85. Bloodwater

Hob Goblins are essentially a completely different species from the goblins occasionally encountered in the wild.

Their size rivals that of an adult human male, with incredibly tough skin and at least some degree of intelligence.

Though primitive, they possess metallurgical knowledge, allowing them to wield metal weapons and even set traps to hunt adventurers.

If you accidentally ran into a Hob Goblin hunting party in the maze-like ruins section, even a silver-ranked adventurer party would have to stay on high alert-if they decided to swarm you, you’d have to prepare for death.

That’s the kind of monsters they are.

They’re not opponents I should be facing-I haven’t even taken the exam, let alone reached silver rank.

“Fuck!!!”

But I couldn’t just stand still.

The Saintess was single-handedly handling 80% of the monsters pushing into the central section.

We couldn’t rely on her help. We had to survive on our own, and in this insane battlefield, the only way to create a turning point was to restore the adventurers controlled by the Skin Walkers to their original state.

“Kieeeeek!!!”

The Hob Goblin in front of me shrieked and swung its club.

Its filthy, grotesque face was alight with joy and fervor for Logie.

True to their goblin nature, the moment they saw a woman, they charged forward without even bothering to hide their erect cocks, swinging them around shamelessly.

“Where do you think you’re aiming?!”

I deflected the incoming club with my shield and immediately swung my axe, splitting the charging Hob Goblin’s skull in half.

Blood gushed from the diagonal wound running from its temple as the creature collapsed.

Another Hob Goblin stepped over its corpse and approached.

“Fucking hell!!!”

“Porter!!! Watch your back!!”

“Uwaaah!!!”

A club smashed into my head.

A sharp clang rang out, and my vision spun for a moment, but I didn’t fall.

Thanks to the rare metal helmet the guild leader had gifted me-engraved with shock-absorbing runes-the impact barely fazed me.

Just a slight ringing in my ears.

Meaning I could still fight.

“You fucking bastard!!!”

I swapped my axe for a sword.

I needed something with a longer blade, better for thrusting.

After switching to a shortsword-ideal for close-quarters slashing-I immediately gouged out the eye of the Hob Goblin bastard who had just smashed my head.

I buried the blade into its right eyeball, left it there, and drew another sword to stab its throat.

If the blade got stuck in bone, I had no choice but to abandon it. Retrieval could wait. Right now, I had to kill the goblin bastards swarming us.

“Tch…!!”

No time to pull my weapon out. I kept swapping weapons, embedding all kinds of blades into the bodies of the approaching enemies.

“Watch out!”

Sasaro swung his sword, cutting down a Hob Goblin charging from the side.

I couldn’t cover all angles. Every time a dangerous attack came, Logie and Sasaro protected me-even at the cost of their own injuries.

“Thank you.”

“Save the thanks!! Next one incoming!”

A Hob Goblin collapsed, its gut split open by Sasaro’s blade. I crushed its skull and immediately faced the next.

I shoved back those charging at me and kept deflecting weapon swings with my shield.

Soon, I didn’t even have a chance to swing my own weapon. There were too many. Just pushing back the ones in front of me was exhausting.

Damn it.

How much longer do we have to hold out?

Is the blessing still not ready?

Are the Saintess and Raphael even alive?

“Paramelle!!! Is it done yet?!”

“A-Almost…!!!”

Just as the feeling in my shield arm was starting to fade-

Paramelle completed the Protection from Insects blessing.

“Die!!! You fucking bugs!!!”

Paramelle roared, seething with fury.

An invisible wave emanated from the stone staff in his hand.

This wasn’t just any ordinary insect-repelling blessing.

It was closer to a miracle-designating a wide area as a sanctuary.

No wonder it took so long. He planned to wipe them all out at once.

“G-Gaaah…”

“Uweeeek…”

“W-What the… fuck…!!!”

The adventurers reacted.

Those who had been attacking us, entangled with monsters, began vomiting and staggering as the Skin Walkers infesting their brains were forced out.

Long, worm-like creatures spilled from their ears, mouths, and noses.

Some died on the spot-those whose brains had already been half-devoured.

“Wh-Where am I…?”

“Ugh…?!”

The adventurers who regained their senses amid the monsters were disoriented. With the Saintess and monsters rampaging before them, they had no idea what to do.

Then, Raphael-who had been tearing the heads off High Orcs-shouted:

“Grab your weapons and kill the enemy-!!”

A warrior’s roar that shook the entire central section.

The battle cry of a pure-blooded barbarian jolted the adventurers awake.

“Fuck this!! Fight first!!”

“Uoooh!!!”

Excluding those who died as the Skin Walkers left their bodies and those who collapsed from severe brain damage, the remaining adventurers grabbed their weapons and attacked the monsters.

The monsters were pushed back by the collective frenzy.

The adventurers had begun their struggle for survival.

Not for money or glory-just the sheer will to live. Against their desperate resistance, the monsters that had been pushing into the central section were now being slaughtered in turn.

Adventurers and monsters tore into each other, killing without mercy.

Adventurers were too individualistic to function as soldiers, but their combat prowess was exceptional. They prioritized personal survival over camaraderie.

Ironically, this made them shine in chaotic battles. With no regard for allies, they fought solely for self-preservation-unleashing 100% of their potential.

The moment they turned their aggression from us to the monsters, the tide of battle shifted.

Dozens of silver-ranked adventurers fought for their lives, and the chaos they created swept the monsters into a maelstrom of carnage.

We finally had room to breathe. While adventurers and monsters slaughtered each other, we slowly moved to regroup with the Saintess.

“Haa… haa…”

“Saintess!!!”

Up close, the Saintess was far from fine.

Her once-white priestess robes were drenched in blood, and her platinum-blonde hair was soaked crimson.

Before her lay the half-torn corpses of gold-ranked adventurers.

She had been holding off seven gold-ranked enemies alone. From a distance, I hadn’t realized.

Holy shit. It wasn’t just gold-ranks… She was handling all the variant monsters too.

No wonder High Orc Sluggers and Warlocks hadn’t come our way.

She had been drawing all the aggro and dealing with them herself.

Looking at the mountain of corpses piled around her, I finally understood why the Church would never abandon her.

Without the Saintess… we would have been wiped out.

Though she was a madwoman consumed by slaughter, without her, we couldn’t have handled these numbers.

“Seems the situation’s stabilized. Damn heretics.”

The Saintess’s arm was barely hanging on.

Even on the verge of being torn off, she managed a faint smile.

Did she have some ability that made pain vanish when she smiled?

How could she smile in that state?

“Let’s clean up the rest.”

The Saintess cast a heal on herself.

Her mangled arm instantly restored itself, and all her wounds vanished.

Her clothes remained torn, but she didn’t care if her skin was exposed. Not that it mattered-she was already drenched in blood.

Now we might actually survive.

With Raphael joining us, things finally felt manageable.

The Inquisitors formed up around Paramelle, systematically erasing the remaining enemies, giving us a brief respite.

My left arm still tingled. The muscles were probably overworked.

“They’ve stopped coming.”

“Phew…”

The monster wave finally ended.

The central section reeked of blood, littered with the corpses of adventurers and monsters alike.

“Not a single heretic corpse among them, even now.”

“Bastards.”

Sasaro and Raphael gritted their teeth.

The Saintess sat slumped on a High Orc Slugger’s corpse, drooling blankly, while Paramelle and Logie rallied the surviving adventurers.

The base camp in the central section is completely wrecked… The heretics must’ve taken all the supplies I stored.

The camp the expedition team had set up when we first descended was in ruins, and all the supplies had been stolen by the heretics.

“Let’s clear the corpses first.”

If we wanted to reuse the central section as a base, we had to clean up the piles of bodies.

Nothing could be done in this sea of corpses. I’d store them in my inventory for now and use the labyrinth vine beans Rafnel gave me to clean the bloodstained floor.

“Can we help with anything?”

“No, not really. Ah, here-take these torches. Could you light them?”

“Understood.”

I pulled out all the torches from my inventory and handed them to Logie and Paramelle.

Time to fill the central section with light again. Holy Light consumed divine power, so torches would be better for letting the Inquisitors rest.

This is insane.

The number of dead monsters was staggering.

How much money could I make selling all these?

The Church would take a cut, and the guild would claim some for public health programs honoring the adventurers killed by heretics.

So many adventurers died too.

I recognized some faces-those who had descended into the labyrinth with the expedition team.

At least they weren’t used as sacrifices. If we brought their bodies back, they could still be resurrected.

With skills good enough to enter the underground city, they wouldn’t have to live as slaves-just work for the Church for about four years to pay off their debts.

“Hey. Porter.”

“Yes, Saintess.”

As I was collecting corpses, the Saintess-now recovered-called out to me.

“You were right. The Protection from Insects blessing. Sorry I couldn’t cast it sooner.”

“Don’t worry about it, Saintess.”

It was too much to ask of someone already fighting gold-ranked monsters.

The Saintess had single-handedly held off the gold-ranks while slaughtering variant monsters, all while casting Arrow Protection to shield us from ranged attacks.

Asking her to cast Insect Protection on top of that could’ve overloaded her mind mid-battle.

I understood. In combat, excessive demands impair judgment.

Besides, I’d heard rumors-she was already a slaughter-crazed lunatic.

Complaining to her would only sour the mood.

The Saintess was effectively the leader of this heretic-hunting party.

If party members grumble about the leader, it only breeds instability.

Besides, the fact that she apologized meant she was still somewhat sane.

No need for me to provoke the leader with unnecessary remarks.

She had already been carrying the heaviest burden. Without her, we’d have been massacred. Respect was the least I could offer.

“Let’s do our best from here.”

“Yes. Rest for now, Saintess. Ah, once we finish clearing the corpses, I’ll prepare water. You should wash off the blood.”

“Oh… That spatial pouch really is handy.”

The Saintess returned to her spot.

I wanted to wash up too.

My entire body was drenched in blood.