Razing the Red Goblin Camp

The Red Goblin Camp.

It was roughly one and a half times larger than the Blue Goblin Camp I had destroyed earlier.

The goblin count easily surpassed a thousand, and several siege weapons—catapults, ballistae, the works—were clearly visible.

Why in the world would they use siege weapons in a defensive battle?

“It’s fine. If I know it’s coming, I won’t get hit.”

Countermeasures, huh…

Situations like this were something I had experienced to the point of exhaustion before my regression.

I zigzagged forward, rapidly closing the distance to the camp. The movement art and speed-boosting skill working in tandem shrank the gap in the blink of an eye.

“Kiiit! Fire!”

A bundle of rocks traced a parabola through the air.

“Too slow.”

I had already penetrated so deep that even Precise Shot would have failed to hit me. Catapults have a minimum effective range. Because they lob stones in an arc rather than firing straight, once you slip inside that dead zone they can’t touch you.

Next came the crossbow—no, the ballista—firing its bolt.

Wait. With my senses sharpened by tearing open those poison sacs, couldn’t I pull something like this off?

A black panel materialized in midair. The instant the bolt struck it—tang!—the impact sent the projectile skidding harmlessly aside.

“What is?”

“Ah, take a closer look.”

Nyx examined the floating panel.

I had calculated the arrow’s angle of approach and given the panel a matching tilt, letting part of the force slide off so the bolt would deflect. “Not bad, right?”

As expected, the applications of Polar Night’s power were truly endless.

Ting! Ting-ting! Arrows continued to bounce off the black panel without piercing it.

“Kiiiit!”

A creature twice the size of the others finally stepped forward.

A Hobgoblin. The ruler of the Red Goblin Camp.

“Kiiiiiit!”

The moment the Hobgoblin thrust out its fist, the ring on its finger flared crimson.

A blazing orb of flame hurtled toward me.

“Lucky me.”

“That ring is the most valuable one here.”

Hobgoblins are warrior-types. The magic came from the ring it wore—a random magic ring assigned for the first-floor mission. Among them, the one that contained Fireball had the highest market value.

“Correct. Our goddess is learning quickly.”

Though slower than the arrows, the fireball still closed in at considerable speed. If he was relying on his item, I would answer in kind.

The maw of gluttony opened wide. The dark-red light flowing from the ring enveloped the fireball and swallowed it whole. A portion of the mana contained in the spell flowed into my heart.

Mana Absorb—a skill that absorbed magic power in proportion to my own magic stat. A mere Fireball was nothing.

“Kiiit! Kyat!”

The Hobgoblin shrieked in disbelief. What, was that single Fireball all you were counting on?

The goblins hurriedly shoved blowpipes between their lips and exhaled with all their might. No matter how many poisoned needles rained ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠down, none could pierce my Thorn Armor.

When the distance to the wooden palisade had shrunk to ten meters, I tensed the muscles in my thighs.

Boom!

I leaped at a forty-five-degree angle, clearing the palisade in a single bound and landing inside the Red Goblin Camp.

“Kyat!”

“Thanks for the warm welcome.”

The Red Goblin swinging a crude stone knife was torn into three pieces before it could finish its swing. I scanned my surroundings. The place was swarming with the creatures. They charged at me with ragged, furious breaths.

“That’s more like it.”

A savage grin twisted my lips.

The Red Goblin Camp was one and a half times larger than the Blue Goblin tribe. More than a thousand goblins. Their leader, the Hobgoblin, also possessed far superior commanding ability than the Blue Goblin shaman.

“Kiiit! Overwhelm him!”

Instead of attacking properly, the goblins simply threw their bodies forward. It was the effect of the Hobgoblin’s unique ability, Goblin Domination. Its control was strong enough that they would willingly hurl themselves into a pit of fire if ordered.

I knew that. No matter how strong I was, if dozens of goblins piled on top of me I wouldn’t be able to escape. That would mean a pathetic failure of the mission.

“They really are smarter than the Blue Goblins, huh?”

I sprinted in a wide circle inside the palisade, shaking off the goblins. Flames erupted from my every footprint; some of the embers caught on the wooden wall. A few of the goblins charging according to the Hobgoblin’s orders leaped straight into the growing inferno because they couldn’t match the speed granted by Cloud Flow Steps.

“Where are you looking? That was only my afterimage.”

“……”

I kept my mouth shut and continued spreading fire throughout the Red Goblin Camp. Every goblin that charged me was shredded by Shadow Dominion. The Hobgoblin screamed itself hoarse, but not a single goblin could catch me while I maintained Cloud Flow Steps.

Occasional ballista bolts flew my way, but—

I didn’t even need to draw on the power of Polar Night.

“Kiiit, it’s hot!”

“Kyat. That human is a monster.”

A few of the Red Goblins uttered words mixed with fear. It was a sign that the Hobgoblin’s domination was wavering. The stronger their fear grew, the harder it became to control them with its unique ability. Once its command ability was neutralized, no further variables would remain in this battle.

Like peeling the skin from an apple, I circled the camp, steadily draining the goblins’ fighting strength. A completely one-sided slaughter.

When the Hobgoblin’s command began to falter, I stopped circling and drove straight into the center.

“Kiiit! I shall face you myself!”

The Hobgoblin shoved its minions aside and stepped forward. Its physique was similar to a human’s, and its body was fully encased in iron armor. At a glance it looked almost like a medieval knight.

The Hobgoblin swung its mace.

Whoosh!

The attack wasn’t even fast enough to trigger my sixth-sense warning. The difference in specs was simply too vast, so I didn’t bother dodging.

Thud. The mace that struck my armor ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bounced back the other way.

“Kiit?”

The troll you raised couldn’t beat me in raw strength either.

The Hobgoblin smiled viciously and raised its left hand. A point-blank Fireball.

“Kiit! Die!”

What difference did it think exploding at close range would make?

I swallowed the Fireball again with Mana Absorb as it swelled in size.

“Kit, kiiit! Why isn’t it exploding!”

“That’s why it’s a goblin.”

I reinforced my sharp claws with the Protection of Greed and slashed the Hobgoblin’s throat with the Blood Claw Technique. Internal energy, mana, and divine protection—three powers woven together. The strike tore through even the iron armor like paper.

“Glurk… glk…”

Blood gushed from the Hobgoblin’s torn throat. The other goblins sensed their leader’s crisis and rushed in a moment too late.

Five blades of darkness spun around me like a whirlwind, shredding every goblin they touched. I lifted the Hobgoblin’s head.

“I’ll make good use of the ring.”

“Glurk…”

It glared at me with eyes full of resentment. I reached out once more, fully severing its life, then used Devour on its essence.

“Nice.”

A far more useful evasion skill than some half-baked offensive ability. The Hobgoblin had been a good monster indeed.

Clink. A ring slipped from the crumbling corpse and fell to the ground.

The moment I spoke the activation word, the Ring of Flame absorbed a portion of my mana. Flames surged from the red gem. I hurled the fireball toward the goblin archers in the rear.

Kwaaaang—!

With a deafening explosion, several goblins were blasted into the air. The blast radius was about three meters. Those caught directly were charred black, the ballista was smashed to pieces, and even those caught in the shockwave died.

“Pretty useful.”

“I’ll be using it often for a while.”

My only long-range attack until now had been Energy Bolt. At full charge it was stronger than Fireball, but the 4.2 seconds it took to prepare made the comparison embarrassing.

“Well, it does have one drawback.”

“It eats up a lot of mana.”

Fireball consumed three times more mana than a fully charged Energy Bolt. Since the skill was based on an item, I also couldn’t benefit from the amplification synergy of Fire, which was a small shame.

“Yes, yes. I’ll work hard.”

I pouted. After obtaining the Ring of Flame, the speed at which the goblin horde collapsed increased even further. Although mana consumption was a drawback, I possessed the Dragon’s Heart I had absorbed from the dragonkin soldier. It raised mana recovery and reduced consumption. Thanks to the magic stat I had steadily raised through Devour, I had mana to spare.

“Kiiit! It’s a devil!”

“Kyat, we can’t win! Run!”

Some of the Red Goblins tried to flee the camp. I had anticipated that and set the fires accordingly. The flames created by Blaze devoured the palisade and only grew fiercer, to the point that even I, the caster, could no longer control their growth.

“Kiiiit! It’s hot!”

“Kiiit, I can’t get out! I’ll die!”

Goblins collapsed inside the inferno, their bodies wreathed in flame. Even then—

Experience kept pouring in from the fallen goblins. More than a thousand Red Goblins. Yet less than an hour after the battle began, not a single one remained standing on the ground.

“How did he handle that many goblins by himself…!”

“Truly incredible!”

“B-Bro, can you please forget that I called you a troll bastard earlier?”

My teammates stared in awe. I crooked a finger. Harry, the de facto team representative, approached the wall of flames.

“You called?”

“What are you doing just standing there?”

“Pardon?”

“You have to tear open the poison sacs.”

Come to think of it, letting them freeload the entire time felt wrong. Since I couldn’t ask Nyx for help, I might as well borrow their hands.

“We want to, but the flames are blocking the way.”

“What? That’s not even a problem.”

Darkness surged from beneath my feet and cut off part of the flame curtain.

“There. Done?”

Those who do not work shall not eat. I pointed at the goblin corpses with my right hand.