With a primal roar, the goblins abandoned their feast, their bloodlust ignited by the assault on their leader. Eyes blazing with malice, they turned their attention to the audacious intruder, their teeth bared and dripping with warm blood.
"Kekekeh!"
"Kyeeeh!"
"Kyakyakaah!"
Razor-sharp fangs, claws, and blades, once busy carving flesh from the fallen, now turned menacingly towards Daisuke. The goblins charged forth like a relentless tempest, only to halt abruptly in their tracks, frozen by an unseen force.
Daisuke's eyes gleamed with an intensity akin to a bird of prey, instilling an overwhelming and primal fear in the monsters.
Intimidate!
As the goblins cowered from the skill's effects, Daisuke swiftly scooped Amara into his arms and leaped atop the rise. Awestruck by his impressive display of power, Morgana glanced from the wolf pup to the silver-haired youth whose eye's radiated confidence and resolve. Her heart sank when his head snapped around, almost mechanically, and his gaze fell upon the shuddering toddlers.
"W-Wait!" she pleaded, her voice quivering with desperation. "They mean no harm! Please, don't hurt them!"
"S-She's right," Gloria concurred with a respectful bow, firelight illuminating her black tunic. "These children pose no threat."
Amara stood in stunned silence.
Daisuke's gaze narrowed as he observed the toddlers clinging to their mothers in despair, their large, tear-filled eyes innocent and devoid of malice or evil.
According to the Monster Guide Handbook, Daisuke pondered, flipping through the mental pages with a furrowed brow, monsters are generally predisposed to having an inherent aversion to humans and an uncontrollable desire to either kill or devour them, even from infancy. But... these baby goblins look incredibly human.
Are you seriously telling me that those genes that predominantly exist in most monsters weren't inherited by them? Is it possible those traits are just delayed until puberty or something? Can I really trust them?
As Daisuke looked into the eyes of the horrified toddlers, memories flooded back of the distrust he faced when he attempted to apply for a job in Dusthaven. All he had wanted was to save money for his mother's medical bills, but his origins in the slums had led everyone to doubt his intentions. If only they had given him a chance, would his mother still be alive?
"Rawrwu," whimpered Zephyr, as if echoing the sentiments of the others.
"SEIZE THEM!" came a sudden and furious bellow from the goblin leader, his teeth gnashing, veins bulging in his forehead as he unceremoniously peeled himself up off the ground.
Daisuke's eyebrows furrowed. He really is an anomalous monster, he mused inwardly before turning to his partner. "Zephyr," he commanded firmly.
As Zephyr's jaws widened, an intense heat radiated from within, accompanied by a blinding orange-red aura. The toddlers and their mothers instinctively shut their eyes, bracing for the impending inferno. Morgana and Gloria raised their arms pleadingly, but it was too late.
WHOOSHHHHH!
Zephyr's neck snapped forward like a coiled spring, unleashing a torrent of incinerating flames. However, instead of targeting the innocent toddlers, the fiery deluge engulfed the goblin leader and its monstrous horde. When the flames subsided, more than two-thirds of the goblins were reduced to ash, and the rest lay badly injured.
Amidst the smoldering aftermath, Daisuke locked eyes with the leader, its protective barrier dissipating.
DING!
YOU ARE READING
Hacking the Game Didn't Go as Intended
FantasíaWhat would you do if you found yourself trapped in a video game as an NPC with seemingly no hope of returning to the real world? Having grown up without parents, Daisuke finds himself in a perpetual cycle of poverty as he tries to survive in the bot...
