The dust scattered.
Ogre's spear had already plunged into the chest of the goblin that could speak human speech.
It raised its short spear and struggled frantically twice, trying to launch a final counterattack with the last remnants of its life.
But Ogre did not give it that chance.
The moment his attack hit, he instantly withdrew his spear and took a quick hop back, opening up a small distance.
From the very beginning, Ogre had left himself plenty of room to retreat.
What appeared to be a narrow victory was actually a calculated position from which he could disengage at any moment—whether his attack succeeded or not, Ogre always left himself a margin of safety.
‘I won...’
Having lost its vision and then taken a thrust directly to the heart from a spinning, force-charged spear, this unnamed goblin Professional was now clinging to the last breaths of life.
The concussive force of the Grand Crushing Spear had shattered its heart the moment it pierced its defense—it was beyond saving.
...
“I never thought... I would die at the hands of a human... who isn't even a Professional... Why... why must humans and goblins... always fight to the death...”
The dying goblin Professional foresaw its own end in this moment.
Gradually, it stopped struggling. As the blood steadily drained from its lungs, the battle qi maintaining its vital signs finally faded away.
“So... this is what death feels like.”
As death approached, its life flashed before its eyes.
The hardships of the goblin Professional's life drifted rapidly through its mind—
When it was very young, it had been picked up by a beast tamer from a circus. Seeing that its intelligence far exceeded that of its kin, the tamer adopted it, taught it human speech, and tried to domesticate it.
And it, too, had viewed that beast tamer as family.
As for the breathing technique, it had blindly mimicked another member of the circus. It hadn't expected to possess considerable talent, eventually managing to condense battle qi.
If things had continued that way, perhaps its children might have even integrated into the gremlins...
But after an accident, the circus was gone...
It lost its family and everything it had.
The vast human world could accommodate a pet, but not a free goblin...
Left with no choice, it could only come to this forest belonging to monsters.
‘But why is everyone either trying to eat me or hunt me down... I don't want to fight.’
It couldn't understand why its own kind was so filthy, nor did it care to understand.
Until later, when it met another goblin whose experiences mirrored its own...
“When will we ever earn everyone's respect...?” it had asked its older counterpart.
“One day! One day, I will lead us—and our descendants—out of savagery and ignorance, out of the dark caves and into the sunlight!”
That was the greatest vow it had ever heard.
Clearly...
Clearly, everything had been moving in a good direction, so why did it turn out like this...
‘Brother Goler... I can no longer follow you or help you fulfill your dream... I failed to protect... this place.’
The last thing on its mind was the big brother with whom it had once shared that solemn ideal...
It wanted to know if such peace truly existed. It wanted to know when their descendants could stop relying on pillaging, when they would no longer be hunted by everyone on sight...
Regrettably, it would never, ever live to see the day it found the answer.
Nothing awaited it now except endless darkness.
Thump—!
As its battle qi dissipated, the goblin Professional squeezed the short spear with the last of its strength.
Instead of throwing it, however, it drove the weapon firmly into the ground.
Though it died kneeling beneath the tree, it had never truly fallen to the ground.
...
“Perhaps there truly are good goblins, but I don't ever want to see another pillaged village... or another person like me created because of it.”
Only when he saw that all traces of battle qi had vanished from the goblin before him did Ogre finally relax.
The goblin's dying words had indeed touched Ogre slightly—this was a respectable opponent.
However, that would not change the outcome of the battle.
Nor would it waver Ogre's resolve.
In a life-or-death battle, any thought unrelated to combat was superfluous; only after the fight ended did one have the right to reflect—Ogre did not care whether his actions were righteous or not; he only believed what his own eyes saw.
“Being a goblin isn't your fault, but I can only truly rest easy when raiders completely lose the ability to pillage...”
Goblins were never truly an enemy to humanity as a whole, because they were not worthy of being called such.
However, for individual villages, goblins were the ultimate nightmare.
Because goblins reproduced rapidly, if they were not culled, the local resources would soon be exhausted.
They didn't dare attack human towns, nor could they venture deeper into the forest.
Thus, to survive and reproduce, they had no choice but to raid villages.
They were in natural conflict with the villagers.
Even if these goblins were not naturally inclined to do so, they would eventually be forced into it—starvation was the ultimate catalyst.
If even humans could not resist their instincts, how could lesser-intelligent goblins? Most goblins were only slightly smarter than beasts.
Perhaps the goblins here were truly different, but Ogre did not want to gamble. Besides, as an intruder, Ogre didn't believe a few words could wipe away hatred.
He put his faith in what he had seen over the years—the slaughtered villagers, the girls violated to death, the destroyed and pillaged villages, tragedy after tragedy.
As long as someone was an enemy, Ogre would go all out.
It had nothing to do with methods, good or evil, age or gender.
In the process, Ogre would not deny his opponent's resistance either; whether he killed or was killed, he would accept it calmly.
“I'll save any doubts for after I win,” Ogre said, flicking the blood off his spear tip, his gaze growing firm.
This was both an answer to his fallen opponent and a question to himself.
Because Ogre didn't know when true victory would come either.
However, Ogre understood that as long as the Goblin King did not die and the town structure in the frontier lands remained unchanged, this racial war among the bottom dwellers of society would continue forever.
To the Goblin King, what was consumed was merely the "surplus" population—no matter how many died, it wouldn't hurt the king.
To the human nobles, this was merely insignificant wear and tear—after all, those peasants didn't pay taxes anyway, and the conflict even made it easier to maintain control and settle refugees.
To the Church, this was the best avenue for acquiring fresh blood.
To adventurers and novice Professionals, this was the best training ground.
Everyone won, except for the dead villagers, the abused and tortured girls, and their families, who lost everything.
‘If there were no goblins, there would be ogres; if there were no ogres, there would be centaurs and beastkin... So who is the true enemy, and who are the real man-eaters...?’
Ogre asked himself silently, turning his gaze toward Folke, who was not far away...
In the end, he exhaled a breath of gloom that wasn't really there.
Perhaps there was still room for change...
Forget it. Aside from revenge, there was no need to care about these things. Thinking too much would only bring unnecessary trouble; it was better to focus on doing what needed to be done.
What he needed to do now was become stronger as quickly as possible!
“Ogre, did you really take down a Professional-grade goblin?” Lange, who had just rushed over, stared wide-eyed at the result of the battle, his face filled with utter disbelief beneath his armor visor.
A Professional among goblins certainly couldn't compare to a human, but it was still a Professional Knight, after all.
With battle qi as hard as steel enveloping its entire body, an endlessly surging Life Circle within, and endurance that could last for three days and nights.
(Note: A Professional Knight's greatest asset is an endurance and sustainability far exceeding other professions. This endurance provides the foundation for wearing heavy armor, and whether or not they possess a matching set of heavy armor is one of the standards for measuring a Knight's combat power.)
If Lange had fought it, he could at best guarantee that he wouldn't be killed immediately.
Besides, this victory had come far too quickly!
“Just luck...” Ogre brushed past him with a short response, turning back toward the rest of the battle.
His victory truly had relied on luck.
This goblin Professional's combat skills weren't particularly impressive.
Its weapon and equipment were poor, too. Throughout this fight, Ogre's spear had played a major role—if he had still been using his old scrap iron rod, whether he could have even broken through its battle qi was questionable.
Or if the opponent had been wearing a suit of full armor, it would have been nearly impossible for Ogre to win—not to mention using electricity, a Professional Knight's battle qi was no joke.
Of course, the absolute key to his victory was that his opponent's mind had fallen into disarray.
Physical endurance did not equate to mental fortitude. The goblin's mental drive had long been worn down by the continuous sequence of attacks.
Once patience wore thin, flaws would reveal themselves.
And as long as a flaw existed, it could be exploited, no matter how incredible the process might seem.
As for whether Ogre had flaws...
He actually did—however, he hid them deep within.
“Ogre, come help! Damn it, what has this goblin been eating? How is it so huge?!”
Serandic had come from a village after all; even after spending over a year learning morality from Yade, he would still revert to old habits when panicked.
Having just cleared a cluster of goblins on his side, Ogre turned toward Serandic upon hearing the shout.
Then, a single thought instantly flashed through his mind: ‘How on earth did this village hide something like this?!’
Because a giant goblin—no, that creature could hardly be called a goblin anymore.
It was a green-skinned mini-giant crawling out of a cellar!
‘What on earth is going on with this place?!’
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