As Gaidga looked down at the humans, he wielded his special club over his wide shoulders, and bellowed out a howl at the humans hiding behind their shields. With a swing of his club, heads were crushed along with their helmets. The beginning of his attack was akin to a giant monster beast being unleashed upon the humans.
Like a storm out of control, the humans’ spears were deflected and their swords flung away, and the people that approached were either smashed dead or sent flying. In this way, the pursuit of the humans had essentially been completely halted.
As the humans continued to suffer from Gaidga’s powerful blows, the humans gradually found themselves needing to retreat.
When the humans started to flee, Gaidga looked down at them and smiled ferociously.
“I am Gaida of the goblins! The strongest goblin warrior! If you believe yourself stronger, then face me in battle!”
But after having a taste of his power, the humans did not seem like they would respond to his call.
“Are you cowards who can only fight when your enemies have turned their backs!? Is there no warrior among you who dares fight me!?”
When Gaidga stepped forward, the humans stepped back.
“Move!”
But there was one warrior who was brave enough to push his way from the sea of shields. He was past 30, and the way he moved and acted gave the impression of a strong and experienced warrior.
“The likes of the small goblins dare put on airs!?” He said.
“Ku ha ha! As if a cowardly human has the right to say that!”
As Gaidga returned the human’s mockery, he swung his blood-stained club to rid it of the blood sticking to it.
“You called yourself Gaidga! I am Bershka! Son of Eldred from the house of Farren, the thirteenth warrior family of the east!”
After naming themselves, they slowly approached each other. Bershka’s weapon was a short spear.
“Is your prestige so little that you need to utter your parent’s name!?” Gaidga said.
“You mock me!?” Bershka said.
Provoked, Bershka was the first to step forward. The speed of his short spear was not something that the normal soldier could compare to. Blessed by the gods, his single thrust transformed into three, and then repeated three times. 9 thrusts all in all, every one of them was so fast that only a silver stroke being drawn could be seen.
But Gaidga did not defend.
With his large club held out, he charged straight into Bershka’s range.
“—!?”
And without even giving the time to scream, crushed Bershka’s head with his club.
Without even attempting to dodge, Gaidga had rushed to his enemy and attacked. Though Bershka was an experienced warrior, even he did not expect that. 9 wounds appeared on Gaidga’s chest, but only a fierce smile surfaced on his face.
“I’ve slain him! Now, who’s next!?”
In the face of the goblin’s bellows, the humans were already about to run. After the death of Bershka, who played a central role in their military prowess, there was no one left to support their morale.
“Move, we’re retreating!”
Despite that the humans properly watched the rear as they retreated, and though the goblins wanted to give chase, they couldn’t do so.
“Very good, in that case—”
“Stop.”
When Gaidga found out that the enemy army refused to collapse despite losing their valiant general, he wanted to attack once again, but someone stopped him. The small Gordob had appeared behind him without him realizing.
“Grandfather, there is no need to stop. Wouldn’t it be a waste of my victory?”
“Even if they collapse, they are but one seed leaf. It is more crucial that we support the retreat of the other races.”
Gaidga clicked his tongue as he watched the humans flee, then he turned heel.
“Young Paradua and young Ganra have also gathered. We shall go north next.”
“I get it, I get it. We’ll save the orcs, right?”
“Yes.”
The wise Gordob worked with the three strong ones to aid in the rescue of the orcs. The way he saw it, the Forces of the Underworld were already on the path to defeat.
Defeat could not be avoided. For the power of the one whom they’ve sworn fealty to, the Goddess of the Underworld, was visibly growing weaker. In the near future, her influence over the surface will surely be swept clean.
But therein yet lies some questions. How would they lose? How much will they lose?
The goblins, the orcs, and many other races from the Forces of the Underworld have taken up residence on the surface and have established their roots. That’s why even after the Goddess of the Underworld loses in this war between gods, they needed to ensure that they’ll leave enough foundation for their descendants to live on.
It was also so that they can take the lead in the next battle when the Goddess of the Underworld returns.
Hence, the goblins formed an alliance with the defeated orcs and continued to fight this war of retreat. During the long, painful war, many lives were lost and many were also born.
The turning point of this long war was at the center of the continent. In this battle that would be called the Battle of Helms Canyon, the humans created an army that combined the forces of various races. The leading character of this army was Alsanzark Kingdom, The army involved the races that have lived since long ago – the humans, the elves, the demihumans, and they numbered 40,000.
As for the monsters fighting them, their army consisted of the Demonic Children of Chaos (Goblins), the Demon Pigs (Orcs), the Mindless Giants (Gigantopitecus), the Man-Eating Demons (Trolls), and the Woodmen (Elds). In total, they numbered 50,000.
Although they numbered more than the humans, they were lacking something vital.
A powerful existence.
The war had been continuing for so long that the powerful monsters have already died. Meanwhile, the Martial God and the Saint of Flames of the humans were still in good health.
It has already been 5 years since the Blue Orc was felled in battle.
Most of the monsters that appeared with the Goddess of the Underworld have already either been slain by the heroes or fled with the Goddess of the Underworld. The Wise Giant (Bahhal) had sent the Mindless Giant (Gigantopitecus), but he himself did not appear because he was too smart. He knew that this battle could only end in defeat.
Compared to the monsters that did not have a commander to lead them and were relying purely on numbers, the humans had Arx, the hero [1] that founded a nation, and the coalition army that still had two heroes. If anyone just racked their head a little, they could easily see that the monsters had no chance of winning.
Yet despite that, the wise Gordob refused to give up. They would probably lose, but if they could just land a blow on the humans, they would be able to stop their invasion by that much.
Gordob shared those thoughts only with his fellow goblins.
“So we’re going to be sacrificed?” Ganra asked.
Ganra glared sharply at Gordob. When Gordob nodded, he snorted and looked outside. Paradua groaned with a difficult face.
“I don’t really mind. I can’t live forever anyway. If my name will pass on to my descendants, then I don’t mind dying,” Gaidga said.
Only Gaidga was indifferent.
“…I don’t think death is scary either, but who’s going to leave the ones left behind?” Ganra asked.
“Grandfather can do it,” Gaidga smiled.
“Are you okay with that? Normally, the strong is supposed to take over after the ancestor,” Ganra said.
The ancestor of the goblins had already been slain by the enemy as well. Ganra looked suspiciously at Gaidga, but the latter just waved his hands.
“I’m fine as long it’s someone strong and fierce,” Gaidga said.
“…Someone strong and fierce, huh,” Ganra said.
“I’m talking about grandfather. You already have an idea where those who can’t fight will live, right?” Gaidga nodded.
“We’ve already made promises with the orcs and the ogres. They will live near the Fortress of the Abyss,” Gordob said.
“…Then there’s nothing left to worry about. The blade of my spear exists to send the enemy to oblivion,” Paradua nodded as he drew a stroke with his spear. “Is there still something you’re unhappy about?”
A fierce smile surfaced on Ganra and he laughed. “Don’t make me laugh. If that’s what you’ve decided, then I couldn’t possibly have any problems. My arrows exist to destroy the enemy.”
“Ha ha ha! Well, that’s how it is. Grandfather. Don’t worry so much. We’ll defeat those humans for you. My club exists to crush the enemy!”
As the three goblins laughed, Gordob bowed his head.
“Forgive me,” he said.
◆◇◆
“So, how did it turn out?”
Rashka asked, but Kuzan sorrowfully looked up at the twin red moons.
“…They lost. Regardless how much bravery they showed, how much they unified the goblins, before the humans, who still had their heroes, they could not surpass them. In the end, Ganra was defeated by a demihuman and Paradua was defeated by an elf’s arrow.”
“Then was the battle of our ancestors meaningless?”
“No, not at all. The last goblin to go to battle, Gaidga, took position in Helms Canyon, and with the warriors he brought with him, fought to buy time for the monster army to attack the humans from the side.”
As the wings of darkness began to descend, Rashka of Gaidga closed his eyes and imagined Gaidga’s valiant figure.
“The precious time that Gaidga bought allowed the monsters to somehow launch a counterattack against the humans and forced a considerable number of casualties on their end. They fought for three days and three nights, and at the end of it all, every one of them was covered in wounds, and they were wiped out.”
“I wonder what Gaidga was thinking.”
When he closed his eyes and imagined Gaidga, the face that appeared was that of his father, whom he looked up to in his youth.
“I doubt it was just regret. Because before he went to battle, he encouraged his soldiers.”
—I am the strongest of the goblins, Gaidga, and you are the warriors fighting with me! Let the will of the dying resound throughout heaven an dearth! One day, our descendants will surely return to this land! One day, with our Goddess of the Underworld, they will return with our names!
As Rashka opened his eyes a little, he felt like he heard the voice of his distant ancestor.
[1] – The term for hero here is eiyuu instead of yuusha, which is usually the one used to refer to the humans with superpowers. This is the only time eiyuu is used, so he might not have superpowers.
