Ch.37Goblin Village (2)

A moment later. After hearing the chants they were shouting and the titles they used to call me, I couldn’t contain my nausea and disgust, so I dashed across the watchtower in all directions.

My Arming Sword, dripping with the foul blood of the cultist goblins, made the greatest contribution to turning this watchtower into a sea of blood filled with dismembered corpses.

What happened on the watchtower was so one-sided it could hardly be called a battle—if I had to describe it, “massacre” or “slaughter” would be more fitting terms for the engagement.

Every time my Arming Sword, wrapped in purple aura, moved, dismembered bodies piled up. After all the goblins on the watchtower were completely cut to pieces, I simply leaped to the next tower—it was nothing more than repetitive work.

And now, atop the highest of these watchtowers piled with countless corpses….

‘….Food, they say?’

As I ruminated on their contempt and mockery disguised as worship, treating me as if I were livestock raised in some barn…. I reflected on the battle that had just occurred.

Of course, the battle was so one-sided that there’s hardly any need for evaluation, but the fundamental reason I found myself reviewing the engagement was because of the weapons these goblins had been using.

Most of them charged at me armed with bows or spears of relatively uniform quality, but among them, one weapon particularly caught my eye….

‘Goblins using… crossbows?’

It was a high-grade piece of equipment commonly known as a “crossbow,” which fires arrows using elastic force when the trigger is pulled.

In this world, the crossbow is surprisingly not a widely preferred weapon.

Unlike a bow, which can be enhanced through the user’s strength or skill or improved through higher quality materials to establish itself as a “ranged cold weapon,” the crossbow falls short in pure power compared to pistols that fire lead bullets using gunpowder.

Moreover, unless wielded by a skilled shooter, reloading a crossbow after firing an arrow or bolt takes considerable time, and high-quality crossbows have such complex mechanisms that they can’t be easily repaired if they break down.

Of course, crossbows still have demand due to their inherent quietness and the issues with gunpowder used in firearms.

While gunpowder commands a high price yet becomes useless when it rains, mechanically operated crossbows are highly reliable and exceptionally stable weapons.

Additionally, they have the characteristic that their power remains consistent regardless of who pulls the trigger, and they are quite commonly used in the western part of the Western Continent (the Frankish Kingdom) where gunpowder is difficult to obtain.

Since much of the Frankish Kingdom’s territory consists of small domains made up of just a few villages, they cannot freely use expensive gunpowder weapons where both the gunpowder and the weapons themselves come at a high cost.

By these standards, the medium-small crossbow this goblin was using is certainly a useful weapon.

It has a simpler structure and is easier to make than typical mechanical crossbows that use gears and other parts, yet without much difference in power, making it perfectly suitable to just hand to someone and have them shoot.

This crossbow is particularly easy to operate, simple enough that even goblins with the strength of human children can load it without much trouble, and with minor modifications, it could be equipped with rapid-fire capabilities or increased in size.

‘…Is this really the work of goblins?’

To be frank, this goblin crossbow (tentative name) could potentially form the basis of a conscription system that would allow even ordinary people to acquire minimal defensive capabilities.

Anyway, after picking up one of these adequate crossbows and examining its structure, I immediately crushed it underfoot as soon as I fully understood its mechanism, as it was stained with blood and bodily fluids.

I had no desire to use a weapon stained with the blood of cultist goblins who had genuinely disgusted me; moreover, the very thought of holding such a thing in my hands was utterly repulsive.

So, after briefly taking in the sight of the small crossbow that had fallen to the ground and been smashed to pieces under my foot…

‘…Huff, shall we go?’

I decided to descend into the village inside the palisade, which had somehow become even more chaotic than before.

※ ※ ※

The interior of the cultist goblin settlement was surprisingly—well, not clean exactly, but showed signs of prosperity that seemed unbelievable for a cult den known for human sacrifices.

Typically, goblin settlements consist of pit houses with leaf roofs or caves—essentially at the level of primitive barbarians.

But this cultist goblin community’s village was… clearly more reminiscent of medieval structures than those of mere barbarians.

The buildings comprising the village weren’t tents or pit houses, but sturdy structures made with well-processed timber.

The roads were somewhat paved with gravel-like materials, and specialized production facilities were even installed throughout.

If that were all, it would be quite a beautiful sight, but…

The problem was the various “decorations” that befitted this place as a den of cultists.

Throughout the village, just like on the palisade, poles were erected with decaying corpses and intestines full of maggots hanging from them like ornaments.

Flags made of cloth dyed with some unknown dark red pigment hung on the buildings, each bearing symbols representing the demon lord of “Gluttony,” emphasizing the “heretical” atmosphere.

And as the finishing touch, dying goblins were placed on poles throughout the village, more precisely, with their bellies split open and their bodies being devoured by maggots.

Upon arriving at this village that no one would ever think was inhabited by mere goblins—a place harboring cruel and evil malice…

‘…I’m glad I asked the priest for help.’

As I felt the reassuring touch of the holy water pouch inside my surcoat, preparing for the situation, cultist goblins began to emerge one by one from around the village, shouting nauseating and revolting words.

“Maggot Archduke! Maggot Prince!”

“Save us through rotting gluttony!”

“Lead our kind to the paradise of endless food, to paradise!!!”

Were they projecting some other ‘heretical’ entity onto me?

They were consumed by fanaticism, continuously shouting cheers and screams, caught in collective madness, and yet they were pointing weapons at me.

‘…Why are they charging at me while calling me such names?’

So I found their contradictory behavior strange—aiming weapons at the object of their worship, this discordant and bizarre action…

‘Ah, well. That’s how fanatics are, I suppose.’

There’s clearly nothing more foolish than trying to understand a mindset that cannot be understood, so instead of offering any commentary on this, I readjusted my grip on the weapon in my hand.

Rather than wastefully using my precious ogre bone dagger, I raised a crude blade I had picked up earlier, roughly estimating the number of goblins gathering around me.

‘200… no, maybe 300.’

The numbers looked quite formidable, but unlike the heavily armed goblins from before, this was just a mob without proper equipment.

Apart from charging recklessly with no regard for their lives due to their fanaticism, they were nothing special…

“””””””””UWAAAAAAAH─!!”””””””””

“””””─GUWOOOOOOON!!!”””””

Without any particular order, they surged toward me like a green wave, and without hesitation, I threw, swung, and mechanically slaughtered them with my aura-infused blade.

Adding any further embellishment to describe this action would be excessive.

When enemies entered the range of my sword, I swung it to dismember their entire bodies, and if they fidgeted at a distance, I threw the goblin daggers I had acquired to create ventilation holes in their bodies.

The nearly 300 fanatical cultist goblins were like melting foam before this mechanical slaughter.

Thanks to this, I had butchered more than 80 percent of them, and as I readjusted my grip on my weapon, intending to slaughter the remaining 20 percent… that’s when it happened.

[[[─AEAEAEAEAEAEAENG!!!]]]

Along with a suddenly intensified warning from my intuition, a sound similar to that made by flying flies began to be heard.

As I stiffened my face at the sound resembling the rapid up-and-down movement of insect wings, turning my head toward the sky where the sound was coming from…

“Oh shit…!!”

What entered my vision were goblins mounted on fly monsters almost as large as war horses.

A hideous and cold-blooded group of fanatics, intent on impaling me with the weapons in their hands.