42: Chapter 42 Unexpected

In the corner, the Elf Girl's tears dripped one by one onto the filthy stone floor. "This kind of thing... is enough!" The Dwarf wanted to comfort her but wasn't good at it. Tuaner walked over and gently patted the girl's back, handing her a dirty leather waist pouch.

"This is...?"

"This belonged to one of your kin. Sorry, I looked through it earlier; there's a roll of maps inside, but they seem to be drawn using your people's surveying methods and have many markings. So, I believe that girl from before was an excellent scout, it's just that her close-combat skills weren't particularly top-notch." Tuaner, with the face of a sophisticated young woman, looked down and praised the poor girl from before to the Elf Girl, attempting to restore some of her dignity with a very queenly air.

They walked a long way following the map; the structure of this underground fortification was quite complex. Basically, every Goblin on the way was killed by the Elf Girl, who had entered a mental state that was hard to describe. Goblin Slayer suggested a temporary rest. Ryan felt he had been a bit idle along the way and felt slightly embarrassed, so he took out his hand-rolled tobacco and started passing them around to the Dwarf and the Lizardman. Mia pulled Tuaner along toward the girl in the corner, looked at her face which was as tense as a drawn bowstring, and handed her her own water skin.

"How many spells do you have left?" They arrived in front of a cloister while resting intermittently, taking one last short break. Goblin Slayer leaned against the wall, calmly asking while sharpening his weapon.

Mia checked her mana value, 220/240, and raised an eyebrow at Goblin Slayer. "About 10 casts of Healing Spell, or roughly the same if converted to other spells. If I use an Endurance Blessing on the whole team before the battle starts, I'll have about 7 casts left."

"I can use Healing Spell about 4 times, but the effect isn't as good as Mia's. Don't be fooled by my archer outfit; I'm actually a bona fide Nun." As she spoke, Tuaner shot an arrow through the neck of a Goblin at the corner ahead.

"What a formidable priestess; many Silver-rank Adventurers are far inferior to you in mana depth! This humble monk is truly impressed! As for Dragon Tooth Soldier, I should be able to use it about 2 more times," the Lizardman Monk said.

Goblin Slayer was somewhat surprised by how strong Mia and Tuaner's healing methods were. He turned back to look at the Dwarf Taoist. "And you?"

"Me?" He started using the finger-counting method. "I've always got four left, don't worry." The Dwarf turned his head to look at Ryan, who was secretly drinking his wine.

Ryan waved his hand. "I've basically barely moved; I should be able to hold off an Ogre, right?" He was carrying a half-body greatshield that Goblin Slayer looked down upon, having made the excuse when they entered that his back defense wasn't strong enough and that it wasn't heavy to carry.

Mia continued helping to feed the Elf Girl water; she had consumed the most energy on this journey. This was no surprise, as she had witnessed firsthand what kind of fate her compatriots had met.

She didn't advise the girl to turn back as in the original story, but instead began casting Endurance Blessing on the entire team, which would last for about an hour. After the holy light flashed, everyone felt full of power and their fatigue vanished. "This should increase your constitution a bit, making it harder for monsters to beat you to death; it's better than nothing. Let's go, heroes!" Mia's face was a bit pale, and Tuaner quickly supported her. "Keep pretending, just keep on pretending," she whispered in her ear.

Mia shook her head. Since entering the world of Goblin Slayer, her condition had indeed been deteriorating. Every night she would dream of the scene when she took over the Original Owner's body; every sleep was a cycle of facing death and rebirth, making it difficult for her to fall asleep.

Passing through the downward-sloping corridor, they finally reached the top of this high tower. Looking down, the bottom of the tower was packed with Goblins. Mia began preparing her Silence Magic, while the Dwarf began casting his Sleep Magic—Intoxication.

But at that moment, an accident happened that they had never expected, which was—the tower collapsed...

There was no longer any need for Silence Magic, though Intoxication still had some effect. Amidst the rumbling sound of the collapse, they each found a way to land safely. Mia pulled Tuaner along, jumping and dodging between falling rocks, and the Elf Girl followed suit. The Dwarf Taoist cast a Diamondization skill on himself. Goblin Slayer used a spare dagger to slow his slide down the rock wall toward the ground. Ryan simply put his greatshield under his feet and played with a skateboard that no one here recognized. The Lizardman Monk was a bit worse off, barely using a Dragon Tooth Soldier to cushion his dive and sustaining some light injuries.

The Goblins who were supposed to be killed in their sleep all swarmed forward, surrounding the group. A huge dark shadow slowly walked toward them from the distance.

"Do as I said. I'll tie up the big guy first. You guys focus on cleaning up the Goblins; Mia and Tuaner, just find a chance to support me." Ryan used [grief] to tap against the [Silver Moon Wall Bastion] and lowered his arrow-proof visor. It was already late at night, and moonlight poured down from the ceiling opening above, illuminating the wild wolf fur in the gaps of his armor.

A red light gleamed in Goblin Slayer's eyes, and he nodded. "Alright! Be careful!"

"Eh? I heard an Ogre can turn a knight in full standard armor into..." The Dwarf Taoist stopped halfway because it was too fitting. Ryan was exactly a knight in standard armor, and the one walking toward them was indeed a massive Ogre.

"Into meat paste, right? Heh!" Ryan didn't mind, thrusting the [Silver Moon Wall Bastion] diagonally into the ground and bracing it with his shoulder. "Mia, give me a Holy Light Barrier behind me!"

"No need, Tuaner and I will protect your back! We will kill every enemy that attempts to ambush you!" For the first time since entering this world, Mia showed her original decisiveness and ruthlessness.

With that, she and Tuaner began clearing the Goblins behind Ryan. Mia's martial arts fully unfolded; every slash of her beautiful legs in phantom silk stockings and every thrust of her palm-knives in evening gloves into the Goblins' bodies took a life, dropping them directly into the Nightmare Cathedral. In a short while, only a huge pool of blood remained at her feet, extending and expanding in the direction she advanced with her blood-stained jade feet, as if she were a Manjusaka watered with blood blooming in the abyss.

Tuaner used her bow as a weapon; the bowstring, the bow body, and the occasional arrows, combined with her martial arts derived from Mia, were integrated into a Bow Combat Arts where power and elegance coexisted. Because both of them had the [Dancer] talent, the battle scene appeared increasingly bloody yet poignantly beautiful.

Goblin Slayer's fighting style was clean and agile, with efficiency becoming the footnote of his combat. Every strike took a Goblin's life—shield blocks, diagonal thrusts, headbutts, throat grabs... His seemingly simple combat style harvested the most Goblin lives on the field.

The Lizardman Monk summoned his last [Dragon Tooth Soldier] and formed a combat formation with the Dwarf Taoist and the Elf Girl, with two in the front and two in the back. The Dwarf and the Elf provided ranged support from behind; the release-type [Falling Stones] magic, the girl's Guided Arrow, and the solid front-line defense ensured they wouldn't be defeated for the time being.

Meanwhile, Ryan was about to face the greatest crisis of his life since the promotion dungeon. "Tch, a knight fighting an Ogre alone... that sounds really unlucky..."