Goblin Kingdom (Part 1)

Goblin Kingdom - Volume 2: Chapter 84: Intersecting

StatusRaceGoblinLevel1ClassKing; RulerPossessed SkillsRuler of the Demon Children of Chaos; Defiant Soul; World Devouring Howl; Swordsmanship A-; Dominator; King's Soul; Ruler's Wisdom III; Household of the Gods; One-Eyed Snake's Evil Eye; The King's Dance at the Edge of Death; Magic Manipulation; Soul of the Berserk King; Third Impact (The Third Chant); Instinct; Blessing of the Underworld GoddessDivine ProtectionGoddess of the Underworld (Altesia)AttributesDarkness; DeathSubordinate BeastsHigh Kobold Hasu (Lv1); Gastra (Lv20); Cynthia (Lv20); Orc King Bui (Lv40)Abnormal StatusBlessing of the One-Eyed Snake; Protection of the Twin-Headed Snake

"...It's coming."

Gowen closed his eyes and listened closely to the sound of battle. When he heard the thickets being pushed through, his eyes suddenly opened.

"GURUuRUuOOOAa!"

What appeared before him was a goblin as big as an orc. It bellowed a ferocious howl as it swung its great sword. For a moment, Gowen couldn't help but be wide-eyed upon seeing the monster. But it was only for a moment, as he immediately reacted and rolled on the ground to dodge the attack. If not for his assiduousness in his training, he would not have immediately reacted and pulled out his long sword to narrowly dodge that attack.

The blade grazed past his side, but such a wound was a long way from being fatal.

The goblin's pair of crimson eyes, redder than the red of blood itself, looked at him.

"So you're the boss of the humans." The monster said.

Its voice was heavy, almost as if the very winds of the abyss carried it, but Gowen had already regained his calm.

"I take it you're the monster that can think then," Gowen said back.

As Gowen picked himself up, he brandished his long sword.

"Surrender, and the killing will stop," the monster said.

With the sword wielded high up above its head, the goblin appeared twice his size, yet Gowen did not cower. He wielded his sword pointed to the ground as he assumed a defensive stance.

"The same is true if you die."

Gowen's job was to keep this goblin or whatever exactly it was from moving any further. Gulland might be guarding the saint, but that was no guarantee that the saint would be able to safely leave the forest.

As Gowen looked at the monster before him, he wondered. Are there any more monsters like this?

The goblin before him was just too different from the others. The most common type they've fought was of course the normal goblins, followed by the rare variant, which numbered three, and then the noble variant, which so far there's only been one of. That was a considerable army for some horde of goblins around these parts of the forest.

But then... considering how a goblin such as this could appear before him... was it really reasonable to assume that that's all there was to the goblins' forces?

"...This was unexpected."

While they were yet to actually cross swords, if a goblin like this – a lord class perhaps – frequented these parts of the forest, then developing the forest any further now would prove to be problematic.

The right course of action would be to leave the forest as soon as possible, preserving as much of his forces as he could, then slowly whittling down the monsters of the forest from the edge of the forest. But in order to do so—

"What's the matter? Why aren't you coming?"

He would first have to defeat the imposing foe in front of him.