I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 362: Strong Attack

A simple meeting concluded.Based on Shadow's rough estimation, the distant goblin-ruined town should be inhabited by nearly one thousand to two thousand goblins.

During Gauss's observation period, hunting parties returning from outside had been seen bringing fish and wild beasts back to the town.

It was apparent that this was a goblin tribe showing signs of socialization.

This also explained why they had set their sights on the dwarf Toga and captured her.

They needed more iron weapons, whether for combat or hunting.

It really felt like goblins were getting smarter.

Gauss rubbed his temples.

This goblin tribe before them was clearly not heavily connected to the various factions of the monster nation further south. On one hand, it was a matter of geographical factors; on the other, if they had received help from the monster nation, they should have mastered smithing and smelting techniques from them.

In other words, the tribe before them was most likely one that had spontaneously formed within this vast, boundless wilderness.

Then they slowly increased their numbers, expanded their scale, built their camp, until at a certain stage, their monster leader began to grow dissatisfied with merely plundering or acquiring ironware through other means, and decided to master their own forging technology.

This was clearly not something that happened frequently in the past. Otherwise, given the goblins' reproductive capacity, the frequency of human towns facing crises would have greatly increased.

The reason stability could be maintained was precisely because many goblins operated independently. Without external forces unifying them, it was often difficult for them to form a single large-scale, massive horde.

And now, that balance seemed to be breaking.

This was not good news for ordinary people.

Even though this place was far from towns and seemed unlikely to threaten humans in the short term, as the goblin tribe developed, they would inevitably extend their reach further, eventually setting their sights on villages and even towns.

This goblin tribe before them had to be eradicated.

Gauss thought silently to himself.

Unfortunately, they were too far from a water source. Otherwise, he could have used Control Water to create a flood and drown this town. Of course, that was assuming they found the target dwarf Toga first.

A Fireball exploding on the ground most likely wouldn't collapse the underground structures either. If the entrances got buried, killing the goblins inside would become even more troublesome.

Therefore, Gauss and the others planned to first capture the goblin scouts and sentries on the surface ruins, trying as much as possible not to alert the majority of goblins in the underground structures below.

This goblin tribe was quite vigilant.

They had set up lookout posts facing different directions on various high points. There were about fifty goblins responsible for reconnaissance on the surface, capable of detecting any movement immediately. Combined with the relatively open area outside the town ruins, ordinary adventurers would indeed find it very difficult to sneak up to the ruins silently.

"Shadow, Aria, let's begin the operation."

Gauss only brought along Shadow, who had better stealth capabilities, and Aria, who could transform into animals.

As for the conspicuous Serlandul and Albenia, they temporarily stayed behind. The four dwarves did the same. Although they were not tall, their builds were broad and thick, and their reactions weren't agile enough, making them unsuitable for joining the first wave of the stealth team.

Soon, Shadow transformed into a shadow, simultaneously enveloping Gauss within it.

Aria also transformed into a rather inconspicuous small gray mouse, scurrying with nimble little legs toward the direction of the ruins.

Within the broken ruins, few traces of civilization remained.

"Thud!"

Outside the crumbling walls and broken pillars, a goblin dug out a sharp, gleaming dagger from the collapsed rubble, raising it high above its head. The blade reflected bright light under the sun, stimulating it into excited cries.

Such a sharp, good knife was extremely rare even for ordinary goblins.

However, it didn't notice that its cries had attracted the attention of several nearby goblins.

Upon spotting the beautiful dagger in its hand, a murky gleam gradually shifted in their eyes, radiating a greedy desire.

They peered outward a couple of times. After confirming there was no unusual movement nearby, they nimbly jumped down a few steps from their elevated positions.

"Gah gah!"

They began reaching out to snatch the weapon from their companion's hand.

Just as they fell into conflict, a shadow, serpent-like, swiftly slithered across the ground.

And at a certain moment, several slender water threads suddenly drifted out from within the shadow.

"Swoosh!"

Following an extremely faint sound, a thin red circular line almost simultaneously appeared on the necks of these several goblins.

The seemingly insignificant slender water threads were lethal lines of death.

Two humanoid shadows deftly reached out to catch the heads about to hit the ground, then supported the headless corpses one by one, handing them over to Gauss to store in his Storage Bag.

Gauss and the others continuously replicated similar "lure traps," or had Aria transform into a delicious "prey" to draw goblins away from their posts, killing them and cleaning up the scene.

Their movements were swift.

The reconnaissance force on the ruins rapidly diminished.

Right up until the last sentry was killed, no accidents occurred.

The goblin scouts might have been taught by their leader how to stand guard, but one shouldn't overestimate the professional integrity of these green-skinned security guards. The greed etched into their bones made this simple strategy work every single time.

Seeing a crow return to deliver the message.

Serlandul and the others in the distance knew that Gauss and his team had cleared out the peripheral scouts on the surface.

They quietly made their way over to them one by one.

"Next, we go down to find Toga?"

Bruno looked at Gauss.

"Not so fast."

Gauss absorbed the last trace of goblin spiritual energy.

Perhaps because he had absorbed too much goblin spiritual energy, the Clay Goblins he created now could almost achieve a lifelike, indistinguishable effect in appearance, even simulating that foul stench.

Apart from being unable to chatter and communicate with other goblins, they were almost impossible to tell apart.

Under the dwarves' astonished gazes, the clay Gauss threw out rapidly transformed, and then a vividly ugly little green-skinned imp appeared beside the group.

Its appearance was so realistic that the dwarves instinctively reached for the weapons at their waists.

"Let my magical goblin go in first to investigate."

He had specifically chosen the timing when a hunting party had just returned from outside and entered the underground town to launch the attack. In a short period, no other goblins should be returning.

Before launching the formal assault, Gauss felt they needed to locate Toga first.

Otherwise, once the battle started, the situation would definitely become more chaotic, making it even more troublesome to search for her later.

Furthermore, the shockwaves from their fight might also affect her.

Soon, the goblin created by Gauss, under his control, began walking on its two legs toward the entrance to the underground town.

Gauss was also able to share its vision.

He was quite familiar with the movements and some unconscious behaviors of goblin creatures.

So controlling it to walk was no different from an ordinary goblin.

The entrance was located at the plaza in the center of the ruins.

Arriving here, the number of goblins also increased.

These goblins gathered here, loading the prey captured by the recently returned hunting party onto carts, preparing to transport them to the underground living quarters.

Just as they were busy, a goblin silently blended in among them.

Under the watchful eye of a goblin overseer nearby, the goblins swallowed their saliva but obediently pushed the carts.

Of course, not all goblins were so well-behaved. One goblin who couldn't control its appetite was already lying nearby, skin torn and flesh open, wailing in agony.

Following his "companions," Gauss smoothly entered the monster town.

After descending a steep slope, Gauss entered a spacious underground space.

This should have been the town's underground defensive fortifications. When monsters invaded, the ordinary residents of the town could temporarily take shelter here.

Who would have thought it would now become the goblins' natural nest.

The number of goblins in the underground space was even greater.

Some were using stone tools to excavate and expand the nest space around them, while others were grinding and crafting some primitive tools.

Gauss also spotted the figures of several Hobgoblins.

After delivering the food to a designated storage area, Gauss did not continue to return to the surface with the other goblins pushing the carts to transport more supplies. Instead, he slipped away.

He silently observed the entire underground town.

Several wooden huts were built in the center, seemingly the residences of the nest's "rulers."

More goblins simply slept randomly on open ground covered with dry grass. If they had a shed propped up with wooden sticks, that was already considered a wealthy household.

Although the numbers were large, the actual level of development wasn't that high, was it?

Gauss reached a conclusion.

This was clearly a somewhat malformed tribe, or one in the early stages of development.

Abundant in quantity, lacking in quality.

A jackal came up to Gauss, sniffed him lightly, and after detecting nothing unusual, quickly ran off.

Seeing this, Gauss became even more certain that the Clay Goblin was now indistinguishable from the real thing.

Thus, he searched the underground town with even greater confidence.

"Gurgle—"

In the prison cell.

A female dwarf with red curly hair, Toga, slowly opened her eyes.

She had been hungry for two days.

But these damnable little green-skinned imps showed no intention of providing her with food.

The residual toxin in her body also made her limbs weak, unable to muster any strength.

One could say that now, any random goblin could potentially take her life.

The only thing that gave her comfort was that the goblin leader here seemed to have taken a liking to her blacksmithing skills. It had only imprisoned her here without taking any other action.

Otherwise, she would definitely have found a way to end her own life before suffering any humiliation.

Now, she only hoped that fellow Bruno would quickly discover her disappearance, and then think of a solution.

"Tap———"

Footsteps echoed in the empty corridor.

The footsteps only stopped suddenly when they reached her side.

Toga struggled to lift her head to look, her gaze turning wary.

She saw a goblin of average build standing outside the cage, examining her.

This was the first time a goblin had come to see her since she was imprisoned here.

So, were these goblins about to take some action against her?

Her mood suddenly grew tense.

Just as she began to let her imagination run wild, the strange goblin that had been scrutinizing her suddenly spoke.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here to rescue you."

"Huh?"

Toga's eyes instantly widened.

This goblin was speaking with very standard human Common pronunciation.

"I'm an adventurer commissioned by Bruno. This is one of my magical mimicry avatars."

Hearing Bruno's name, Toga finally relaxed.

Simultaneously, her heart, which had been growing increasingly despairing, suddenly regained its luster.

Even the ugly goblin before her seemed to become amiable.

Was there anything in the world more stressful for a female creature than appearing in a goblin nest?

Therefore, for these two days, she hadn't dared to sleep too deeply, fearing that at night, some goblin driven by bestial instincts would drag her out.

"Eat something first."

Gauss controlled this clay body, lightly slicing his palm. His slightly bulging abdomen split open, and then he retrieved the pre-prepared dry bread and water skin from inside.

"Thank you."

Toga took the water and food, and without ceremony, began eating.

As the food entered her stomach, she felt slightly better.

Gauss then dismantled the guardrail.

"Now that I've confirmed your location on my end, the others outside should also be preparing to launch the attack."

Gauss helped Toga out from inside.

"This goblin will stay here to protect you."

"Alright."

Although Toga had eaten some food and regained a bit of strength, the toxin in her body was still taking effect. So currently, she still didn't have much combat capability.

She would follow all arrangements made by this "goblin."

Just as she silently recovered her strength.

Soon, noisy commotion erupted outside.

Clearly, that rescue adventurer team had begun launching their full-scale assault.

"Can they defeat this goblin tribe?"

She couldn't help but start worrying again.

Even though her combat power had been weakened by poison, she had to admit that the goblin chieftain who defeated her was extremely powerful.

Anyway, Bruno and the others definitely wouldn't be its match. Moreover, there were so many goblins outside. Just relying on sheer numbers could cause a lot of trouble for the rescuers.

"Boom!!"

The wall beside her trembled violently again, shaking off some dirt. Clearly, the battle outside was extremely fierce.

Roars and cries were endless.

Toga could only silently pray that those adventurers were reliable, and that they wouldn't end up getting more people killed while failing to rescue her.

"So cold!"

Toga suddenly shivered twice, feeling the air temperature rapidly dropping.

Was it snowing outside?

Her feeling wasn't wrong.

At this moment, in the central area of the underground town, a swirling snow and ice storm was wantonly claiming the lives of goblins.

The dwarves guarding the exits, killing fleeing soldiers to prevent goblin escapes, looked at the blizzard resembling a small-scale natural disaster, their pupils rapidly contracting.

Although they had some expectations before coming, the strength Gauss displayed after the battle truly erupted still left them shocked.

Goblins fell in large swathes like harvested rice.

Looking at the field of ice sculptures, Bruno was glad he had sought out Gauss.

If they had hired incompetent adventurers, with this many goblins, they might have ended up perishing here.

Just as Gauss was casting his spell.

A lean, robust goblin roughly his height suddenly appeared at his side.

"Watch out!"

The dwarves who noticed this scene hurriedly warned.

They didn't understand how Gauss's companions, who were hunting monsters in the distance, could allow the monster leader to appear so easily beside him, the spellcaster.

"Clang!"

Just as the dwarves thought a tragedy was about to occur.

Gauss's other hand suddenly grasped a blue-and-gold Water Sword out of thin air.

The Water Sword clashed with the curved blade that came slashing in a sneak attack.

After the brief contact, a flicker of panic flashed in the eyes of the sneak-attacking goblin chieftain.

"So much strength."

It had hidden extremely well, even going so far as to let its clansmen suffer slaughter for this ambush. Seizing the moment when this human spellcaster was focused on using magic, it activated its ability to appear beside this spellcaster and swung its blade.

All the planning and execution had been carried out perfectly.

The only problem appeared in the final step.

In close combat, it discovered that this human's strength was not weaker than its own.

Even...

"!!!"

A surge of air current passed by.

Its body instantly flew backward.

"Confusion!"

This was clearly a somewhat malformed tribe, or one in the early stages of development.

Simultaneously, his other hand waved his staff, then cast a fourth-circle spell.

Just as the goblin chieftain hit the ground, stabilized its posture, and tried to take its next action, its mind suddenly went blank.

"Yesterday I ate fish, today I should eat some wild boar meat."

"Is my hut too small?"

"That dwarf..."

At this critical moment when it should have been concentrating, a flood of useless thoughts instantly filled its brain.

"Control Water."

While it was dazed, Gauss had already burst forward with speed, arriving right in front of it.

Catching a glimpse of its spaced-out appearance from the corner of his eye, Gauss couldn't help but feel that the effect of Confusion was better than imagined.

The Sword of Mete in his hand erupted with dazzling light, its power becoming unprecedentedly strong.

The many restraining effects against goblins within him also simultaneously activated.

"Swish!"

Gauss wielded his sword like the wind.

The next second, dozens of wounds appeared on the goblin chieftain's body.

"Gush!!!"

He withdrew the sword and retreated.

The goblin chieftain erupted with blood all over its body, being sliced into dozens of pieces in one second.

Gauss took a few short, heavy breaths.

This was why he liked killing goblins. When taking action, it was indeed easier than dealing with other species.

"So... so strong..."

The dwarves watched, mesmerized, swallowing hard.