Chapter 15 – Mutants (5)
“Keeek! What in the world is that!”
All the goblins who had stepped forward to fight were left in utter shock at the scene unfolding before them.
Literally, the area was filled with red glowing eyes in every direction. Bizarre, monstrous creatures of immense size were rushing en masse towards their village.
Every road in sight had already been overrun by these monsters.
In fact, even the harsh terrain that could hardly be called a road saw these creatures emerge and charge forward. It was a perfect encirclement.
“Fi-ight!”
With the panicked war cry of the chieftain, the battle commenced without a moment’s hesitation.
Shouting and screaming, the goblins shot arrows, hurled spears at the surging monsters, while the rare shamans conjured fireballs and hurled rocks wrenched from the ground, putting up a fierce resistance.
“Hmm… they’re fighting slightly better…”
From within the nest, where she was commanding the troops, she clicked her tongue upon witnessing a goblin warrior’s spear shatter and pierce the armor of one of her own assault troops, and the fiery orb from a shaman’s spell exploding, bringing down two or three soldiers at once.
The size of the village and its level of development made the battle far more intense and destructive than before.
Already, the ground was piled with broken and mangled corpses.
“Monsters! They’re coming again!”
But they didn’t stop. It didn’t matter whether their comrades were cruelly burned or impaled right in front of them—it left them completely indifferent.
Rather, they used the corpses of their fallen comrades as shields and stepping stones, trampling over them while pushing relentlessly forward.
The goblins wavered at their unwavering advance.
The loyal soldiers, whose lives the queen could command with a single word for the sake of the collective—fighting unknown creatures advancing through the darkness and silence, entities that knew no fear or terror—was no easy feat.
“Keeek!”
“Poison! Poison!”
The goblins, who had been holding their ground using the earthen walls and wooden barricades, were finally reached by some of the monsters who began to spray poison from their venom sacs.
Although its range was shorter than that of bows and spears, the powerful acidic poison, a concoction synthesized from the poisons of various mana beasts, including the tier-three Lagadon, would burn through skin upon contact, and if inhaled as smoke, it would destroy the respiratory system.
The goblins’ resistance was shaken in an instant. Through the gaps created, countless monsters swiftly swarmed, climbing the walls or attempting to break them with their massive bodies and blades.
“Be purified!”
Just as the village seemed about to fall, the shamans stepped in.
Instead of attacking with their magic, they began purifying the poison and toxic fumes with their spells.
“Hmmph…”
Seeing the goblins holding their ground, she clicked her tongue and gritted her teeth.
Certainly, this attacking force of goblins was significant in number, well-organized, and the special units were also highly evolved. They weren’t a group that could be overwhelmed merely by brute force; they required more precise and rapid command.
‘If it weren’t for the auxiliary brain, it wouldn’t have been possible.’
Yet, she was capable of such command in her current state.
She focused her mind and surveyed the chaotic battlefield through the eyes of her flying scout units.
Simultaneously, she controlled a force of nearly a thousand of her troops with meticulous precision.
Having already identified which areas were vulnerable and where the enemy’s numbers were weak, she moved her troops to concentrate their assault on those points.
“The gate is broken!”
Though other parts were somehow holding, the gate on the eastern side of the village, which hadn’t received concentrated defense, was shattered.
It was the result of the brute force of the assault troops, who used their strong limbs and sturdy bodies to wield and swing blades.
Through the broken gate, countless troops poured in.
“Hold them back! Hold them back!”
To stop them, troops from other areas had to be withdrawn. The chieftain, frantic with desperation, frantically commanded the goblins, but the battle had already shifted from a siege to urban and chaotic street fighting.
From now on, it would purely be a contest of strength. Both the attackers and defenders were pouring in soldiers at all costs.
“Gyaah!”
With a shout, a goblin warrior’s sword swung powerfully, severing the hook-like claw and shell of an assaulting creature, then leaped into the air to avoid a slashing massive blade before landing on the head of an assault unit and driving the sword through the head armor, taking down an enemy much larger than himself with a single blow.
“This is totally unfair!”
Although her troops had overwhelming size and strength, the goblins, centered around unique entities capable of manipulating magical power, were not easy to break.
[You have two choices]
「1. Retreat」
「2. Full-scale assault with all troops」
Infuriated, she was presented with two options by the system.
“Of course, we fight to the end!”
However, she, glinting with red eyes in the darkness, slammed the armrest of her chair with such force it cracked, then made her choice and growled.
Though her body remained still in the nest, her mind, connected to countless creatures, was in the brutal battlefield.
The battlefield’s excitement stirred her emotions, resulting in this near-ferocious rampage.
“Hold out! The Sky God will surely protect us!”
“Kill them all! Don’t leave a single one!”
The struggle between those who wanted to hold out and those determined to kill continued.
As countless bodies piled up and the once dusky sky gradually brightened, the war continued.
The exhausting battle, consuming all their strength and resources, ended with a victory awarded to the goblins.
“Haha… ha…”
The goblin chieftain, seeing the handful of remaining survivors and his utterly destroyed, desolate village, burst into hollow laughter and collapsed onto the ground.
After that catastrophic black wave swept through, they had nothing left. Most of the soldiers were dead, and the brave and competent warriors were gone.
And yet, the sheer fact of their survival brought an uncontrollable laugh to his lips.
“Did you see?! This is the strength the Sky God bestows upon us. Even through the terrifying monster attacks, we’ve managed to survive!”
The half-delusional goblin chieftain faced the sky in prayer and yelled to the remaining goblins.
Certainly, there was still hope. After all, goblins have an impressive breeding cycle, and as long as the females in the underground breeding pens remained, special units could continue to be produced.
Given time, of course.
“Keeek! They’re coming! They’re coming again!”
“It’s impossible…”
But the creatures that had attacked them last night did not grant them any such time.
Beyond the shattered earthen walls, a group of creatures was once again charging towards them under the emerging daylight of dawn.
[The offensive force has been annihilated. Loss: 1000 troops including scouts]
“…”
Amidst the chieftain’s despair, she in the nest remained silent, her head bowed.
Yet, she was not despairing; in this very moment, she continued to command her troops.
[Grown forces deployed, engaging in conflict with the goblins]
The troops sent out to cut off the goblins’ lifeline were freshly matured forces developed just that day.
And in artificial wombs, such forces continued to be produced, ensuring their soldiers could replenish daily.
No matter how fast the goblins’ reproductive cycle, it could not match this speed.
“Aahhh! Noo!!!”
Sensing doom, the goblin chieftain screamed as he faced the red glowing eyes of the monster charging towards him.
Simultaneously, she controlling the soldier she had possessed moved sharply, using her sharp hooked leg to pierce straight through the fleeing goblin chieftain’s chest.
*
“Kill them all. Don’t leave even one.”
She sent more workers alongside the soldiers. After all, the corpses of my troops and the goblins lying scattered there were all nutrients that could be utilized.
This war caused tremendous losses. Even though reinforcements were immediately sent to clean up and secure the win, restoring the lost troops would require a few days of staying stagnant.
Every possible method must be used to compensate for this loss; this was the untamed wilderness, after all, where anything could happen.
‘Still, capturing a player was a gain.’
[Achievement unlocked: PvP (1). Reward: 1 Stat Point]
At least one bright side of the battle was the elimination of one player as targeted.
The achievement system recognized this as proof.
「Private Message: 1」
“What’s this?”
At that moment, a message arrived that she hadn’t seen before.
Startled by the blinking window, she unconsciously opened it, revealing what appeared to be an urgent message sent by someone else.
「Really, please take a moment to look. Please! I don’t want to die! I will absolutely…」
「Never rebel again! I’ll do anything, please…」
「Hey, you son of a bitch, who the fuck are you…」
「(Message sent by a non-existent entity)」
Just as I was unthinkingly reading the series of incoming messages, they suddenly stopped.
And with them, the chilling words: “Message from a non-existent entity.”
“What does this mean?”
[This is the rule of the game you are participating in.]
Frozen in place, I couldn’t help but ask.
As if waiting for this moment, the system message appeared.
