Bern's Demise and the Swelling Horde
Situation terminated. Bern was strong. He had eyes that could paralyze his target's body on sight. His head and arm joints could rotate 180 degrees. And he even had the skill to detect my invisible position through the metallic blood scent on my body.
But I was stronger.
"Winds, obey my command! At my will!"
You can generate small gusts of wind according to your will.
One of the skills I'd gained upon evolution. Airflow Manipulation let me create small breezes at my command.
Moreover, I could carry objects up to a weight I could lift myself by riding them on the wind.
Though the first fork that had taken out Bern's eye had been crushed to bits in his grasp.
Whoooosh—
The second fork, which I'd thrown to help Saria, was still there.
This time, I manipulated the wind quietly to avoid detection, aiming it at the back of his head. Then, I called out to distract his mind for a moment.
"You talk too much."
Pffft.
- Level increased!
- Level increased!
- Level increased!
…
Airflow Manipulation LV.4 → Airflow Manipulation LV.5
This time, I'd successfully jammed the fork deep into the back of his skull for a proper critical hit.
"Grkkkgh—...."
Bern frothed at the mouth. The grip of his hand holding me loosened as well.
I quickly slipped out of his grasp.
Thud—.
Soon after, Bern's unbalanced body collapsed face-first onto the ground.
"Phew—."
Having safely escaped the crisis, I sighed in relief and was about to check on the fallen elf when.
Creeeak—.
The barn door opened.
"Is everything all right...? Hiiieek?!"
"Ah."
In the end, Veronica, unable to contain her curiosity, laid eyes on the scene inside Pandora's box.
The Great Forest, rich in dense mana and abundant vegetation, was an ideal environment for magical beasts and monsters to rapidly increase their numbers.
Thus, the goblin settlement discovered near the western edge of the Elf Village had been a small group of just over a dozen until a few days ago.
"Kirik—! Kieek!"
"Kihee! Kiheek!"
Thud.
"...They just keep coming endlessly."
With the news of the delegation—including the kingdom's princess—visiting, they'd spent several days clearing the path. Then, several more days guarding the area while the delegation met with the elders. And now, several more days neglected due to the princess's group invading the elves' Sanctuary.
Moreover, after the forest rangers under Saria saw the wolf corpses at the Sunflower Field and grew suspicious that the wolves might be linked to black magic, they'd captured the entire pack of Gray Wolves from the east that had been keeping the goblins in check.
Shwick—!
"Looks like a higher-level one has appeared, doesn't it?"
"...This is the worst."
Missing the extermination window, the goblins had swelled their numbers rapidly using their species' infamous horde tactics.
Splash—!
"Even so, growing to this size in just one or two months is pretty suspicious."
However, no matter how prolific goblins' breeding was, it took time to bear and raise offspring. The goblins native to the Great Forest alone couldn't possibly produce numbers like this.
In other words.
"Could a goblin-related dungeon have opened nearby?"
"We nearly ended up visiting a goblin village instead of the Elf Village if we'd messed this up."
"Th-that's not the case!"
The forest rangers shot back at the human knights' jokes, then turned uneasy gazes toward the massively increased goblin horde.
"Wasn't there already one dungeon discovered in the east?"
"Can two dungeons really spawn at the same time?"
"...Maybe someone intervened artificially."
Distortions where dense mana in the Great Forest occasionally coalesced into something akin to a connection to another dimension—these dungeons rarely appeared more than one at a time. Even those rare cases followed massive events that flooded the Great Forest with mana.
Barring deliberate human intervention, it was safe to say two dungeons appearing simultaneously was impossible.
"I wonder if Captain Saria's okay."
"The place where we locked her up is pretty far from the dungeon, at least."
"...And even if something happens, that kid wouldn't go down to just a few goblins."
The forest rangers exchanged glances, uneasy about having tossed the unconscious her into the detention facility.
"...Should we go check on her now?"
"Our escort duty's done anyway. No point sticking around here if we're not helping."
"Hmm."
As the junior rangers said.
Boom—!
"Wipe 'em all out!"
Thud—!
"Veronica! My girl! Answer your great-uncle if you hear him!"
Splash—!
"You rotten monster bastards! Today's the end of your species!"
Just looking at that one old human— the supreme commander himself—charging at the front and swinging his massive greatsword like a maniac made it clear there was no reason for them to stay.
Thus, as the rangers' minds turned toward leaving the humans to it and checking on Saria.
"...This is a bit awkward."
The only man on the battlefield in ornate cloth robes amid all the armored fighters—the red-haired Bern Garcia—scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he approached the rangers.
He was still a bastard for now. But with the kingdom's sole royal blood—the princess—missing, he was a human poised to become royalty soon.
"...What is it, human?"
Thus, the rangers maintained a cool demeanor but couldn't brusquely dismiss him. Bern scanned them all before sheepishly pointing north.
"It seems I need to head back to the kingdom urgently first."
"...Why?"
"The doll I was playing with broke."
"...?"
The rangers' expressions twisted oddly at Bern's out-of-left-field remark. Meanwhile.
"Great-uncle!"
"I'm not your great-uncle!"
"Something urgent came up, so I think I need to head back first!"
"Who cares?! Do what you want!"
Bern informed the human side's supreme commander of his intent to return first.
Whether he cared or not, Bern offered a brief salute to the commander mindlessly swinging his sword, then turned back to the rangers.
"So, I'd appreciate it if you three could come with me."
"......"
After pondering the request to guide him to the kingdom, the elves let out small sighs.
"Fine."
"Thank you for your cooperation."
Watching the 'fresh three elves' turn and begin leading the way, Bern drew a satisfied smile across his lips.
Saria, collapsed with bruises all over her abdomen. The human... or bizarre creature... dead with a fork buried deep in the back of its skull.
After taking in the barn's gruesome scene for a moment, Veronica's gaze settled on me, covered in blood.
"Diana?"
"I didn't do nothing wrong."
"That's why I've told you over and over—violence isn't the answer!"
It was kill or be killed. No, from the start.
"No, not person. Diana no kill person."
"With the evidence right in front of you, you can't just lie your way—"
"Bern not person. Different. Composite? Friend? Something like that. Not human."
There couldn't be a person whose head and arms twisted 180 degrees. So I could proudly claim that what I'd slain was absolutely not human.
As I was about to present more evidence and explain the justified reasons I had no choice but to kill the monster.
"Be... rn...?"
"?"
"Urk— blegh...."
Veronica's eyes lost their spark at hearing the bizarre creature's name. Soon, like when she'd seen the corpses at the wreckage clearing before, she dry-heaved, leaving me puzzled.
Whoosh—.
Suddenly, black flames erupted from the monster's corpse I'd dealt with.
"Ahh, ah, aah—."
"Veronica?"
Veronica's face drained of color further as the flames rapidly spread, incinerating the monster's body.
"Veronica? Veronica? Veronica?"
"Wh-why...? H-here...? Wh...?"
"Veronica? Veronica? Veronica?"
No matter how many more times I called, Veronica—lost in her own thoughts—showed no sign of snapping out of it.
So I left her be and blankly watched the flames consume only the monster's corpse alongside her.
"Ugh... urk...."
Just then, the elf—miraculously survived the merciless gut punches—struggled to rise.
As the sun began to set.
"Looks like we've wrapped things up."
"We still couldn't find why the goblins multiplied so fast."
"I think we should call it here for today."
Despite the search party combing the western Great Forest and eliminating as many goblins as possible, they found no breeding grounds or nests.
Thud—.
Zigmund slammed his massive greatsword into the ground and scanned the surroundings briefly.
Monster corpses and blood strewn everywhere. Soldiers barely gripping their weapons amid it all, and knights equally exhausted.
After days of forced marches to breach the Great Forest, they'd been thrown straight into monster hunting without proper rest.
No matter how vital finding the royal blood was, pushing further recklessly would just throw countless lives into the fire.
"...We're heading back."
This way, they'd find nothing. Zigmund issued the withdrawal order in a low voice.