while Goblin Slayer dug in his bag again. This time he came up with a scroll.
“GBOR!!”
“GOBOGGOBOG!!”
“Goblin Slayer, sir! Quickly…!” Behind Goblin Slayer, who faced an oncoming tide of goblins, Priestess was hardly able to speak.
Goblin Slayer nodded in acknowledgment, thrusting at the monsters with the scroll as he backed up. “Break through the door!”
“You got it!” Dwarf Shaman called, followed by a crash as he rammed the door with his shoulder.
Goblin Slayer hopped backward over the flaming goblin corpses; as he did so, he noticed an old sign hanging to one side. There appeared to be some kind of warning written on it. Now it was hardly legible, but…
Ignoring the “Oh!” from High Elf Archer behind him, Goblin Slayer untied the scroll.
“GGBGROB?”
“GOR! GOOGB!!”
It scarcely made sense to the goblins at first.
A wind began to blow through the dungeon.
Just wind? What is he, trying to scare us?
The goblins were quite amused—until they found themselves floating in midair.
“Eek…?!”
“Get through the door, quickly, or you’ll get sucked in!” Goblin Slayer said sharply to Priestess, who was trying to hold her hat on her head.
An instant later, a huge wind billowed up.
The scroll he had thrown at them produced a void scorched by supernatural flames.
“GOOROGGB?!”
“GOBG!! GOOROGOBG?!”
The whirlwind, blowing away the fetid subterranean air, howled like a beast.
One goblin, two. They tried desperately to hold their ground, digging toes and fingers into the walls and floor, but it was no use. The goblins ahead tried to retreat, but they ran into their comrades pushing up from behind.
“GOBG?!”
“GBBOOROGOBG?!”
At last, the goblins were overwhelmed by the crazily dancing wind sprites and dragged into the void.
The adventurers forged ahead to the accompaniment of goblin screams, until Goblin Slayer shut the door.
Only the sound of the closing door seemed louder than the roar of the wind.
§
“Wh-what was that…?!” High Elf Archer demanded, panting as they rushed through the darkness.
“It was a Gate,” Goblin Slayer answered, equally from the dark. “Connected to a high place.”
“A high place?” High Elf Archer asked darkly. Not that him using scrolls almost at random is anything new.
“The sky,” he said. “I have heard that wind sprites fly toward the place where there are the fewest dance partners.” He hadn’t wanted to use an item like that at that moment, but there had been no choice. “I had wanted to try it on goblins at some point. It was the perfect opportunity.”
“…So what you’re saying is, somewhere in the world, at this moment, it’s raining goblins.” High Elf Archer heaved a sigh. If there had been a sky, she might have looked up at it. “Oh, for… Fine. I guess it’s better than a flood of water.”
“I see.”
“And it’s not like I can really complain right now.” She seemed to mean that she was less exasperated with him than simply resigned. The small flap of her ears must surely have been because of a last gust of passing wind. “Man, sure is dark in here, though. Even I can’t see, and I’m an elf.”
The adventurers had fled the whirlwind through the door, and now they were in pitch blackness. They could guess that the width of the corridor and the height of the ceiling had probably not changed very much, but still, there was no hint of light. Priestess struck a flint, trying impatiently to light a torch or a lantern, but all she could get was a few sparks. When she finally gave up, the sigh she let out sounded inordinately loud. “…Guess we can’t use fire.”
“It seems this place is what is called a territory of darkness, or restraint,” Lizard Priest said quietly. With his heat vision, he guided them along. As long as they could hear the scraping beside them, they knew his scaly hand was feeling its way along the wall. “From what I saw of the map just before all the fun started, I am almost certain the elevator is ahead.”
“Well, I hope you’re more certain than almost,” Dwarf Shaman said. “I guess even the goblins wouldn’t follow us in here.” He gave a muttered expression of annoyance and could be heard to sit down heavily. Next came the noise of a stopper popping out of a bottle, and then a glug glug.
Yes, there were goblins just one little door away from them, but the entire party tacitly agreed to a short break.
“…I’m sorry. I guess I wasn’t of much help.” Priestess sounded dejected as she sat down (bumpf) on her small bottom. She had thrown herself completely into the fight, but all she had really done was swing her staff around. She couldn’t use her miracles, because she was saving them; Dwarf Shaman had had to rescue her from being stabbed with a poisoned knife; and now she couldn’t even strike up a flame. Those things weren’t her fault—but that di
dn’t keep her from feeling depressed about them.
She felt a rough hand pat her shoulder. “Ah, don’t worry about it, lass. When the back row has to resort to their weapons, that’s a clear sign we’re in dire straits.” The dwarf laughed. “It’s Beard-cutter who should be feeling bad about that!”
“Indeed. It is by no means the role of a monk to wield his weapon in the service of his enemies’ destruction.” Lizard Priest took up the thread, sounding so serious that Priestess couldn’t help but giggle.
That seemed to be enough to cut through the tension. “Right,” she said, sounding ever so slightly more cheerful. “Can just holding on be considered a role?”
“Yes,” Goblin Slayer replied. “There will always be something for you to do.”
They all felt confident that he must be giving his usual deliberate nod, despite being rendered invisible by the darkness.
And I guess it doesn’t change the fact that I can’t see his expression.
So Priestess nodded back, feeling herself relax a bit. “…Okay. When the time comes, I’ll do my part.”
And then she smiled from ear to ear, even though nobody could see it.
Goblin Slayer waited for a few moments, letting everyone catch their breath, and when he judged they were ready, he said, “Let’s go.”
The adventurers looked at one another in the dark, nodded, and then formed up and moved out.
They worked their way along by feel, ignoring other doors they found, ever deeper into the dungeon. At last, on the far side of all the darkness, they saw a dim light. It illuminated a column of letters, A to D, visible through two open doors.
It was the elevator.
“Hup! Ahhh!”
The cute but powerful shout accompanied an explosion of light that sliced through the darkness surrounding the holy mount.
The darkness was something grotesque, like a great swollen lump of flesh. It was full of pulsing viscera, like a living creature turned inside out.
It had arrived along with the flaming stone from heaven, this thing, truly unknowable, even indescribable.
It had come clinging to the meteorite, which was still warm in its crater on the mountaintop, and then the thing had become a shade, stretching its flesh out toward the four corners of the world.