The Centurion's Rampage

The large-scale casualties began with a sickening crunch. Even blind swings from the goblins found their marks as the hunters' stamina dropped. In the chaos of this melee, it was nearly impossible to dodge everything. Eventually, one hunter took a solid blow from a goblin leader's club.

"Ugh... S-save—"

Thud!

The goblin leader casually swung its club backward, smashing the fallen hunter's jaw before stomping down repeatedly, crushing him into a pulp.

"No!! Seongsu!! You son of a bitch!!"

One death became the spark. The battle's frenzy hit its peak. Inexperienced F-rank hunters were easily swept up in the atmosphere, leading them to fight recklessly. Normally, these goblins would have been easy to suppress, but they were dodging my attacks with unnatural precision, and their counterattacks felt heavier than before. Only then did I snap back to my senses, but the tide had already turned irreversibly.

My body dragged across the floor like a waterlogged sponge. In this desperate moment, an overwhelming drowsiness hit me for no reason. While my focus slipped, goblins closed in and attacked. Realizing I couldn't hold on, I broke formation and retreated. It was a complete mess.

"Huff... huff— Damn it!"

When I regained my composure, more than ten hunters had already died. Decades after dungeons first appeared, it was rare for so many casualties to occur in a low-grade dungeon like the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Goblin Dungeon. This was a full-blown catastrophe.

"Kyaaaak! My leg! Don't rip it— Don't rip it!"

A woman was pinned by two goblins grabbing her legs. They beat her with clubs while tearing at her groin. Her weapon was nowhere to be seen—probably sold off somewhere. She could only scream and curse wildly.

Yeonhee couldn't just leave her like that. She dashed forward and drew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her bowstring.

Twang— Thud—!

Thump! Thump!

"Kiiiieek!"

The two goblins with arrows lodged in their arms and legs glared furiously and charged toward us.

Fwooooosh—

"Kiihaaaak!"

Crack—!

"Kiek?!"

The goblin stared in confusion at its broken club after taking the heavy strike. I pounded its head repeatedly until it turned to mush, then glanced toward the leader.

'Is it too late to retreat? There are too many ambiguous numbers left who can still fight, so they can't give up...'

Around ten goblins still surrounded the leader, while nineteen hunters remained alive. Yet it was the hunters who were hesitating and backing away.

'It's insane to bring skills like Double Smash, Rapid Strike, or Heavy Strike into a battle on this scale.'

Of course, the goblin leader was also injured all over. One of its wrists had been completely severed. It was clear that with just a little sacrifice, victory was possible. If they won this fight, they could even achieve the 100-Man Battle achievement.

But.

'Greed only brings disaster.'

"Ah... I'm almost out of arrows..."

Only twenty arrows remained in the quiver on Yeonhee's back. It seemed she had none left in her subspace either. I quickly grabbed the quiver from a fallen archer and handed it to her. She hesitated for a moment before transferring the arrows into her inventory. As she nocked another arrow, her eyes sparkled—she clearly wanted a piece of this.

It was a golden opportunity to obtain low-grade runes and achievements.

'I didn't expect to gain this much, but since we're already here, let's see it through to the end.'

This delicate balance had only come about because of Yeonhee and me. The distance between us and the hunters wasn't that great anymore, so they started calling out to us.

"Hey! Can't you stick that skeleton soldier right next to the leader?"

"What? That's a bit..."

"What are you hesitating for?! Can't you see people are dying?!"

'That's rich coming from the person who sent us straight into the jaws of death...'

I positioned myself in front of Yeonhee, blocking their sharp glares. While we exchanged our own signals, the goblins began charging forward again.

"Ugh, damn it!"

The leader's targets were naturally the hunters who had taken its wrist, so the goblins didn't come toward us. The injured hunters started creeping in our direction. Yeonhee watched them and pressed her lips tightly together.

'She's the type who gets stronger the more obstacles there are.'

She always hated complicated situations and preferred being alone, but whenever the guild reviewed past battles, the results showed she performed best when she had many people to protect. She was probably steeling her resolve right now to guard the three hunters who had moved behind her.

"Ilwol— let's get closer. And if possible, take down the leader too."

Clack—

I lowered my stance and slowly advanced.

Clang—! Thud!

'The goblins have grown from killing hunters. This is going to be tricky. Only the warrior-types are left on our side.'

It wasn't just hunters who leveled up by killing monsters. Monsters grew by killing people too. Usually they got bigger with increased physical stats, and sometimes they even evolved into variants.

Only about ten hunters could still fight properly now. A man holding a large shield and another who seemed to be the leader with an axe were pressing the goblin leader, while the rest tried to deal damage to it by handling the surrounding goblins.

Swish—! Thunk—!

Thankfully we had a skilled archer. The goblin leader was starting to find Yeonhee's presence annoying. It took a deep breath and shoved the two men in front aside, creating an opening. Then it charged straight at Yeonhee.

But I had been waiting for this chance. I rushed in from the side, sprayed acid on its face, and immediately slammed my body into it.

"Kwaaaaaak!"

The leader clutched its face and rolled across the ground. Since I had used stealth to close in, it probably never saw it coming.

"T-that thing! I don't know what it is, but pile on!"

"Looks like the one in the robe sprayed the acid!"

"Nice shot, sis!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The hunters, who were already struggling against regular goblins, still found time to chatter. Seeing that, I felt considerably relieved.

'They don't even think it was me.'

A skeleton soldier that spits acid? They probably wouldn't believe it even if they saw it with their own eyes.

Slamming into the leader's solid body actually cost me health. I felt a wave of futility.

'What a pathetic body. Anyway, we have to finish this.'

Thinking the same, three hunters ignored their comrades and charged straight at the leader. 'They're in a hurry.' I subtly created some distance. Seeing their chance, they boldly attacked. I smiled.

Whoosh—!

Thwack—!

"Ugh!"

Lying on its back, the leader swung its club in a wide arc and easily sent one hunter flying. As it stood up and charged recklessly, it grabbed the man's shield.

"Whoa?! L-let go!"

The shield warrior panicked as his shield was seized, but the corner of his mouth twitched upward. He must have seen Hwang Cheol driving an axe into the goblin's back from behind.

"Kheheek!"

"Kyahaha! Die, you filthy bastard!"

But did he think shoving the axe in was enough to end it? The leader swung the stolen shield backward in a huge arc. The startled Hwang Cheol stepped back, tripped, and fell. The goblin leader fell on top of him and sank its teeth deep into his neck.

"Kwaaaaaak! Krrghhh!"

Crunch— Crack— Squish!

Stab stab stab—!

As the two rolled on the ground locked together, the surrounding hunters unleashed a barrage of attacks on the goblin leader. Finally, it went limp with its tongue hanging out.

"Q-quick, use a potion!"

But even after pouring potions, Hwang Cheol kept spraying blood like a fountain from his neck. The other hunters panicked, not knowing what to do. At that moment, I dashed forward and smashed the leader's face with my club.

'You idiots, the finish has to be clean.'

Crunch! Crack!

"Ughhhh... P-potion... S-save... me..."

Hwang Cheol, whose neck had been torn open, desperately called out to his comrades. While the hunters pulled out more potions to treat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him, I looked at the message floating before my eyes and felt an irrepressible sense of satisfaction.

At the same time, I snatched the gray rune that rose from the leader's body and immediately stored it in my inventory.

"Huh?! That skeleton soldier took the rune!"

"What?! Why did that thing eat it?! Hey, summoner? Tell your skeleton to spit out the rune!"

"F-first finish cleaning up..."

Yeonhee's face darkened noticeably at the hunters' demands, but she steadily reduced the remaining goblins with her arrows. Worried a dispute might break out, I quickly distributed the stats I gained from leveling up.