I feel weak.
I wouldn’t even be able to walk if it weren’t for this cloth Lord Lili wrapped around me.
…Walk.
“Gi Da…”
The old goblin who called out to me had a strange expression on his face. I wonder if it’s because of the cold.
When I turned around, the comrades I risked my life to protect were there. I wish I had the strength to answer, but regretfully, I could only shake my head.
The king is there to the west.
Lord Gi Ga entrusted these goblins to me. I must see that they make it to the king.
“I must go…”
Without the strength to say a word more, I could only groan out those few words as I forced myself to walk.
The sound of water dripping resounded.
Oh, come to think of it, I am thirsty… Ah, if I could just reach the king, I would surely be able to drink my fill.
Why… is it so hard to walk?
My breath went ragged with every step, yet still I pushed on, clearing the branches in front to make a path for those behind.
It’s cold… So cold…
My strength is waning…
“Ku…”
Tripping on my own feet, I inadvertently leaned on my spear, and as something gurgled its way up my stomach, I couldn’t help but let it out because of how sick I felt.
…It was my blood.
So why? Why is it still so hard to move?
And why is it that everything I could see just fine moments ago is now suddenly so hazy.
It almost feels like walking underwater. My legs are so heavy it feels like they’re stuffed with lead… Heavy… So heavy…
My strength is waning…
—Walk.
It’s dark.
I could see even in moonless nights, so how is it that it’s now so dark it feels like there’s something covering my eyes?
I can’t… go on. Why do I have to walk when it’s so painful?
The humans aren’t coming anyway…
Humans… Wasn’t there someone I had to bring to the king?
Who was it again?
—Walk.
I had to lean onto my spear as if it were a cane to keep myself from falling to the ground.
Why?
Why mustn’t I sit down? Even though it’s so painful… Even though it’s so cold…
The treasure of the king’s gray wolf rubbed against my legs.
Are you… encouraging me?
…You shouldn’t do that. You’ll get blood on you.
—Walk.
Ah, right… The king! Our king!
My free hand was completely numb, every step I took sent blood flowing down my chest, and I couldn’t even lift my spear to clear the path… but I pushed on, using my own body to clear the path.
O king! Our king!
It was only by calling that name that I could muster the tiniest bit of strength I had left. Our king… Our king who fights for us…
His valiant figure as he subdued Lord Gi Ga and the rest of us lingers in my heart yet.
O king! Our king! I am coming—
To deliver to you your… our prized treasure—
“GURUuuUGA!”
Then in that darkness, where I could barely see, I suddenly heard the cry of a beast. What was this again? Four legs… this beast… I think I’ve eaten it before…
Ah… Did it just snarl at me?
The lines between memory and reality started to blur.
I can hear them growling from my right… and my left.
What would Lord Gi Ga do in a situation like this? It was from him that I learned the spear… Ah, yes. Those days were certainly the best.
I can hear someone screaming from behind. Why? Why are they screaming? Why is Lord Gi Ga…
Ahh… Right, it was during that one-on-one battle…
That time… Lord Gi Ga struck his sword toward that sword-swinging human like this.
Yes, just like this.
It was when I fought this beast for the first time that Lord Gi Ga taught it to me.
Yes, now one more time.
Ahh, I can’t anymore. My body is about to collapse, so I took back the spear I tried to thrust and balanced myself.
Still… why is it so dark?
If I listen carefully, I can hear the beasts breathing. Ahh, right. Lord Gi Ga did once say I shouldn’t follow them with my eyes.
“Gi, —”
Right, just like this.
Then everything went quiet again.
I can walk again—
“—, Gi,”
I threw up blood again. I might have moved too much… But just a little bit more.
Ahh, something big is coming from in front.
It’s big, really big… Ahh… I can feel the king.
Our king…
“Gi Da,” a voice called out.
I remember that name, the name the king gave to me… The name that… belongs only to…
It’s the king! Our king!
“You did well coming here,” the king said.
Then something big took me into his arms.
Suddenly, the cold left, and it felt warm again.
It was like the sun, shining brilliantly high up in the sky.
“I’m… sorr… King…”
You are our sun… The black flames that… Our…
◇◇◆
I watched my loyal subordinate breathe his last moments in my arms.
His arm was crushed, his chest was pierced, yet still he walked on, protecting his horde until he could reach me. The goblins following Gi Da walked over the blood-stained road. They were the old, the females, and the young goblins.
“…Lord Gi Da did his best, my king,” the old goblin said.
“Say no more,” I said, “there’s no need.”
Gi Da’s body now drained of blood was light, and the bandages wrapped around his wounds had been dyed red until they seemed no different from black. His spear was broken in half, yet its tip was still tinged with the blood of a foe. Seeing him like this, I could tell just what kind of road he walked to get here.
Gi Da fulfilled his duty.
“Burn this memory to your minds, little ones,” I said to the young goblins, “This is the figure of a true warrior.”
As I gave a few words for Gi Da who had risked his life to fulfill his duty, I took the Iron Second from my back and wielded it.
“…You will pay for this, humans! You will pay for this!!”
The sky shook and the earth trembled as I cried out in great anger. As the Word Devouring Howl activated, the trees of the forest shook, the birds flying nearby fell to the ground, and large beasts in the vicinity ran away.
Knowing the urgency of the situation, I’d sent out the beast-riders first, and led this horde of goblins myself, but because of the difference in abilities, I ended up going ahead.
Normally, that’s not something to be happy about, but just for today, I feel grateful for this power. For it was because of it that I could send off a warrior before he passed.
The seething anger within raged like flames inside my belly.
“Are the humans up ahead?” I asked the old goblin even as the anger could be felt from my breath alone.
“Yes, Lord Gi Zo and Lord Gi De have already been killed. And Lord Gi Ga Rax is currently missing.”
What a disaster.
I cried out to the heavens for all that we’ve lost. The water mage, Gi Zo, the beast tamer, Gi De, and now, the spear-wielding Gi Da.
“I will go ahead. When the rest of the goblins come, give them my orders.”
“Yes, King!”
“Tell them to chase out the humans! And carve into their bodies the sin of transgressing upon my land!”
Kicking off against the ground, I bolted off for the humans.
—Found them.
I sense a great crowd squirming.
So this is… human. This presence is human!
You will pay! For all the blood you’ve shed!!!
◇◆◆
The adventurers went around while the feudal lord’s army battled with the goblins from in front with the intention of attacking from behind, but when they did, they lost track of where the goblins had gone, so they split themselves and put up a couple of battle formations.
Then when they received word of the saint being “rescued”, the Herculean Wyatt, the White Hand of Life, and the Wand of Destruction all began preparing to leave.
The battle with the goblins that started in the morning was already mostly over, so the adventurers were now on their way home.
“Anyway, it’s good that everyone’s safe… There were quite a bit of goblins, but at least, we completed our mission,” Wyatt said while Vitz stuffed himself as if they were celebrating.
“By the way, where is the saint?” The White Hand of Life asked.
“She went ahead to the village, Mill followed her to care for her. Actually, shouldn’t you be going too, White Hand of Life?” Hawk-Eyed Fick said.
“I specialize in healing wounds of the body. Wounds of the mind is something that’s always been treatable only by human bonds. God himself says so.” The white Hand of Life meekly laughed.
“Well, she was caught by goblins… Anyway, it looks like Gulland is a hero now, huh,” Hawk-Eyed Fick said.
“Looks like it. I guess we should start calling him hero now,” Wyatt said jokingly with a stiff face.
“Give me a break,” the former knight, Bellan, who hated formalities said.
And then everyone broke into laughter.
“In any case, it’s good that everything ended hap—”
Suddenly, a howl resounded deep into the forest, and everyone’s body stiffened.
“—What was that just now?” Vitz asked.
“Put out the fire,” Wyatt quickly said, “and ready your weapons.”
Wyatt quickly wiped the sweat off his body as he readied his equipment.
“No matter what you do, absolutely don’t make an eek, ok!” Wyatt frantically warned in a way that was completely unlike his usually calm composure.
“Why? Is something coming?” Vitz asked.
“I don’t know… I can’t see either,” Hawk-Eyed Fick said.
“…This might be the strongest one yet.”
Just a short distance away from them was the camp for one of the squads of the feudal lord’s army. Everyone else except for those on watch were already asleep. And of those awake, they were either cooking something or working on their equipment.
Because of how big the feudal lord’s army was, they couldn’t set camp in just one place, so they instead split themselves in several camps of 20 men around the village.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t inform them?” Vitz asked.
“If you go, you’ll be the one to die. Though I suppose if that were to happen then that too must be the will of god,” the White Hand of Life jokingly said.
What a convenient god, thought Vitz, though he didn’t try to object.
As the thickets were pushed aside and something seemed to slip through the trees, a giant shadow with terrifying speed came to view.
“GURUUuuuAaaA a AA!!”
That howl shook heaven and earth as it reverberated under the night sky.
Not a man in the feudal lord’s camp stood still upon hearing that wrathful cry; they all picked up their weapons while shaking in fright.
“Surrender and your lives will be spared!” The monster declared.
To which Vitz immediately thought, Yes please! If it means being spared from this fear. But unfortunately for him, the soldiers of Gowen’s army were too courageous for their own good.
“M-Monster!!”
And when one of them took out his sword, the rest of the soldiers followed.
But that courage was nothing more than foolishness, for a swing of the monster’s great sword was all it took to cut down one of them in half, from head to crotch, the thick armor equipped be damned; it was a power that struck fear into their hearts.
What came after was a massacre.
In no time at all, one of the camps of the feudal lord’s army was extinguished.
The monster seemed to howl again because of its great anger, but for some reason no one could understand, it almost seemed as if it was howling to forget its grief.
