Chapter 54. Goblin Lair.
Chapter 54. Goblin Lair.
"In a way, leaving Yongsan for Gimpo might turn out to have been a blessing..."
"When you were in Yongsan, did you ever sense anything strange?"
"Yes. To begin with, Bukhansan is a mountain more than twice the size of Yongsan-gu."
"We'll have to eliminate them as fast as possible. It doesn't take long for those things' numbers to swell."
"We can lay down indiscriminate fire on the area where they're believed to be."
"There could be hostages being held there, and since it's a mountain, there's also a chance survivors are hiding out."
"Which means we'll have to go in and eliminate them ourselves."
We geared up on the assumption we'd be making entry ourselves. We packed heavy machine guns for sustained firepower, grenades, claymore mines, and the like.
"They're exceedingly cunning. They'll use other humans to set traps, in fact. And if you happen to see any carrying staves, or any that look different from the common ones, stay on guard."
To eliminate the creatures quickly, we decided to head out tomorrow rather than today, now that it was already dark. A day passed, and before the sun had fully risen, we had the helicopter touch down near the entrance instead of at the relay station to minimize noise, and everyone disembarked. I gave the group one more warning.
"Their spears and blades are coated with secretions or poison. With hospitals in the state they're in now, getting cut or stabbed carries a severe risk of infection, so be careful. And watch out for their rock slings, too. Catch a solid hit and it'll crack a human skull like a watermelon."
Since ancient times, a sling flinging rocks has been a devastating weapon. Just imagine a palm-sized stone cracking your skull at over 100 kilometers per hour. Truly horrific. There's a reason David took down Goliath with a single stone.
We'd already donned the extremely heavy gear riot police use for suppressing protests, precisely to protect against their slingshots. Naturally, even with that kind of protection, a direct hit packed enough force to break bones.
"And their sense of smell is extremely keen. If you find their lair, don't just blindly assault it. Confirm whether there are hostages first, then set a fire. The smoke will force them out."
One by one, I met the eyes of the special mission agents and the soldiers. I saw them swallow and nod.
"Then we move out."
For the fighting force, I took only the special mission agents, who were accustomed to this sort of operation. The other soldiers formed a perimeter around the base to eliminate any creatures that might slip out during the initial stage.
"Brother, but goblins—you said they're only about the size of a child. Are they really that dangerous?"
"Imagine a child that size throwing a fist-sized rock at over 100 kilometers per hour."
"..."
"Obviously they're dangerous at range, but their stone spears and axes are also smeared all over with their own filth, so the infection risk is enormous. And, fittingly for how they look, their sense of smell is excellent—they'll wound prey and then track it until it dies of blood loss."
"Sihu, but... weirdly, it sort of feels like you have a personal grudge against them...?"
There was no way I couldn't have a personal grudge. When I'd first fallen onto Titan and before I'd grown strong, I'd spent days and nights unable to sleep, just running so those things wouldn't catch me. Afterward, once I grew powerful, I reached the point where if I so much as saw a goblin or an orc anywhere in the world, I'd snap bolt upright even in my sleep.
"Those little bastards made my early days hell..."
Chatting about trivial things, we began our ascent, and before long, we found traces of them.
"Shh."
Around a valley where a stream ran, there were signs the creatures had eaten. Judging by the half-eaten remains and the teeth marks, the carcasses definitely weren't human—they seemed to be living on roe deer, wild boar, water deer, and the like.
'Half-eaten carcasses left behind, and the embers haven't fully gone out yet... They can't be far.'
"They're nearby. Do one last thorough weapons check. I'm not picking up any presence close by, but they usually lie hidden and ambush."
The group got down to business, checking chambers and magazines and fitting their suppressors.
'So... goblins, or orcs...?'
Hidden in the brush, we waited roughly twenty minutes, and then orcs and goblins came into view in the distance, walking together. Everybody tensed at the sight. I whispered quietly.
"Jia, snipe the orc. Agents, kill the goblins. Their vitals match a human's."
Something nagged at me slightly, but I forcibly pushed it aside and focused on the present. I looked at the team, all ready, raised my hand, and then—the moment the creatures were fully absorbed in eating again—I slashed it downward.
—Pshoooot!
—Pshoot! Pshoot! Pshoot!
The sound of an arrow in flight and the suppressed crack of gunfire overlapped. The arrow punched clean through the orc's skull, and the bullets peppered the goblins' heads and hearts. The creatures crumpled without so much as a death cry.
The intermittent twitching of the last one finally subsided. Once they were all dead, we approached the corpses cautiously and examined them.
"These ones have definitely hunted humans before. They're wearing trinkets that people used to wear."
Their bodies were so large that they wore human necklaces like bracelets, but these were unmistakably creatures that had hunted humans. At that moment, the Special Forces Commander asked me,
"I don't know much about these things, but even looking at primitive tribes—don't higher-ranking individuals usually wear the ornaments?"
"Among these creatures, the ones who go out to hunt themselves are actually considered brave warriors, placing them higher in rank than ordinary specimens."
Their weapons... They weren't just stone; they were worked from iron. This wasn't some sudden crossing-over event—they'd come fully armed.
'Could it be... they've produced a leader?'
"Everyone, stay sharp. If it turns out there's a commander-type entity leading these things, the moment you see it, you need to run."
"If it warrants a warning from you, Mr. Sihu, is this thing unimaginably powerful?"
"It's a specimen that has, in Titan's terms, reached Master. Put simply, think of it as an evolved form. You won't need me to point it out—there'll be an entity that looks unmistakably like a chieftain. The one with the flashier ornaments and higher-quality weaponry."
The group continued searching along the stream that ran through the valley. We found a small waterfall where the water began, and beside it was a cave of decent size. We decided to send the drone in first.
Because of the risk of detection, we accelerated the drone instantly.
—Fwoooooosh!!!
Noise filled the tablet screen as if something had struck it, and the display cut out.
"Looks like it was attacked..."
"No—slow the playback down as much as possible. Can you replay it?"
"Yes, give me a moment."
We slowed the playback way, way down, and just before the drone was destroyed, a faint solid line appeared ahead of it. The moment the drone hit it, threads shot out from all directions at tremendous speed and shredded it to pieces.
"This... looks like a trap using wires. Let's wait a moment—once the commotion dies down, we'll approach cautiously."
Drawn by the noise from the trap triggering, goblins gathered, chattered among themselves for a while, then picked up the drone's wreckage and disappeared deeper inside. I looked at the group and laid out two options.
"One is to start a fire here and deal with them as they come pouring out."
"Isn't that the simplest approach?"
"It's only a viable operation on the assumption that there are no survivors inside. If any happen to be in there, they face the risk of suffocating to death from the smoke."
"What about creating a diversion with noise, like we just did?"
"In that case, we might have orcs come running toward the sound as well."
We exchanged opinions and kept deliberating for a while. The method we eventually settled on was, in the end, to use noise. We would set claymores and mines ahead of us to prepare for orcs, covering every approach except the path we'd come up. And we decided to lob grenades to make the noise.
"One, two, three! Throw!!!"
Because there was a risk of collapsing the entrance, we threw from a slight distance.
—Boom! Crash! Crash!!
From inside the cave came the echoing stamp of countless footsteps, and then the things came swarming out.
—Kkieek! Kieek!
"Open fire, all!"
—Pshyoot! Pshyoo-shyoo-shyoot! Pshyook!
We mopped up every single goblin that emerged at the sound, and the group took a breather.
'Every one of them is an unevolved specimen. Where's the entity that was leading these things?'
"These are just common specimens. I'd say the higher-ranking ones are likely somewhere else."
Speaking that thought aloud, we advanced carefully inside, staying vigilant for any that might still remain deeper in the cave. Inside were ornaments, people's clothing, food brought back from hunts, and various other goods. And when we reached the deepest chamber, we found the people who'd been kidnapped. Every one of them had the dead, hollow look of extinguished eyes. I could also see several women with visibly swollen bellies.
—Krshhhhh...
"Survivors found... But their condition..."
"The creatures that were here seem to be the ones who managed food supplies and prisoners. For now, we need to get these survivors out."
One by one, we helped the survivors walk, bringing them all the way to the helicopter's position. And we decided to resume the search for the creatures' main stronghold tomorrow. Once back, we held a short meeting, and the President was the first to ask me,
"Hoo... regarding the women whose stomachs were distended..."
"Yes. They're carrying the offspring of orcs or goblins."
"Those people... what are we supposed to... No, what can we do for them...?"
"Is there a doctor here who can perform an abortion...?"
"We do have an obstetrician who mainly handles pregnancy and delivery..."
"Bring them, please. And if there's a psychiatrist as well, I'd like to request them."