Chapter 57
Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Assassin Family Raven (15)
The inside of the cave was a dimly lit cavern with scant light.
But whether it was a hidden perk of Shadow Mastery or just my sharp night vision, it posed no problem for me.
And besides, I had another reliable guidepost to keep me from getting lost.
"Keuk. Feels good."
"Inside! Cum inside me again!"
Voices of women lost to lust, mingled with the goblins' crude grunts.
Follow those sounds, and I'd find my targets.
I'd already crafted a dagger with Shadow Craft in my left hand for immediate use, keeping my right free to summon a sword as needed.
Sticking to the cave walls and trailing the noises, I reached a somewhat wider chamber.
It was impressive enough that they'd hollowed out a cave this size beneath the mountainside, but what was unfolding inside was beyond anything a normal person could imagine.
Eight young women were locked in an orgy with a sizable pack of goblins.
The ones without gags in their mouths babbled deliriously just like before, while the goblins thrust away indiscriminately, focused solely on stuffing every hole.
One of those goblins stood out from the rest—massively bulkier. It was pounding into a woman with savage force. I knew right away: this layer's hobgoblin.
'Assassination in this mess? Yeah, right.'
Timing an assassination during sex was often ideal.
Usually, there'd only be one or two women nearby, and they rarely had any real fighting prowess.
Kill the target, spare the women—half would express gratitude, the other half would just bolt without a word.
A lot of the Raven family's marks had a habit of forcibly turning women into sex toys, after all.
Rosette the princess did seem to judge those who preyed on women a bit more harshly, but she'd still executed plenty of women too.
Marriage scams were especially common on that front.
Women who'd bled a man dry—body, soul, and all—then discarded him. We'd gotten requests from their friends or family to deliver judgment on her.
Didn't matter if the target was a beauty. Straight to the heart with a blade.
That was Sian Raven's way.
Back to the present: plenty of women, but even more goblins. Eight women against nearly twenty goblins, plus that one hob.
Could I take out the hobgoblin with a dagger toss?
Hobs were stronger than regular goblins—and stronger than most humans too. Second toughest foe I'd faced, after that evolved zombie.
I wasn't sure about this layer's hobgoblins specifically, but they'd definitely outclass a normal goblin.
Even a stealthy Shadow Sword strike wouldn't help much in a swarm like this.
While I mulled it over, the women kept writhing insanely with their goblin partners.
I shook off the shadows cloaking my body and hurled the Shadow Craft dagger.
Puk!
"Keeuk!"
The nearest goblin toppled over, still locked in its raping posture.
"Keeerelele!!!"
"Kurrrruk!!!"
Intruder alert. That low growl must be the hobgoblin—telling them not to panic.
The goblins still deep in lust kept at the women, but those using mouths or elsewhere yanked free, cocks erect, and charged me barehanded.
"I'd hunted goblins so much I was sick of it—wanted to call it quits."
Facing goblins slathered in bodily fluids was utterly revolting, but I had to wipe them out fast and clean.
I gripped a shadow-forged sword in my right hand, remade a dagger in my left, and plunged it into the skull of a goblin still mid-fuck from behind.
"Kyieeeek!!!"
Now dual-wielding swords, I began severing the necks of the charging goblins.
Slash slash slash
The Shadow Craft blade was keen enough to shear through goblin necks effortlessly.
I mechanically cleaved every approaching goblin, ensuring none of their foul bodies so much as brushed me.
By then, the goblins who'd finished their fun rushed in too—straight to headless corpses.
"Kerrrrruk!"
Evidently not expecting me to carve through the pack, the hobgoblin seized a woman by the throat.
Planning to use her as a shield, huh?
"That trick might work on someone else, but not me."
Least of all while possessing another body.
And with my sync rate to Sian Raven nearing 50%, there wasn't a shred of guilt anyway.
I gripped the shadow sword with both hands and charged.
The hob—far bulkier than a regular goblin—shoved the woman (about my size) forward. I thrust right through.
The razor edge pierced the woman's body effortlessly, then rent the hobgoblin's tougher hide beyond.
"Grurruk?!"
Bit too close—sword didn't sink deep enough. The hob hurled the woman at me and bolted.
I let the corpse drop to the floor and pursued the hobgoblin deeper into the cave.
I caught up quickly. Oblivious to my approach, it died impaled through the back.
'One down.'
Unless the quest was screwing with me, that left two more inside.
I activated Shadow Cloak to melt back into the darkness and pressed deeper.
A fork appeared soon after. I paused, ears straining for voices.
Grunts from women echoed from one path—I headed there first.
If I was right, that'd be where the pregnant ones were locked up.
Considering how eagerly the others embraced the orgy, these minds had been broken some other way.
The cave widened a bit, revealing women crammed into iron cages. Their reactions differed from the lust-drenched sluts earlier.
"Uuuh..."
"Auuuh..."
The orgy girls had begged for more sex in their pleasure haze. These just sat blankly, moaning vacantly.
Good news: only one guard goblin.
I sliced it vertically with a Shadow Craft sword in Shadow Sword style.
With the women out of it and the outer goblins uncleared, I left them be for now and took the other fork.
But an ominous vibe hit almost immediately.
The air felt thick, mana cloying and sticky.
Worse even than the orgy den.
"Huuu..."
I steadied my breath and forged a shadow sword.
The path ended in a vast chamber.
Torches blazed here, bright as day—Shadow Cloak dispelled instantly.
Unlike the naked hob from before, two fully geared hobs flanked a central goblin clutching a staff, guarding it protectively.
The hobs wore metal armor: one hefted a halberd, the other a chipped greatsword.
"Kerr. Human."
I was sizing up their gear when the staff goblin addressed me.
"Yeah. Human. Goblin."
The goblin leveled its staff at me and intoned with mana-laced words.
"Kill yourself."
"No thanks, you psycho."
I Shadow Crafted a dagger in my left hand and flung it at the goblin's head.
A bit distant while seated, it parried with its staff.
"How?!"
Resistance to mental attacks generated. (75% reduction)
My innate mental fortitude plus Self-Establishment made psychic assaults practically ineffective.
First time really testing the skill's effect, but it guarded my mind better than expected.
"Attack! Kreleleuk!"
Realizing mental commands bounced off, it unleashed another mana-charged bellow.
"Krooo!"
"Kerelelek!"
Targets: the two hobs. Armed and tricky to handle, now doubled up and berserked by command to boot?
Red glow in their eyes—like zombies in the apocalypse spotting prey.
'If they're like those zombies from the Plague Lord's tainted mana, then this shaman's mana is corrupted too.'
I already harbored some grudge against the Plague Lord. A goblin wielding the same filthy power? Even more reason to kill it.
Word sorcery? Curses? Mental attacks were null, but a shaman had to have other tricks.
Wary of the shaman goblin, I focused on the two charging hobs first.
"Assassination's off the table anyway."
I ditched the handy dagger and sword, forging a massive greatsword instead.
Both hobs charged at the same speed, swinging in perfect sync.
Halberd sweeping from the left, greatsword from the right—crossing toward me.
Insight gauged the distance precisely. I backstepped.
Whoosh whoosh
The full-force halberd and greatsword cleaved empty air.
Before they could recover their crossed weapons for the follow-up, I rushed in and severed the halberd's pole first.
Blade detached, the hob now gripped the shaft like a spear for thrusting, while the greatsword hob tensed its arms for an upward cleave.
I swung at the greatsword.
Kaaaang
Chipped greatsword clashed against my condensed-shadow greatsword.
Unlike the wooden pole, couldn't cleave it in one go?
In that instant, the pole speared at my head.
Composure let me flow aside like water—then it triggered again.
What the—shaman. No hesitation, I retreated.
"Ignite."
⟨ CURSE FLAME ⟩
Purple flames erupted right where I'd stood.
"Sharp instincts, human."
"Shut it, goblin."
Never bring more than one foe to an assassin.