“Wow, there’s so many of them!” Misuzu gasped, her voice filled with awe.
“You’re right, it’s incredible,” I agreed.
We had managed to wipe out all but one of the Goblin Riders. That lone survivor had returned to report to their settlement, summoning the Goblin Army. The force that arrived was a company-sized unit of 102 Goblins.
Two Generals led squads of 50 each, splitting into two groups that now glared at us. Through the heat haze rising from the savanna, they looked almost unreal—a grotesque army emerging from a mirage. The sight of a herd of wildebeest moving nearby added an absurd touch to the scene.
“So we’re supposed to face these guys head-on, right?” I asked, seeking confirmation.
Evie nodded. “That’s right. If we can’t defeat them in a direct confrontation, we shouldn’t even think about challenging the Goblin Emperor. Apparently, that single Emperor is stronger than this entire army combined.”
It seemed that using tactics like the 【Lava】 magic circle we had employed in the settlement or relying on sneak attacks wasn’t an option. If we had to resort to such methods, it would mean we weren’t ready to face the Goblin Emperor.
After all, hitting the Emperor with a 【Lava】 spell would be nearly impossible, and it wasn’t very effective against a single target anyway. Sneak attacks from explorers below level 16 would likely have no effect on the Emperor.
So how were we supposed to win? The answer was simple: we couldn’t. It was what you’d call an impossible game. But if we could make the impossible possible, we might have a chance to become high-level explorers.
The difficulty was mind-boggling, considering we were still only on the third floor. According to Yonezaki’s information, reaching level 1000 would make you a demigod, but the path to godhood was clearly no easy feat.
“Let’s go,” I said, steeling myself.
“Okay,” the others responded in unison.
I started running slowly. My body, strengthened by leveling up, moved faster than an average person’s full sprint even at this relaxed pace. We quickly closed the 500-meter gap between us and the enemy. Lean matched my pace beside me.
Twenty Soldiers, twenty Mages, ten Riders, and one General. Fifty-one in total, times two squads. When we first descended to the third floor at level 7, I thought we had no chance against them. Now our levels had doubled.
“Yuuta,” Evie called out from atop Rai, “I want you and Lean to completely dominate them. Be so overwhelming that the Goblins don’t even have time to bother with Misuzu or me.”
“My Lean has grown stronger,” she continued. “I want you to see that for yourself, Yuuta.”
“Understood,” I replied. “I’ll take point. Lean, make sure to support me well.”
“I know,” Lean asserted. “That’s what I’m best at. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do, and that’s why my body became like this.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked, puzzled.
“They’re here. I’m falling back,” Evie interrupted.
The first volley of arrows from the Goblin Riders came straight at us. Their trajectory was unnaturally straight, more like bullets than arrows. Lean’s Blue Bar expanded, deflecting all the arrows before I even had to dodge.
The Rider unit then shifted their aim to Evie, who had fallen back. More arrows flew.
“【Water Screen】,” Evie chanted. A membrane of water formed between her and the arrows. This new spell of hers created a water barrier as tall as herself. The screen, its strength dependent on Evie’s magical power, shattered the bullet-like arrows on impact.
The Rider unit then turned their attention to Misuzu.
“I see, they’re probing our defenses,” I observed.
Arrows were released in quick succession towards Misuzu, but she was too far away. She easily dodged the Riders’ attacks and retaliated, her arrows piercing through the Riders’ heads one after another.
Taking down Riders without relying on surprise attacks—Misuzu’s face beamed with pride.
“【Color Change】!” Misuzu called out.
Misuzu had also developed a new skill. Her arrows could now blend with the surroundings like a chameleon, becoming invisible to the naked eye. It’s amazing how a single new skill can suddenly enable you to do things you couldn’t before. That’s how powerful this skill was.
“Good, Misuzu can handle herself too,” I thought with satisfaction.
Even without rainbow capsules, Misuzu had been leveling up under harsh conditions. She was far from becoming a liability. Since acquiring the 【Color Change】 skill, she’d become capable of consistently taking down Goblins on the third floor.
Even when providing support fire from the watchtower in the settlement, her 【Color Change】 skill was rarely broken. Our leveling strategy hadn’t been wrong. We were stronger than the average party.
Just as I was thinking this, a General’s roar thundered across the savanna.
“GOAAAAR!!!”
The moment the General bellowed, the acacia trees seemed to shudder in fear, and the Rider unit’s movement changed. They ignored Evie and me completely, all of them charging towards Misuzu.
“Goa,” the General commanded again.
This time, the main Goblin force split in two. The Soldier and Mage units led by the General rushed towards Evie, who had been following a bit behind. Naturally, Evie tried to distance herself.
“What are they planning?” I wondered aloud.
Strategically, it shouldn’t matter if they separated Evie, given that Lean and I were still here. With Rai’s speed, Evie could easily outrun the infantry units. And Misuzu wouldn’t lose to the Rider unit at this point.
With 【Color Change】 and 【Precision Double Shot】, Misuzu could pick off the Riders before they reached her. Indeed, I could see the number of Riders charging towards Misuzu rapidly diminishing.
“Did they make a mistake in their orders? Huh? Was that herd of wildebeest there before?”
Without me noticing, the herd of wildebeest we’d seen earlier had moved behind Misuzu.
“Gau!” Rai seemed to say something to Evie. Suddenly, Evie changed direction, running towards Misuzu instead of away from the Goblin infantry.
“GOAGAAA!” The General roared once more.
Simultaneously, 20 more Riders suddenly appeared from the grasslands, also heading straight for Misuzu. The distance between Misuzu and the Riders was less than 10 meters now.
“Heh, clever. They used the wildebeest herd as cover to get close?”
It felt like we were up against a human army. Evie was trying to rush to help, but the infantry led by the General was moving to cut her off.
“That won’t work. Evie! 【Teleport Summon】!” I shouted.
We’d practiced this enough that Evie understood immediately. Lean vanished from my side and appeared next to Evie. Evie looked displeased.
“Yuuta always comes up with strategies that put himself in danger!” I could almost hear her thinking.
“Evie’s right. If Yuuta dies, it’s game over for all of us. We need to support each other more,” Misuzu’s voice echoed in my mind.
Misuzu looked surprised to see Lean, who had been far away just moments ago, now right in front of her with Evie.
“Mainly for Misuzu, Blue Ranger Lean has come to help!” Lean announced. “Yuuta’s over there! Lean’s here!”
Lean was no longer fixated on the halberd form. Whether it was a sword, knife, or even a thread-like shape, anything that could efficiently take heads seemed to work for her now.
“Haha, amazing, Lean!” I exclaimed.
As Lean decapitated the first Rider with her sword, her Blue Bar simultaneously wrapped around the lion’s neck like a thread, strangling and dropping it. Misuzu and Evie nodded at me, signaling they were okay.
“Yuuta, do you think I’m so weak that I’m a burden? Have more faith in me. Otherwise, you’ll just keep getting stronger on your own,” Misuzu’s thoughts reached me.
“I have no choice but to believe in you now,” I replied.
The infantry unit led by the General was approaching me.
“【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!”
Fireballs from the Mages flew towards me as the Soldiers tried to surround me. They launched slashing attacks almost simultaneously with the fireballs. I dodged the fireballs while cutting off one Soldier’s arm, then used 【Acceleration】 to retreat before being completely surrounded.
However, another Soldier was already waiting behind me, swinging down. They attacked from the left and right as well, the moment I stopped moving.
Twenty fireballs from twenty Mages.
“【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!”
“【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!”
“【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!”
“【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!”
They all struck at once.
The sky was engulfed in flames like a carpet bombing. Under the General’s orders, were the Mages trying to kill me along with their own Soldiers?
“They’re going this far?” I muttered in disbelief.
They have a sense of camaraderie and get angry when their comrades are killed. Yet, when it comes to killing humans, they’re willing to sacrifice their own. Monsters are said to have no fear of death. Even if I wanted to retreat, they had already surrounded me from behind.
I charged forward without stopping. If all the incoming fireballs hit me at once, I’d die. I slashed the Soldier in front of me, but there were Soldiers to my left and right as well.
“【Serpentine Strike】!”
I could use 【Serpentine Triple Strike】, but I wanted to conserve SP. A slashing attack that changed trajectory like a snake avoided the great sword of the Soldier on the left, finding a gap in his armor and slicing open his stomach. Intestines spilled out. I launched another 【Serpentine Strike】 at the Soldier on the right, but then—
“Goa,” the General issued another command.
“Gya!”
Suddenly, the Soldier on the right tried to embrace me, even as I cut off his arm.
“Huh?!”
Why was he trying to hug me? Was he gay? No—the fireballs raining down. I see. He wanted me to take the hit with him! If he managed to grab me, it would be over. I cut off his other arm before he could embrace me.
Another one tried to grab me from the left, so I cut off his head too.
Then, the twenty fireballs that had been launched to cover the sky—
“【Stone Wall】!” I shouted.
I created a wall to cover my body. 【Stone Wall】 couldn’t withstand blows from Soldier-class enemies, but it was strong against the Mages’ fireballs. I could endure this.
“Alright,” I thought confidently.
The inferno engulfed everything around me, including the nearby Soldiers. Protected by the stone wall, I thought I was safe. Only your comrades will die, I believed.
“Goa,” the General issued another command in their incomprehensible language. Then—
“【Gya】!”
I recognized that sound. It was probably the skill 【Great Strength】.
“No way,” I muttered.
Unable to see outside, I was gripped by anxiety. I felt something strike the stone wall with tremendous force. The wall, unable to withstand it, crumbled easily.
“Impossible?!”
In an instant, fire and heat rushed into the space where the stone wall had been. My entire body felt like it was burning. It was beyond pain, beyond heat. A Soldier, his whole body aflame, appeared before me. Even as he burned, he tried to embrace me.
“GYAAAAAAAH!”
“I don’t need that kind of hug!” I shouted, enduring the burning pain as I sliced through the Soldier’s skull. Realizing I’d only be cornered if I stayed inside, I left the stone wall.
“Goa!” the General bellowed.
“【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!”
“【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!”
“【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!”
“【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!” “【Gya】!”
Immediately, a second wave of fireballs flew towards me. There wasn’t even a second before they would all hit. The Soldiers were arranged in two layers – those attacking me and those waiting outside – ready to destroy any 【Stone Wall】 I might cast.
“Haha,” I laughed nervously.
They moved in perfect unison, without fear of death. It was so absurd that a strange laugh escaped me. The Goblin Army in perfect formation. Were they this troublesome just under a General’s command? Using 【Stone Wall】 in this situation would be even more dangerous.
“I have no choice but to push forward!” I realized.
Strangely, I could still move. It was odd that I wasn’t burning up like the Soldiers. There was no time to think. If I stopped for even a moment, I’d be charred to a crisp. So I didn’t stop.
Careful not to let 【Acceleration】 wear off, I unleashed 【Serpentine Strike】 after 【Serpentine Strike】, turning Soldiers into corpses one after another.
The fireballs hit.
I didn’t take all of them, but three hit me directly. The pain of my flesh burning was intense. I was definitely taking damage. No, was it disappearing quickly? Looking for the cause, I saw the flames gathering on Mikamaru’s breastplate and gauntlets as if being absorbed.
I see. Mikamaru. It was you. Is Mikamaru’s fire resistance this strong? Still, I only had the breastplate and gauntlets equipped as per the quest conditions. The flames that couldn’t be completely blocked slowed my movements.
“Goa,” came the General’s command. I braced myself, cornered as I was by these voices.
“What are you planning next?” I muttered.
But no attack came. Instead, the Soldiers surrounding me backed away.
“?”
Had they given up? If they had continued that attack four or five more times, I likely would have died. It was only thanks to Mikamaru’s breastplate and gauntlets that I had avoided a fatal wound.
My whole body was hot and in pain. My legs, unprotected by Mikamaru, were severely burned. I looked for a chance to drink a potion, but quickly realized it was impossible. Two Generals stepped forward before me.
Their 3-meter tall bodies looked down on me. Were these two my next opponents?
“But that’s good. At least no General went after Misuzu and the others,” I thought with relief.
With two Generals here, it meant the Goblin Army over there had no one commanding them.
“No,” I corrected myself, feeling something was off. There should have been a General with the army that went after Misuzu earlier. These guys were going all out to kill us. They wouldn’t move a unit without anyone in command.
When I turned around, I saw a General with Misuzu’s group too. Its large body was easily recognizable.
“【Goa】!” “【Goa】!”
In the instant I looked away, the Generals closed the distance to zero. They launched a simultaneous double attack.
I leaped back to avoid it.
“Three Generals?” I wondered aloud.
There weren’t always just two Generals. Depending on the region, there could be three. If they were kidnapping humans to increase their numbers, there could be even more.
“Did one of the Generals hide from us? You guys go that far?”
My movements were slowed by the burns. They cornered me with sheer numbers. And when they judged I had taken enough damage, two Generals came forward to finish me off.
“I see. So you don’t sacrifice your comrades unnecessarily after all,” I realized.
I had thought they would kill me even if it meant Soldiers dying without emotion. But it seemed they did have some sense of camaraderie.
“What are you guys, really? Where did you come from?” I asked, panting.
“Goa,” one of the Generals responded, seeming amused. They were enjoying how I had fallen right into their strategy.
“Laugh if you want. But I’ll tell you this isn’t just sour grapes – I did this on purpose. To see if we could fight your boss—”
“【GOA】!”
The General didn’t wait patiently for me to finish speaking. It charged in with its blade. I barely managed to dodge the first strike by jumping backward. But the other General was waiting at my landing spot, great sword at the ready.
“【GOA】!”
It shouted the skill name as it swung its great sword down at me. My body ached from the burns. Knowing this was the perfect moment to strike the weakened me, the General didn’t forget to use the 【Double Strike】 skill.
Even if I could block that 【Double Strike】, another one would follow immediately. When they attacked simultaneously, I couldn’t dodge completely, and my stomach was sliced. The Generals didn’t stop. Like a storm, they unleashed powerful attacks one after another, taking full advantage of their 3-meter tall bodies.
Were Misuzu and the others safe?
I was worried about Misuzu, Evie, Rai, and Lean. Lean had never beaten a General before. Her movements were unpredictable and could confuse a General, but she was quite light. She couldn’t inflict fatal wounds on a General. I was concerned they might be even more cornered than I was. But I didn’t have time to look their way.
“Damn it!”
“100% impossible,” I remembered the quest description for the Emperor.
I understood all too well now why it was described that way. If the Emperor was even stronger than all of these, I couldn’t even imagine how powerful he must be.
“【GOA】!”
I needed to kill these quickly and go help Misuzu and the others. But their coordinated attacks left me no opening. I could handle them one-on-one, but against two, I was constantly on the defensive.
“If only there was one…”
Could I create such a situation somehow? I thought hard. Two becoming one. Two becoming one. It was a difficult problem. There was no way two Generals would become one. But I kept thinking… and then it hit me.
“Arm! Don’t fall off!” I silently pleaded to my own limb.
As a General launched a 【Double Strike】, I raised the arm that had been burned by the Mages earlier. It could still move thanks to Mikamaru’s gauntlets. I pulled out a thick iron shield from my magic bag, one designed purely for defense.
“My arm hurts from the burns! It’s going to come off!” I shouted, as if trying to mask my own pain.
It was just a thick iron plate with a handle, something Kunimaru-san had introduced as emergency equipment.
“This can be surprisingly useful. If you have a magic bag, it doesn’t take up an equipment slot, so there’s no harm in keeping it,” I remembered him saying.
To be honest, it hadn’t been useful at all until now. This crude shield, just an iron plate with a handle. With this shield, I caught the simultaneous 【Double Strike】 from both Generals. My arm made a sickening crack as it resisted the Generals’ 【Great Strength】.
“It’s broken!” I yelled.
My arm bent in an unnatural direction, overpowered by the two Generals. It was bending where it shouldn’t bend. Moreover, the Generals’ great swords had cut through even the thick iron plate, half-severing my arm. But it had stopped their attack.
The great swords of both Generals had stopped, unable to fully slice through the thick iron shield. I let go of the shield. As the Generals tried to pull their swords back, they ended up in a tug-of-war with each other.
Their great swords were so powerful that they had cut into the iron plate, but not completely through it. Through the iron plate, the two Generals had become one. Surprised by this unexpected situation, the Generals froze for a moment. They would regain their composure quickly, but—
This was my chance.
The two Generals immediately realized their predicament.
“GOAAAA!” they roared in unison.
It seemed they were ordering the Mages to shoot fireballs. Then they forcefully tried to tear apart the iron plate to free their swords.
“【Triple Serpentine Strike】!” I shouted.
I unleashed a horizontal slash. The Generals couldn’t block even one of my sword strikes. The head of one General split into three. The other General’s face showed regret for not completely severing my arm earlier.
Their important comrade had been killed. They were angry. They pulled back their great sword and charged at me. But with only one General left, I was no longer at a disadvantage. It seemed the Mages’ fireballs couldn’t risk killing their own General—only one was fired.
I easily dodged it.
“Goa…” the General’s face showed frustration, realizing defeat was imminent.
I unleashed another 【Serpentine Triple Strike】. The General tried to counter with 【Double Strike】, but after carefully blocking two of my slashes, the remaining one cut through its body.
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