Flesh Golem of the Labyrinth City

Since Garond couldn't move stealthily, he decided to wait at the cave entrance. Goblin caves usually have multiple branching paths, so goblins may try to leave the cave.

Moreover, they might bring out their offspring or even prisoners. It's good to have at least one person at the cave entrance.

"Can you really see right now...?"

"Yes. I can see well even in darkness."

"Eek! Your left eye is glowing..."

"It's a Dire Wolf eyeball, that's why."

"Umm, why is it stuck in there...?"

"I put it there because I wanted to."

"Ugh..."

I could see Lis grimacing in the darkness. I'm just joking, but she really doesn't like it. Of course, I'm not going inside in this state—we're just chatting briefly before Isolde lights her lantern.

Whoosh-

"Phew, now I can finally see..."

Lis is surprisingly talkative.

Isolde held the lit lantern in her hand as she walked. I was at the front, Isolde at the back, and Lis in the middle. I can effectively maintain visibility even in low-light conditions.

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

"Look at this. It's an iron sword."

While walking through the cave, there was an iron one-handed sword that clearly looked man-made. Isolde picked it up, examined the blade up and down, and said:

"I can see signs of goblin use. The blade has many marks and nicks, as if randomly struck against rocks or trees. It's likely there's a Goblin Warrior."

"Is that one strong?"

"Elite goblin specimens aren't particularly strong."

Goblin superior specimens like Shamans or Warriors are slightly different from alpha wolfs. Goblin pack leaders are separately called Goblin Lords, while Warriors or Shamans are more like neighborhood bosses.

On the winding path, I saw a passage curved to the right. I signaled to Isolde, who immediately covered the lantern to block the light and listened carefully at the edge of the right curve.

"Something's coming. Three... no, four of them."

"What should we do...?"

"No problem. We'll break through."

Lis and Isolde nodded at my words. Judging by the flickering light from the right passage, they're also carrying torches.

I immediately raised the lantern cover to shine light, quickly turned my body to the right, and swung my sword toward the approaching goblins. Not the new sword, but the one I used before. I feel somewhat reluctant to use the new one since it seems wasteful.

—Slash

"Huh...!"

In an instant, I cut down two of them and kicked another. Its body crashed into the wall with a loud noise, and I swung my gauntleted left hand at the remaining one, giving it a severe eye socket fracture.

"That made a lot of noise. We'll have to break through quickly now."

"Yes! I'm tired of whispering!"

Lis said, nocking an arrow to her bowstring. Isolde also nodded, and we quickly moved forward, choosing the right path when we reached a fork.

"Seven ahead. Lis, save your arrows."

"Yes! Got it!"

After summoning a shield in my left hand, I charged forward at high speed with the shield in front. I pushed aside the clustered goblins with my shield to quickly enter their center, then immediately swung my sword in a 360-degree arc, cutting them down.

"Yoo Eon! You're amazing!"

"You think so?"

Now that night has fallen, my body feels much lighter. With improved lung and heart performance, I feel like my brain is functioning faster.

My danger detection sense was in overdrive, allowing me to easily avoid the threatening pointed wooden spears and stone axes the goblins were wielding.

My heart is beating rapidly, but I'm not out of breath at all. Is this the extent of the pack leader's power? It seems like nothing.

"I'll speed up. Stay close."

A loud noise has already been made. It's only a matter of time before other goblins notice the commotion in the previously quiet cave. In this situation, rather than moving slowly, we need to quickly push through and finish before they can gather.

"Let's go, Excalibur No. 1."

I bestowed the magnificent title of "Excalibur" upon my favored longsword. Now, every time this sword is drawn from its sheath, it will mercilessly slaughter evil monsters.

Lis and Isolde don't seem weak enough to be overwhelmed by a few goblins. Above all, it's better for me not to have the lantern light. I've heard that goblins don't have good night vision.

Crash

I kicked down a door blocked by crude wooden planks and quickly surveyed the interior.

As expected, there was a faint light from torches, but my eyes adapted quickly to light.

"Kyaaaak!!"

"Keruk, keruruk..!"

Sixteen truly bizarre-looking goblins were gathered in a fairly wide space, messily tearing apart and eating a Dire Wolf carcass. These bastards, how dare they eat my friend.

From the Dire Wolf's perspective, that might be a bit strange, but I already consider them as friends.

"You've lived long enough. Let's go home."

With the short one-handed sword and shield from before in my left hand and Excalibur No. 1 in my right, I danced mercilessly with my blades.

As the holy power-infused Excalibur drew a single line, two goblins became "go–blins."

No, now they're "gone-blins." I smashed the shafts of the stone spears of approaching goblins with the old sword in my left hand, then split their heads in half with Excalibur in my right.

Though the sword is metal, hitting bones naturally hurts its durability. But I had no time to think about that as I stood amid a dozen goblins, dancing with my swords. Soon, the surviving ones were pressed against the wall, trembling as they watched me.

"These little shits. Even their blood smells like crap."

Luckily, these goblins have the strength of lower elementary school children. Realizing I don't need to eat them makes strength well up in my body.

Thud-

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

If I took this wall and brought it to my previous world, I would surely become a legendary artist.

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

"That's all of them dead now."

The pack leader's physical abilities are truly remarkable. Even after moving so quickly, my muscles aren't fatigued yet. Seeing that I'm not even out of breath, I could keep going.

"Yoo Eon! Are you okay?!"

"Lis, Isolde. Welcome, I've cleared this area."

"Did you... handle all this by yourself...?"

Lis and Isolde looked aghast at the goblin corpses strewn around. Yoo Eon's appearance, with blood splattered here and there, seemed somewhat eerie.

His left eye, glowing alone in the darkness, quickly contracted its pupil when Isolde brought the lantern closer.

"Are you really okay?"

"Yes. Did anything come from behind?"

Lis shook her head. So nothing came? Since we passed through a forked path, goblins could also come from behind. We should move while guarding the rear...

"Something's coming. There's something there."

"Yes. I felt it too."

Both Isolde and I sensed something at the same time. One much heavier footstep than a goblin's and several lighter footsteps that felt like those of ordinary goblins.

And then...

"Ugh..."

A groan that sounded human.

"It's a Goblin... Champion..."

"...Champion..."

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

"Can we communicate with goblins?"

"Do you think we can...?"

"Then there's no room for dialogue."

The ordinary goblins that followed seem to number over 40. They must have all been on the left path.

These bastards are all dead.

'It's not that big.'

The Champion's height is just slightly over 2 meters. It's not like Orcs, where 2.5 meters is the basic baseline.

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

Elite specimens might. Or is it trying to use her as a shield? If so, it's dragging her around too much.

Is it negotiation? Offering the hostage for us to leave?

Or...

"Krarlak..!!"

The woman, gripped by the Champion's thick forearm, rolled around on the ground and scraped against the wall as the Champion swung its arm. She moved her broken arm, moaning in pain.

"T-that thing..!"

'Ah.'

Looking at Lis's angry face, I understood.

"It's provoking us."

Alright, fine. Being moderately angry has quite a positive effect on combat. The problem might be that I'm angry after seeing the goblins' wretched faces.

The Champion's provocation pushed my anger gauge over the line.

Should I cut off the left arm holding the woman? Then, there's a possibility of being attacked by the sword in its right hand.

Should I cut off the right arm first to prevent an attack? But I'm concerned about the woman in its left arm. If it loses an arm, it might thrash about and hurt the woman.

Then there's only one answer.

"Shhh...!"

BOOM!!!

A massive sound shook the cave walls and spread like an explosion. Since it was a deep night and my body was full of strength, the propulsive force I could generate by putting all my effort into the ground running was beyond words.

"Die ㅡ !!!!!"

Excalibur drew a silver crescent moon, tearing through the Champion's scalp, smashing its skull, splitting its cervical spine, and cleaving its spine.

The creature, which had instantly undergone asexual reproduction to become a goblin/champion, spilled thick red blood from the center of its body.

Splash-

Its body, split in half, fell into a pool of blood. Yellow fat and bright red intestines poured out from its split belly, and the ordinary goblins around stood frozen, not moving an inch.

"Night is for sleeping. You dog... no, goblin bastards."

With two swords in my hands, I have no blind spots.

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

In other words, I'm the strongest. Let me prove the legitimacy of my logic here.

"I am invincible."

Come at me, you little shits.