Chapter 79. The Executioner of Westfalen (4)
“No-Romance! Who sent you bastards?!”
“My name is Lawrence, you bastard!”
That reaction confirmed it.
It really was the same Lawrence I had beaten after he tried to block me.
The only person I could imagine wanting me dead was Countess Lorian.
So I decided she must have sent them.
“Give Lorian my regards!”
“What? Why are you talking about the Countess?”
Not Lorian?
Did the echo distort his words?
Arguinata suddenly pointed into the bushes.
“That large one is lifting another boulder.”
They were trying to disrupt us with rocks too.
The moment I heard that, I shouted to the golems.
“Golems! Block any incoming rocks!”
Whoooosh!
A boulder tore through the air.
Crash!
One Wood Golem blocked it with its own arm and body.
Large pieces of wood shattered away.
Damn. After only a few more hits, I’ll have to remake the golems.
“Another is coming.”
A second boulder flew.
Another golem took the impact.
It also suffered heavy damage.
My mana was not infinite.
If I repeatedly replaced destroyed golems, then the enemy charged,
I would be completely fucked.
“Arguinata, don’t you have some useful shamanic spell?”
“I am preparing a curse.”
Several goblins rushed from the huts carrying jars.
“Are those ingredients for the curse?”
“No. That is my lunch.”
“......Then the curse?”
“Now.”
Arguinata raised his staff.
Kutuhkan kulit gatal.
Nothing happened.
“Uh... Is that it?”
“I placed a curse. I attempted it quickly, so I do not know whether it succeeded. If it did, the target should suffer.”
“What kind of curse?”
“One that makes the entire body itch.”
“...Terrifying.”
It sounded ridiculous.
Still, hundreds of goblins might soon die because of us.
I humored him.
* * *
“Damn it! Aaaaaagh!”
Ambrose scratched his entire body violently.
He had removed even his leather armor.
He clawed at every part of his skin.
He scratched so hard that blood began appearing.
Brock frowned.
“Does anyone have a curse-removal magic item?”
“Why would we bring something like that?”
Fair point.
It was useless weight for a long-distance assassination mission.
“Any other method?”
“Kill whoever cast the curse.”
Brock looked uphill again.
The barricades looked crude.
But countless goblins were probably hiding behind them with poison spears.
His expression became serious.
“No choice. Strengthen aura around the entire body and break straight through.”
“Good. I haven’t properly exercised in a while.”
The Westfalen knights tightened their grips around their longswords.
* * *
“They’re coming. Prepare for battle.”
Arguinata raised his staff.
“Stop the intruders! May Artemis bless you!”
“Kekekekekek!”
The goblins screamed their strange battle cries.
Right now,
it sounded more reassuring than any human war cry.
Wooooong.
The air vibrated from the aura released by five knights.
With their entire bodies strengthened,
the knights charged directly toward the barricade.
“They’re hitting it!”
BOOM!
The barricade exploded apart.
Wood fragments flew everywhere.
At the same moment, goblins thrust forward poison-covered wooden spears.
Crack, crack, crack.
The spears snapped like thin biscuit sticks.
The knights’ reinforced aura prevented even the poison from touching their skin.
“Fall back!”
The Wood Golems threw logs and rocks at the knights.
Bang, bang, bang.
They dodged or blocked everything.
Naturally,
none of them took meaningful damage.
Lawrence became confident.
He shouted,
“Eric! Stop hiding and fight me!”
Would you fight if you were me?
“Raul, Arguinata, we’ll repeatedly attack and retreat. Golems, charge!”
The golems became bait.
Raul, the goblins, and I attacked with slight delays between us.
Against powerful enemies,
ganging up was the best answer.
“Hmph. Petty tricks.”
Was that Raines?
The long-armed knight swung his longsword in a full circle.
Everything that entered its range was cut in half.
Golems.
Goblins.
Everything.
Raul barely dodged and stared in shock.
“My lord, that bastard is fucking strong. I think I’m dying today.”
“Tch. Arguinata! Again! Golem Creation!”
I created new Wood Golems.
Arguinata cast another ritual.
Sulur mengikat kaki.
Vines suddenly burst from beneath the knights’ feet.
They wrapped around their ankles.
“What?!”
While the knights were momentarily surprised,
the golems and goblins charged again.
Can we touch them this time?
I rushed alongside the goblins.
I desperately hoped one poison spear would create even a tiny wound.
Slash, slash, slash!
The five knights moved together as if they had practiced the formation thousands of times.
Every attack was neutralized.
Dozens more goblins died.
Only four Wood Golems remained.
I had personally redirected the longswords of Upper-rank Sword Experts several times.
My hands trembled from the impacts.
When did they practice this formation? Damn it. Westfalen’s knights really are powerful.
One-on-one, I might disable one of them using superior sword technique.
Against five fighting together?
I saw no answer.
Westfalen’s senior knights had been forged through actual combat in the colonies.
They were true veterans.
Then Arguinata spoke.
“My warriors have returned.”
“Warriors?”
I looked behind us.
These goblins were larger than ordinary ones.
In my previous life, people would have called them hobgoblins.
Most wore leather armor.
Several carried metal spears.
They still won’t change much. No choice. If we truly reach the end, I can use their corpses to create ghouls.
Judging from my previous life,
ghouls made from goblins would probably be weak.
Still,
I needed to conserve mana for my final move.
“Again.”
I tightened both hands around Soul Reaper.
* * *
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The Marcel knight order galloped at full speed.
The horses had been drugged into a berserk state.
They passed the goblin trading post and reached the base of the mountain where the goblin village stood.
Martin saw bodies scattered along the road.
“Soldiers!”
“Keep moving! Ride straight to the goblin village!”
For Pierre, Eric’s safety mattered more than the possibility that some soldiers were still alive.
Eric was the lord to whom he had sworn loyalty.
He was also the only son of Maria, the woman Pierre loved.
“Look! Smoke!”
The knights looked up.
A column of black smoke rose from the mountain.
The assassins had clearly attacked the goblin village.
Neigh!
As the horses entered the steep mountain path,
one after another collapsed from exhaustion.
Pierre abandoned his horse.
He ran uphill while shouting.
“Everyone dismount and run! Whoever arrives first, help His Lordship!”
The first person to shoot forward was the ghoul Ramita.
