Chapter 23 - Dark Mage Subjugation (3)
Chapter 23 - Dark Mage Subjugation (3)
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"Guaaaaaaaaah!"
Contrary to his appearance, Hector was incredibly fast.
"Damn! They're colliding!"
Leaving the remaining axemen aside, he rushed straight at the shield-bearers. And his speed was so fast that the distance closed up in the blink of an eye.
"Kuaaaaaah!"
- Kuung!
Hector's fist easily shattered the scutum and sent the man standing behind it flying backward.
It was a moment that clearly showed how shields, while strong against slashing attacks, were vulnerable to blunt weapons.
"Now's our chance. Throw the pila!"
However, they weren't the kind of people to just stand there and take a beating.
The spearmen drew long pila from their barrels and threw them wildly toward Hector.
Pababat! Countless pila embedded themselves into his green body. His entire right half turned hideous, as if he had rolled through a thorn patch.
"Gueooooh!"
Normally, an ordinary goblin would just die from wounds of this extent.
Pero it seemed that as his size grew, his vitality grew tougher as well.
"Ha! That's nowhere near enough. Hector, keep rampaging!"
"Retaliate with your gladii! There is no creature in this world that survives after having its throat pierced!"
The gladius, the offensive weapon of the shield-bearers, was an exceptionally superb weapon for tearing human flesh and churning up internal organs.
The sharp sword deeply stabbed his arm, piercing bone and churning through flesh.
"It hurts-! Ahhhhh!"
Screaming, Hector smashed his shield down again with his other hand.
Kwaang! The scutum was smashed into two pieces once more. A flying kick followed right after, thoroughly collapsing the breached defense line.
"Dammit."
With things turning out this way, Anders had to move as well. She drew the rapier tucked into her scabbard and thrust it toward Hector's ankle.
"Rush him all at once! We'll deal with this bastard somehow. Everyone capable of moving, move even if it kills you!"
Puuuk!
The rapier pierced straight through his ankle. I have no idea how she managed to pierce muscles that looked that tough.
As the commander shouted her orders to move, the terrified soldiers had to busy their bodies as well.
Soldiers tossing aside their scutums and raising their gladii to thrust forward. Spearmen discarding their pila and swinging short daggers. And the remaining axemen joined in the fray.
Even showing clumsy movements, a squire drew a sword and stabbed Hector over and over again with it.
The only two not rushing in were the two of us. To be exact, I was about to join in too, but Karl stopped me.
"It huuuuurts!"
A large number of people swarmed him, but they couldn't deal any notable blows to Hector at all.
Of course, the bastard's right arm was torn apart and his ankle burst open. It was an injury that would kill even a human from shock.
Despite the severe injuries, Hector swung his arms and beat the soldiers to death one by one.
"Ugh-!"
Among them was the squire who had been talking with me earlier.
She died particularly brutally, as that massive fist drove straight into her head and flattened it.
"Kuaaaaaaaah!"
In the end, the ones who survived the messy melee were... just Anders, Karl, and me.
Anders had also been hit by a swinging hand and sustained a rather deep-looking injury. Judging by the blood streaming out of her mouth, it looked like her internal organs were damaged.
"Uhahaha! Captain Anders. Look at a sorry sight you are! You look no different from five years ago!"
"Shut... up!"
"Ah, keuk... Come to think of it, Hector was related to you too, right? So much time passed that I briefly forgot."
That goblin and Anders are related?
"What is the meaning of that...!"
"It was precisely my test subjects who raided the village where your family lived five years ago. And I dragged away all the men in the village."
Anders' face stiffened.
Come to think of it, she had said she lost her family to goblins.
Was this the work of that black magician...?
"You had one cute son, you know. How do I know, you ask? He went on and on so proudly about how he was a knight's son!"
"You fucking...!"
"Uhahaha! I'm not done talking yet, so listen up! This Hector here was made from the men I got back then!"
The rapier flew, tearing through the air. The enraged knight exerted a frighteningly strong force, thanks to which she was able to reach the black magician in a single bound.
However, that attack did not reach. Because Hector struck Anders' flank with his fist and sent her flying.
"Keheuk!"
That desperate, killer blow was blocked so vainly.
"A corpse giant made using those goblins as materials. So, perhaps Hector might even be your grandson."
The black magician stepped forward with a sly grin. She seemed to intend to absorb Anders' vitality.
"Power built upon hatred always ends up like that. Because they only look in one direction, the majority fail to even notice their own bodies getting battered."
Watching Anders sprawling on the ground like trash, Karl made that commentary.
"Hmph, you say things like that while staying still out of sheer terror?"
"I am not scared, black magician. I was merely observing from the sidelines."
"Observing?"
"I was measuring the timing for when you'd drop your other chunks of meat."
At those words, the black magician's expression grew slightly serious.
"I should have masked my presence with magic. How did you know?"
"My intuition is better than magic."
"Ha. Fine. Leaving that aside, it doesn't change the situation at all. Come on down!"
- Kuuuung!
Giant goblins with the exact same build as Hector rained down from the ceiling.
Their number was a staggering 5. Including the dying Hector, that made six in total.
"No way!"
Monsters that annihilated well-armed soldiers, not just one, but a whopping six of them?
"I'll turn you into well-minced meat, barbarian!"
The giant goblins that fell to the ground rushed at Karl with a roar that shook the earth.
It was a sight that would make anyone shudder with fear, but Karl did not back down.
Rather, as if she felt a surge of competitive spirit, she licked her lips with her tongue and drew her axe.
"Little warrior Dennis. I leave the black magician to you. I'm going to play with these guys for a bit."
"W-What?"
"Come at me! You big-headed goblins!"
- Buuuung!
Karl's axe flew.
A sturdy axe—one that wouldn't chip its blade even if it cleaved a person in two—spun 360 degrees and headed straight for the dying Hector's head.
"Kuaaaack!"
- Pusuuk!
Along with the horrific sound of flesh tearing, the bastard's head split open.
Green bodily fluids spurted out like a fountain, and soon his huge body collapsed backward.
"How dare you kill Hector! You fucking bastard!"
As if I didn't even exist in her eyes, the black magician shouted and raised her staff.
Good. Now's the time.
"Huuuuu!"
I caught my breath and gripped my falchion tighter.
Would I be able to summon an imp? Back then, I summoned one by using a goblin as a 'sacrifice'. It probably won't work against living people.
Then what about dead corpses? I looked at the scattered remains of the bodies.
'I think it'll work.'
It wasn't like anyone specifically told me it would work, but a confidence welled up inside me that it would.
'Alright. Then let's summon an imp to draw her attention.'
I looked at the messy corpses that Hector had killed and tossed around.
And when I harbored a strong desire to call forth an imp, the remains gradually gathered together in one spot.
The gathered remains swelled up like maturing dough, and then with a poof—they exploded.
"Imp!"
An imp, said to inhabit the deepest bottom of hell, was born with a horrifying scream.
"What the, an imp? I didn't summon any!"
Noticing the presence of that ominous-looking monstrosity, the black magician turned her gaze.
Good. Perfect timing. I quickly dashed forward and thrust my blade toward the black magician's neck.
"Die!"
The sword passed precisely through her neck. For an ordinary creature, this level of damage would mean instant death!
"Heuuhk!"
But this bitch was a black magician who had survived even after having her solar plexus pierced.
Since she might not die from just this much, I pulled out the falchion and stabbed into her torso repeatedly, over and over again.
I didn't bother mixing in slashing attacks. Thrusting was a simple technique that even a beginner could pull off, but slashing required an expert.
Using such a technique in an emergency like this was practically suicide.
That meant I didn't need to slash in complicated ways since just stabbing her innards could deal plenty of damage.
"Y-You... You rat-dick-sized little bastard, how dare you!"
Wait, I went this far and she's still not dead?
'Her neck. Let's chop her neck off and send it flying.'
Slashing wasn't my specialty, so I'd probably have to hack at it several times.
But that didn't matter right now. Let's tear this bitch's neck apart.
"You arrogant brat...! Do you know what you just did?! You put a scratch on my precious body!"
"You're about to kick the bucket and you're worried about a scar!"
"Shut up!"
The black magician raised her staff to strike me down.
Damn it, I should've just stabbed! But since I didn't know what kind of power the opponent possessed, taking a hit head-on was suicide.
I widened the distance and stepped back. Fortunately, perhaps because her innards were wrecked, the speed of her staff was sluggish.
"Imp! Tear her apart!"
"Imp!"
"What? Wait a minute. Did you summon that imp?!"
Following my command, the imp hopped and skipped as it lunged at the black magician.
"Then we're comrades!"
The black magician said that, but...
For one, I don't think so.
So I just stood still until the imp bit into her arm.
"Fucking hell!"
The black magician spat out curses and staggered.