20. I Am Invincible

Since Garond couldn’t move stealthily, he decided to wait at the cave entrance. The goblin cave was divided here and there, so there was a possibility that goblins might try to escape outside.

Moreover, there was a chance that those goblins might take their young or prisoners with them. It’s good to have at least one person at the cave entrance.

“Can you really see well now…?”

“Yes. I can see well even in the dark.”

“Eek..! Your left eye is glowing…”

“It’s because of the direwolf’s eyeball.”

“Uh, why is that embedded there…?”

“I liked it, so I took it and embedded it.”

“Eek…”

In the darkness, I could see Liss grimacing. It was a joke, but she really didn’t like it. Of course, we weren’t going to go inside like this; we were just chatting for a moment before lighting the lantern Isolde brought.

Fwoosh-

“Phew, now I can finally see a bit….”

Ris talks more than I expected.

Isolde walked with the lit lantern in her hand. I was at the front, Isolde at the back, and Ris in the middle. I could effectively secure my vision even in low light conditions.

With the lantern between Ris and Isolde, we slowly moved forward.

“Look at this. It’s an iron sword.”

While walking inside the cave, we found an iron one-handed sword that looked like it was made by humans. Isolde took it, scanned the blade up and down, and said,

“There are traces of goblin use. The blade has many random cuts, as if it had been slashed against rocks or wood. There might be a goblin warrior around.”

“Is it strong?”

“Elites among goblins, like warriors or shamans, aren’t particularly strong.”

Higher-ranking goblins like shamans or warriors are a bit different from the goblin leaders. The goblin leaders are called goblin lords, while warriors or shamans are more like local bullies.

We saw a passage curving to the right on the winding path. I signaled to Isolde, and she covered the lantern to block the light immediately. I listened at the end of the right curve.

“Something is coming. Three… no, four of them.”

“What should we do….”

“No problem. We’ll break through.”

Ris and Isolde nodded at my words. Seeing the flickering light from the right passage, it seemed they were also carrying torches.

I immediately uncovered the lantern, shone the light, and swiftly turned right, swinging my sword at the approaching goblins. It wasn’t a new sword, but one I had used before. It felt a bit wasteful to use a new one.

—Sssk

“Hup..!”

In an instant, I cut down two and kicked one away. The body crashed into the wall with a loud noise, and I swung my gauntleted left hand at the remaining one, fracturing its eye socket.

“There was a loud noise. We’ll have to break through quickly.”

“Yeah! I’m tired of whispering!”

Lis said as she placed an arrow on the bowstring. Isolde nodded, and we quickly advanced forward, choosing the right path at the fork.

“There are seven ahead. Lis, save your arrows.”

“Okay! Got it!”

Summoning a shield with her left hand, she charged forward at high speed. She pushed the goblins aside with her shield, quickly reaching the center, and then swung her sword in a 360-degree arc, cutting them down.

“Yuan! You’re amazing!”

“Is that so.”

Indeed, my body feels much lighter at night. With improved lung and heart performance, my brain seems to work faster.

My heightened sense of danger detection was working keenly, allowing me to easily dodge the goblins’ sharp wooden spears and stone axes just by holding my shield.

My heart was racing, but I wasn’t out of breath at all. Is this nothing compared to the power of the leader?

“Let’s move quickly. Follow me.”

There was already a loud noise. The once quiet cave echoed with the sound, and it was only a matter of time before the others noticed. In this situation, we had to move quickly and finish them off before they gathered.

“Let’s go, Excalibur No. 1.”

I bestowed the grand title of Excalibur on my favorite longsword. From now on, whenever it was drawn from its sheath, it would madly slaughter the evil monsters.

Lis and Isolde didn’t seem weak enough to be taken down by a few goblins. Besides, I preferred not to have the lantern light. As far as I knew, goblins didn’t have particularly good night vision.

Crack-

I kicked down the door made of crude wooden planks and quickly surveyed the interior.

As expected, there were faint lights from torches, but my eyes quickly adapted to the light.

“Kyaaah!!”

“Kerk, kerrk..!”

Sixteen goblins, each with their own grotesque appearance, gathered in a fairly spacious area, tearing apart the corpse of a direwolf in a chaotic manner. These b*stards, how dare they eat my friend.

From the direwolf’s perspective, it might be a bit different, but I already considered the direwolf my friend.

“You’ve lived long enough. Let’s go home.”

In my left hand, I held a short one-handed sword and shield I used before, and in my right hand, I wielded Excalibur No. 1, mercilessly dancing with the sword.

As the holy power imbued in Excalibur drew a line, two goblins were split into gob/lins.

No, now they are deceased gob(lins). I struck down the spear shafts of the ones charging at me with stone spears using the old sword in my left hand, and split their heads in half with Excalibur in my right hand.

Although the sword is metal, it is naturally not good for its durability to hit bones. But without time to think about that, I was dancing with the sword in the midst of a dozen goblins, and before I knew it, the surviving ones were pressed against the wall, trembling and watching me.

“You b*stards. Even your blood smells disgusting.”

These goblins have the strength of elementary school children. Realizing that I didn’t need to eat them, strength surged through my body.

Boom-

As I lightly left a footprint on the belly of the one trembling against the wall, its intestines stuck to the wall like a banana touched by modern art.

If I took this wall back to the previous world, I would surely become a renowned artist.

As I swung my shield at the remaining two, their narrow shoulders shattered and twisted with the sound of breaking branches.

“Is this all of them?”

The physical abilities of the leader are certainly remarkable. Even though I moved so quickly, my muscles are not yet fatigued. Seeing that my breath is not too heavy, it seems I can still go on.

“Yuan! Are you okay?!”

“Lys, Isolde. Welcome, I’ve taken care of everything here.”

“Did you… handle all of this alone…?”

Lys and Isolde looked at the goblin corpses scattered around with astonished expressions. Yuan’s appearance, slightly eerie with blood splattered everywhere.

The left pupil, shining alone in the darkness, quickly contracted as Isolde brought the lantern closer.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes. Nothing came from behind?”

Reese shook his head. Does that mean there was nothing? Since we passed a fork in the road, goblins could come from behind. We need to stay alert…

“They’re coming. There’s something.”

“Yes. I feel it too.”

Isolde and I felt something at the same time. One set of footsteps, much heavier than a goblin’s, and several lighter footsteps that seemed to belong to regular goblins.

And then…

“Ugh…”

A groan that sounded human.

“A goblin… champion…”

“You… champion…”

In its right hand, it held a long iron two-handed sword, and in its left, it was dragging a woman with long hair by her leg.

“Can goblins communicate?”

“Do you think they can…”

“Then there’s no room for negotiation.”

The number of regular goblins following behind seemed to exceed forty. They must have all been on the left path.

These b*stards are all dead.

‘It’s not that big.’

The champion’s height barely exceeded two meters. Unlike orcs, whose base height is 2.5 meters.

The woman is alive. But why did they bring her? Do goblins have the intelligence to understand the concept of a hostage?

Maybe for an elite type. Or is it using her as a shield? Too much dragging her around for that.

Or is it a negotiation? Here’s a hostage, get the hell out?

Or…

“Kraargh..!!”

The woman, clutched in his thick arm, was tossed and slammed across the floor, scraped against the walls as the champion swung his arm. She whimpered in pain, her broken arm flailing.

“That, that b*stard..!”

‘Aha.’

Looking at Rhys’ angry face, I got it.

“That’s, a provocation.”

Good, then. Being moderately angry does have a pretty good effect on battle. The problem might be that I’m already pissed from looking at the goblins’ mangled faces.

Because of his provocation, my rage gauge has crossed the line.

Should I cut off the left arm holding the woman? Then I risk getting attacked by the sword in his right.

Should I cut off the right arm first to prevent attacks? The woman in the left arm is bothering me. A one-armed b*stard flailing around could injure her.

Then there’s only one answer.

“Ssshh-eep..!”

THWOOM!!!

A massive roar shook the cave walls, exploding outward. It was deep night and my body was overflowing with strength, so the momentum I got from my full-power Stance Shift was beyond words.

“Dieee —!!!!!”

Excalibur drew a silver crescent, ripping through the champion’s scalp, shattering his skull, severing his cervical spine, and splitting his spinal column.

In an instant, the goblin/champion, which had just reproduced as*xually, gushed thick, red blood from the center of its body.

Splash-

The corpse split in half and fell into the pool of blood. Yellow fat and bright red entrails spilled out from the split belly, and the surrounding goblins stood frozen, not moving an inch.

“At night, you should sleep. You damn… no, goblin b*stards.”

With two swords in my hands, there are no blind spots for me.

I wield the ultimate swordsmanship that no one can match. The reason is simple, and the logic is straightforward. With two swords, you can cut twice as much.

In other words, it means I’m the strongest. Let me prove the validity of my logic here.

“I am invincible.”

Come at me, you b*stards.