Volume 5, Chapter 41 – The Battlefield of Despair

◆ Christina POV ◆

“Form a circle! Protect Lumia and the archers! Don’t let the enemy get close! Lumia, archers—prioritize the Mages and Archers! Get your heads in the game! Do not be afraid! If we are broken here, the town will be overrun! Believe that the fate of Chi Tien rests upon your shoulders!”

“””Yes, sir!”””

I shout to fire up the soldiers.

However, we are surrounded by such a massive horde of Goblins and their Higher Species that I cannot even tell how many there are.

If the thousands to the south were merely decoys, then just as the Goblin King said, it is undoubtedly true that over ten thousand Goblins have come this way.

And logically speaking, not a single one of us should be able to make it out of here alive.

But I made a promise. That I would return safely to Fiene-sama!

That is why I cannot afford to die in a place like this!

“They’re coming! Fight with everything you’ve got!”

While keeping a wary eye on the Goblin King, I cut down the ordinary Goblins leaping at me one after another, swat away incoming arrows, and deflect magic with the belly of Sesrumnir.

Arrows rain down from inside the circle, and Mashiro’s Wind Blades are unleashed, sniping the enemy Mages and Archers.

The Goblin King watches this scene with a smug grin, looking completely at ease.

And so, the curtain rose on our desperate battle.

◇ ◇ ◇

I must have cut down at least a hundred.

Perhaps it was already a thousand.

I alone have piled up a mountain of Goblin corpses, yet there is no sign of their numbers dwindling.

Rеaԁ оn KаtRеαⅾіոɡСafе

We are simply far too outnumbered.

Our defensive formation is being chipped away, bit by bit, from the outside.

The archers have run out of arrows, and they too are now fighting with swords and spears.

“Don’t give up! Reinforcements will be here soon! Just hold out until then!”

I shout to boost morale, but everyone understands that this is nothing more than wishful thinking. Still, we cannot go on unless we believe it.

“Guh… ah… M-mother…”

Another soldier, who had been holding back the Goblins on the outer edge of the circle, was stabbed in the stomach and collapsed.

“Not yet! Don’t give up! Hold the line! Pull the fallen back into the circle! Fill the gap!”

I screamed, but he was dragged away into the swarm of Goblins just as I spoke.

“Gyaaaaaaa…!”

His dying scream echoed. We never heard his voice again.

“Fight! If you don’t want to die, then fight! Fill the gap!”

Calling out desperately, I continue to cut down the Goblins before me.

“Haa, haa… ah, my MP…”

As Lumia murmured, Mashiro, who had been perched atop her head, vanished as if melting away.

It seems she has run out of the MP required to keep Mashiro summoned.

“Gah… hah…”

Rеαⅾ оn ΚаtRеаԁiոgCαfе

“C-Captain…”

With the loss of support from the Wind-Blades, the number of Goblins reaching us increased, and soldiers began falling one after another.

Before I knew it, only eight soldiers remained standing alongside Lumia and me.

“Ugh, enough already! We just have to kill that biggest, grossest pest, right?! I’ll shoot that thing right between the eyes!”

Lumia spat out the words as if she were throwing a tantrum, and notched an arrow, aiming it at the Goblin King, who had been grinning and doing absolutely nothing until now.

“Wait! Lumia! Don’t be rash!”

I tried to stop her in a panic, but Lumia focused, locking onto her target.

Then, with the setting sun at her back, she released the arrow toward the Goblin King!

The arrow struck toward the Goblin King’s brow… or rather, it didn’t.

It flew off in a completely random direction.

“Hey, Lumia…”

“…Tehe.”

Lumia gave her usual embarrassed little giggle to brush it off.

It was at that moment.

An arrow was fired from within the Goblin swarm and struck Lumia directly in the left breast!

“Ah.”

Lumia looked down and confirmed the arrow embedded in her chest.

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Then, without a sound, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed onto her back.

“LUMIAAAA!”

◆ Protagonist POV ◆

Having rushed out from the west gate to rescue Chris-san and Lu-chan, we arrived at the northwestern forest guided by the messenger.

There, an immense swarm of Goblins was waiting, practically overflowing from the forest.

“Saint-sama! It’s deep in that forest!”

“Shizuku-san, let’s go. Let’s save Chris-san, Lu-chan, and the soldiers!”

“Fiene-dono, is your MP sufficient?”

“Of course. The messenger and I will be fine, so please go wild.”

“Understood.”

I cast a Barrier to protect myself and the messenger, and prepared a Defense Wall to protect Shizuku-san.

Since I was able to activate a Barrier here, the one trapping the General should have already vanished.

He’ll probably come chasing after us eventually anyway.

“Now then, Goblins. I shall push through.”

Shizuku-san charged into the Goblin swarm with speed that the eye could barely follow, cutting them down in an instant.

Even though my own Status should have increased in that cave, she was so fast I couldn’t keep track of her movements.

It seems Shizuku-san also leveled up considerably in that cave.

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There was one particularly large Goblin mixed in, but Shizuku-san cut it down in a single blow without any trouble.

Having effortlessly annihilated the swarm of what seemed like a hundred Goblins, Shizuku-san returned to us with a cool expression. The messenger, meanwhile, was standing there with his mouth agape in shock.

“However, there was a Lord in a place like this as well.”

“I see. I thought it was larger than the one we saw from the castle walls, but so this is a Goblin Lord.”

“That is correct. A Goblin about two to three times my height is a Lord.”

“Still, just how many Goblin Lords are there? The General said it would be over once we defeated the Goblin Lord, but what a huge liar he is.”

“Indeed, this was likely the main force and the south was a decoy. We were played by the Goblins.”

I see. So the General’s intelligence is lower than a Goblin’s.

I see, I see.

Wait, this is no time to be thinking about that.

“More importantly, let’s hurry! If they’ve clashed with the main force, I’m worried about Chris-san and Lu-chan.”

“True.”

“Messenger! Hey, messenger! Let’s go, hurry up!”

We urged the messenger, who remained frozen with the same gaping expression as before, but he wouldn’t recover from his frozen state.

“Hello? Messenger? Messenger!”

I called out to him with growing irritation, trying my best to bring him back to reality.