The Monster Lurking in the Temple (5)
We followed Kabutomaru for about ten minutes. The goblin nest we reached after that trek turned out to be an abandoned ancient temple. It was one of those old ruins built to worship a local deity, then completely forgotten and left to rot.
Doesn’t look like there’s any money in this. No matter how I looked at it, the place was just a wreck. Basically the Holy Saint version of an abandoned forest shack.
“Gyaruk. (I’m bored.)”
“Gyakyarr gyaruk. (Me too, I’m bored.)”
Two goblins that looked like sentries stood at the temple entrance. I was secretly impressed by how they kept chatting without slacking off. These goblin bastards are better than those bandit scum. The bandit gang hadn’t even posted proper lookouts and got completely wiped out by my signature Mamamu. Monsters were actually more competent than humans. If you’re going to get caught anyway, you might as well have guards. At least then you can annoy intruders like us.
─Swish.
Franc and I backtracked a short distance. Charging in right now would be a terrible move. Since the snake had done its job, it was time to let it go. I’d been gripping it tightly in my fist so it couldn’t escape, only letting it point the way.
“Take care, Kabutomaru. Live strong out in the forest, okay? Sob sob.”
“Sssaaa……”
After bidding farewell to the snake while shedding tears of Cooper’s fluid from our hearts, Franc and I moved into strategy time.
“Franc, what should we do? Got any good ideas?”
“Since Nord knows more about monsters than I do, I’d like to hear your thoughts first. You already have a plan, don’t you?”
“How the hell did you know that?”
“When you look at someone’s face every single day, you start to see what they’re thinking.”
Damn. I can’t read Franc’s mind at all. I silently vowed to observe my girlfriend even more carefully from now on as I shared my opinion.
“Rushing straight inside would be dangerous. Looking at their behavior patterns, it seems there’s a higher species in charge.”
“A higher species… you mean something like a hobgoblin?”
“Exactly. I read it in a book. The fact that they’re stealing crops instead of livestock and even posting sentries is proof that a higher species is present.”
The source was Professor Brammaton, et cetera. The full text went something like this:
When part of a group stands guard against surrounding threats, this is common even among animal societies. Some monsters behave similarly and post sentries.
However, low-intelligence and selfish monsters like goblins prioritize personal comfort and pleasure over vigilance against enemies.
The fact that such goblins are standing guard is evidence of a powerful higher species that they cannot defy with their own strength.
This is because goblins are monsters that settle all matters through brute force.
See? He used easy words so even adventurers who hate studying could read it. How excellent! As expected, our thesis advisor is on another level.
“They might have set some kind of trap inside the temple, so I want to lure them outside.”
I roughly explained the operation plan. Since it wasn’t complicated, the explanation ended quickly.
“Yeah, that sounds good! Let’s do it that way!”
Franc’s positive reaction made us move straight into execution. We picked up some rocks nearby and approached the temple entrance.
You ready, right arm? I asked my right arm about its condition. It flexed its reliable muscles, proudly showing it was in perfect shape. Flawless.
I held up my fingers so Franc could see and counted down. Slowly folding them one by one. Three, two, one───
GO-SHOT!!
─Whoosh!!
─Swish!!
The thrown knife and rock flew together and struck both goblins right in the face!
─Thud!!
─Squelch!!
The rock I threw embedded itself deep in the goblin’s face like an avocado pit. Franc’s throwing knife lodged in the other goblin’s skull, carving a clean path through its brain.
─Thump.
The moment the two sentries died, we sprang into action.
“Move move move.”
Franc and I pressed ourselves flat against the wall beside the entrance. Then I activated the spell formula through both arms enhanced by Beast Regression.
“Summon Cloud.”
─Shwaaaaaaaaah!!
Once again, it was the Great Fog Operation. But not Mamamu. These bastards were so short that I couldn’t unilaterally locate their positions. So I decided to add another spell on top of it.
“Burning Hand.”
Beast Regression + Summon Cloud + Burning Hand. A triple combination of major magic. This was my first attempt, so I wasn’t expecting much success. It would be nice if it worked, but it didn’t matter if it didn’t── yet the spell formula fusion succeeded.
Well, calling this a true fusion is a bit much. I was simply heating the generated steam with the heat from my hands. They activated simultaneously, but it wasn’t a true fusion at the formula level.
Shwaaaaaaaaah─!!
Still, the heated steam reached a satisfying temperature. I controlled the vapor and blasted it roughly into the temple.
Also known as the Fake Fire Incident Operation!!
The inspiration for this plan came from what the bandits had shouted during the last Mamamu cast.
─You bastards!! What the hell is this smoke!! Is it fire?!
When the thick fog blocked their vision, the first bandit I met had said exactly that. Even though, logically, smoke from fire shouldn’t be this damp. It was academic proof that ignorant fools lose all rational judgment when panicked. I didn’t think it was pathetic. If I were rolling around in bed with Franc at the inn and suddenly smoke poured in, I’d probably panic and run outside too.
Anyway, this time I went the extra mile by heating the steam with high-output Burning Hand. So the goblins, who could rival the bandits in sheer stupidity──
“Kkyak!! (Danger!!)”
“Kkyak!! (Danger!!)”
─Came rushing out just like that.
Thank you, Professor Goblin Slayer.
I offered my gratitude to the Professor Goblin Slayer who provided the foundation for this idea. “Professor Goblin” was a portmanteau of professor and goblin. Therefore, Professor Goblin Slayer was an SSR limited-season character that only appeared in goblin extermination quests!!
“Let us test our new power!!!”
I charged at the pouring wave of goblins. I didn’t draw my sword and instead extended the claws from Beast Regression. Since they wouldn’t get hurt even if they got hit, I decided to fully test the power of my new technique!! After my second class change, the thrill of using new skills made my pounding biceps pop and dance!!
“Mountain Soul Iron Claw!!!”
I swung the claws on my right hand!! The head of the goblin struck by my nails burst apart like a melon smashed by a butcher’s cleaver, scattering like pork belly honeycomb!! I was ecstatic at the performance of my new technique!!
“Fucking sweet!! The performance is solid!!”
“Yah!!”
Franc was also freely using her new weapons. She smashed a nearby goblin’s head with the hammer in her right hand, then threw a throwing knife drawn with her left. Both attacks hit, and the number of goblins decreased in the blink of an eye. Roughly seven or eight left!!
“Freezing Hand!!”
─Crrrrrack!!
Temporary release from cold hands and feet!! The Freezing Hand activated through spell combination shattered the goblins’ heads with cold air colder than autumn weather!!
“Gyaaaaak!!”
─Crack!!
When their heads were smashed, the gushing blood froze from the cold and turned icy. It wasn’t enough to freeze them solid, but the power was more than sufficient.
“Kkyaaaaaaaak!! (Daaaaanger!!)”
“Kkyak──!! (Daaaanger!!)”
The remaining brats realized they were being ambushed, but it was already too late. The battle had been decided from the start.
“Sorry about this. Our levels were just too different.”
─Thud!!
The hand carrying freezing cold gripped a goblin’s head. The last two received my Iron Claw—no, Ice Claw—from me. Their eyes, nose, and mouth were sealed shut. Unable to even scream, their entire faces were covered in ice and they suffocated to death.
“Rest in silence.”
─Thump!
The goblins, which had numbered over ten, were completely annihilated by our coordinated surprise attack that took full advantage of the ambush. I released Freezing Hand.
“That was over in no time!”
Franc came hopping over with a smile. It was a smile that made me happy just looking at it, but after checking the corpses I shook my head.
“The higher species still hasn’t come out.”
“Is it waiting inside? Did it only send its minions to scout?”
“Probably. The way it acts is exactly like a professor who exploits─”
I suddenly froze mid-sentence. The Summon Cloud magic I had sent into the temple had been forcibly dispelled.
It nullified my magic?
Frowning, I turned my gaze toward the now clearly visible interior of the temple.
“……Franc. The thing inside must be a shaman.”
──A goblin shaman. Or to be precise, a hobgoblin shaman.
“But its skill level is nothing special.”
I didn’t know how it did it, but it had taken quite a while to dispel a low-level spell like Summon Cloud. It was definitely a hundred percent weaker than Tirsi.
Franc listened to me and spoke seriously.
“Still, Nord. You mustn’t let your guard down.”
“Yeah. Thanks for worrying about me. I’ll be careful.”
With that, Franc and I steeled ourselves and entered the temple. If we didn’t take that bastard down, the quest wouldn’t be completed. I had plenty of confidence in winning, so I wasn’t afraid. What was a goblin going to do, be a five-star veteran mage?
Creeeeak─.
Opening the rusted hinges, we entered the temple’s largest chamber. This was probably the space created for offering prayers to the god. But that sacred space had been turned into a barbaric and horrific ritual ground by some cruel monster.
Drawings made with animal blood covered the floor, and in the center a scrawny hobgoblin was stabbing something with a knife.
─Stab!!
“Wqaaz UThu Aight!! (Insolent human bastards!!)”
The hobgoblin spoke while stuffing the stabbed meat into its mouth. The thing it had been eating with gusto was snake meat. Just from a glance at the corner of the magic circle, there were over ten snake heads piled up.
“AAs IThu ZepoR Daags? (You dare defile my home?)”
As it glared at us and spat those words, the hobgoblin’s skin was the exact same color as human flesh. To avoid any racist connotations with “flesh color,” it was more precisely an ivory-toned pale shade.
“Shut your nonsense. If you didn’t want your house broken into, you shouldn’t have gone around stealing. I felt no need to listen to this bastard’s words. Research into hobgoblin culture had long been downgraded to outdated junk.
Goblin shamans used their own unique magic that manipulated modified rune characters. There was nothing impressive about it, and the drawings on the floor or decorations made from animal bones held no meaning whatsoever. It was all just superstition.
─Shing.
Since my opponent was a mage, I drew my sword. At the familiar feel of the blade, the Professor Slayer inside my heart began to growl. This bastard had driven its subordinates to their deaths while claiming it could use a bit of magic, then sat there alone stuffing its face. And did it hunt those snakes itself? No, it probably ordered its minions to catch them because it wanted to eat. Maybe among them were Kabutomaru’s friends or family. A pyramid of exploitation formed when goblins who exploit others are themselves exploited!! This hobgoblin shaman bastard was the professor reigning at the very top of that pyramid!!!
“Chui chik chik chik. (You’re dead.)”
An angry squirrel-like sound leaked out. The intense rage turned into white flames that fiercely burned the hatred in my chest!!
“──You are the ‘professor’ type.”
Tatata─!!
I kicked off the temple floor and charged forward!! I would offer this bastard’s head to Kabutomaru!!!
At my swift dash, the hobgoblin raised its staff and shouted.
“ᚺ(Hagalaz)!!!”
Chiiiirrr─. The moment it cried out, I felt a chill run down the back of my neck. Was it a shiver? No. This was my intuition sensing the flow of mana.
──The ceiling!!
Sensing the mana gathering on the temple ceiling, I leaped sideways. Lightning immediately struck where I had been standing.
─Kwaaang!
Chiiii…….
It was stronger magic than I expected. Judging from the scorch marks left on the floor, even in Beast Regression mode it would have hurt quite a bit if I’d taken it.
The Hagal rune?
Recalling the spell the bastard had shouted, I looked at the ceiling. It was a variation of one of the runes I knew, meaning “unforeseen trial.” I could feel the bastard’s mana coming from the drawings of lightning and clouds on the ceiling.
They remodeled this temple’s prayer room.
The scribbles on the floor like magic circles were meaningless, but the drawings on the ceiling served as support for rune magic.
“Hmph.”
I snorted at the sight.
Not particularly threatening.
That was exactly why. Even though the Mage Guild developed magic based on rune language, they didn’t use pure rune magic. Pure rune magic had overly broad meanings and applications, making it difficult to handle. Most of the magic that survived the fall of ancient civilizations was support-oriented anyway.
It seemed that against the green brats of this other world, such things let it act like a god── but to me, it was nothing more than a child’s prank. The only surprising thing was that for magic used by such a pathetic bastard, its power was slightly higher than expected.
Having figured out the identity of the powerful magic, I asked the hobgoblin.
“Uqi. Tol Stafp CosaKu? (You. Where did you get that staff?)”
“──Xua? (What?)”
The hobgoblin was greatly shocked by my question. It seemed so flustered it even forgot to point its staff.
“These fucking bastards get surprised even when you ask in their own language!!!”
The moment I spotted the opening, I dashed forward!
“If you’re going to be surprised when I speak, then why the hell do you talk to me in your language first, you idiots!!”
“──ᚺ(Hagalaz)!!!”
─Boom!! Kwa-kwa-kwaang!!
The flustered bastard wildly fired off spells, but they could only strike straight down from ceiling to floor. Dodging them was child’s play. It was exactly like a game pattern. All I had to do was sense the mana on the ceiling and simply not stand underneath it!!
“Hey, after failing this many times, it’s about time for success! Shoot some more!!”
“Haga── GyaaaaaaacccCC!!”
─Squelch!!
A throwing knife flew straight into the eye of the hobgoblin that had been swinging its staff in a tantrum. It was a knife thrown by Franc.
“Haa, why isn’t this working!! Huh?! You aimbot-disabled bastard!!”
“ᚺ(Hagalaz)──!!!”
“If you miss even with your eyes open, how the hell would closing them make it hit!!!!”
─Swish!
─Kwaaang!
The missed lightning only scorched the innocent floor. Meanwhile, Franc continued hurling throwing knives relentlessly from outside the prayer room.
─Thud thud thud!
“Franc!! Don’t kill it!!”
“Okay!!”
“Gyaaaaaaaaaaccc!!!!!!!”
Throwing knives kept flying and embedding themselves in its arms. The hobgoblin shaman threw a fit, but it never shot lightning at Franc. This pathetic bastard could only fire lightning inside the prayer room connected to the ceiling!!
─Thump!!
I charged in and kicked the scrawny shaman in the stomach. I must have controlled my strength well, because the hobgoblin dropped its staff and slammed into the wall.
─Bang!!
“D’oh!!”
The shaman hit its head hard and fell backward. I stepped on its solar plexus to pin it down and pressed my blade against its throat. When the sharp blade glinted, the hobgoblin swallowed hard. Just as pathetic as I thought.
I pushed the blade slightly to nick the skin of its neck and asked.
“Speak, you bastard. Where did you pick up that staff?”