A Professional Among the Goblins?!

“Folke, can you hand me the spear?”

Before they charged, Ogre suddenly realized that he might want to switch weapons for a village environment like this. A spear might actually be more useful than his small hammer here.

“Sure.”

Folke wasted no words. Reaching into his void pocket, he rummaged around and pulled out a spear—the very weapon he had prepared specifically for Ogre.

Ogre took the spear and gave it a stylish flourish. His initial impression was good, both in terms of weight and design. The only flaw was that the weapon’s decorative craftsmanship looked far too exquisite and showy. Carrying a weapon that drew so much attention wasn't necessarily a good thing.

This was the first time Ogre had ever seen a weapon with gold thread engravings on its shaft. Still, after glancing at Folke’s outfit, he shut his mouth—it should be fine; there were two others here far more flashily dressed than him.

Next, Ogre gave the shaft a bend. Under Ogre's strength, the shaft flexed slightly, snapping back into shape the moment he let go.

‘Good, it's not completely rigid.’

A bit of flexibility allowed him to better execute his combat techniques, which pleased Ogre greatly.

“Thanks. I really like it.”

Ogre planted the spear into the ground, unbuckled the small hammer from his waist, stuffed it into his backpack, and tied it shut. Only then did he pull the spear back up. “Get yourselves ready. In a moment, charge in directly behind me. Lange, just protect Folke.”

“I would do that even without you telling me,” Lange snorted through his helmet.

Serandic rubbed his hands together excitedly. “I can't wait.”

...

“%@ Lu, geda nunu.”

(Goblin: Why do we have to stay here? I want women.)

The lookout point at the rear entrance of the village was currently occupied by goblins, but this goblin clearly didn't enjoy its post. It preferred raiding. It wanted women—and if it were an elf, even better.

“Geda... lu#...”

(Goblin: There are no women, but it’s safe here. I think it’s pretty nice. Herding animals in the village and learning human farming isn't bad either. Why must we always go around killing? Once I learn enough human language, wouldn't it be great to mix in with the gremlins?)

Note: Gremlins are somewhat shorter than goblins. They typically wear red hats and lumberjack coats, operating in organized underground communities that show signs of an industrial civilization. They can also be distinguished by skin tone; gremlin skin is darker, whereas goblin skin is a pure green. Unquestionably, however, they share a common ancestor.

This goblin's response left the goblin on the other watchtower silent.

“Lu... go...”

(Goblin: But I want a child.)

“Go... #da...”

(Goblin: Child? Have you ever seen your father? Do you know your mother? Abandoning them after birth—what difference does having one even make? If giving birth means sending them off to be a raider only to die at the hands of adventurers, I'd rather not have any.)

This goblin was born from a human. Compared to other goblins, its mind was visibly more developed and intelligent.

“Go...”

Just as the two goblins argued back and forth across their watchtowers, two whistles of tearing air suddenly sounded.

The two sounds fell one after the other. A crushed stone was deeply embedded into the eye socket of each goblin, separated by less than a breath of time.

‘So slick...’ Lange cast another envious look at Ogre's throwing technique before tightening his grip on his one-handed sword.

“Move out,” Ogre said, slinging his spear over his shoulder and stepping forward.

If there had been fewer goblins, he wouldn't have minded picking them off one by one from a distance.

As Ogre led the charge, the rest of the team followed closely behind, and a massacre unfolded.

“Something seems a bit strange...” Folke voiced his suspicion after watching Serandic kill a patrolling goblin with a single punch. He noticed signs of reconstruction among the village structures. This place didn't look abandoned at all.

“It really doesn't quite look like a typical goblin settlement...”

If these goblins hadn't bared their teeth at them on sight, Ogre might have genuinely doubted whether they were in the wrong place. If his eyes hadn't played tricks on him earlier, had he seen some of these goblins actually farming?

“Who cares? Just kill them! Disgusting creatures taking over human villages aren't good news anyway,” Serandic declared.

“Go-lu!” As the group slaughtered their way forward, the blast of a conch horn suddenly resounded across the entire village.

“We've been spotted!”

Ogre quickly scanned the surroundings and finally spotted the source of the noise—a tiny goblin holding a conch horn was hiding on a rooftop.

“We just fight our way through! If we stop, will they spare us? There's nothing to negotiate with monsters anyway. If you ask me... Whoa!”

As Lange spoke, sword in hand, the ground beneath everyone began to sink. Reacting instantly, Ogre scooped up Folke, who was standing nearby, leaping clear of the sinking ground.

Serandic reacted just as quickly, leaping away immediately. Lange, however, wasn't as nimble; his heavy armor severely restricted his movement.

After collapsing, the ground rapidly turned into a marsh.

“It's magic—the Mud Mire spell!” Folke quickly recognized.

Beside him, Ogre reacted even faster. The moment he leaped aside, he slapped open the small wooden box at his waist with one hand, triggering the preset spring mechanism to pop a metal spike into his hand.

A step, a firm stance, and then—a powerful throw!

The spike shot from Ogre's hand, turning into a black blur through the air. At extreme speed and a tricky angle, it zipped through the gaps between obstacles straight toward the Goblin Shaman secretly casting spells in the shadows.

“Go...”

That short, incomplete shriek was the goblin's final words before death. Its second incantation had barely passed its beginning line. It never could have imagined that someone could kill it with a single strike from such a distance.

“Lu-hong!” Another goblin shriek echoed.

This time, a Fireball as large as a grown man surged forth!

‘There's another Goblin Shaman!’ Ogre only noticed the attack when he turned around. This attack was clearly launched during the opening created when he carried Folke away.

He himself wasn't afraid of taking a hit, but Folke beside him couldn't take one. Yet right now, no matter how agile Ogre was, twisting his body and pulling Folke away in such a split second was practically impossible.

‘Damn it, I really am terrible at babysitting...’ No matter how fast Ogre's mind raced, it was almost impossible to turn the situation around.

However, Ogre forgot one thing—he was not alone.

“Hah!” A familiar shout bellowed out.

A knight in heavy armor leaped out, charging head-on right into the Fireball.

The burst of flame dissipated quickly. As the fire cleared, the heavy-armored knight's form was revealed—it was Lange, holding a single shield!

“I'm here!” Lange lowered his arm, panting slightly. He had blocked this attack.

To break free from the Mud Mire spell, faint red battle qi could now be seen coating Lange's legs.

“Sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to save your mana. Folke, you'd better cast a protective spell on yourself,” Ogre apologized as he regained his composure.

“It's fine. An attack like this won't hurt me.” Folke replied quite calmly. He possessed magical items for emergency protection, so he naturally didn't fear attacks of this level. The robes he wore weren't just for show.

“Ogre, go kill that spellcasting goblin! I'll protect Young Master here,” Lange urged from the side.

In just a short moment, goblins had emerged from nearby houses and cellars. It likely wouldn't take long before they surrounded the group.

Goblins were accustomed to resting during the day, but they were light sleepers. Under a conch blast like the one earlier, they woke up extremely quickly. Even if a few hadn't been woken by the horn, they were certainly awakened by the commotion around them.

As for Serandic...

After seeing that everyone was safe, he charged straight toward another cluster of goblins. Pale-gold battle qi covered his exposed skin in the blink of an eye.

“Alright.” Ogre nodded, pulling out another spike as his eyes swept feverishly through the emerging mob of goblins.

Soon, he located the spellcaster hiding among the goblin crowd.

Without a second's hesitation, Ogre immediately began building power. If nothing went wrong, his next throw would undoubtedly spear that Goblin Shaman dead.

However, an unexpected strike arrived at that exact moment.

A short spear sliced through the air, flying at Ogre from his flank.

‘Where did that come from?!’

Catching sight of the attack out of the corner of his eye, Ogre was forced to abort his throw. Releasing the power built up in his legs, he bounded aside, narrowly dodging the incoming spear.

Ogre dodged because his physical instincts triggered a sharp warning against the incoming attack. He could feel that if it hit him, it would severely wound—or even kill—him!

Sure enough, as Ogre leaped clear, the short spear slammed deeply into the ground where he had been standing a moment before! Only one-third of its length remained visible above ground. Even considering the soft soil, the force behind it was terrifying.

“Who's there?!”

Ogre looked in the direction the spear had come from and saw a tall goblin, far leaner and well-proportioned than normal goblins, standing atop a tree.

That wasn't even the main issue. The crucial detail was that, through his enhanced vision, Ogre spotted a faint layer of white energy coating this goblin!

In other words, this guy was actually a Knight! And a Professional-grade Knight among goblins, no less! Because the battle qi on this goblin already covered its entire body!

“Not good!”

Ogre never imagined that outside of the Goblin King and his tribe, another goblin settlement could produce a goblin of Professional caliber—and right inside this tiny village, no less.

While Ogre was still reeling from shock, the goblin knight pulled another short spear from its back. It was also somewhat surprised—the target had actually dodged its attack beforehand and spotted its location, even though it had deliberately picked a green tree to blend into.

“Lightning Net!”

Folke, having gathered his power for a while, launched his attack at that moment!

A lightning orb as thick as a wrist exploded from Folke's staff, rapidly expanding into a web of electricity as it flew toward the tree where the spear-throwing goblin stood.

Seeing this, the goblin knight had no choice but to abandon its next throw and face the incoming electric net.

A normal person would have jumped away, but this goblin clearly didn't think like a normal person. Coating its short spear in white battle qi, it thrust forward, slicing right through the electric net head-on!

Crackling bolts of lightning scattered everywhere. With that single spear strike, it forcibly cleaved open the electric spell from the front. The layer of battle qi covering its body insulated it from the lightning, preventing even a sliver of damage.

“Junior Brother, leave that Goblin Shaman to you! I'll deal with this guy!”

Ogre had already dropped the spike in his hand. Gripping his spear, he charged toward the spear-wielding goblin. He knew a delayed thrown attack would be useless against a foe like this; only close-quarters combat offered a chance.

‘This is a good chance to see how far I am from a true Professional!’

Ogre still had a few trump cards up his sleeve. Now was the best time to test his true strength.

...

“A Professional among goblins?!”

Folke froze for a moment as well. Lacking Ogre's vision, he naturally hadn't expected their attacker to be a goblin with Professional-level strength.

‘Should I use this?’ Folke subconsciously reached up and grasped the pendant around his neck.

“Junior Brother, I leave that Goblin Shaman to you! I'll take care of this guy!”

Just then, Ogre's shout echoed over, causing Folke to release the pendant.

“Lange, if things look bad, go help Ogre immediately,” Folke instructed.

“Young Master, what about you?” Lange asked after cleaving a particularly fast goblin in two.

“Don't you trust your master's strength?” Folke chuckled softly. Looking toward where the Fireball had come from, he turned back and said, “Leave the fodder goblins in this direction to me.”

Raising his staff toward the gathering swarm of goblins, Folke began.

“O leaping spirits of lightning, unfold your dance—Chain Lightning!”

The moment his chant ended, a bolt of bright yellow lightning as thick as a bowl lashed out like a thunderous serpent toward the assembled goblins. In an instant, it struck down a nearby goblin, but the lightning's damage was far from over.

Just as the chant declared, the electricity seemed alive, darting wildly through the surrounding mob like a dancing lightning spirit. In the blink of an eye, a whole crowd collapsed.

Only a few particularly sturdy large goblins remained standing among the heap, clutching their wooden clubs.

Lange scanned his surroundings. Seeing no immediate threat to Folke, he actively charged toward those large goblins.

...

‘Bloodlust spell...’

Serandic recognized the power coiling around these goblins. His meat-grinder pace of slaughter had slowed down due to this horde of mindless, frenzy-enraged goblins.

“There's a third goblin spellcaster!”

Serandic was no brainless brute. On the contrary, he was sharp-witted; he simply preferred not to overthink things usually. But now that his slaughter was impeded, he realized he had to eliminate the spellcasters hiding in the shadows first!

A Bloodlust spell covering an area this wide could never be cast by a single goblin spellcaster! Two goblins were taking turns casting it!

‘Where are you hiding...’

Serandic nonchalantly crushed an oncoming goblin with his bare hands and used its body as an improvised weapon to sweep away the immediate path. As he slew his way through, he analyzed the density and focus of the Bloodlust spell among the goblins.

When another batch of goblins was washed over with Bloodlust, a smirk tugged at the corner of Serandic's lips.

‘Found you, filthy creature!’

...

“Humans! Why come so far just to disturb our home?!”

To Ogre's surprise, after a brief initial probe, the goblin Professional who had thrown the spear spoke up in human tongue on its own initiative!

‘This place... is definitely not simple!’

Behind his mask, Ogre narrowed his eyes slightly. Squinting narrowed his field of focus onto the point right before him, allowing him to better track an enemy at close range.

“Isn't it because...”

Just as Ogre was about to speak to distract his opponent for a sneak attack, the goblin across from him stabilized its footing and examined Ogre closely.

The moment it noticed the patterns on Ogre's mask, its facial expression changed drastically, turning a flush reddish-green—it was enraged!

“YOU! ARE! THAT! DAMN! GOBLIN! BUTCHER!”

The roar ripped through the air like a furious howl. Immediately following the battle qi-infused sonic wave was a tempestuous flurry of spear thrusts.

Seeing this, Ogre cursed inwardly and was forced to raise his spear to block repeatedly. Thankfully, he had swapped out his weapon for this trip; combining his adept technique with the spear's reach advantage, he managed to survive the onslaught of thrusts.

His planned ambush had ultimately been ruined by his own mask...

Ogre wore the mask primarily to protect the underlying layer of disguise on his face. Who knew this habit would cost him a prime chance for a surprise attack?

‘I should have wiped them out completely from the start...’