“Im……possible……!!”
“The Lord……!!”
The Goblin Lord, sent flying effortlessly by Makina’s fist.
The massive body traced a parabola, slammed helplessly into the ground, and didn’t move again.
——The Lord had been taken down in a single blow.
Devastated by that reality, the goblins turned and tried to flee in all directions.
Backs to the enemy, weapons thrown down — they were every bit the rabble they’d always been.
“Don’t let them escape!!”
“On it! Fire Wall!!”
A wall of flame erupted out of nowhere in the path the goblins were running.
The sudden appearance brought the goblins to a dead stop, and they toppled over each other in a crashing wave.
“Damn you, damn you damn you damn you!!”
“Die!!“
At that, several goblins — the Goblin Generals among them — wheeled around.
Apparently having given up on escape, they’d chosen to take one last shot at us instead.
Pure desperation at this point.
Their momentum was actually considerable, and a nearby Lancelot-type went down under it.
But——
“I’ll cut you down myself!”
“RAAAAAAHH!!“
Alicia and Ganz stepped into the Goblin Generals’ path.
Both drew their weapons and went straight into the attack.
——Fast!
Alicia’s blade flashed. Ganz’s axe sang.
The Goblin Generals tried to fight back but couldn’t keep pace.
Blood sprayed. Goblin heads flew.
As expected of former top-tier adventurers — both of them fighting spectacularly.
“……Is that all of them?”
“Yeah, looks like it.”
“No life signs remaining.”
A few minutes later.
The Goblin Lord and his forces that had descended on the village were completely wiped out.
The Kobolds who had been watching the battle immediately broke into cheers.
“We did it — victory!!”
“All that effort was worth it……!”
“Thank goodness, thank goodness!!”
They threw their arms around each other and jumped up and down.
The sheer joy of it was infectious — watching them was enough to make you feel happy too.
The greatest crisis this village had ever faced had just been turned back. Of course they were overjoyed.
“Well done, everyone — we couldn’t have done it without you! Alicia, all of you — thank you!”
“Sure! Though we handed the biggest one off to Makina!”
“The Lancelot-types were incredible too! Goblin Elites are actually pretty tough, you know!”
“Yeah — unlike common goblins, they can beat E-rank adventurers.”
Huh — didn’t know that. Just having Elite in the name makes them that much stronger.
A hundred Lancelot-types taking them out one-sidedly was quite a showing.
Hang on — did I build too many?
Fifty might have been enough.
But then again, there were more battles ahead, so it probably worked out for the best.
I was turning all this over when the village chief finally stepped forward.
“Ahh, the village is saved……! I don’t know how to begin to thank you.”
“Don’t mention it — you gave us magic stones and ore and all sorts of things. And honestly, it’s the everyone who produced a hundred Lancelot-types who deserve the credit.”
“Not at all! Every bit of it is thanks to Lord Viktor!”
The Kobolds prostrated themselves deeply before us.
In their eyes there was something that almost looked like devotion.
Getting this treatment honestly makes me feel a little embarrassed……
We only fought because we couldn’t afford to leave the goblins alone.
“……Thank you. But we haven’t brought down the Goblin King yet — we can’t afford to let our guard down.”
“On that point, I think we should be safe for a while. The Goblin King is a cautious sort — I don’t think he’d launch a direct attack on someone who just annihilated one of his Lord’s entire forces.”
I nodded at Popol’s words.
If that was the case, we could focus on building up our strength for a while.
While we were at it, I wanted to use the ore we’d secured to get the village’s infrastructure in order too.
There was still no shortage of things to be done.
“Lord Viktor.”
“Yes?”
“We have a proposal, if you’d hear it.”
I was deep in my own thoughts when the chief suddenly turned to me with a grave expression.
This might be……
Sensing what he was probably about to say, I straightened up and faced him.
“Our village has escaped this crisis thanks to Lord Viktor. And yet, surviving this Great Forest by our own strength alone is beyond us……. Would you be willing to take us in — as part of your domain?”
“……Understood.”
I gave a quiet nod and took the chief’s hand.
It was the moment over fifty Kobolds became residents of the domain.
Alicia and the others broke into quiet applause.
“Thank you! Every Kobold among us will serve as your subjects with all our hearts!”
“Glad to have you.”
“Then let’s get the celebration ready at once!”
The chief hustled away to begin preparations for the feast.
And so the mood had just turned warm and festive — when it happened.
From the rocky mountain behind the village, a tremendous cry rang out.
“GISHAAAAAAAAAH!!“
“What the — what was that!?”
“My ears……it hurts……!”
A brutal, deeply unpleasant roar, like metal being scraped hard against metal.
We couldn’t help covering our ears and wincing.
What on earth was that……
Even a dragon doesn’t let out a cry like that……!
“Th-that’s the Great Serpent’s voice……!!”
“That is? But the Great Serpent shut itself away on the mountain, didn’t it?”
“It’s the blood! The smell of the goblins’ blood has excited it!”
Come to think of it, the wind had been blowing toward the mountain the whole time.
It had been just a gentle breeze, so I hadn’t thought anything of it — but apparently it had been carrying the smell of blood up to the mountain.
“This has taken a very bad turn……!!”
“A twist right at the very end, is it?”
We couldn’t help grimacing.
And at the same moment, something terrifyingly large began slowly, slowly making itself known.
Oh no, oh no, oh no……this is bigger than I thought……!!
The black mass crawling down the mountainside was so immense it threw off your sense of scale just looking at it.
“Now that is something……! Thirty meters, maybe?”
“Is this thing actually a snake?”
“No wonder the goblins never dared touch this place.”
“SHAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!“
The Great Serpent opened its mouth wide and let out another roar.
And so a new battle began.