Chapter 16: The story of how the party fell apart (1)

Chapter 16: The story of
how the party fell apart (1)

Two
seconds into the battle, I’m the only one of the party still
standing.

The
second to react in the rigid battlefield was, of course, the goblin
next to me, who, in the blink of an eye, had her compatriot’s hair
blown off.

Tsk,
tsk, tsk!

Before
she had time to mourn her death, another goblin from the rear was
thrown into the fray.

She
was puzzled by the two goblins that had been slain in an instant, but
she instinctively charged at me.

Tsk,
tsk, tsk!

I
sidestepped slightly and swung my axe. The goblin’s head snapped off
and she fell to the ground.

In
just three strokes, I had decapitated three goblins.

The
two standing in front of me, looking bewildered, and the third in
front of the party.

‘There
are only three of them, so it should be easy enough.’

“Keh,
Keh!”

Tsk,
tsk, tsk!

Sensing
their lives were in danger, they turned around, chased after the
fleeing ones, and drove their axes into their backs.

This
cleared out the five that had taken up residence in the rear.

Now
all that was left was⋯

“He,
uh…”

I
turned around at the ominous voice.

One
of the goblins in front of me was clinging to Adolf, nibbling at the
nape of her neck.

“Off!”

Adolf
screamed in agony.

Pfft!

I
jumped up and kicked the goblin in the stomach, ripping it off of
Adolf.

Damn.
I should have protected the priest first!

Priests
can only perform healing miracles, not hand-to-hand combat.

Adolf’s
staff began to glow yellow. She has instinctively healed herself to
save her life.

Good,
at least she won’t die.

‘No,
more than that, these bastards can’t even defend the priest with two
of them, so what the hell-‘

“No!!!!”

A
tearing scream rang out from the other side.

I
took a quick look and saw that the goblin with the knife stuck to
Anya’s temple was twirling the handle of the knife as if cleaning her
ear.

Yellow
brain matter mixed with the goblin’s poison, like earwax, flowed from
Anya’s head.

Unable
to fight back, she died instantly.

Jeremy’s
eyes had already rolled back in his head. He couldn’t do anything but
grip the spear tightly and shiver.

“What
are you doing, wake up!”

I
yelled, and Jeremy flinched.

Goblins
weren’t the kind of creatures to leave their terrified prey alone.

A
knife flew past Jeremy’s nose.

I
quickly ran over, pulled Jeremy by the hem of his clothes, threw him
on the floor, and immediately tilted my head back to avoid the knife.

“Kerrrrrrrrr!”

The
goblin that was playing with Anya’s body also joined in. The guys
seemed to be shouting loudly and saying something.

But
soon the panicked goblins looked around.

“Why,
don’t you have any friends to help you?”

Perhaps
they were calling for their companions.

“I’m
afraid all your friends have already crossed the Rainbow Bridge, but
don’t be too sad.”

The
goblins’ faces hardened as their eyes took in the bodies of their
fallen compatriots.

As
I approached, they began to back away.

“You’ll
see them again soon enough.”

Two
chopping sounds rang out.

***

I
had just gotten off to the worst possible start in the Labyrinth.

We
knew we’d be spawned in a randomized area when we entered the
Labyrinth, but it was too bad.

We
have 2 injured and 1 killed in a party of 4.

I’m
the only one who fought, and I’m the only one who’s still okay.

“⋯Thanks⋯
to⋯
grrrr, I’m
alive. Thank you. Balkan.”

“Stop
talking and keep using your healing spells. It’s a hassle if you
die.”

The
dwarven priest Adolf revived dramatically.

If
the goblin chewed on the nape of her neck any longer, it would have
snapped off, but I managed to pull it off just in time before the
worst happened.

“⋯Heehee.”

Worse
than that, it was ⋯.

“Jeremy.
Are you okay?”

Here’s
this guy, distraught over the loss of a childhood friend, a girl he
was probably in a relationship with.

“No,
no, no, I had a weird dream, I dreamt you were killed by goblins,
which is weird, why would I dream that? You’re sleeping like this.”

Jeremy
cuddled up to Anya’s body, whose eyes were closed, coughing up brain
fluid and blood, and began to caress her cheeks.

“Your
cheeks are a little chilly today. I told you to dress warmly, the
Labyrinth is a bit chilly, so today, today, today, today, the
Labyrinth?”

His
eyes widened as he stared blankly at Anya.

“⋯⋯Anya⋯?”

His
expression contorted, as if he’d just seen a reality he hadn’t
intentionally recognized.

He
suddenly grabbed her shoulders and began shaking her.

“No.
No. No. Wake up. No!”

Then
he put his ear to her heart, his hand under her nose, and looked back
at Adolf in shock.

“Oh,
Adolf, she’s not breathing, she’s not breathing!”

“⋯⋯”

“⋯⋯”

I
and Adolf were speechless at the sight.

It
was insane.

Unable
to come to terms with the brutal reality of their sudden situation,
his mind collapsed.

“Now
is not the time to use healing miracles on Adolf. Uh, we need to heal
Anya quickly…”

His
hands trembled, and he grabbed the spear.

“Oh,
heal Anya, quickly, now!”

He
started toward Adolf, pointing the spear at me.

I
stopped him.

I
know he’s grief-stricken, but this is way over the line.

“Stop.
Nothing good will come from us fighting, so just stay calm and-“

“Calm
down?! Don’t be ridiculous! You think I can be calm?!”

Jeremy
snapped at me, his eyes bloodshot and spitting.

“I
don’t know. I’ve never been in your situation, but one thing’s for
sure, we’ll be safer at the escape portal if we have the priest with
us.”

“Not
us, you! I have no reason to live anymore!”

My
heart sank with pity.

That’s
right. I needed the priest to make me safer, to make sure I could
explore the Labyrinth safely.

But
aside from that, there was no reason for me to listen to his bullshit
as it drained my mental energy.

‘⋯Just
this once. Just once.’

It’s
a waste of energy. With no priest and no spearman, I’d be fighting
alone, just like last time.

I
must use him as much as possible. My plan has been screwed up since
the beginning, but it could not have gone any worse.

“Stop
whining, male.”

I
try to think of something to say that will soothe Jeremy and spur him
to action.

Adolf,
who had finished healing her wounds, lay down and glared at Jeremy.

“Honestly,
what did we do in this battle? We were just defenseless and almost
died. If it weren’t for that guy over there we’d be dead right
after transferring to the Labyrinth. That was our fate.”

The
dwarf studied me for a moment, then nodded in understanding.

Adolf
didn’t stop there, she even winked wryly.

‘Could
it be… is she picking a fight on purpose to get on my good side?’

Oh,
no. No way.

I
shook my head, feeling an intense sense of foreboding.

No.
Don’t say more. Please don’t provoke him. Shut up.

You’ve
been in the labyrinth three times. You’ve done well. Please, let’s
just go in peace-

“Jeremy.
Let’s put the spear down and talk-“

“It’s
your fault your girlfriend died. You were right next to her, so why
couldn’t you stop it? Well, I knew this would happen when I heard you
slept with her the night before entering the labyrinth.”

Ah.

“Hm.”

Jeremy
let out a short laugh.

I
quickly swatted away his spearhead but the damage was done.

“Yeah?”

Adolph
looked at the spear lodged in her throat, unsure of what had
happened.

Immediately,
her eyes rolled back in her head, and her body began to collapse.

“Heh,
heh.”

Bam!

The
maniacally laughing Jeremy struck the nape of her neck, subduing her.

Atop
the tangle of goblins and human corpses, I was the only one standing.

I
laughed at the absurdity of it all.

“Haha.
This is fucked up, man.”

Fifteen
minutes into the labyrinth.

The
party was destroyed.

***

A
familiar voice caught her sensitive ears.

“What’s
up, Denshi. Did you find anything, some guys worth some money?”

“Oh,
nothing, I think you misheard me.”

“Really?
That’s a shame. Denshi misheard.”

The
woman’s hand stroked Denshi’s hair. Denshi felt a strange chill and
fear at the act.

“You’re
still alive thanks to your one useful ear, and you mishear a sound.”

“⋯Sorry⋯”

Denshi,
the girl who had been called Grumpy, felt something lacking in the
woman’s touch as she stroked her hair.

It
was light and small. Short in length.

Surely,
once upon a time, this act would have been frightening, but not so
much anymore.

Denshi
remembered the huge fist that had crushed her dignity.

Every
single finger was long, thick, heavy, rough⋯and
huge.

Denshi
shook her head, feeling her body heat up for a moment.

‘I
must have misheard. No, I must have misheard. He shouldn’t be here.’

“Well,
then, let’s get back on the road, when you’re done robbing!”

“Yes!”

The
shouting woman was followed by five puppets.

The
scent of blood lingered in the air as they left.

With
each step they took, red blood dripped from the knives in their
hands, forming a long trail of blood.

It
was too thick to be the blood of a monster.