78
Chapter 78
Now.
In every race, there are individuals known as 'mutants.'
A mutant. An individual in whom a new trait appears and is inherited, one that was not present in the parents' lineage. There are cases where they are physically deformed, having an extra arm compared to others of their kind, or possessing more of a certain body part from birth.
Alternatively, there may be issues with their intellectual capacity. Whether it is superior or inferior. More often than not, it is the latter.
Mutants exist in every species. Humans, elves, dragons, demons, dwarves, and so on. Naturally, mutants exist among 'monsters' as well. Monsters are, after all, living beings. They are simply more ferocious and savage than other species.
And, right here.
There exists a mutant of a certain wretched race, often called the most 'inferior' beings across the Continent and the Demon Realm.
Sssrip-.
"Chiric, what are you doing?"
"Chiriric, chiric."
Dwarfs surrounding a shredded wild boar, tearing into it with filthy hands. Their skin is a deeper green than the natural light green of nature, and their necks are leaned far forward, like turtles.
Goblins. Their innate leg strength and agility aren't bad, but due to their severely lacking intelligence and minds consumed by desire, they are categorized as one of the lowest ranks among all monsters.
They generally live in groups and are skilled in the shadows of mountains and the use of poisons. Deep within their hearts, they harbor intense greed and sexual lust for females.
An individual goblin's strength is pitifully weak. They have a stunted height that would be like a thirteen-year-old human and protruding bellies since the concept of training doesn't exist. If they didn't possess the instinct for group living, the goblin race would surely have faced extinction.
Of course, goblins were unaware of their own lowliness and deficiencies. This lack of awareness hindered their progress.
"Chiric."
"Chiric?"
"Idiots, morons, fools. Chiric."
"Chiric!? Did you just insult me!?"
"It was a compliment."
"...Compliment? Chiric! I feel great! This boar is delicious!"
'Calling you guys idiots is a waste of words. You pathetic losers.'
There is one goblin who is slightly taller than the others.
His neck is centered like a human's, and distinct abs are settled on his stomach. His green skin flaunts undulating muscles.
While all other goblins are feasting on the boar they hunted, this goblin alone is focused on tempering his body. He lies prone on the ground, pushing himself up with his palms in push-ups, or lies on his back and performs sit-ups.
The goblins wonder at the mutant's behavior, but they don't bother trying to stop him. The more the mutant goblin starves, the larger their own share becomes. They simply treat him as an eccentric.
'Idiots. You've seen humans roasting meat over fire in the forests of the continent, so why do you eat it raw? It's much tougher and tastes worse.'
Sweating profusely, the mutant glared at his kin with eyes full of pity.
Goblins' teeth are sharper than humans', but they aren't on par with most beasts of prey. There are even some goblins who scream that their teeth are loose while trying to tear through the hide of a dead boar.
However, not a single goblin. Not even the one called the 'Chief.'
Could conceive the idea of improvement. Except for one: the mutant goblin.
'If they just think about surviving day by day like that, they'll all die if a monster like an ogre appears! Why don't they think about increasing their strength!'
Goblins were inferior and crude. The mutant was deeply dissatisfied with that fact.
Why don't they train?
They clearly have the will to live, so why are they so preoccupied with satisfying their urges?
No, more importantly, why tie one's life to such desires? What makes that so important?
In the past, the mutant goblin had experienced the massacre of his kin.
When he lived in the forests of the continent. Humans, known as the 'Subjugation Squad,' had once passed near the goblin pack.
The mutant goblin was young at the time, but he could tell the moment he saw them. Humans clad in iron armor sitting atop large horses; they were not on the level of the prey they usually hunted. An intuition screamed in his head that he had to flee immediately.
However, the other goblins seemed to think differently. Seeing the beauty of the female knight leading the order, they rushed forward without a second thought.
The result was gruesome. Whenever the sword of the female knight, who seemed to them only as an object for satisfying lust, flashed, blood rained down in torrents. The goblins' struggles were too small, too weak, and too helpless. The humans' horses' hooves crushed the goblins' skulls. Clumps of spilled intestines soaked the ground.
Fleeing with all his might from that horrific scene, the mutant goblin could not hide his doubt.
'Why don't they know how to run away until they die?'
'Why are they so stupid, crude, and inferior?'
'Normally, a human's martial power isn't much different from a goblin's. Then why are those humans so strong?'
'Is that simply a difference in intelligence—?'
'Or... is it because of the one who created us...?'
Thump-.
The sound of quiet footsteps was heard. The mutant goblin's train of thought came to a halt.
Sniff, sniff. The mutant goblin wasn't the only one. Catching the scent of outsiders on the wind, the heads of the other goblins turned in unison. In their line of sight, a group of humans stood firmly.
"Chiric!? Humans! It's humans!"
"Chiruruk! Chiric!"
"Why are humans here... chiruk. They have weapons."
The goblins were quite flustered, but they quickly took their battle stances. As a race created to be suited for the wild from birth, the goblins gripped their hand axes and glared at the human party.
"Go, goblins! What do we do? Claire?"
"...What do you mean 'what do we do'? We fight. Goblins are beasts of slumber too."
"Claire, be careful. No matter if they're just goblins... you never know what the goblins of the Demon Beast Forest are like."
"Hmph! I don't see any Hobgoblins here!"
"Mr. Great Warrior, please don't get hurt. You get injured in every single battle, so I can never relax!"
"So what! Every time my body is torn apart, the Priest heals me!"
"...My holy power isn't infinite, you know."
There were five humans in total. A boy with flowing blonde hair standing at the front was particularly striking.
"Chiruk, something is off."
"Chiruruk? You hurry up and grab your axe too!"
"We have to be careful. Especially that boy with the sword. His stance is solid."
"Chirururuk! What nonsense are you talking about!"
Unlike the other goblins who were growling and burning with fighting spirit, the mutant goblin swallowed hard. Even though they were facing dozens of goblins, the humans were far too composed.
It was as if they were looking down on them. The chilling part was that the aura surrounding the human party made such condescension seem entirely justified.
"Chiruruk! Charge!"
One goblin shouted as he rushed forward. It was the cry that signaled the start of the battle.
Dozens of goblins began to sprint toward the humans in a swarm. The mutant goblin was a bit late, but he hurriedly grabbed his stone axe and joined the rear ranks.
Ultimately, goblins are a race that only becomes strong when living in a group. No matter how much he trained, the limit of an individual goblin's power was clear. Knowing this well, the mutant raised his stone axe and attempted to ambush the human party.
Until the blonde boy thrust his sword forward—.
Slash-.
The sound of flesh being sliced echoed through the air.
Following that was the merciless, fishy scent of blood.
Suddenly, goosebumps erupted across the mutant goblin's neck.
By the time he snapped back to his senses, dozens of his kin had already been swept away in a single strike.
"Chi, chiric...!"
Vroom-.
"Don't step in."
"Claire?"
"This much is enough for me to handle alone."
When his kin had attacked the humans known as the 'Subjugation Squad,' the mutant goblin had witnessed a surreal sight for the first time in his life.
The overwhelming sight of a light aura rising from the raised blade of a female knight.
Right now, that miracle was being recreated by Hero Claire's sword.
"Chiriric! Wha, what is this!"
"Chirururuk!"
"You wicked magical beasts! Perish effortlessly before the sword that brings the light!"
The hero's sword fell like a bolt of lightning. Slashes that soared to the edge of the sky crashed into the gathered group of goblins. The trail of the sword mercilessly split the goblins' flesh and blood in half. Once again, dozens of goblins breathed their last without even a single scream.
"Chi, chiruk..."
The mutant's hand trembled violently. An unreachable, overwhelming power was annihilating everything around him.
"Chirurururuk!"
"Kyaaaaak!"
"Where do you think you're running! In this world, there is no place for a hideous race like yours to set foot!"
Crunch-!
Thuck-!
It wasn't just the mutant. The rain of sword strikes from the human boy was no different from a natural disaster to the goblins, and the race that knew nothing but battle slowly lost their will to fight.
"St-stop...!"
Crunch-!
The mutant goblin looked down on the other goblins, but that didn't mean he didn't care for them. The bond formed from sharing meals, sleeping, and living together was not small.
Now, those goblins were being brutally torn apart. A groan escaped the mutant's green lips.
Slash-!
"Die, all of you! You wicked goblin bastards!"
"Chiruruk! Th-that human is strange!"
"Kieeeeeek!"
The screams of his kin filled the air. The mutant goblin tried desperately to find a glimmer of hope, but none was to be found anywhere.
"Fiamma! Block their retreat!"
Whoosh-!
As the girl holding the staff shouted sharply, flames erupted from the ground. It was absurd. How could fire suddenly appear from empty ground?
Yet, that was the reality. Intense heat and blazing flames surrounded the goblins. Blocked from escaping, the goblins panicked and scrambled in confusion.
The place where the tribe had been eating and chatting just moments ago had instantly become a sea of fire.
Meanwhile, the hero's sword moved without pause. It severed lives, ranging from a few to dozens in a single swing.
Chaos, panic, and carnage. Every goblin had already dropped their stone axe, desperate only to flee from the hero. The mutant goblin was the only one still clutching his stone axe while trembling, but he too had lost his will to fight.
Splash-!
A spray of crimson blood erupted. The blood of kin he had eaten and hunted with until just now stained the mutant goblin's face.
In that moment, something snapped in the mutant goblin's brain.
"Chiiiiik!!"
If he stayed like this, he would die. Like the hundreds of kin who had already breathed their last, he would meet a futile end.
Ttap-ttap-ttap-ttap-!
The goblin charged forward with a scream, holding his stone axe high above his head. His target was the blonde boy with the sword. Before that boy could retract his blade, he had to bury the stone axe into his skull. It was his only chance at survival.
However, contrary to his hopes, the difference in power was extreme.
Thwack-!
"Kiek!"
"You pest! How dare you!"
The blonde boy's foot kicked the mutant in the abdomen. Despite all his training and the daily sit-ups he never missed, the intense impact rattled his entire body.
In pain that choked the breath from his lungs, the mutant collapsed helplessly.
Stomp-!
The hero's foot crushed the mutant's chest. A pressure like a falling boulder poured down upon him.
Sring-.
"Die, goblin."
"Chiiiiik...!"
The sharp blade entered the goblin's field of vision. Death. That short word settled heavily upon him.
He was going to die.
When that sword fell, he would die.
Unable to move with his chest pinned down, the goblin screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Why!!"
"Hm?"
"Why are you doing this to us! Chiric!"
"What on earth are you talking about?"
"We never attacked you! Why are you suddenly attacking us!! Chiruk!"
He was going to die once that sword fell anyway.
The goblin had nothing to lose and nowhere to retreat.
"It's not like you're hunting us for food! You humans don't eat things like us! It's not like you're going to ravish us either!!"
"This one... his ability to speak...?"
"Why! Chiruk! Why are you hunting us!! For no reason at all!!"
The humans' gazes converged on him. It was the kind of look one gives a curious monkey in a zoo cage.
"Ugh, huh! Chiruk!"
Raindrops began to fall from the mutant goblin's eyes. It was a rain formed by the physical manifestation of deep resentment.
Looking down at him, Hero Claire answered the goblin's desperate plea with a frigid voice.
"Does a human need a reason to kill a goblin?"
"...!"
"You are not beasts. You are monsters. Monsters that humans are meant to slay. It is a matter of duty to exterminate you on sight and a virtue to leave not a single one alive."
"Chi, chiruk...!"
Thud, thud-.
The goblin's fists struck the ground.
"How... unfair...!"
"...You are a curious one."
"Why... why did you make us like this...!"
He didn't choose to be low.
He didn't choose to be inferior.
He was simply born this way.
If he hadn't been a mutant, he probably wouldn't have even felt this kind of resentment, just like countless other kin.
"Chiruk, chirururuk!"
"Chiiik! Chik!"
He would have stayed with those fools, sweating and pondering amidst the walls of fire.
"Who is there to blame? The Lord God created you as such."
"...! Lord God! Lord God!!"
"Do not let the Lord's name pass through your filthy mouth."
"What did we do so wrong!! Living in this forest, we didn't even encounter a single human!!"
"You pest."
Despite the hero's warning, the mutant's resentment showed no sign of ending.
Since he was going to die soon anyway.
He intended to vent every bit of the resentment he had harbored in his heart.
"I was like this from birth! The Lord God! That damn god!! That's how he made us!! He made it so our reason would inevitably crumble before Greed!!"
"Were we creatures that shouldn't have existed from the start!? Then you shouldn't have made us at all! We can think too! We have friends, and we have family! We aren't just vermin to be used as targets for slaughter, ignoring the laws of nature just because humans happen to see us!!"
"We laugh when we're happy! Sometimes we all dance together! We throw parties when a big hunt is successful! We get angry when our kin die! And we feel sadness when a companion grows old and passes away!"
"If you made us like that...! You should have at least given us the right to live! You gave those humans the ability to gain power through training and knowledge through study!! Why do we have nothing!! No matter how many years pass, there is no progress! No matter how much we train, we gain no power other than a bit of muscle!!"
"Why! Why! How is it that we ended up like this!! To be designated as the 'lowest monster' from birth, and to never escape that inferiority no matter how hard we try...! To be born into such a hopeless race...!"
"It's... it's too cruel...!!"
The streaming tears gradually soaked into the ground. Hero Claire gazed down at the goblin.
"Is your lament finished?"
"Hic, ugh, uuh...!"
"You're a very peculiar goblin. Your speech is remarkably fluent... The Tower of Magic would have loved you."
Sring-!
With those words calmly spoken, the hero swung the sword that had been hovering above the mutant goblin's head.
The goblin squeezed his eyes shut. Tears surged from between his eyelids.
Clink-.
However, the sword did not plunge into the goblin's forehead.
It was stopped just before slicing the flesh by a white glove.
"To think such a genius was buried in his previous life. Truly, destiny is far too merciless, wouldn't you say? No matter how harsh fate is supposed to be."
"...! Who the hell are you!"
"Chik...?"
"Hey! Smart goblin!"
Appearing in the blink of an eye, a white mask shouted, occupying the goblin's vision while gripping the hero's blade.
"You have the qualities to become a 'God'!"